Dieting Is A Pain In The Ass

I can't call it a diet really. I have changed what I eat over the past 5 years, watch what I eat and log in to MyFitnessPal app EVERYTHING I eat. I don't cheat on that logging procedure no matter how hard I fall off the wagon into great junk food, pastries, chips,  ....  you know, all the good stuff.

I've tried Paleo, Mediterranean, Keto, Vegan, Lacto-Vegetarian, Blood-Type Diets along with my own by adding some 'personal modifications' to those just mentioned.

I was in utter shock when I found out that any blend of Ben&Jerry's ice cream wasn't included. That is almost UN-American !!!!!! I LOVE ice cream and especially Ben&Jerry's. Cost of it be damned!!!  Can't I even have two scoops a week?? I can't do a scoop for any length of time because the word "scoop" is not in my vocabulary ... "whole container" is right at the top, under The 10 Best Ways To Eat Ice Cream.

After years of staying away from the beef, except for a Nick's Stromboli once or twice per year, I was happy to see that the Paleo Diet was letting me have one of these. Now any smart dieter knows it would be best to cut this in half or into 4oz portions, or whichever is smaller ... but I don't recall anyone calling me a smart dieter. I have heard "where do you put all of that food you eat" but not 4oz portions.

The Paleo Diet and the Keto Diet told me I need to eat lots of FAT and PROTEIN .... buy bacon again, ham, pork, all that good tasting stuff and have it for breakfast too. I did and the amazing thing was, within days of eating the Paleo Diet way ALL of my heartburn disappeared ... within days!!!

I tried the Keto Diet last spring only for short period of time. When I couldn't have my normal portion of pasta, or even a tiny weeny bit of pasta I knew that my chances of being a "Ketonite" were slim and none. I would be up to 16 carbs in a 15-20 carb limit by two cups of coffee first thing in the morning because my brain requires two teaspoons of pure granulated sugar per 12oz cup of coffee. (Black coffee this morning) See what I mean .... the Keto Diet and I weren't friends for very long.

Now one thing it did do, it helped me measure out my portions with a measuring cup and this 1cup of dried pasta is now my new portion size when I have pasta, which is few and far between. That chip on the edge of the plate took place when I left the house one night for a short 10 minute junk food trip.

Stella had the run of the house and was sound to sleep on the couch with Heidi when I left. While I was gone she must have smelled food on the plate sitting on the counter waiting to be washed. By the time I got home that plate and it's co-plate were on the floor ... the 2nd plate was smashed into 4 large broken pieces. I guess that was Stella's way of telling me JUNK FOOD IS NOT ALLOWED!!!!

I tried cooking in advance. What better way than to slow cook some homemade 15-bean soup with Cajun spices when colder weather hits. There again I have some issues. I admit it. I stand tall saying my first name and telling the world "I am a mess" when it comes to food portion control.

Just because you pat yourself on the back for a job well done after eating only 2 measured cups of this, that doesn't mean the game is over and you will be awarded. Hell no!!! NOT EVEN CLOSE !!!!

Those regular size soup bowls that come with any cheap set of dishes just doesn't hold a lot of bean soup, if you know what I mean. So I had a BIG choice .... a LOT of those 2 cup bowls or serve it in a bigger bowl and make fewer trips from the football games on tv to the kitchen. Guess who won? Not the game ... which size of bowl.

Within 48 hours of the first bean coming out of that crocpot .... that stuff was GONE !!!!

So I decided I need to start doing some aerobic exercise. What better way to get your pulse rate up than with games of Mahjong Deluxe while trying to get rid of those tiles as fast as possible. 160 games total and I even set a goal. Exercise and goals ... what could be better??? You can see I was already more than 7 seconds behind by the time I set my iPhone down, taking the picture.

My goal was to complete all the 160 games in under 3 minutes each. I admit I was out of shape when I started but like any kind of exercise you have to start out slow and build up your speed and endurance. It wasn't long before I cut my time in half, sometimes more. Currently I have only a few games left over 3 minutes completion time and I HAVEN'T LOST A DAMN POUND OF WEIGHT !!!!!

