I should start this column with an apology. To all my daily readers, I apologize for not posting in the past few days. Somehow in the course & chaos of getting our home & property sold, my laptop was damaged. I’m writing this first-draft piece on a legal pad. And there are two more waiting to be typed, once my laptop is fixed. I don’t even know what the hell is wrong with it. Tara is getting ready in the bathroom. We are going to Best Buy to see if the damn thing can be reworked, reprogramed… or whatever it is they can do for it.

Some damn strange things have been happening in my world – well, me & my wife’s world. We hope to be moving again. And that is a strange thing to hope for. Moving is a pain-in-the-ass. However, we hope to be moving to Our Final Home! That’s right! When/if this property sells, that will be it! It will be the home I die in. And I look forward to my hermit years, writing in a log cabin, enjoying life & cooking, making love to my wife, landscaping, having family & loved ones visit… being happy… helping others when they need or want a place to stay…

True, my life has been tattooed in controversy – that was something I wanted. Now that I am older (not old enough to be wise, but old enough to recognize wisdom) TRYING – screw that, DOING – a kind thing is better than shock. Sure: shocking people may cause them to think, but I would rather help somebody instead.

When you think about it, hurting someone, or shocking someone… that is easy. It’s much better to help someone. Even if it’s making dinner for them, or listening to what it is they have on their mind. – THAT IS HARD! Yet, it is easy to do, if you try.

Lighting a fuse, openly doing drugs & drinking, fighting, carrying a shoulder bar full of “questionable” items – all of those things were easy for me. Well now, to continue being the person I have grown to become is a vow & dedication & – somedays – it is hard.

But, dear Reader, it is in so many of us: to be kind & good. You just have to ask yourself what type of person you need – or want – to be.