When I don't pay attention

I get into trouble ‘cause I don’t pay attention. Yes I do. I was hiking on Silly Mt. the other day. Silly Mt. is close, about a 3 mile hike, it takes me less than an a hour, and I just sorta kinda enjoy it (i.e. it's my excercise mt. hike). The internet says it’s a 1.5 on a scale of 1 to 5 hike. ANYWAY I was looking down, thinking, and not paying attention. I went right by my normal trail—fork in the trail. Except for a short trial, I actually ended up doing the hike backwards than I normally do. You know what? The trail, landscape, and beauty really looked different doing it from a different direction. Maybe I need to look at my life backwards sometimes. Maybe it might have a different look tooooooo! You think sooooooo?  Oh ya, a MN guy on Silly Mt. said to me--Isn't it great to sweat in January!

ItchieBitchie says--Sooooooooooo PAYATTENTION! "If you miss out on what you've paid for, life won't give you your money back." We've all paid for the class of life. The minute the doctor eased our heads out of our mother's womb, we got a full scholarship. Your joy is all paid for. Your adventure is all paid for. Your tingles, thrills, and exciting moments of discovering every wonder imaginable are all paid for. We are all students in the class of life. Some of us will get more out of it than others. Some will nod off and miss most of what life has to offer. Some will cut class and leave early, never to return. Some will get distracted and miss the main points. Others will soak it in, learn, grow, and glow. There are those that will get more than their money's worth, every minute in every class in an ever-unfolding adventure. Another group spend their time watching a clock that freezes motionless like a shy freckled faced girl when eyes fall upon her and stare. You are in class, get all that you can. If you miss out, You won't get your money back. Soooooooo let’s get going, we’re burning daylight here folks!!!!!

When other folks don’t pay attention, usually they have trouble too. I got some new tires at Apache Sands. I was in the waiting area with several other folks. They all left except a lady and I. She came over and we started talking. She was getting her car’s oil changed and a couple of tires. She told me she and her husband were snow birds from IA for about 10 years and then sold their house and bought a double wide in a 55+ community. We talked some about the Suns (i.e. she was very knowelegeable—I was surprised). It has been a tough few years for her she told me. She had a double mastectomy and her husband had colon cancer. He went through surgery, chemotherapy, and then died of complications. Many of us have seen that and some of us multiple times. She said being widowed is harder than she thought (i.e. many of you can understand that). It’s sorta kinda like what Bruce a.k.a. a Secretariat said to me when we hiked to the top of Camel Back (i.e. my 5th time and Bruce's 1st)—What do you think Bruce?—It was harder than I thought it would be. I asked her if here husband believed in Jesus as his Lord and Saviour? She said he was a born again believer at the age of 78 (i.e. under new management). He always went to church but never really got it. Then one day he called me and was “ohsooooooexcited”. He told me he was saved. What happened she asked—our new neighbor came over and talked to me and “Bingo”! She told me that she misses him a lot. Their 55+ community had a memorial service last Sunday for all those who died from the park the last year during their park’s church service—21 died out of about 400. Ouchy ouchy! She said she cried once again. Can any of you relate to any of this? I think so folks. Sooooooooo folks, pay attention! Live is just a shadow!

If I don’t pay attention I can get myself in a big hole which is hard to get out. A hole as big as the one behind us here in the picture (i.e. a massive huge hole). Soooooooooooo pay attention folks. Talk about holes; Jacob was our check out at Fry's Grocery the other day. Jacob was maybe 22 and had holes in his ears with rings inside of them. Sorta kinda like what the Africans do. The holes which the rings supported were about half an inch in diameter. Soooooooo I said—Jacob, are those really holes in your ears—sure are (i.e. he took out one of the blue support bushing rings and showed us)—wow, did you punch big holes in your ears that big—no, no, you start with a pin hole and keep stretching them—oh I said. Such is life.

When Bruce and I hiked Camel Back we noticed that there were a lot of babes on the trail. We decided it was ‘cause of the Oregon/Auburn game (i.e. a lot of college gals and guys). Bruce said I was the oldest guy we saw on the hike. Maybe most older folks pay more attention and do something easier. I don’t know. We pay attention all right! When in Sodona and at the Grand Canyon, we noticed that we saw one Oregon fan to ever 10 Auburn fans. Why that was we don’t know. There were a lot of fans up there. ANYWAY that is why they like those bowl games in AZ (i.e. those folks go all over and spend $$$$$). On top of Camel Back we talked to two guys from Israel.  They were maybe late 20s or so.  They said most everyone in Israel likes the United States.  I asked them if they were Christians or Muslims?  No no, we are Jews (i.e. I guess that makes sense--da!).  So you don't believe Jesus is the Messiah then?  Oh, we aren't very religious, we were just born Jews.  Sooooooo, when is that war going to stop over there--they have been fighting for 2,000 years and they will probably fight for another 3,000 years they said (i.e. that doesn't sound promising folks). 

