An art of not giving a fuck!

I must admit that I am an oddball with remnants of some “hainan wind” (craziness) inherited from my ancestors … short fused at times, stubborn, sarcastic with an acerbic tongue and very direct … I don’t mince my words, I say it like it is. I won’t deny it … I have weaknesses.

So, many people don’t like me and that is why I don’t have a lot of friends … at times I have to dwell alone. That is OK … yes I am alone but I am not lonely.

It is absolutely alright if people don’t like me … I don’t live on their likings. They choose to only harp on my weaknesses and complained that I will drag them down. Well, I cannot do anything if they want to put it that way. And some want to talk behind my back … if that is what they like to do, that is where they will always be … behind me. I don’t give a fuck anyway.

But then again there are people who will tolerate me … why? Because I also have my strengths … they tap on my strengths but they are also willing to tolerate my weaknesses … I call it good bonding. We know how to “tango” with each other to any tunes, be it good or bad. These are the people that are willing embrace all of me but there are only a few.

I can say that I have done quite a bit over the years to keep the rapport active, to get people close and to build the bond of togetherness but was not appreciated, instead people took it for granted. I will stop … there is some truth in the saying … “people don’t notice the things you do for them until you stop doing them”.

So now, I wake up every day to make myself happy, to make my loved ones happy and I stay with those who accept me lock, stock and barrel. For the rest of the people … I don’t give a fuck! Why? It is not that I don’t care … they don’t.

I don’t care about losing people who don’t want to be in my life anymore, I have lost people who meant the world to me and I am doing just fine.

So, as you can see, I have learned something … some call it a mindset, others call it a type of thinking ... I call it an art … an art of not giving a fuck!

Adopting

In a casual talk after our badminton games, we somehow came to subject about striking a multi-million prized lottery. It was about a news report that a retired person won one of the biggest lotteries in the country and then someone asked … “what would you do if you win 30 million dollars?”

Of course, there were many suggestions and ideas of what to do with 30 millions dollars. Some said that they will pay all their debts, buy a bigger house, a sports car, enjoy some luxuries, invest the money, share their winnings and last but not least donate some of the winnings to help the poor. We had good laughs and joked about it … we all know the chance that anyone among us would strike the next big lottery is next to impossible.

But later that night as I was laying on my bed, the question came into my mind again … “what will I do if I win the lottery?”

Now let me be frank … there are a lot of things I will do. I will use the extra money to make things better for me and my loved ones … a better home, better school for my children, more budget the family expenditures and allow some things which I cannot afford before.

But there is also one more thing that I will consider … adopting an orphan or even two.

Really???

Yes, seriously ... not that I have to wait until I win a lottery to do it but if my financial capability allows, I will consider adopting. Why?

Simply because I think I can help provide one or two unfortunate children a normal life, a place where they can grow up with love and affection, go to school and have a sense of belonging like any other kids.

I read about many successful rich people building orphanages, charity homes and welfare centres … I admire these people. They helped to make the world better. I won’t be able to do things like that … those are big commitments that needs more than just money and care … they must have organisational expertise, good administration and proper management.

But I can raise children … I am an experienced parent. I am hands on in bringing up my own children … two wonderful kids. Even though they are not the most clever kids among their peers, they are good, kind and well behaved children. So, if I have the means and financial capability, I will consider adopting one or maybe two unfortunate kids… if the authority's criteria allow me to do so.

The idea of adopting unfortunate orphans came from a girl I met many years ago. It was in 1988 when I was on a photography assignment where I met a German girl who was holidaying here. We became friends and exchange views about many things and one thing that she told me showed that she is a very kind and thoughtful person. She told me that she will get married when she goes back to Germany. I wish her the best and may she be blessed with beautiful kids soon.

Then her reply surprised me … she said that she won’t be having any kids. Let me clarify a bit more … actually she said that she won’t be having kids OF HER OWN but she will adopt. Not that she cannot have kids of her own … she told me that she and her husband-to-be have decided that they will adopt and raise unfortunate orphans … maybe one, two or even three depending on their ability as they move along.

She is a remarkable person and I have great respect for her. She has this beautiful unselfish idea … rather than having and raising kids of her own, she wants to dedicate her time, affection and resources to help and raise unfortunate orphans and let these kids have a good, normal and proper environment to grow and fit into the society.