At the same time I read that for 'old' people hand and eye coordination is something that needs to be practiced. No better way than with your index finger on your laptop touchpad, moving fast to match two tiles and make them disappear. You would think if I sat at the table playing this game literally for hours ... the fat would just burn off of my body !!

I do from time to time get series about this dieting shit. I mean really serious. If you remember I am a man of extremes, all or nothing, $5 bets on the crap table or $,1000's at a time, drive the speed limit or fly way above it, feel good after an hour sleep and like crap after 10 hours of sleep .... on and on and on ... you get the idea. There is nothing in between in my life.

So this chart had me focusing on how I need to shop for groceries. The fat in Pale scared me with my family history of cardiac arrest, sometimes not having the best results. So I went Vegan for a while until I got tired of feeling lethargic all the time.

This gave me me too much heartburn, gone were the days of cold orange juice at 2am or 3am after waking up from a deep sleep, drinking it right out of the container ... just like milk. I LOVE orange juice but not quite as much as Ben&Jerry's ice cream.

I had flashbacks when I saw this on the shelf the other day at the local Super Walmart. Holy shit that stuff would change my personality drinking it some 30 some years ago. You talk about "WILD" ... damn. They labeled that whiskey right. I'll only say this, YES me and my three friends DID go to court that year when Whidbey Island WA has an unexpected 27" of snow in 24 hours. But .... we were young and dumb.

Whidbey Island might get a dusting of snow sometimes but no more than MAYBE an 1" at the most. I found this out in my research in 1984, when trying to decide if I wanted to move from the beach in Carlsbad CA, to the rock beaches of Oak Harbor, WA.

So how do you end up talking to a judge in a court of law?? With a lawyer, hired by you? Well what started off as a good Samaritan act in the neighborhood ... by blowing snow off sidewalks with high speed snowmobiles, turned into large quantities of Wild Turkey being consumed because it was cold out there in that freezing weather ... we needed something to warm up.

Of course you always come up with the best ideas when you are drinking ... especially that stuff in the picture. Oh yes .... we were about to become famous ... really famous.

Not only did we have smaller bottles of this under our North Face down parkas but we were also riding these snowmobiles all over Island County back roads, and AT TIMES crossing the major north south highway ... Hwy 20. I admit there were times that we might have been airborne with the snowmobile. It did feel like we were flying a few times.

Things were going pretty good. We were safe, drunk, cold and happy. Things turned exciting really quick. I mean really really quick ... just about the time all four of us on four different snowmobiles FLEW by this white car ... If I wasn't going so fast I might have recognized him as a Oak Harbor Police car .... he put on those bright flashing red and blue lights you hear other people talking about sometimes ... sometimes.

When you are doing over 70mph on those snow machines you tend to get way ahead of the chasing police car. WAY AHEAD .... but we were considerate and knew we were busted. All four of us stopped, turned our machines off, put the Turkey away and waited .... and waited ... while watching these red and blue lights along with headlights slide all over the highway from side to side ... to catch up to us.

He did thank us for waiting for him, asked us what brand name of machine we were riding. (We did not know that was for ticket purposes) That was as far as his amusement went. In the end it was an even trade off ... we keep the machines to ride back home (escorted) in trade for a ticket for speeding .... and numerous other violations.

All of us paid for that decision .... I am not sure with around 30 years of inflation, what our fines, court costs and lawyer fees would be in today's money. I do remember clearly eating a LOT of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after that for a LONG TIME. Not just for lunch either.

There are times I fall off the wagon hard.  It's 11:30pm and the west coast baseball games are just starting on tv. What better time than to run down to the local mini-mart for a 20oz coke, a small bag of chips and all that other junk food not seen in the range of the camera? Believe me, there is A LOT not in that picture. :) This is never good for diet discipline.

No more stuff like this for dinner ... all of that ... not allowed.

