David Lee

100 Days of Writing – Day Forty-Two

On Friday night, high school football returns for yet another season and once again, I’ll be covering games on the radio for a local AM station. It’s something I’ve done most every season since 1985 and I’m looking forward to another season of local high school football action.

For the first Friday night, I’ll be covering the Hickory High Red Tornadoes, as they open the season at home agains the Alexander Central Cougars. The following introduction will be my pregame report and I’ll be reporting on the game as the night proceeds. The reports are aired during the feature game of the week on the station.

Reporting live from Frank Barger Stadium on the campus of Hickory High School, this is Dave Moser for the Coca-Cola 123 Radio Football Hotline. Tonight I’ll be bringing you updates on the season opener as the Red Tornadoes square off against the Alexander Central Cougars. Hickory is coming off a 7-5 record last year, the first at Hickory for former Lincolnton head coach Joe Glass. They are led offensively by quarterbacks Turner Wood, a junior, and Brady Stober, a sophomore. They’re looking for a big season in the running game from standout Isaiah Lackey. Recent UNC-CH signee Rico Walker will see action on both sides of the ball, at wide receiver and linebacker. This is Hickory High’s 100th season of competitive football, so it’s an extra special season for the Red Tornadoes.

The visiting Alexander Central Cougars were 4-6 last season under seventh-year head coach Butch Carter. One of those wins was a 21-7 home victory to open the year against the Red Tornadoes. The Cougars also feature a pair of quarterbacks who expect to see significant playing time, senior Luke Hammer and junior Tanner Moore. Junior Logan Shoemaker is one of the shining stars on the defensive side of the ball for the Cougars.

We expect to see a large crowd on hand tonight here at Barger Stadium and I’ll keep you updated with all the happenings as the night progresses.

This has been Dave Moser for the Coca-Cola 123 Radio Football Hotline, now back to the Crew at St. Stephens.

100 Days of Writing – Day Forty-One

A Story to be Told: Lost at Sea

Several year ago, I dropped by a local historical cemetery and viewed some of the many tombstones of those who were buried there, including some of my relatives. During my search, I came upon a marker for someone I had not known, but it definitely had a story waiting to be told. The tombstone was for Staff Sergeant Howard Flake Sloop and what drew my attention was the inscription “Lost at Sea.” While I didn’t immediately do any research, I recently viewed the picture I had made and decided it was time to find out the details of his death.

I did an internet search and was able to find quite a few details about how he had died during World War II. As it turns out, the bomber he was on was shot down on a mission to bomb an area in Germany in 1943. Sloop served as a gunner on that particular aircraft. Here are the details:

Killed in Action

SSGT Howard Sloop was Killed in Action during World War II.

SSGT Howard Sloop served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II
Service started:
Unit(s): B-17 “Souse Family” 42-5895
Service ended: KIA Jul 26, 1943

Biography

Staff Sargent Howard Sloop was born in Alexander County, North Carolina in 1911 to William and Agnes (Sides) Sloop. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on September 11, 1942. He married a woman named Ruby Fox. They may have had children. He was a woodworker in his civilian life. In the Air Corps, he served as a Waist Gunner on at least 2 different B-17s. The last B-17 that he served on was B-17 “Souse Family” 42-5895. On July 26, 1943, The “Souse Family” was flying in a mission to bomb Hannover, Germany, along with 20 other B-17s, when they came under attack by enemy aircraft, approximately 35 miles off the northwest coast of the East Frisian Islands. The plane eventually caught fire, and Lt. Col. Theodore R Harris tried to ditch it in the North Sea. 4 of the crew were killed in action and 6 were captured as Prisoners of War.

Howard received an Air Medal and a Purple Heart for his bravery in service to his country.

Howard’s body was never recovered, but his name is listed in memorial at Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, in Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands. His family also has a plot for him at Fairview Cemetery in Hickory, Catawba County, North Carolina.

The 3 other men from B-17 “Souse Family” 42-5895 that died July 26, 1943 were;

2nd Lt. Everett H Hiatt Co-Pilot

1st Lt. Arlis K Anderson Navigator

SSGT George J Hrubovcack Ball-Turret Gunner

Source: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sloop-257

I will continue to do additional research during the coming days and will include my findings in this entry.

