Bits of a Fit

I purchased a Fit Bit. I've been trying but so far unable to catch it in a lie. It says that I've taken 15,550 steps today. I have no reason to doubt its accuracy other than I would have never guessed such a high number. Every time that I've attempted to monitor its performance, it's appeared to be tabulating correctly.

Heck if it wasn't so chilly outside tonight, I'd make a late push for the 20,000 step day. I still have twenty minutes as I type. If I tried to reach that mark indoors, I'm afraid that I'd eventually pass by the kitchen and abandon my heroic efforts in lieu of a late evening snack.

It also monitors my sleep (which kind of freaks me out a little). I have my suspicions in this area of my performance patterns but still like the idea of having graphs and charts to gaze upon and ponder over.

Post-Thanksgiving Day Notes

• Why is it that I can't drive over the bridges between downtown Salem and West Salem without thinking "earthquake!" .... as in: is this when the big one is going to hit!!? It's one of my fears. I don't want to be over a river when the shaking starts.
• I'm obsessed lately with searching out books of poetry. Also with taking pictures. I always wondered what would take the place of playing basketball when it came to my recreation time. 
• Once again observed my favorite holiday .... Record Store Day, Black Friday edition. Came away with a ten-inch Son Volt EP and a live John Lee Hooker release. ..... (RANDOM ACT of KINDNESS alert!!!) The store owner then handed me a complimentary live Dawes double record. I don't know much about them but I seem to recall a Jackson Browne connection of some sort. As in he's been attempting to get the word out about them.
• I'm amazed at how you can have a perfectly beautiful day (yesterday) followed by an incredibly dreary day (today). I've always wanted to see the actual atmospheric separation point.
• "I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!" .... Heard that twice now the past few days. I'm going to have to get a copy of True Grit.
• Re-connected with an old friend a few days ago. It had been at least fifteen years, maybe twenty but I still feel surprise at how much his life has changed in that time. Things they've been through that I had no or little idea of. And resultantly I feel more appreciative of the lack of change in my own.
• So many bands that have been around for decades that I know nothing about. Incredible when you consider how much money, research and time that I've spent on collecting music over the years.

My World

A day away from work, sleeping late, finding a new book of poems, a new/old vinyl record, a newly released compact disc and strolling about taking photos .... that's a very good day in my estimation. And I'll probably mix in a movie as a bonus!

• The Book: "The Evening Light" by Floyd Skloot (An Oregon poet)
• The Vinyl: "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier" (from 1968)
• The Compact Disc: "Fake Nudes" by Barenaked Ladies
• Movie: "No Highway In the Sky" (1951 film with James Stewart)

Crash and Burn

Computers and phones down at work for the past three days. The result of a virus that got loose in the system. No one can call in for an appointment and we can't call out. It hasn't reached the point where we've been asked to use personal cell phones for company business though I'm sure it's been considered by now. Probably because we also can't access product information to set-up and process orders. It's beginning to feel like we are working in the dark. Doing what we can with technology from a century or two in the past. There's surely going to be a crazy insane day or two ahead of catch-up once things get up and running.

So once again circumstances are lining up for me to feel guilty about being absent during the vacation time I already had scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday next week .... the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

And I'm told that conditions are ripe for this or other system failures to happen again before we switch over to a new system sometime next year. Hopefully much brighter people than I will have a plan in place for as-near-to-normal-as-possible, continued operations in the event that there is a repeat performance.

In the meantime, my head has been on constant spin cycle the past three days attempting to document and keep information semi-organized as much as possible. It's times like this that I wish I possessed perfect penmanship and totally error free mathematics and documentation skills. I'd say, "no typos" but there's no computer keyboards in use. Calculators are only as good as my aging fat fingers taking up the physical space of one and a quarter calculator keys and moving too fast as they attempt to keep pace with my random thought processes, will allow.

Photo Madness

I love capturing certain types of images with my camera .... people making music, snow, reflections, visuals of moving water or the relation of trees to the sky or birds in the sky or the moon and clouds .... just a few examples.

I keep returning to the same places looking for those images, hoping to find something just a little different or slightly unique from what I've captured previously. Maybe it's as simple as a different shade of gray or the inclusion of fog to an image. Just small things but I certainly wouldn't turn my head (and camera) away from drastic differences. It's becoming an obsession of sorts and I enjoy the hell out of my attempts to capture the perfect image. Though I doubt I will ever be totally satisfied. Because there's always potential tomorrow for something never seen before.

Most people fail to understand my degree of enjoyment. It took over fifty years before I began to understand. Something about a search for perfection in always changing images and circumstances that you know has infinite possibilities and no conclusion. You find one visual that you feel good about and it causes (or calls) you to seek more and better. There's a joy and freedom in this search that I used to feel when playing basketball. And so far this joy and excitement has only grown stronger!! To the point where I'm beginning to feel a daily calling and satisfaction in finding an image worthy in my eyes of documenting.

