What is it with all these Internet articles regarding updating 80’s houses, or 70’s or 90’s houses for that matter? The news sites are reporting on unemployment; people lost a great deal of value on their homes; websites abound with stories about living with children with autism; stories about celebrities (and addicts sponsored by Dr. Phil) going into rehab and police blotters mention poorer people going to jail.

Yet, comments on the color of the paint on your walls, the special section of wallpaper, the new chalky paint, countertops, appliances, bathroom fixtures are also everywhere. Whatever happened to the roof over your head concept? If a chair is comfortable, why can’t you sit on it, even though its lines are not those featured in glossy magazines?

How lucky these people are to have no worries other than up-to-date color schemes and trendy flooring. I know of many people who have children with life-threatening diseases; I suspect they could have polka dot walls and not even see them. In fact, be glad to have walls.

I suppose soon someone will find it necessary to redecorate Habitat for Humanity homes built a few decades ago. I mean, good heavens, surely they must appear ghastly now.

Is this the end of the rant? Maybe . . . for now.

I remembered to pull the paper stop out of the clock last evening at eight, and then I started reading and after awhile found myself dozing off. I let it happen; medicine be damned. I dreamed a whirlwind, including being in a stage play, going out to dinner with my parents and, get this, talking to John Wayne for a couple of minutes.

Then I woke with a start, wondered how close to morning it was and remembered i hand not taken my pills. Rats. Then the clock chimed 12 times. Rats again. It was a quarter to what? Close to the morning? Shouls I just wait to take my medicine then? It was awfully dark, but it’s that way at seven too. Apparently I thought for about 15 minutes because the clock started to chime and I thought, “Good, I’ll know what time it is. I listened for the 16 chimes, heard a Bong! . . . and then silence. Only one o’clock.

So I figured I’d hit the bathroom, gulp my medicine and then try to adjust to it still being a time I have been known to go to bed at . . . for the first time at night. But all this got me more awake, thinking about the book I had been reading and then marveling, “John Wayne?????”

I checked the news and am considering looking at the weather* to see just how grateful I should be for my warm covers and roof over my head. Maybe I’ll take a stab at reading a bit more . . . I’m finding the book to be not really my preference, but up-to-date informative on aspects of life in India.

As I opened this blog, I noticed the clock update didn’t post visually correctly, so I’m going to fix that and then push publish for this one and the repaired post at about the same time.

* It’s two degrees and maybe going to snow and get colder by three or four degrees.