No more pizza at DeAngelo's Pizza in Bloomington.

No more pizza at Mother Bear's in Bloomington. Even the smaller size of pizza, and fewer slices still puts on the pounds fast as well as sending your carbs goal for the day out of this world.

No more opening this, just pouring it over ice in my blender and dreaming of the times on the beaches at Rosarito Beach south of Tijuna at the Rosarito Beach Hotel in the late 1970's. Great times, great memories, great people.

Due to allergic reactions I rarely have a beer anymore. I think I have one or two beers a year when friends fly in to break bread at a local eating establishment.

While I was using this last year to change the oil in my Z4 I had a splendid idea ... but I'm not an engineer. What if .... I could slide that rubber tube down my throat into the internal fat surrounding my stomach ....  then pumping that pump with the black handle to build up the pressure needed for extraction .... hmmmm, I'll have to put more thought into that. That would be much faster than any stupid diet. Don't you think?

It does say on the label it is "Multi-Purpose" .... Vacuum Pump ... oil from an engine or fat surrounding my stomach, what's the difference?

I stare at the bottom of my feet sometimes, with this chart in hand but I have no idea where my answer is for losing weight. I am stuck at 202 unless I eat too much pasta .... then 206 ... but that is better than the 214 in May 2018 ... or the 230 in November 2010. I've set my calorie intake at 1,500 per day. Most of the time I am within that range. My resting pulse is 48-52 bpm, top number of my blood pressure reading is never over 110.

I'm not that stupid though. I know the answer. I know the correct portion size I should have, the discipline it takes, and I know that I can't lose weight playing hours of Mahjong.

I need to ride this.

Or walk, jog or ride my mountain bike around the outside edge of this field.

If I rode the bikes, jogged or walked on a daily basis around that field, stayed away from pizza and pasta ...

COULD I HAVE JUST ONE OF THESE !!!!!

This Blog Is Going To Get Real

Hang on to your hats boys and girls. Be sure to buckle up because there is going to be a major change to the tone of this blog from here on out. Yes ... the hounds will still play a major roll role and it will have just as many photos as before. That rambling I use to do on the Hounds and Other Adventures blog will be a little more intense, more honest and eye opening. As you have heard some people say, "the shit is going to hit the fan."

So grab your popcorn because I think you will enjoy it.

What brought this on?

Well long time readers will remember that I have a tendency to go off the rails a little when the weather turns really cold. Not just colder but really cold. In the past that has moved me to think about selling out and moving west, an area where I lived for twenty years. That urge to sell and move isn't there this year.

It's something else and it's not just a spur of the moment thing.

It's actually something that started many years ago when I had this screaming voice inside me telling me I needed to write what was going through my mind, even in those dark periods I sometimes found myself in. Do 'the neighbors need to know though" ???

That old upbringing from growing up in the '60s where you kept everything private hit me up the side of the head. So in 2014 I chickened out and made that blog a private blog, where I could say anything I wanted and on any topic. I still write in it today. Keep that blog in mind during this story.

A few years later in one of my paranoid states of mind, I was sure that Blogger was going to screw me and my blog by either shutting it down, delete it or lock me out. So I made another private blog on Blogger as a backup and transferred every file and every photo from the Hounds and Other Stuff blog to that blog.

It didn't stop there.

During those times when I didn't feel like blogging publicly and even deleted that blog a few times, I was still blogging on my private blog about everything. Including photos of house problems, routine car maintenance, that tick on the back of my head that I could barely reach to remove it. You get the idea. It wasn't just about RVs and Hounds I was writing about privately.

There is actually some humor in that blog ... something I thought I was getting away from in the current public blog.

So there are THREE active blogs. In one of them I could be HONEST in those blogs, say anything that was on my mind, cuss if I wanted to or write down and publish privately my weirdest insane thoughts -- for my eyes only.

Why?

