Random Writing,,,

It’s been a while since I sat in front of the keyboard and wrote just for the sake of writing, so here it goes.

We’ve had some sweltering hot weather this week. It’s currently 93 degrees here on this Saturday afternoon. It is, after all summer, but it seems the older I get, the more of an effect the really hot weather has on me.

I went with my wife to an antique mall today and bought two filled soda bottles. The first was a large Diet Rite Cola. Back in the day, this was one of the few diet sodas available. I somewhere in my collection have a Diet Rite sign and I’ll make an effort this next week to find it to display with the bottle.

The second bottle I bought was an Orange Crush. While it did contain some sediment in the liquid, it had still retained its bright orange color. Even though it cost a bit more than I’ll usually pay ($12) I went ahead and made the purchase, figuring I’d never see another in my lifetime.

During this upcoming week I have several things listed on the calendar. Tomorrow and Tuesday Lisa and I will attend a gathering of friends. Sunday the featured attraction is Thai food and Tuesday’s main course will be tacos. In addition to the great food, it’s always good to be around good friends and enjoy the conversation.

Well, that’s it for now…and that’s what I call random writing….whatever pops up in my head.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

100 Days of Writing – Day Twenty-Six

Adventures in Living: Trying to treat ADD with meds, while at the same time, quit smoking – Day Nine

I continue to trudge the road with prescription medication to treat my ADD and smoking cessation. I’ve taken a 10 mg pill for methamphetamine for the past nine days and seem to be having good results thus far. While I still can get off-focus at times and still misplace things around the house, I overall have seen an improvement, especially when it comes to reading and writing. I am planning on continuing the regimen and will keep monitoring the results until I return to the doctor in August for a re-check.

I smoked my last cigarette on Monday morning at 5 a.m. Since that point in time, I haven’t smoked any more. I’m sincerely hoping that I will continue to be able to call myself a “non-smoker.” There have been quite a few challenges in this area, especially when first waking in the morning, which is to be expected since previously it would have been several hours without any nicotine. I also have a tendency to want to light one up after I’ve had a meal. But overall, my desire to smoke has dwindled significantly.

I think the fact I’m taking the prescription medication and using nicotine lozenges simultaneously is helping. The medication for ADD supplies me with a clearer head and I’m less likely to act impulsively, which includes lighting up. The nicotine medication gives me my “fix” of the drug and the urges soon go away.

I have also downloaded the “QuitNow” app for my phone and it has been a good source of motivation. It keeps track of how much time I’ve been able to quit smoking (5 days, 11 hours, 9 minutes as I write this). It shows how much money I’ve saved by not smoking ($31.70 at this point). Perhaps the most telling statistic it shares is how many cigarettes I have avoided since I quit. It’s quite mind-blowing to read that I would have smoked 109 cigarettes since I quit on Monday. The app also has a message board where you can communicate with others who are also trying to quit smoking. Overall, it’s been a big help.

I will continue on this path this weekend (it’s 4:17 pm on Saturday) and plan on doing so during the upcoming week. Each day that passes by makes it easier to not pick up a cigarette when the cravings begin. My improvement in focus time has convinced me that the ADD medication is working and that’s a plus as well.

100 Days of Writing – Day Twenty-Five

Examine your name. Write down your full name and all the names you go by. Where did your name come from and do you like it? Has your name influenced your life? Which name do you prefer?

  • Full Name: David Lee Moser – My mother said that I got my name from David of Biblical times. I think it fits me well. I have faced several “Goliaths” in my life and through faith, have been able to conquer them. My middle name came from my great grandfather on my mother’s side of the family.
  • David: Many people call me by my first name and I prefer that.
  • Mr. Moser: Having spent forty-one years in the classroom, this is the name that is probably used the most. When I see former students out and about, regardless of their age, they’ll still call me by this name.
  • Dave: When I’ve worked for radio stations in the past, I’ve been told not to have a name longer than three syllables. “David Moser” would have four, so I opt for “Dave Moser,” which meets their criteria. Interestingly enough, there once was another “Dave Moser” that worked for the same radio station I did and it created quite a bit of confusion, so he changed his name on the air.
  • Moe – This is a shortened form of my last name. It’s normally used by friends that I was closer to when I was younger. I also would allow my students to call me “Mr. Moe.”

