My typical day

I know it looks like I'm not doing anything. That is not true. This is an example of what I do on a typical day now. Of course, I write all of this out. In fact, I use an ap to rearrange the schedule on an ap that lets me move tasks around easily.

I wake up at a variable time, sometimes seven or earlier, sometimes as late as noon if I have insomnia. I spend 20-45 on breakfast. Usually, I'll watch a program while I eat (right now it's 13 Reasons Why). Tomorrow I'm going to spend 20 minutes after that entering data into my financial spreadsheet. I'll be learning Spanish next for 20 minutes (unless I make a mess of it, then it's 30). I'll get dressed, change the cat litter, take out the trash, shake out the bathroom rugs. That's less than a half hour. My morning walk is next, I'll probably walk by the neighborhood store along the way, because I'm short of tea. Afterward, I'll read for a half hour, some work of fiction. Right now, I'm reading a horror anthology. Then go through a lesson in Python (a computer language).

Why Spanish and Python? I just want to learn them. They take only forty to fifty minutes a day.

My family has a matter I have to attend to, by mail. With this new computer I bought, I have to bring it up to speed, and one thing I'm missing is my calendar. I'll power up my old computer and extract that, along with all the program downloads. Sometime there, I also have to figure out how to crack into the security of my external drive, which doesn't recognize me on the new computer. This will require some hard Googling.

By then, it should be time for lunch, about thirty-five minutes, watching some show. This I'll follow with dishes. Then I'll write in my journal and diary, (fifteen minutes) and I'll do a fifteen minute writing practice. It will be time for a second walk once I'm done. Now, I'd like to do some writing, but at this time, I'll have to spend it filling out a form. Then I might take another walk. All the walks are fifteen minutes, and I try to do three of them.

I'll end the day showering and shaving and then having dinner. I might call a relative who I've been wanting to talk to for some time. Finally, I'll make out my schedule for the next day.

I lied when I said this was a typical schedule. Usually I get some writing in. However, that's been preempted by requirements of getting my new computer up to one hundred percent. I'm trying to do more and more writing. But what do I cut? The cat litter? No! The walking? I need some exercise, and I'll go nuts staying in this apartment. Dishes? Watching my money?  

What about the evening? Usually any fiction I write then has to be redone. Also, I take naps between all of that. I just found that there's no use in my bearing down and trying to work through the mental tiredness that hits me irregularly. It comes on with a headache, confusion and a bad mood. If I try to work through that, I just mistake after mistake. Maybe it has to do with nine concussions? So far, neurologists haven't been able to tell.  

Finding my life

A lot has changed in my life, not least of which was my father passing away on April 14th. In a sense, I began to mourn for him in 2014, when he almost burned down his house, cooking a ton of bacon for his grandchildren, who were visiting. Except they weren't. That was when we could no longer deny his dementia. We wouldn't think in those terms, because Lewy Body Dementia, and related syndromes like Alzheimer's, are terminal. No hope.

After that, he was never really there again.

If you want to prevent later dementia, sleep. If there was one thing about my Dad, it's that he deprived himself of sleep. And latest research suggests sleep deprivation is linked to dementia later in life. Here's a Ted Talk by Jeff Illiff that explains how and why. 

Since his death, I've had so much additional time. My family has pretty much left me alone. I use the time to write, read and take few home courses, in Spanish and Python. But most importantly, I can finally finish stories and get my writing career going.

I hope it's going before Trump destroys the economy. Yes, I think he'll destroy the economy. His immigration policy will hurt the White working class, though it does hurt the immigrants more.

I did get a tablet computer for my trip to San Francisco. I didn't want to lug around a laptop. I thought I was going to give it spot use after the trip. Actually, it's completely redone my life. I have learning apps. I have an app called ColorNote that allows me to list every task I need to do, and switch its position without any trouble.

Still, I need to get more time committed to writing. It's strange that when I finally measure the day and see what I can fit into its hours, how time is always the shortage. I discover this in different ways all the time.

I think I'm going to lie down for a while and see if I could restore some of my energy.