I never been like that in real life. I've always been opinionated as far back as high school while writing required essays but pissing off my English teacher by my opinions. That's a hard thing to get away with when your dad is a co-teacher of hers. Anyway that's a whole different story.

What I wanted to say was HONESTY. On this blog and on Hounds and Other Adventures blog I have tried to be too political correct, mild mannered, and even a little scared with "what would they think" if I wrote like that? I became too concerned about putting it all out there for all to read. I curled back into a corner of a recluse, trying to be private as possible. What fun is there in that.

I know for a fact I have quit reading blogs that were too boring. I've said a few times in the past that I felt the blog had become too boring, the photos were too boring and I'd stop writing for a while. I like to write. I like to ramble from my scrambled brain cells and put it down on paper. I also love taking photos of my hounds and catching their personalities. I can look at them years from now after they are gone, remembering what great hounds they were.

So for a long time when I would read a blog like I did this morning over at The Wild Heart of Life I use to tell myself "I wish I could write openly like that on my public blog." But no, I hid in the corner and wrote all the good stuff in private where no one was going to see it except me and those that get into my computer after I die.

Over the past two months I cannot tell you how many blogs I set up with a new email account tied just to that blog, with plans of breaking through to the other side as Jim Morrison sang once, where I would blog honestly and out in the open for all to read. I'd include those crazy and insane thoughts I have or those that might make you leave and never come back.

My problem is this ... my mind gets restless sometimes. This next photo is about the only way I can explain it.

All of those points apply to me without a doubt. That #10 had disastrous results.


It is not the first time I have mentioned my life seems to go from one extreme to the other, nothing in between. Just like many people I have mood swings, wild range of thoughts and ideas to the point that sometimes I seriously wonder what is wrong with me. Was I dropped as a young child and wasn't told about it? Did I get into my mother's meds as a young child but fail to remember it? Why do I feel that way?


Yet I've taken great pride at times knowing that most likely I am not "wired right", that I am really not like everyone else. You are talking to someone that use to be the 'life of the party'. For example during a night of drinking with co-workers in February 1989 I bet $100 they could not drop me from riding on top of a speeding rental van on Hwy 50 in Nevada. I hung onto the roof rails on each side. I was told the next day at work we were up to a 110mph. I would have never felt a thing if I had fallen off, plus I would have lost the bet.

I have enough stories like that to write a book. Friends have suggested for years that I do just that. Instead I will write about one or two of them on this blog in the future .. maybe three.

So where were we .... ah yes, a little different blog from now on.

You'll see how the hounds Heidi and Stella keep me in line, within the boundaries of sanity. The hounds past and present have always been my #1 priority.

Speaking of extremes, take this as an example. I eat a pretty healthy diet but there are times I have to fall off that wagon and have one of these 12" Stroms at Nick's in Bloomington Indiana. More than one bartender has told me that I am one of the few they have seen that can eat it all in one setting.

By the time I drive the 25 miles home, I am headed for a nice afternoon siesta.

There is a salad in back so that would make it healthy lunch, wouldn't it? My other weakness is a burger at 5Guys'. They are so good that I usually buy a regular size plus a 'junior' cheeseburger as my second sandwich. How could anyone resist those two sandwiches? I don't eat those often but when I do I have no doubt that my chlorestoral increases a short time afterward.

Those extremes have also played in where I live or have lived in the past. Why can't I be just normal and live a quiet conservative life, I ask myself sometimes. Well I have, on the blog called Hounds and Other Stuff.

I have gone from living in these two places ---

 

To here ---

See what I mean?

As usual before I can finish a long post that started with good intentions, I have lost my train of thought. I can't remember where I was in this post nor what I was going to say. Give me a second.

What was blog #4?  In November 2017 I hopped over here on Wordpress and started a blog with an idea that I would spend less time on the computer and still furnish photos of the hounds. I did a one paragraph introduction and 7-10 photos. Nobody came and after a year I had one follower with better quality photos. That blog is now this blog. Get it??

