Tag Archives: distractions

Technology Troubles

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Two in one day – I am spoiling you.

I see there’s a button on the bar above my writing which promises “Distraction-free Writing Mode”. I just pressed it but the kids next door are still shouting so it is obviously another WP lie. I was hoping for a flash of lightning followed by silence.

Looking at the row of buttons, I’ve just realised I don’t know what most of them do. Even worse, from the point of view of the perpetually curious child that used to live in my head, I don’t care. I have more technology than I need. This is a sad day for me.

However, having realised this, I think I may stop writing and do some cookery. Pasta bake beckons. It’s nutritious, easy, cheap and can contain both salmon (which I have) and cheese (which I like). Actually, I will reheat the salmon fillet and let Julia have it all. I will stick to pasta bake without salmon. it’s not unselfish of me, I just don’t like salmon that much and would rather have vegetables. On the other hand, it’s been there a few days now and if it poisons her I will look bad. I might have to share it just to give myself an alibi. Life is full of difficult choices.

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

I’ve actually been looking at the idea of taking Omega 3 pills. It’s the option for  man who wants Omega 3 but doesn’t really like fish. But, I ask myself, do I want Omega 3 so much that I’m willing to buy pills. Probably not.

Anyway, I have enough pill problems at the moment. My INR shot up according to my latest result and I’ve been told to miss a day before starting Warfarin again. This will be the effect of the steroid I have been taking, which is very annoying. Having to make a choice between breathing or bleeding is very difficult.

My phone just stopped working. It happened yesterday but I didn’t realise, just switched to using the shop landline and assumed it was a temporary glitch. Today it still wouldn’t connect, and we now have no landline.Yes, it was time for our old friend “switch it off then switch it back on again”. I never had to do that with my old Nokia. Bloody technology!

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Good Intentions. Ha!

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There are three important things to bear in mind when writing.

One, you must start. Lots of people have a book, or an idea for a book, fermenting in them, but it won’t become anything until you sit down and start.

Two, you must finish. Lots of people have incomplete manuscripts which, for a variety of reasons, they feel unable to finish.

Three, you must use rejection as a tool to improve. It is badly named, to be honest. It isn’t rejection, it’s simply non-acceptance. It’is, I think, one of the reasons people don’t start and don’t complete their work. If you don’t finish it, you can’t be rejected.

This applies to all sorts of tsks and written work, not just books, but it’s simpler just to write “book”.

Why, you ask, am I telling you this. well, it’s not so much that I’m telling you, it’s more that I’m reminding myself. I’ve become quite haphazard lately and I need to get back to work.

I am the owner of an unfocussed brain and I need to keep myself in check. Recently it has been getting worse instead of better. Part of this is due to me starting to read books again instead of skimming the internet. That takes hours out of my day.  It also means I haven’t been reading other blogs. This is not good.

However, to focus, I have to stop looking at other things. I have to cut out reading random stuff from the internet and I really ought to stop watching birds in the garden. There are a lot of tits about. I think we may have a Great Tit nest somewhere in the neighbourhood as they were out yesterday gathering caterpillars. We’ve also had Long-Tailed tits out plus the usual pigeons, magpies and blackbirds. We even had a buzzard fly over earlier this morning, which is a first. They have been as close as half a mile away (over the school playing fields) but they have never flown over before.

I also have four poems to write. They are in my head, I just need to get them onto paper.

As I have today off (an unexpected bonus) I have decided to work at then computer instead of watching TV. Let’s see how it works out.

Photos are of the right birds, but not today, as you can see from the lack of leaves.

Great Tit at Wilford