Making It Up As I Go Along #364

Suburban Sunrise, Monday April 6

THURSDAY...
— First day of work. Phil leaves at lunch so it’s a busy afternoon for me. A nice day... sun and 15. But I’m inside all day working. Oh well.
— My foot gets lots of notice because I’m wearing light running shoes with dress pants and a shirt and tie. It’s all to help out with my stubbed toe but looks stupid... and I hear about it from a good half dozen people today. Between that and Rihanna comments when contributors calling in ask for my name, it’s a pretty repetitive day.

FRIDAY...
— Kind of slow day which is weird for a week day at work. But the office is pretty empty after 11:00 due to Tom Leroux’s retirement luncheon. It’s pretty well just Phil, Sarah, Terry, Bree and me left in the building.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet shift at work. I do the gym tonight as well. Was quite tired before going to work. I was ready for my 2:00 PM nap by 12:30... but I waited and made it to 2:00. Why I was so tired I’m not sure.

SUNDAY...
— Quiet work night. Phil and I get pizzas. I get an interesting thing happen right near the end of shift... which isn’t ideal to be getting perked up with something you don’t often see after working eleven hours... but oh well.

MONDAY...
— Rainy, cold day. I sleep until about noon and veg out the rest of the day. Some baseball and hockey on TV are about the bulk of things.

TUESDAY...
— Wet snow keeps me inside. I don’t even go get the mail today... wet snow at this time of year is not to be tolerated! Watch a few movies and some baseball on TV, nap a little as well. Not much else going on.

WEDNESDAY...
— More lousy weather. Some rain and some snow and cold. I go for groceries but there isn’t much else going on today.


The Best Sense
Going to bed at sunrise is a whole lot better than at sunset. Come the middle of summer, that’s basically how it is. Day shift will have me aiming for bed about the time the sun goes down. And boy will that be depressing.

But there’s something restful and relaxing about bed time when the sun is on it’s way up. Sleepy people are trying to kick themselves into gear. Preparing to start a day. And I’m ready to climb under the covers.

It makes me really take note of a sunrise. It happened this past Monday. The picture that accompanies this weeks contribution was taken just prior to me heading to bed. Looking out the spare room window at 6:30 in the morning. By the time I awoke, some five or six hours later, the clouds rolled in and rain was falling. But the still of the early morning with clouds glowing pink and the hallway of my home sharing in the glow... it’s one of those things that make you thankful for eyesight.

In fact, I couldn’t imagine not being able to see. HD TV has proven to be another example of being thankful for sight. It sounds pathetic to admit some of the things you’ll watch. This week I watched a one hour, commercial free program of a... you guessed it... sunrise. There was no music and no commentary. Occasionally, the camera would zoom in to a portion of the scene and three or four times in the hour, a quick fact of the site comes up to read. But I was sitting there held to the TV watching the sun come up in Alaska with seals bobbing in the inlet of the sea and a volcanic mountain still holding some snow in the background.

I actually recently heard that, even with the economy doing so poorly, the sale of large and expensive HD TVs has gone up. The explanation, people can’t afford to go to sporting events or travel to exotic destinations... so instead they’ll watch it on TV.

That’s a sad and wonderful thing all at the same time. On one hand, people should get out and experience things for themselves. If an entire life is spent in a living room watching TV, is it a rewarding life?

But on the other hand, learning about new places in this world... places you never realized existed... it’s a lot better than watching the latest episode of Dancing With the Stars.

I’ve watched from a helicopter view as strangers walk down the street of a coastal Italian village. And it makes me want to go there. I don’t need to jump off a cliff or mountain bike along a mountain trail in some far off land. I find I’m fascinated by other people’s ordinary. I’d love to spend a few days trying to blend in to that coastal Italian village. Seeing how life is there. When I was in Greece, I was happier glued to the window of my bus as we drove through the countryside than when we wandered through a shop full of touristy nick knacks. Others tried to sleep the bus trip away, I tried to drink in the small roadside communities we passed through.

This is what HD TV does. It acts as your own personal window on the bus, taking you to other corners of the earth. The key is, you must remember to occasionally hop off the bus.