I'm tired.

Bone-weary, nearly exhausted type tired.  And it's only going to get worse over the next 24 hours.  I didn't sleep well on Tuesday night and that's just the way life goes.  Just wish I knew what to do differently to try to recover more of the stamina I used to have.

Even though my body was probably less healthy then than it is now, even though things aren't good now, back in the days when I was at my highest weight, highest blood pressure and just before I nearly died; I was keeping a schedule that nowadays I can't imagine doing.

I had a full-time job where I worked 40 some-odd hours a week.  During tax season I would work another 20 hours a week in a tax office doing returns.  Outside of tax season, I'd teach anywhere from 9 to 15 hours of classes in tax prep.  Teaching usually requires one hour of prep for every hour in the classroom.  I also managed to have somewhat of a social life.

Now if I spend more than three hours in any activity, even something as easy as sitting at the computer and trying to write, I need to lay down afterward.  On good days I can walk to the car without getting short of breath.  On great days I can walk all the way to the corner two blocks away without getting short of breath.  On less than good days, I get out of breath walking to my car, or to the dining room.  It sucks to be walking less than 200 feet and not having enough air to get there.

Other ponderings this morning:

How in the world can you use the denial of water as a punishment for a child?  Some woman is going to jail forever and 9 extra days (I think the real sentence was 85 years) because her step-son died from dehydration when she used denial of water as a punishment during a record heat wave.

Will people think twice about excess alcohol leading to bad things after a tipsy housewife ended up trapped in her son's high chair?  Probably not.

Why would people eating at a restaurant say (out loud) "special needs kids should be served elsewhere"?  In Texas, a waiter refused to serve morons who said just that.  Good for the waiter.

Why is it that solo driving seems to be the best time/place to do some thinking?

This date in history:

On this date in 1510, Henry VIII (only 18 years of age at the time) appeared incognito and received praise for his jousting before his identity was revealed.
On this date in 1556, the deadliest earthquake in history hits Shaxxni province, China.  Over 800,000 people died.
On this date in 1789, Georgetown College is founded.
On this date in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her MD, making her the first female doctor in the U.S.
On this date in 1855, the first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is new Minneapolis.
On this date in 1941, Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the U.S. negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
On this date in 1943, Duke Ellington plays Carnegie Hall for the first time. (he got there by practicing, practicing, practicing)
On this date in 1960, the bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to almost 36,000 feet in the Pacific Ocean.
On this date in 1968, North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo.
On this date in 1973, President Richard Nixon accounces a peace accord had been reached with Vietnam.
On this date in 1997, Madeleine Albright becomes the first ever female U.S. Secretary of State.


Can money buy happiness, or does it just make misery suck a lot less?

Does anyone care that Justin Bieber now has more followers on Twitter than Lady Gaga?  I don't.  Of course, I might be jealous since I can't seem to get to 100 followers, let alone thousands or millions.

Do people really need a list of ten things not to say to their employer?  Did you need to know that any of the following was a bad idea to say out loud to your boss?

1.  "It's not my fault".
2.  "It's not my job."
3.  "There must have been some miscommunication."
4.  "I'm so hung-over."
5.  "I can't stand so and so."
6.  "I'm too sick to be working."
7.  Communicating too much or too little with the boss.
8.  Whining and griping are never good.
9.  "I need a raise."
10. "I'll quit if...."  (be ready to be unemployed when you're dumb enough to use this one).