John Guthrie's Ready Room

Tuning Everything Out

I’m the outsider. I’ve always watched the crowds rather than getting caught up in them. My strong beliefs in Equality and Individuality preclude my ever joining any large group. I live my life comfortably , knowing these facts. I don’t feel like I miss out on anything special.

Successful Trip

Hal and I went to lunch today at one of the bigger shopping areas around here. The only expense was lunch. We mainly went to watch people caught up in the shopping frenzy.  Not to sound superior, but many years ago we learned to be happy with what we already

Finding My Groove

Monday started out very busy. I had to take the car in for a paint protection job this morning, and they gave me a rental, which I'm just not comfortable driving. Hal and I came home, and we'll wait for the dealer to call and then

Rainy Sundays

There is a major storm that is supposed to impact the East Coast, and our part of Virginia felt the storm most of the day on Sunday. While I'm sure this will impact lots of holiday shoppers, that won't affect Hal or myself.  Rainy Sundays mean

I Just Don’t Care Anymore

Every day, the situation gets worse and worse. People have become nothing more than loudspeakers for the hatred that is consuming our nation. The art of communication is vanishing right before our eyes, but we act like we're powerless to stop it. That sums up how I feel.

Time To Reflect

I woke up early Friday morning and decided to focus my daily meditation on reflecting on my life right now. I have so much to be grateful for; it is a strange thing coming from a disabled, almost 60-year-old man, but it is still very accurate for me. I am

Friday Eve At Last

🎶On The Road Again🎶

Wednesday’s adventure began with another, although hopefully the last, 100 mile round trip to see one of my doctors. My goal for 2024 is to find a new medical team closer to home now that my disability was approved.  Interstate 95 is no joke. It is never a pleasant

Resisting The Sweet Siren Song Of Negativity

Sometimes, when I read through stories on Medium, I'm struck by how many are negative stories. I try to stay away from negativity as much as possible because I used to be one of those people.  Keeping a positive outlook on life can be very difficult because I

Tuesday Recollection

went to see my therapist this morning and I realized that there is a problem that I need to address. Every time I visit my therapist, she is late because some other appointment runs late, but she always makes sure that I’m out exactly on time.  I realize that

Must Be Monday

I woke up in the middle of the night because of low blood sugar. This happens to me occasionally and I know how to quickly deal with it after so many years.  The news wasn’t all bad though because while I was awake I found that one of my

Sleeping and Sunday

My CPAP and the adjustable bed are making it easier for me to sleep at night. I am finally getting almost 8 hours of sleep each night, and that hasn’t happened in years. I hope that this continues.   The weather today will be rainy and miserable around here. I

It’s Time To Clear Out My Backlog Of Stories for 2023

All through 2023, I’ve managed to keep my story backlog under control. The number of incomplete stories, and idea sheets has stayed under twenty, which is a manageable amount. Now that we’re in December, it’s time to see how many backlog stories I can clear out. Naturally

My 1-Year Anniversary On Medium

December marks my anniversary since I joined Medium. I am having a wonderful time reading stories and writing my own. Medium has exposed me to some marvelous people I wish to meet in person.  I know that my writing has improved this last year, but I still have a long

Everyday Is A New Journey

I am grateful for each day. When I wake up, I marvel at the promise of each new day. The first thing I do as I brush the sleep out of my eyes is to open the window blinds and see what the outside world looks like. Is it bright

Trying Something New

Kindness is in short supply right now. All my efforts to focus on the here and now are falling short, and I am letting the tension go and relaxing before making any rash decisions I know I will regret later. With that being the case, I wrote my story using

This Is No Time For Complacency. COVID Is Still Out There

Hal and I ventured out on Friday. We went to our regularly scheduled chiropractor appointment and then Hal wanted to go by the shopping mall. We got there, and the mall which is mainly deserted most of the year was packed. I couldn’t find a parking spot, so we

FOM? Why Should I Worry?

I’ve read lots of articles about the new FOM pricing tier on Medium, and while I am opposed to it on philosophical grounds. I realize that my opposition doesn’t matter to anyone else but me. I’m in a bit of a writing rut now, but that’s

We Have A Death Cult Problem

Yet again, there was another mass shooting at an American university. I am numb to these preventable deaths, but I’m despondent because I know that absolutely nothing will change. We are the prisoners of our own choosing, but while there is a way out of this, our so-called leaders

Dysfunctional Is The New Normal

Republicans love to tell everyone how they are completely opposed to Communism and Fascism, that they stand for law and order over chaos, and yet they behave like spoiled children when they don’t get everything they want. Republicans today act like they are following in Lenin’s idea about

Wednesday Morning

The rain is gently tapping on the bedroom window, and this is a sign that I should stay home today. What the Hell? I might as well just stay right here in bed. “Why in the world are we here Surely not to live in pain and fear” John Lennon

A New Approach

I’ve blogged for more than fifteen years and I still learn something new almost every day. I’ve always believed that one of the keys to growth on a personal level is to never be afraid to change. A year ago I decided to leave WordPress and take my

Writing

When I write, it is an expression of what I am feeling and thinking at that particular moment in time. I never try to rationalize or sanitize what I write in order to make it seem more palatable to others, that’s not why I write.  I found the writers

Greed Strikes Again

Medium gets greedy. That is the summary of what I’m writing about. I just saw the ad for new “member” and  “friend” levels of membership. Forgive me while I climb up on my soapbox to orate about this, but I want to say this while it’s still fresh

Start With A Bad First Draft. Then Improve Upon It

I was reading a great book on the overall process of writing just the other day, and one thing that the author said struck me as fascinating. She said that the key to writing was to start free-styling and see what that accomplished for you when you finished.  The lesson