Blog #5 I just started December 2nd as a way to put that screaming voice of mine on stage. That's what I'd do ... I'd write anonymously, under a different name ... THEN I could be honest, outspoken and write about the thoughts of a retiree in today's world. How chickenshit is that??

I know that I spend way too much time in front of this keyboard but it's not like I can go out and mow the lawn when it's 21° So what else can I do besides blog. That's what I wanted to say .... I want to go from FIVE blogs to ONE blog !!!!!

I know this might be dangerous to do, to make this big of a change. After all I can hear the whispers in the background saying "all I ever wanted was just to stop by and see the photos of the hounds" ... believe me I understand, it's just that I have to do more. I want to write more and I don't want to hold back, then sneak off to my other blog in the darkness of my mind to write what I really want to write about.

I know you will not be the only one shocked at the changes, so will the hounds.

Will I talk about politics, the news or what I think of each? About all I can say right now is this ---

Yes ... I might toss out an opinion here and there about what's going on in the world today. For example I see both sides of the argument about immigration but one thing that irritates the hell out of me is the fact that 70% of illegal immigrants are living on welfare payments paid for by you and me.

As far as my thoughts about the world "going to hell in a hand basket" .... check this book out from your local library. You'll feel better after you read it and understand this isn't the first time we as people have screwed up mother earth, but it might be our last time.

 In the meantime while I gather my thoughts for future blog posts ideas .... I suggest you kick back and follow the rules of any basset hound worldwide. Relax and look forward to more honesty in my writing, even some humor and discover a demented mind.  :)

 

Because that is exactly the plan that Heidi and Stella have with these blog changes.

Because really in the end, even with all the crap going on in the world today ... each of us just wants to be happy. Here is a good start for that but I find a few of those are really hard to make the change. I'm trying my best.

I guess I got to the point of just not caring anymore what people may think of my blog writing. Not that I want to you to feel sorry for me because believe me I KNOW many people have had it worse or HAVE it worse than I do today ... but December is a month that my mom, whom I wasn't close to, died in December 2015, my all-time favorite basset hound Winston was put down less than a month later in January 2016.

Due to my relationship with the family I have left (brother and sister) I had to find out in March of 2018 that my dad, whom I loved very much, had died. Due to our 8 year estranged relationship I found that out in the local newspaper after the fact. Then this past September I lost my bloodhound Sadie which I still am trying to get over the pain of it.

So basically in a way I just don't care what responses my posts may get anymore. I'll write for me, I'll write what I want in a way I want and be like some of the other bloggers I follow that have the guts to lay it out on the line no matter what.

A friend of mind told me this a few hours ago when I broke the story to him.

"Writing openly is not "for others" but only for "ourselves". Personally it is my therapy ... and the bottom line is who gives a shit what others might think??? If you feel the slightest bit, the "you" will feel better, just do it and be proud and content with it ... Traffic does not matter ... what matters is "you" not me, not the readers but again "just you" as we are just passing through this life and trying the best we can."

With that I will close but I will tell you I do feel better with this announcement even a little excited again about blogging. At least it's another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Some Weird Rambling

For some reason I felt like writing early Sunday morning even before we took our morning walk and by the time I finish this long post consisting of a lot of weird rambling, questions running through my mind and photo commentary ... I might post it now and not wait until later this afternoon or tonight. A fair warning, there are a lot of photos and a lot of content to read on this post. Some of you may think I have lost my mind and am on the road to insanity.  LOL

Five years ago when I told my deadbeat neighbor, luckily he moved, that the bank was my property and do not burn it, he not only burned my 100' of bank along the driveway but also my four evergreen shrubs I had planted on top of the bank. I had hopes of blocking any view of his house and with those evergreens. After the shrubs did not recover, in June 2013 I cut them at ground level ... notice how much my property has sunk and is sliding down the bank.

This is nothing new, this area of the yard between the burn pile and my driveway, has been sinking for over 50 years based on what my cousin told me. She grew up just a few houses away. The seven acre field behind the house all moves to this part of my yard with a lot of underground water. I may eventually have to have a dump truck load of dirt brought in to level out the yard and rebuild some bank.

