Tag: work

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Out of the Mouth of Babes

Every year one of neighbor has an outdoor Halloween party for the adults, a pot luck affair.  The neighbors sit up a fire pit, cook a big dish of this or that, and provide the area.  Of course, we all bring candy and mug the Trick-or-Treaters as they come by trying to get rid of our candy. No one wants to have to take the sweets home.  Resistance is futile when it comes to chocolate.

Normally, Robin is the one in the gang of adults passing out candy to the kids as they come by.  She off doing something else and gave the bowl of goodies to me to dispense to the young revelers.

I was doing so when one of them asked me, “What are you supposed to be?”

Now I had come from work and pretty much went straight to the festivities.  I had on cowboy boots, cords and a regular shirt.  I had added a newsboy hat and fleece jacket before we went as it was just wee bit cool and we were to be outside. My hair is a little on the long side.

Not knowing what to answer, I told the truth, “tall and ugly, ugly and tall…”

And that seem to satisfy the young inquisitioner.

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Me Too

met_square_stlI work in the Metropolitan Building in downtown St. Louis.  The Metropolitan is the tallest building in St. Louis and the second tallest in Missouri.    It is 42 stories tall in the tower section of the building.  It is listed as 593 feet.  The next tallest building in St. Louis is the AT&T Center at 588 feet.  For comparison the St. Louis Arch is 630 feet.  I once rappelled from 150 meters (492 feet) which is a pretty good drop.  I do not work at such lofty heights, but I am on the 7th floor of the non-tower portion of the structure.  My cube is right next to the outside walls and thus the large glass windows of the skyscraper.

Once year they clean all the windows on the outside.  For part of the building they use the stereotypical platform hung from two points.  On my portion of the building the window washers strap on what looks like a Continue reading “Me Too”

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3:39 a.m. – Random Thoughts

Staring at the unseen ceiling at 03:39 a.m. with random thoughts trying to rattle their way into or maybe out of my thoughts…

  • Life is a machine for generating regrets
  • Never regret being kind, even when it does not work out the way you intended.  It was still the right thing to do
  • It’s worn and trite and all too true… when it is all said and done all we have are each other
  • When I was young used to think old age was the way God prepared folks so they could let go of life. Now as someone on the cusp of that phase of my life, I think old age and the ungraceful exit so many people get to make is proof that there is no god, that there is no intelligent design.
  • We need to remember that most of us most of the time are really doing the best we can
  • Not only do we need to forgive each other, we need to forgive ourselves
  • All too often we take things far too seriously when it is just the other person stuck in their own bag of skin
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Robin’s Snoopy Dance

snoopy_dancingThere is one very special thing about Robin — you almost never have to guess what she is feeling. Unless it is an environment like work where it is better to keep your mask on, to see her is to know where she is at emotionally.

She is also a little hyperactive. I bring this up because she has an adorable behavior that I have seen directed at me twice and at other folks a couple times. When she sees someone she really likes and cares about, and she has not seen them in a while her whole body smiles. Yes her face is all lit up, but her body goes into this little dance that I can only relate to what I have seen Snoopy do in the cartoons. She is happy all over, her whole body is smiling.

First time I came back to St. Louis after moving to Memphis for work she went into one that lasted about a minute. We went to New Orleans a while back and saw an old, dear friend of hers who she had not seen in years. That was another Snoopy dance of a minute or so.

I came home the other night after being gone just one night for a quick trip to Muskogee, by gawd, Oklahoma. She went into short Snoopy dance then. I cannot imagine a better homecoming.

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The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe

Narrative_Arthur_Gordon_Pym_1108Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his short stories and poetry, particularly the poem The Raven. In researching Poe I discovered that he is known as the founder of the detective fiction genre and credited with reinventing science fiction. During his lifetime he was best known as a literary critic. In reading the Wikipedia article I had another myth burst. I was always under the impression that Poe was a drug addict and died from such a life style. Poe had his issues, alcoholism may have been one of them, but many of the negative qualities associated with Poe are the result of a smear campaign by an enemy of his, Rufus Wilmot Griswold and a public all too willing to be titillated. However, Poe did die in mysterious circumstances and his death has been attributed to a cornucopia of etiologies.

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is Poe’s only novel, although not a long one. It is a book in 3 distinct parts.

The first part is the classic sea adventure story. A young man is desirous of going to sea for the adventures he believes he will encounter. His parents and grandfather are adamantly opposed to his plan. Continue reading “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 6,527

…yeah I know you did not ask!

New definition for oxymoron: Using an Escalade pickup for a work truck. I saw one this morning with what little truck bed there is on an Escalade pickup loaded with construction paraphernalia. It as also towing a trailer. I cannot tell you one year from another on this vehicle, but I am assuming it was reasonably old as it was rusting out around the wheel wells.

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From Wow to Ouch

flickr-3470761412-hdI am leaving the house for work, driving along suburban streets to get to the Interstate that takes me downtown.  In front of my pick-em-up truck appears a red tail hawk flying about eye level in the same direction of travel as myself. The hawk flies with me for a few second. It then veers off to the right, swooping up and disappears in a tree.  I thought, “Wow.”

I stop watching.

Suddenly, out of the corner of eye, I see the hawk drop out of the tree.  It is headed rapidly towards the ground. It has my attention again.  At about six to 12 inches from the deck it snags a small bird out of the air, rises with its prize, and disappears again.  I thought, “Ouch.”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 1,232

…yeah I know you did not ask!

My morning routine when I first get to work is to go to the company gym.  There I fill my giant economy size cup with ice and water, check my blood pressure, and do a series of exercises for my arthritic shoulders.

This morning I am going through the exercises when a couple of BBW walked through the sliding doors into the gym.  I had not heard the beginning of the conversation, but one woman avowed loudly that, “She did not take it off.”

I so wanted to remark, “Sweetheart,  then you have never had me sweet talking you!”

Fortunately I remembered where I was at, work, and kept my mouth shut.