1. In a story related to last
week’s blog I put my new basketball to use. I haven’t owned a
basketball since high school. I haven’t shot a ball period in 2
years and haven’t done any sort of extended shoot-around in almost
10 years. Yet there I was, out in the morning playing for 45 minutes.
I went to a local recreation area. It was sunny but below freezing
which wasn’t bad once I got moving. The funniest part was just how
tired my body was after playing. Just tying my shoes and playing is
not possible anymore.
2. Last week I closed down the
Lady of the Dunes website I created in support of my book and Frank
Durant’s documentary upon which the book is based. She was
identified as Ruth Marie Terry and the case is considered closed. Her
son has written his own book and has had a documentary released
through the Oxygen Network based on his life. He had no idea what had
happened to his mother growing up. My thought, and it is agreed on by
Frank, is that the Lady of the Dunes story is now her son’s to
tell. In a fitting period in the final sentence of this chapter, the
day after I took the website down I received a card in the mail. It
was from Ruth Marie’s son thanking me for my work on helping his
mother get her name back, It came complete with a photo of a bench
dedicated to her at the cemetery in her hometown of Whitwell,
Tennessee. I couldn’t have written it any better.
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| Thank you, Ruth Marie Terry and her family. |
3. From the Shaking My Head
Department. I had a podcast listener message me asking if I’d
review a movie on an upcoming show. I politely declined as I don’t
really do typical movie reviews on my podcast. I also then reminded
him that only a couple of weeks ago he asked me to do a segment on
the children’s singer Raffi. The best part? He asked how that
segment went. This means he asked me to do a certain subject but then
didn’t even listen to the show?! Seriously? I don’t think he’s
a troll but that’s definitely a troll-ish move.
4. I don’t get headaches as
often as I did when I was younger. In elementary school, I believe I
was the only kid to have prescription medication in the nurse’s
office. Back then I’d get bad headaches a few times a week or more.
I was diagnosed with migraines when I was 2. That being said, every
once in a while I’ll get a terrible headache these days. They are
likely painful enough that they would lay most people out. For me, it
takes something more to put me down. Even the one I had this week,
which was pretty bad, just meant that I had to pop a few ibuprofen
and keep going with my daily routine. I am definitely glad that I
don’t get the clusters of migraines I used to get as a kid though.
5. Cryptic Posts (sort of)
Return: I have been having dreams of several different girls from my
past over the last few months. It has been four people but no rhyme
or reason as to why they are in my dreams. Sure, it is the obvious
‘you miss them’ or ‘you have unfinished business with them,’
and the like. The thing is that each of the four is out of my reach
even if I was looking to get together/back together with them. Is it
a tease? Is it a test? I don’t know. The good and the bad of having
very vivid dreams is that I remember much of them. I’m sure no
concrete answer will come as to why just as I am sure that one of the
four will likely be in my dreams again this week.
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| A return of a classic. |
6. Amazing to think that I
have 1 small payment left to totally pay off my last credit card. I
maxed this one out years ago when I was really struggling for money.
The card is super high interest so it took me a lot longer to pay it
down than it should have. At times it felt like I was never going to
make any progress paying down the balance. The irony is now that it
will be paid off I want to close the account down but I shouldn’t.
It’s not that I want the card for spending, but your credit score
actually can go down if you close a card you’ve paid off. How
stupid is that? I would think closing a paid-off account would show
that you’re responsible. Nope. The credit companies would rather
you have cards, even if you don’t use them. Fine. The card will
keep collecting dust in my closet if that helps my credit score.
7. A little funny story. My
mother gave me her old Fitbit as she said that she couldn’t read the
small type on the screen. That’s not the funny part. Once I got it
all set up and got the app on my phone I started using it. What I
noticed is that it gives me way more steps than I actually take. I
think it counts every time my arm moves as a step, even if I am
sitting down. I am sure there is something I need to adjust to it. I
had to laugh when on a day I was doing a lot of sitting it had me
clocked at over 8,000 steps. I mean I am part Italian so maybe I talk
with my hands so much that it counts those arm movements as steps?
8. As a followup to that last
post the Fitbit band has already broken. Ironically my mother, as
well as a client I train, said that they did not like the default
Fitbit bands. They ended up buying different ones online. The band
isn’t that comfortable but I figured I got it for free so why
complain. I put the Fitbit on before heading out to work but also put
on my heavy winter coat as it is in the 20s this week on Cape Cod.
When I pulled into the work parking lot I noticed that I couldn’t
feel the Fitbit around my wrist. The reason why is that the band had
broken and the Fitbit had slid up the sleeve of my coat. I have since
ordered a replacement band but not from Fitbit. I’ve ordered a more
comfortable band now.
9. One trip, 3 foolish
encounters. First, on my way to the gym, I got a white bucket stuck
under my car. I thought it wasn’t large enough so I could easily
pass over it. Nope. I could hear it scraping the road so I found
myself intentionally driving into potholes trying to dislodge it.
Eventually, this worked. After the gym, I walked to the supermarket at
the other end of the parking lot. Inside I saw the funniest fake
eyebrows ever. I gasped in shock and had to run away to laugh. It was
like this woman took a Sharpie and drew 2 straight lines in the
middle of her forehead. Was there nobody around to help her? Or stop
her? Finally, on the way back to my car, a man who looked like he was
hiding a keg under his shirt remarked about my wearing shorts. I
didn’t care enough, and he didn’t look smart enough, to explain
how I was at the gym a few doors down. I just smiled and kept walking
thinking about how that guy probably looks in the mirror and thinks
he has a 6-pack instead of the keg.
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| Yeah this is pretty close... |
10. Interesting to me is when
you go to certain websites that you don’t have an account with and
you see where the default store location nearest to you is. Usually, they are a good hundred miles from where I am. It’s like you’re
close, but not that close. It gets funnier when I’m listening to
music streaming on Pandora or Spotify. I created accounts with
them, many years ago. Despite that, the ads I get typically are for
the New York/New Jersey area. I have no clue why. I mean I’d think
even Boston or Providence must have ads through those services,
right? Nope, I get very specific ads for New Yorkers. I know more
about the New York lottery and city parking than I ever thought I
would.
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