It is really cold today.  Not Up North cold, my cousin says it was 5 degrees in Ohio, but Florida cold, in the low 30’s kind of bone-chilling-wind-cutting-through-you cold.  I know, I’m just a wimp.  But it was 80 last Saturday and is going to be in the 70’s this coming Saturday.  30 is cold when you are used to temperatures like that.

I’m discovering that being a full-time whatever-I-am is harder work than having  a “real” job.  It is so much easier to know when to be at work and when to go home and when the pay is deposited in your account than to have to go out and get your own jobs and promote yourself.  I think I could be a hermit if not for my wife pushing me to get out once in a while.  It is good to be around people, in small doses.  I know that, but at the same time, it drains me.

I’m having a struggle with this “pre-diabetes” diagnosis.  I try to eat the foods that will keep my sugar levels down, but most of what I like is bad for you.  I am not supposed to eat sugar laden desserts and high carb food, but I hate artificial sweeteners.  I don’t even like stevia all that much.  I love pecan pies and brownies.  Somehow sugar-free pecan pies doesn’t cut it nor does Splenda sweetened brownies.  I guess I will learn to eat fruit for dessert and moderate the rest of my carb intake, but it is hard. The alternative is full blown Type 2 Diabetes, which I want to avoid like the plague.  Just when have any of us been around the plague?  Is that supposed to be some kind of metaphor.  Or is it an analogy?  Probably just some saying from the old days before the Internet and antibiotics and my favorite doctor:  Dr. Granny.  Not the Beverly Hillbillies Granny, my Granny Rosie.  She had the cure for everything.  I don’t remember many, the ones I do remember start with:  “get a bottle of bourbon”.

I am trying to downsize my life.  The past 35 years I have been trying to accumulate stuff.  Now I have too much stuff.  When we moved from Georgia to Kentucky, we got rid of rooms full of things.  We still had a garage full of possessions that wouldn’t fit in the house.  We got rid of more.  Then we decided to move permanently to Florida and started getting rid of more stuff.  We still had a garage full of things that wouldn’t fit in the house.  THEN we moved all the furnishings from our condo into this house.  A bigger house full of furnishings plus the condo’s items equals way too much stuff for this abode.

It’s kind of amazing how you get things.  You go on a trip and come home with souvenirs.  You go to see the kids and bring back stuff you bought where they live.  Soon you have so much that you can’t even put it out to look at.  My personal demon is tools.  I find it hard to go to one of the big box home improvement stores without coming home with a new toy, I mean necessary tool for the project at hand.  Before very long, I accumulated a whole garage full of tools and no room for cars.  I see a big yard sale in my future.

I’m going to post some more answers to questions you have asked in the comments.  I will probably only answer one question per post after this, so if you asked me a question and I haven’t answered it, I will get to it soon.

Question:  How can I reach you?

Answer:  The best way to reach me is at:   purposefulgeek@gmail.com.  I will try to reply to you within 24 hours.  That is also on the side bar on the blog page.

Q:  How often do I post?

A:  On this blog, I post on Monday and Thursday, but starting in January I’m going to Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I have too many other distractions to post more often and I don’t want to sacrifice quality for the sake of more numerous posts. I also have another blog (thedrunktheologian.com) and I have another couple of websites I need to be busy about. I make paracord items and book safes and custom journals and I am starting an IT consulting business.

Q:  How do I subscribe to your blog or “follow” you?

A:  There is a “follow me” button on the right at the top of the sidebar on the blog webpage.

Thanks to all my readers.  I do appreciate your comments.  I read them all, but I do delete duplicate comments.  Please tell your friends and family and co-workers about me.  I’m going to go make some not-very-sweet tea now, see y’all soon.