Employment Options

66. I suffer from shower amnesia. It's the weirdest thing. No matter how hard I concentrate and try to stay focused, I can't remember if I've shampooed or washed my face or soaped up the rest of my body. Usually, I wash my hair first thing. Then I grab the rag and soap it up and scrub my face. Then I take the bar and lather up the rest of myself. But when I'm done with those three things, I suddenly can't remember doing any of them. I used to use shampoo from a clear bottle, so if the shampoo was still rolling down the sides of the bottle back towards the bottom, as if it had been overturned recently, then I knew I washed my hair. I get a clean rag each time, so if the rag is still dry, then I know I haven't washed my face yet. But for the last part, I'm never really sure. Sometimes I try to smell my pits, but if it was a rather inactive day, then I can't tell. I think I soap up two or three times before I can remember that I already did that part. And the shampoo bottle I'm using now is a solid color, so that adds to the confusion. With everything else in life, I have a fairly good memory about it and I can stay focused. But surround me with water and my mind goes blank. I was almost late for work the other day because I somehow spent twenty-five minutes in the shower when it only seemed like five. But I sure get some good thinking done in the shower. It's probably because I forget everything else. I'll be thinking on a story or a new idea or just thinking about life or God and nothing else at all. It's like my fortress of solitude where I can escape reality and feel good for a while.

67. I am a night owl. I love being up when everyone else is asleep. I love the solitude of it. And it really gets my creative mind to boiling. I do my best writing in the depth of night. I love the utter silence. There are plenty of sounds going on at night. Crickets and the wind in the trees and an occasional car speeding by, but it's not near the racket of the day. I turn my music on the lowest volume setting and slip away into my quiet world.

68. I believe in taking time out for repose. I think it was the Greeks that were big on repose. They felt you needed a couple of hours a day to just sit and think about things. Sort of like meditation, but less focused. I love being in a quiet restaurant having finished my meal and just sitting there, sipping what's left of my drink and thinking about things. It makes me feel really good inside. Helps me keep things in perspective. Helps me remember what's truly important.

69. I have never drank alcohol. Not counting medicine. I've never drank beer or wine or liquor or anything like that. I did once put a few drops of it in my mouth. It was laced with some kind of lime salt and I spit it out. That's the closest I've gotten, and I've had plenty of opportunities. However, I don't believe it's a sin to drink alcohol. Just as I don't believe it's a sin to eat food. But anything in excess is a sin. Anything that damages the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is your body, is a sin. Anything that causes you or others to fall is a sin. And if you, as a Christian that does not believe drinking alcohol is a sin, drink a beer or a glass of wine or a shot of whiskey in front of another Christian, whom you know believes that drinking alcohol is a sin, then you have sinned. Paul talks extensively about this in Romans or Corinthians somewhere.

70. I went through a brief phase where I wanted to be a manual typewriter repairman. I didn't view it as a profitable business, but I did purchase around eight or ten manual typewriters at various garage sales to study their mechanism and see if I couldn't fix the ones that didn't work right. I didn't get very far with the venture, but it did give me an idea for a manual computer based on a series of pulleys connected with micro-thin wires. It would take some super genius engineering to make it practical and not weight ten tons, but I think it can be possible. Though I doubt it will ever be done.