What also added to the faster erosion, six or seven years ago the local electric company cut down large trees on that bank that were under their power lines going to my house. They did that for a million miles of power lines, not really million but a large area of the county. Those large trees played a big role in keeping that bank stable and not eroding.

Right after Sadie jumped from the field into the yard she left a path of fine powder coming off those buds on the tall grass. Since my allergies didn't go crazy I was happy to see it wasn't pollen. It did bring out some new ideas for photos on this walk and I cannot remember seeing this before.

I am that the point of trying to decide whether to put all of my rambling at the bottom of this post instead of mixed with the photo commentary. I don't want to possibly confuse you by mixing in my weird thoughts with the photo descriptions or story. Believe me I have a lot to write about and a lot of questions ... maybe I'll do all of the scrambled brain cell stuff at the end of this post.

Stella was going to get her freedom back this morning and she did not hesitate in following the edge of the house before she turned right to walk up the slight incline, then left heading north into the field. I was fine with that but it was not until later I changed my mind ... something told me she might wander further than the neighbor's woods today and I did not want to take the chance of her getting on the highway. Better safe than sorry.

Not 20' into the field and my hiking boots, thin bicycling socks and feet were drenched with water. Where the grass was tall enough, my legs and the bottom third of my shorts were wet ... we had not even started the walk.

Sadie did her normal thing ... while I looked a little harder for our path that is worn in the field with our multiple walks per day. That is just how fast the field is growing. This seems to be one of the best looking grass field I have seen in years, without wild weeds or ragweed trying to grow.

I couldn't see Stella at first glance but saw her soon enough to see she was walking very fast with her head down. That thought of 'highway' didn't leave my mind ... I decided to go over and get her now instead of the end of the walk.

I made an immediate left turn through new territory and tripled the amount of heavy dew. It literally felt like I was walking in a shallow stream and I could see water running down the front of my legs ... my feet were squishing inside my boots with each step. Sadie was confused but turned to follow me toward Stella.

When I called her name, to my surprise she looked up at me and started waking toward us. Then we almost did something entirely different but not only did I not want to confuse the hounds I didn't want to confuse myself by changing a daily paradigm. That would be walking the whole half mile path in the opposite direction.

The reason that almost happened was after Stella caught up to us, I walked over to the alternate return path we take and stared walking on that path toward the middle field. For a minute or two I thought about walking the whole path in the opposite direction ... but why confuse the hounds. They have those two choices to make on our return where the path splits in two different directions towards home.

A short 10' right turn got all of us back on the normal path right before the first turn at the corner of the field.

Again you can see that 'dust' from the buds on top of the grass as Stella walks through the tall grass. I am sure this happens this time of year annually but I sure cannot remember it. Still when took my first sip of coffee I was confused thinking it was Monday morning but the highway had very little to no traffic at all. That shows you a little bit of where my mind is.

Yes, more of that 'magic dust' as Stella walk along our path.

I caught some of the saturation on this plant but I am once again seeing a lens that doesn't auto focus sharply on a shot like this. It's not the first time it's happened and I have wondered for months if there is something wrong with my lens or with my camera. Another example of where my mind is and what will be discussed later.

Stella is following me I guess since no path is visible until I walk through it. I can tell where it is but it's hard to see for those that don't do the walk with us.

Here is another example of not getting sharp focus when I have in the past. The lens moved trying to get it into focus but couldn't. It was always blurry in AF. So I changed the setting to Single Point and it still would not focus sharply on the flower. This was the best I could get.

With seasonal allergies affecting Stella, there is always time to scratch whether inside or outside.

I tried to get Sadie to face me so I could take a photo of her wet face and ears but she wasn't going to let me and would turn no further than this. As I type this I hear a bird chirping outside of my window. It is where the nest is on top of the electric meter. I wonder if she has had her babies.

