A still small voice kept saying “acquiesce.”  I vaguely knew the word but wanted the professional definition. I believe Jesus, my Lord and Savior is “my comforter,” and God, my Heavenly Father winces when I complain about old age.

Yesterday, an appointment with an eye doctor (after weeks of waiting). On Sunday evening, I consulted Google maps and had foreknowledge of where I was going. I was en route at 7:30 because I had been instructed to be there at 8:00. I wanted the alternate route but the woman’s voice on my Garman went ballistic saying “recalculate.” She was insistent that I go to I–35. Honestly, Waco traffic terrifies me and the 340 Loop is (perhaps) as busy as the Interstate. Construction on I–35 makes traffic a nightmare!! #1: I have anxiety just leaving home; #2, Waco traffic terrifies me; #3, Garman was extremely unsatisfactory!! I didn’t write down the mileage at my destination but undoubtedly more than the originally indicated “eighteen miles.”

New patient paperwork, wait, conversation with an assistant, wait, then the eye doctor followed by another wait. Finally, I received the report on my vision. On a scale of one to ten, my cataracts are a seven. I was told surgery would not help me read “the tiny print” so I declined surgery. Furthermore, I have onset Macular Degeneration and there is no cure for that.

The doctor put drops in my eyes so my vision was “fuzzy” for hours. For the first time in my less-than-one-year experience with a SmartPhone, I checked “maps.” What a surprise when a pleasant woman’s voice started talking to me and gave me specific directions to the nearby Panera. For more than an hour, I “hung out” and enjoyed flatbread pizza and lemonade. Then I drove around the strip mall and decided to browse a Dollar Tree. Honestly, I was very uncomfortable to be “out in public” so I consulted the map on my SmartPhone and the woman’s pleasant voice directed me to 340 Loop. I was home at 2:30 PM and I had driven a total of fifty-five miles. What a relief to be home!! (“Yes,” I had more pizza [the other half] for my evening meal.)

Nightmare  (daymare) experiences!! I’m back home safe and sane. Details later.

Maybe, just maybe, I can devote an hour a day to “downsizing” the thousands of old Gmail messages? (But I’d rather climb trees.)

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Here is an example of “why I love to climb trees.”  I see strange surnames.

This is a “screenprint” of a “document” that required hours to prepare. Numerous people, lots of dates… (and I don’t want any errors). My tired old brain doesn’t know how to get the “document” into the records for these individuals.  When I insert into the Gallery for an Ancestry individual, the link sends the viewer to my email address and that is unacceptable. I’ll figure it out or my genealogy cousin will provide the answer. Explanation: Because of the way I “formatted,” it cannot be “copied” from A to B.

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Here’s the “back story”: Several days ago I found “Hettie” Deeter (1842-1870) attached to two different sets of parents. While researching the families, I stumbled on the marriages of siblings in one family to siblings in another family. ~~ The same surname but different branches of the tree.

Postscript and another screenprint. Unplanned, I saw that the recent research project added one-hundred seventeen individuals to my database. Remember, it has only been three days since I documented 55,555 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, forty-eight hours).  🙂

Lorraine is older than Social Security.

My retirement benefits from Los Angeles County allow me to live a comfortable life. I praise God, my Heavenly Father, for the gumption—in 1967—to drive sixty-five miles (from Lancaster to the Hall of Administration) to apply. Traffic terrifies me!! My Los Angeles County jobs were in Lancaster (praise the Lord). I would have starved to death long ago if I had to rely on Social Security.

How interesting!! (I’m older than Social Security; I didn’t know that.)

Lorraine,

On this day in 1935, FDR signed the Social Security Act into law. It changed life for millions of Americans. It gave retirees support to see them through their later years, and it made a promise to working people: that when their working years were done, they would have an income for life.

As America marks 86 years of Social Security, a new commissioner, appointed by President Biden, is about to take charge of the agency. And that new commissioner will have an impact on the retirement security of all public service retirees.

Now is a great time to stand up for Social Security, for ourselves and future generations. In honor of the anniversary today, will you add your name to our petition calling on the new commissioner to protect Social Security?

At the signing ceremony for the Social Security Act, FDR called it “a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means complete.” By standing up for Social Security today, we aren’t just defending retirees’ hard-earned benefits — we’re also honoring the vision FDR put forth 86 years ago.

Sign the petition to show the new Social Security commissioner that retirees aren’t backing down — it’s time to protect Social Security for the long haul.

Thanks for raising your voice with us!

In solidarity,

Ann Widger
Director, AFSCME Retirees

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Building my Ancestry  database is a good thing. Neglecting the humungous number of Gmail messages is inexcusable!! It’s too hot to work on outdoor downsizing projects so I’ll salve my conscience working on an indoor downsizing project.

Everything was normal!! I was in a Church and it was crowded with people. We went to a crowded restaurant for a delicious meal. I awakened but was still feeling “good” about the dream experience; I didn’t want to get up. I got out of bed but I’ve been weeping.

Postscript: Folks who know me and/or folks who have followed my blog know I have practiced health and nutrition for half my lifetime. I’ve chosen to NOT be vaccinated for the Coronavirus. Therefore I am a pariah (according to the TV news). Furthermore, according to the TV news (according to “the Left”), I am “the enemy”  because (in their words) “people in the suburbs flying the American flag are the enemy.”

A very good day!!

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