I learned something great from this remarkable girl … I have not met anyone since who told me anything similar and I don’t think there are many people like this out there. Though I have lost contact with her but I am sure she is now somewhere raising one, two or even more beautiful adopted children.

Really, I hope that more people can take up the idea of adopting unfortunate orphans. Well, maybe some people have the thoughts but they don’t have the means and capability yet ... so, keep that thought for now and consider it seriously if and when you are able to.

LEARN, UNLEARN and RELEARN

Many people at my age (I will be 57 next month), having worked for decades want to believe that they know everything under the sky. The experiences they went through, the people they have met and the things they have learned throughout the years made them think that they know almost everything. They walk as if they ruled the world … there is a joke for this kind of people.

A wife (or vice versa) puts up an advertisement :

I am sure you have met people like this and heard them brag to younger people … “young man, what do you know … I eat salt more than you eat rice”. Sorry for the broken English, it’s a direct translation from Cantonese. I am sure you can understand what it means.

But really … how much salt have you eaten?

Let me use my late father as an example … look, I am not trying put down my father’s work, he was a great person but this is a fact. My late father was a mechanic … he started to learn about cars and lorries at the age of 16 and worked for 39 years before he retired. Really … he can just listen to the sound of the engine, smell the exhausted smoke and more or less he can tell you what is wrong with it. And he was right 9.9 out of 10 times.

Now did my father really have 39 years of experience on cars and lorries? NO !!! Why? He may have worked 39 years as a mechanic but he only worked on the same type of engines with the same mechanical process. So, really … he repeatedly did the same thing over and over for 39 years. Did he really know a lot about cars and lorries? NO, he did not … he only had experience on a certain type of engine in cars and lorries. My father did not move with the changes in automotive industry, he did not learn as the industry progressed and changed … so, even after 39 years as a mechanic, his experience was only limited to old combustion engines.

My point is … we may have worked for years … living our lives for decades, doing things day in, day out and yes, we gather years of experiences on things … but did we really LEARN as we move on? Unfortunately, many did not. Many were repeatedly doing things over and over again.

I don’t like it when I hear the elders bragging to the younger people … “I eat salt more than you eat rice” … I respect the elders for what they have been through, experienced and for what they have learned. But I think one must continue to LEARN and must be able to UNLEARN and RELEARN … not being stuck at a point repeatedly doing and telling people the same things over and over again.

So, what to learn, unlearn and relearn? There are many things we can work on ... it ranges from attitude to thinking to beliefs to logic.

First of all … it is not how much you have experienced … the attitude of “I eat more salt than you eat rice” must to be dropped. The elders now have to learn from the younger people. What you may have taken 30 years to accumulate can now be absorbed by the younger generation in just 5 years. Yes, it is that fast and if you are still repeatedly telling people what you did 30 years ago, you are already obsolete.

Next, the thinking … our thinking must move progressively. Many of us are still very “old school” in our thinking. That is not wrong … we can be sentimental and appreciate some “old school” ways doing things but don’t confuse it with the “old fashion” ways of doing things. But very sadly, in today’s modern society … there are still some “old fashioned” parent who practice gender bias among their sons and daughters. I called them SLITS … “Still Living In The Sixties”.

Then the beliefs … and this is my personal opinion. Many don’t want to unlearn what they were told in their beliefs as written in a sacred book and it is what their fore fathers have followed and it cannot be questioned. They have been told that it is the right thing and it has been like that for many years.

But the reality is … as more and more revelations from science and historical facts are accepted … many beliefs have been questioned. Scientists, historians and researchers have revealed many facts that contradict certain beliefs. In many modern countries … their people, especially the younger generations are doing away with many beliefs ... including some with religious notions.

Last but not least … the logic (or rather the lack of it) … in the world of new and modern thinking … I like to question the logic of certain practices. For example … some of my relatives burned fake paper-made smart phones to their great grandparents who died long before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Some told me it is the tradition while other said that it is their beliefs … but to me, whatever it is, there is no logic really … it doesn’t make sense at all.

Now, maybe you will disagree with me on certain things that were mentioned, that is absolute OK but I think we can all agree that we must continue to learn … very likely we will learn a lot more from the younger generations. Then there are also things we must unlearn … things that used to be true but have changed, that will significantly affect our decision making as we progress forward. And of course, there are things that we must relearn based on new trends, new facts, new findings and acceptable logic.

