A Stupid, Forgettable Experience

For anyone that has followed my work, or knows me well, they know that I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  Anyone who's like this knows how annoying it is not being to do anything without everything being in place, but it has its benefits.  For one thing, you're usually always tidy.  And another thing about having OCD is that you never lose or misplace anything.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case on Monday as I had one of the stupidest moments of my life happen.  Looking back, it was so bad, it's not even stupid anymore; it's laughable.

On Monday, I went for a morning run/walk like I usually do that if time and weather permit it.  The day started off normally, besides the fact it was snowing outside.  It stunk, but around here, it's expected and I've exercised in bad weather before, so it wasn't that much of an issue.  I was just about to leave, but as soon as I locked the door, I realized I made a huge mistake; I locked myself outside without my keys and no cell phone!  The cell phone wasn't as big of an issue since I never carry it in my workout gear, but my keys were essential because without them, I couldn't get back into my house to do anything.  No one else was home, so I tried going to my neighbors and tenants, but they were all gone, so I had to spend a few hours at my friends place.  Usually, I'm there all the time and it's not a problem, but I wasn't planning on going over.  So now, everything was inconvenient for me.  But I got myself into the situation, so now I had to get myself out.

I went to my friend's place, and luckily, he was there, so I could get out of the cold.  Normally, it would have been easy to call my dad, but since I didn't have my phone, I didn't have his work number.  And I needed that to call my sister who was the only one that could help me out.  I wasn't sure what to do, so I tried looking up his department's number online, since he works at a hospital, but it was confusing, and I kept getting messages, so that was frustrating.  Eventually, I reached him, but he didn't know when my sister was coming back, so long story short, I ran back and forth between blocks in the snow for hours until it was the afternoon and I finally got back in the house.  I feel dumb/stupid for locking myself out in the first place, but I feel even worst for not handling it to the best of my ability, which often happens when one is in a crisis.  I wish I could say that this will never happen again, but the next day, I left my keys in the door.  Luckily, my sister noticed it and saved me for a second day.  All I can say is lesson learned.  I feel a lot more humble.

Instagram, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Return to Social Media

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everybody!  It took much longer than I anticipated, but I'm back blogging like I eventually said I would be.  I should explain what I mean, though...

Months ago, back in September, I wrote my first blog post since the summer, proclaiming like Michael Jordan and LeBron James that I was back and ready to get back to blogging/writing  I was excited because I felt like the time off had helped me recharge my creative juices, and there was so much going on in the world to inspire me.  But then life happened and I got distracted.  I had to apply to jobs (which I'm still doing), save up paying for loans, attend family events, etc.  It was busy and tiresome, so I lacked the energy to write consistently.  And it's like I've said in the past.  If I can't give it my all, I won't do it at all, so I held off on writing, putting my blog in jeopardy.  If I was done blogging, I had nothing to be ashamed of, since I went farther than I ever expected with it, from all the posts I've done, to all the readers I've gotten.  Not to mention, I am trying to write a novel, so it's best to focus on one piece of work.  Yes, after thinking about it, I thought my blog was history.

But then something changed.  The past few months, while looking for jobs, I kept thinking about one thing my teacher told me during my last year of college, which was how important networking was.  She meant it in the professional sense because the more people you know, the better chance you have of landing a job, but I thought it applied well to life also.  In the past, I've thought of social media as negative because of how useless and invasive I thought it was, and how repetitive all the different platforms seemed, among other things.  Now that I've thought about it, though, I can see I was a little mistaken.  It does have aspects of the negativity I felt for it, but it has its positives.  Through Facebook and now Instagram (which I installed yesterday), I've connected with my friends and people I care about in more ways than one.  Yes, I always prefer real life or personal contact, but it's nice to see the different ways they express themselves, like through pictures since it gives me a chance to learn about them and keep in contact, which is obviously harder as we get older in life.  Part of me is still skeptical and even a little worried about social media, but I'm willing to try it out, if not for me, than for people I care about and the potential it can have on me.  It'll still be awhile until I see true results, but I can see some progress already.

There's no guarantee I can write on this blog consistently with life being the way it is, but I'll try. 

P.S, My Instagram name is matttoy6 for those who are interested.

Back Open For Business

Over a month ago, I wrote a blog post in which I said I was going to take a break from blogging because I just didn't have the time for it anymore.  Along with that, I didn't feel that as if I was putting forth my best effort in my work, and I was burnt out from writing.  But now that I've had time to relax and think, I'm back blogging.  I can't guarantee as much of an output with material like before, but with so much happening in the world, it's safe to say, I have a lot to work with. 

I have nothing to really say at the moment, though, besides that I'm back for business.

Gone For Now, But Not Forever

For the past year and 7 months (19 months), I've been blogging on this blog about all sorts of things that interest me, from movies, politics, sports, and TV.  Overall, it's been a fun and rewarding experience because I get to write about all those things, while honing my skills as a writer at the same time.  Now, after all this time, though, I think I'm done blogging for awhile.  It's not because I don't want to do this anymore; it's great seeing work of any kind published when it comes to being a writer, I just don't have the time to write as much anymore.  And once I do start working, it will nearly be impossible.  It's sad it's come to this, but it happens to us all in life. 

So with that in mind, I want to say Peace Out for now blog!  But I'm not too down because I know this isn't the end.  Also, I want to give a shout out for those who viewed or commented on my blog, showing it impacted some people.  I couldn't have done it without you all.  Thanks for the good times!  Talk to you all again in the future.

Sleep and Weather

When it comes to Summer, there aren't many things I like about it.  I like the nice weather because it gives me many opportunities to spend time with friends, but I hate the weather which makes me fatigued and sweaty.  To counter that, I usually turn on my air conditioner, but that doesn't work all the time, especially when I'm sleeping.  It can be cool in a room, but if it's too cold, I'll wake up, which can also make me sick in the process.  I could counter all that by turning off the air conditioner, but then I'd be hot again.  As you can see, I have all these issues (if you can call them that), and they're making me go to sleep and wake up at obscene hours.  Hence why I'm awake blogging now.  I can't predict the future, but I hope my sleep pattern gets fixed.  Otherwise, this summer is going to be longer than it already feels.

Swagbucks

There was a span in my life when I ordered things off Amazon and other sites almost every day.  At first, it started out small, but as more time passed, I started buying more and more things, putting myself in a bigger financial hole.  I always paid off all the money I used, but I hated using so much money on things I rarely used, which is why after awhile, I stopped buying things online altogether (besides on things I really wanted).  Then a year or two ago, my friends showed me this website called Swagbucks, where you can take surveys, watch videos, and do other things to get points to buy cool things (including things off Amazon).  They tried to get me to join for a year, but I never did because it seemed so tedious and I thought I'd never have the time.  Amazing how your view of something can change once you give it a chance.

So with that in mind, yesterday I made my Swagbucks account and began earning points.  My first impression so far is that it isn't that hard, and there are lots of things to do, but it does take awhile to accumulate points in the day.  I reached my first daily goal, though, so I feel pretty excited.  Yes, it's going to be awhile before I can really buy anything, but I'm making progress, and in time, I'll be able to buy things and save money at the same time.  I was skeptical of the site before, but now I can say, it's for real and pretty awesome. 

Here's to winning!