Month: March 2016

My Perspective on Blogging

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 2 Comments

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DISCOVER CHALLENGE

Perspective
We each inhabit a specific vantage point from which to blog. What’s yours?

My perspective about my blogging is somewhat unique as my posts come from an old geezer You might say I’m an eccentric old geezer at times. I have done a lot of traveling and I have had numerous jobs, during my life. I am now 75 years old and went to work on my first job at the age of 15. I earned one dollar an hour in 1955 working 70 hours a week and thought I was doing it in high cotton!

My blogging has seemed to take on an urgency, I feel the need for speed. I write with the knowledge, my blogging time might very well be numbered. I’m not even going to try to think about the number in years, months, or days. But I realize at my age with my physical condition. Each one of my posts could possibly be my last, so I try to put my heart and soul into what I’m writing.

I’ve always considered myself to be a self-starter and I guess I still am. If my production drops off. I don’t imagine WordPress is going to cut off my cyber ties and leave me dangling all alone in the blogosphere, I certainly hope not. I do take my blogging, maybe too seriously. I don’t imagine I will be fired from this position. I do try to maintain a scheduled work time, not necessarily punching the clock. The price of a time clock might have created a cash flow problem. Putting my dedication into what I’m trying to do, gives a rewarding feeling, that money can’t buy.

Along with my many types of employment, I have had over 50 years of survival after a severe spinal cord injury, that alone gives me a lot of material to write about. I write about the body, spine and what we think it can do and what we know it can do. I ask my body to keep on working in the best way that it can and try to encourage other people not to give up. Make the most out of each new day and enjoy each day to the maximum. Life is pretty darn good even when you’re hurting.

My blogging perspective seems to go off by itself at times, leaving me free to roam. I have made attempts at fiction, short stories, recently I’ve included recipes on my blog. A lot of my posts have been personal family related issues which are received like most yawning material. About as entertaining as watching the paint dry on a park bench., maybe counting flowers on the wallpaper.

I hope to do more experimenting, testing the waters and see what I might be able to come up with. That is why my blog is named “My Mixed Blog,” shouldn’t feel fenced in. The barometer reading and low-pressure doesn’t seem to change my writing mood. I might try bright lights, or working out in the sunshine to see if I can come up with day-brighteners for people to enjoy. I imagine there are as many different perspectives about blogging as there are people writing the blogs. I have found it to be time well spent. I feel fulfilled when positive comments come from people around the globe.

https://lghoelson.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

Frivolous Law Suits

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 7 Comments

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DAILY PROMPT
Frivolous
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

There is an old saying that I quote, “What goes around comes around.” I have to believe that this holds true with the people’s intellect also. People of this world have gotten so highly educated they have started acting like uneducated fools. I just finished reading a long list of the most frivolous lawsuits on record. It is a reflection of our judicial system being used by lawyers of questionable character, to say the least. The lets make a deal courtroom will get a carnival atmosphere in time. Come right in, get your cash, have we got a lawsuit for you!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/frivolous-lawsuits/

This would be a humorous read if it wasn’t for the fact that it is true. These lawsuits depict a population with deep moral problems. People with no real ethical objection to wrong acts. Far too many people are out trying to reap something that they have never sown. They want to get something for nothing. “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” many never find contentment.

We should all look in the mirror every morning, take a good long look into that face. Ask, who is in there, are you happy? What do you stand for, what are you going to do today, is it going to be productive? If you’re not happy, why are you sad? You have to find happiness in your self and let it flourish and grow and then share it with other people. Look into those eyes, ask “do I love myself? You have to love yourself before you can love others. Lastly say, “I’m going to treat everyone I meet today, exactly the way I want to be treated.”

https://lghoelson.wordpress.com/Frivolous

Footsteps in The Snow

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 1 Comment

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DAILY PROMPT
Footsteps
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

Bill and Myra Sample were sound asleep in their big old three-story house up on the North Side of Chicago. Myra said to Bill, “wake up, wake up” I hear footsteps up on the roof.” Bill kept on snoring away, he couldn’t hear anything without his hearing aids. Myra shook him violently, ‘Somebody is up on the roof,” Bill finally woke up and asked, “what day is it Friday?” Yes, Bill.

Bill told her, “I called the chimney sweep and asked him to come out on Friday night to clean our chimney.” There is a lot of creosote up on top, that he can chip it loose when it is frozen, a real fire hazard. He has a lot lower rate for working at night. “You old tightwad,” we have to sleep too!  Myra said, “there was some freezing rain about an hour ago. At that time, there was a lot of stumbling footstep noises and sliding sounds as the chimney sweep and all his equipment came down quite rapidly from high on the roof. Lucky for him he landed in a deep snowdrift in the front yard, a 911 call was still needed to get him out of the deep snow. The Sample’s front yard was covered with footprints until spring.

https://lghoelson.wordpress.com/

 

Fearless Followers

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 3 Comments

 

 

jesus

DAILY PROMPT
Fearless
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

If a person makes the decision that they want to truly follow Jesus. They have to first ask themselves, “Am I fearless?” Jesus makes no promises about sunshine and roses, happy trails, lots of buffet lunches, or luxury living quarters. He promises you very little outside of salvation.