So, how much salt have you eaten? Really, we will never have enough salt … we will continue to eat salt … until the day we become a “harm yu” (salted fish) … pun intended ... for those who don’t know, “harm yu” is a Cantonese pun meaning a dead person.

In the spirit of CNY ... let's give

This morning I read an article … the story of a person whom I had the fortunate opportunity to meet and became friends back in 2015 at his uniquely quaint picturesque resort called Lost Paradise in Penang … Dr Chew Yu Gee.

The Shieks, Dr Chew and Gem Chew

This good doctor is a remarkable person … a guy who can roll up his sleeves, grab a wok, start a fire and fry rice for you at his resort. More significantly, he is also a down to earth, very kind soul who have helped many people. A man true to the saying … “makes a living from what he gets and makes a life from what he GIVES”.

I give my highest respect to this good doctor and his beautiful wife, Melody.

You can read more about this great doctor at the link below :- 

http://goodnews.com.my/blog/2018/12/26/paradise-is-what-you-make-of-it-the-story-of-dr-chew-and-melody/ 

Now … this brings me to what I am going talk about in this writing … giving.

I have seen many people … some I know very well, who have made it in life. They are quick to tell you how they make their living, how they accumulate and what they get but very few and very rare I hear these people tell me how much they give.

Let me borrow the words of the good Dr Chew … he said … “Kill the ghost within. The ghost that constantly wants to attain more and more material wealth. It’s not wrong to work towards wealth but it should not be the sole motivation and everyone should delve deep into their hearts from time to time to realise the love within, which can only accumulate when you give”.

The Chinese New Year is just around the corner … while many of us are looking forward to welcome the festive holidays and most are preparing to “balik kampung” … I would like to draw your attention to a bunch of unfortunate people … those in the old folk’s homes, charity and welfare centres and orphanages.

For the last several years … every year around this time of the year, I will try to make time for some of the old folks at the homes that I visit every now and then. I have heard their stories and I felt their sadness … especially at this time of the year.

In these homes and centres … there are many of those who are not able to “go home” during CNY. Some have no one to come take them, some have nowhere to go to and a few can’t even remember what is really like to be at their own home. And while the fortunate ones are surrounded by their loved ones in a merry celebrative atmosphere … these unfortunate folks silently yearn for the same, year by year.

Maybe we can spare a bit of our time to visit these folks … though we cannot offer them the real essence of a family reunion but at the very least, we can offer them some sort of attention, some feeling of being cared, some words of comfort and last but not least someone to hold their hands, even for just a while.

Of course, there are those who give generously … angpaos, festive food and beverages and other living necessities … yes, good and thank you very much. But really, it is not so much of the edibles and the useable items … more importantly it is the presence, it is the time, it is the attention, it is the touch, it is the words … that is a lot more meaningful than anything else.

So, in the spirit of CNY and in the spirit of giving … let’s give … a bit of our time.

What is coming ?

In the next few days, it will be a new year … so, what is coming ?

To many people, in the new year, there will be much to look forward to … new things, new ideas, new places, new faces, new challenges and maybe new beginnings.

Whatever it is … let it be good for all.

As for me … the new year will more or less of what I have been doing this year and several years before that. I guess there won’t be much … kind of boring isn’t it?

Why so boring? No resolutions? No dreams? No plans? What about travel … nothing on the bucket list?

Hmmmm … let me think.

Resolutions? No, I don’t have new year’s resolutions … quit this, stop that, learn this or lose that. But I am always unlearning and relearning … because many of the things I learned before may not be applicable now. Though I am an old school person and I still hold on to some old school ways of doing things but certain things must change. What I used to know to be true may not be true anymore and this can adversely affect my ability to apply judgements on related matter. So, day in and day out, progressively, I am unlearning and relearning.

And maybe I am also teaching … well, not teaching like a professional but what I have unlearned and relearned ... I will talk about it, I will pass it on, I will share it and I will write about it … that, I think is a form of teaching.

Dreams? I have said it before, I no longer have dreams. Dreams are not for me now … dreams if it is big enough, it will take a long time to realised … some may even take a lifetime to achieve. For me … if I dream, it will have to be big enough to scare me … so, by the time I achieve my dream, I will probably be dead.

