18 February 2021......it is cold

So one thing the past few days have taught me is, it is not fun to be without electricity/power and water. 

Right now it electricity is back on. 

Therefore I have decided that I will, someday have a house with solar shingles. Also some kind of water well. Maybe a pool. Maybe a water feature. This being without power and water is for the birds. My wheelchair has to be charged.  I have a USB port that will allow me to charge some small things. Still I have got to have more reliable electric power and water. 

The power company has been doing rolling blackouts to help everyone. I guess. My apartment complex turned off the water because I think some of the buildings were having burst pipes. 

We set out the garbage can to catch water so at least we have water to put in the toilet once a day to flush. 

The temperature is finally above freezing. Still this is insane. 

No lights or anything for electric. 

No water. 

The worst is no heat because no electric. 

I might consider a wood burning stove for the future. Then you can have heat and hot water. 

This is probably a once in a lifetime storm. Still it might happen again. Who knows. 

The time they gave for water to be back on came and went. 

Power is so far out of my control I’m not worried. It did come back on for a minute. Then it was gone again. 

 The power came back on for a couple hours. Then it went off again.

Water is back for now. I brushed my teeth. That was good. I hear the apartment management will turn it off again tonight.

My sons birthday was the other day. Normally we go out to eat. It has been to icy and snowy. 

So my two biggest needs are electricity and water. Heat right now is no fun. It’s nice when you have it. 

Even though I am bound to my wheelchair, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be able to have some independence. 

I have thought about this a lot. I am going to post things to my blog and not share then on Facebook. Why?  I’m that way. Maybe it will be more than I post on Facebook. 

5 February 2021

I have a somewhat unique understanding of people and my relationship to them. Maybe not to unique I hope. I really don’t worry to much about the day people die, I am more concerned with when people where born. 

I don’t know the exact date my father died, except that it was sometime in August. I had pneumonia and at times I wanted to die myself. That might have been because I was so sick.  

I do know my father’s birthday, 30 April. Same with my grandma Aleda. January 11. My grandpa Lars. November 9. My grandma Zina. September 7. My other grandpa died when I was 2 so I never got to learn it. My mother is August 23. Her husband is August 21. I always get them confused. 

I know the birthday of all my siblings. 

I know the birthday of all my children. And their mother. 

My fiancé and some of her children. 

Why?

Because  it is more important to celebrate that someone lived than that someone died. 

“Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die,” Doctrine and Covenants 42:45

It is more important that you live, and live well in a way that benefits others,  everyone dies at some point. 

I would want the whole world to have a party because I lived so well. All the tears are happy tears. Not because I died but because I was born. You will see everyone again. Some people may not agree with me. You will. 

For example years ago when my grandpa Lars died, I got to know my youngest cousin. To give you some context, my cousin is the same age as my oldest son. 18 now. I’m 47. So 29 years difference. I’m the oldest of all the cousins on my mom’s side of the family. I wrote some emails with him for a while. Then, out of the blue I had a stroke. I finally started going through my email months later, I had over 4,000 emails. One was from my young cousin. It was so nice. He was basically saying good bye because he thought I might die. 

So. Be the person that people can be happy lived. That is, and should be more important than the fact you die.