I Think

Sounds like a good plan.

bump

Don't call me no bump.











kidding

Well, we won $660 on the lottery today. I bought a scratch off and came out $5 ahead. So, my wife decided to try her luck. She bought two and won $100. So that's $765. I will likely buy another scratch off tomorrow. If I lose my money we will stop.

Nice.

My wife retired this week. She already feels better and appears happier. It probably takes at least a few weeks to really gather it all in. I plan to do the same in a matter of weeks or a few months. I want to get away while I still feel healthy.

A few days ago, one of my brothers in law died. He is to be cremated. We have been waiting for word where to go and pay our respects. But there is no information being handed out. It seems like a trend, or maybe that's how it has long been, that people cremated are dispatched quickly, with no gathering, and friends and relatives are left with a disappeared body and a hole where there should be a goodbye. That was how it happened with another brother in law not that long ago and how it went for my brother, Sam.

Mean time I have two dogs' remains. I could put the remains in the sand here, but neither of them are from here and neither am I. Still considering.

This has a history. We had a seeming wacko woman on our block in Venice who loved her cat, cat who apparently died somewhere in the time we knew her., always calling after Fluffer. I have made fun of her myself, personally, us with cats. She's the one who used to whack her pans to shut up the black bongo player.
Anyway, I remember that she wanted to be buried with Fluffers' remains and how I made fun of it to myself.

I have Pacco's and Katy's remains. I'll likely be part of a dump that is not my preferred Pacific Ocean. I'd like them with me.
That is rather romantic, fanciful.
I no longer make fun of that neighbor.

I have buried my pets on my property. (Not Rocky) I have them near me in life. I suspect I will not notice anything later on.

I'm saying what I care about, me now, that I even get our strange neighbor.
That took me long enough, she was so odd.

I assume I'll be part of nowhere, and I'm ok with that, we all are, regardless of stones.

I am not making light of your statements. I think it is as reasonable as anything.

I know the ashes are just ashes.
Life going away wallops me, and more and more, I know better than to be walloped by it.

I'm a sentimental person. My sentimentality is even kind of a ballast.

Sorry to hear of the loss of your brother in law, Edgar. Happy to hear of your soon to be retirement and if you pass through ABQ enroute to visit relatives, know you are welcome for a respite here if needed.

I am essentially tethered to Tomball. I may not have the opportunity to make long trips again. Unless my latest ms. sells and does well.

I was looking through a list of used books the other day. I discovered a sequel to When Worlds Collide, which follows the first sequel, After Worlds Collide. The Terrans of Beta. Phil Wylie teamed up for this one with R. L. Helms instead of Edwin Balmer. I plan to order it on Amazon.

Rocky has been having a time out there. Last week, he discovered moles. Now he systematically searches for them, digging in spot A, sniffing the ground before digging in spot B, then digging up about 8" of ground at a time, until he connects A to B. I had been unaware of their presence, before he unearthed one. Then, last night, instead of going to bed, he went out and found a possum. He raised so much hell, I had to go after him, fearing the neighbors' wrath. As I came around with my flashlight, he rushed the animal, killing it and carrying it off so I could not take it away. I finally went back inside. So long as he remained quiet, I would let him do as he pleases. Shortly after, he came inside, but it took at least an hour for him to settle down to sleep. I hope he doesn't find any more possums.

Well, I gave my two weeks notice. The office staff was not happy to see me go. But, I have done all there was for me to do. The new maintenance man is the best I have ever known and he certainly doesn't need me.

I started in July of 1992. The lead man at the time was named Jacob, but everybody called him Tony. Why? Why not? I didn't think about asking. He acted like he was trying to bully me that first week. I resented it enough to be telling myself that I was not going to make it there, and I began talking back to him when he acted like that. The second time I did it, he realized I was about to call it quits, for he immediately changed his demeanor. He acted buddy buddy and took me to lunch at a nice restaurant.

After that, we got along, mostly. He was selfish, an egotist, but I was happy at the job and readily overlooked much of that. Eventually, I was doing about 80% of the work and starting to resent it. He took to carving things to sell, on company time. He was talented and people paid a pretty good price for his work. The third manager I worked under saw right away where the actual productivity originated and she depended on me, too much, allowing him to coast. She nearly fired him several times, but I always warned him and he talked his way out of it.

The manager was a shrewd and tricky lady, who used people or broke them, one or the other. She told me to paint the ends of the buildings on either side of the office. "That's all the owners want," she said. I did it. When the owners came, they liked it. "But why hasn't he made any more progress on the painting?" She had promised we would paint all ten of them and once they saw we could do it, they expected nothing less. Next time they came, they asked Tony how long it took him to do the painting I did. He gave them a figure, which the manager overheard. Then she asked me how much of the painting Tony did. "He doesn't even have a paint brush," I replied.

Tony was fired that same day. But he had taken to hiding inside his own apartment during work hours anyway, so it was just a matter of time. The manager told me what she had done. Then she said, "One of the residents reported they saw Tony venting freon in the air. Since we already know he did it, did YOU ever see him vent freon?"

"If he ever did it," I lied, "he hid it from me."

Then she told me I was to be lead maintenance. I gave her every reason I could come up with why I was not the man for the job. But I was drafted. This was six years from the day of my hire.

I used to meet Tony in Tomball, by accident from time to time, and we would spend about an hour visiting. Until he turned seventy. Then he disappeared.

Be sure to give your wife two weeks notice that you'll be around more.

I am happy to hear that you are finally able to retire and that there is a strong possibility you will be able to remain retired and not get called back to fill in for an incompetent one.

I hope you and your wife enjoy this time in your lives.

We are both retired now. What the hell were we thinking?

I'm happy for both of you, for sure. I figure you'll still get along, as you've been transitioning for this. Still, watch your ass.. (I say laughing)