Everyday Life

I find myself tonight (or this morning depending) thinking of a number of things.

Last post I wrote about the need for a reset button; a stop of the downward slide I was experiencing that week.  It did, finally, come to a slow (not a stop) and seems to be somewhere between level to just a touch downtrending.

First and foremost, I finally ponied up and replaced the phone that I have dropped, frozen, dropped in the crapper (pseudo-clean water, btw), dropped and slid on concrete for about 50 or so feet, soaked one too many times, and frankly worn the touch screen out by texting constantly.  I was forced to claim insurance because the screen failed to stay lit while conducting anything.  So, I spent a few hours setting up the replacement, making sure everything worked and making it look just like the last one.  Crisis averted.

Second, my friend Shirley, whom I have known for 4 years now, has begun a slide that will unfortunately end up in an assited living environment (if she can afford it) because driving is now off limits.  Not that she was driving (I mostly drove her around for the last 6 months in her car), but not having access to a car of your own when you have been driving for 57 years really can affect one's attitude.  And one's plans.  The type of help that I do and have given Shirley is running out; the family-type decisions are next.  Shirley's future should be determined by them; not by a friend that lived next door to her 4 years ago.  I have a decison to make - when to drop the reins - but will be difficult; I do care for Shirley.

Third, Dad is deciding to pick one thing to sell a day it seems; today was a membership in a camping club that he wants to sell.  Last week was the truck and 5th wheel 37 foot camper; I hope it sells soon.  I guess this is somewhat normal; a kind of cleaning, lessening the burden on the kids?  I don't know.  Maybe it's the things that remind him most of his former life; the things that are most painful - the reminders.  Maybe Dad just isn't one that is gonna grieve in this life.  God Bless Dad, and Lord, Give his kids the strength and wisdom to honor Dad's wishes with an open mind. Amen.

Fourth, I had a job interview this morning.  It kind of came out of nowhere; a friend mentioned it, and it might be a great fit for me.  Not really preparing for the interview, I think I did fine. Was honest enough to show my current mind state; maybe this will be a positive thing.  A little different lick from my last ten years in engineering; the rental biz.  Namely, 1600 cfm air compressors and 20 ton trailer-mounted air conditioners.  We shall see; Next week will tell me more.  Thanks for the ear, Dwayne.

Fifth, my girl just today is trying again to quit smoking; I couldn't be happier -for everyone involved, including her.  I stepped over the criticism line I know.  I just wanted to motivate her a bit; maybe she doesn't need motivation.  Maybe just support is enough - so I will give all I have.  I'm behind you, Suz.  You can do this, because you want it for the only person it really matters....yourself.  That is powerful.

And my friend who is having an especially difficult experience with the death of her friend.  I have had some experiences, but not really close friends of my same age.  Especially early 30's, where most certainly, work was not complete here. Or maybe it was.  I asked my friend about this person that had passed, inqiring about her, and she responded that her friend "was the funniest person ever."  For the last two days, every smile I have seen, her friend has entered my mind.  Maybe her time here isn't done, becuase she is affecting this person who writes, she has made my life a little happier today with smiles.

Also, my next door neighbor Diane lost her husband Steve after a long, difficult path.  And when I went today next door to share my condolances, instead of grief, instead of somber tones, I was greeted with smiles and Thank You's, and "It's Such A Blessing Because His Pain Is Gone.  Steve Is Home."  I met Steve a few times; once in Particular, we had a lengthy conversation with Cubs Baseball in the background. Loved his Cubs. A pleasure having known you, Steve.

I guess this is one of the reasons I started blogging here, to let it out.  I know it feels good to do, as I know it did last night for my friend Shirley; I just listened to her talk for awhile.  She told me she slept better.  And tonight, I hope I get the same result. 

From Sunset to Reset

Last week was horrible.

Last week was backwards when I was frontwards; up when I was down; even drove past me a few times.

Last week was probably the most emotional week I have had in recent memory; the last week like this was quite possibly over a year ago when my Mother left this God-forsaken hell of a planet. Heaven has got to be better than this.

