He likes us, he really likes us!
It seems our cat, Riley, has suddenly taken a liking to us after four years of domestic bliss. He has always enjoyed hanging around, but he’s not a lap cat. All of the sudden, Riley likes laps. Dale’s anyway.
I am known as the Scoopatola at our house – always looking for opportunities to scoop the kitty. He usually runs, but this morning I scooped him, held him like a baby and he didn’t want to be put down. Oh, and there’s Kiss Patrol.
We all change as we grow older, so why not cats? I honestly can’t imagine life without a furry companion. Dale calls them cat food-powered entertainment centers. Yes, it’s a hassle when we travel, but we don’t travel much. Got most of that out of our system moving more than 20 times and living overseas for almost nine years.
By the way, a new study is out revealing a shocking truth … cats know their names but are ignoring you.
YOu can make work out of anything
Although I’ve been playing decent golf, I’ve had a couple of bad rounds and concluded I’m taking the game too seriously. You can make work out of anything, and since I retired, golf has sort of taken the place of work. I even started to think, well, if I practiced or played every day and took weekends off, that would still give me time on weekends to hang out with Dale … it would be just like it was when I had a job.
I’ve decided to lighten up. It’s hard with some of the Rules Nazis in my club, but I can play under less formal conditions and enjoy the game more. Tomorrow, I’m not going to keep score. Why would that be such a big deal? I am results-oriented, which is why I was successful in my career. Now I have to find what makes me successful in leisure! Regardless of your hobby, there’s a lesson in this for all of us.
Subscribers
Speaking of results, I happened to check my blog statistics and now have 53 subscribers. I know that’s not a lot, but I started with zero. I value all 53 of you – and anyone else who stops by to read – so it’s positive reinforcement for writing, which I can’t seem to stop doing. Thank you!
“Hey, guess what?” I asked Dale.
“What?”
“I now have 53 subscribers. I went over 50!”
“Does that make you an influencer?”
“Um, no.”
Music
Dale and I have both subscribed to Sirius radio for years. But our favorite channel (The Loft) is only available streaming, so we can’t get it in the car. We’re both pissed and will probably not renew our subscriptions. In the meantime, I’ve been listening to Outlaw Country, which is a carryover from our days in Texas. Dale has been listening to Classic Vinyl.
I don’t know if I can stand listening to regular radio. While I should start sampling various stations, we have a lot of CDs, so I’m postponing that adventure. We’ve both been digging into the CD vault in anticipation of canceling Sirius. The downside is we aren’t hearing new music, which is important to us. Not that older music is bad. We were out and about the other day, and Dale had Rusted Root playing. That was good music!
The deck in my car is currently loaded with Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Alabama Shakes and Dave Alvin/Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The last one, Downey to Lubbock, is a recent purchase, and it’s so good I can hardly stand it. Dave Alvin, from The Blasters, is my age and plays a mean guitar. From the song, Downey to Lubbock:
Well I’m a wild blues blaster
from a sunburnt California town
And I gotta loud Stratocaster
that can blow any roadhouse down
I turn that up high in the car, and I have to set cruise control so I don’t get too crazy. Then you have Jimmie Dale Gilmore, who sings like an angel. So, there is good new music out there, but I’m doubtful I will find it on AM/FM radio.
An outing
Dale usually doesn’t eat lunch, although I don’t miss many meals. We’ve both been craving oysters on the half shell, which is a light lunch for Dale and a snack for me. We’re going to a seafood joint we haven’t been to for oysters and bloodies. There might be naps after.
Also check out Sturgill Simpson, Gary Clark Jr and Christ Stapleton. They are all great!
I love your thoughts on how to not micromanage hobbies and enjoy retirement!
I am stealing that line about micromanaging hobbies! I’m familiar with Sturgill and Chris but Gary is new to me, so I’ll be sure to check him out. Thanks so much for the recommendations.
I cannot resist telling you that Michael Glabicki, lead singer of Rusted Root, lived in my rental property a couple of years ago (he moved in with and ultimately married my tenant). And since your play list kinda closely tracks my own, I’ll recommend John Hammond (his Wicked Grin CD in particular). I can go through fairly long periods of that on repeat.
Wow! How cool is that? More than a brush with fame (and talent). I will add John Hammond to my explorations. It’s exciting!
Aww, love seeing kitty pictures. I just picked up two foster kittens from our humane society. They need some socialisation, so we’re handling them whether they like it or not. My last batch started out hissing at us before they decided they really did like people so these two are ahead of the game. Hopefully they’ll be purring in no time.
I know. Kitties have their way of sucking us in. Riley doesn’t purr, but he makes great noises!
I drove my son in laws car from Denver to Virginia last month. He has Sirius radio. I never listen to radio as I can’t get through all of my podcasts. While in Eastern Kentucky I came across the Willie Nelson station and heard great traditional country from the 50’s to the mid 80’s. Nothing of the sort that people call country today. The music was all trains, trucks, drinking, cheating, lovin’, and gawd.
Marty Robbins, El Paso. Conway Twitty. Tammy Wynette. Buck Owens. You get the picture. For the first time in likely 30 years I heard the CB trucker spoken word song of the crippled boy who the truckers gave rides to while mom was at work! Brings a tear to your eye
I have three saved stations on my Sirius — Outlaw Country, Willie’s Roadhouse and On Broadway — go figure. I do like the old stuff. If you like Buck Owens, you probably like Dwight Yoakam.
That’s great news on the followers. I just subscribed so add one more. It’s hard to tell on your blog where there is a follow button except the e-mail one. ( maybe that’s how it works)? I think on my blog you can follow without the email sign up. Not sure…
We’ve always had cats. At one time when we lived out in the boonies, we had 13. I loved them all. Now we just have 2 very old ones.
Yes, the email button is to follow/subscribe. Thank you! And wow, 13 cats. We’re serial monogamists when it comes to cats.
Your cat picture and comments made me miss my Brutus. Losing him has been harder than I ever thought it would be. I guess I didn’t realize how much company and entertainment he provided.
I love hearing about your subscribers. I recently reached 85. My class reunions and yours and Bob’s referrals have made a difference. I’m still seeing referrals every day so I’m sure I’ll pick up another one or two subscribers. Do you have a Facebook page? I have one and I have 98 followers there. I SO want to get to 100!! I tried at the end of last year to solicit more followers, but to no avail. If I can get to 100 by the end of this year, I’ll be thrilled.
It’s always hard to lose a kitty. We still miss Spike and Bruno, our two previous cats.
My blog traffic actually went down when I quit FaceBook, but I accept the trade off. I hate FaceBook.
I loved Sirius too until I figured out on a few very long road trips that they almost play loops. I found Spotify and will never go back! My favorite part of Spotify is my weekly discovery. Every Monday, Spotify compiles a playlist of music similar to what you listened to the week before. I have discovered some great music and music I had forgotten!
You can give it a try for free – of course there are ads. But the same price as Sirius and you can play it anywhere you go. Set up your own radio stations and playlists.
Keep on keepin’ on!
Pam
OK, I’m going to profess my ignorance. I’ve been reading up on streaming in the car, since that might be a way to hear The Loft, our favorite show on Sirius. Do you need a special data plan? Do you just go to the wireless company and explain your needs? I know there are multiple ways to hook up. How do you do it?