David Lee

100 Days of Writing – Day Forty

Just random writing today…whatever pops into my head.

Today is Tuesday. I’ve had over one month now since my last cigarette and even though I still get cravings, I haven’t found it necessary to pick up a cigarette. For that, I am grateful. I’ve avoided smoking 584 cigarettes over the twenty-nine-day period and have saved $169 by not lighting up. It’s still just one day at a time, but I’m pleased with my progress.

I’ve taken my car to get the oil changed and to have its yearly inspection completed. I’ll then need to renew my license tag at the local tag office. My strategy is to not renew my personalized tag and get a regular one. If the new random tag doesn’t have any particular meaning, I’ll then apply for another personalized tag. I’ve done this for several years and am following the same course of action for this year.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment to check up on the medicine I’m taking for ADD. I’ve been pleased with the results thus far. I have had a sore throat for the past week or so and ended up in urgent care on Sunday. Good news was no covid, no strep…but still no answers as to what was causing the symptoms. So I’ll likely have my family doctor weigh in on what the thinks it might be.

I also have an appointment with my therapist tomorrow afternoon. I don’t have anything, in particular, to talk about with him, except to discuss my twenty-year abstinence from alcohol and my continued recovery from smoking. I was able to speak with a friend yesterday who’s struggling with a family member’s addiction and gave him my therapist’s name as a possible resource, as well as the name of another therapist I’ve utilized in my recovery. It’s always good to be able to use my life experiences to help someone else when they’re struggling. It’s also a part of why I think it’s important to break my anonymity with selected folks from time to time. They then have a resource call upon they might not otherwise have.

I will be going back to school next week. I’m going to be working Monday through Thursday, which are teacher workdays. I’ll need to get my classroom ready for the first day of school on the 29th of this month. It’ll be good to be back in the flow again and I’m looking forward to being with some of my former teacher friends again, as well as some new faces. For good measure, I even had a teacher dream last night, which is very common as the new school year approaches.

We’re getting a break from the heat and humidity this week. It was partly cloudy yesterday and we did get some much-needed rain. This morning we awoke to cloudy skies and cooler temperatures once more. I know we’re still going to have some of those ninety-degree-plus days before the end of summer, but it’s nice to get a break from the heat.

I’ve been walking each day as a way to replace a bad habit (smoking) with a good one. I know there will be those times when I’m not able to walk each and every day once school starts, but I’ve found it helps me both mentally and physically to exercise each day. I’ve been walking at a local park and have begun seeing some of the same faces each day as I walk. I have an app on my phone that gives me a summary of the distance I’ve traveled, as well as calories burned for that day. It even has a map of the route that I took. Any gadget that gives me motivation is good in my book.

So that’s it for today..random thoughts that hopefully make some degree of sense.

David Lee

100 Days of Writing – Day Thirty-Nine

What are five things I can do when I get the urge to smoke?

I have a good friend Michael who, like myself has in the past been addicted to smoking. Although I was addicted to cigarettes and him to smoking a pipe, the results were much the same: nicotine became addictive and began affecting our health. Michael had been able to quit several year ago and I was just starting out, so he was able to offer me some helpful hints, including “The Five Ds of Quitting Smoking and Defeating Urges to Smoke.”

