Thinking of 2008

 I should be thinking of Christmas this time of year.  But we do not have a tree and having nothing Christmas up around here.  When we look out the windows however people around us have up Christmas lights. I live now within walking distance of a Catholic church.  I could walk to Christmas midnight mass without a problem.  Plus I am in Florida so I do not have to worry about ice, snow and cold.  I bet the mass will be in Spanish.  Too bad it is not the old days and the mass would have been in Latin for all.  OK OK I could follow a mass in Spanish.  Do not bet money that I will go to mass.  I bet I will be on the Internet.

  What I do think about this time of year is the New Year that will be here soon.  It will soon be 2008.  I love the fresh start. 
I have been making new year resolutions since I was a teenager.  (I think when I was a teen my number one, two and three were not to masterbate any more.  Those got broken fast.)
  I did have success sometimes.  Back in the 1980s I was eating six or seven candy bars a day just at work.   I tried to stop but could not.  When the new year came I made a resolution not to eat candy bars and in fact I made a resolution not to eat sweets.  I went six or seven months with out eating sweets.  Then one night I was making my rounds in the hospital and a nurse said Jim I made this candy have some.  So I had a piece of candy.  Then later.. I went.. oh shit.. and I went to the candy machine and got a candy bar and I was back eating candy and sweets.  I know that is dumb.  It is sort of an all or nothing thing with me.
 

 It was the same when I was a kid and I went to confession.  I would come out of confession and walk out of the church feeling great.  I would feel like a great weight had been lifted off of me.  I would think OK I confessed my sins and told God that I would not sin again and I am clean and pure.  But the feeling would not last long.  Because the first time I did anything "wrong" then I felt like OK it is over and I am a sinner.  Remember I was Catholic and I could sin by thought, word and deed.  

 What are my resolutions for 2008?

  The first one is the same as most of you each year.  I want to lose weight.  I am at 210 pound.  Half of my life my weight was 115 pounds.  I was skin and bone.  Then for a major part of my life I was 160 pounds.  I did not get on a scale for years and I got on and bang I was at 190 pounds.  Now I am at 210.
 I want to get to 190 pounds and stay right there.  I would love to be at 160 pounds but I do not think it will happen.  If I do not eat I can lose 10 pounds pretty fast.  But if I eat anything I put it right back on.

 I have some medical conditions with my heart.  At this point life is not worth living.  I can not do anything.  Any effort and I have bad chest pains.  I am weak and tired all the time.  I do not want to live much longer with this condtion.  So in 2008 I want to have the condition treated and I think it can be fixed and I think I can go back to working and living my life.

 I am not sure how much longer I will be in Florida. The cost of living is very high.  I love the weather and the beaches and life here but I can not afford it.  So during the time I am here I want to get out and see everything and check out everything.  FL is a great place.  Miami has a lot of great places and beaches but it is like a third world nation.  Yes visit Miami FL for vacation but unless you speak Spanish and have a good deal of money do not move to FL and live in Miami.

 I want to visit and see Washington DC.  I have a daughter that lives in DC and she has invited me to come for a week and check out DC.  I hope I can do that soon.  (The pope will be in DC in April and that would be good to see DC and the pope.)  I would like to go after I get my heart problems fixed so I can enjoy the visit.

 I am sick and tired of Windows and I would like to just get away from using Windows.  That is my goal for 2008.

 I would like to get mobile.  I do not own a laptop.  I would like to replace my desktop with a laptop because I looks like I am always going to be moving.  I would like to get mobile with a cell phone or PDA.  I want to have the ability to have the Internet when I am out and about.
 
 I want to do a much better job with ShowMeBlog and Howard's Notebook.  I am not happy with the content, the grammar or the spelling.  I see a lot of great blogs and just want people to feel the same way about my blog when they visit. 

 It does not have to happen during 2008 but sometime I would like to have my own place very near the beach.  I would love for it to be near the FL space coast.  I would love to walk out on a patio and see a space launch.  I would love to see it and monitor the transmission with a scanner.  I would like to put that video and audio on the Internet live and streaming. 
 I would like to have a two bedroom place and always have one bedroom ready for a visitor.  I could have a family or friend come and visit for a few weeks or a few months.  That would be great to say come visit I got a bedroom ready for you.  

 I want a digital camcorder.  I want to start making more professional videos.  I have made some videos, I have about 40 on YouTube, but they are not very good.  I would like to make some state of the art videos.  I would like to make something that would surprise people. 

 I want during 2008 to get a ham radio again and get back to my hobby of ham radio.

  What about you guys anything you want to do for 2008?