Are you still communing with striped bass from time to time? I need to find time to fish again.

 

sorry to hear about the constant pain, val....missed this thread from days ago. i think that may be the crux of your attitude change...as others have said.

kathy and i deal with the aches and pains of the aging body, but I generally find that I have a BETTER attitude than i used to have. less things in day-to-day life bother me to the point of explosion, but the NATIONAL MALAISE brought about by those INSIDE THE BELTWAY bother me a lot more.

it just seems to me that solutions to some of the national problems COULD be handled pretty easily by a set on non-partisan adults; sadly, there are not many in DC and those few get frustrated and retire, or decide to NOT run for re-election.

 

Val, I talked with Kathy and she highly recommends "The Gift of Years" by Joan Chittester. She's reading it now for a book club and read me a couple excerpts....sounds good.

 

Yes, but the numbers seem to be down this year. I'm pleased if I get one per trip. I took some people out this past weekend and we kept two and threw a couple back. The bluefish are having a banner year in my waters. I'm catchiing some very big fish and there are very large numbers of blues in all sizes. The fluke continue to be small and I am hoping that the government changes the minimum size that the commercial fishermen are allowed to keep.

 

I have to take back what I said above about none of the Western contingent (except for my bro and his family) showing up for my dad's ceremony at Arlington Cemetery tomorrow. I was miffed about it because my parents went out to be with my dad's sister for weeks when she was dying. Anyhoo, two of my cousins' kids are coming to represent. I'm still a bit miffed with someone in the Eastern part of the country, though.

 

These are tough situations, Deb. Dealing with a lot of end-of-life situations in her work, Kathy always felt badly when she could not attend a memorial service. I always tell her that what she did for the LIVING person (which was usually a lot) was more important.

 

Looking back I can see that my family really fragmented after the death of my dad. He was the person who was the glue that held us all together. After his passing, things were never really the same and everyone changed a great deal. Of course that was years and years ago. I understand your feelings, Deb and I am so sorry about your disappointment. I too would feel that way.

 

Val, I've been thinking of you and this thread the past few days. Yep, pain has a lot to do with how you react to things.

As mentioned in another post, my shoulder was acting up. It took me by surprise. I've been very uncomfortable this week, OTC meds did nothing, and I finally dug into my drug stash (expired prescriptions still work ). Over the week, I found myself extremely short tempered and annoyed with stuff.

Now for the good news. I'm feeling better today, modified my movements at the dance class, but over the course of the week, I think I got a bit of the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." I've got a coworker who is a foot dragger. Boss is away and he just seems to be spinning his wheels, even though I passed on the assignments, the boss left behind. I heard through the grapevine that he thought I was picking on him with work assignments, or whatever. In addition to that, said co-worker smells. He came in my office yesterday and I could take it no more. He smells like dog pi$$. This has been going on for a long time and another co-worker brought it to his attention, with no good results. He does have a situation and I won't get into all of it here, but he's been given many opportunities to improve his situation. I know working folks can't always be "fresh as a daisy", however, my co-worker isn't even clean at the beginning of the day. We provide uniforms, clean uniforms, wear one, for Pete's sake. There are places you can grab a shower, and we have soap, water and towels here. Clean up your act and stop stinking up my office.

 

I've been thinking those exact same words for awhile now. I almost posted that here yesterday

Sorry to hear about your co-workers. The worst one I can remember, sang to herself nearly all day long. We all kept hoping she would get laryngitis or worse

 

Is this the shoulder you had fixed or the other one? I also keep a stash of expired prescriptions on hand - great minds and all that.

I'm not having much in the way of actual joint pain lately, fortunately, but I've been experiencing some pain from the tendons and muscle surrounding my patella. It had to be cut free during my surgery in order to piece together the shattered joint, and it hasn't been the same since. Nothing unexpected there. I am unable to take pain meds, because I lecture for most of the day. And I can't be crabby at work, so I'm going to have to look for other outlets for my crabbiness. I don't think dance class would work for me.