I don’t have the time to chase for dreams ... so I look for smaller and easier things to do … just do things that come by, do whatever that is in front of me and then move on to the next task. And instead of spending time dreaming … I rather spend my time seeking memories, looking for familiars faces, places, tastes and sentiments … embarking on nostalgic thoughts and moments.

Travel? Nope, no big plans for travelling. My only plan for travel is to China again … it is due to my long interest of the ancient history of China. Other than that, maybe a couple of family holiday trips in the region.

You see, I cannot afford to travel like others … going to exotic places for sightseeing and holidays. I have limited budget for my travel and it will be for budgeted travels related to my interest in ancient world history and civilisations … hence, my earlier trips to Eqypt, Greece, India, China and some other places of interest.

Bucket list? I have no a bucket list … there is nothing that I think I must do before I die. Errrrrr … maybe that’s not true … I would like to see my children get married and have their own children before I die. But you don’t consider that in your bucket list, right?

Look, I like to trek … I think I have trekked long enough to be called a trekker. Like all trekkers … I love the Himalayas. Many trekkers put the Himalayas on their bucket list, a place they must go and many went. But not for me and I think my chances of trekking the Himalayas is like next to winning a lottery. And that is ok … that does not make me any less passionate in trekking that any other who have trekked the ABC, EBC or other Himalaya trails.

There is no delicacies that I must eat, no adventures I must try, no places I must go, no people I must meet before I die … I don’t look too far ahead, just do whatever comes by and take things simple and easy.

Eh? … maybe there is one thing I must do before I die … try to stay alive !!!

So, just like the past several years … there are no big things for me in the coming year and that is good. I am not looking forward to big things … big things are complicated things. I am not looking forward to too many things either … too many things, it will get complicated too. Someone once said I am a lazy fella … give me complicated tasks and I will think of the most simple and easy way to do it. I am fine if people want to put it that way.

Let me quote again ... “I am at my best in my simplest form” ... really, life is full of simple pleasures … apa susah susah ?

Enjoy the things you already have

I told people that I don’t need more … well, maybe I am not being honest. Let’s not fool each other … I don’t mind if someone wants to give me more. Sometimes I will bet on lottery … it will be a bonus if I win some extra money ... hey, who don’t want some extra cash, right?

What I meant was … I am absolute OK even if I don’t get anything more.

Every day I wake up and look around me … at the things that I already have. I am a very fortunate person … I have a wife who supported me through thick and thin for more than 20 years now, I have two active teenagers who keeps the house noisily alive and I have a comfortable home where we stay bonded together with respects and privacy.

I have some small investments and savings that generate enough passive income to cater for our budgeted spending. I have a bunch of good friends whom I have known for more than 40 years and I still have a capable body and mind that enables me to live an active healthy life. More importantly, I have all the time in the world to enjoy what I already have.

Many people have the things I have ... some even more but many don’t see and appreciate the things that they already have … they set their minds on getting things that they don’t have … well, there is nothing wrong in doing that.

For me … there are many things I don’t have. That is OK … I won’t let it affect me. I am not losing sleep over it … at this point of my life, I won’t be able to get it anyway.

My point is (and you don’t have to agree with me) … if you are able to live with what that is already with you … you will see that happiness is not about getting the things you want … happiness is about enjoying the things you already have.

Well, it DID !!!

This month is not good month … things were not going my way right from the beginning of the month. Many times, I have seen or heard of unfortunate incidents and I will say to myself … it will not happen to me. It is kind of like a self-consolation type of confidence that I think I am always the lucky one because I have not really experienced anything really really bad in my 56 years of life … up until last month, that is.

At the start of the October, I was told that my sister was diagnosed of thyroid cancer … quite late at the third stage. The news troubled me deeply … my dear sister whom I thought was healthily enjoying her life with her latest granddaughter is now very sick.

She went in and out of the hospital cancer ward for tests and scans … then the doctor told her that she will have to be treated by chemotherapy. There were concerns and worries but she made her decision and went for her first chemo. We all know how this treatment affects the human body … the side effects are terrible. I can see that she suffered a lot but it was her decision to go for chemotherapy. Just a couple of days ago, she went for her second chemo treatment and there will be six more to go. All we can do now is let the good doctors do the necessary and hope that she will recover soon.

My dear sister recovering from treatment

You see … before this, I have seen many people around me … friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbours … suffering from various type of cancers and every time I hear a story like this, I will always tell myself … I am one of the lucky ones … it will not happen to me or my loved ones.

