Miss me? Probably not because you’re most likely swamped with the “joy” of the season. Christmas in 11 days, Hanukkah in two and Festivus in nine, don’t even get me started about Kwanza.
I really, really wanted to write but even on my extra day off last week, I was pre-occupied with the new annual tradition I started with Somara. For those of you who don’t live in the Austin area, Somara makes a cookie plate to give to our friends and favorite stores (Pinballz, Rogues Gallery, Waterloo Records, etc) as a gift. It’s spillover from her time in culinary school…holy crap, that was a decade ago. Last year, Somara wanted to bail on it. The process is very time consuming. The money part doesn’t bother me, the thought is what matters. What’s very exhausting is all the dish washing due to the varieties of cookies and treats. Finally stepping up to be a more supportive partner, I asked her if there was anything I can do to contribute. Yup, give up a day off from work and keep washing the bowls, mixing doodads, cutting boards, etc. while the chef focuses on the mixing, baking and portioning. Does it work? Does it help? I leave the answer to Somara.
One annoying surprise popped up in the middle of the work…our washing machine crapped out. Thankfully, a local repair crew knew what to do (water pump) and my first trip to an actual laundromat in 15 years was a one-time thing.
What else? Oh, work of course sucked down a lot of my energy. As you may recall, I was acting manager during Thanksgiving break and I had another run for a special week when the real managers take a week to lay out their annual strategy. It’s not a secret, what they did is a common practice in corporations, institutions and I think the Philadelphia Flyers once took a week to visit Civil War sites under Ken Hitchcock. I feel I was more successful running this other team since I had five work days sans two holidays to do what I love doing, coaching and trying to be a positive factor in their work lives. Customer service work can be soul crushing thanks to something I remembered in college called Hostile World Theory; meaning, if all you see or interact with is negative (e.g. sitting through endless news cycles on cable), you’ll take the same approach to other things in your life.
Meanwhile, numerous short stories will be bursting from Picayune for I’m gonna’ bust-a-move (1989 slang) to get over 415 posts before New Year’s Eve.