So whadayado when Plan A gets blow to bits? ...and it's 2030 and you haven't had anything since lunch but popcorn at the theatre?
Well, you hie on down to the local store for the Friday night run and hit the inside deli! ...to find it closes at 2030 sharp. ...and there's no mercy showing in those eyes. 'Sokay, I downed a Red Bull/Pepsi Twist combo on the way over: I'll live, but I'd better score something to keep the blood sugar up...
Doodeedoodeedooo... Okay, home and ready to cook. A coupla' slices of some rather fresh sourdough French. A layer of fat-free salami... Another of shredded fat-free mozzarella. ...a layer of low-fat pepperoni. ...another of cheese. The rest of the salami... Wrapped in foil and baked in the toaster over at 350F for twenty minutes.
Yeah. That should do it...
Now to see what the Night Shift is up to...
5/24/2002 11:14:52 PMAny thoughts on that?
The Thursday Threesome...
Onesome. Readin. Tell me about your favorite book you read as a kid. Hey, no problem. ...although I may be one of the few here who remembers the Tom Swift series! ...but that was before I discovered Andre Norton's stuff.
Twosome. 'Ritin. Everyone does a Senior Research paper. What was YOUR Senior Research Paper about? Oh, man. Soooo long ago, it was. Let's see. What the heck did I research in 1968??? I recall my friend built a for-real laser. I think I probably did something along the line of a probability study...
Threesome. 'Rithmatic. Using those 'rithmatic skills to balance the checkbook...so, what store seems to have the most entries in your register, and what the heck have you been buying there? Oh, my... I don't have much in the way of discretionary funds since I haven't been teaching; but when I do, it's B. Dalton or Barnes and Noble. Yep, readin' material to close the loop on this Thursday Threesome!
How about yours?
5/23/02 7:57:43 AMAny thoughts on that?
Hey, Night Crew...
Anybody into custom soaps? Yeah, yeah, you've come to expect all sorts of things from me <g>; how about a blatant pitch for one of my friends over at the Back Porch?
ZuKeeper started a new business making handmade glycerin soaps. Cool. ...and she has them on eBay also.
Have a look if you're into cool things...
5/22/2002 10:27:01 PMAny thoughts on that?
So I was thinkin'...
...about how I was going to comment here about how you really need to be able to see the beauty in things. ...to look past the surface. ...or look at the potential. ...or just think about it for a minute.
Yeah, there's non-beauty out there. ...and perhaps close by. ...and sheer horror. ...but is that worthy of much time spent in contemplation, other than to learn from it? ...or to try change it?
But to be able to open your mind and your senses, to be able to look and see...
...and to be able to at least try.
Years ago, Robert Heinlein used this statue in one of his stories to attempt to show beauty where apparently there was none. His words:
"This poor little caryatid has fallen under the load. She's a good girl---look at her face. Serious, unhappy at her failure, not blaming anyone, not even the gods...and still trying to shoulder her load, after she's crumpled under it.
"But she's more than just good art denouncing bad art; she's a symbol for every woman who ever shouldered a load too heavy. But not alone women---this symbol means every man and woman who ever sweated out life in uncomplaining fortitude until they crumpled under their loads. It's courage...and victory."
"Victory in defeat, there is none higher. She didn't give up...she's still trying to lift that stone after it has crushed her...she's all the unsung heroes who couldn't make it but never quit."
Robert A. Heinlein,
Stranger in a Strange Land
...and then I'm reinforced with some emails.
...and by garret with two photos.
Night shift...
We were leaving the game last Saturday night. ...and listening to the sounds of the sirens as they echoed through the downtown. The kids commented in that excited, "I wonder where they're going" style they have. ...and as we hit the freeway and were looking out over the lights of the city's core, Shelley said, "This is the time of day I don't miss it..."
She was speaking of her street time. ...and her preference for the early mornings when we worked the day shift. Looking over the city at night just makes her want to be tucked safely into her bed at home, with the kids in their room and me typing in the room down the hall.
...but looking over the city at night brings different feelings to me. It's my time. I'm a creature of the late night, happy to roam the streets for years taking care of people until it was time to give it up and go home with the dawn. I've always loved the night shift. ...or the back half of a twenty-four hour shift in the metro. There's no hope of sleep, so you just go for it with whatever caffeine-laden beverage your stomach could handle, buffered with doughnuts still warm from the ovens. ...so warm the glazes and toppings wouldn't set properly.
There's a different feel to a town at night. ...and to a city. The rural was always quiet: we'd break the silence as we came and left, but the quiet would return as the equipment departed, the fire rigs to the stations, the law enforcement folk back to patrol, and us off to the hospitals in the city. ...but in the metro, there's always the background noise of a city at work. You could come back out of the hospital and hear activity both close at hand and at the edges of your perception. People. Night people. People going to and from their jobs. People on their jobs. People with no jobs...
...and I'd drive my partners to the edge with my philosophy of "Why try to sleep; we'd just have to wake up for the next call!", as I'd cruise off into the night and try to talk dispatch into letting me freelance instead of posting. I loved cruising the city at night; everyone you met had a story. ...and every place you went had some atmosphere. Sure, sometimes it wasn't the best; but hey, certainly the next call would be interesting!
...and the other night workers were often the same; pulling the night shift for whatever reason, economics, school, choice, kids, whatever. ...and a surprising amount of them as happy as I was to be out and about or inside and working. Less people to deal with, more time for one on one, short-handed but pulling together.
...and my habits haven't changed: Last night was one of those nights when I had to force myself into bed. My brain had awakened after the burden of the last few weeks and my muse was in attendance. I wanted to read and blog and do artsy things and live and love and finish this "Night Shift" post and work and play and just Do Things!
...and with the job staring at me in the morning, all I could manage was "Swing Shift". ...and I still couldn't let go. So I checked the camera to see if any of the day's pics was worth a post. ...and then the thunderstorms started and I wanted to go outside and watch.
...and again tonight: it's late/early and my brain is spinning quite happily along. I'm blogging away here and emailing with another night person here on the west coast. The east coast's late contingent finally gave up around 0130 their time; but their morning crowd will be coming on line in just a few, if I can stay up for just a little while longer. I have a graphics project pulled up to tweak and a website redesign that is getting ready for it's final push.
...and once again duty calls.
5/21/2002 1:18:57 AMAny thoughts on that?
It's Monday!
Swing shift...
The light rain that started a little while ago picked up into something that promised more. ...but it's died down once again. The breeze through the house brings the smell of dirt washed from the trees outside.
I know it's past time to be in bed; after all, duty calls in just a few hours. ...but I can't help but wish I could go out on the deck and spend yet another hour or two watching and listening.
5/20/2002 12:38:51 AMAny thoughts on that?