I have been sleeping fine; the problem comes when I awake.  Mind Racing; running; swimming. it's in good shape because it didn't have to stop and rest. Or to take a breath.  My Monday was fine; Tuesday became Wednesday in a hurry, and rescheduled regular lunch on Tuesday to Wednesday for a meeting on Tuesday that was really on Wendnesday, and I had tried to Push Reset while downtown on Tuesday.

Then, my regular Tuesday lunch appointmentee was gracious enough to have lunch early Wednesday (since my fake Tuesday meeting was really Wednesday). Well, no problem there, I think...except my mind spouted a drain out my mouth, and was told by my friend that she had 'never seen me this scatterbrained.'.

No kidding.  I was already aware before she told me.  The reset button I pounded on Tuesday hadn't reset yet.  But spouting a bit did reveal that, quite possibly, every emotional factor in my life (ignored or otherwise) decided to hit me all at one time.  Something about my Sister grieving for me, but now she's not here, and is that it?  Have I the need to grieve for Mother on my own now that Sister is gone?  Naw, must simply be the fact that I might have to come out of retirement earlier than planned. Unless I learn how to grow money really soon.  Might be one of those or the other six things on my mind. 

Thursday I spent all day (except lunch) with my friend Shirley, who is becoming needier and needier; decided she shouldn't drive anymore but "needs" to;  mentioned she was out of her anti-depressant 'yesterday'; can't remember in HEB where the deli counter is;  and, happens to love saying, "Where is my (insert whatever here) while moving (insert whatever here) out of the way to look for (insert whatever here)....hmmm.  I was hoping to reset Thursday night.

Thursday night brought movie night, since I had plans to leave town Friday to see my girl.  So, we picked the movie I acquired at a re-gift party:   The Chaos Experiment.

Well.  Let me share a few words from a reviewer of this wonderful flick starring Val Kilmer:

And I Quote:

"There are bad movies. There are stupid movies. There are shitty movies. There are awful movies. And there is Philippe Martinez’s THE CHAOS EXPERIMENT, which is an awful shitty, awful stupid, awful bad movie."

I cannot tell you how much of a "Homerun, Pay Station, Grand Slam, Going Yard, Four-Bagger, Ding-Dong, Touch-Em-All, Round Tripper, Long Ball" that one paragraph does to describe this movie.  Just absolutely horrible. 

However;  I had some friends over, and we had a great time picking out the terrible screenplay, worse acting, negligent lighting, absence of plot, total absence of the need for killing, not to mention the ending:

And I quote:

"I’m not going to spoil it for anyone who is a glutton for film punishment like I am. Just think of a predictable ending for a story ..... the kind that would make you laugh out loud if it happened. Take that idea, make it huff lead paint as a child, hit it over the head with a sledgehammer and then have it take a calculus test. "

Was probably the worst movie I have sat through.  Did I Say Movie? I meant crap.  But, friends make life better, and we suffered through it together.  Was a good time nonetheless.  End of Thursday.

I thought that maybe the curse was over; my punishment was over; however, on the way out of town, a friend called for lunch, so we picked a spot on my route out of town to meet.  And I drove right by it.  Ten minutes later I realized it and had to turn around.

It was probably a good thing, though.  Allowed me to slow down a bit.  After a great lunch, I continued on my great weekend with my girl.  We watched a lot of the Olympics and some Nascar. Saw a few friends, including Dad.

I left from Dad's mid afternoon today, and drove down IH45 for the first time in awhile, passed Stupid followed by Idiot with some Dumbass mixed in here and there; decided to take the shortcut (adds 20 miles) through the forest across Lake Conroe and saw this:

I will take this as a sign for a new attitude opportunity ahead.  I'll take the sunset and begin anew tomorrow.  It's time to begin again.  Maybe the Reset worked this time.

Good Beer?

Might have to check these guys out personally...



More here.

The Ultimate Helpdesk

Ah, A Moving Ski Vacation.

And so I have returned from, quite possibly, the best trip to Colorado yet.

Thursday: It began in earnest with the loading of a 26 foot Penske truck. Those that came to assist in the packing of boxes of every size, too many chairs, rugs (how many rugs again?), and even a BBQ grill. Friday afternoon, we continued. I cannot believe we fit everything. The garage was still full of furniture when we were almost full. I was amazed that we fit what we fit in that truck.

