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September, 2010: 23 24 27

9/23/10-Thurs.-A dream I had on 9/19 was interpreted by the dream group to mean it would behoove me to focus more on my writing, as a way of getting in better touch with my creative and emotional anima. I take that interpretation with several grains of salt. On the one hand, the dream group leader, Sonya, says dreams are all about metaphors, not literal, yet in this case she seems to be focused on the dream in a literal way. As a result, she sees it as her place to tell me what I "should" do in response to the dream. I believe it is at least equally true that she tends to project onto others' dreams, disregarding whether her assessment resonates for the dreamer. In addition, in some ways she is kind of a "control freak." So, it is best if I remain guarded with her and not simply swallow unquestioningly whatever she says. Further, other dream group interpretations have emphasized that I "need" to be less in touch with my feminine and, instead, more owning and expressing of my masculinity. That message would certainly appear to conflict with the latest interpretation. Of course, if I were to question Sonya on these points, I am sure she would have ready answers. Yet, the fact is that over the past few years she has often done and said things that were inconsistent and unreliable.

So, I shall pursue writing further in my own way and time, yet not to adhere to Sonya's notion of how I ought now to put most everything else aside to be one-pointedly into creative scribbling. I find value in others' assistance with the dreams, to a point, especially so for Janet, but this is less true for Sonya. I interpret my own dreams now and rely most on what I can tell is true in them, for me.

The Autumnal Equinox was today. Yea! Summer's fury is almost over for another year. Actually, though, this has been one of the mildest and wettest hot seasons I have experienced in over 30 years of living in Austin.

9/24/10-Fri.-I did my library volunteer shift yesterday. Today, I had a new physical therapy appointment, did a little shopping, and also went to an Alanon meeting this evening. The physical therapy for my right shoulder has been ongoing for about two months or so now. Progress has been made in ranges of motion, yet the soreness and a feeling of acute pain at times, as though there is some flesh being pinched inside the joint, are persistent. Lately, in fact, these pains have significantly increased. It is hard to know what, if anything, needs to be done about the situation. The therapist just advises cutting back on the exercises for two days and then resuming them fully. He says if things definitely get worse, I shall need to see an orthopedist and consider cortisone shots, x-rays, MRIs, and/or CT scans, and possible surgery. Bother.

Meanwhile, this afternoon, Frances and I learned someone has been successfully defrauding our main credit card company, using our card number and some made-up duplicate(s). The purchases have been in the Atlantic City area, about 1200 miles away. In the past, the card company has called right away when there were inconsistent or unusual patterns of purchases, for instance in two widely different parts of the country at more or less the same time. Such calls allowed us to verify the card use was legitimate, for instance because I was on vacation while my wife remained at home. For some reason, that kind of checking was not done in this instance, and so the criminals had already gotten away with over $1000 in stolen purchases. So, Fran and I just found out there was a problem when our cards no longer worked, on attempting to make small buys locally.

Am really enjoying reading Steig Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

I do not often go in for very speculative stock purchases, but, following a tip from a nephew who enjoys being a trader, I both bought and then promptly sold 10,000 shares of a penny stock between yesterday afternoon and this morning, netting several hundred dollars. Of course, the real operators net several thousand or even million in such transactions, but I prefer to keep my more risky buys and sells quite limited. Still, it was neat making the quick money, even better because it was using funds in a tax-deferred account.

9/27/10-Mon.-Fall seems to have come early to central TX this year. Last night's and tonight's lows are in the 50s (F). The highs are also only in the low 80s, about 20° cooler than usual for this time of year. I am not complaining.

I got estimates this morning for removal of a couple trees, a dying maple in the front and a mature chinaberry in back. The latter's branches are starting to break off, one recently grazing the house as it fell. The work is to be done tomorrow morning.


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