Dreams

I've had three or four related dreams the past month or two where I'm running off old friends and I can't seem to avoid making it worse with each word I mutter. It's getting to be bothersome. It's like the first time I snapped out if it and woke up thinking: "OK that was a bad dream but it's not real and I'm OK" but then after the second or third dream I've reached a point like: "What the hell is going on here?" It's a huge relief when I awake and realize where I am. But it has become a little unsettling. It takes awhile before I'm ready to close my eyes again.

And even though it's only a dream, it's certainly not good for the self-esteem. I wake up wondering if I really have any friends remaining? If only we could end or reverse the bad dreams on demand!

Those Vacation Blues

I hate this feeling that I sometimes experience while on vacation from work that I'm not doing something that I should be doing. I'm pretty sure that my co-workers don't struggle with this when they take vacation time. It's like I have to be told to stay home in order to feel good about not being there. If it's an absence of my own choosing and I know others are likely having to do extra in my place then there's a little guilt involved. Hopefully I'll conquer it by the time that retirement comes around.

So tomorrow I return to work .... and I can feel good about my life again.

Movie Time

Another late evening of classic older movies, this time with a Western theme. "Wichita" and "The Hangman." I think both are from the 1950's.

Also "The Woman On Pier 13."  ..... for my 1949 spy thriller kind of mood.

I occasionally try watching the newer stuff but usually turn away quickly with little interest. I'm certainly no prude but I just don't care for all the swearing. It's the same in the real life world. In moderation is one thing. But I just don't care to be around people employing foul language in excess. I don't understand why it's needed.

Sometimes the use of a strategically placed swear word makes your thoughts a slight bit funnier or helps emphasize attempts at making a point and sometimes it simply slips out of one's mouth before it can be stopped but other than that ..... 

Making the Return

One thing I hate to do .... Return purchased merchandise. I feel like they are looking at me and whispering among themselves wondering why the hell I bought it in the first place? I'm wondering the same myself. Not sure why I care? And I always feel like I need to explain. But sometimes you just need to find your assertive self. Because I'm just not much of a fan of obvious gay men's poetry. Sometimes it suddenly appears, my practice of previewing two or three random lines of a book is not such a reliable way to make a decision to purchase. So I made the return for another book selection. And it wasn't as painful as feared. I feel a measure of satisfaction now, which sure wasn't the case last night upon expanded comprehension. And also satisfaction regarding when it comes to getting what I want because it's my usual MO to just let it go,

Fall Back

What am I going to do with the extra hour? .....

Survived another "Fall Back" with three old movies. First time watching the 1933 classic, "The Invisible Man." It just feels like it belongs in that Saturday night, 3am time slot with those Frankenstein and Mummy movies watched many years ago. It creeped me out in that 1930's, black and white horror film kind of way. Something about a guy with strips of (seemingly) dirty cloth covering his face who possesses an insane laugh. Several times I felt the need to turn away but had to balance that with curiosity and needing to know how the coppers solved the invisibility issue. Hmmmmm..... footprints in the snow. I'd like to think that would have eventually dawned on me as well.

Also watched "The Leopard Man" from 1943. A fascinating time for me knowing that World War II was going on as they made the film and from 1950, "King Solomon's Mines." Who needs new releases anyway!!

The Mile

What would be a good time for a mile run for a sixty-one year old who refuses to run anywhere any more and who hasn't run in years? Had a dream that I did it in exactly six minutes. Wondering if that's exclamation point worthy? I want to shout: "YES!!!" ..... But I fear someone will come along and point out that six minutes is good for a guy with one leg or a guy in a wheelchair.

In the same dream, after I huffed and puffed my way through that mile, I magically ended up in Tennessee and the person I went to see, became angry and left me on my own in a foreign land. I went from joy at my mile time to bummer in mere seconds.

The Winding Down

The end of a processing season at work always has a surreal feel to it. People changing shifts, working short shifts, people being laid off, people coming and going for various reasons, returning gear, sharing future plans, laughs and smiles you usually don't see, saying their goodbyes for the year. Many you'll see again during the spring or next season, others that you will never see again. Areas of the building where there's been constant activity for months suddenly silent and appearing deserted.

At the start of each season it all looks so daunting. Mid-June through October, so insanely crazy!! Suddenly it reaches that point where it quickly winds down, I kind of stand back and think to myself: "WOW!! We did it again. We made it through another one." All the 24-hour hectic activity we've experienced, all the wondering how we are going to get things done, all the heightened emotions and exchanges between people feeling stressed  ..... and now it's so quiet. And it's just such a strange feeling .... Like, "What do I do now?"