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 |  Thoughts, we all have them. What is yours? |
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What is on your mind? I love all type of topics and will talk about almost anything! So, what is happening with you lately? Come, tell me about yourself. What excites you about writing? What other things do you do: Art, music, animals?  Photo: The Huntington Japanese Gardens, photo by Seabreeze |
| Prompt #5: What information do you have about a specific topic that your readers might not know? Narcolepsy! My first husband had it and our family lived with it for 30 plus years. It is a neurological disorder. People with narcolepsy want to sleep a lot; day and night. They can have vivid dreams. My husband would get weak in the knees and almost fall down. If he wasn't up on his meds it was really bad. His doctor said he had a severe case of it. It is believed that it is hereditary. It is estimated that about 200,000 Americans and about 50% of the world's population have it. My husband has since passed, but when he was being treated for it, he had to take ritalin, known as a street drug. It was the only drug that worked for him. However, even with the drug, he had to be careful when he ate and wanted to do anything because he still would get sleepy after a while. So, if he wanted to do just the simple thing like watch a movie or visit with someone, he would not eat for awhile. Another strange thing about narcolepsy is cataplexy, a brief loss of muscle control or muscle tonis. My husband and I were in the market one day, checking out at the register and someone in line said something and my husband made a comment back and started to lose his balance. These comments usually had something fun connected to it when it occurred. My husband was a funny guy and loved humor. The only thing that would snap him out of it, or break this feeling, was if I pinched his arm. He normally would do it himself, but sometimes he needed a little help, so if I saw it coming, I would help him. By now you might be thinking, did he drive a car. Yes, but not for long. At some point my husband told or mentioned on paper that he had this condition and, I don't remember how it happened, but got back to the DMV and they took away his driver's license. The only way he could get it back was to have two doctors sign off on it saying that it was okay for him to drive. That was never going to happen. My husband never got over it. With narcolepsy, most have sleep apnea, difficulty breathing when sleeping. He had that as well. So it can be life threatening. He had a C-pap machine but would not use it. He said he was drowning, that was the feeling he experienced. This was back in the 80s and 90s. I am sure they have improved the equipment since then. My son was always afraid he would end up with it. So far he has not shown signs of it. He is 52. However, when it shows up it usually will do so most at an early age; like in the teens. My husband didn't have it until he was in his late 40s. However, when I first met my husband and were dating, when he first took me over to his apartment, I remember he said he was kind of tired and wanted to take a nap. I was okay with that and I selected a book to read while he took a nap. I really didn't think much about it at the time. But years later, I thought to my self, I bet he had it at an earlier age and did not know it. Seabreeze 3.26.25 |
| Prompt #4: Connect two seemingly unrelated themes. This is a creative approach where you can help people understand something using a mainstream or relatable reference. For example, you can connect a form of entertainment, such as a movie or television show, to a business process. What a challenge! I would like to connect dogs and horses. Now, dogs I know lots about but I am limited with horses. Why choose this connect? Because it is my choice. First, I have a dog but not a horse. Dogs are less expensive but you cannot ride a dog like a horse. I once was on a horse. I didn't last long as he reared up and off I went. That was that! No, I didn't get back on; too scared. Yes, to this day I wish I had. What teenage girl doesn't like horses. I drew them, colored them, painted them but I wish I would have tried again to ride. Now dogs, well they communicate with you. They can look at you and you almost feel a conversation going on. At least with my Little Guy, it is true. He will do something I don't like, I will talk to him about it and he will talk back to me. He scolds me with a bark. Can or will a horse do that? Nope! Now all you horse owners out there, do tell me about your babes. Yes they are loving and you can ride them but can they sit on your lap and comfort you? Nope! I do envy those who own such magnificent animals. They have their own beauty, grace. And they do have beautiful eyes; maybe the owner can see their souls looking in those eyes. I will, at this age of my life, always be a dog lover and will never own a horse - my loss. But I still will stop when I see such a beautiful animal, the horse, and marvel at God's beautiful creation. Seabreeze 3.24.25 |
| Prompt #3: Choose a job you have (or have held in the past) and discuss the skills required. Explain why each skill is needed and how they can be learned. I was a manager for an apartment complex for several years. This was a job that required both husband and wife or two individuals. We had 42 units, carports, to maintain. My husband and myself had done this job before so training with limited. We needed a refresher course on Section 8 Housing (government assistance). One thing that was stressed was to have legible handwriting and printing because you would be posting receipts manually. You need to be focus when collecting rents and posting. Training in this field usually is done by watching someone take you through a posting. Part of the job may require you to take monies to the bank. Therefore, you would need some type of transportation. Part of the job may require you doing actual work on the premises. I have in the past cleaned apartments, painted and sweeping carports. Usually this will gain you additional payment over and above what is agreed to. Compensation usually consist of an apartment and salary or a mix of one or the other and additional payment for jobs such as painting and cleaning. Usually you must be bonded. In California where I held this job, you may be required to post 3 day notices or 30 day notices and followup with law enforcement. So, to acquire this position you must be able to be bonded and live on the premises if required. For a position in California, 12 units or more required management on site. This type of position is easily trainable. You must have the stamina to deal with all types of people and their problems. |
