Changes

Well, I have not posted in a bit, because I had a bit of a problem, which was then compounded by another. The second problem has caused me to rethink a number of things, and face some changes.

I am diabetic.

I discovered this in the aftermath of a lesion that had to be lanced. They tested my blood sugar and it was 455. Now, that may not mean much to some of you, but those who know anything about diabetes will be rather alarmed. As I understand it, normal is somewhere below 100. That day, I was given insulin. Since them I am on medication, and for the last four days, my number has been below 200. Understand, that this is all very recent, and so I have less than a week of numbers to go by.

So, the first change has been Cokes. Yes, I was a coke-aholic. I used to drink 2 liter bottles in 8 hours. My daily intake was huge, and that has stopped completely. That has been a big change for me.

Second, no sweets. I love chocolate, and candy of many sorts, and that must go too. Now, I will admit that I have cheated a little bit on this one, a few candied nuts, a single skittle, and a dark chocolate pastille. If I can find dark chocolate that is not too bitter, then I may be able to give in to this temptation on occasion, but only in small doses.

It has been a depressing time, and it is not going to get better soon. Most of my comfort foods are now denied me. I used to eat, and drink, when depressed. Now I have to find something else.

Well, I thought I would have more to say, but I think it has petered out at this point.

The End of an Era

The last of the big three has left us.

I am sure that many will wax eloquent on the passing of Arthur Clarke. I will not join them in recounting his accomplishments and awards. They were many, and are easily found.

Arthur C. Clarke - Wikipedia
(don't downplay Wikipedia, it is a good source for quick information)

My thoughts are inspired more by the passing of the last of the big three than by the passing of Arthur Clarke. He lived longer than the other two.

I was born during the decade when Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and Arthur Clarke did much of their seminal writing, the 50s. Of course, I did not discover them in the 50s, when they wrote the works that made them giants in Science Fiction, nor even in the 60s, when they confirmed their reputations at the best in the genre.

It was not until Junior High that I really caught the reading bug (thank god my son is already infected at age 10), and it was science fiction that caught my mind.

I cut my teeth on Star Trek, and that was in the 60s. I caught as much of it as I could during its first run, but my parents would not let a 9 and then 10 year old stay up until 9:30 every Thursday to watch it. The third season it was switched to 10pm on Friday, and an 11 year old had an easier time talking them into that. Then it went into syndication, during those same Junior High years, and I raced home every afternoon to watch.

But, Star Trek was only one hour a day. In the other hours I turned to the books in the house, but I wanted books that had the same things as Star Trek. Fortunately, my older brother Roy read science fiction, so I started reading what he had finished, mostly Robert Heinlein. I never looked back. My next discovery was Arthur Clarke, Childhood's End, I think. Asimov was the last of the three, when I encountered the Foundation series. I read everything my brother had, and even bought a few of my own. Because there were so many books by these three to be found in libraries and bookstores in the 70s, I never really finished with them and moved on. I thought I was well read in science fiction until I got to college and took a class on science fiction and fantasy and my classmates knew authors I had never read, like Larry Niven, and Frederick Pohl. Of course, they had far less grounding in the giants than I had.

Science Fiction has been a life-long addiction of mine, since I found Star Trek more than 40 years ago. Robert Heinlein, Issac Asimov, and Arthur Clarke have been a big part of that, and with the passing of Arthur Clarke, that era of Science Fiction is ended. Science Fiction is not dead, far from it, but it would not be where it is, and I would not be who I am, without the thoughts, musings, surmisings, and above all, entertaining writings of these three giants.

Not Looking Forward to Anything

I do not look forward to anything.

I find that I have to expand on that to understand it myself. I do not mean that I do not have anything to look forward to. I mean that I do not anticipate. I mean the little things. I do not look forward to going home at the end of the day.

Now, before my wife explodes, this is not about her, or our son, or anything in particular. I just don't look forward to it. It is just the next thing in my day.

I don't look forward to the weekend. I am relieved when it arrives. I don't like going to work, so I definitely don't look forward to that, but there is nothing wrong with work. There is nothing really wrong with anything. I just don't look forward to anything.

I know how I feel, but I wish I could explain it better.