Letter to the Management

I need to talk to someone regarding this Fall thing.
You know, autumn.

Leaves’ turning bright colors, chill in the air, a little morning frost on the car windshield.

Yeah! My question is; Where is all that crap?

It’s 80 degrees and humid! I’m still mowing my lawn and battling mosquitoes and fire ants.

Give me a break! Harold Taft would never let a thing like this happen.
Yes, I have lived in North Texas all my life, and I know what the weather is like here.

But I can still complain about it!

Honey Do's

Man it has been busy around here. I've had no time to post. We are having family coming in this weekend for Short Round's second birthday. Her party will be on Saturday. Everyone will be there, Nanas, Papaws, and Aunts, OH MY!

I've been busy working in the yard, and cleaning the garage. We have a two-car garage; however, we also have a lot of crap. The good news is I can now get at least one vehicle in, and close the garage door. The bad news is, you don't want to even look in my attic. I fear that at least 1/3 of my accumulated life's debris could come crashing down on my family at any time.

I also have been finishing up on some redecorating in my dining room. I had the bright idea of painting vertical stripes, about a foot in width all the way around the room. I use a base coat of a rich gold, and a deeper shade of the same color for the stripe. It was pretty simple; I used 12 inch masking paper, and taped it down the wall with that blue masking tape. I then just rolled the exposed wall area. The tricky part was making sure the tape was perfectly straight. Once I was finished rolling and cutting in the baseboards and ceiling, I just took the paper off, and there were my stripes. Next, I put up a matching boarder all the way around the dining room.

As you can see in the picture above, not a bad job for an amateur.

My wife likes it so much, she is already dreaming up new projects to keep me busy. Personally I'd settle for a nap.

Now, all is ready, let the party begin.

Chocolate cake anyone?

You learn something new every day.

Fiberglass.

It is truly amazing how many uses we have for fiberglass. It can be use to make tools, boats, and doors. Nearly all heating and cooling conduits in most homes use it as a middle insulation layer.

Yes, fiberglass is everywhere.

In fact, after spending the day working with the previously mentioned conduits I’m finding fiberglass everywhere, in my hair, on my arms, in my face, and various other areas on my person that no glass fibrous material should ever reach;

EVER!

I suppose it was worth it though. As it turns out the return air conduit in the attic had collapsed, blocking air circulation throughout the house. I was able to replace the collapsed section of conduit, and now the AC runs like new.

Everything is great, itchy, but great.

I was thinking that this little homeowner "emergency" was actually good for my morale. It places my focus on situations I can have some control over. That’s a good thing.

If you are familiar with the singer Bob Seger, (and everyone should be ) you may remember his song "Little Victories". Some of the verses stick with me.

"As you step out in the night take a lesson from the trees.
Watch the way they learn to bend with each breeze.
Little victories.
Everytime you make it through
It's another little victory
Day by day minute by minute
Little victories"

STILL, keeping the faith.

Just trying to keep up!

These are busy times. You might think my unemployed butt would have plenty of time to get everything done, but I have to admit my time management skills have gone down the toilet. I miss my job. And, I really miss the ability to delegate. I mean, a two-year-old doesn’t take direction worth crap.

Now, I may not be working, but my kids have provided more than enough activities for all of us. In the past couple of weeks we have been in a parade, (Here in Texas, a pickup pulling a flatbed trailer doubles as a parade float. Especially when you put 34 first and second grade cheerleaders on it.) A few days later my girls were performing at the Varsity High school pep rally. That’s the big time for a couple of six-year -olds.

I’ve been doing the eternal job hunt. I spend late nights on the job boards, and calling various companies during the day. I do have one lead that may be strong.

I said may!

I’m not saying anything about it until things progress further. I’m tired of getting my hopes up.

I have been doing a little work for a friend who has an auto tint buisness. It is just one day a week, but it gets me out of the house and provides a little extra income. Of course we all know, there is no such thing as extra income. Today the air conditioner in my home started giving me problems. And we know how inexpensive those are to fix! (Cough, cough, hack, choke!)

I think I need to get some advice on home appliance repair from AHD. Maybe while conquering the dryer he found a good air conditioner repair site.

Of course, there is always the chance I could cause more damage than I can fix…NAH!

What me worry about expensive repair costs?

Just remember, you have to actually have money to worry about it.

Let's all just click our heels together three times and say, " There’s no place like Lowes." "There’s no place like Lowes."

I'm so conflicted!

Well, what do you know. My kids were right.



Oh! I guess my wife was right too.



Thanks a lot Kiki !

Like I didn't have issues before!

The Mirror

This week has really had a lot of ups and downs. The past few days I’ve been a little introspective. I’ve been thinking about something that I wrote a few months ago:

"In any hardship, or struggle, there can come a time when frustration and pride will lead you to seek other tangible targets. This turns out to be those nearest to you. It's in a man's nature to fix things. We want to find the root of the trouble. And, when you’re weighed down with frustration and self-doubt, the mirror is a tough place to face. You tend to look elsewhere.

At some point, you just know that everyone has contributed to your downfall. Your ex-boss for throwing you under the bus. Your co-workers for not standing up for you. Your wife for not "understanding the stress" you’re going through. Your kids, who don't understand that you just, need to focus on feeling sorry for yourself.

Are you any closer to the mirror?

Am I?

The events that caused your struggle may, or may not have been your fault. But every action you take after the incident is your responsibility. True, there can be many outside forces pulling at you, but your choices in how you handle these influences are yours alone.

My advice to myself and to anyone that might be interested, is take control of the things you can control. Your anger, self-doubt, and frustrations are all yours. That is something you can control. No matter how hard you will it, you can't control the emotions of others. This includes family, spouse, and children.

Remember that they are in this with you. They have fears and concerns of their own. They are watching how you deal with this struggle, and they will react as you react. It's one of the laws of physics; every action has a reaction. You must keep this in mind. Of course this means added stress, but that can also be an important part in getting your focus back on track. Be proactive not reactive."

I haven’t been able to look that guy in the Mirror a whole lot lately. The same old demons keep popping up. I get all excited about a posible way out of this whole situation, only to have it blow up in my face.

It get tough at times.

But I’m still trying.

I promise to use my powers for good!

You won’t believe what I did Friday.

Go ahead, guess!

No, that’s not it.

OK, I’ll spill it, but first let me tell you that there are very few that reach positions of truly great power. There are CEOs, and heads of state, presidents and potentates. On Friday I briefly joined the ranks of the truly powerful. Yes, I was a Substitutes Gym Teacher. (No autographs please). Armed with a full rack of basketballs, and a regulation coach’s whistle I organized group calisthenics, and oversaw multiple games of "Elimination".

By the way, the whistle DOES WORK!

One good blast and you have total silence from fifty noisy forth graders for at least five seconds. So you better work quick. Anyway, all kidding aside it felt kind of good to be back in a school setting. The kids really crack me up. It reminded my why I wanted to go into teaching all those years ago.

After loosing my job I applied for teaching positions with several nearby school districts, but it was too late in the summer, and the positions I’m certified in were already filled. (Yes, a decade ago I was going to be an English Teacher) I’m certified in Secondary English. Way back when I went through the system, in Texas, when you got your certification it was for life. You didn’t have to recertify like you do now.

Last week I received a call from one of the nearby small town intermediate schools asking if I would substitute. I had filled out an application after my last lay off prior to this one. But last week, out of the blue they gave me a call. There I was, after more than ten years, in front of a class again. It was exciting and terrifying all at one time.

Who know what this all may turn into. Maybe nothing, but in the past few months I find myself looking for positives in whatever situation I encounter.