Challenge Accepted (A to Z Challenge)

Every year, I've seen my housemate takepart in this challenge, and this year, I figured I'd give it a go.  Twenty-six blog posts during the moth of April.  It actually seems easier than the 750-word daily challenge I did once.

Anyway, I will be writing about whatever is on my mind, within the theme of that day's letter.  I welcome yo to come and follow along if you're interested.

Seven year ventings

I can’t believe it’s been close to seven years since I last wrote something in this blog, I guess it was because I really didn’t feel I had anything important to talk about, so I let it slip to the wayside and just forgot about it. A lot’s happened since November 2012, so let’s dive right into it…

In August 2013, fed up with the corporate games and not doing the job I was hired to do, I left the printing company and got a job with a trucking company in town. I started out doing deliveries, then moved into linehaul (terminal to terminal drops). As of July last year, I was moved into dispatch. I was happy for this because driving was beginning to take its toll on me physically, leaving me in lots of pain after a run. I still drive, but it’s only locally to swap out trailers at some of our bigger shippers, so it isn’t that bad.

In April 2015, my grandmother passed away, and I flew back east for the first time in nine years to attend the funeral. I was amazed at how much things had changed and how many things I remembered were now only a memory I also had a nice talk with my mother, and some suspicions I had about my very existence were confirmed during that trip. We haven’t really spoken in depth since that day, and as for my father … I believe he lives just a few hours south of me now, but I’m not even sure if he’s still alive. I haven’t heard from him in close to ten years now.

In March of 2016 I was finally making enough money, and we had had enough of the crap at the old apartment complex to finally spark us to move. We moved to a slightly better part of town, with lots more services and amenities clustered nearby. We upgraded to a two-bedroom apartment, so my housemate has her own office to conduct her business without fear of me disturbing her.

Two months later, we experienced the heartbreak of losing Willow, our elder mancat. It was a shock to us because, during the vet visit we did before we moved, they said he was doing just fine. He passed just after Memorial Day. He hated thunderstorms, and the fact that we had to make the final trip with him in a particularly strong one made it that much worse.

April 2017 sparked a new change in my life when I bought a new car. Our old car, a 1995 Nissan Altima, was not long for this world. Severe oil leak, kept blowing the head gasket, persistent check engine light … so, since I was still in a decent financial situation, I decided to be proactive and see if I could in fact get a newer car. I checked out DriveTime, and put my information in to see what my down payment would be. Imagine my surprise when I drove off the lot in a 2013 VW Passat with under 60K miles on her. She’s had only one major issue since we bought her, but otherwise she’s been dependable and a joy to drive.

Last year was a year of changes, for goods and bad. In addition to my promotion, we also got a new cat. We didn’t intend to, but since he was stuck in between the joists in our kitchen wall, and he bolted as soon as maintenance freed him, we decided to keep him. He was a scraggly little orange kitten whom my housemate promptly named Every – so she could, in fact, “hug every cat.” Our joy would be tempered about a month later when Crystal, our elder ladycat, succumbed to hyperthyroidism. We did all we were able to do for her, but she just kept wasting away, and then one night, she lay down in the octagon where we kept Every, went to sleep, and never woke up again.

I turned 50 in 2017 and my health has been marginal at best. Having been diagnosed with hypertension, gout, depression, restless leg syndrome, moderate sleep apnea, and just generally being a fatass, I now subsist on a steady diet of pills for various maladies and for the pain I experience just about every day. IN a few hours I got o see the doctor to discuss my latest blood work, and see if someth8ing can be dine about my left knee, which hurts any time I move my leg; and my right foot, which has swollen up so bad I cannot wiggle my big toe anymore. If I could have one day – ONE DAY – without any pain, I would be so happy.

And, that’s where things stand with me. I may get back into writing more, if I can find the time and desire to do so.