Monday, February 23, 2009

It's my birthday

23 Feb 2009

Today is both my birthday and my first blog posting. To celebrate I went to breakfast with a friend followed by a walk to our local theater to see “Frost/Nixon.” Excellent movie. Sean Penn had some amazing competition for that Oscar.

Received cards and gifts in the mail and am being taken to dinner tonight.

According to “The Writer’s Almanac,” produced by Prairie Home Productions, W.E.B. DuBois and Samuel Pepys were also born Feb. 23. Pretty heady company!

I was born in 1940 and according to a bookmark I’m holding, produced by Pages of Time in Millersville, Tenn. the Dow Jones average was 134 that year. The average income was $1,725, a new car cost $850, a new house $3,925. A loaf of bread was 8 cents, a gallon of gas 11 cents and a gallon of milk 55 cents. Gold was $35 an ounce. And radar was invented that year.

I’m happy, healthy (good genes on both sides of the family) and I have enough income. I’m rich in family, friends, work, pets (cats and a dog), and play.

My first job was as a babysitter when I was 12 years old. At 14 I got my Social Security card and a job as a waitress. I’ve since worked as a clerk in a county office, a reporter, a waitress again, and finally, a librarian. I attended college off and on my entire adult life and finally earned a liberal arts degree at age 53.

I retired in 2002 and love the freedom although the first few months were unnerving while I was working out a structure. After 50 years of working for other people whose rules required that I show up regularly at specific times, retirement offered way too much freedom. I eventually got it under control and no longer spend days at a time reading from morning to night, eating sandwiches and organic soup from a box. I’ve not been bored one minute since retirement and sometimes wonder how the hell I managed to work and do everything else I did and do.

Life is good.

And, there are a few problems in this wonderful country which I shall write about, offering my ideas for improvement. I have many very bright friends and a few have said they will write for this blog, thus the title, Constance and a few good friends. I promise they are good writers.

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