Planning goals? Now that’s a new one. I thought they just sort of happened. I mean, what you do is you put your shoulder to the, now let me see. What is it that we are supposed to put our shoulder to.

Well. It doesn’t matter. One thing I do know. If you plan goals, stand by. Those goals are just very likely going to be obliterated. I mean look at those folks over in Hawaii. Many of them had goals. A lot of them thought they were going to see their dreams come true. I mean, they were living in a tropical paradise. Then, whoosh. In less than a night, they see those dreams literally go up in flames.

Actually, I have been trying to avoid the subject of that fire. I hear enough of that on TV and radio. I couldn’t help it though. It just kind of spilled out. Yes, I do make plans. I do set goals. The thing is reality keeps stepping in the way.

When I was still reasonably young I hoped to buy one of those nice motor homes and I’d just go around from city to city and state to state and see this country. Well, as I said, reality got in the way. It is wonderful how computers have grown small, inexpensive and reliable. However, my job used to be fixing the things and I made a good living at it. Then one day the boss called me in and told me my services would no longer be needed.

I was actually quite good at fixing the things. I could tell you stories, but it would just bore you.

After that, for three years, I had one one of the best jobs in the world. I taught electronics at the Navy base. Now that was wonderful. It didn’t pay that well, but it combined two things I really, really liked, electronics and teaching. I dare say, I got good at it.

However, one day, President Reagan said tear down this wall, so they did. Suddenly, peace broke out. Don’t get me wrong. I like peace. It is far better than war. However, out of the 11 instructors, they they kept 4. Almost everyone there had been there longer than me. The odds were against me. A few months later and I was again looking for a job.

The point I am trying to make, not so eloquently, is that sometimes, it is not enough to have goals. Sometimes you have to be ready for that day when reality hits you in the jaw and the goals are shattered. The ones who really succeed I guess are the ones who succeed when their goals don’t

Almost bought one of those motor homes a few years ago, a used one. In a way, I wish I had. Then again, I figured if I did, and something went wrong with it, it would just be another case of reality getting in the way.

Nowadays, as old as I am, my goals are simple. Hold on till I die, and do what I can to help others ovoid the little mistakes I made. And, oh yes, sell a few books; maybe a million or two. Maybe then I could get my motor home.