Day 5, January 25, a.m.

 

Good Morning! Happy day! I’m in the middle of nowhere N.C., not even halfway between Rte. 95 and Hatteras. That steak dinner I had yesterday, the first heavy solid food I’ve had in awhile, hit me with a vengeance about midnight. Not a big deal. At least I’m not feeling sick or anything like that. Hopefully it will all work out of me before I leave.

I worked from 7 - 8 p.m. starting my InterTown Record work for the week.  The neighbor column is done unless I add a few personal comments which I usually do in the beginning. I also worked on the Community Calendar. There’s still more to do, plus the LTEs (Letters to the Editor.) Friday is often my main work day along with Saturday mornings. I want to try to make Charleston, S.C. today, but that might not happen if I have to stop early to get the work done.

One thing about writing and writing in Microsoft Word where there are auto corrects, I forget how much speech differs from formal writing. I try to leave out the first word (especially saying “I,” “There’s,” or “It’s” so often) and the fragment message comes up. If I write, “Went to Concord yesterday,” which sounds perfectly okay in my head, it comes up as fragment until I write “I went to Concord.”  I like the auto review though because it helps me be a better writer and I do eventually want to put my journey into a book. And when I write, I don’t want to have someone else do a lot of editing. I’d rather do it right the first time. Writing is not exactly like speaking even with the words “talking” in my head.

Speaking about talking, Annette said I should call Verizon and insist they help me or give me a new phone. She’s right, but the thought of spending an hour on the phone with them is not appealing. I have things to do, places to go, sites to see and to have to deal with these types of issues upsets me. It’s just not something I’m good at. I get frustrated, angry, break down in tears; not very adult or professional. At almost sixty years old, my emotions should be better under control. It’s funny, but in some aspects and in spite of all my training, I am more emotional now than I’ve been in many years.  

It’s after 7:30 a.m. I am dressed and ready for the day. Perhaps if I went down to the breakfast area, I might get conversation and ideas on things to see around here. I really didn’t do any sightseeing yesterday. There’s a train track nearby. Could there possibly be an old depot? Ugh, the thought of eating anything right now doesn’t seem appealing.

I want to make a comment on pillows. I’ve now stayed in four hotels and none had standard pillows. The pillows are half pillows and there are usually four to six on a bed. I like them. A head doesn’t take up a great big pillow anyway. These smaller ones also work great as back support when sitting in the chairs or on couches.

Well, I’m off to new adventures.