As I stated in the introduction that this book would be unique , so why shouldn’t the conclusion be unique as well. By all intents and purposes, the chronological story of my life will end in Chapter Eight. Additional information usually found in the concluding chapter will also be found in this chapter as well. Finally in Chapter Eleven , I will wrap the whole story up in one succinct conclusion statement, Yah, right! I would also like to reassure my suffering readers that the story is almost over. For those truly enjoying the book, psychiatric services, I am told are available. I have also taken a little poetic license with my characters. I have done my best to always paint them in a positive light or at the very least, in a non-derogatory and comical manner. It is not my intent in this narrative to pick fights or to end them either. I have left out certain events so that a more positive picture could be painted. All of the events described are firmly in the past after all. Many of the characters in this story are in fact, no longer with us. So what purpose would a vendetta serve anyone? This book is about growth and maturation. It is about how life experiences alter and change a person. We are forever growing and learning. The process only ends when we are in the ground. Or does it even end there?

Unless you live in cave or are over 90 years of age, you are probably familiar or have been exposed in one way shape or form to blogs, and a few may have also been exposed to Podcasts. Podcasts are a newer form of expression that can involve a strictly audio broadcasting or a audio-video format that can be viewed on the ever popular YouTube website. Even strictly audio productions can be altered so that they can also be viewed on this site as well…which tact I have taken. Some people are better in presenting a nice video presentation, others are better at strictly audio which is my case. It is also quite a bit easier and cheaper to do just audio recordings, which is why a lot of podcasters start this way first.

I have mentioned previously that life experiences make you who you are. You may also recall my failed early attempt in medicine. I believe that I failed for a reason. I failed so that I could succeed later in life. Even though I failed in pre-med, it was not a total loss for me. I learned a lot of valuable skills as well as learned a lot of information that would help me in getting into the nursing program i.e., the entrance exam, obtaining my nursing degree and later in my career as well. Many people would say that the 17 years I worked in retail were a waste and they would be wrong. Several events through my life not only taught me humility but valuable work ethics and skills in personal interactions. I learned how to be self motivated, I did not need prompting from bosses to get the job done. It also has served to help me improve my organizational skills. I was also a manager in retail, so the skills learned at this time helped me when I was a clinical supervisor and as a relief House Supervisor. If you have no communication skills you can’t lead. You also have to be able to see both sides of a story before you make your final decision. This has helped me in writing my blog articles as well.

My years working on my masters degree in History even though incomplete helped hone my writing skills. That is pretty much how you are graded in each class. You write a paper for a grade and you read a book each week and are graded in participation discussions on the book. This gets you used to speaking in front of people. When I was in high school, I took two years of health class. During the second year I ran for office at the state level mainly to experience something new. I had no aspiration that I would win the office. I had to get up and give a speech in front of 200 fellow students and medical professionals. This was quite a scary moment in my life. But I soon learned not to fear the unknown. What is the worst that could happen, I wouldn’t get elected, right? So, big deal. That is not why I went in the first place. I just wanted to have fun and be exposed to new experiences. Fun fact: I learned how to square dance that weekend. That was not something I had expected to do or learn.

So back to my history background, I had always enjoyed studying and learning history except English history…just too damn many kings and queens and castles. They all blur into each other after a while. In my blog, I integrate history and the sciences into my articles when they are appropriate.

Prior to the pandemic in 2020, most of the blogs I was exposed to were related to either photography or travel. Now I was getting exposed to political ones as well. But I found most of them to be less than succinct and very disjointed. They were also highly opinionated. I made up my mind that if I wrote a blog, I would first be factual, and allow the reader to make decisions based on factual information not supposition and substanceless rhetoric.

So one day sitting in front of the TV and yelling at it like a damn fool, my wife said either shut up or do something about it. So that is what I did. I studied on what it would take to get my blog started. I knew one thing, I wanted to be free to write anything I wanted. I was too tired of the censorship of Facebook. So now I have a category dedicated to all of my Facebook postings so that they will not disappear. I found out that I needed my own paid domain, because I did not want to deal with advertising nor did I want my readers to have to suffer through the same shit. I wanted a site that provided all the software plus various templates, so that I could chose one that fit my needs. WordPress seemed to fit the bill. If I had to do it over again, I would have looked for an easier platform to use. Also, the only platform that offers an easy backup to our computer is a very expensive professional package. So now if I let my membership expire, I assume I’ll lose my data. Something I am not prepared to do. Also I am sure to make it harder to backup your postings, WordPress has made it possible to only copy one paragraph at a time. Even the captions have to be done separately. I made up my mind to copy my book this way. Because it is much more important to me than my articles.

It has taken me a few months to finetune my blog, I am sure more tech savvy individuals would not need so much time. While WordPress allows you to do a lot of finetuning, for example: the simple task of adding categories involves two steps that are totally separated from each other. So you see why I would consider trying a different platform.

The image above is from my main page on the blog. The address is common-sense-in-america.com. The podcast is found in “common sense and ramblings in america”.

I think blogging is one of the highest aspirations that you can attain, that is if you take it seriously. My blog articles cover a varied range of topics…pretty much anything that comes to mind. I am proud to note that I have been ahead of the game on several occasions. I also think that Newsmax stole one of my sayings. One of the newscasters quoted me exactly but gave credit to an unidentified doctor. I think that he did not realize the article had been written by a nurse and not a doctor, or maybe he thought that it would be more impactful if a doctor said it. This is something that I absolutely hate. Nurses are treated as second class medical professionals. If you count how much time I have spent in college, I have a substantially higher level of education than most doctors. While it is true that they know more than I do about a small subject range, my overall knowledge level is higher.

I know that some of my blog articles are quite lengthy, that is why I started a weekly podcast. In many cases, I just read an abbreviated version of one of my articles. Currently I have put my weekly podcast on hold and only post periodically. Mainly due to the fact that I am writing my memoirs. I anticipate that once the book is finished, I will start my weekly podcast again.

I have included a graphic showing the extensive range of articles that I discuss. At this point in time, I have over 400 articles posted. The blog has kind of taken on a life of its own.

I have taken my wife’s advice after all, and I have went and did it. My family being less aggressive in politics than me have made little or few comments about my postings. But I have had favorable comments from co-workers and total strangers. One thing that I am particularly proud of is that my articles have been read in over a 135 different countries throughout the world. Considering that there are less than 200 countries, and that FOX News only provides services to 86 countries worldwide, I think I am doing pretty good.

My goal with my blog and podcast is to disseminate accurate information to the “huddled masses”, to facilitate real-time discourse about our country and where it is headed. It may not be much but it is better than doing nothing at all.

I believe that my life experiences made my blog possible. Without my unique experiences I would not be able to reach such a broad range of individuals throughout the world. Maybe one day in the not-so-distant future I will be mentioned as an internet influencer. Wouldn’t that be a hoot, hopefully, it is before I am stuck gumming oatmeal.