102805 Friday

10/28/05 Friday
     I am sluggish this morning. Have no energy or motivation. Cherie didn’t wake me till 7:00 this morning. It took a while for me to wake up and I was grouchy, complaining because she didn’t wake me earlier because Friday is the day I meet Jeff for breakfast and I needed time to get ready. She also came back in with the newspaper and told me not to call the Toledo Blade because the paper did not make it up to our door. This time the paper delivery lady just threw it from the first or second floor and it landed on the steps. I told Cherie I would call the Blade because we pay to have the paper delivered to our door and the delivery person is paid to do so. Having a newspaper wrapped in plastic sitting on a stair step is a disaster waiting to happen. It cannot be easily seen and is slippery. A fall on stairs has the potential of causing serious injury and even death so I will call. Maybe I should write.
     I met with Jeff and as usual it is good to have someone to talk with. Jeff expressed the same thought. He asked a question that brings up an issue I need to address. I said something about my honesty with everything regardless of what others think. Jeff asked if I put down in the blog some of the personal things about him we discuss. I don’t think I do but I better look and see. I have contemplated writing a page just for the Blog but some days I do good to write anything. I am planning on publishing the rest of the journal which goes back four years and covers much of this incredible journey I have been on since waking from the coma. I will need to edit it to protect some of those I am close to. Perhaps change their names or something.
     We talked about my release from probation, the progress of his divorce, work, the court system, and other things like medical uses for marijuana. I also expounded on the church and my views of how the Christian religion has evolved over the 2000 years of it’s existence. I think it has, in it’s many versions, become easy street for most and only has a rudimentary resemblance to the early church.
     Cherie just came home for lunch. I am running at about a six on the Bob scale. Not fast, not slow. It is a beautiful day out. Sunny and around fifty degrees. That works for me and I am comfortable without a coat because of the change of my body’s temperature control mechanism or something from the brain damage.
     I watched Dr. Phil this morning and it was about addiction to pain killers, a subject near and dear to my heart. I beat this addiction and now hope to help Allen beat his. I was hoping to learn something that would help but I am already up to speed with what he covered. The people he featured were successful everyday moms. Not at all what you picture when the term “drug addict” is used. These are people who were prescribed medication for problems and it evolved into an addiction. They were generally able to hide their problem and few if any around them, including spouses, had a clue.
     Fred called and asked what I was doing Monday. I let him know it was a clear day so I scheduled him for a hair cut and shopping. He needed some basic groceries so I took him to the Pharm where I was his eyes as usual. As I would tell him “That’s vegetables, these are green beans, that is corn.” some  shoppers would hear and kind of give me their appreciation of what I was doing. That makes me feel good though I don’t care about impressing anyone.
     After carrying Fred’s groceries up to his apartment I took the request for financial help at YMCA to them and then went shopping. With Fred I was fine other than the headache but by the time I got to Miejer’s I was limping. This instability drives me crazy. I never know what is going to work or when. This is a big reason some of the church people thought I was faking. I would be sharp then I would seem like I was doped up. I walk fine and then I am limping badly. The assumption that I am in pain when I limp does not hold true. I am in varying degrees of pain all the time but the limp is not at all related to that at all.
     I started to slow down when Cherie came home and could feel the headache coming. I’m not too bad, about a five. That is another part of the instability that frustrates me. It’s like being on a roller coaster. There are highs and lows that can vary in their intensity without predictability.
     It is 3:19 now. I am tired and think I will take my afternoon nap. Those usually refresh me but sometimes seem to just make me more tired. I took my second pill.
     I almost went to sleep but not quite. Cherie had called earlier and told me how tired she was. We decided to go get Chinese at a restaurant near here. It is called Yang’s. I was impressed with the place. Their menu was four or five pages long with lots of stuff on it that sounded good. The service was as good as I have seen. Plates were whisked away soon after they were finished. The food was good also but my shrimp was a little salty. The problem with that is my sense of taste is dramatically affected by my brain damage. Some days I can hardly taste a thing and on occasion I taste every subtle nuance of the food. Kind of makes it hard for me to have a reliable opinion of food. Guess I won’t qualify to be a food critic in the paper. Oh well. Every thing tastes good to me with few exceptions. I did try a glass of Sake because I don’t remember ever having it before. Now that I could taste and don’t like at all. The problem is the next time I go to a restaurant I probably won’t remember ever having it or if I liked it or not. I always ask Cherie to remind me I don’t like something if we ever go back to a place.  
     We are both tired and laid down for a while. I seem to be renewed and the headache is moderate now. There is a show coming on at 8:00 or so about the political power of the evangelical churches. We both want to see that. I have my issues with that. Especially when politicians like Bush spout an ideology that appears to be designed to get that portion of the vote and then don’t practice what they preach.
     I now turn to the Christian TV station to study how many are fleecing the flock and the methods used. That station is infomercial city accepting anyone who pays for air time. These programs often are under the guise of Christianity and thus fool the viewers and gain their trust. Hey! These are men of God. They wouldn’t lie to us. (sarcasm is intentional) These are cleverly put together sales jobs that use every technique I used to teach corporations. Then Benny Hinn came on and he is one of the best when it comes to deception along with James Robinson. He had a guest on and I was amazed at how he twisted the scripture to convince the audience to call in and donate. I am sure that when you call you will get an operator who is well trained in sales and how to increase the amount of the donation. Having founded and built a telemarketing company I understand this better than most. As I watch I have to wonder at how stupid many Christians are to buy into this stuff. There is a reason these infomercial people flock to Christian stations across the country. Here is where they find the most gullible audience. This is sad.
     Now we are watching the program on NBC with Tom Brokaw called in God they trust. He is interviewing a pastor named Ted Hagerd who leads one of the new mega churches called New Life Church. One of the things Ted said is that they are making Christianity easy. Tom also pointed out how profitable these churches are.
     After the show Cherie and I talked about God and religion. I expressed the doubts I have about God and my observations of Christianity today. It was a good talk and one of the things we concluded was that no matter what the rest of the world does we have each other and find a stability in our love for each other that is more dependable than anything else.
     It is 11:00 now and I am wide awake and lucid. This is prime time so I want to get as much done as I can. Cherie is going to call it a night. I think I will go ahead and publish this and then investigate the trial program I down loaded that makes publishing photos easier. Good night all. God bless and thanks for reading this. If I can figure out how I have some pictures I would like to include on the blog.