Hello, 2018!

Indeed.  We celebrated the New Year with family and friends last night.  It was a nice get-together although my cousin did very well at low-stakes poker.  Oh, well.  By low-stakes, I mean I did badly, and lost a total of five dollars.  Not enough to make me rich, and not enough to make me poor, either.

I have been taking a little time to reflect back on 2017.  It has been an eventful year, all right.  2018 looks like it is going to start well.  Several things in my life are falling into place, so that is good.  I would like to address a few people in my life.  If it were possible to talk to them, this is what I would say.

The first person is a sibling, who has behaved in a very mean, nasty way for decades.  He hates Mrs. Dellroy - but only because she got into his face when he was being stupid.   The things I would say to him are:
1.  We do not hate you, only the awful things you have said and done to us.
2.  We do not sit around, talking about you all of the time.
3.  I was not being mean, when earlier this year, in a court proceeding you were present for, I said that my life goes better without you. It is just the truth.
4.  I hope someday you change.

The next person is a sister-in-law, who did something really bad almost three years ago.  I would tell her:
1.  Yes, you DID do something wrong.  You lied to your mother, for starters.  Shame on you!
2.  You do owe your sister an apology.  You hurt her very much.  She was only trying to do right by your parents.  You did not.

The next person I would like to speak to is a daughter.  I reached out to her recently.  The response I got was quite angry and negative.  I would say to her:
1.  You were wrong to exclude us from your wedding.
2.  You were wrong to exclude us from the birth of our first grandchild.
3.  You are wrong to make demands.  If you do not make an effort to change, I shall be forced to deny your existence.  I would be forced to disown you.  I do not want to do that, but if you continue being mean, I shall do it. 
4.  Your behaviour marks you as a sociopath.  One wonders what kind of parent a sociopath will make.

The last person is another daughter.  She, too, has stopped speaking with us.  I believe she is confused, and needs to find her own direction.  I would say:
1.  The phrase "coming out"  applies to everyone you know.   Your mother was right; you weren't really "out".  Actually, you still aren't.
 2.  I am much less concerned about your sexual orientation than I am about what you are doing with your life.  Where are you going?  What do you want to do?  A person in their late 20s should have some idea, by now.
3.  You and I were able to talk about stuff before.  Sometimes we did not agree, but we agreed to disagree.  What happened to that?  Why are you so snide, and judgmental?  I would like to talk with you, in person, one to one, just once.
4.  Both you and your sister could learn a lot from your oldest sister.  She is kind, and loving, and tolerant.  She does not hate.   In spite of the fact she is lower-functioning than many people, she, at least, is a joy to be around.

I have heard it said you should wear your heart on your sleeve.  So, there, I have told you the things that are most troubling in my life.  One solution is to put these people aside, for my own mental health.  Right now, that is all I have for a plan.  These folks need to decide, on their own, to change, and rejoin the human race.  I hope they do.

Now that the "etc." is out of the way, we have the SPOCS part.  I am still working on the totalizer module.  I hope to have the basic version done soon.  In the meanwhile, I hope you have a happy new year - whenever you observe it - and your life goes along easily.

Good Night, Ma and Pa Wolfe,  wherever you are.