20 days challenge

In this day and age, giving back is more important than ever. While I think one should always make an effort to give back in one way or another, there are times when it’s just downright silly. 

More on that in a moment. 

Over the years, I’ve always attempted to give. Whether it was donating to a cause I believe in, or sponsoring somebody raising money etc., I feel it’s necessary as a society. 

For a long time, I helped run a team at our local Relay for Life. For a couple of years, I was even on the committee. Our team always used to come up with some fun things for the event and it was a good way to give. We always raised quite a bit for our small group. 

Over time, though, that Relay took on a new look and the event we all used to love kind of transformed into something that was no longer fun, so we stopped as a team. 

I did still try to give and help raise money as my mother remained on the committee for a few more years and did her own “team” of one to raise money. Being my father died of cancer, it was an important cause for us. 

Then there are times when you just wonder where your money goes. 

I love to give to local animal shelters when I can. I try to figure what could be best, though for a couple of years around Christmas, I’d donate money. I knew where that was going. This past December, I helped our local dog club run a toy/supply drive for two of our area shelters. 

Direct impact. 

But sometimes people get swayed by those television commercials. Let’s take for example, the ASPCA. I’m not going to go deep into this because it’s all over if you do a simple Google search. I’m not saying you shouldn’t give to the ASPCA, but maybe giving local is better. The CEO for the ASPCA makes upward of $750K a year, for a non-profit. It seems, based on a study, that an average CEO for a non-profit is around $125K. Do the math. 

I’d much rather give locally and know the money goes to something around me. 

And now to the silly. 

Let me first say, I’ve “paid it forward” before. I’ve bought somebody their coffee. Or I’ve done something a little bigger, in a way to give back to humanity and to show the good in people can still happen. But sometimes, it gets a bit out of hand. 

Have you heard of these “drive-thru” pay-it-forward deals? Apparently they have been pretty popular at Starbucks. Basically, it works where a car pays for the order behind them. Then that person gets asked if they want to continue the chain. 

You can see where this is going. 

So people continue this feel-good moment. Some people might get a deal. Some not so much. But where does it end? Somebody has to end it, right? 

Consider this – you drive up to grab a cup o’ Joe before work. You’re expecting to pay whatever silly cost it takes to get said cup at Starbucks. All of a sudden you’re told the car before you paid for yours, so would you like to continue the chain and pay for the person behind you?

Let me stop for a moment and put this into context. You are, at this point, being put in a bad spot. You don’t mind giving back or paying it forward, but you are basically being put on the spot to pay for somebody else. 

So you look in your rear-view mirror and see a car of four college kids. You ask how much their order is and all of a sudden it’s four drinks and a few other things and their bill is upward of 35 bucks. 

How do you respond? 

I don’t pay for it. Sorry, but I’m not spending a ton more than I expected when all I wanted was a drink to take to work. 

People seem to get all snotty about this on social media, too. 

But why? 

The problem with things like this is that it’s not giving back. It’s doing something to make yourself feel better because you think it’s fun. In that situation. I would have given what my drink cost and driven off. 

There’s a difference between giving back and being silly. 

So how about all of you? What do you like to do to give back?

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up: 

It’s safe to say I lost the bet. 

When this whole shit-storm started in March 2020, we started discussing at work how long this would last. And in the beginning, you had so many opinions – even at the top of the political spectrum – on what was going to happen. 

All any of us truly had to go back on were the things that had happened over the past decade or two that never resulted in what we are currently going through. 

We had just had schools closed down when this discussion took place. Heck, there weren’t even mask mandates or anything in place yet. 

Several people thought the schools would be shut down through the end of the year. Me, being an optimist, said there was no way they’d allow graduations to not take place. So I thought … meh, mid May or so. We’ll be back and spring sports will go on. 

Little did I know. 

Here we are nearly two full years later and we are still in the middle of a pandemic. The cases go up, we all freak. The cases go down, we all relax. 

Well, maybe not all. 

The problem with COVID is there’s not a lot of middle ground. One side thinks we should be living as free as possible – it’s just a cold. The other side thinks we should be living in a bubble and shutting things down until this virus goes away. 

We can’t get along well enough to compromise. I mean, hell, political people’s careers are on the line! They have to cater to their people!

So here we are. And who knows when this will end. I mean, it’s never going away. So there has to be a point where we realize we have to all just do our own thing. 

I know this – I’m pretty good about wearing masks. And being I work in two school districts – and schools are cesspools for germs – those masks have kept me healthy. I don’t care what people say. I know how long it’s been (knock on wood) since I’ve had a cold. And it’s been a truly long time. So they work for me. 

