Happy Thanksgiving, to those for whom it may apply. I hope you will have a nice one and that you have thinks to be thankful for.

There are some aspects of Thanksgiving that I don’t particularly like, but the general idea of giving thanks to the things you appreciate appeals to me. I have lost a lot of things over the last few years so I have found that it’s very important to be mindful of the things I still have left. I try to remember and appreciate those things every day. The little things that matter. Because they matter a lot. And if I forget them then all I can think about is the things I don’t have. And that way there be dragons. I have started a new routine of trying to write something self-affirming or positive every morning on Facebook. I do a lot of complaining and whining and I’m often very negative about myself. So I thought it would be a good idea to start the day with something positive. Even if I don’t always completely believe what I’m saying, I figure I will try to train my mind to more readily think positively. Train the synapses and electrical pathways of the brain to travel to nicer places. And remember the good things I have. So a whole day dedicated to being thankful seems like a good idea to me. Articulate the things you normally take for granted. I like reading what other people have to be thankful for too. I like to remember that the (virtual) circles I move in are full of people who are pretty priviliged in many ways. We’re none of us perfect and we all have our demons and problems to struggle with. But when you look at what goes on in other parts of the world, and in other parts of our own worlds, we’re most of us lucky in one way or another.

So, things I’m thankful for are amongst other things….

My friends. Thank you guys. You make life more bearable. I already wrote about that on Facebook. If you’re not my friend on Facebook, then why not? I’m available.

I don’t accept family on Facebook. But I’m very thankful for my family. I couldn’t have gotten through the last few years without them and their continued help and support means the world to me. That is one of the positive sides to losing my eyesight, I have gained a whole new understanding and appreciation of my family.

I am thankful for the 10% extra eyesight I gained from the last operation. That really has made a big difference and has made everything more tolerable. I am very greatful to have that and I’m greatful that I have experienced how it would be if things were worse. It makes me appreciate what I have even more.

I am thankful for the fact that I am financially comfortable. That I can afford to get most of the things I want. That I can buy presents for my friends and donate to charities. That I don’t have to worry about not being able to afford the visual aids I might need or to turn up the heat when the cold gets too harsh for my bad circulation. I may not be rich but I have more than I need and that’s a blessing.

I am thankful that I live in Denmark. There are many places in the world where people in my situation would have a much harder life. And where any person indeed has a harder life. Denmark is a pretty great place, even though we’re being invaded by polar bears.

I’m thankful for the goats. Of course. Very thankful. For the company and the fun. The excuse for dragging myself out of the apartment, for meeting other people. I miss the ones that have passed away and I appreciate the ones I have left. Magnethe is almost six years old now. She doesn’t look a day over four. I remember the first time I saw her like it was yesterday. Yet it feels like I’ve known her for 20 years.

And speaking of goats, I made a new goat friend. When I got to the playground today I went inside the goat house. But they weren’t in there. So I spied out the bars on the window to see if I could spot them outside. And I could. And I counted four of them. Magnethe, Mio, Bob and… a new goat. I didn’t get to talk to playground staff so I don’t know who the newcomer is. But I’m guessing it’s a buck who is visiting Magnethe and Mio to get them pregnant for next year’s kid season. That would make sense. He didn’t seem too confident, though. There wasn’t much studly manliness about him. He seemed young, I would guess a couple of years old. And not that big. Magnethe pushed him away easily. And even gentle Mio chased him around a couple of times. I might be imagining things but I think she kind of liked to have someone to push around for a change. There wasn’t much romance in the air. But I imagine that once the buck feels a little more at home and once the ladies get in heat, then he’ll probably man up and get his duties done. That’s how things usually work out in the goat world.

He seemed like a friendly goat. The couple of times I got a little one-on-one time with him he would timidly eat some treats from my hand and let me pet him. But as soon as the big ladies came over he’d retreat and put some distance between them.

I do enjoy the company of goats.

Thank you for listening.

Today was a quite expensive day.

I woke up at 9 when the doorbell rang. It was the mailman. Delivering a Star Trek Voyager box set that I had accidentally ordered from Amazon while I was sleepwalking. Yup. These things happen when you get a credit card.

And a little later on my dad and I went and bought me a new TV. My old TV has been acting up. Every day when I turn it on I get sound but no picture. And then I have to turn it on and off for a while before I get a picture. And also it was making a strange sort of almost hissing sound in the back. It seemed to me that it was not in good shape. I wonder if it’s because I have had the computer hooked up to it the last few months? That has meant that it has been turned on pretty much all day, every day. Maybe that was more than it could handle. Anyway, getting a new one would be cheaper than trying to get it repaired and I wanted to be proactive so I didn’t one day suddenly find myself without a TV. Can you imagine the horror?

So I picked one out in a catalogue and then we went to Føtex and picked it up. In the shopping center around the corner. We put it in a shopping kart and dragged it to my place. Good thing it wasn’t snowing or raining.

It’s a very nice TV. I have upgraded from a 26″ screen to a 32″ one. I had originally decided to go for a 40″ one but thankfully changed my mind. Even the 32 inches is a bit much. I don’t need anything bigger, especially since I have to sit fairly close to it. So going bigger would just make it harder to watch.

There are some minor problems with it. The remote is not very good. And the audio cable I was using to get sound from the computer doesn’t work. So I’ve been on amazon and ordered a universal remote and a cable that should work. Handy that amazon thing yes it is.

One very nice surprise with the new TV is that I can now take all the HD channels that my cable company are offering. My old TV couldn’t take them. And I didn’t have a digital receiver box. But there’s a digital receiver built into the TV. So now I suddenly have access to a handful new channels. Not that HD means that much when you can barely see. It would have to be VERY high definition for me to see any better…. but hey, it’s nice when you’re paying for something that you can now actually get it. They moved BBC Prime and World off the analogue signal so I lost them when they started going digital. Nice to have them back.

Oh and I can listen to radio on the TV. That’s really clever. I don’t know why they haven’t done that before. In my selection of TV channels I can now see all the radio channels I have access to. There’s no picture of course, just the audio. But that’s handy. I like that. Now I can tune in and hear if there’s anything good on the radio without actually having to go and turn on the radio. If this TV could make me a ham sandwich and get my slippers then I wouldn’t need anything else ever again.

Christmas came early this year.