JULY WAS LEAN ON BLOGGING

Well, July is almost over.  It has been the leanest month of blogging since I began this effort.  I don't particularly care for the lack of blog entries this past month.  I have tried to set a goal of a minimum of nineteen entries a month.  It doesn't look like I will hit that goal in July.  So what has happened to cause this?  Primarily there were three potentially life changing events that took me away from the bloggersphere.

The first event happened over the fourth of July weekend.  While trying to reach some of my stuff in the garage on the back of a shelf, I slipped and fell about three feet onto concrete stairs on my back.  It was painful and if you know me at all or have read much of this blog you know that I have a strong aversion to pain.  Pain and I do not get along very well and the fall brought about a considerable amount of pain to my back and my ankle.  I was in pain for over two weeks and found it difficult to concentrate on writing.  After a trip to the emergency room, I was given a prescription for some Oxycontin, a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory medicine.  All three of these meds tend to bring about drowsiness.  Along with these pills, I had to continue some of my head meds to keep myself from having that detached feeling and buzziness in my head that withdrawal brings about.  Also it kind of keeps my depression and anxiety in check so that I am able to reason out suicidal thoughts and stay alive.  It is extremely difficult to write when you are full of drugs of this sort.  So because of the fall I lost several days that I could have been writing.

The next thing that occurred was that I bought a new laptop computer.  I also bought a router, a wireless mouse and key board and ventured on my first trip into the technological twenty first century  by setting up a network in the house and going wireless for the first time.  The time taken just to get the network set up and running took enough time away from writing but there was more than just that.  I had to move hundreds if not thousands of music files off of my work computer to the new laptop.  That was almost three days of lunch hours that I was not able to write.  Now I am in the process of putting the rest of my music at the house on the laptop, again taking time away from writing.  In the end though, this new tool should give me the opportunity to write in the evening without taking any of Barb's time on the internet.  Now I find myself interested in checking out some streaming movies and television shows that are available through different services out there.  I will NOT be using Netflix in the near future as my own little protest of the rate hike they placed on their customers without warning or explanation.  Luckily there is a growing competition for netflix that should allow me to experiment a little with it.  This has also allowed Barb and I to agree with each other to drop HBO which will be a huge savings in our pocket.  This is very exciting for me and definitely should give me more time to write in the near future.

The third potentially life changing event happened just the other day.  My coffee pot died.  It was not really unexpected.  I had noticed strange happenings coming from the coffee maker as of late.  Going in and seeing the "self clean" light turned on for no reason.  One night I wasn't able to turn it off before I headed to bed.  Now it won't turn on.  When it was in it's infancy it was a zinger of a coffee maker.  It would grind fresh coffee beans throwing the grounds into the filter as it ground.  The result was a near perfect cup of extremely freshly brewed coffee. Entropy eventually was able to lay it's filthy hands on it as it does everything.  Now it doesn't work at all.  I am using a cheap little six cup coffee maker that my wife use to use at her office.  It is not the same.  Anyone who tells you that a coffee pot is a coffee pot doesn't know what they are talking about.  There is a definite difference in how coffee is brewed.  It is a formula that takes into account the temperature of the water, the size of the grind, and the rate at which the water flows through the grounds to brew the coffee into that delectable, taste bud exciting brew.  I miss my coffee pot already and find it difficult to concentrate on anything since it died.  It is like losing a best friend.  It is not easy to get over.  That coffee pot and myself have been good friends for a lot of years.  I can't bring myself to place it in the trash even though I know I must.  That will probably happen tonight.  Maybe after it is set in its coffin of plastic and set out by the curb for pick up tomorrow, the pain may have lessened.  For now though, I walk into the kitchen and see it sitting there, unable to perform what it was made to do and that is sad.  <big sigh here as I write about my little friend>

These three events add up to one simple fact.  I am having a difficult time coming up with topics to write about.  Each of these events has been a distraction for me and they all happened within a four week period.  That, my friend, is a lot of distraction to work through and come up with a topic for a blog entry.

Next month I plan on doing better.  MY back is pretty much back into shape with just minor pain every once in awhile.  The home network is set up and ready and I should be able to take advantage of writing at night instead of over my lunch hour.  Finally, the coffee pot will be replaced by next month.  This above all things will probably be the biggest help in getting me back on a decent writing schedule.

For those of you who have stuck with me during these lean days of July, thank you.  I know that my writing isn't great, but I think it is good.  The question becomes is my writing good enough to be patient through a small dry spell called July.  Well, according to my stats, there have been quite a few of you who think it is worth waiting for.  I truly appreciate that.  I love to write and it feels good to know that there are people out there who get at least a little something out of it.

For those of you who didn't stick with me through July, well you aren't reading this right now so I feel fairly comfortable in saying that you'll be missed and hopefully you will one day miss the blog.

If that isn't the case...... bugger off with you.  :)