Kim is absolutely awesome when it comes to Christmas shopping – she’s like some sort of bargain-hunting ninja. Part of her haul this year were 3 mini Mr. Potato Heads that she landed for less than half price. Kaelin loves ‘em. Now, because they’re miniature versions of the original plastic spud, they didn’t come with a variety of pieces to mix and match – each one came with one set of arms, eyes, a mouth, feet, and a hat. Remember that because it’ll be important later on. Continue reading
One thing needs to be mentioned right up front – the obvious goal for this year didn’t make the list. I say obvious because after whiffing on getting the promised post done on both Monday and Tuesday, it seems that a decent goal for the new year would be getting on schedule with blog posts (especially when you announce it for all the internet to hear… er… read). Then again, the reason why things weren’t on target does have to do with one of my legit goals… so perhaps it’s all a wash.
Anyways, so here it is, as promised from last week, a selection of goals for 2011 – some personal, some business, and some family. The reason for making this selective is fairly benign in that some of them are fairly boring and don’t need any explanation, while others just aren’t anybody’s business. So there. Continue reading
In what has become a bit of a weekly outing, we headed over to the bowling alley for some pizza and candlepin. Kaelin digs rolling the ball down the alley, Kim likes getting out of the house, and I enjoy having a fighting chance of winning since Kaelin is rolling half the time for Kim. It’s a win win win situation.
However, something new greeted us on the scoreboard when we got there tonight. Usually, the folks at the desk have our names in the computer and the whole thing is set up and waiting for us by the time we hustle Kaelin past the arcade and snack bar (which is sort of like herding a hungry wolverine past a wounded varmint). Tonight, there was a somewhat serious-sounding paragraph warning us about the possibility of injury that could occur during our game of bowling.
Huh? Continue reading
It started out as a temp job.
Five years ago, I was looking for a job to get us through the holidays and applied for a job with FedEx Home Delivery as a temporary driver. Five years later, here I am once again, getting ready for another Christmas season of playing pseudo-Santa and indulging in what have become the smells of the season for me – cardboard and diesel fumes.
One thing I’ve learned is that this type of job isn’t a bad gig for someone such as myself – doesn’t enjoy micromanagement and an elemental disdain of sitting in a cubicle. Once the truck is loaded and out on the road, there’s no boss looking over my shoulder telling me which stop to do next or getting on my case should I stop for a couple minutes to get a coffee. There are rules, of course, but just as long as packages are delivered to their proper location without being damaged, I can run the route backwards for all they care. It also gets me outside and moving. Once had a job working in a warehouse where during the winter, I’d see the sun briefly on my commute in and it’d be dark outside when I left – it was like being a mole with slightly better pay. Driving around by the coast of Maine for most of the day, I get plenty of fresh air and see views homeowners pay several hundred thousand dollars for.
Now, that’s not to say there aren’t bad moments either. Try finding a misplaced package in the back of a delivery van that’s full. And when I say “full”, I don’t mean just the shelves covered – we’re talking floor to ceiling full all the way up to the front seat. The days get cold and windy, there’s rain and snow to deal with, and there’s traffic. You think an hour commute is bad? My entire days at this job are one long commute. There’s the occasional dog that wants to make a chew toy out of my leg. I won’t even get into some of the strange ways people decide to answer their doorbells…
For all the positives and negatives, I’ve come to see the whole thing as a blessing. In the past five years, this job has fed my family during lean times. It’s been full-time and part-time and something in between. I’ve met some good people. Had some fun. So, all things being equal, it’s been a good experience.
That being said, there’s a part of me that’s always hoping I won’t be back the next Christmas. It’s not the work or the pay or anything more than this – since we’ve been married, Kim has had one Christmas where I haven’t been working six days a week through December. That means she’s had one Christmas out of six where I haven’t been tired, achy, and somewhat moody from long hours. She deserves better than that, and now that Kaelin is getting older, I have to say she deserves better than that too.
But that’s next Christmas… This year, I’ll be running up and down driveways, carting around a truck full of boxes (for all the good girls and boys), and driving around town with my passenger side door open and heat cranked. Saves a couple seconds each stop.
There are times when I’ve felt like the dumbest person alive. When something has happened that’s just so monumentally foolish and preventable and obvious that a facepalm simply won’t do the situation justice. I’m not sure whether these moments are happening more often now, or if age has made me more self-aware – but I have become better at dealing with them. For instance, that time last week when I locked myself out of the work van in my own driveway. Totally preventable and it caused a few grunts and grumblings, but I joked around the with the AAA guy and went on with my day. A few years ago? Brick through the window. See? Progress!
With that in mind, and because as we all know the internet is about helping other people (well, that and distributing memes far and wide until they become so obnoxious that people threaten to burn your house down), here are some things that I’ve learned over the last year which may be helpful to you. In absolutely no order of importance whatsoever.
- The Red Sox refuse to sign anyone who has played for them and become a free agent, proven they can handle the pressures of playing in Boston, had success for the team, and still has value to the team (see also: Orlando Cabrera, Jason Bay, and Victor Martinez). There is nothing you can do except get used to it. They will instead sign someone else for more money who has never done squat to indicate playing in Boston will work out and/or that they’ll actually be worth their paycheck (see also: Edgar Renteria and J.D. Drew). Or, they’ll sign someone who once played with Satchel Paige to fill their spot for a year or two instead of keeping a younger player who would’ve filled the spot for years to come (see also: Mike Cameron). No amount of weeping or gnashing of teeth on WEEI’s whiner line will fix this.
- Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
- Arguing with a three year old is a lot like arguing with a completely blitzed and incomprehensible drunk – even if you win, you’re the only one who knows it. So really, you lose and there’ll probably be a head wound in your future.
- Don’t launch a new blog the same week as a major holiday which involves football and consuming mass amounts of turkey and mashed potatoes. Regular posts will not happen and you’ll wind up half apologizing in your second post by planting a little joke somewhere in the middle.
- Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
- As I mentioned in my first ever post here (you know, the one from last week), six o’clock in the morning is the latest I will ever get to sleep in until Kaelin has become a teenager. I’ve accepted this and to some degree, I’m okay with it. That is, until I try to use her morning wake-up instead of an alarm clock and she sleeps in… on the one day of the week we need her to be awake at six o’clock.
- My daughter can assemble puzzles so fast it makes my head spin. We’re talking puzzles that are a good year or two ahead of her age, the first time she gets them out of the box. Neither Kim or I have any talent or interest in puzzles. Sometimes, DNA is a funny thing.