[Courses] [Spineful Living, lesson 1: Dreams]

[DonDashGuitar]

I already have a tiny little taste of what technically inclined women have
to cope with all the time.  I had to build up my nerve to post this but
despite the reversal in gender I can certainly identify with what I'm
reading.  I was an electronics technician in Land Mobile Radio for 25 years
but surface mount electronics, factory depot warranty service and mail-order
sales companies squeezed me out of business and left me no venues.  Which
didn't matter so much to me because I never really cared about the job
anyway.

All I ever wanted, my whole life, was a moderately comfortable place to
live, enough to eat, some sort of challenge and someone to love.  I'm 59
years old and two years ago my dreams came true when I married Lisa Miller.

We work part time jobs and are full-time caregivers for my mother, who has
Alzheimer's.  If either of us had a full time job, the other would be forced
to bear the burden of taking care of mom so we work at whatever odd jobs we
can find and schedule ourselves so that one of us is alway here "on duty".

She has food sensitivities and I love to cook.  If she eats things she
shouldn't her skin breaks out in horrible lessions and her scalp develops
weeping sores.  She also cooks, and between us we share the challenge of
keeping her skin free of lesions.  We're learning Linux, blogging at
Lockergnome, she's taking classes through Texas A&M Extension Service to be
a Texas Master Gardener, I'm flirting with the notion of learning Python
(but being a wimpy wuss about it so far).  I also play the guitar in one
beer joint or another one or two days a week (but I don't drink or smoke)
and, because it seems to go hand-in-hand with learning Linux, I've been
learning about computer hardware.

A little over a year ago we each had one computer.  Today we each have
three.  She has Windows XP Home, PCLinuxOS, and Debian Sarge; I have Windows
2K Pro, Debian Sarge and 64Studio.  I've built several additional computers
from parts I scrounged from friends, local computer shops, or bought on eBay
 to give away, with free tech support, to local seniors and/or kids.  We've
given away five so far and I have three more ready to go.

Caring for mom can be stressful but I have a partner who shares the burden
with me.  I wake up in love every day and have many interesting, challenging
things to do and learn.  I 'm living the dream.  I know I won't always have
it; life doesn't work that way but now is not the time to question.  Now is
the time to enjoy and cherish.  I'm happily building memories on the
assumption that I'll live to enjoy them.  What more can any of us do?

Don Crowder
http://www.don-guitar.com
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/
I've forwarded all your posts to Lisa and, because I am