April...the cruelest month

At least for me, it was.

On 4-16-2026, living with an enlarged prostate caught up with me. That morning, at 3:45 AM (Central time), for the first time in my life, I woke up unable to eliminate.

As a result, I was unable to help out at our church's all-congregation cleanup. Instead of helping to tidy up a church building, I ended up seeing UroHealth Partners (10707 Pacific St., Omaha, NE 68114).

UroHealth's staff took care of the pain in my private parts, all right. By 11:55 AM, the staff put a catheter on me...and I was able to drain.

They had me come back for a pair of followup appointments...4-22-2026 (the day they took the catheter out) and 4-23-2026. I felt all right after the cath removal. Felt able to do my thing on my own. But on 4-25-2026, the pains came right back.

On a freakin' Saturday...and UroHealth isn't open on weekends.

This time, I ended up going to the emergency room at CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center- University Campus (2412 Cuming St., Omaha, NE 68131)...the closest hospital to where I live.

By around 1:30 PM, CHI's staff put a new catheter in me...and that's what I'm wearing at the present time.

Two days later, the UroHealth staff announced that I'll undergo prostate surgery at 6:00 AM on 5-26-2026 at Methodist Hospital (8303 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68114). The object: To reduce my prostate to a more manageable size.

I'll continue to wear a catheter until at least 6-2-2026. Until that date comes, I'm not about to have that cath removed.

Here's hoping for a successful prostate surgery.

Meet the new boss...same as the old boss

Well, that's how I see this year's NCAA Division 1 women's basketball tournament finishing up.

The same four teams that won their regionals in the 2024-25 season's go-'round are back at it: UCLA, Texas, South Carolina, and eventual champion Connecticut...with the Huskies rolling to their 12th wonen's D-1 title (and first since the 2015-16 campaign...when Geno Auriemma's club pulled off a four-peat).

Right now (6:06 PM Central time), the semifinals are about to tip off...so, here goes with the predictions:

Connecticut over South Carolina, UCLA over Texas...then on 4-5-2026, the Huskies will be beat Cori Close's Bruins. Again.

Tomorrow, this season's NCAA Division 1 men's basketball tourney heads for the home stretch...and it doesn't look so cut-and-dried (at least to these eyes).

So...with that in mind...here's how I think that cycle will shape up:

Connecticut over Illinois, Arizona over Michigan...followed by...Dan Hurley's Huskies taking care of Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats on 4-6-2026.

Come to think of it, any one of those four D-1 men's teams can be the final club to cut the nets down.

Anyway...I hope your favorite men's team and your favorite women's team win!

I never thought I'd need it...but here I am

Last year, two people who found me on LinkedIn asked me to start GoFundMe projects for them...one an evangelist from Pakistan, the other an auto mechanic from Gambia.

But here I am...a retired factory worker-turned-screenwriter from the United States. And seven days ago, I launched my own GoFundMe effort.

If you're getting ready to toss your monitor, laptop, or cell phone across the room, wait...here's what happened:

The company I spent 1-26-2004 through 10-5-2022 with is an employee-owned business that offers its employees what's called an Employee Stock Option Program. In the program, company workers receive shares in the business...and that means they can eventually take a payout, start an IRA, etc. Well, the last time company officials made a stock declaration was October 2024. A month later, I called the financial group that works with my previous place of work to seek a payout in response to the stock declaration, and the payout arrived in my bank account on 1-2-2025. Did everything right...I set aside 5% of my monthly income (stock money plus Social Security payments) to put in my savings account for emergencies. I didn't try to splurge...in the meantime, I waited to hear from the factory and the financial group to see if a stock declaration would take place in 2025.

When I came to realize no declaration would happen in 2025, I went looking for at least a part-time job where the money would supplement my Social Security income. Three months later, I'm still looking.

I applied for a job with a company I worked for from 1980 to 1986...an inventory firm.

First day back on the job was supposed to be 1-2-2026...except I received an email from a company manager. The email stated that a computer glitch fouled up the information four other applicants and I put online (info about taxation, Direct Deposit, citizenship, other goodies)...and that the company wanted us to fill out the info all over again. After I put my information back in, I haven't heard back from that manager. Phone calls and emails have proven fruitless.

