The things in my head go 'round and 'round

I sat on the deck this afternoon with a good cigar, and a good brew and just listened. 

We have a school that is about 50 yards from our yard.  When we bought this house back in 1996 it was one of the selling points.  That along with the fact that we were buying it from family and getting a great deal.  Back then the school house k-5, and that is were The Princess went to 1-4.  When she got into 5th grade the school was closed and she went to another one that is a couple of blocks in the opposite direction. 

Sitting here listening to the leaves, I can also hear the kids coming in from last recess.  I can hear the buzzer, and the buses pulling up getting ready to take them home.  The parents are queing up in the same place that I used to when I picked The Princess up.  The sound of little peoples voices is like a balm.  I love listening to them as they are chattering to one another.  When this was our school, it had a huge family feel to it.  We all knew one another, saw one another at all the functions, and watched out for one anothers kids.  If someone was late, the parents would hang around and let our kids play on the playground until the late parent arrived.  Now that we are years beyond that, I find how much I miss those days. 

I missed those days with my eldest daughter, and even though I had some of that time with my boys, I basically missed those days with my own kids.  I lived them vicariously through The Princess.  I am a flawed Father. 

Anyway.  Live life now.  Don’t look back on it and regret.  Life is to be lived now.

Namaste.

So now after a carafe of coffee, and a large cup from Mc’s, I think that it is time to sit down and talk about what a typical day is like in retail. 

A typical day in retail begins for me with a walk through my store.  I say hello to all of my associates, checking in with them, and letting them know that I am there if they need anything.  With the way our work schedules are, I am not in the store on the same days every week, they change in relation to what the business dictates.  I also check with my Department Managers to see if they are having any concerns with associates, orders, or deliveries. 

After this quick “survival walk”, I head to my office, grab a legal pad and start walking each department making notes of items that need specific attention.  These items might be as simple as wiping down a scale, or as involved as breaking down a rack, or display unit and cleaning it due to how it looks.  Appearance is everything in food retail, and you don’t want nice fruit or vegetables sitting on a dirty counter.  During these walks I am also answering phone calls from customers and associates.  Saturday I received a call that took the cake in my 30 years in this business.

I get this call from a Deli associate.  She tells me that she is in the parking lot, ready to come to work, when the person who she was riding with got pulled over by the police.  And let’s be clear, she told me that she was with her “baby daddy.”  Which makes me crazy as the label just means this is the person I decided to have unprotected sex with, without any concern of the consequences.  She informs me that the “baby daddy” might have some warrants.  I ask if she has someone who can come get her child, as the ‘baby daddy” will be going to jail if he has warrants.  She assures me that that won’t happen.

Riiiiiight.

I go to the upstairs conference room and watch the scene unfold.  First the “baby daddy” is pulled from the car, frisked, and handcuffed.  Mind you, there are 3 officers dealing with him.  While two are handcuffing him, the other pulls leg shackles out of his trunk.  So, the warrants had to be just a bit more serious than what my associate led me to believe.  Since being cuffed, he was then stuffed into the back seat of one of the cruisers, and my associate got into his car and drove her and her daughter home.  Yeah, I forgot to mention that her child watched her father cuffed and taken away by the police.  That is a nice tape to have running in your head isn’t it?

And that is just part of a typical day in retail.

Today I bottled a batch of beer that should have turned out like an American Amber, but actually turned out quite a bit differently than what was expected.  Hit the highlighted areas and you can read about it.  I won’t waste your time now talking about it.

Though I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome, this could be another beer in our growing catalog.  Depending, of course, on how it tastes after conditioning in the bottle over the next couple of weeks.

Anyhooooo.  I have talked before about my neighbor the “Leaf Nazi“, and how one of our trees had it out for her.  Well today said tree gave it up and dropped its leaves.  And I, being the good homeowner I am, went out with my trusty leaf blower to get the leaves out to the curb.