I don’t know for sure that my life would have turned out any differently if I had been given another name at birth. My brother was a Jr., named after my father and my only other sibling is my sister. So in that respect, I have a unique male name in the family. My son’s middle name is David.

100 Days of Writing – Day Twenty-Four

I saw it sitting there…that one lonesome cigarette. It was begging me to light it up.

I am three days and ten hours into my quest to not smoke any more cigarettes. I’m not going to say it’s been easy, but I am not struggling as much as I have in the past. The nicotine lozenges and new medication, Adderall, that I’m taking for ADD seem to be helping in unison with each other.

A couple of days ago, I found one loose cigarette in my car and in most previous cases, I would have lit it up without thinking. It lay in the cup holder, partially bent, but with no tears. It would be easy enough to straighten it out, find a lighter and smoke it. It was almost as if it was begging me to have “just this one.”

I overcame the urge, yet at the same time, didn’t throw the cigarette away. I tossed it on the floorboard of the passenger side of the car. I guess I figured I might be in need of it later and perhaps at a time when my will wasn’t as strong.

Later in the day, I got back in the car to run some errands and there it was again. Sitting on the floorboard, imploring me to light it up “for old time’s sake.” This time I took it up and destroyed it and threw it away. I could already predict what would happen if I smoked that one cigarette. I would smoke it rather quickly and still not have my “fix” of nicotine. I would then proceed to drive to a convenience store and buy a whole pack. I once again would be left back at square one. My usual mentality when smoking was, “I’ll finish this whole pack (20 cigarettes) and then I’ll make another concerted effort to quit. In other words, I played the tape ahead and knew that my resolve would have been weakened to the point I wouldn’t think I had the strength to stop again.

So my brush with a “near smoke” resulted in success for my status as a non-smoker. Some parts of it are easier than others. Right when waking up in the morning and just after a meal seem to be the most difficult times to resist. But as with most all of things, it’s one day at a time.


100 Days of Writing – Day Twenty-Three

Adventures in Living: Trying to treat ADD with meds, while at the same time, quit smoking – Day Six

Day six has once again been successful in terms of not smoking cigarettes (4:44 p.m.) I had an active day, babysitting my granddaughter and delivering Meals on Wheels. Staying active is definitely a plus when it comes to staying away from a cigarette. I did find a single cigarette in my car during meal deliveries, but I was able to resist the urge to light it up. I probably need to dispose of it when I go back out to my car.

I took my Adderall quite a bit earlier than I have on previous days. My day was off to an earlier start and I decided it was best to go ahead and take it so I didn’t forget. Once again I’ve felt a decrease in anxious thoughts and focus on what’s in front of me. I do think it’s also helping with smoking cessation. Part of the reason I think I smoked was in an attempt to soothe my anxious thoughts. I’ve also realized over the past couple of days that a lot of my smoking is merely a habit. Lots of time it’s what I do when I don’t have anything else to do. Or I reach certain points in the day, like waking up or finishing a meal, and I catch myself thinking “It’s time to go smoke a cigarette.” But those thoughts today have just been in passing and I chose not to act on them.

I have still been using nicotine lozenges and they seem to supply me with the nicotine fix I’m desiring and because they’re so slow to dissolve, also satisfy the urge to need to have something in my mouth.

I’m also using the “QuitNow” app on my phone to help keep track of my progress. I’ve avoided 29 cigarettes as of this writing (who would have thought I would have smoked that many?) Anything that helps me keep a positive frame of mind, like this app, is of utmost importance.

100 Days of Writing – Day Twenty-Two

Adventures in Living: Trying to treat ADD with meds, while at the same time, quit smoking – Day Five

Another day is nearly half-done and I’ve had more success today than on any of the other previous days. I awakened this morning at 5 a.m. and had a cigarette. Before retiring back to bed, I got two nicotine lozenges and popped them in my mouth. I also took the remaining pack of cigarettes and drenched them under the kitchen sink to insure I wouldn’t smoke any more of them when I woke back up. That single cigarette I had has been my only one so far today (3:23 p.m.)