The following verses describe three different men as they encounter Jesus,  Jesus replies differently to each one of them. The answers seem rather vague. They also don’t fit the quiet Sunday School Jesus many of us grew up with. He was committed to his work here for sure!

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Luke‬ 9:57-62‬ NIV

The first man got this reply, The “Son of Man has no place to lay his head” Jesus and his followers did a lot of camping out around an open fire. When they got into a village, people welcomed them to stay in their homes. They traveled light, not much baggage, spreading the gospel across the land. A place to lay their heads was of little concern to them, there goal was spreading the good news of salvation.

The second man got this reply, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Jesus reply to the second man indicates if he truly wanted to follow him. He would follow him at that time, he would not go to bury his father, the family would surely see that his father was buried. That man being human, after burying his father, would probably have a change of heart and decide that he wasn’t going to follow Jesus after all. Jesus would be a long way down the road, by that time.

The third man got this reply, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. I seem to have trouble with this final verse. The words coming from Jesus seem to be awfully hard, not easy to understand. I almost have to believe Jesus is saying if you are committed to following me, spreading the good news of the gospel. You can’t look back at what you were doing in this world. He is talking about a full-time commitment, but that could be done. Millions of people have a job and a family so they can survive on this earth, but still follow Jesus. It might also mean not to look back at the lifestyle you have been living before. You have to completely change that lifestyle to live as near to what Jesus lived as possible. But this is something that no one can do as a sinner.That is why I say, if we think we are going to follow Jesus, we have to become completely fearless. He seems to be telling us, your choice, easy road or hard road.

I want to wish all of you bloggers a Happy and Blessed Easter Sunday. As Christians we believe Jesus rose again from the dead after three days and went to Heaven to sit on the right hand of God. HE IS RISEN INDEED!

https://lghoelson.wordpress.com/

Help

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 2 Comments

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DAILY PROMPT

Help
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

As human beings, when we start to get older, we have a hard lesson to learn about asking for help. You must learn to bite the bullet and asked for help at times. It is quite a shock, you have gotten used to doing everything for yourself all your life.

In the last few years, my balance has gone on the fritz. I have an awful time keeping from falling down. I am now at the point where I almost have a phobia about walking without hanging on to furniture, a walker, a vehicle or anything that would help keep myself steady so I don’t fall down. I’ve been very fortunate to bounce off the concrete or the asphalt parking lots. I used to jump up in a hurry to see if anyone saw me fall.

My falling down has now moved into a different category all by itself, when I fall down now I can’t get back up without help. This is the point where I had to say, “I need help.” The majority of the people are right there and willing to give you a helping hand. All you have to do is ask. Many people will automatically volunteer and assist you. Before you even ask them to.

I recently fell in a parking lot at a Shopko Store. I no more than hit the ground and this great big Mennonite farmer picked me up and carried me over to the driver’s side door of my van. He said, “I will put you here behind your steering wheel where you should be alright.” I was weighing in at a good 180 pounds at that time, he picked me up like I was a 10-pound bag of potatoes. I was very thankful that he was there or it would have been a 911 call no doubt. An emergency room trip to see if I knew who the president was and questions like how many fingers do I see and so on, plus a large bill.

My wife and I are each other’s caregivers and we don’t often ask for help, but we both know those days are changing and they seem to be changing quite rapidly. I can still drive my own vehicle but it won’t be long and I will have to ask for someone to help drive me to the doctor, or wherever I have to go. I still buy our groceries myself. I will use my walker to get into the grocery store and then I use an electric cart that most stores have available, to do my shopping with. You’re sitting down low on an electric shopping cart, you can barely reach anything. I have found almost everyone I meet in the store while shopping is more than willing to help. Whatever you need off a higher shelf is gotten for you.

As long as we can enjoy living in our own home or apartment. We will have to learn to start using that word help. When the day comes you have to move into a care center for the elderly you still need to ask workers for help when you need it too. Most of the workers in the care centers are trained to automatically help you without asking, but they expect you to ask them when you need help.

Volunteer helpers at our hospitals and clinics should be acknowledged for the great volunteer work they do. Valet parking, assisting people with wheelchairs to get in and out of their vehicles and into the hospitals or clinics. These volunteer workers give of their time freely, all in the name of being their fellow man’s helper.