I’m also vaccinated, with the booster. My choice. 

So, if you don’t want to wear a mask – your choice. But it’s also the choice of a business if they don’t want to serve you. Remember, it goes both ways. Businesses can also choose to refuse to serve people who wear a mask. So don’t complain on either side of the fence. Private businesses are just that. Private. 

If you don’t get vaccinated – your choice. Same for me wanting to be vaccinated. But again, in the world we are in … if a private business (remember, places that hold sporting events and concerts usually are private companies) decides to mandate the need for a vaccination, that’s how life is. 

No matter what you choose, please don’t be a hypocrite. 

The “my body, my choice” argument is fine. But remember that same argument when there are other controversial issues with the “my body, my choice” argument. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. You are allowed your opinion and I fully agree with the “your body, your choice” argument. But you can’t then turn around and try and tell people what they should do with their body. 

This pandemic has really divided society. We were on edge before this as it was with the political spectrum. But add this to the mix and we’ve gone really over the edge. 

I’m sticking with my “May” prediction for when this ends. But, please note, I never truly specified a year! I’m ready for this to be over though, with the hopes that maybe people can get along again.

How about all of you? What do you think about all of this as it still goes on?

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up: 

When I was a kid … 

Life was so much more simple. 

You could be care free. 

Run and play. 

TV was a luxury, not a way to waste time. 

When I was a kid …

You could have toy guns without the fear of people thinking they were real. 

You could play in the woods and run through creeks without worrying about getting kidnapped. 

Playing video games was a reward at the end of the day, not a “sport.”

When I was a kid … 

The internet wasn’t around. 

Smart phones were when you got a push-button phone instead of a rotary dial. 

Walking to school was normal. 

When I was a kid … 

You played outside. 

Youth sports consisted of a pick-up game in the park. 

Summer swimming was great, until adult lap swim kicked you out every hour for 15 minutes. 

When I was a kid … 

Our parents watched us without hovering. 

We could scrape our knees without somebody thinking our parents were failures. 

We knew we were loved and cared for and didn’t take it for granted. 

When I was a kid … 

The world didn’t seem so crazy. 

News wasn’t always depressing. 

You didn’t stare at a screen all day. 

When I was a kid … 

I couldn’t wait to become an adult. 

I wanted a job to make money. 

I couldn’t wait to grow up and do more.  

Now I’m an adult …

Oh to be a kid again. Not in this day and age, but back when you were allowed to be a kid in the truest sense of the word. 

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up:

I’ve been working on learning new things, which includes woodworking. I can’t say I am some sort of an expert, but I’m learning tools and what they do and how to use them etc. 

I’ve never been much of a handyman. And truth be told, I probably never will be. But, with things like YouTube out there, and having friends who are awesome woodworkers, I see no reason I can’t learn to  do some things. 

It’s important, too, as I will need certain skills in the future for different things. Plus, why should I worry about buying things when I can build them. They might not be as shiny as something out of the box, but I’ll bet it’s a more sturdy setup than if I bought something from a big box store. 

So over the course of the year, I’ve purchased a lot of tools. I honestly had nothing, so I was starting from scratch. My “tool chest,” so to speak, has grown much larger now. I have most of the basics, as well as some power tools. As I start using each of these, I learn new things. Those learned items can be anything from basic use to safety, to tips and tricks. 

My goal, eventually, is to build some furniture for the house and my place. I have all sorts of DIY plans. Originally, I had dreamed of building a “man shed,” but I’ve backed off on that because of space. Instead, my goal is to build a smaller outdoor shed for everything I need to keep outside, and then have a patio/pergola sort of thing for a place to hang out with Harper when outside. 

Now, that’s still a bit away. I’m learning afterall. 

But, since I started this DIY thing, I’ve had the chance to work on some things with some friends. What that’s allowed me to do is watch them work, but also be hands on in helping with a build. That has included some shelving and a few benches. I now have some leftover pieces of lumber that I plan on messing around with. There are some tools that I really need to learn and understand that will make this process a bit easier. 

On one of the benches, I had to make some alterations after it was originally done. That allowed me to have to think the situation out, figure what I had to do to fix it, and then carry it out. I also realized when done originally there were some things I would have done differently, and I did that with the fix. 

I’ve enjoyed the aspect of learning and I look forward to making more items. There’s so much to learn! From selecting wood to stains and paint to tools and what they do to the process as a whole. I know a lot of items I’d like to build (let’s say I have a very big DIY list on YouTube as well as Facebook … I should probably start one on Pinterest, too) and I want to find a way through a lot of these items. 

How about all of you? Are you DIYers? If so, what kind of things do you work on?

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up: