Daily Ramblings – Update – Bonus Content

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Adapt, Arizona, Brother, Chaos, Close the Year, creativity, December, Disruption, Improvise, Set Goals, Thanksgiving, Unexpected, Wife

I’ve been offline for a few days. My brother came out to visit for Thanksgiving, and we had a terrific time. I took a few days off from everything, to maximize my time with him.

I’ve also been busy helping my wife, who is in Arizona with some things, that took a lot of time.

Well, folks. Here we are in December. This is the month I use to begin preparing my goals for the new year, assessing where I ended up with my goals this year, and continuing to make adjustments to life and my daily rituals, in light of the unpredictable actions of our government in Michigan.

Like most states, everyone is freaking out about the second outbreak of COVID-19. What is the solution to all of this? It’s simple. Do not react to things you have ZERO control over. Can we do all the things we used to do? No. Can we go to the library, our gym, our coffee house, a sit-down restaurant? No. What can we do. We can follow the guidance we are given, be good citizens, protect ourselves, and continue to push forward with our goals.

It looks like going to the gym is going to be a hit or miss in 2021, so I invested in a professional set of exercise bands to use in my home. Daily exercise–check! Social activities are going to be on hold for the distant future, so now it’s all about digital social activities, whether they are ZOOM calls, phone calls, or various websites that allow one to interact with other people. Be flexible, folks.

So this year, knowing what we now know, will involve some creativity and improvisation to achieve what we set our sights on. Don’t fight reality. Accept it. COVID is not going away, and the likelihood of getting a vaccine is even more remote, since they only have about 40 million vaccines, which will likely go to government officials and their families, and those with underlying conditions and other folks with more susceptibility to COVID than others. Personally, I think everyone in a retirement or senior living facility should be given priority, followed by anyone with underlying conditions that COVID tends to kill, before the rest of us are given anything. I would then move to first-responders and teachers. I don’t know how the U.S. government will respond to this, but if 2020 was any indication, they’ll muck the whole thing up.

Plan on lockdowns in 2021. Plan on more disruptions in 2021. Plan on more unpredictability in 2021. All these things are now our reality. If you plan accordingly, you’ll succeed at selecting goals to shoot for that cannot be disrupted. That’s going to be my focus for December.

Well, that’s all I got today. Tomorrow, we’ll be back on track with postings. Have a great Tuesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Brother’s Birthday – Happy Birthday Chris

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Best Friend, Birthday, Brother, Great Guy, Sibling, Wish you the best

I am truly blessed by a brother who is my best friend. He has bailed me out of trouble quite a few times and is someone who is always there. We have so much fun together and luckily, have a great deal in common.

So today, I’m going to use this post for my Ted Talk Tuesday to wish my brother a happy birthday and hope he has many more on this Earth. Happy Birthday, man. You’re the best.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Grateful for Siblings

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Appreciative, Brother, close, family, Grateful, Sister, Thankful, tight

Today, I’m grateful for my brother and sister. My brother lives in Arizona, and my sister lives in Michigan, about 2 hours away. My brother is a Network Manager for Fender Guitars and my sister is a Program Manager for GM/Chrysler.

Both have a unique sense of humor, always attuned to the Gardner clan. I stay in touch with my brother via phone and playing coop video games together. He also likes to find funny memes and send them to me and my sister. My sister is closer. She visited this last weekend to hangout for Mother’s day and get out of the house and see something else for a change. When she comes over, we have long conversations into the wee hours.

I know some families that don’t get along so well. Not mine. My brother, sister, and I are like peas in a pod. Yeah, we have our own interests and my brother is a long way away, but all of us stay connected one way or another. I’m thankful for that.

It’s great to know you have two people, roughly the same age that have your back. It’s a comfort knowing that we will stick together through thick and thin. When I needed help, my brother and sister pitched in to help. When they need help, I hope I did the same. I always try to help out my family whenever I can. For me, it’s the only way to live.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. I hope you find something to be thankful for each day. It is a great practice. If you have a few minutes, start keeping a gratitude journal and write down three things you are grateful for everyday. It is a great practice and one that will keep your spirits up.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Dad

Tags

Appreciative, Brother, Dad, family, Grateful, Lucky, Mom, Privilege, Sister, Thankful

Yesterday, we celebrated Dad’s 81st birthday. We gave him some birthday cards; I got him a book, because he loves to read, and Mom got him some new sneakers for the gym. We got him going a few weeks back because the Doc says he has to move more. We also went out to dinner last night so Dad could get a Ribeye, his favorite steak.

Dad at the gym…

I’m thankful for Dad. When I was young, like most boys, Dad was a superman. Now that I’m back home helping the family because of his diagnosis of Dementia, our relationship is different. Dad likes to reminisce about the times he could go to the local movie theater and watch a few short films, a feature film, get a popcorn, and a drink for 15 cents. Dad is more human. Dad and I are friends now. Yeah, I can’t have deep conversations with him, but we watch TV shows together, we read together in the living room, and we enjoy pizza from time-to-time.

Dad worked his tail off when I was growing up. He worked for the Detroit Edison as a power plant operator. He worked shift work, yet still had the energy to come home and work on the house, around the yard, and did stuff with us kids (mostly TV).

What did Dad teach me? He taught me how to treat a woman. He taught me how to work hard and enjoy it. One of his sayings that comes to mind was: “If you know you have to do a job, there are two ways to look at the job. You can like doing the job and the time tends to go quickly and enjoyably, or you can dislike the job and time crawls and your miserable the entire time.” This advice helped me well during my 20 years in the Army.

