Reality Me

I spent yesterday, my last day of vacation, glued to the computer working on a client’s website. Today, I have returned to Cubeville to fulfill the duties of my day job. 2015 ended great! I am apprehensive about 2016 but so far so good.

This is not a year in review post nor a resolution post.

I’ve been on a two week vacation and it has been heavenly. Perhaps I’ll publish details later. Today represents the last day of my vacation, or as Cathy likes to put it, the day Doug stresses, curses, begrudges tomorrow, and wishes he had taken a longer vacation…or every Sunday. But that was then this is now. I plan 2016 not as stress-free but as a stress managed year. Everything shall be taken in stride!

So what is on today’s plate? Client work, scout planning, personal planning (have to set some goals), family time, and then we will see if there is any time left for other things. January promises to be a trying month. It comes pre-packed with many activities and two incredibly immobile and important deadlines. This month, those two things will be my focus and everything else is secondary.

The beginning:

1. Wake with a headache and muscle aches
2. How too hot and needs air conditioning which hasn’t been serviced and requires condensation to be pumped out with shop vac
3. Go upstairs to find a dog has walked out her poop spreading it all over the living room floor

The rest of the day:

1. Document the pinewood derby workshop
2. Meet with fellow scout leader to discuss the pinewood derby
3. Plan a scout meeting including picking up supplies
4. Do the scout meeting
5. Work on a client’s project

Things that need to happen but won’t today:

• Continue cleaning house
• Book balancing, budgeting, and bills
• Home improvements including walk building and shelf hanging
• Service hvac by cleaning dust out of unit, checking to make sure everything is well sealed, and calling in repairman to inspect unit (which means cleaning out the garage)

I’m going back to sleep…

Facebook has stolen far too much of my attention of late. I have neglected blogging in favor of a quick quip, repost, or flippant comment on Facebook. I want to return to more regular blogging.

These past several weeks have been busy but glorious. We’ve camped at the Cumberland Gap, Fort Loudon, and Elkmont. We’ve worked hard, struggled, and been rewarded. We’ve done garage archaeology and started to finally do things to the house that we’ve wanted to do for over a decade. I hope this trend continues!

Today is Saturday, December 12, 2015. My todo list is: financial planning, washing machine repair, Christmas preparation and shopping, computer programming, scout planning, and home repair.

The pursuit of happiness is a lark.

Using a spreadsheet to figure out when the next time you’ll get laid is not as easy as one would imagine.

Evan has a friend visiting. As a responsible parent, I want to give them fun activities that may be different from the norm. I’d like to play Dungeons and Dragons with them, or Munchkin, or Risk, or Axis and Allies. Or perhaps do a science experiment. Or a dozen other things. But they are entertaining themselves on the Xbox and seem very happy. My mind drifts to my other responsibilities. Should I clean? Work on home repair? I’ve been working on a client’s project. It has consumed my evenings and weekends for weeks. I need to find more work. I need to balance my books and do bureaucratic adult stuff. I’d like to read a book, or watch tv, or curl up into a ball and rock back and forth. I should go for a run, or play guitar, or juggle fire, or meditate. I have volunteer responsibilities to do for the scouts. I need to update records, confirm headcounts, and send out emails. I need to update one of my websites to make it generate revenue. I want to write, to publish, to create. Ah, I think I’ll sit.

Hummus for lunch. Tonight’s flatulence shall be glorious!

About 137/91…on medication.

As a teenager, I knew my purpose in life would be to change the world for the better. I may have been overly optimistic.

Any philosopher will tell you that your interaction with another human, however minor, can change that person’s destiny forever. Perhaps that friendly ‘hello’ made a suicidal stranger rethink his terminal plans and he went on to create a foundation to reach out to suicidal people saving countless lives. Who changed the world there? Stephen R Covey’s Book First Things First he writes that people have a need "to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy." When you influence someone’s life, positively or negatively, you leave that legacy.

Today the weather is wet. Rain is pouring from the sky. October has brought lower temperatures than just a couple of weeks past. As I turned into Tyson Park, I saw a man sitting in the first parking space of the park, on the asphalt. My first thought was a runner was in distress so I slowed the van. As I approached him, I realized he was a homeless person. His plastic bags were on the ground beside him. His pants were pulled down over his thighs. He sat bare assed on the asphalt. A bridge in sight 50 yards to his left and another 300-400 yards to his right. He was drenched. As I passed him, his head turned and we made eye contact. I have nothing for him. No umbrella in the van. Nothing. Ah, in hindsight, I did have a tarp. However, he was not seeking shelter. Is suspected he might be relieving himself. In all likelihood, we was working the system. It’s a game those of us one paycheck away from homelessness don’t yet know how to play. I suspect he was hungry and cold. His behavior is certain to get him a stay in a jail cell with a few meals. So I made the call. I spoke with the non-emergency number of the Knoxville Police Department and asked not if they could arrest him but if they could help him. In his case, it is probably one in the same.

If I could travel back in time, I wouldn’t tell my younger self anything. I’d look me in the eye and punch me in the face then walk away. This may have already happened.