Grumpy Greg

“Happiness Depends on Ourselves”

-Aristotle

Yeah, yeah, whatever, ancient philosopher.

I know my readers will find this hard to believe, but my family accuses me of being grumpy at times. Maybe quite often. I know, it’s hard to believe. However, let’s assume this might be true. Here are some reasons that I might be a tad grumpy.

First, I have a few years on me. After 52 years on this earth, it is possible I feel like I’ve earned the right to be a little grumpy sometimes.
Second, many people are just, how shall I put this…less than intelligent (no one reading this post, of course), and sometimes their actions negatively affect my mood. For example: no, I better not say.
Third, I am not able to run. Fortunately, 2020 has been all systems go.
Fourth, I’m occasionally tired. This is mostly self-inflicted, due to running. (sort of a circular reference there)
Fifth, a gazillion other things, which is why I’m considering a Grumpy Greg section to each week’s blog post.

As luck would have it, this week happens to be a perfect starting point as one of my biggest grumps is almost here.

Grumpy Greg Episode 1: ‘merica

Earlier this week, I noticed several of the dreaded pop-up retail businesses near my house. These aren’t the ferns and flowers pop-up tents that I have to stop in each spring with my wife (and where I might also be accused of being grumpy). Nope, these are much worse – fireworks sales trailers.

You see, I live in South Carolina, and twice a year many residents turn into pyromaniacs. I am not one of these. This week, unfortunately, is one of those times, with July 4th tomorrow. Unfortunately, the 4th is on a Saturday, which means fireworks will likely annoy me and scare the dogs on Friday night, Saturday night, and probably Sunday night.

Breaking news, as I wrap this up at 9:30 pm on July 2nd, neighbors are already shooting fireworks.  Uggh. Personally, I think anything fired before the 3rd should be grounds for a fine.

The only positive thing I can say about July 4th fireworks is that most of my immediate neighbors will end their displays by about 10 pm, unlike New Year’s Eve/Day where they don’t even start until midnight. Unfortunately, with the power of today’s fireworks, there will be plenty heard far in the distance, late into the night. I should be able to sleep through those and hopefully, the dogs will, too.

Being from South Carolina, I suppose I do have a little anti-government leanings in me, but I would love to see these annoyances banned for personal use. Alas, I know that will never happen in my state.

{Heavy sigh}

Stay safe, and Happy 4th of July. Please end your fireworks before 10:15 pm.

Thanks for reading,

 

 

PS.  This week’s writing stats:

Current writing streak: 38 days

Fiction words this week: ~4,400. Also, passed the 40,000-word mark for the novel so far. Real progress!