Memories Etc.

The time is 2:15AM. No, nothing is wrong. This is the time of day I usually get up. Sometimes it's 3AM, sometimes it's 4AM, and sometimes it's 2AM. 

It didn't used to be like this. When I was a youngster, I had a paper route and I had to get up at 4AM every day of the week to deliver newspapers. I didn't like getting up at 4AM. I wanted more sleep. Eventually my brain and body learned to turn off the alarm clock without me waking up. That was not good.

The alarm clock was on the floor beside my bed. To turn it off, all I had to do was reach down and push the alarm button in. So I decided to make it more difficult to turn off. I placed the alarm clock under my bed, in the exact center of my bed. This way, to turn off the alarm I had to get out of bed and crawl partially under the bed in order to reach the clock. I was successful, for a while.

Then my brain and body learned to turn off the alarm clock without waking me up. That's right—I crawled out of bed, crawled under the bed, turned off the alarm, crawled out from under the bed, and got back into bed without waking up. It's amazing what the body can learn to do.

So delivering the morning paper went like this: At 4AM I rode my bike to the newspaper drop-off spot, and I gathered the bundles of papers, and I cut the wires holding the papers together and I rolled the papers and put them into a basket on the front of my bike. Then I rode my bike through the streets of my route, throwing papers at porches, on sunny days, rainy days, snowy days. Warm weather and ice cold weather, seven days a week. On Thursday afternoons (after school) I collected payment from customers on the first half of my route. On Friday afternoons (after school) I collected payment from customers on the second half of my route. On Saturday mornings I collected payments from people who were not at home on Thursday and Friday evenings.

I sold the papers for 45 cents per week, and the papers were big and heavy. They've shrunk to almost nothing nowadays, thanks to Internet competition. The 45 cents bought you seven days of home delivery newspapers. You could buy 5 days, weekdays only, for 25 cents (5 cents per day), or you could buy only the Sunday paper for 25 cents.  The Sunday paper was a monster, but the Thursday paper was no slouch—next to the Sunday paper, it was the second heaviest paper.

A bonus of delivering papers on a bike was dog attacks. I was bitten a half dozen times, always in sneak attacks, by dogs who roamed the streets freely.

For all those miserable hours of delivering newspapers on hot days, freezing cold days, rainy days, nice days, and then spending two afternoons and a morning collecting payment, how much did I make after I paid for the papers? I made about seven dollars per week. Yes, a dollar per day. I paid 3 cents for weekday papers and sold them for 5 cents. I paid 20 cents for Sunday papers and sold them for 25 cents. Times have changed. The papers now cost a lot more, and the size and weight of the newspapers have dwindled to the size of an advertising flyer that comes in the mail. But when you're 13 or 14 years old, your options for making money are limited. I suppose kids today simply ask their parents for money, but that wasn't an option for me.

Quickly changing the subject now...

I love popcorn, and I have some microwave Pop Secret (with natural butter taste) in the kitchen. I would not be surprised if one day my brain and body learn to get me up while I'm sleeping and have me make popcorn. I will know nothing of it, of course, until morning, when I awaken and become aware of butter on my face and t-shirt and then I will become suspicious that my body has been having fun without me.

The high temperature yesterday was 74°F. That's warm for mid-winter in central Virginia, but winters are generally getting warmer, as are summers. The outside temperature now is 67° and we have rain. Today is supposed to be partly sunny, and the weekend will be sunny with temperatures in the 50s. That's fine with me. I'll burn less heating oil, the house will be more comfortable, and I might even go outside for a walk. I know some people will be shocked, but I used to walk around the neighborhood every day. It became tiresome (boring) after a number of years and I quit walking. But I need to do it, so maybe I'll begin walking again. Maybe later today, when the sun is peeking out of the clouds. Maybe tomorrow, too. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

It's a little after 3AM now. Still dark, of course. I hope you have a great day! And if you can, go for a walk around the neighborhood.