I have a conventional 8 AM–4:30 PM job Monday through Friday. Wish I could say it was a cool Gaia-type career like so many other people here have. No, I am not a self-employed artist living on a house-boat or an independent producer of environmentally-conscious films, nor do I work for some government agency helping people in third-world countries lift themselves out of poverty.

Even though my position (in the manufacturing industry) is not very empowering or personally fulfilling, I truly believe that manufacturing is the backbone of the U.S. economy. My employer’s products are Made-in-America, rather than imported clutter made by low-paid slave-labor in other countries. And many of the employees, quite frankly, don’t seem like the kind of people who are going to climb the ladder of success; if they weren’t working in a place like this, many of them would probably be unemployed. But since the manufacturing base in the U.S. has been declining for years, I’m always exploring new career paths or livelihoods. Hopefully something that is more “me” and can be better integrated into my whole lifestyle.

After work, I spend way too much time spoiling my cats. They sure can be major time-wasters. But hey, it is quality time! Gradually, over the past couple of years, I’ve been getting more into home-cooked meals. This can be somewhat challenging for a person who lives alone, but I think I’ve overcome much of the resistance by sticking to recipes that make it easy to divide a large quantity of food into several meals. After dinner, I like to “power-walk” around the neighborhood during reasonably nice weather. On the weekends, I walk around in a local park or forest preserve. During the roughest part of winter, I’m limited to the treadmill in the basement. Lately, I’ve gotten into eBay–as a seller. Been a member since 2001 but hardly did anything with it, other than occasionally buying something. This now takes up chunks of my time.

One of my favorite things is sleeping in on the weekends. I used to be a “morning person” when I was much younger but not so much anymore. Sleep Apnea may be a factor here.

I am somewhat of a homebody who has to have a certain amount of solitude. I can spend an entire weekend at home without ever interacting with another person—and feel OK about it. However, I do have a social life, and I enjoy occasional family gatherings (for a while). I’m a member of three singles groups in my vicinity, and those groups give me plenty of opportunities for dining out, movies, house parties, dances, picnics, hiking, camping, canoe trips and such. Many of the people in these clubs have collectively become my “family of choice.”

Being sort of “developmentally challenged” in social skills, as a teenager I lagged behind my peers in that area. For a long time, I struggled with small talk and friendly flirting with the ladies at parties. I’ve gotten somewhat better at it over the years, but I know my ability will probably remain less than average. Nonetheless, I enjoy listening and observing people interacting, and I pick up some kind of energy from that. I develop friendships very slowly and usually don’t maintain them well.

I’ve never watched very much television. Over the years there were a few programs that I watched regularly, but when the show was over, I’d switch off the TV and do something else. I haven’t turned on my TV set since I moved a couple of years ago. Funny thing is, I’ve been attracted to You Tube. Being able to search for an old TV show or obscure movie and watch it anytime is fascinating.

The bookshelf stereo system plays just about all day when I’m at home. Mostly, I listen to “Oldies,” popular music from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s. Once in a while, I’ll get tired of hearing the same old playlist on the radio, and so I’ll run the mp3 player in the computer to enjoy some great old tunes that are rarely played on the radio. And sometimes when I need a reality check or a dose of common sense reporting, I’ll listen to Air America. It’s the only talk radio program I can stand.

I’ve been a recycler long before curbside-recycling services existed. Used to load boxes of paper, glass containers, plastic bottles and such into my car to bring to a recycling center on Saturday mornings.