"Confusion is a luxury which only the very, very young can possibly afford and you are not that young anymore." ~ James Baldwin, Author

It's another day here at the ole blogger ranch and to be perfectly honest, some days really challenge yours truly in terms of coming up with thoughts, ideas, stories, and anecdotes to share. That is, things that might be of interest. I can come up with the keystrokes. That's not the problem. But, whether it shows or not, I do attempt to provide at least a modicum of quality in the things I write about. Today is Wednesday, February 28, 2018, and I will keep at it until something shows up. I did download this year's edition of my tax filing software for 2017. That's one of the requisite steps as we inch our way towards the April 15 filing date. I have all of my tax stuff on my oldest computer. That computer has been having some issues over the past couple of years. I really need to start moving things off of it before the inevitable happens. That would be the day it joins the computer scrapheap in the sky. It has had several near misses. Most of the software cannot be updated anymore. The operating system is no longer supported. I suppose the question is why I've postponed important things like saving the stuff before it all is lost. You wouldn't do that? Good for you. Instead of a bucket list, I need to be motivated to take care of those important things that are currently being weighed in the balance. (I thought of that one from the Book of Daniel where he used similar language to tell the king he had been weighed in the balance by God and found wanting.) Maybe taking care of my computer needs should have been on my new year's resolution list. But, I didn't make one. At least I don't have to feel bad about not having kept that as a resolution. I know what I will do. I will get my boys working on a plan to try and move this project forward. Most of the time they read my blogs. I'll wait to hear from them. Maybe a plan will emerge.

One writer said that being unable to come up with stuff for them had to do with the times when their imaginary friends wouldn't talk to them. Some say that when faced with writer's block, you should write about it, describing what it looks like. You know. Write about not being able to write. I think I've done that. More than once. Here's another piece of advice from a seasoned veteran, "Sometimes writing badly can lead to something better. Not writing at all leads to nothing." Another sentiment said that dealing with writer's block is to remove obstacles. Let me see. I'm sitting here all by myself, all alone, just the computer screen and keyboard, the Keurig doing its thing, the humming of the fluorescent lighting, and that's about it. I think I know what to do. I'm going to take a break and go for a walk around the property. Okay. In case you missed it, in leaving for a few minutes, I was removing the only obstacle I could think of. While out and about, I visited with our shipping guy who told me about his son's family visiting the homeland of his daughter-in-law. India. They are away for two weeks. They have been Skyping with the grand kids nearly every day and they are missing them so much. We talked some about that country and its customs. They are there for a wedding. At any rate, it was an interesting conversation and now I am back at the keyboard. Again. Block or no block.

Them Skying with their grand kids from India reminds us all of the technological changes that have taken place in our society. Think about it. Cell phones went into production in the mid 1980's. The initial units were very limited. Fast forward to today where grandparents can be face to face with the grandchildren who are nearly 9,000 miles away. Our eldest is able to visit daily with his 8-month-old granddaughter via Skype from her home in Fort Riley, Kansas. She may be 8 months old but if the phone is left on the coffee table she knows which button to push to get her Paw Paw on the line. He said when it first comes on he can see the ceiling fan, but, she can hear him saying hello and she begins to position the phone where he can at least see the top of her head. When he does finally get her in view, he can see she is looking back to see if mommy is going to come and take the phone away. Those cans with the string show the level of person to person communication that I was familiar with growing up. Fast forward to a tiny child using a smart phone to communicate with her family, well, that's pretty difficult to comprehend. The late science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, had this quote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." I certainly can identify with that thought. But, we do live in the time God has allotted to us. Those technologies He has allowed to be developed are tools for us to use in His service and for His glory. See? I just used some pretty remarkable technology to remind us to do that very thing! Amen. ....More later.