He taught me about music. Dad loved to play the guitar and I, who wanted to be like Dad, learned to play a few instruments because I wanted to play something with Dad.

He taught me to read. He didn’t teach the mechanics of reading, but taught me the habit of reading. Like music, I wanted to be like Dad. So, I developed a reading habit at a young age. It has stayed with me to this day and helped me in the Army and in College.

Me and Dad at his Physical Therapy.

There are so many things Dad has taught me. I am grateful for these things. Now that he is in his senior years, it feels good to be home and help him out—to repay a life of sacrifice and hard work so I could live a better life than he did. That’s the way it’s supposed to work, right? Anyway, it’s a treat and privilege to be home and help out the folks. Even today, we can get on each other’s nerves, but mostly, it’s great to hang out and pitch in when they need help with technical things or need me to read something they get in the mail they don’t understand.

So I’m grateful for Dad. He helped me become the man I am today and gave me, my brother, sister, and Mom a better life.

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Schedule

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Brother, Christmas, December Schedule, family, Good Food, Holidays, vacation

Hey all! My brother is coming into town on December 20, 2019 to hang out with the family. I’ll be shutting down from the 20th – 29th while he’s here to maximize time with him. I’ll be back up on the 30th, just in time to provide you my end-of-year autopsy and put out my goals for 2020.

I’ll announce this again on the 19th, but wanted to give you a head’s up.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Brother’s Last Day

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Brother, Chernobyl the series, Dead Space, Eating out, family, Game of Thrones, Heading Home, XBOX gaming

Well, today is the last day my brother will be here. I’m taking him to the airport later today. We had a great time while he was here. We went out to eat a few nights; we got caught up on Game of Thrones and watched a show on HBO called Chernobyl, and played some video games, which we both enjoy immensely.

He’ll be heading back to Phoenix today to get back to work. My sister got a new job at GM and started on Monday. This week is predominantly orientations and training. My Mom’s cataract surgery went well. She has some follow-up appointments in the next week.

I’ll be back up to a full blogging schedule starting tomorrow. I wanted to avoid my daily rituals while my brother was here to make sure someone entertains him. Most of my day is writing on my laptop. We did get in a few workouts at the local Planet Fitness. My black membership allows me to bring one guest for free.

It’s always fun when my brother comes out. I’ll head to Phoenix sometime this year, but don’t know when yet. Maybe during Christmas or even around Thanksgiving time.

That’s all I got today, folks. Have a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave 

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday

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Break, Brother, Family Time, Hang out, Ted Talk Tuesday, vacation

Hey all, I’ll make this one brief. I only post Ted Talks I’ve watched and don’t want to shortchange you during my brother’s visit. So, no Ted Talk today. Between my brother’s visit and my Mother’s cataract surgery, things have been busy here. I’ll be back up and running on Thursday, after my brother’s departure to Phoenix tomorrow afternoon.

 

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix – Day 11

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Amazon, Brother, Friends, Good times, Great weather, Nephew, Netflix, Phoenix Trip, Xbox

Today is just a hangout day with my brother at his home. We’re watching a new show on Amazon, called Fortitude. It is really good so far. We have to run some errands today so my brother can get some last-minute things for his trip tomorrow with his son to Barbados.

I’ll be here at his house until the 13th, just hanging out and relaxing for the last three days I’m here, before heading back to Michigan. This was a really good trip. I got to hang out with some of my friends who I used to work with out here. I got caught up with some folks I haven’t seen in a while.

It was also really nice to hang out with my brother and see my niece get married. My brother’s son will be coming over today to hang out and sleep the night here so they can get to their flight early in the morning. While they’re gone I’ll be knocking out some reading and get caught up on some Netflix and Amazon shows I’ve been wanting to watch.

That’s it for today, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix – Day 7

Tags

Amazon, Brother, family, Friends, Happy Hour, Phoenix, Video Games

Yesterday, was a nice day. The weather was awesome and I had a nice dinner with my wife. She is a special education teacher by day and a female bodybuilder at night. We had to separate because of my Dad’s condition, requiring me to come home and help out my parents.

It may be strange to some that my wife and I are separated for this reason but I learned a long time ago that the rules we create for ourselves are just that–rules we impose on ourself–not imposed by others. Society has a way of imposing things on us. There are expectations of owning a home, having a traditional family, doing what everyone else is doing. What I have found is that these social norms are not the norm for most of us. When I made the decision to balk at the expectations of society and truly live my own life, life became lighter, relaxing, free.

Today, I’m meeting some friends at one of our favorite haunts. It’ll be a great time to reconnect, learn about what’s going on in their lives and spend some time together laughing. Right now, my brother and I are watching Patriot on Amazon and will kick into some gameplay on his Xbox a little later. We are enjoying Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The graphics and storyline in this game are beyond awesome!

That’s it for today, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix – Day 6

Tags

Brother, Eating out, Friends, Phoenix, TV Shows, XBox Games

Today will be the first day of just hanging out with my brother. I’m meeting with a friend later this afternoon, but that is the only thing I have as far as meetings go. It’ll be good seeing her again. The game plan for today is to watch some Amazon, play some game, and get a meal out somewhere. I am really enjoying myself.

I have also scheduled lunches and happy hours for the remainder of the week. Wednesday lunch and happy hour, Thursday happy hour, and a Friday lunch. I also have a meeting with a colleague this Sunday for brunch! It’s going to be a great week!

Until next time…

Dave