December 18, 2007

• Featured Grownups: Good Riddance 2007

  Featured Grownups Topic 2 for December 2007: Goodbye 2007
  “In your own words, tell 2007 goodbye ~ in a letter, song, poem, rant, celebration.  It can be silly, sad, serious, dramatic; it’s your writing, it’s up to you.”

  2007 was not one of my “better years”. So, herewith:
  GOOD RIDDANCE, 2007!

  HEALTH: The year began on a good note. My yearly physical, in January, turned up no major problems. My doctor did schedule a colonoscopy, and although they did find three small polyps which they removed and determined were not cancerous,  later in the year I was socked with a thousand dollar invoice for the procedure, which I still haven’t been able to pay off. My assessment at the end of the year, healthwise, is my “list” of complaints to bring to the table in January when I have my next physical. 1. Still suffering pain in my hip replacement. Although I’ve never wanted to ask for painkillers, I am going to this time, since I’m in more and more pain as the years wear on. 2. Weak bladder. I don’t know what the cure for this is going to be, but I’m really getting tired of waking up each and every hour (and sometimes on the half hour) to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. 3. My missing tooth. I had a painful tooth removed in March of 07 and my dentist told me I had a year to decide whether or not to get an implant or bridge, because the teeth would then start to realign themselves, which is happening. For the past three months, I’ve been “clicking” my teeth together, a habit I’ve never had before, and which must be a result of the “shifting” of my teeth. So I end the year with a “nervous mouth”.

  AUTOMOBILE: I paid off  my 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible in April, but the odometer is nearing the 97,500 mile marker, which means I need a major “belt inspection and replacement”. Hopefully in 2008, I’ll also have the car repainted and a new radio installed. I’ve been without music for three years of my seven year ownership, and I’ve been complaining about the scratches the neighbor kid put on  the car since I got this blog in 2004.

  WEALTH: As soon as the $316.00 a month car payment disappeared, my rent was raised, as it has been every six months since the latest owner bought our complex. I finally consolidated my debt, so I have one payment of $750.00 a month, of which I just sent in the third payment. The loan was at 16.99%, and I’m hoping it can be lowered after six months, to the 8.99% amount which was trumpeted on the mailer when BofA sent me the “invitation”. For most of 2007, I’ve been incredibly broke, and so I hope 2008 is better financially.

  HOME: As I illustrated in the “Almost Homeless” video blog series earlier this year, I was evicted not once, but twice, from my rented house by the overzealous owner who completely renovated the complex. Common sense and sheer begging prevailed, and I’m still here in the same place as I’ve been for 13 years. Funny thing. I’ve had three sets of separate neighbors in 2007 in the other part of the duplex next door.

  WORK: A dismal year as far as sales. Back in the early aughts, when we lost two major clients, I thought things were looking bad. A couple of years ago we lost our major supplier, for switches, who decided to go out “on their own” in the US market instead of relying upon us as their prime distributor. My 85 year old boss, the CEO and founder of our small electrical distributorship, had to obtain a new switch vendor, and we’re rebuilding our business, but 2007 was the first year we really felt the repurcussions of losing so many customers when the vendor broke his contract. (a 40 year old “handshake”.) We have a written contract with the new vendor, and are gaining some new customers, but 2007 was such a bad year nobody is really ‘expecting” Christmas bonuses like usual this time of year.

  SOCIAL LIFE: I was seeing Liz (Queen of Swords) pretty regularly until early 2007. I think the last time I visited her was in April or May, and she hasn’t dropped by or gotten in touch since then. According to her blog, she’s been really busy at her place of employment and is spending weekends at Disneyland with her friends from the “Mice Chat” internet group. I’ve been leaving comments on her blog, and she sometimes “visits” here on my blog, but I really haven’t gone out much this year, and can’t really afford to either, so it’s good that Liz has a lot of friends in her group and has been busy amd happy. I rarely visit my best friend, Jim, simply because he spends a lot of his time playing “World of Warcraft” on his computer, and doesn’t seem to go out much anymore either. My roommate, Joel, is still ridden with cancer, and hardly feels like doing anything anyway. At least I have my “Xanga friends” although, to tell the truth, I haven’t been socializing much on the blog for the latter part of 2007.

  So Good Riddance to 2007, not my “favorite year”. Some good things have happened, however, so I’ll pay “lip service” to a couple of highlights:
  1. I finally subscribed to high definition television, which softens the blow of not going out as much, because seeing movies even on Starz or HBO is a treat,. with the sharp wide screen picture. TV series shown on the HDNet channel don’t even have commercials.
  2. My creative urges in the field of videomaking increased tenfold in 2007. I’ve added over 15 “internet movies’ to my YouTube Channel and even have a nice collection of over 20 vids on Xanga, most of which were added this year. I personally believe I make some of the best “internet movies” out there in cyberspace, and for the life of me I don’t know why I’m not “famous” yet.

  • 9:45 am
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