| First, I am not sure I agree with the World Economic Forum. What I understood, most people don't have more than one months of expenses in their savings. However, lets examine it. My plan to wise spending and saving is this: !. Evaluate how many years you feel you have on this planet; 20, 30, or more, If you feel you have about 40, then you will need to know how much you think you will spend each year. If you are retire, hopefully you have some type of program going; stocks, 401K, savings, addition income coming in from rentals. One has to have some concept of what it will cost per year for just essentials. If you managed to set up some type of retirement you probably also have your living quarters included in that program. Maybe you paid off your mortgage or will have it paid by the time you retire from you job. 2. If you want to travel, then again, I hope you have calculated for monies to be include for travel. If you single, this could be a lot easier to figure. A single person might even consider working on a cruise ship, or become a guide from an Elder hostel program where you would travel while being a guide. In any case, where will the money be coming from? Note: Very important you don't try to live above your means. 3. Budget, budget is the only way I see this happening, unless you are one of those who won the lottery or have a rich uncle who left you his inheritance. 4. Once you know what it will take for basics to live, only then can you really figure how you will have the monies for the extra, fun things in life. 5. Avoid in early life using credit so that your money is not wasted on interest. 6. Developing a savings program in early life is the best gift you can give yourself. |
| If I had a choice of being either a 'that guy' or 'that girl' actor or actress, I would want to be Doris Day. Now there is a cutie. She has it all: looks, voice, talent. She has made many movies, and the leading man she got to act with: James Garner, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable to name a few. I can remember when I was in sixth grade, there was this girl who looked a lot like her and she was a fan of Doris. She knew all of her movies and songs. Wow, I was impressed. Do I have a favorite movie? Calamity Jane. It is a fun movie to watch and I just love the song Secret Love that she sung in the movie: I can't think of one thing I didn't like about her. She even had a good cause she supported, Doris Day Animal Foundation (https://www.dorisdayanimalfoundation.org/about). The best thing would have been to have lunch with her and ask her about her career. She is gone though and I don't believe we will even have another female actress like her. |
| Yesterday was the first day of spring, March 20. I think of newness, refreshing ourselves, our homes, our personal belongings. I have an unwritten list like many of you. I want to clean my house, my yard (weeds); purge my closet, organize my playroom (I paint, write and it is unorganized). What do you need to do? I will start, and isn't that the hardest part, starting. I am having a landscape company coming April 3 to look at the front of my home. We have little palm trees, spider plants and they are fine. But, it is the other areas that have white rocks with many weeds. The rains have been too good to us. I want the rocks to go and more dirt and possibly blocks of some sort so the weeds do not overwhelm me! That is my biggest bug-a-boo! |
| Poetry has so much to offer. I use to think it was all about rhythm. But once you get into poetry, you see that there are so many different forms. I recently tried the pantoum form. At first, I wasn't sure I could complete my poem because of the unique structure that was required to pen your poem. Rhyming word, repeating lines and doing this in a certain order. It takes a little tracking. I am not sure if this is a left brain, right brain thing but my brain was feeling it. If you have not tried this particular form, I suggest you give it a try. Here are some links to its format: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantoum https://classicalpoets.org/2016/09/how-to-write-a-pantoum-with-example/ https://interestingliterature.com/2021/03/best-examples-of-pantoum-form-english/... Here is my poem about my little dog:
Have fun! That is what it is all about! Seabreeze P.S. If you wonder where I go for this great info on writing poetry, visit:
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| I love poetry and that is why I am here at Writing.com. I recently join The Poet's Place. Here we learn various poetry forms, which I had no idea there were so many kinds. Dave heads up the port and he is wonderful at it. I hope you will check it out. https://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/1937699-The-Poets-Place  |
| I was thinking about how lucky, no blessed, I am and felt to share them: 1. I am breathing (I am 79 soon to be 80). 2. I was born and live in America. I cannot imagine living anywhere else. 3. I have a wonderful son who gave me two beautiful granddaughters. The X-daughter-in-law I pray for. 4. I believe in Yahshua and the Bible is God inspired. 5. I was married for 42 years to a great guy that I lost to cancer. I met a wonderful guy who was married to his wife for 60 years and lost to cancer. We met and decided to marry; three years now. 6. I play music on a keyboard, can paint in watercolors, play chess, love playing cards and thrift shops! 7. I am thankful for the people I do know and can call friends. 8. I am thankful for having all of my own body parts. 9. I have a nice car, home, live comfortably in a nice community. 10. I belong to Writing.com. What are you thankful for? Seabreeze |
| If you have never listened to Jack Webb and Johnny Carson do the Clapper Caper skit, you are in for a treat! I research this now and then just to replay and have a chuckle, which I just did recently. I thought it would be a fun thing to share. Enjoy! Seabreeze |
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