The Five Ds of Fighting Addictive Urges…

Delay – When you get an urge to pick up a cigarette, delay that urge for as few as five minutes and you may very well find it passes. I still, one month into being cigarette-free have urges to light one up. I play the tape forward of what would happen if I actually did and remember what a struggle it was to quit in the first place. I know I’d likely buy a whole pack, which is twenty cigarettes and wouldn’t stop with just one. I would then get that feeling that I could stop after smoking just that one pack and I’d be right back where I was a month ago. I know that I’ve been pleased with my cessation practices thus far and don’t know that I could do it all over again.
Distraction – My thoughts on any particular topic are many times of an obsessive nature. Such can be the case when I have an urge to smoke. When these cravings do arise, I try to immediately switch gears and start thinking about something else. Since the start of school is just a couple of weeks away, it’s a simple and productive distraction for me to focus on what the first weeks of school will be like. And whether it’s just going through the process in my mind or actually sitting at my computer to flesh out those plans, it takes my mind off the cigarette I was wanting to light up. I also have taken up the habit of walking each day and nothing seems to help more than replacing my bad habit of smoking with a good one, walking. In connection with the first tactic of delaying, these two have been the two most helpful tools I have found.
Discuss it with someone – It never hurts to share with someone, especially someone who has been through the same thing, and talking with them may be a necessary step. I go through periods of time when I feel that no one else would understand what I’m describing, but that’s just my ego talking. And whether or not the person has ever tried to quit smoking or smoked at all for that matter, if they are supporting you attempt to quit, they’re more than glad to talk over your urges with you. They can provide you the support and motivation you need to kick the habit. It also works well with the first two Ds mentioned above. Even if you conversation is a short one, it does delay a possible relapse and your conversation can definitely be a distraction. One phone call may be all it takes to handle all of the first three Ds.
Drink water – I have to admit, this is one that I might make slight modifications to during my cessation attempt. I know water is the healthiest fluid you can drink, but I’m admittedly not a big fan. I most often can be found drinking a cup of coffee or having a diet soft drink. And while caffeine is not the optimal substance for my body, it does help to satisfy my thirst and keeps that oral fixation in line. I’m going to try to drink more of the flavored waters when the school year starts back, but no promises there. One addiction at a time as they say. Perhaps caffeine will be next.
Deep breaths– One of the best things about quitting smoking is that it increases your respiratory function. While your breaths might not be the deepest in the beginning, they do help slow your system down, including your obsessive thinking about lighting up. This is one that I have to make a concerted effort to do. I’ve never been able to meditate in the traditional sense, but I have found that without the cigarette smoke interfering, my breathing has improved. And what better way to celebrate non-smoking than by taking a deep breath that you previously wouldn’t have been able to accomplish?

So there you go…my friend Michael’s suggestion of “The Five Ds” have really helped me in this first month of staying away from cigarettes. And while I still get those urges, I haven’t found it necessary to act on them. That is indeed a gift.

I’m also aware that these strategies may very well work with other addictions or habits we’re trying to stay away from. When I’ve determined that there’s something I’m better off without in my life, whether it be alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine or even chocolate chip cookies, the “Five Ds” are a valuable tool on the road to recovery from addictive behavior.

David Lee

100 Days of Writing – Day Thirty-Eight

It’s been a long journey for all of us, the Covid pandemic. There have been its darkest days, periods where it seemed to be losing its punch, and then the appearance of variants and a roller coaster ride of case numbers. Until this point, I’ve been able to dodge the Covid bullet, but many will say it’s something we’ll all contract at some point.

My wife tested positive for Covid this past Tuesday. She had tested herself on Saturday evening when she wasn’t feeling well and got a negative result. Tuesday’s test, which she took after continuing symptoms, was positive. Even though I didn’t have any noticeable symptoms, I thought it best to do a rapid, at-home test and got a negative test result. We socially distanced from each other as much as we were able to, but I figured I would eventually come down with the virus as well.

Since last Tuesday, I’ve taken for rapid, at-home tests and have also taken two PCR tests offered by the local health department, all with negative results. I’ve had a really sore throat over the past several days and actually thought I’d contracted Covid, but according to all six test results, such is not the case. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the coming week. My wife tested herself this morning and now is virus free, so that’s also helpful.

During the coming week, I have quite a few commitments and appointments to work with, so I have had to come up with some alternate strategies should I contract the virus. I deliver Meals on Wheels on Monday morning and will take a rapid test before heading out for deliveries. I have an appointment to get my car worked on Tuesday and will likely drop my car off to have the work done. Wednesday I have a doctor’s appointment and if I haven’t tested positive by that point, I’ll have him check to see if I perhaps have strep throat or something else causing the throat pain. I also have a therapist appointment on Wednesday and will call him to see if it’s still okay for me to keep that session given the past week’s events.

