Making It Up As I Go Along #313

MONDAY...
— Quiet day at home. It’s Easter Monday. Some TV... movies and hockey. And some exercise. Little nap too.

TUESDAY...
— Work is work. Kiyomi and I do lunch together... which is good. I go to Walmart after work for some shaving stuff... which is bad. Walmart is evil. But not the good, charming evil... EVIL evil.
— Some of the left over stir fry juice dumps out in my bag of stuff going home. The MP3 player likely doesn’t appreciate that.

WEDNESDAY...
— Awake early. I wake just before 4:00 and really don’t get back to sleep. Work is okay. Take extra time at lunch to watch the end of the Guitar Hero Tournament. And get many birthday wishes.
— When I get home, my new DVD of The Sweater is finally here. I got the VHS version of it on my birthday some six or seven years ago... and now the DVD comes on my birthday too.

THURSDAY...
— Birthday... part 2. I get a card from the team at work. We go for breakfast in the morning. And plans are made for some Friday after work drinks.
— Get home to another card... this one in the mail... good for a chuckle.

FRIDAY...
— Alright day at work. And then off to a pub with Nick, Louis, Linda, Sheila, and Dave Henderson for a few drinks and some food. And I end up paying for none of it thanks to Louis, Dave and Sheila wanting to do me some birthday favours. A fun time.
— Snooze much of the evening while sort of watching some TV.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet and lazy house day. Until supper time. Go to get Karl and get another free, birthday supper a the pub. Then we watch No Country For Old Men at the Mayfair. And I do like it as I thought I would.


Changing Seasons

Part 1
Spring is coming but it may already be too late. I feel shell shocked these days. Winter wears you down. The bundling up against the cold. The dry air in the buildings. The static shocks from touching things within your own house. It’s all too much.

The immune system takes a beating with colds and flu bugs everywhere you go.

Muscles tense and stiffen making you feel like a side of beef in a meat cutter’s freezer.

And the sanctity of ones own home becomes a lair of electrical booby traps, waiting to strike out at you when you drop your guard.

Used vacation time means you have no choice but to push through the winter. Drag yourself in to work. Fight through the snow and slush. Push past other irritable drivers until you get into the office where you’re crammed together with others again and again, day after day.

People in small spaces are a funny thing. It brings you together... or drives you crazy. There are some who do me better the more I see them. If I knew I’d be working next to them each day for months on end, work would be a better place for it. And then there are others who’s every little move drives you up the wall.

My small team at work has one of each type of person. So a conversation with one helps push me through the days... and listening to the other suck each last drop out of their juice box makes me want to get violent. There’s little middle ground... and winter is to blame.

When summer comes there is distance available. More people take time away. Breaks and lunches can be eaten inside or out. Muscles and joints are loosened with the feel of a sauna, rather than that of a meat locker. Massaged by warmth and a more comfortable dress code... and with moisture ending the torture of touching a light switch in your own home... the world becomes a better place.

But right now, it’s the ending part of that harsh time. Snow remains on the ground and in the forecast. Another cold feels like it’s coming on in my head and joints. And that co-worker still has that juice box ready to slurp on some six feet away from me.

Part 2

There are things to look forward to. Baseball is coming back with a game on TV tonight. Hockey playoffs are about to begin... when the shoot out disappears for a few months of real hockey. Snow is melting... the jail will soon be swinging the gates of freedom open and a walk will be available that goes further than the front door to the parking lot.

My birthday has come and gone. For me, my day is a sign of the end of winter. This year’s birthday has been an unusual one. My first birthday without a cake involved. I did get several meals given to me free of charge. A breakfast on my team (juice box slurper and all). Lunch by way of Melissa. And two suppers, one from Sheila and another from Karl. Four days of feasting have seemed to replace the cake.

Cards have come, in the mail and delivered by hand. Easter Creme Eggs (I spelt it wrong last week... it is in fact “creme” and not “cream”) came from Kiyomi while Scratch and Win tickets arrived from Laura.

Still more is on it’s way. Mom and dad’s card remains in the hands of the postal service. Edena’s gift is making it’s way from the States. And so the celebrations are set to go on.

It’s a time of tiredness... where every little thing begins to pick away at a piece of the brain. But a glimmer on the horizon promises better times are ahead. Can we make it?