Have I got a deal for you!
I was not even going to send you a letter tonight, but I have a few minutes to perhaps send you out a short note. It is now 8:35. I am going to type a page or two and then call it a night. I have just finished thirteen pages for my parents.
It is amazing to me, and I hope you will give me the benefit of the doubt on some of this, but some of the issues raised in your letter where ones I wanted to deal with. For example now that I have finally mastered the art of touch typing, I want to move on to the quality of my writing. We both know I can generate quantity!
I am going to deal with each and every issue you raise in your letter, but instead of my usual approach, get as many words out as fast as possible, you are going to have be a little patient and instead of you getting the unedited first "mind dump" you will be getting the second generation.
I slept most of today and will be working on a handwritten draft of a letter tonight. Instead of sending that to you, I will type it out tomorrow and proof and print tomorrow, or I may even need to take part of Wednesday.
Free time - Not to blow my own horn, I have not watched one show since I have gotten here. No news, no sports, nothing. Ironically, this really paid off this past weekend when the bunch that had been watching Survivor, was deprived of seeing the final show Sunday evening since a competing group insisted on watching their usual Sunday night show Charmed.
Yes I said to myself; look at the aggravation I avoided!
I have not done my walking for the last three days. I am sort of waiting for the mega blister to heal. Unfortunately, the other night I did manage to rip off most of the dead skin. Just could not leave it alone. Now I am waiting for that to heal up.
That does bring up one thing I would really appreciate and that is if you could send my all the contact info for Hitchcock shoes, and specifically if you could print out the boots that come in size 11 6E. The one I am looking for is a tan boot, over the ankle, ala high top sneakers but not all the way up the calf. They should come in a non-steel toe style. I think they were around $150.00. If it is not easy to look for, just send me the name, address and phone number and I will take it from there.
I forgot to say what the deal is. With the exception of the previous paragraph, if you can get that sooner rather than later I would appreciate it, let me get all my thoughts out before you respond. I am not sure exactly how this will unfold, but I am going to forsake all other writing, to deal specifically with the letter so that once and for all we can get some common ground.
Thanks for continuing to scan my letters. As you can see, I have already adopted the easy way for you. Single sided, all with the ribbon.
As far as the scanning goes, if I end up with the original scan and the results of the OCR that would be great. As long as we, (okay it is on you for now) do not lose the ability to open both the original and the OCR at some point in the future, there is no reason to proof/correct the OCR except if you like to sharpen your editing skills!
Just some easy stuff now on time. I think it is a personality type. If you do not worry about time, like I pretty much did in the past, you just did one thing after the other and what you did not do today, hey tomorrow was soon enough.
Now I am being more purpose and goal oriented and all of a sudden I do not have enough time to get done what I want to accomplish each day. And I am not even counting those things that I am dependent on others for. Like the shoes for instance. I have things I want to do and I can not fit it all in! For example I can not even picture giving up an hour a week, or more, to watch any television show.
My mom actually wrote two pages to me, and she said that it seemed that I was being stressed by trying to read the New York Times, did I want to cut it back and only get certain days. They know I am reading the papers; they are getting plenty of articles to share that clearly show I am actually reading the paper. I am following through on something for once in my life, valuing the fact that my parents are paying for the paper, and Mom's response is to should we cut it back?
I do not think this is related directly to them saving money. It is actually something mentioned in the book "Your Own Worst Enemy," about people cutting us smart guys some slack. I do not need that; I need to be able to see what happens when I stick with something for more than the usual "Fifteen Minutes."
It is also dangerous if I actually do make changes, destroying some previous well earned points, that others around you might want to sabotage the efforts. The mind is such a complicated instrument, and when one starts to deal with one's own "standards" and makes changes, well others can get really scared. The others may or may not be doing the things knowingly, but that does not make them any less deadly to your progress.
While my parents have not gotten ten letters since they last wrote (like you did), they have gotten three or four. The funny thing was they chose to comment only on the articles in the latest letter and not mention any of the backlog or that a backlog might even exist. I know in their mind they are up to date and do not owe me anything till I write again.
Damn 9:20 and I have not printed the first two pages yet. Let me deal with just one other issue now and get this in the mail tonight.
I think I mentioned in one of my recent letters that it was my feeling that you took a real sense of ownership and pride in the blog. Sure enough today you mention that in your letter. I have certainly enjoyed reading all the comments, and it was certainly a boost to my ego to know that people were reading my words, but it has certainly been your baby.
I am puzzled by some of the latest comments and sometimes feel like the blog has become an experience where I am the child in the room, all the adults are talking about me, and I am unable to say anything that changes the direction of the conversation or correct an opinion that without being able to rebut or clarify my thinking takes on a life of its own.
It has been great, you have done a lot of work on it, and neither of us knew where it would go when I first suggested it and you eventually took off with it. There is definitely a book in it, even if no one reads it. The book would not only contain the actual blog, but there is an entire Monday morning quarterback perspective that could either be done by me alone, or as a conversation between you and me.
The point is that all the issues we have talked about between us, some of which have "leaked" on to the blog are all part of the relationship we have built. The fact that you still raise questions about being my friend is a good thing. Not that I always want to feel like I am under the bare light bulb, being forced to answer question upon question.
The "relationship" with Tom and Bill is very superficial. Last night at the card game the issue we most talked about was who could fart better. I did not actually participate in the "live" discussion.
Tonight Tom was disappointed that he did not get a letter, and Bill did and was going to spend the night writing back. Tom was pissed, said he was not going to bother to write to anyone until they finally wrote back.
I was sorry Tom was feeling so down, but I did not feel that I had to deal with his funk at that moment or even tonight. That is were I am at with them, I have established a certain boundary, and was planning on not playing cards tonight anyhow to get my letter writing done.
In the future I am going to suggest that Tom work on the story he was supposed to be writing, and I will type him a double spaced working draft with carbon paper if he wants. That will not cost me too much and give me yet another opportunity to drill in the typing skills.
Our relationship is a whole lot deeper than that, I understand some of your thoughts with the way I deal with some of the information you give me, just like I think you have misunderstood some of the things I have shared. The point is I feel we are able to deal with the feelings of each other and move forward.
This is actually pretty cool even though I have spent most of today typing I am already on page four. I am going to have to stop in a few minutes for the count, and when I return will print out this letter or it will be 11:00 and I will still be typing.
I used to feel very much the poor boy and felt I was entitled to everyone's money or as Danny Divito would say O.P.M. (Other people's money). I have told you this before; I thought I had clearly written out the difference.
Well the count is done and I better get this printed. First I have to have to officer approve the large envelope for Mom and Dad and then I will come back to print this.
Well it is 10:30 PM and I am about to print this last page.
It looks like Infinity Broadcasting sold their station up here. I turned it on for Love Line and got Rock music. No explanation, but the tag line for the station is different. Oh well there goes a ten of hours a week that I can now do something else.
The good news was it was on Sunday through Thursday and that conflicted with Pipe Dreams on Sunday night. Now I do not have to flip back and forth to see if I was missing a good call or just the dumb raving of Adam.
