Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch
Lately, it seems that every time I sit down to work on the club newsletter, I find myself getting distracted by something. Often, I have no control over the distraction. After all, when the Mrs. interrupts me, I’m smart enough to say, “Yes ma’am.” When the phone rings, I have to take some time to decide whether or not to answer it. Texting is worse. Most of them require a reply.
“The Internet is a big distraction.” Ray Bradbury hit the proverbial nail on the head when he said that. For instance, when I searched for a quote to place in this article, I spent time looking at the list of his books and short stories to check if there was any I wanted to reread. Then I had check out other authors that I might find interesting. Time wasted? I often justify my side incursions on the internet by telling myself that I’m just looking for trivia questions for a “Quizzler Puzzle”. In the future, if you need to know that Ray Bradbury’s first book was “Dark Carnival”, you’ll know how I found that question.
I hate to admit it, but a big distraction for me is games. I just plan on taking a short break to play something. Just one more usually turns into a bout a half hour. Sadly, the same thing is true of YouTube videos.
This months newsletter has even more distractions than usual. I’m finishing it on a cruise ship. I have to admit that I often look up from my laptop when someone drops a plate of food. It seems that someone is always yelling at somebody else Then there are always one or two people that have had a few too many alcoholic libations. The Cruise Director has to make a lot of announcements telling about all the fun things that are happening aboard the ship. Luckily, I don’t get distracted whenever a pretty girl in a bikini walks by.
One thing that doesn’t distract me like a lot of other people is email. I have several email addresses, but only a few are allowed to notify me when there is a new message. I usually check my email twice a day, in the morning and evening. If a message is important, I’ll either get a text, a phone call or sent to my “special” addresses. I’ve got enough other stuff to misdirect me. Oops! I was just distracted my looking up the fact I could say misdirection instead of distractions.
I try to get the monthly newsletter finished and ready for the proofreaders seven days before Pat sends it to the members on the Saturday before the Thursday meeting. Almost without fail, I have another four or five days of distractions left. Someone almost always has a last minute item or change to input. Luckily, there isn’t usually many typos that need correcting.
That’s enough distractions for now. Thanks for reading.