Too Long

          I was told by a friend who reads my blog, that sometimes, they are a bit long. Also, this person, admittedly, doesn’t read so fast and it sometimes takes them longer to finish reading the entire entry. Such a dilemma. For that reason I’m going to do two things with this one just for them. The rest of you can follow along as usual.

          So here’s what I’ll do. I’m going to keep it short, and I’m going to write slower just because I know they can’t read fast. I want to make sure they keep up with the rest of the class. Cool? Now to the topic at hand.

          I was outside of an eatery that had designated handicapped parking spaces in unusual locations to say the least. They were, however, clearly marked and unmistakeable. One was near the roadside entrance to the parking lot and the other at the back/side of the building beside the delivery door. Clearly someone was not thinking when they were paid to design this convenience for our handicapped citizens.

          The people utilizing these clearly designated spaces all had the proper permits prominently displayed in the windshields of their vehicles. That’s not what I’m questioning here. I’m wondering how these permits are doled out. What is the criteria needed to obtain one of these windshield passes? They must hand them out like candy at Gramma’s house.

          I witnessed a number of vehicles park in these spots that all had permits clearly affixed in the windshield. But one struck me as odd and made me question the screening process of said permits.

          This was a contractor van that had its services of home renovations clearly emblazoned on the side. Now this seems like a pretty physical type of job. What is the handicap that allows you to have a parking permit and continue to do home renovations.

          So what is the handicap? Physical? No. They run their own contracting company. Mental? No. They run their own contracting company. I’m curious as to the criteria for these permits being issued. Am I Missing something here?

          Short and slow enough for you?

Time

          Looking back at how much time has passed since my last entry I feel I need to give you an explanation. Alright, maybe not a complete explanation because there really isn’t one. I could try to carry on about ooooh how busy I was, or how hectic things have been lately but, that would be a complete lie. I haven’t, and it hasn’t.

          The funny thing about the whole “I’ve been real busy lately” excuse is that nine times out of ten, whenever anyone, and I do mean anyone, gives you that line, they are totally bullshitting you. It is a complete and utter embellishment on a life that they want you to believe they actually have. The truth of the whole matter is that they let time get away from them and have not yet returned your call, or email, text, message (yes text and message are two different things), letter, note, posting, or suggestion. They forgot, I mean, I just plain forgot.

          I’ll speak only for myself here in this part, if only not to have to field the barrage of comments and emails with opinions to the contrary, even though you all have done this. Yes, all of you. We use the “I’ve been really busy excuse” way too often for fear that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth will not go over well without further questioning that would surely reveal the extent of the lack of “busyness” occupying our spare time.

I have met very few people in my life that are truly and honestly busy all of the time. And even they will have a certain amount of spare time allotted just for themselves so they can take time away from things like, well…us.

I’m here to tell you that I am not too busy. I have not been too busy. Nor do I intend to be too busy any time soon. Time has just gotten away from me, and within that period of time, I seem to have neglected certain things and people that I shouldn’t have. Namely this, and you. Plus maybe a few other people.

Nope, still not sorry. And for that and only that, am I really sorry. You’d think I would have some sort of guilt cloud hanging over me by now, but, nope. I do however, realize that I am way overdue with this next posting but still…nope…nothing…sorry.

How time passes is a matter of perspective because when I was young, time seemed to always take forever. Like waiting for the end of the school year and summer vacation. It takes forever to get here. Or waiting for your approaching birthday. We all tend to count down the days right until it happens.

Compare that to growing older. The older I get the more I seem to be asking myself “where the fuck did the time go this time?”. Kinda like now. You know, the whole late with the next post thing.

Not just because I haven’t written anything in a while is not the complete reason for this reflection of time. I celebrated a birthday recently and was reflecting upon my previous birthday experiences. Through the joy, the sorrow, the excitement, the surprise, the love, the laughs, and the tears, one thing always stuck with me.

There is always that one fucking idiot who asks you the single most dumbass question on your birthday. “So…do you feel any older? Yuk yuk yuk”. And they’re always the only one laughing at it, unless you are eight years old and hearing it for the first time. I would almost always fake a sarcastic chuckle, then pretended to notice something happening…away from them. Until this year.

This year I took the time to consider this, no longer such a stupid question, because this year, for no particular reason whatsoever, it made me think. Holy crap yes I do feel older. A lot older. My God I ache in places I didn’t know I had. I groan when I sit down. Don’t get me started on the whole getting back up business. My eyesight has gotten a little worse. I’m not sleeping as well as I used to. I can crack certain joints at will. Some other joints do it on their own unexpectedly. My feet hurt. My neck and shoulders are stiff. But as I considered all of this and more, I can still smile.

Considering what has transpired in my life within the last two and a half years, you’re damn right I can smile. And for the first time I can honestly answer that silly question.

Feel older? Yes. Yes I do. Because I am able to be older, and enjoy feeling all of it.