But I was wrong … it DID !!!

Next comes another bad incident in the mid of the month. You see, I have an apartment rented out to a couple which they shared with another two tenants … have been rented to them for almost 6 years and all the while everything was well. I like this couple … the monthly rental was paid on time and the relation between landlord and tenant was very good. So much so that in the last six years … I have only increased the rental once and it was less than ten percent.

Everything went well until mid of October … in September, the wife told me that she “balik kampung” for a few weeks and will pay me when she comes back early October and I believed her. But up until mid of October, I did not hear from her and so I started calling. The line was cancelled.

I checked with the other two tenants staying at the house and both of them do not know where the couple is. They said that they were just sub-renting a room from the couple and they will be leaving by the end of the month since the couple have disappeared.

Now what I am sorry about is not so much of the rental not collected for two months (I collected some security deposits as per the rental agreement) … what I am sorry about is that I thought I can trust them after six years of landlord and tenant relationship … I thought they can be trusted and if they want to leave, at the very least, inform me. But it was not to be.

So, by the end of this month, I will be left with an empty apartment that needs to be cleaned, repaired, re-furbished and re-painted … there goes a few months of my pocket money.

Anyone want to rent an apartment in Sunway?

Then on the 23^rd of this month (just two days ago) … at about 7am while I was still sleeping in a cool rainy morning … my wife jerked me up and said … “your car GONE !!!”. I said …”WHAT ?” She replied quite loudly … “YOUR CAR IS GONE ... it is not parked where it was yesterday”

I quickly went downstairs … walked out to the garden and looked at where I usually parked my car … really, it was GONE !!! Stolen very obviously … then I took my wife’s car and foolishly drove around the neighbourhood hoping to find it. I know I will not find it but that was my first reaction … I thought that was the very least I can do. Anyway, after about ten minutes, I know it was a fruitless attempt and so I decided to go make a police report.

My faithful car ... STOLEN !!!

And that was when all the hassles start. Making a police report in Malaysia is quite easy actually … you go to the nearest police station and tell your story at the reporting desk and very quickly the officer in charge will type out the report … print a copy for you … you read it and then you sign it if everything is according to what you have just told the officer. Simple right?

No … that is just the first step! Next you have to be “interviewed” by the IO (that’s what I was told … I guessed it stands for Investigating Officer) who normally will be one of the Sergeants on duty at that time. Now, the Sergeant on duty is not always in the police station … for my case it was right at the time when they change shift. So, the earlier Sergeant has finished the shift and left … the next taking over has not arrived yet … yes, there were no IO dealing with my case at the time when I made my report.

So what to do? Wait lorrr … I was told the IO will be coming in soon … waited for about an hour but no one came. Then the officer at the front desk made a call … after that he told me that I need to come back later as the IO was “on site” dealing with another case. He could have told me earlier so I don’t have to sit in the police station for more than an hour.

Anyway … I was told to come back about two hours later and I did. Despite all the hassles earlier … I was glad that the IO turned out to be a sweet young lady … a Sarjan Haswani from “Unit Penjenayah” (Crime Unit) ... she was very kind and helpful … asking me all the relevant questions and telling me what the police will do and what I should do. The so called “interview” went on for about 45 minutes and I was told take a copy of the report to another officer to be “stamped” as a certified true copy. Only with this I can make my insurance claim and other reports and cancellations related to the stolen car.

So I went to get the police report “stamped” and you know what? The officer at that counter went out for tea ! YES, there were no one manning that counter … I think this only happens in Malaysia … where a counter in a police station is open but there is no one there … went out for tea apparently.

Now … if not because of the earlier sweet Sergeant … I would have complained but I decided to go and have a drink myself and make some calls. Later I finally got the “official certified true copy” of the report.

I don’t want to tell you about the hassles, the long wait, the forms, the documents that were needed for insurance claim and other related reports and cancellations … that will not make you feel good about the systems, procedures and processes of the various parties that you have to go through if your car is stolen.

Again … I have never in my life thought that my car will be stolen. I have seen and heard of many stolen car stories and I will always think that it will not happen to me.

Now, my point here is … never say that things will not happen to you. As positive as we want to face the challenges in life but really, life can just change in a moment. We think we are healthy and strong but a tiny virus can bring hell … we think we are active and mobile but a slip can put a stop to all that and we think we may be the fortunate ones but life can throw a curve at you anytime.

