I am too tired to sleep and its infuriating. Last night there was an awesome hail rain lightning thunderstorm that kept me up two extra hours. I was dragging ass and puckered tight as we rolled out the first day of a new training. I’m writing this because I completely screwed up two sections and right in the middle shifted into torrential flop sweats.
It would have been funny were it not happening to me. To add a cherry to this shit sundae the President of the company was there to watch the new class. In the brilliant words of an old hillbilly colleague “fuck me runnin”
Then we had the big group dinner tonight and all I wanted to do was crawl under the table and sleep. Two more long ass days….
I think I’ve written before about my love of lists. I despised them as a kid because my mom was a championship level to-do list publisher. In fact my first fantasy football team was named the ToDoLists in honor of that tradition. Anyway, at some point I turned the corner and now I crank out some of the most ridiculous lists ever created. I decided to write this as I looked at the 3 lists I was working on.
Number one was my internal debrief of Saturday’s party. That list included next year sending out real invitations and asking for RSVPs because I think I lost 6 or 7 couples due to my one shot email only don’t bother replying invitation. I had some other things like food notes and beer quantity plus possible guest list tweaks due to overall personality mix but all in all good party.
The second is a list is the pile of personal stuff I need to get done before this next road-trip. 2 weeks and home for a day and a half in the middle, it won’t be such a nut punch if I get all this crap completed.
And finally I have the list of work things that is making me a little sick. I co-teach a class where a big room full of people pay over a grand each to hear what we’ve got to say. I was in a pretty good rhythm with my part but we just improved the whole thing. Which means that I will be in a three day state of discomfort. Nothing quite like the feeling that if you accidentally sat on some coal you could easily create a diamond. Good times.
A random list of notes taken down at party or recorded:
I was buying a couple beers for the party and ran in to a pack of hipsters and their dates. I normally don’t mind these folks because their trendy and spendy habits have brought back a lot of fine old American beers like the Schlitz in the picture Hamms PBR etc. This particular group was perusing the craft brew isle and loudly discussing the different types. Again I have nothing against people who like to drink that stuff but it can be a bit complex for my Diet Coors palate.
That is 3 perfectly packed cases ready for their ice bath.
So one of them seeing me struggle past with my conestoga wagonload of regular beer asked me for my opinion. Now I get it, on a date, alpha male and all, so I said something pithy about that stuff containing too much flavor for me. Tee hee and I was on my way except young and hip wasn’t satisfied. I have to be honest I didn’t really hear what he said but when I turned around it was very apparent that it was a shot. So I fired back blind.
“I would love to reanimate your dead great grandfather so he could see the weakling fancy beer snob that sprung from his loins. I’m guessing punches would be thrown and you’d be sobbing about not hitting your face.”
I waited a couple beats for a response and getting none I wished them a good night. I would love to know how he played that off when I was gone…
This monkey should have just won the race and shut up. Instead, this happened…
Those fellas are getting awfully close to a pissed off forced to ride a bike monkey eating bear. HAHAHA the circus. Good times.
I might have mentioned the two $88.00 patio heaters I bought last Black Friday from Lowes online. We were looking for one but the cheapest we found was $350.00 so I figured for the cheap price I’d buy a pair and send one to the lake. We have come to a family decision (by family I mean Liza and I because the kids all voted against it but luckily this is a dictatorship) to sell the lake house after this summer so it looks like I have a spare.
Anyway the first one was put together after a few beers at a party and steps were skipped and parts omitted but it worked great after an hour and a half. Then my stupid ass picked the thing up by the neck after it was fully loaded with a new gas tank and compromised the cheap structure. So last night I built the other one and fired it up following all of the steps exactly in a half hour to get ready for the party on Saturday.
So there it sits in all its glory while its sibling hangs out in the garage.
See it all bent out of shape wearing its bee keepers hat of shame. I’m going to call china and try to claim shipping damage but I don’t hold a lot of hope there. This might be the one I experiment with. Like cutting it down to be an outdoor couch heater…
I’ve been thinking a lot about passion lately. I coach people about having passion for the field they find themselves working in even if this wasn’t their dream job or career. It’s crazy to me to drag your ass in to a company that you hate day after day spending more time there than anywhere else in your life. I love my job and I do everything I can every day to make it meaningful to ME. The only problem is that I know it’s not my true passion. (OK we get it, stop saying passion you passionate idiot) To me that word means something that you cant get out of your head. An obsession that brings you joy and fulfillment. (here we go…) I’m creeping up on my 50th year on the planet and I’m still not sure what I love enough aside from my family that could do that for me. I do so love to write but have no idea if I could sit down every day and do it to make a living. Its an age old puzzle of existence. A friend of mine posted a quote that started me down this path
The Greeks didn’t write epitaphs after a man died.
…but asked 1 question,
…Did he have passion?
Now he completely jacked up the punctuation and presentation to the point that my simple mind cant untie that grammatical knot but the thought transmits. I have a ton of passion its just all over the road and focused on different things. I’m drawn to it when I see it however and that brings me to the subject of this mess today. (holy crap we’re just getting there now…) And that is the Saddleback Leather Company. If you’ve read this thing for a while you know about me and my manbags. I need function and durability with looks coming a distant last place in my practical mind. I cam across this company and its story through the internet and I was hooked. Anyone who cares so much about anything deserves a second look and he dedicated the whole thing to his dog Blue. I’m not going in to the whole story here but stop by saddlebackleather.com and poke around. That link is for Dave’s deals which I patrol religiously because my meager budget does not allow random purchases of expensive leather.
This is my current beauty on the newly stained deck. The power went out this morning so I took advantage and worked outside until it returned. This is my second bag as I sold the first one to afford this and it was a Dave’s Deal which means that it is discounted due to scratches and or imperfections. I like imperfections in people so why not in my bag. Anyway This guy has built a company from his passion and it transmits to his customer base. I even bought this stupid thing a present.
See that woven looking thing that clips from one side to the other? That is a paracord luggage strap (the people who made it really got me with the wounded warrior donation) that lets me slide this over my luggage handle. This thing is not for the weak or frail. At almost six pounds empty once loaded it could prove too much burden for some. At a whopping 2% of my body weight my back can shut up if it has a problem with the load but for long trips its nice to let it ride on the wheels once in a while. My obsession doesn’t stop with the bag itself. I have a wallet, and iPad case, and some various other pieces both from them direct and eBay. The point being that this guy built something he cares deeply about and it transmits throughout his company to his customers. I would love to build or do something like that where people could feel the passion in the product.
I’m getting ready to shut up now but I get compliments on the bag all the time and the thinking for this post started last week when a guy was taking pictures of it resting on my crappy carry-on from every angle he could get. It was weird at first because I looked up from my iPad and it was happening but I really didn’t mind. Not sure if he spoke English as my ever charming “hey” was met with a bow and a brisk exit. I’ll stop now but I’ll end with this profound thought. Big fan.
We’re all dying but I might have accelerated the process last night by attempting to run. I know what you’re thinking “was there a tiger loose in his neighborhood and no one told me?” Nope. Just had a wild hair the took my heart outside of recommended operating parameters. The real news is I didn’t forget how and the not so bad news is I’m sticking to walking for a while.
I currently find myself in the neighborhood bar which has apparently turned into a geriatric facility during my travel hiatus. Bummer because I walked here to watch the Hawks with some of my friends on this beautiful spring evening. If this dump gets crossed off the list there are going to be some happy cab drivers in this area.
