Welcome To Blues Travels

As many visitors have probably seen, my posts here at TPO have been so few and far between many of you might have wondered if I dropped off the face of the planet or simply stopped caring about this web site. Neither could be further from the truth. Well, maybe that is not altogether true, for I nearly did almost drop off the face of the planet….
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Back in the mid-90’s I spent a good amount of time training at a gym in Williamsburg VA where my girlfriend lived at the time. This was one of those gyms that hearkened back to the 60’s era, when gym floors were made out of wood, the stack machines squeaked and the bars had just the right amount of rust on them. The name of the gym was Iron-Bound Gym. I loved this place. I had some of the best workouts of my life there. The last time I trained there was around 1998.
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Some of you may not know this, but I also have a fitness site.

I recently posted the following entry on that site and I am reposting it here with my very own permission.

Repost:

I am not in the habit of begging. Begging is a huge turn-off to me. When someone begs, they are usually asking for something when they have nothing to offer in return. Moreover, as anyone who has ever been a success at anything will tell you, begging is typically not a very productive way of achieving meaningful, long-term success at anything, no matter what your endeavor of choice is. Nevertheless, there are times in life when circumstances can create a sense of urgency that is so immediate that an appeal for help is the only course of action one can take. This is one of those circumstances.
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When you have no place to call home, and when your funds are limited as mine are, it’s very important to keep ones spirits up, especially if you are a Christian, because satan will use every tool in his arsenal to discourage you, kill your morale, break you down and finish you.

When that cop pulled me over I nearly lost it. In truth, I guess you could say I did lose it. I just lost hope. I was already discouraged because for the past 8 weeks I have overturned every stone I could find trying to locate resources to use in order to survive. I have tried everything I know to try in order to find a home. With my health being what it is, I need to find a place as soon as possible and the fact that I came up with nothing was really discouraging. Moreover, I simply do not have enough money to stay in a hotel. So when the cop cited me it was as if the final straw had broken the camels back. It was as if I was being kicked in the head over and over and I just felt like I was out on my feet at that point. This most certainly did not feel like a good omen and if this is a sign of things to come I am done.

These several things I know:

1. When you are having a crisis, it’s important to eat whenever possible. Healthy food intake is important for energy and clarity of mind, especially in times of crisis. In addition, good food intake boosts morale, and that is so important for me now that I don’t have a home or a job. Look, I know that food is somewhat deceiving. Jesus fasted often and even once said to the devil that man does not live by bread and water alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. His point was that while hunger should not be ignored, one should be careful not to mistake hunger for God as hunger for food, and that only God sustains in the the truest sense. That said, it’s important to remember that when Jesus decided to fast he also had a home and a job! When you have neither, it’s very important to eat to stay energized as well as motivated and encouraged.
2. I must work out every day, but I must not overdo it. Staying active is important and good as a rule, and doing so is good advice on any day. But when you are in a state of crisis like I am, it’s important to stay active in order to just keep the body and mind refreshed. And while it’s important to avoid over-training, the workouts need to be productive. After all, building muscle and strength is important. FInally, it’s important to avoid injury for obvious reasons, so I must avoid exercises that predispose me to injury.
3. As far as diet is concerned, not only is regular dietary intake important for me, but what I choose to eat is just as important. Foods that do harm need to be avoided. Even though cheating satisfies the palette and offers emotional comfort, I need to avoid foods that congest me or make me cough. I have enough of a problem as it is with that. Interestingly, while I need to eat healthy foods for health reasons, I also need to avoid bad foods because when I eat bad foods I feel bad emotionally. A perfect example is cheesy foods. I love cheese, and every so often I cheat and eat something that has cheese in it. But when I do I always get congested, and then I beat myself of for eating something that makes me feel bad, if even for a day. At this point, I need to avoid as much negativity as I can. I have enough challenges to deal with. I don’t need to ad to them.
4. I need to try to find healthy environs to live in as soon as possible. The room I am in smells bad, and I am coughing a lot. I was told it is not a smoking room, but I am coughing like crazy. So, I am glad I brought my own pillows at the very least and I hope that tomorrow I can find a place to live that is more or less permanent.
5. It’s important to keep telling myself I am going to make it. I have to stay positive. The satan will accuse God of not helping me. It will tell me I am done and that I cannot survive. It will tell me I am through and that the battle was lost even before it had started. Trust me, I have felt it already. So, I just keep telling myself I am going to make it. I am not sure how long I can keep it up, but I am going to give it my best effort.

As the song says: “Back on the road again”. Sigh.

My house sitting arrangement came to an end and the lady of the house for whom I was sitting did not want me as a tenant. I had already stayed at her house a month longer than I was suppose to have, to the tune of $150.00, so I just could not stay there any longer. I made her a promise to be out by the end of September and I was unable to secure a place for myself do to the fact that my disability check just does not carry much in the way of purchase power. The doors just did not open up for me. In an effort to keep my word, I just packed up my car and headed east. In short, I am searching for a place to call home and scared out of my mind that I won’t be able to find anything.
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My saga with my Powerbook G4 has been so bad that I decided to add a non-travel, non-car related tech category to this site. Besides, why not? After all, this site was built on a limping laptop from Apple. Might as well use the blog to spread the word.

As it turns out, Apple Computer is having major problems in the area of Customer Relations, not to mention numerous problems with it’s new Macbook Pro. Repair’s for broken computers has taken a nosedive in terms of quality and reliability. Customers are being given promises that Apple does not follow through on etc..

More to come….stay tuned.

[Editors Note: This was originally posted at Total Physique Online]

…Just ask the Albermarle County Fire Department!

Three months ago, our condominium complex was burned down and in an instant I was thrust into a new phase in my life.

The last 3 months have been an adventure to say the least, and while part of me really wishes the fire had never happened, I have to admit that there is a part of me that is grateful it did. When I think about it, if the fire had not happened I would still be in that condo with my brother, living a life as stagnant as a 3-day old bucket-full of rainwater.
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