 

https://lghoelson.wordpress.com/

 

WordPress

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 1 Comment

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DAILY PROMPT
Friend
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt

WordPress.com has become my friend a very good friend. I wanted to write and I discovered blogging through WordPress. I did not have the smarts, or ability to set up my own website and I found that through Word Press.com. The setup process was mostly  done for me at no charge. I could not believe my eyes and ears as I first signed up for WordPress. I started to set up my site for blogging and it was up and running quickly. I have gone back and done a lot of tweaking on it, so readers can find their way around easier. It has become one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life. WordPress has helped me sharpen my writing pencil in many ways.

I had some ability as far as finding my way around the Internet and was computer savvy to a fair degree, but they provided the necessary tools for me to go about starting this blog of mine that I call My Mixed Blog. There are many writers, photographers and poets in the same position as me, who have little or no training as far as setting up websites and they have all benefited from WordPress.

There is WordPress.com and WordPress.org, there seems to be some confusion between the two. I found a comparison chart, that helps answer many questions about the two. I have a web address available for people want to compare the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. By clicking on the following URL it will take you there. It is an educational and eye-opening experience. I know it was for me and to find out WordPress.com is owned by “Automattic, Inc. is a web development corporation founded in August 2005. It is most notable for WordPress.com (a free blogging service), as well as its contributions to WordPress (open source blogging software). The company’s name plays on its founder’s first name, Matt Mullenweg”
https://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automattic

In my wild imagination a question comes up. What could their long range goals be, for providing so much to so many for free or little cost? We hope their long range goals are honorable. I hope my answer was found at the following address and we will remain friends for many years.

https://automattic.com/https://automattic.com/

https://lghoelson.wo/rdpress.comhttps://lghoelson.wo/rdpress.com

Kitchen Shelf

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 2 Comments

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DAILY PROMPT
Shelf
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt

What is arm weakness?
“Arm weakness refers to a loss of strength in the arm and the inability to move an arm because of decreased muscle strength. It can happen spontaneously or progress slowly over time. Weakness in the arm may occur on one or both sides of the body may accompany weakness in other parts of the body, and may occur with a variety other symptoms, including arm pain. If you have arm weakness, you may have difficulty simply moving the affected arm, or you may have difficulty performing daily tasks.”

As we start to get older we notice the use of our arms becomes more limited. It can be much worse if we’ve had a previous injury, such as to the spine, or a dislocated shoulder, or other chronic muscle diseases. They can all cause muscle loss and arm functioning. Kitchen cupboards are a necessity to live with unless the person is living in a place considered a care center or you’re in an assisted living center. If you are living in your own apartment or home you have to be able to access your kitchen cupboard shelves.There are usually three or four rows of shelves in the average kitchen cupboard. The ability to reach all of them is very handy and necessary for storage of your many kitchen items.

At the first sign of losing your ability to use your arms. You might notice the top shelf in the kitchen cupboard is getting harder to reach. Before the loss gets any worse by yourself a set of pulleys that you can hook to the top of any doorway. Start doing pully exercises with your arms, keep arm extension movements in as far a range as you can reach without hurting your muscles.You should continue these arm exercises on a daily basis to maintain the arm movement. Missing a day or two of exercise almost sets you back to the starting point. Something as simple as these pulleys will help you to maintain your arm movement so they can be useful as you get older. Brushing teeth, combing or fixing hair, putting on clothes, waving to someone, even to wipe your bum, we need those arms to help keep us going. Use of all of your shelves is a bonus.

https://lghoelson.wordpress.com/

Nerve End

/ Leland Olson Hoel / 3 Comments

 

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DAILY PROMPT
Nerve
Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

Nerve End

Listen up, buddy boy. I’m the main nerve in the last curve of your large intestine. You better start watching your diet or you’re going to kill both of us. If you have to have surgery because of the constant neglect of your diet, the guy with the knife will wack off part of your lower intestine. “You know what that could make me?” Yes, “get smart about it”, I could become an anal orifice.

You and I have to learn to work together as friends. You party on all night, eat or drink what you want, without any concern for me. I’m just along for the ride, bringing up the rear. All of the lousy food and drink you put into your body ends up passing through my position. I must say I don’t always enjoy it. You fill up on HOT Mexican food and the next morning I hear you holler, “come on ice cream.” You have to start eating more roughage and balanced meals so we can work together on a regular basis. I don’t want you sleeping on the job while I work overtime trying to see if we can get something to pass, it’s just not right. We haven’t had many accidents, yet!

Do you remember the other day in the city going up the elevator in that tall building? You had been eating a whole bunch of lousy cheese, you let one get out. I could have stopped that one. I let it go there in the elevator after the doors shut. I do have some power over you. I’m not going to call this blackmail but we have to start working together on what goes in and what comes out of your body.

All of the years we’ve been together. You have not bothered to show me any concern to speak of. You always think I will do just fine on my job without any assistance from you. Buddy boy it doesn’t work that way anymore. We are getting older, you have to help take care of the store. To keep from killing us both. just start thinking about the big nerve on the last curve. I know you ride that elevator every day.

https://lghoelson.wordpress./com