http://www.musebooks.com en Barbara J. Hamby Copyright 2010 Barbara J. Hamby 2010-03-09T04:26:30+00:00 http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/burning_up_the_highways/ http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/burning_up_the_highways/#When:04:26:30Z I traveled into Southeast Portland on I-5 today in fairly light traffic. Had a very enjoyable lunch discussion with other alumni of the Kaiser weight loss maintenance study. Then I went to Vancouver via I-84 and I-205 on cruise control to have my taxes done. My taxes would be fairly simple were it not for the Railroad Retirement. Nothing they do is simple. However, this year my old friend at H&R Block didn’t even charge me after figuring out that I don’t need to file returns, much less pay anything. She did insist that I come visit her next year anyway. We’ve been doing this gig for 20 or more years, so we feel like old friends even though we only see each other once a year. Because I was able to leave there by 2:20 p.m., I arrived at home thirty minutes later. When I left home, new neighbors downstairs were just opening up their rental truck to unload furniture. I thought I’d miss all the excitement, but when I got back, he was still unloading. He has extra help now and they are finishing up with hail coming down. They have to carry everything down a flight of stairs to a basement apartment. It snowed a bit before they finally got everything out of the truck. Another neighbor was also moving in today, but hadn’t started when I left and her movers’ truck pulled away just after I returned, so I missed out on that one. She had professionals doing the job, thus it was much faster. For the first time in a couple of years, all the units in this four-plex/duplex corner are filled. We’re looking forward to getting acquainted with new neighbors. Barbara J. Hamby's Blog 2010-03-09T04:26:30+00:00 http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/in_case_anyone_wonders/ http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/in_case_anyone_wonders/#When:05:16:09Z In response to any of my few readers who might be curious, I received an answer from the writer whose book I contributed to, so she is very much alive. She is recovering from severe hot grease burns on her leg, but the book is nearly finished, she says. Also, I’m continuing to read the psychiatric case histories and warming up to the writer. My best news this week is that my TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) chapter elected a new leader this week. As of April 1st she will take over my duties and I will become Co-Leader, and that’s not an April Fool’s joke. Now maybe I can start losing weight again. I was doing great until I took over the Leader spot. In the last few days I’ve sorted through stacks of pictures I took in South Africa in 1998. It’s hard to decide what to keep, but I did toss quite a lot. I have to wonder how often I might look at them in the future. The best of the bunch have already gone into an album and I’m not sure it’s worth my time to make any more albums for the same trip. There are still many more pictures to go through—both hard copies and on the computer. But at least I’ve started. Barbara J. Hamby's Blog 2010-03-07T05:16:09+00:00 http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/reading_habits/ http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/reading_habits/#When:05:39:33Z In retirement, I have more time for reading than I’ve ever had before and I often am reading two or three books at once. Right now I’m reading a self-help book and a collection of disguised case histories by a psychiatrist. While trying to wade through the Prologue of the case histories, I began to form a dislike for the author. Turning to the back cover to see the writer’s picture, I found the face to be not warm and fuzzy or smiling and kind, but stern looking. That didn’t help any. But, I had bought the book, so felt compelled to read it. When I came to the chapter titled, “Fat Lady,” that was the last straw. I do not like this person who admitted a phobia against fat women. Most of my life I’ve been a fat woman. Now I’m not thin, but a somewhat less fat woman than in the past. But I found the stories to be interesting and so I forged on. I am hopeful I’ll discover redeeming qualities in this doctor that will change my opinion. As I write this, I’m listening to a program on public television presented by Daniel Amen, author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Body that is fascinating. I think I’m going to have to get that book, also. This man appears to be very likeable, as well as full of energy and useful information. In the meantime, I probably need to go to the library and pick up another murder mystery or best-selling novel for light reading, to balance my input. Barbara J. Hamby's Blog 2010-03-05T05:39:33+00:00 http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/a_mystery/ http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/a_mystery/#When:05:11:07Z Tonight on Facebook I found pictures of a writer friend in a hospital recovering from leg injuries. She lives across the country and the last time I heard from her was in late 2008. She was writing a book with the working title of There Is Life After Fifty, and had asked me, and other writers over 50, to contribute a chapter. When we were in Maui in 