Hearts, Hope and Half-Days Off

The word of the week is quixotic. Because we all need to hope.

Feb 14 - Love and Mondays

T'was another Hallmark Holiday today, when people are reminded that they should love one another... sad that we have to commercialize the one day a year that should be about emotion, not graphic expenditures of cash to 'prove' one's devotion / love / affection to another. While I don't have( nor have had )a significant other right now, I do give thanks that I have such a loving, easy-to-get-along-with family that is supportive of me and has never felt the need to pressure me into doing what they want... it's been all me. Which, given where I am today, is somewhat troubling to think on levels other than personal ones... but then I don't let the silly stuff bother me for too long. Yeah, thanks St. Valentine; I hope you never learned what 'your' holiday has become.

Feb 15 - Tick Tok

Is Time really Perception? I've been having that odd thought all week, as I contemplate where I've been and where I'm going on a scale of an average lifetime. Putting the ramifications of 'success' aside for the moment, I can say that I'm not on any particular track, nor aimless: I've had to make some choices years ago and those are finally coming to a close. Now, I have to look at where I want to be in another five to ten years – personally, professionally and financially. I'll likely still be in BC, but I'm not sure if I want to go the home ownership route towards traditional wealth-asset earnings... or if I want to create a comfy little pad to live in / rent whilst I sock away savings towards some as-yet indefinable focus. I like the fact that I'm closing in on this freedom of choice, as much as it means I'll probably be at a new job by year's end, if not sooner – stress reduction is right on top of my priorities now.

Feb 16 -It's Google... Art?

While I don't pretend to be an art snob, I do appreciate talented work, and history is full of masterworks by such artists. Most of which I won't see anytime soon, as they're locked away in museums a world away. Google has done something to free those works of art for everyone to see: The Google Art Project. It aims to allow anyone to scrutinize thousands of works of art, from anywhere in the world, at incredible detail levels – more than you'd get even if you were standing right in front of said artworks. Galleries from across the globe have opened their doors to Google's Art Project, letting their collections be viewed by potential millions who otherwise can't make the journey through their distant doors. Bravo, Google... you may be evil, but it's in a guise of creative generosity sometimes too.

Feb 17 - Old Gets New

Today I finally put my iPhone back together, after replacing its 4-year-old battery with a new one from an eBay seller. Total cost? Ten bucks Canadian... vs. God knows what that Apple would have charged. The phone DID lay open for 3 days while I searched for a Phillips-head screwdriver small / precise enough to get four stubborn ThreadLocked screws out. Thanks to Wal-Mart Optical, for being such sports – I don't think they get many half-open cell phones walk in the door for service. The new battery looks to give me a full day from one charge, which is all one can really ask these days... my old Sanyo phone used to go two weeks between charges, but then it had a monochrome screen and was no smarter than your average politician. I'm pleased that I was able to do the change myself, and it looks like the phone is working just fine despite its intermittent reception issues at home; I checked the antenna when it was open and everything was in order. Ah well – technology... at least there are more than a few online iPhone repair guides I was able to use.

Feb 18 - Moodz

This week a very good old friend cared enough to let me know that the moods and situations I've been in the last long while are very similar to what they went through some time ago... and needed someone to tell them so. While I've striven NOT to be a Nasty, Moody Guy because Life Has Sucked( somewhat )recently, it's obviously still bothering me though I try to deal with it as best I can – talking with my family helps, but by and large the only person who can deal with it is me. Expecting someone else to fix your own problems is stupid, and I've never thought that way – appealing as it is, it's an empty road. I've dealt with all the problems that have come my way so far, for the most part successfully and without losing my sanity. My family's now stable financially and I can look to my own self again for the first time in over a decade... so I'll probably take a nap for 6 months and then a good stretch to begin.

Feb 19 - Not a Day Off

So much for sleeping in... well, I wasn't sleeping, but I received a call in the early morning that nobody had shown up to open the store. The life of a manager; I threw on some professional clothes and headed out to the branch while dialing the CSR who was supposed to open, without any answer, which was worrying. Thankfully they answered as I pulled into the branch lot: they had slept in. As I was opening the store I received another call from my other CSR; the sleepy one had crashed their car on the way into work! Thankfully they said it was only a minor accident, but it meant that they were likely going to be off work for a few days. My other CSR came in early and I managed( argh... )to leave by noon to enjoy my day off. Over to the Bean, of course, then I passed out for some few hours in the lovely sunshine coming in through my room's windows. The evening managed to disappear with various projects( none of them writing )as I culled more Stuff for eBay sale, fiddled with the PC and generally tried to de-stress... for the most part successfully.

Feb 20 -See Above, With Ice

Sunday I expected to have to open the branch, but my other CSR graciously offered to open the store if I would come in to close it – thanks! Good crew I have. The sun was shining, so I spent a few blissful hours at the Bean writing up this very blog, sitting in my usual window seat facing the clock tower with Mt. Finlayson looming green to the right. I'm pleased to say that it looks like the Bean has been bought, so my fears of the place closing due to money woes have receeded somewhat. I can't tell you how great it is to have a place like the Bean literally outside my front door, where I can go to relax. I hope that the new owners are able to get things going again, so that the place will be open longer and I'll be able to go more than once every few weeks due to their shorter hours. Getting a spot by the fireplace would be nice too. After a half-shift I headed home, to dinner and NWN( icy adventure! )then blog and bed. Zzz.

This little afterword is something I save for bits that don’t really warrant a full blog entry. Kind of like this pair of sentences, wouldn’t you say?