I think in our single digits we play and play hard and that is good.
In our teen years we fight angst and work through cliques and social situations.
The twenties are great. These are the years of using the knowledge learned in the teens to just have fun. We aren’t trying to game the system or social climb yet. We are comfortable with ourselves and willing to give unconditional time.
The thirties are either aggressive corporate ladder climbing where “who you know matters” so people suddenly gain “value” and therefore you must selectively choose who to spend time with based upon how much you can gain from them OR you have found a comfortably place in your life and are just doing the pattern which like the NYT times article states doesn’t include refilling your pool of friends as it shrinks.
The forties, at least for me, have a huge family first focus. While friends are important, family has to come before all as you realize your children are growing up fast.
I cannot yet comment on the fifties and above without playing off comedic stereotypes.
So masking tape shrinks
Returning to the bay window for the second coat revealed a couple of things. First, my cleaning room set up is working quite well! Second, over the course of a week, my masking tape shrank and I had to remask several areas. Now, let the staining begin!
Update: Second coat of stain applied.
Saturday is for getting high
What shall I do today? I think I’ll lock myself in a small room and breathe noxious fumes…and then when I get out of the bathroom, I’ll stain the bay window.
State of Me
If I had to give this feeling a name, I think I would call it Exhausted.
Programmer/Artist
As a programmer, I often feel like an artist reusing the same canvas over and over and no one ever looks at the painting. As I make modifications and improvements to a program, my previous creation vanishes often without having been appreciated by another programmer. I write tomes of code and a vast percentage of that writing ends up in the fire.
Flippant remarks meant for deletion
You know how when you have a negative thought you write it on a piece of paper then burn the paper to get rid of the thought. I do the same thing but I type it in the computer then delete it…except occasionally I screw up and push publish instead of delete. My apologies for those that read the recent mistake. That’s like having the burned paper blow away before the match hit it and having the paper land in the gossip column of the newspaper.
When does the day begin?
This day attempted to begin at midnight. Then again at 1am. And 2:30am. And 3am. And at 3:50am it begain.
Finally making progress on staining the bay window
A little less than a year ago, we had a bay window installed in the house. The contractors suggested staining or painting it soon to protect the wood. Having not stained wood since I was a teenager, and with Dad’s guidance, I hesitated…and hesitated…and the window was loved by the children…and the dogs…and the cats…and it was muddied and watercolored and scratched and marked upon. And a few Fridays ago Knoxville was iced in. So I used my sander on the window and it came clean! Thus I created "Dad’s clean room."
I’ve since sanded and removed all the scratches and stains and only in one place which I will never reveal did I almost ruin the veneer. This weekend I vacuumed and made my clean room clean. Btw, it worked really well to contain the dust as I sanded which kept the house clean and the wife migraine free. I’ve now taped the windows and am preparing to apply my first coat of stain! This is good. Hopefully by next weekend (or the end of February at the latest), we will have our window complete.
A little clarification
Dear Greater Power, when I pray for a small lottery win, I was thinking something a little greater than $2. But thanks anyway.
The choices we make
Sometimes the choices we make are because of hunger. For instance, today I bought lunch because of hunger.
Deep Thoughts
If man was meant to wake up this early, the sheets would not be so warm and comfortable.
Hellish week ahead
This promises to be a hellish week mostly attributed to scouting…4 hours Monday night, 1 hour Tuesday night, 4 hours Thursday night. And then there is regular work (the day job) and client work (the night job(s)) and scout planning and paperwork (outside of the aforementioned meetings. Somewhere I need to work in reading to the children, helping them with school work and projects, cooking meals, and practing juggling for a show next Tuesday. Let’s not forget the personal management stuff in my life (finances, household stuffs, household repairs, sleep, car repairs, etc.) and of course, time must be set aside to watch Chuck.
I can allow this week to control me or I can rule this week. I choose the latter.
And this is why in my next life I’m coming back as a trust fund baby
From the mouths of babes
Evan, 7 year old con artist, in a soft, whispery, infectious voice: "Dad, you’re a reeeally good builder." *pause* "Putting up a tv in one day!" *pause* "Building a club house." *pause* "About to build a tree house."
State of Me
I need a mental health day in a bad way.