After packing for a day and a half, we drove north Friday night to Dad's. Driving the big yellow truck was easier than I thought it would be. It was, actually, fun. Even towing a car behind on a carrier and being as big as it was; fun. Cruise control worked great; for Sister, however, making it work didn't happen until Kansas.

Saturday: Dad's house came with more packing. The highly synchronized dance of a 26 foot truck with car carrier, car, truck, car, and 20' trailer was a sight to see. I'm sure the neighbors were staring. Moving the trailer into the garage because of the rain really worked well. Packing 1.5 pickup truck loads into that truck afer it was already stacked full was another feat. Only about a truckload this July follows them from Texas.

Sunday: The rest of the 1,200 mile trek was mostly uneventful less the backing and scraping of the car trailer at Grandma's House; the weighing of the truck and car carrier in Wichita (yes, the $8 was well worth it); and following the truck thru Denver traffic. Successful we were after 20 hours of drivetime. Arrival at Public Storage on Sims Road Monday afternoon was a relief in itself.

Tuesday: Unload of a 26'x7.5'x7.5' truck only takes 5 hours if you try to fit into a 10'x20'x8' storage unit and and extra truck with a camper shell. 4 peeps working with a short lunch break makes 5 hours possible.

Wednesday: Fun begins! Can't go to Colorado without skiing for 6 days continuously, can we? I think not.

Ski Day 1 (Wed): Breckenridge. First lift ride I met Larry who has a 3/2/2/ house for buy or rent. Oops. Half a mil to buy, $2000 to rent a bit steep. Pretty though. Ok skiing; need some more snow.

Ski Day 2 (Thurs): Copper Mountain. Today, I met my friend Steve and his son Chris. I learned lots from Steve; he gave me the confidence to 'get out of back seat' and ski more comfortably. I increased my ability for bumps in the areas of quanitity and speed without a break. Thanks Steve.

Ski Day 3 (Fri): Copper again. Not as fun as yesterday with Steve and Chris, but meeting people on the lifts are always a blast. However, this day started with a Longhorn fan in the parking lot. We chatted for a bit; then he kept chatting. Evidently I should have hopped back in the car and drove to Wolf Creek immediately because he was a meterologist and his job was to predict snow and Wolf Creek was gonna get it today. Ended up riding the bus with him, too. Shut up Longhorn fan and go to Wolf Creek yourself.

Ski Day 4 (Sat): Winter Park. Met my friends Judine and Jim EARLY. It was ok, though; Jim brought homemade breakfast tacos. And led us down the best runs on Mary Jane. We skied in Powder all day long. Even more confidence today in powdered bumps. An Excllent day. Jim and Judine- Thanks for allowing me to tag along. Maybe the best day skiing for me ever.

Ski Day 5 (Sun): Drove to Steamboat from Winter park last night. In search of the same conditions as Saturday; powder in between trees, few tracks, few skiers. Success! Morningside fits my specs today. Quite similar to the condions we were sking Saturday.

Ski Day 6 (Mon): Steamboat brought me the best 5" or so in recent memory. And I returned to Morningside to blaze new trails all morning. In the afternoon, Ms. Ski Patrol told me, "Have you tried East Face? It's a bit of a hike in places, but should be some nice powder back there." Well, it was very nice, and almost a foot of powder when I came out of the trees and found the 'flat.' I must still have purpose on this earth, because God sure missed a good cardiovascular emergency opportunity to take me. Must have been a 500 foot flat spot in a foot of powder. I survived the flat to later in the day do a face-first slide for about a hundred feet right below the lift. I got a sitting ovation from the lift-riders, as I gave a good show. At least it was soft.

Tuesday I left Sister, returned to Texas, and it was hard. Maybe because I felt I was leaving her there; maybe because I don't know when I will see her or the kiddos again. It has been nice having them close. Or, maybe it is that I really do hope that plans are made to visit Texas again before it's too late.

All in all, a great trip. Friends, family, and memorable experiences all around with both.