I think either I'm in the beginning stages of having a nervous breakdown or the world around me is having one or maybe both.

About the best way I can put it is this. I'm all of a sudden having great difficulty understanding life. Life in America and life in the world and my own life and everything life.
Part of it is getting older and not being able to understand the changes going on around me. Part of it is this unbelievable information overload I'm trying my best to absorb but not having much success with.
And I could go on and on for thousands of more words trying to convey what is happening with me but I would not even be able to do that well because I'm also losing my confidence in being able to communicate.
Frankly, it's all getting a little scary.

Bob wrote:About the best way I can put it is this. I'm all of a sudden having great difficulty understanding life. Life in America and life in the world and my own life and everything life.
Part of it is getting older and not being able to understand the changes going on around me. Part of it is this unbelievable information overload I'm trying my best to absorb but not having much success with.
And I could go on and on for thousands of more words trying to convey what is happening with me but I would not even be able to do that well because I'm also losing my confidence in being able to communicate.
Frankly, it's all getting a little scary.

Bob, I can relate. The world is so much different than it was even 15 years ago.

I no longer have any opinions about government or politics. That's all gotten way too bizarre for me. It's a thousand politicians and pundits and bloggers and everyday people all talking and it now comes off to me like the barking and howling you hear when you're standing outside a really big dog pound.

Bob wrote:About the best way I can put it is this. I'm all of a sudden having great difficulty understanding life. Life in America and life in the world and my own life and everything life.
Part of it is getting older and not being able to understand the changes going on around me. Part of it is this unbelievable information overload I'm trying my best to absorb but not having much success with.
And I could go on and on for thousands of more words trying to convey what is happening with me but I would not even be able to do that well because I'm also losing my confidence in being able to communicate.
Frankly, it's all getting a little scary.

Bob, im a lot younger than you and I feel the same way a lot.

I wanted to respond to you before I went to work and just offer this thought.

Smile and laugh as often as possible. Find joy in the small things and your surroundings. And hug people as much as possible.

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It has always been there, now that you know what to look for, it appears to be over whelming. Relax, take a walk, look at nature, talk to your friends. We are a like a person riding in a speeding train. aint a whole hell of lot we can do but but to enjoy the ride. There is nothing you need to do. Enjoy the day. All is good.
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Psycho is going to sing Gangnum Style on the Today Show after the commercial that's on right now. That may help clear my head. I hope so.

Nope that didn't help. Made it worse.

hallmarkgrad wrote:Television is not really very good for you. Just sayin.........Unplug............

My earliest memories as a young child are being on a sofa with a tv babysitter.
I was born in 1949, the very same year televisions broke the $100 barrier.
And to add insult to injury, I actually own one of those 1949 $99 RCA's with the 3 inch picture tube. It defines who I am.

Bob wrote:

hallmarkgrad wrote:Television is not really very good for you. Just sayin.........Unplug............

My earliest memories as a young child are being on a sofa with a tv babysitter.
I was born in 1949, the very same year televisions broke the $100 barrier.
And to add insult to injury, I actually own one of those 1949 $99 RCA's with the 3 inch picture tube. It defines who I am.

TV was different back then though. Back then, kids watched their favorite show at a certain time, but they also went outside to play, right?

And....your mom didn't have to worry about you watching Kathy Griffin or whatever her name is--kissing some guy's crotch.

Ummm....I don't think we're helping Bob much? Just reminding him more of how crazy and different the world is today. That's what I'm thinking, anyway. I'm younger than Hallmark and Bob...but I remember watching Gilligan's Island after school but I also remember going outside to play. On Christmas morning, nowadays, how many kids do you see outside playing with their new toys? They are all inside today, playing their video games...or chatting online with their friends.

True. But the world is now a amazing place for people who like to think and mentality explore the entire universe. I trap my self in do doing the same exact thing day after day with my computer then whining because i am bored. I forget to go look at the pictures of the Hubble telescope or watch some guy ride a bicycle in Africa. i have to the power and equipment to do more in a day that people 50 years ago could do in a month. I am blinded by the limits of my own mind.

Hubby and I were talking the other day about the internet...how it is both a curse and a blessing. You're right, Hallmark. There are wonderful things out there. There is so much knowledge at our fingertips.

But you have balance in your life, Hallmark. That is a good and wise thing.

I remember from about 9 or 10 years ago, when we were living in Japan. At that time, many Americans had cell phones. But I think back then that even more Japanese than Americans had them. Our old foreign exchange student, who had lived with us for a school year in Florida, was at the time a college student in Japan. He came to visit us, by train. When we went to take him back to the train station, he took out his phone to check on the train schedule. I thought at the time--Wow!!--he can check the train schedule on his phone! That is no big deal today. You can do almost anything on your phone. Well, I can't, because I have an el-cheapo cell phone that I do not use much. I mostly have it in case of emergency or when I'm traveling, to keep in touch. My kids...think I'm beyond help when it comes to modern world technology....lol. My son called last night...on our land line..... and laughed and told me that most people no longer have a land line.

Bob, you have a case of Internet overload. That's okay, because it is curable.

Try to get out more and do more walking or riding your bike. That trip to California still on? (That should shake you out of the doldrums.)

I am coming down to P'cola today. Let's get together and have a Margarita tonight.

Thanks for worrying about me but it's not like that. I'll be fine. I just don't have as good a grasp on things as I thought I once did but it's not like I'm depressed or anything like that. More like confused. lol
Thanks for the offer Eric old buddy but I think some of my problem might be the nonstop drinking I've been doing over the holidays. I need to dry out for a few days.

+ to that Bob.

I was wondering how you were holding up during the yearly alcohol festival we so nobly refer to as The Holidays.

Dry is good.

Bob wrote:About the best way I can put it is this. I'm all of a sudden having great difficulty understanding life. Life in America and life in the world and my own life and everything life.
Part of it is getting older and not being able to understand the changes going on around me. Part of it is this unbelievable information overload I'm trying my best to absorb but not having much success with.
And I could go on and on for thousands of more words trying to convey what is happening with me but I would not even be able to do that well because I'm also losing my confidence in being able to communicate.
Frankly, it's all getting a little scary.

*****SMILE*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5TwT69i1lU

Sal wrote:

About the only thing I have in common with Homer Simpson's daddy is that both of us are old.
Homer's daddy has strong definite unchangeable opinions about everything. I have strong definite unchangeable opinions about virtually nothing.
Homer's daddy is yelling. I'm barely whimpering.
lol