I could have cropped this photo but wanting to show just how isolated this small daisy was in the field. I have not seen a lot of them. Well Sadie has come into the computer room and is staring at the window with the birds chirping. I think I am hearing more than one. She is too.

Again the lens fails to focus sharply on the buds. I even tried to step back, zoomed out, but I wanted a close up shot. I am still in range where the lens should work with a sharper photo.

For some reason today the hounds were pretty good on this walk with minimum verbal herding. They started down the alternate path until they saw me take the original return path to the yard. Thru turned my direction. We enter the yard in the same spot as we do when we start the walk when taking the 'original' return path.

Looking up ahead I could barely see the worn path we have followed for years. After the field is cut that path will show up as being a darker green than the rest of the field.

Slowly but surely Stella catches up with us before we walk into the yard.

So not only were my boots, socks and feet wet, so were their face, ears and legs. I notice a little mucus in Stella's left eye which is common this time of year. It's the same way with Heidi also, who was stretched out on the couch in a deep sleep when we left. The click of the camera shutter would have woke her and I did not want to do that.

Some of you may be wondering what's going on by now. What do I have to say that would make you stay here at the end of the page. Well it's taken so long to write this post and edit the photos that I have ALMOST lost my train of thought, thus what I was going to ramble about ... LOL

My mind is always thinking about something it seems. In the past I have analyzed what I was thinking and confirmed I was not insane but I might be a little crazy. Some accused me of that or let me know in the past when I asked some pretty strange questions, or talked about what was on my mind. It kind of scared them about my mental state ... so therefore I am just a little hesitant in the rambling today.

Where do I start ??

I guess I could say that even though I feel content most of the time, my mind seems to be conflicted on a lot of stuff. For example I consider myself a private person and for that reason I don't post on this blog everything that is going on in my life or on my mind like other bloggers do.

Yet I have this inner need it seems to have a lot of blog followers, comments etc ... all things that private, hermit like people do not want. A bigger reason is really that for some strange reason I have this urge to 'let it out' and write more openly.

Or ... I wanted to travel but found enough reasons a few years ago not to. Or .... to blog or not to blog, cancel all social media, get away from the electronic life of smart phones, tablets and computers ... then realized I have been on computers since February 1993 and I doubt that I will ever stop my computer time. It feels like it's too much at times.

The thing about blogging is I love to write and story tell as some call it. Some say I am good at it while others say I am terrible and write like a 7th grader. Blogging brought me back to an old hobby I had not done for 25 years ... photography. Which I enjoy doing and enjoy posting them here, on my Wordpress blog and a couple on Facebook.

So just as I have had these type of questions of going back and forth in my mind about all that I mentioned, this morning I received a couple of articles from websites I follow through Feedly that fed this type of rambling ... one was about starting a photography blog and how to do it. Another was describing how to get your digital photography out into the internet where millions of people can see them.

Of course to be a successful blogger now days or to build a huge following for your blog or that suggestion of an online photography file for all to see ... I would have to do everything that I have tried to delete or drastically decrease my computer/internet time using those platforms recently.

Things like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr etc.

This is not all I wanted to ramble about ... but again I have lost my train of thought and am having a hard time trying to remember what I wanted to say when I started this post. That really bothers me sometimes. Makes me wonder what is going on with me.

I have discussed all of this with a couple of close friends. One has traveled and blogged for years with millions of viewers on his blog, while my other friend has never blogged, doesn't read blogs and quit Facebook years ago although his wife and grown kids use it to keep in touch.

Oh, now I remember. I had read on another blog that it seems when you have a schedule written out ( I don't and won't while retired ) or a list of things to do, those rarely are followed or things don't get done just because there is a 'schedule' and a 'list'. Even though it's best to write them out and get them in front of you, it is still better to let life flow and do them as they come to you mentally.

Most of my retirement life if not all of it the past four years and two months, has been just that ... taking things as they come, if something I wanted to do doesn't happen then there is always tomorrow. I will keep it this way also.

