January 28, 2024
Flying to London tonight for our sales meeting. First time traveling out of the country for
the job. First time in London since 2001
or 2002? I’ve been at this job eight
years this year and recall during my interview when the HR person asked if my
passport was up to date. There was
speculation that our sales meeting would be in the UK. So, here I go. More later.
January 14, 2024
Instead of starting off that it has been so long since I wrote
a blog entry, I will stop and say that it’s good to be back. 2023 was the first full year, living with Meli. Our relationship is growing, and I am
grateful each day that we are together. Last
year, we went to some concerts, Mark Anthony at Prudential. It was the first and
last time I saw him. Juan Louis Guerra
at MSG which was a great show, Cheap Trick, Santana, Smithereens, and Duran
Duran. We also went to a Jets preseason
game, NASCAR in the Poconos, IronPigs baseball.
Trips to Costa Rica, Mexico City and a week in Maine. Of course, there were the trips back to Long Island. We finally saw a CC performance, a drag show. We went out to dinner many nights and took up
hiking, bike riding, joined a gym and have been working out consistently for close
to a year. I ran a half marathon and a 5-miler
last month. I finally got into fly
fishing. We had visits from family and
hung out with friends. My second novel
in the Bombastic Adventures in the Arizona Desert trilogy will be published by
Imzadi this year. Last year, an audio
book of Black Market Bones was published.
And our home has a new roof and siding and lots of plants and books. So, that is a brief summary of where we are
at.
But this is a time of reflection as well. And this is where I am. Yesterday, I had a coaching session with John
Joseph, former singer for Cro-Mags, Iron Man, a plant-based guru. It was an intro session. We need to know we
can work together and what was supposed to be a half hour turned out to be close
to one hour. I told him, I’d like to get back on task. My writing time and output has been minimal,
and it’s been this way for months. I get
in maybe 10 minutes a night and consolation were that is ten minutes more compared
to not writing at all. Walter Mosely writes
every day for hours and I was thinking, so can I. I used to get up and write before starting my
real job. I finished a novel, not in the
trilogy, that takes place in Ireland. But
since my wife is here, life is different.
She likes to have breakfast together each morning. Most mornings, I clean the dishes, make
breakfast, eggs, turkey sausage, we eat together, and I warm up her car and
scrape the windows off of any frost. I
used to drive her to work, and I am grateful that she’s driving. This saves a lot of time. But what am I doing with the extra time? I will be honest, not much.
Last year, I made the foolish decision to go back to Facebook. It’s different compared to when I was on it
back in 2017. There are now reels and
there are the same friends who are making the same comments, sharing new
pictures, happy for those who are expecting or been promoted or other positive or
not - life events which should we shared.
But most of it is whining, political or religious banter, regurgitating
of old garage bands, reliving the romantic past, but it was the reels that did me
in. Months later, I got off FB. It was difficult. There were a few aborted
attempts. It’s been months since I’ve
been there. Formerly Twitter, X was back
in my life as well, but again I realized I was in a place that was wasting my
time. It’s taking me away from my goals
and I am encountering posts that I don’t need to be exposed to. It all boils down to time management.
It is Sunday morning.
I woke up at 5:00. I want to
start waking up earlier, before Meli, so I can write. One of the suggestions
John made. Mission accomplished. It’s more than two hours since I started and
I am happy. John said many things yesterday
and I will hire him for more coaching sessions, but he said, I love what I
do. He also writes and is focused on his
projects, meals, workouts, and goals. I
am getting back. I haven’t had a drink
since January 1st. Meli and I
are on the road to transitioning to a plant-based diet. This year looks like it will be more productive
and just think, my phone is tucked away in the drawer to avoid any distractions.
Thank you for reading this,
Mike