That gal at Apache Sands told me that she is sooooooo happy that her husband left her with enough money to live. She said some of her friends and family have to move in with their kids as they can’t afford to live alone (i.e. she said her sister only makes $900 a month and had to do that). WayneTheCanuck, a guy who I golf with, told me (i.e. he read in the paper so it must be right) that 13% of parents have to move in with their kids. I emailed our son and told him what we were all doing (i.e. living the life of Riley) and told him about the 13% of parents moving in with their kids---soooooo son, hold the spare bedroom for us)! Our son's response was-- maybe you should start saving a little more $$ per your last comment below. ;) Zippet-do-da, zippety-yah!!!! Oh ya, when at Apache Sands, I talked to the manager who is also a golfer. He said he was a tire technician for years but now the manager. He said he skinned up his knuckles many times when he wasn’t paying attention. Huh, interesting.


When I pay attention to what folks say who did something before, it usually works a lot better. When we were at the Grand Canyon and standing at the top of Angle Trail, two gals came up the trail from the bottom. We asked them—how was it—they said, TERRIBLE! They looked like they were going to die. I don’t think they had PPP a.k.a. proper prior planning. I had the opportunity to do it maybe 5 years ago and yes, it’s no cupcake folks. But you got to have PPP. I have communicated with a guy here in the Valley who gave me his blog of his training and hike. If any of you have hiked the Canyon or plan to, you might enjoy his blog. Pay attention to it!!!!! http://canyonwonders.blogspot.com/

These guys were paying attention all right. Remember folks, it’s all driven by $$$$$! Three guys were fishing on a lake one day, when Jesus walked across the water and joined them in the boat. When the three astonished men had settled down enough to speak, the first guy asked humbly, "Jesus, I've suffered from back pain ever since I took shrapnel in the Viet Nam war. Could you help me?" "Of course my son," Jesus said. When Jesus touched the man's back, the man felt relief for the first time in years. The second man, who wore very thick glasses and had a hard time reading and driving, asked if Jesus could do anything about his eyesight. Jesus smiled, removed the man's glasses and tossed them in the lake. When the glasses hit the water, the man's eyes cleared and he could see everything distinctly. When Jesus turned to heal the third man, the guy put his hands up and cried defensively, "Don't touch me! I'm on long-term disability."

AverageJoe says--Ya gotta pay attention erv and appreciate life; you are one lucky dog a.k.a Riley!  Another Secretariat sent me this statement--...Do you think when social security was implemented that anyone ever dreamed people would be using their check to play golf in AZ during the cold Iowa winters? – I suspect not – and hope not. You’re one of the lucky ones Erv and most importantly (I think) you are smart enough to recognize it. Enjoy!

GeorgeTheCrook says—Usually when a guy doesn’t pay attention, stuff happens. The stuff is usually bad! MissPerfect says—If I do my homework (i.e. pay attention) life seems to go much better. Well for me, if I get cocky, get toooooo aggressive or not aggressive enough, don’t ask questions, think I know everything, become pre-occupied, I have problems ‘cause I don’t pay attention. But I’m a guy!

It has taken me some time to get use to riding bike on the streets here in the Valley.  Most streets have bike lanes but even with that, it's scary for me when folks are driving their car at 45 mph a couple of feet from ya.  I really try to pay attention but I can't control the actions of someone else.  I ride right in the traffic when I want to turn etc.  ANYWAY  I was riding to Sun Life 55+ community to play ping pong with the boys.  A gal was on a bike on the sidewalk and asked me to stop as I was in the bike lane.  She said some guy was stalking her in a car.  What?  Ya he keeps turning around and I'm scared.  May I ride with you--sure--guys are weird and scary--hey, I'm a guy--yabut you aren't!  Now how does she know that?  I think it was 'cause I had my ping pong paddle strapped to the back of my bike (i.e. now that is something you see a lot of folks--real normal I bet she thought).  I bet that was it!  She just paid attention to that.  I wonder if she was legitimate or mentally ill or just a gal?  Such is life.

Their are a lot of snowbirds from Canada down here in the Valley.  Oh ya!  His & Hers Diaries - A True Canadian Story (i.e. I think these folks were from Thunder Bay)--HER DIARY Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a bar to have a drink. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong. He said, 'Nothing.' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.' When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. To my surprise, he responded to my caress, and we made love. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.  HIS DIARY My Snowmobile wouldn't start today, but at least I got...!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean says--Laughter is the sunlight of the soul!

PS—Here is something that helped a friend. He says it’s really good. Sooooooo pay attention.

http://lifehacker.com/5725282/how-to-create-and-stick-to-a-realistic-budget-with-mint