Just Another Day

One thing I’ve noticed about not working is that Monday is no longer a bad day. Now, for those you who have a job that is really fulfilling and can’t wait to get back at it, more power to you. I don’t think I was as ever as bad as Office Space but there were certainly many cases of the “Mondays”. Now, it is just another day. The only thing that does mark the time is that it is a day I can go back to the office and the fitness center which is what I did today.

Ran into another person I hadn’t seen since the great purging. She echoed a theme that others had – that they kind of miss having me around. Got the same question – how are you doing and the reality is that every day is a new day and I’m doing great. She said something I’ve heard before which is that a lot of people who’ve left say it was the best thing that happened to them.

Talked with a couple of other people as well. It does seem like the group that inherited all of our stuff is trying to change as much as they can to do things the way they do them. That was to be expected but the problem with that thinking is that we had reasons why we did what we did and lot of it was based on experience and things we had encountered. This is what happens when you take a lot of years of knowledge and experience and just toss it out. Then again, as my wife said, it is no longer my problem.

As I was walking to and from the fitness center, I saw several people with their faces buried in their phones frantically tapping away. I know this is not a new or unique experience since most people live in their electronic devices these days. I’m sure that these people could give me all sorts of reasons for how efficient they are being by using the time to walk from their car to their office to deal with email. There’s certainly some truth to that but your life isn’t in your little electronic device. Life exists around you. Wouldn’t your time be better spent just living in the moment of the walk and taking it all in. The bird songs, the grass blowing in the wind, maybe even a smile or two from random other humans. Guess that’s just me though.

Yesterday, when it was nice, I opened the windows which was great until I realized that the trees were pollinating and my allergies kicked in. Still it was nice to get some air in the house.

Now I have to take down the Easter decorations. We have a mantle downstairs in the TV room that is devoted to holiday themed decorations. Well it is really just Halloween, Christmas and Easter. I’ve got a few for Thanksgiving and July 4th but the other three seem to be the ones that generate the most knick knacks that can be displayed. The problem is that when I take away Easter, it will be bare until I decide to bring out the small number of July 4th things (usually Memorial Day weekend since that seems appropriate). That means I tend to leave the Easter stuff up a little longer than I should.

While I’m rambling, I suppose I have to confess to messing up our local raccoon population. These guys have become total daytime creatures. There is one that just sits out all day underneath the feeder waiting for me to come out and drop some stuff down to him. I know he must be finding other stuff because I know I’m not providing enough calories in the few handfuls I toss down to them.

But I’ve also created a raccoon with no real fear of people – at least me and that’s probably not a good thing. I guess because I’m always talking to them as I feed them. (I talk to all the animals around the house – its weird but its my thing) So I guess they’ve gotten used to my voice. Today, I had already given them something and I was using the afternoon to read on another deck to enjoy the sun. I saw one in the usual post under the feeder and I just called down to tell him to go find some food on his own. Well, I guess that wasn’t good enough because I’m reading and I notice movement out of the corner of my eye and this raccoon has crossed over our lower deck and climbed the stairs and is now coming around towards me like a cat or a dog. I got up and chased him back down the stairs and fortunately he did run but the nerve of that guy coming up to beg for food. Then, I gave them some more which was the wrong thing to do. At some point, I’ll really have to stop feeding them for a bit to get this guy to stop being lazy and start looking for his own food.

Tomorrow I’m going to the doctor to talk about the arthritis in my hands. Again, I’m not sure what, if anything can be done but it seemed like I should be talking to a medical professional about this so that’s what I’m doing.