I took my ADD medication sometime between 8-9 a.m. I feel like it’s giving me better focus and less anxiety than on the previous days. I know that I have to give it time to get the desired overall effect, but I’m pleased so far. I have experienced some tiredness later in the evening while I’ve been taking it, but last night wasn’t quite as pronounced as previous nights.

I did consider today that doing both of these regimens at the same time, quitting smoking and trying a new ADD medication, might have its drawbacks. But I sincerely feel that perhaps they can work in conjunction with each other to bring about the desired results. The ADD medication seems to be lessening my anxious thoughts, which is one of the triggers for lighting up a cigarette. There have been several times today where I’ve thought of having a cigarette, but I soon realized this was more out of habit than an actual craving for nicotine.

I’m hopeful that my impulsivity will not get the best of me for the remainder of the day and that I’ll be able to say as I retire for the night, “I’ve just had one cigarette today and tomorrow will have none.”

100 Days of Writing – Day Twenty-One

Record your family treasures.

Write down a favorite family something: a recipe, a saying, a tradition, or a story.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the family tradition that first comes to mind for me is our weekly Sunday lunches (or dinners, if you prefer). These have been a time-honored family ritual from my earliest recollections at my great grandparents’ home to the present. Best I can figure, that’s at least sixty years old.

The tradition, at least for myself, started back in the mid-60s when my age was in the single digits. My great grandparents would have us come to their house after church on Sunday and we would have what could best be called a feast. They had a wood stove in the kitchen area that my great-grandmother would use to prepare the meals. Afterward, we would go out in the yard under the big shade trees and have watermelon for dessert. Some of my fondest childhood memories were created during these Sunday lunches together. (Somewhere in my photo archives, I have a picture of one such gathering and will attempt to find it and post it with this story later.)

Once both great grandparents had passed away, our family lunches tradition continued at my maternal grandparents’ home. My grandfather took great pride in the delicious dishes he prepared and if for some reason you didn’t show up at the appointed time, you were sure to receive a phone call to find out where you were. They lived right across from the church we attended, so there were no easy excuses. One of my fondest memories of these times was when my grandfather would eat only one item on his plate at a time. Only after he finished one particular item, let’s say green beans, would he go on to the next food on his plate. He loved corn on the cob, although when he was eating it, most of the time it seemed about half the kernels ended up around his mouth. He would also many times make homemade ice cream and I have as to yet in life taste anything so good.

When my grandfather passed away, my grandmother moved in with her sister, my great-aunt Ruth. Our Sunday meals then moved to her house. Her house was relatively small, but it made for an even cozier family time together. Some of us would sit on the enclosed back porch to eat, a couple at the kitchen table, and sometimes if it was crowded, we would go to the fancy dining room table. Lots of good conversations were to be had during these gatherings. The most memorable part of these gatherings was when someone announced that they were leaving and my aunt Ruth would always say, “Don’t leave,,,, why are you going?” Even to this day, that phrase will sometimes be heard even though Ruth passed away quite a few years ago.

After my grandmother and great aunt passed away, the Sunday lunches moved to my parents’ house. My mother would prepare meals on Saturday to make sure we had more than enough to eat. We had a kitchen table we would sit at and when there was a full house, there were small tables that would be placed in the living room for the overflow to be seated. Many times after the meal was finished, both kids and adults would go to the backyard and laugh and play. The children would take turns being pushed on the swing, playing baseball or soccer, and obviously were filled with great joy.

The pandemic that began in earnest in March of 2020 brought a hiatus to family meals as we knew them. With both parents in their eighties and most of the children and grandchildren working in public, we decided it would be best not to have our weekly gatherings. It was especially hard on my mother, who had the beginning stages of her battle with dementia, and truly didn’t understand why we were no longer getting together.

As time progressed, the pandemic’s severity lessened and we began getting together once more. Given my mother’s condition, we made the decision to start bringing the various courses for the meal from our own homes. This lightened the load on my parents and gave us all the opportunity to contribute. My mother passed away in May of 2022, but we felt it important to continue our family tradition. Today we had pizza and a banana cake that my sister had made. Who knows what might be on the menu next week.

