Saturday, June 25, 2005
Saturday is not a workday
This morning I woke up realizing my alarm hadn't gone off, it had rung accidentally at 5:30 PM and I hadn't re-set it. I leaped (sort of) out of bed and looked at the time, 5:40 AM, not too late. I went into the bathroom and started getting ready for work. I got as far as starting to get dressed, looked at my jeans, and then stopped. If I wore jeans yesterday, today must be Saturday! Tired as I was it dawned on me that SATURDAY IS NOT A WORKDAY! So I took the dog for a walk, got eaten by mosquitoes and returned happy that it's a weekend. How did I forget that?
Yesterday was a strange day at work. My remaining favorite co-worker is applying for another position. It's a wonderful job for which she's totally suitable. I wrote a letter of recommendation and hope she gets hired. But then I'll truly be alone at work, and it sure won't be nice for me. Without her I will have absolutely nobody to talk to, no allies and with the restructuring, that's not a good thing.
My job has a lot of good things about it, but people contact is not one of them. When my last favorite co-worker is gone, like she was on Thursday, the entire day can go by without talking to anyone but delivery people and phone callers. While I'm not super-sociable, I do like a few mini-conversations with co-workers off and on throughout the day. A day without human contact is quite a long day at work. Oh there are other people at work, they just don't talk to me. We have sort of a caste system going on there. As the lowest ranking person in the office I'm sort of an untouchable to certain, more snobby people. My favorite co-workers (there were originally three of them) treated me like anybody else. The trouble is, they didn't get treated well and found other jobs elsewhere.
I did go and ask my boss if I was going to be downsized. She told me I had nothing to worry about but she didn't look at me while saying it (and she's one who stares you in the eyes while talking) and her body language was evasive. So no new news on that, I guess.
From my E-mail:
George Carlin's Views on Aging (and some inspiration)
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five!
That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life...you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony...YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED 30! We had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.
Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50...and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.
And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92."
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
_________________
Yesterday was a strange day at work. My remaining favorite co-worker is applying for another position. It's a wonderful job for which she's totally suitable. I wrote a letter of recommendation and hope she gets hired. But then I'll truly be alone at work, and it sure won't be nice for me. Without her I will have absolutely nobody to talk to, no allies and with the restructuring, that's not a good thing.
My job has a lot of good things about it, but people contact is not one of them. When my last favorite co-worker is gone, like she was on Thursday, the entire day can go by without talking to anyone but delivery people and phone callers. While I'm not super-sociable, I do like a few mini-conversations with co-workers off and on throughout the day. A day without human contact is quite a long day at work. Oh there are other people at work, they just don't talk to me. We have sort of a caste system going on there. As the lowest ranking person in the office I'm sort of an untouchable to certain, more snobby people. My favorite co-workers (there were originally three of them) treated me like anybody else. The trouble is, they didn't get treated well and found other jobs elsewhere.
I did go and ask my boss if I was going to be downsized. She told me I had nothing to worry about but she didn't look at me while saying it (and she's one who stares you in the eyes while talking) and her body language was evasive. So no new news on that, I guess.
From my E-mail:
George Carlin's Views on Aging (and some inspiration)
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five!
That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life...you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony...YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED 30! We had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.
Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50...and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.
And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92."
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
_________________