I used to say … “it will not happen to me” … well, it DID !!!

I am not a great person

Let me tell you this … I am not a great person. I am 56 years old and until now I have not done anything great … really, nothing worthwhile, nothing big, nothing heroic, nothing illustrious, nothing impressive … nothing that is worthy enough to be called great. 

As a school boy … I was never the clever type. My parents had hoped that I can achieve something in school but I did not. The best I did was getting a Grade II for my MCE exams. I was mischievous at times but generally I behaved well in my schooling days.

Throughout the years, my academics were just slightly above average … nothing to shout about but I was quite active in other activities. I was a scout for a few years, actively involved in various school societies, participated in a few sports and was quite popular among my schoolmates. I was never going to achieve anything great in school … I was just an ordinary good school boy.

My parents had hoped that their son can achieve academic excellence but I let them down. I know they were disappointed but I think they knew that I am not the studious type. For the lack of paper qualifications … I have to make it up with good hard work.

So, after secondary school, I went straight to work … I never have any great thoughts of what I want to be. I don’t have any ambitions … all I have was an objective … to work and earn money so I can help put food on the table. While others in my age group have ambitions of becoming a doctor or a pilot or an engineer … I looked for all sorts of opportunities to earn a living.

And very soon I was doing good … good enough to start contributing to the family. The family financial situation improved and both my dad and mom were able to retire as planned and live a fairly good life in their later years. My parents may not have a great son but I know they were quite happy with a good son.

Over the years, I dabbled in many things … I was an electrician, a draughtman, a photographer, a graphic artist, a direct salesman, a small design agency owner, a café owner, a coffee shop partner before getting a job starting as a manager in the corporate world. I did not do anything significant or momentous in in my working life … while some of my peers climbed high up the corporate ladder and others established successful businesses, agencies and companies … my last job was a senior manager struggling in middle of things trying to make it good in the corporate world.

I did not do anything “big” but I think I did quite good in my working years … good enough to help put food on the table, good enough to start my own family, good enough to raise two kids and good enough to retire and enjoy my life comfortably.

I am married for 24 years and blessed with two kids. When I was thinking of getting married, I did not make any elaborate proposal … come to think about it, I can’t even remember how we end up deciding to get married but I am glad we did. In the last 24 years I did not do anything great as a husband … nope, nothing romantic or specially touching … nor did I do anything stupidly cute. I am just a straight forward husband … a very ordinary husband and I do what I think a husband should do.

I am the provider, the caregiver, the trouble shooter, the bodyguard, the protector, the joker, the driver, the gardener, the messenger, the car washer, the book keeper, the pet carer, the financial controller, the handyman all rolled into one … at times I cook, I mop, I sew, I launder, I iron and when I feel like it, I bake.

You know what? Over the years, I became quite good at doing all those things. So you see … I am not a great husband and have not done anything great but I think I did a lot of good things … at least good enough for my wife.

And as a father of two … again I don’t think I have done anything great as a father … unless you take into consideration the providing of two great swimmers that end up being first among the millions to kick start the fertilization that resulted in two beautiful babies. Nope ... I don’t think that is a great thing … so really, I am not a great father. Like my father … I am just a normal dad providing whatever that is required for his kids to grow up happily, healthily and to ensure that there will be enough resources to provide them with proper schooling and good education.

I am not a clever father … I don’t have the proper qualifications to guide them to academic success … they will have to struggle to achieve it themselves. I can only teach them from what I have experienced. So really, I have not done anything great for my kids but I hope whatever I can provide will do a bit of good for them in their growing years.

I know a lot of people but I don’t have many friends. Why? Simply because I am not a great friend. You see, I am a strange fella … I am very direct and I don’t mince my words. I tell you like it is … no more and no less. That is the problem … people don't like it and that is why I don’t have a lot of friends. How can you be a great friend if you don’t have a lot of friends … right?

But I am ok with it … even though there is only a few that can take me for what I am and I can take them for what they are … that is enough … I am glad and happy with them. Why? Because they are what I called good friends. Really at my age … I don’t need a lot of friends … just the good ones.

So you can see … I am not a great person and I have not done anything great. Well … no problem at all, I can live with that. I may not have done great things but I think I have done a lot of good things. Many years ago, a learned man told me … if you cannot do great things maybe you can try to do a lot of good things.