Covid has definitely caused us all to make changes in the way we live our lives. Even though I’ve not contracted the virus, it has caused a lot of changes in my perspective on the importance of taking care of myself. I think we’ll likely see a rise in case numbers when school goes back in session in two weeks and I do have an interim assignment for the first eight weeks of the school year. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to steer clear of contracting the virus and take the necessary precautions, but am excited about being back in the classroom again.

David Lee

100 Days of Writing – Day Thirty-Seven

There was a time in my life, over twenty years ago now, when I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life. I was struggling with a lot of life changes and wasn’t really sure what to do with my meandering thoughts and ample extra time. One Friday night, I went to the local movie theatre and saw the movie “Signs.” This movie introduced the concept of synchronicity and my perspective on life has never been the same.

The movie “Signs” starred Mel Gibson and was, at least on the surface, a story about Earth being invaded by hostile alien forces. While the plot line was obvious to most viewers, I picked up on something else that the movie offered. That premise it presented was that there are no coincidences, no random events. You’ll have to view the movie yourself to find out what it was about the movie that made that obvious to me. I’ve included my favorite scene at the bottom of this page.

The world of synchronicity opened wide for me and I began to read all I could about it. From the early works of Carl Jung to more recent studies, all I could devour made total sense to me. More importantly, it showed that during a difficult time in my life, even the not-so-fortunate events could have a plausible reason for occurring as they had.

I began to search in my own life for examples of “chance events” that were a part of my story. As a math teacher, it seemed that numbers held particularly interesting clues as I dug deeper into my life’s narrative. I then realized that the most important events in my life, from the year of my conception to my present situation, had synchronicities woven throughout. There was no doubt in my mind that there were connections, even with those parts of my life that were what could best be termed “bad.”

I’m reading, or should I say, rereading a book, The 7 Secrets of Synchronicity, and am making a concerted effort to be more mindful of synchs that occur during the course of my day. Every day is an adventure and as I make note of the synchronous events in my life, I’m reminded that indeed, it’s all woven together and there are no coincidences and a Power much greater than any of us who’s the master weaver of all of our lives.

“There are no coincidences” scene from the movie “Signs”…

100 Days of Writing – Day Thirty-Six

Today is a milestone day for me in many ways. It was twenty years ago today that I began my journey of abstaining from alcohol use. That’s a total of 7305 days in all. August 10, 2002 also marked the beginning of my involvement in the recovery community, of which I am still a member. Over these two decades, I’ve realized so many things about myself and life.

The road certainly has not been an easy one. I thought in the beginning that I just had a drinking problem. As it turns out, I also had a thinking problem. I thought at first that if I quit drinking, everything else would fall in line. Such was not the case. Stopping drinking was an essential first step,,,, it had made my life unmanageable. My therapy sessions and outpatient rehab taught me the important strategies needed to stay away from that first drink. Actually working on the twelve steps has given me important life skills needed to live a joy-filled life.

Continued therapy and attendance at various recovery meetings have been vital parts of the recovery process. I also am in hopes that the experience, strength, and hope that I’m able to share is of help to others. I have learned that in addition to my alcoholism, I have codependent tendencies that proceeded my alcohol use. Learning to deal with these issues is also a life-long proposition and takes lots of work and practice.

Much has changed in my life over the past twenty years. Some of the parts of the journey have definitely not been easy. But I’ve found many blessings along the way, including those of the spiritual variety. I have had a spiritual awakening that has given me a new perspective on the way I live my life and have no regrets about any of the choices I’ve made along the path.

Such is my life and I’ve been blessed with much.

David Lee

100 Days of Writing – Day Thirty-Five

“Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation—some fact of my life—unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.
Big Book of AA, page 417

Life is definitely not always easy. People, places, and things many times are not as we would like them to be. One part of being able to live a relatively happy existence is to be able to accept the world as it is and people as they are.

Many times, at least in my mind, I have a certain picture of the way I’d like the world to be. I’d like people to act a certain way, I’d like places to be as I’d like them to be, I’d like situations to be as I think they should be. And the fact of the matter is, most of the time the world is not going to align with these expectations. And these expectations can fester and become resentments.

