<\/p>\n
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep up with the kids? I have almost reached the end of my tether and will either be signing myself into an asylum or going back to school. I know that some of you will not understand \u201cthe problem\u201d and decide I am a halfwit (quite possibly true!), where others will understand my dilemma.<\/p>\n
There are 24 hours in every day and I want to make the most of them. The division of these 24 hours should be easy: 8 for rest, 8 for work and 8 for ME. If work gets stretched to 10, then I must take either from rest or from ME. If I rest too little I become cranky, to say the least. The ME time includes eating, drinking, exercising, cinema, socializing, fun with the wife, reading bUSiness Chile, writing for bUSiness Chile, etc.<\/p>\n
I value the ME time and want this to grow but I must administer my time better. Yes, I know many of you only sleep 5 or 6 hours and have more work time and ME time, but this will get you in the end; an early demise\u2026 I want to get to 88 before I am considered 100% \u201cGone with the Wind\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n
So, how should I use my time? Firstly, learn to say NO to all requests that require me to give of my time unnecessarily. I almost always said \u201cYES\u201d to helping out with this event or that charity, now it is a simple NO, but I will send a small donation.<\/p>\n
I called my son at 6 pm last Thursday, but no answer. Later he called back to say he had been out cycling and I was still in the office!! I was invited to play in a soccer (football) match which sounded like fun until I was told kick off was at 10 pm! Who are these people? That\u2019s breaking into rest time! <\/span><\/p>\n I have had to rethink my approach to social networking; much too time consuming. Facebook, where I have 786 \u201cfriends\u201d (I only know 25 of them!), has had to go. Linkedin is out as well because I\u2019m simply not interested in knowing Jeremiah Smythe\u2019s new job description and, in truth, I don\u00b4t even know Jeremiah! Why did I accept his invitation? I accept all invitations! <\/span><\/p>\n Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr, Meetup, Tagged: all gone. I am keeping Twitter because I like to follow myself\u2026 and YouTube because I can listen and\/or watch great concerts. I have a few useful Apps (TaxiGetMeHome being one) and access to the App Store. WhatsApp is a must and allows me to be in contact with far flung family and friends. I am tired of the baby photograph \u201cpost\u201d followed by 60 odd \u201chow beautiful\u201d messages. My reply: \u201call babies look like that but, if you are lucky, he\/she will look lovely \u2013 given time\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n So, what has this got to do with the kids? There is definitely a generation gap in evidence here and I find it difficult to keep up. My kids (all adults) treat this like bread and butter, leaping from one network to another and gently floating between Apps. Worst of all, my 5 year old granddaughter \u201cgets it\u201d long before I do\u2026.very disturbing. <\/span><\/p>\n As this is, very obviously, a \u201ctalent and time\u201d issue I have decided to use my talent and time to keep to the 8\/8\/8 rule and can justify this with give long, boring explanations about the decline of good writing and language; the monstrosity of the silent dinner where all present (except me, of course) are staring at their \u201cdumb phones\u201d; the futility of posting meaningless messages about \u201chow I feel\u201d and \u201cwhat I think of someone else\u2019s comment\u201d and, worse still, if I post a \u201cthumbs up\u201d then Tommy (who I do not know) may accumulate enough thumbs to get an \u201cA\u201d Grade on his essay\u2026 Finally, my photographs are mine and why do I need to share? <\/span><\/p>\n Am I wrong? YES! Is that relevant? NO! Do I want to play catch up? NO; I just want to go on playing Angry Birds until I can get to the very end\u2026\u2026 Now that will surely get me into an asylum and the kids will have to visit me once a week. They will come but spend 90% of the time texting\u2026 so leave me alone! Just for once, perhaps, \u201cignorance really is bliss\u201d\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n I remain, dimwitted but delighted, disdainful but not dead.<\/p>\n Join me!<\/p>\n Santiago Eneldo <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/p>\n Do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep up with the kids? I have almost reached the end of my tether and will either be signing myself into an asylum or going back to school. I know that some of you will not understand \u201cthe problem\u201d and decide I am a halfwit (quite possibly true!), where others will understand my dilemma.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","news_tax":[],"user_type":[],"class_list":["post-5295","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
(Comments, posts and thumbs to santiagoeneldo@yahoo.com). <\/span><\/p>\n