2008, she sent me an email asking for my input. I sent her my chapter and she wrote back later in the year to ask for my mailing address so she could send me a copy of the book when she completed it. When I went to the Internet tonight and searched her name I found an obituary for someone with that name who died February 14th of this year. After doing more research on the web, I decided to send her an email at the last address I had to see if I get a response. It seems unlikely there would still be information placed on her Facebook page after her death. I was really looking forward to seeing her book, so I hope the report of her death is “exaggerated,” as the old quote goes Barbara J. Hamby's Blog 2010-03-03T05:11:07+00:00 http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/writer_or_writer/ http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/writer_or_writer/#When:04:40:00Z I have called myself a writer ever since a writing workshop about fifteen years ago when the instructor informed us, “If you write, you’re a writer.” Today I read a newspaper article about Ursula LeGuin, who at my age, has written fifty books. Clearly, we are not in the same category. I’ll call the difference, writer (me)—WRITER (Ms. LeGuin).We have two things in common: we were born in the same year and in the same state, California. The commonalities end there. I don’t even read science fiction, but after reading about her life, I think I should pick up at least one of her books. That is, when I finish one of the three books I’m now reading simultaneously. I think reading more than one book at a time is good exercise for an old brain. I’m not sure any of those folks who put information out on Facebook should be called “writers.” I’ve had a hard time seeing the value in Facebook until this week. My son-in-law was hospitalized for two days to stabilize his heart rhythm. Now that’s he’s home, he and my daughter have received many messages of concern from friends on that venue. Probably people who might not take time to send a card or letter, will dash off a line on Facebook, and I’m sure it’s heartwarming for my daughter and her husband. However, some of the information shared by Facebook users is pretty boring. Seeing the names and faces on there, though, lets me know those “writers” are still alive and able to push keys down. Barbara J. Hamby's Blog 2010-03-01T04:40:00+00:00 http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/the_neighborhood/ http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/the_neighborhood/#When:06:10:53Z Before I moved into this apartment more than three years ago, I hadn’t lived in a rental unit for many years. Most of the apartments in this complex are arranged in a traditional way with hallways joining them together. I assume the occupants run into each other coming and going and get fairly well acquainted. Our unit is part of a four-plex, with an adjacent duplex. So there are six apartments all with separate outside entrances. I see people come and go through a window now and then, but rarely run into the close neighbors in the parking lot. Only the unit next door to us is still occupied by the tenants who were there when I moved in. I know their names and we have occasional short conversations. Once in a while, I see the husband in the swimming pool, or we will see both of them at a lunch or a dinner at the clubhouse. This last week I’ve seen the wife and daughter go to or from a car through my kitchen window. I’ve not seen the husband. I wondered if he’s ill. I hesitated to go ring their bell, in case he had passed away and I hadn’t heard. Today I finally ran into the wife as she went to their car and I came from mine. I took advantage of the opportunity to ask about her husband and learned he had been in the hospital with congestive heart failure, had an operation and is recovering at home. I feel a little sad that we don’t know our neighbors better. I think I have to relearn how to live in an apartment. Tonight my thoughts are with my daughter and son-in-law as he spends his second night in a hospital waiting for test reports. His atrial fibrillation has been stabilized and we wait to see what caused his collapse last night with very low blood pressure and high heart rate. Barbara J. Hamby's Blog 2010-02-27T06:10:53+00:00 http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/appreciation/ http://www.musebooks.com/barbara/hamby/info/appreciation/#When:05:30:43Z I’ve noticed that my appreciation of certain experiences has been heightened by either losing them temporarily, or nearly losing them permanently. Several years ago, after a bleeding ulcer slowed me down, I gave up drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages. Recently, I began drinking one cup of coffee a day and I truly enjoy each swallow. I know that in the days when I drank six to ten cups per day, I never enjoyed any of them as much as I do the one a day now. Several times in my lifetime I’ve had illnesses that made me wonder whether or not I’d recover. Each time I did, I became more appreciative of my life, at least for a while. Now that I’ve made it to 80, I realize how fortunate I am and I’m very glad to be here. Now if I can just survive all these late nights watching figure skating, maybe I’ll make it to 90, or at least to the next Olympics. Barbara J. Hamby's Blog 2010-02-24T05:30:43+00:00