This rambling is not about my 'to do' list that continues to draw dust.

Ah ... now it's coming back to me.

My rambling was all going to be about blogging and how those two articles this morning got me thinking even more about what I want to do. No worries, I am not stopping this blog but I am trying to get the guts to expand it ... and here is why.

In the past I have started blogs about different subjects, writing anonymous and would end up deleting those blogs a couple of days later. One reason was, if I don't want to take the time blogging on "Hounds and Other Stuff" then why am I taking time writing on that new blog about different subjects ???? Or, does anyone really care what I think of these things I have started a new blog about ???

Duh .....

The thing is I like to write. I write every day and at times I write on my two private blogs that only I can read. One is for a journal about cars, the house, maintenance, my thoughts in general living here THAT I DON'T WANT THE PUBLIC TO SEE. It helps when I have gaps in my memory and then I can look it up on my blog. Another blog is private and it is for my own sanity as I say. It's about more mental private thoughts, what my mind is thinking, how I am feeling and any problems. It is also a place I can vent about anything, a blog THAT I DON'T WANT THE PUBLIC TO SEE.

Now if there was some hacker or Blogger gets hacked to the point that these two blogs would become public, like your financial data on Experian, that is okay with me because there is nothing bad written on those blogs that I would not freak out if the public was to see them. I'm sure there are private things or thoughts you have that you don't want anyone else to know about ... right ??

The first private blog helps me remember from year to year about what goes on with my house or cars or me. For example, is my yard really moving due to ground swell and underground water in the field ... or is my mind thinking the worst? Did my shoulder feel this way last year or is the pain something new? The second private blog helps me go back years in the past and find out if this is a stage my mind is going through like in the past is this wild crazy thinking something new.

People like blogs that have drama, conflict, politics, religion or they read something and can find help with a problem they may have. Blogs about bloodhounds living in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana has very little of that, thus little interest ... unless Stella escapes, deer show up that they can chase or one of them has died. Really ... all of those topics have the most traffic and page views of any other topic on this blog with 'death' being the #1 visited post on my blog. How sick is that?

So my conflict is I would like to be more open in my writing, much like I was when I was spilling my guts on what I was thinking when trying to decide which RV to buy or where to travel. But that 'hermit' 'privacy' thing gets in my way.

That is where the writing comes in ... in the last six months to a year I have had the urge to write more about what is on my mind on this blog ... but don't ... then I start one of those new blogs with an anonymous author name ... similar to being 'a ghost writer'.

There have been times I've wanted to write a blog that helps those that are single, retired, fixed income but need more, barely making it ... but then I realize I have it better than most single retirees by a lot ... so how am I going to help someone that has a lot less than me?? I would guess they would feel more resentment towards me, than realizing I am trying to help them. Also, how long would I have things to write about?

Yet the thing is ... that would take time, time to write, time to research what I am writing about and more time on the computer ... time ... what I have been trying to avoid since being retired. Blogging like that on a regular basis turns into an 'commitment' .... and like that ex-girlfriend screaming at me decades ago "you have made a commitment to make no commitments" ... I agree with that ... especially since I am retired.

Still, that inner voice to write more and being more open is screaming inside my head to get out. Writing on a private blog is not satisfying enough anymore.

Don't worry, I'm fine, the hounds know I am okay and it's another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

... what should I use for my anonymous name ... hmmmm ... I should probably just kick back, relax and stop thinking so much.

Note:  One thing to consider or I should consider, and something I have always thought about since I started blogging in October 2011. One blogger a lot of you know became so big on their blog that people would track them down boondocking to visit unexpectedly or would check out where they were staying. They had lost their privacy.

Another I just read about yesterday, has a huge blog following and had even written a couple of books, popular enough to go on the bookstore circuit to promote at their request ... had a stalker actually move into their town and is bothersome enough that they now have to move from a great small town in a great area.

Blogs with huge followings brings out that 1% or less of the bad element of people. That's quite a chance to take just by blogging.