Back to the appearance and look I like!

After much thought I have decided to go back to the first idea I had for the theme of my site. I like to read all kinds of books but mysteries, thriller, historical fiction and non-fiction are my favorites. So just for fun at this time I am going to start reviewing some of the books I read or have read and we will see where that takes us. My wife Lori has a blog “Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book” which she has been running everyday now for the past 15+ years and along with that has been operating the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for a majority of that time focusing mostly on cozy type books and has really taken it to the next level with her sites formatting and setup. I am very proud of her as this has been a godsend for her since her car accident in March of 2001 which has led to her permanent disability being a right sided hemiplegic and at least 50 percent weaker physically but finds a way everyday to get up and work side by side with me also being a remote worker since Covid began and no company plans to call me back into an office type setting. I have to work at least until November 16th 2023 in order to qualify for the maximum Social Security and as long as they will keep me on I plan to keep working but may slow down a little so I can start to enjoy my grand kids more and attend their school extracurricular and sports activities as I have missed many of these over the years due to my work schedule and the travel that was needed many times unplanned in order to keep machines and computer stations up and running so they would be available for staff to use 24/7/365 for the past 20 years or so. More to come as I begin to add more regular posts and thoughts that may make us all think and have some fun with…

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Re-Tooling for future changes on my blog site!

I am in a re-tooling and branding mode for this blog site. Still a big Marvel Universe and DC comics fan but need to change up so I can branch out into new areas. On recent change I have made is to start reading again. I had stopped initially when my son Kristopher passed away due to suicide, Prior to that event I was reading on average at least one book a week and somehow I lost that part of myself. I have been for some time now helping Lori with her Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours by doing the early morning promotions for all the current tours running and helping setting up her rafflecopter giveaways as they are needed for upcoming tours. Recently though I needed something to wind down at night after spending all day on the computers with the promotions, then working my scheduled shift 830 am until 5pm, but most nights until 530pm to 6pm in order to complete the other tasks I am responsible for here in the Wisconsin region. Time then to make a supper time meal, make sure the re-tweets are done for Lori and then its time to wind down. I usually read from about 730pm until 9:30pm, then clean up the kitchen areas, setup Lori for the overnight with extra water, gatorade, snacks as she stays up reading later the next tours cozy books so she can prepare her upcoming reviews, author interviews, guest posts, and spotlights. Then I usually go back to the current book I am reading most nights for another hour or so as I find this a good way to get tired and usually once I lay down I am asleep with in 20-30 minutes and that refreshes me for the next days routine. Some of my most recent books I have started to review them myself on Amazon and Good Reads websites. I may start doing that here as well because it will give me something to post more regularly so I can set a routine for posting as I find it to be somewhat relaxing as well for my mental health…watch for more updates as I begin this new journey.

Where should I go with my thoughts today? Every day I wake up, go to my laptop, set up the screens for the day, and turn on the news. Most days it is just to depressing to continue to listen and I turn it off and find a channel that plays a continuous series of the same show that I have not ever watched and I can binge thru it in a day. Other times I stay on the news channel because the topics they are covering are ones that may affect our everyday lives. I am astonished how little regard a small part of our society has for the overall health of their own family, neighbors, and friends. How easily they can be misled and lied to so consistently by such obvious charlatans and grifters that they end up believing the lies to be truth and that the actual facts don’t matter. I am still not totally sure where I am going with this blog but this seems like a good start. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” ― Robert Kennedy

Time to get back to work on my new blog, took a break to catch up on a lot of new changes happening in my life following the holidays…New Company to work with as ours merged with them, work hours and duties updated in order to be more helpful to our day shift staff as we navigate all of the changes. This is a good thing for all as we have access to more resources and it gives our customers better access to help with their patients and staff…More to follow as I get used to all of the changes…

Christmas’s Past & Present Musings

Many things have changed over the 64+ years of Christmas’s. Starting with all of the years as a child , then young adult, to a spouse, a parent of 1, then larger family, becoming a grandparent. Each chapter added a new level of adventure and excitement. You go from not being able to sleep the night before, to early wake up calls from kids, to now being able to sleep in as late as you want (unless you have an early Christmas Lunch to make ). I my case this morning I got the first wake up call from my youngest daughter Lizzie that she was going to make some Orange Danishes so if I wanted any I should wake up. Then in next moment I decided that it was truly time to rise I got my daily face washing from my puppy Daisy who just cant wait for signs of movement from me every morning. Now as I sit here at my computer looking out our windows and seeing no snow, sunshine, temps heading into the high 30s-low 40s for the day I do think about times past with snow drifts as high as the telephone polls, and piles in the back yard high enough to go sledding and plastic tobogganing that seem so long ago yet so close! Merry Christmas all, and happy New Year…

Christmas Thought’s

As we go into the Christmas and New Years Holidays I want to wish everyone nothing but happiness and good fun. Too many times we feel the need to out do last year. That shouldn’t be the course as this season is meant to be a time of reflection about all of the things we already have and not about our wish list. I know that’s sounds corny but at this time, this year, and going into the next please know that those family, friends, and co-workers are your presents. Happy Holidays and I look forward to what the future holds…

Life’s Lessons From James E. Caswell

Today I learned another hard life lesson originally taught to all of his children by my father. “All ways check your oil and listen to what your vehicle sounds like.” The vehicle I purchased in the spring of 2020 that we were using to transport Lori to all of her cancer treatments was diagnosed with a broken timing chain today and therefore it is not repairable as it completely destroyed all of the gears and has now become a paperweight. I will be reaching out tomorrow to the Rawhide Boys Ranch to see if they can use it and come and get it before the end of this year. Needless to say we are very depressed by this event and now will have to come up with a solution as we are more than a 1 car family with Lizzie working in Fond Du lac WI M-F . I will try and keep anyone who reads this in the loop with updates as maybe this will help them and at the same time provide me with purpose to keep pushing forward…