America's biggest furniture store (it's here in Omaha) turned me down, too. And I haven't yet heard back from a used book store or from a thrift store.

I'm not giving up the search...and I'm not giving up on a screenwriting-TV writing career. (Even reached out to a local firm, Fallen Giant Films.)

Just want to get back on my feet and make sure I can get ALL my bills paid.

Right now, I receive $1,399.30 a month from Social Security...and pay $785.00 for rent each month.

Presently, each month, I'm paying $165.35 for Medicare Senior Supplement, $121.34 for car insurance, $78.66 for utilities, $55.63 for cell phone use, $49.99 for Internet use, $42.92 for dental insurance, $28.62 for landline phone use, and $15.17 for renters insurance. Those eight other bills come due before I even see my SS money (and that dough comes on the third Wednesday of every month).

I've found a cheaper rate for car insurance...but I can't act until I see any new money. And I've cut back on groceries...now spending $365.00 monthly, and that's $87.00 less per month than what I'd been shelling out.

If you're able to donate to my own GoFundMe effort, just go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-jims-journey-to-financial-stability.

Here's wishing you and yours all the VERY BEST for 2026...and beyond.

Tomorrow, 1-30-2026

That's the day a general strike will take place all over these United States to protest the nation's move to a fascist government.

That means, if you're able to do so, you refrain from going to work, going to school, and going shopping...all to protest DHS' Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

If you can't walk off the job or attend demonstrations tomorrow, you can boycott large corporations that support the antics of the current White House...and that includes major retailers among those big businesses. (But if you've got to shop, small local businesses are okay.)

Think of all the major companies whose support of the former host of TV's "The Apprentice" in 2016, 2020, and 2024 helped lead to (among many other things) the drive to annex Greenland...tariffs galore...erasing non-White men and women of all colors from the American history books...to say nothing of masked ICE agents kidnaping, raping, and killing innocent people.

Maybe you can write letters (online or physical) to elected officials...especially Congressmembers. Urge them not to give any more loot to DHS and its ICE arm. Signing petitions and engaging in online political discussions is okay, too.

People on Facebook and on Instagram have sounded the call for a general strike...and you can also go to https://NationalShutdown.org for more information.

If this is the only way to get Corporate America's attention, well...so be it.

It just isn't there...for some of us

The holiday spirit, that is.

You know about the last six weeks of every calendar year...the so-called holiday season.

The season to be jolly.

If you're jolly right now, that's fine. If you don't feel any jollity at the moment, that's all right. And if you're someplace in the middle, it's okay.

I grew up in an alcoholic household...a house of constant faultfinding, constant shaming, and constant belittling. (Hint: I turned 18 years old on 11-11-1973.) Mom was the alcoholic...and she, more often than not, battled her sisters (my maternal aunts). And that wasn't when Mom battled my maternal grandmother.

The battles were tiresome to hear (let alone watch)...and I wanted to hide instead of getting involved. Just wanted the fighting to end, once and for all.

One such confrontation happened in December 1974...and it was between Mom and one of my maternal aunts. It eventually got to the point where Mom demanded I take sides: "As the man of the house..."

I just wanted to be alone.

Memories of these feuds, plus taking a look at how the accent this time of year is on the corporate side of things (after all, QuickBooks said that holiday spending accounts for about 47% of American small businesses' annual revenue...and the National Retail Foundation predicts Americans will spend an unprecedented $1 trillion here in the 2025 cycle), have caused me to feel that this time of year isn't so wonderful.

Instead, to me, it's the most critical/crucial/pressure-filled time of the year.

And I didn't even mention the antics that have taken place in Washington, DC ever since 1-20-2025...or the pressure I feel I'm on ever since two people asked me to launch GoFundMe projects in these two people's names.

I know...them's fightin' words (especially to Edward Pola's and George Wyle's survivors). And writing this post might end up stepping on way too many toes.

All my life, I've been asked- told- to exhibit feelings that aren't real to me (especially during the last six weeks of each year).

I JUST WANT TO BE REAL WITH MY FEELINGS.

Well, it's time for me to get off this soapbox...time for me to hear from you. And here's hoping you're in a safe place to express your REAL feelings...all year long.