Stories - FD Thornton

  Well let’s see how this mornings going to turn out. Woke up about normal time, I slept through the night, did my normal morning business, and took my pills. Then I got my glucose meter ready by pulling it out of the bag and assembling the lancet and pulling out a test strip. I inserted the test strip into the meter, then shot the lancet into my finger, and yes I wiped with an alcohol pad. Then put the meter to the blood droplet and within a few seconds got my reading. I know all this is old school tech considering all the new fancy wearable meters out there. But when your Medicaid won’t pay for a fancy new meter you get what you can afford. So before you moan and cry about it, I’ve been doing it this way for well over 30 years, so I don’t even feel it anymore. But these are the sacrifices we make for good health. For 30 years I haven’t had to go on the insulin shots like my parents. I still take a combo of metformin and another product, and my GP is happy with my A1C, so why ch...

  With the taste of my two gummy vitamins fresh in my mouth, I notice how the temperature this morning is creeping up. So with a cup of decaf and a bottle of water I prepare my body for another hot and sunny spring day. My young buddy on the sidewalk waiting for his ride and the one lone cat hanging around his feet are my only entertainment as the morning sun casts its shadow on the 100 Building next door. I go through my normal itching and nose blowing in-between typing out nonsense until my point is made. But what is the point? Writing without any set goal or reason other than to hear myself think makes for a pretty dull morning sometimes. So as it is for today, as the young man catches his ride and it’s only me and the black and white cat lying on the lawn. With no purpose, no focus, and in a way no home. Another sip of decaf through the straw tells me there’s a story to tell in that. Of how we focus on things, and obsess about things we cannot control. Like other people’s att...

Finally Got A Haircut   Going To Do About It At 63 years old, nothing really surprises me anymore. Which in a way makes life kinda dull, but you take the good with the bad. Well yesterday afternoon while at a convenience store I was in line behind a rather unhealthy fellow not much younger than myself. He was buying a tall can of a Red Bull type of energy drink, which he immediately opened. Not having the right to judge considering my current state of unhealthiness, I felt bad for him considering I was in the same state a mere ten years ago. Back then I was an overweight, smoking, diabetic, that was totally stressed out. It took an act of fate and sheer luck to straighten me out. I am by no means perfect, I still need to lose about 50 more pounds, but I track my health religiously, I don’t smoke, and I stay away from caffeine. I still have irreparable damage to my heart, liver, back, and lungs but I get by. I suppose my thought on all this is that I was given a second chance, a...

  Staring once again at the blinking cursor gives me a momentary frill cause I never know what the next words are going to be. Staring out into the quiet blue sky, the apartment across the way seems so peaceful. Painted light green with white trim, it looks like a large family home in any modern suburb. With iron fencing around the property with a picnic area and a playground, it looks so inviting. Yesterday afternoon we signed our second year lease with the same apartment we signed our first lease. In between the property was managed and maintained by another company we hardly ever saw. But starting last month our old manager and maintenance man came back after what I could guess was a crappy year of managing. I guess even in the world of corporate housing, good help is hard to find, when wanting to turn a profit. But enough about profit margins and shareholders dividends the world is so much more than greed and return on investment. Funny that for nearly three years of my lif...

George the Duck   Had another hard night sleeping till I woke up around 4:30 this morning. Then around 6:00 the phone kept pinging repeatedly by my “Waljacked Shopper” asking about substitutes on my order. Other than that, I’m not the snotty mess I was yesterday, I think the replenishing of lost fluids did the trick. While part of me thinks it’s way too early to be doing any high functioning thinking this morning, the more cynical side of me reminds me there’s never too much high functioning going on anyway. So with all my Southern Baptist charm, let me extend to you a “Good Morning, Ya’ll!”. I can’t seem to get my mind out of the future tense. Meaning my mind is focused on things that are to take place down the road and not right now. I doubt I have to tell you how that can create mistakes in the moment, much less anxiety about the future. But with my already hyped up brain planning as it does. I can’t help but worry about the logistics of an upcoming medical procedure I am goin...

  After a little too much “Thump, Thump” from the parking lot last night, I finally went to sleep. I was then awakened by the ding on my phone with the bank telling me I wasn’t broke… yet. Getting up did a little manly maintenance then started my day. I thought about heading to the local state park, till I realized it’s the day before Easter and thought better of it. It’s not that I mind hearing little youngins hunting Easter eggs, as much as it’s the glare I get from the parents. All wondering what a old fat white guy is doing in the park all alone staring at their kids. I can’t say I blame them though, cause I would do the same thing. Anywho, I’m sitting here at my desk enjoying the relative quiet of the morning. Watching my neighbors shuffling back and too from the apartment building next door. I just got through posting the last story I worked on, and my mind isn’t really in any headspace. Just letting the noise of the box fan absorb the clutter, allowing these words to flow ...