The family tradition continues….

100 Days of Writing – Day Twenty

Adventures in Living: Trying to treat ADD with meds, while at the same time, quit smoking – Day Three

Yesterday was my third day of taking stimulant medication to try to get a better handle on my ADD. I would also like to say I still have in mind to quit smoking, but didn’t take much effort on that front. Honesty is the best policy.

I took my meds at 9 a.m. yesterday morning. I’ve been trying to pay attention to what time I take it to see if any particular time works best. I am able to say I saw better focus a short while after taking the dose. I also noticed a dry mouth throughout the day and have read that’s one of the expected side effects.

I did start getting somewhat tired mid-afternoon, but fought the urge to take a nap. My wife and I did spend quite a bit of time on the go for most of the day and the heat I think took a toll on my energy level as well.

The biggest difference I saw on this day as compared to the first two days on meds was the tiredness I experienced at the end of the day. It was difficult to stay awake until my usual bedtime and when I did finally go to bed, getting to sleep occurred quickly. I woke up this morning at 5 a.m. and found it difficult to get back to sleep. That’s pretty much par for the course for me though. My mind starts to spinning with 1001 thoughts and it’s hard to get that from continuing.

My wife did find a program about ADHD and its treatments on Amazon video and we watched that. It was interesting to see how people, mainly children, had started on meds and how it affected their daily lives. It was also enlightening to see how many public figures there are who have had much success in life who also either have ADD or ADHD.

So the journey continues today. Smoking cessation has not occurred today and I’m contemplating when to take my medication today. I’m on my second cup of coffee and I know it acts as a stimulant and that has helped me get a bit more organized with my thoughts.

100 Days of Writing – Day Nineteen

What is a hobby that you have and why do you think you enjoy it?

My favorite hobby would have to be collecting soft drink advertising items. I started when I was a teen and continue the practice even today, although I’ve slowed down a bit due to storage space and price.

I first started collecting soda bottles at about twelve years old or so. I got a large Coca-Cola bottle when I went to an auction with my grandfather. He told me that the man we got it from used to work for the Coca-Cola Company here in town. The second bottle I got was a large 7-Up bottle that I retrieved from a small restaurant downtown. The number of bottles in my collection quickly grew and I remember they rested on shelves on the wall beside my bed. Heaven help me if we should ever have had an earthquake.

At some point along the path, I started to collect soft drink signs. There was a local farmers’ market where you could get older signs at very reasonable prices. This was back before their popularity caught fire and prices escalated.

I would also find cola signs out and about that were eventually headed for the landfill and I rescued them from their demise. One of my favorite places to go was a local sign company that did contract work in installing and removing Pepsi-Cola signs. I asked one day what they were going to do with them and they said when their pile got big enough, they would be taking them to the landfill. I asked if I could take them and they were more than willing to let me take that load off their hands.

The favorite part of my collection has to be those that I was able to get from my great-grandfather’s general store. The day before the store was demolished, I was given access and could take what I could get. This included the largest sign now in my collection, a Coca-Cola sign that hung on the back side of the store. It took quite a while to get it to come down, but alas, I was successful.

As time went on, as I got married and had a family, I found my time and interest in collecting dwindled somewhat. Signs also became very popular items for home decor and as a result, their prices went up, and reproductions were then made. Today I can buy a reproduction for what I used to be able to purchase the real deal.

I think my connection and love of collecting soda bottles and signs are directly related to the fact that some of my fondest memories of childhood were the time that I spent at my great-grandfather’s store. We pretty much had the run of the place and there were so many interesting characters who would regularly appear there. One of my jobs (truthfully perhaps my only one) was to fill the drink boxes each day. I still to this day can remember the aroma that each of the boxes had as I reached down inside to replenish the supply.

Collecting soda bottles and advertising are something I think I’ll always have love for. Just today, I purchased an old filled Coca-Cola bottle at an estate sale. It already has a prominent space in my display of other bottles. Cheers to soda advertising and collecting!