The Near Perfect Shift

Thought I was going to make it through the shift with barely speaking. Without having to issue an order. Where everyone goes out, gets along with each other and simply performs their job. Because less of me is always a good thing. And I was within fifteen minutes of the goal. Then someone has to make a dumb decision and I am forced to step in.

Notification

Just possibly, I've been spending way too much time on Twitter lately. I had a quickie drive-by type of dream during a fifteen minute snooze that I had a new "notification." Still half asleep and stumbling to the computer to check, I discovered that not all dreams come true.

What's more strange ….. That I had the dream or that I felt the need to check?

Knocking On Wood

Jumping for joy, while knocking on wood and crossing my fingers (don't try this while home alone) because I think my next door neighbors have up and moved away.

If true, and all indications are that it is, no more faces peeking out from the garage or front door at me every time I come and go. No more round-the-clock working on cars that never seems to end. No more collection of age twenty and thirty-something dudes shuffling and rotating between the garage and apartment. I feel like I can sit on my front porch again.

This constant working on cars was really bothering me. I wanted to shout at the guy that I identified as the tenant and lead mechanic, to get another life!!

In a complex that's allegedly attempting and claiming to be classy, the tenants ought not to be working out of their garage. Sorry if my inner elitist snob is showing but it all makes the place and the surroundings look sleazy and trashy.

I'm not quite sure why it's an issue but I feel like I have my privacy back. I enjoy being able to come and go without constantly being eye balled like I'm some sort of suspect and I might be plotting to steal one of their tires or hubcaps.

These Days

Gary Rathgen passed away a few days ago. A friend from childhood. I had lost touch with him since high school but then there was Facebook, reconnecting people. I knew that he was having problems over the past year or so but was under the impression that he was doing better, getting stronger. Then two weeks ago he suddenly announced that he wasn't a candidate for chemo and that he was terminal. That was a bit of a shock. Then the other day, his daughter posted that he was in a coma and close to passing.

It all happened so quickly it seemed.

I think about when we were kids, school days, going through all the ordeals and rituals of childhood. Pretty much carefree. No comprehension that the time would ever arrive where we are much older and gradually fading away from life. We're watching our generation transition to what's next.

Then I hear that Jack Townsend, who I worked with nearly thirty years ago, lost a son a year ago and earlier this week, decided he couldn't deal with the pain any longer and took his life. And then, while searching through the obituaries, I see Jon Yunker's name listed. Jon was part of the Sunday evening basketball get together of friends that I took part in for many years.

Speechless now …… Three people in one week. Who's next? I'm lighting a candle tonight.

Hoop Notes

I've decided that I need to get obsessive and fanatical about exercise. So I went and shot baskets.

A Saturday afternoon, windy and rain showers lurking. I drove to the local middle school and after checking the parking lot for cars and witnesses (none) I parked and made the uphill stroll to the outdoor baskets.

My first thought? "This rim looks high." Of course that was also my first thought the last time I shot baskets and that was a different playground ..... So maybe it's me?

Again the knees didn't want to cooperate and my first shot clanked off the rim almost breaking the reinforced steel, the ball bouncing far away. I was hoping that it would just come directly back to me like it does after a perfect swish.

Ten more attempts without a make .... all short because of the seemingly elevated rim before it occurred to me that additional thrust was needed. That required increased bending of stiff knees.

The next shot rimmed in and out, the one after that, a swish!! Two or three more misses followed before another swish! After that, four out of five swishes. "Hey this is coming back to me!" Just one issue .... on the last swish the ball failed to drop completely through the net. So there I was, standing below the net looking up and thinking: "Oh no! How am I going to get that down?" ..... There was no way that I could jump up there.

Or was there?

It raced through my mind that I was going to have to drive home for a long stick or broom handle to break the ball free from the net.

It was then that I decided to try. To attempt to elevate like the old days and knock that damn ball down. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, in hindsight the most important step, again bent my creaky knees, reached for the sky and jumped. I managed to nick the ball with the fingernail of my middle finger ...... But that was enough!! The ball fell and I returned safely to earth from the two or three inches of elevation that had been achieved.

April Days

I love these spring days in April. Rain showers coming and going and the freshness in the air afterward. Dark and white clouds all around. Blue sky mixed in. Sunlight fighting to get through it all. The crisp feel in the air. The rainbows. Why can't we have this year 'round? I would be perfectly fine with missing out on the ninety and thirty degree days. And I love the ever-changing skyscapes that the clouds bring. Sometimes I think the idea could be justified if it was sold as pay-per-view. Who needs summer and winter when you have this. 

Spring Shower?

So they're calling that a spring shower? Seemed pretty epic to me!! Like up there in top-ten contention for the Biblical event of the decade. Certainly the Yankees would have postponed their baseball game and played two tomorrow. The type of rainfall that you wait out in your car before navigating the pools of standing water and running into the store  ….. or your front door at home.
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You ever go into a shop where you're not a regular and feel like they're keeping a keen eye on you? You know, just in case you're planning to make a break for the exit with a stolen greeting card? That was my experience today!!

A Dog's Life

Some zany comedian has likely already done a bit on this subject but since I've yet to see or hear it, I consider the idea as mine to develop and enhance.

What do you think goes through a dog's mind when they see their humans scooping up their personal droppings? ……. 'Really? Are you OK? You really want to save that shit?'

This is why I can't have a dog. Just feeling the texture of that crap while wearing the disposable gloves used to clean it up from public places, causes me to dry heave uncontrollably.