Best I can figure, people are doing what they feel is the right thing to do at any point in time. And since they have a different reference point than I do, chances are it’s not the same thing I would do if I was in the same situation. I can question people’s motives and actions, yet I’m sure at least in their minds, they’re doing the right thing. And who’s to say that I know what’s best? I sometimes struggle to know what’s best for me, so why would I think I know what’s best for anyone else?

Just for today, I will try to stay in the present moment and be acceptive of what others choose to do. In some cases, I may find it necessary to alter my course and take action, but much of the time things will proceed just as they are intended to, with or without my permission.

It’s also important, at least for me, to have continued faith in my Higher Power, who does see and know all. My lack of acceptance in any situation may be due to a lack in my own faith life and nothing more.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.”

David Lee

100 Days of Writing – Day Thirty-Four

Asking for help. It can be one of the most difficult things we do in life, but often it’s literally a life-saver.

I found myself in what I consider to be the worst days of my life. My addiction to alcohol had been one of the primary reasons for my marital separation and eventual divorce. The brick wall of “hitting bottom” hit me square in the face and I didn’t know what to do. As I looked out the back window of my home, I cried out loud, “My God, what have I done?”

I then took what was perhaps in the biggest step in my eventual recovery and that was to grab the phone book and turn to the yellow pages to look for some help with my plight (In fact, I still have that page from the book, complete with markings of the first few places I called). At that moment in time, I realized that I had a problem that I couldn’t solve on my own and needed some professional help. I eventually got that help in the form of counseling and outpatient rehab using my employee’s assistance plan from work. That fateful day was nearly twenty years ago and I can honestly say that reaching out for help was one of the most important things I’ve ever done.

Why do we find it so difficult to reach out for help when our lives have gotten beyond our own skill set? I’m thinking a part of it is that we’ve been trained that we’re supposed to be skillful enough to handle everything on our own. I think this is especially true with the male gender, although not limited to it. A part of our self-esteem and ego are wrapped up in being able to figure out solutions to all the problems we encounter. But we also need to realize there are those times when we can’t do it on our own and need outside help.

The road of recovery, especially that first year, was far from easy. Treatment for alcoholism and the break-up of a twenty-three-year marriage were difficult from the outside. But I found along my path plenty of trained counselors, therapists, and the like that were more than capable of helping me maneuver through those difficult days. Without them, I have no doubt, I would not be sitting at this keyboard sharing my thoughts with you this day.

I also feel that a part of the reason we go through life’s hard times is so we can be of service later down the road when we encounter others who are going through similar situations. We can share our experience, strength, and hope with others and help them to see it is entirely possible to get through what we’ve got to get through. But of course, none of that is possible if we don’t take that important first step: Reaching out for help when we realize we can’t handle it on our own.

David Lee

Random Writing – Another school year is ready to begin and another interim position will be underway

Another school year will soon be upon us and I’ve once again accepted an interim position for the first weeks of school. It will be my forty-second year in the classroom and my thirteenth after retirement. Year forty-two is getting ready to get started.

The assignment I’ll be working in to start the year is an eighth-grade science position. I’ll be working at the same school I retired from in 2010, so it’s back to familiar surroundings. I’m really looking forward to beginning the new year and am already making plans for those first few weeks.

Substitute teaching is not an easy proposition, especially over the past two years with the pandemic we’ve been experiencing. I really like interim positions, which in this case will likely be the first eight weeks of school. Although it’s been a few years since I’ve taught eighth-grade science, I’m getting great help from the teacher I’ll be working for, as well as her husband, who also teaches the same subject at the same school.

I have, like in past years, had several “teacher dreams” over the past couple of weeks. I could probably best call them “teacher nightmares,” because they almost always feature a classroom that I’ve never been in before with students who don’t seem to want to listen to any of my instructions. I’ve found that such nighttime mind wanderings are normal for teachers before the start of the school year.

So the start of the new school year is at hand. Who knows what challenges I’ll be facing, but as always, it’s my choice to continue to teach and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve been afforded.

David Lee