And it worked wonderfully up until right after I finished with the leaves, and was putting the blower away.  This huge gust of wind came along and blew pretty much all of the leaves back into the yard. 

Stupid wind.  Now I have to do it all over again.

Maybe.

L8R

So I went to the Dr. yesterday for my now regularly scheduled 4-6 week visits to certify that I am still bat-shit crazy.

He asks how Iam doing, I say fine.  I am still having the vivid dreams, but they are still on the pretty cool side of crazy, so I am not that concerned about them.  They bad ones haven’t happened yet, but I know that they are out there and still coming.  You know the ones I am talking about, the dreams where you wake up screaming, with your heart pounding out of your chest, and you being absolutely certain that the world is ending.

But so far, so good with not having any of those dreams.

We got around to talking about my shoulder that has been bothering me since this summer.  I can lift laterally to the front, but not to the back, or to the side without pain.  A lot of pain.  So the Dr. takes hold of my arm and does the classic “does this hurt” stuff, and of course it does.  A LOT!!!!  He asks if I have ever had a cortisone shot, to which I answer not now, and not ever.  He laughs and says, “Yeah they hurt like hell.”

I like a Dr. who isn’t going to tell you bullshit.

Anyhoooooooo.  I am going for physical therapy on my arm now.  All of those words above to tell you that.  And The Princess tells me that she can do my PT for me as she had to do similar exercises for a waterpolo injury.

Helpful people abound.

L8R

I used to have a Leaf Nazi.  Specifically, I used to live next to a Leaf Nazi.  Her and her husband were renting the house next to ours.  She was a nice enough person.  As long as you didn’t talk to her too much, or look directly at her.

Our Leaf Nazi had a particular trait.  She liked her driveway, and walkways to be completely cleaned of any debris.  Sweeping was her compulsion.  Constant sweeping.  Morning and evening.  And one of our trees loved making her crazy.

yes, I said one of our trees loved making her crazy.  Now, we humans anthropomorphize everything.  We do it with our pets, some of us do it with plants, you get the idea.  I swear that this tree had it in for our Leaf Nazi.  Why?  Because this particular tree would hold onto its leaves way past when all the rest of the trees on the block had dumped theirs.  This tree has been here since the house was built back in the early 50′s.  It has been around the block, so to speak.  I don’t know why the tree did what it did with its leaves, but I do know that it would drop some leaves each day.  The Leaf Nazi would come out of her house, grumbling all the way.  She would then sweep them off of the drive and go back into the house.  And the next day, the tree would drop some more.

I think that the tree is missing the Leaf Nazi becuase today I was out raking the lawn where “raking the lawn” means I was running the mower over the leaves so that I could empty the bag on the compost pile.  And the tree has 90% of its leaves still on.  Waiting.  Waiting for the Leaf Nazi.

Who no longer lives next door.

Crazy.

So, Halloween has come and gone.  Most of the candy is out of the house.  The decorations have been taken down, and put away.  Now we get ready for the end of year holiday onslaught. 

More decorations to dig out and put up.  The time changed back an hour.  Which really messes me up this time of year.  I don’t have much trouble in the springing forward part, but this falling back really takes its toll.  I think because of all the darkness.  You get up in the dark, go to work in the dark, and then come home in the dark.  Dark, dark, dark.

Growing up, holidays took on a different feel.  I grew up in a good sized family.  2 Aunts, and 2 Uncles.  A smattering of cousins tossed in for good measure.  And that was just on my Dad’s side.  My Mom had 10 Brothers and Sisters, but we didn’t see them as much as they lived on the Detroit side of Michigan.  And we can’t remember my Grandparents.  Earl and Vida lived on a farm outside of the small town I grew up in.  Not a huge farm, but to me it was the greatest place there was.  And holiday dinners with my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, and cousins were wonderful.  Great food, people who loved you, and a warm house.  Gathered around the TV, or playing games in the dining room.  Taking naps on the floor listening to the adults talk.  Voices of people who loved one another. 

Those were good times.