Translate (Traductor)

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

My life in written form

Most people don't bother writing down their memoirs. Even fewer people write down every major event in their lives. However, I am not most people. I decided to write my memoirs.

I started on December 24th 2019. I wrote down everything that I could remember, organized cronologically by year. For the years in which I was too young to remember, I was lucky enough to be able to ask my parents.

I made it until 2020 and then I was too sick to continue writing. However, in 2024 I decided to restart it. I brought it up to the current date and I added in stories from each country that I have lived and worked in or traveled to.

I am so grateful to myself for doing this while I can still remember things. It is so nice to put my life down on paper. I have done it in electronic format so it will hopefully be saved forever. It can be printed out by those who are interested in that. 

I have done this for myself. However, more than for me, I have done this for Eliana. I want her to learn about my life and people that she has never had the chance to meet, such as my maternal grandparents. I plan on giving her a printed copy when/if she gets married. 

As of January 29th, 2025, my memoirs are 435 pages and 80,831 words and counting. I have been truly blessed and lucky to have had such a rich and interesting life. I wouldn't change anything even if I could. I am so glad that I started this before I got really sick. I am also glad that I restarted it. I plan on continuing to update it for as long as I am able to do so. Hopefully, I will continue to have things worth writing about. It is my hope that one day Eliana will appreciate the effort that I have put into this.

These memoirs are totally separate from my daily blog. I was inspired to do this after reading my grandfather's memoirs. He waited until he was 75 years old to write his. I am sure that he had forgotten a lot of things. 

I also inspired my mom to write hers. I am glad that she did. My memoirs are much longer than either my grandfather's or my mother's. I am under no illusions that anyone other than the people who are the most dedicated to learning about my life will read my memoirs from cover to cover. However, this is more for me personally and Eliana than it is for other people. Now that I struggle with speaking, I prefer the written word. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Saturday, January 25, 2025

An honest look at my future

I have been avoiding this for a while now but I can't avoid it any longer. I am not mentally retarted thank God. However, I do have unique challenges.

I am more dependent on Jenny than I would like to be. I have issues with my speech, my mobility and my brain has been through 12 brain surgeries so it has endured a lot of trauma. This means that everything comes slower for me than most people. I might make some decisions that most people wouldn't and nothing is easy or automatic for me anymore.

I tried for 4 years to find a home based job where I could do the job without talking to anyone due to my speech issues and home based because it is hard for me to get up and go. 

I still rely on my wheelchair or walker to get around. I have faced the reality that I may never again walk or talk normally. I could use my condition as an excuse to give up. To say this is the best that I will be and accept my life as is. 

I don't think that anyone would blame me. However, I am choosing not to give up. I have to keep progressing for my family. I have a long way to go to return to normal. However, in two years, I have come a long way. 

My life is not ideal. I have no job, I have speech issues and mobility issues. I also have to deal with recovering from a traumatic brain injury. 

As bad as things are, I am still a husband and a father. I have two people who love, support and depend on me. So, I am not doing this for me but for them. 

I will continue going to my physical therapy four days a week, doing my DDP Yoga exercise program, doing my extra walking and I am working on a Microsoft Office course to learn how to properly use Microsoft Office. 

Additionally, I have started recording an audio version of my written memoirs. I have also decided to start offering speaking lessons again online. I am doing it almost for free. It is more for my practice and experience than anything else. After four years of looking for something else, I am going back to the only thing that I have done in my adult life that I have ever been any good at.

My challenges and current health condition is not ideal. However, I am extremely lucky not to have a degenerative condition and as long as these shunts continue to hold out, then I should continue to progress. Hopefully, one day being able to get back to normal life sooner rather than later.

I am tired of depending so much on Jenny. I am too young to retire. I am also not rich enough not to work. Ideally, I want to start contributing financially again to my family. 

My situation is not great. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. However, I am not bedridden or completely incapable of taking care of myself. Things are not as easy and automatic as they used to be. However, my quality of life is better than some others. Things could be much worse. I am grateful for every day that I am given. 

Til next time, Tyler 

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Big News

I have some exciting news to share with all of you. Eliana is not getting a sibling, but Jenny and I just purchased and received our first brand new car.

We got a 2024 Peugeot 5008. It is a fully electric French made SUV. It can seat seven people. It has all of the modern bells and whistles like cameras, sensors, adaptive cruise control, Android Auto, Parking and lane change assistance. You can pair your phone with the car and use your phone hands free. 

It even has heated front seats and a huge trunk plus climate control in both the front and the back. It even has wireless phone charging and pull down shades on the windows. You can open the trunk just by waving your hand near it. It has a keyless push button start. There are huge touch screen displays.

I am sure that there are more features that I have not discovered yet. They will be installing our electric battery charging station in our underground parking garage soon. 

I can no longer drive because of all of my medical conditions. However, I am happy to be a passenger in such luxury. I don't miss driving at all. The only downside that I can see so far is that it is extremely hard to get our new car out of our tiny parking garage.

This is my first new car since 2009 and my first new car in Spain. The car buying experience in Spain is so much better than back in the US. Over here there is no stress or pressure to buy anything because the salespeople don't work on commission. They don't care if you buy the car or not. 

We received more or less a 60% discount off the sticker price. We bought a model 2024, right before 2025. We received a further discount for it being a display model. In addition, we received a discount for it being all electric and finally we received a further discount because of my disability status. 

Spain has decided that they will no longer sell gasoline powered cars after 2030. However, if you own a gasoline powered car by that year, you will be able to keep it. We are just getting on the all electric bandwagon five years early. 

That is it til next time, Tyler 

Monday, January 13, 2025

Trump's punishment (or lack thereof)

It is high time that I give you dear readers my opinion on the recent court decision involving Trump. It is your right to agree with me or to disagree with me, just as it is my right to post my opinion. I figured it was more appropriate to post it here rather than on my personal Facebook page. 

President elect Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Due to the recent outrageous (in my opinion) Supreme Court decision giving him and every following president near total immunity for basically any crime that they want to commit. Those are the facts. 

However, even though he is a convicted felon, he got off with zero prison time, fines or community service. This was a huge miscarriage of justice in my opinion. It is my personal opinion but I firmly believe that there should be no lifetime appointments for anyone who is in the government. There is zero chance that there will be any changes in my lifetime but I believe one key way to fight corruption and the brokenness and inequality of our current system is to limit everyone to ten years maximum. 

Had he been me or any other regular Joe, he would have had the book thrown at him. However, because he is rich and powerful and the president elect he gets off scot free. This makes me sad for the what this says about our justice system and how it works for the rich and powerful versus the weak and vulnerable. I am also sad for the message that it sends to future people who run for president. It allows them to effectively get away with any crime that they want. Hopefully, this will not be the law of the land forever. 

Til next time, Tyler