happiness

God, I want to be happy. Help me be happy. Why cant I be happy? Why cant I be normal?

Today is a bad day... why? I am not happy and I am not normal and I hate my self!

Random stuff

New feature… good day / bad day… why

My Mom called yesterday to comment on the heat wave we are experiencing. I said in stark contrast to the usual weather you have. She lives in the desert south west. They not infrequently see temps out to 117. We batted the heat thing back and forth and at some point she issues this line, "I feel so blessed when it's only 100 degrees". Only 100 degrees! Poop!

I try not to complain about the weather. I ride a motorcycle, and… well part of the deal you sign up for when riding is the weather can't stop you. (I have been told that its just my attitude; trying to be a Macho Biker Dude Rider Tough guy.)Having said that, I have found that since I do own a car my lower end limit on temperature for riding is about 26 degrees F. 28 is totally ok but when it squeezes down to 26… there is something magic about that number that causes pain. Maybe it's psychological, I don't know. I do know this though about riding in the cold; if there is any humidity in the air it will collect on your face shield and your jacket in the form of ice. It is no fun trying to scrape ice of your face shield while riding, but it is a thrill to get to work and have to shake the ice off your jacket before you can unzip it.

I saw a commercial last night about Crest White strips. The thrust of this commercial was that the strips stayed on better than before which allowed you more freedom to go about your daily activities with out worrying about the strippy thing coming off your teeth. They gave examples "so you can whistle along with the radio, take a shower, and even drink water while you whiten!" (pasted from their website). In the commercial they show women using the product. In my porn addled mind I thought when they put shots of their model blowing a guy or going down on another woman then I will know they work well.

Last night as I was trying to leave from work I got stuck. I had my motorcycle up on the center-stand because I had put some hydraulic fluid in the clutch master-cylinder. The floor here is a highly polished concrete. When I went to push the bike back off the center-stand the bike just slid across the floor a bit instead of rocking over center and onto the tires. I thought well I will just rock it harder… then harder… then harder still. Nothing. I just inched it along. I tried standing on the centerstand foot bar, nothing. I tried lifting it back over but I was surrounded by stuff and I wasn't sure I could keep it stable and upright when or if it came down. This little conundrum lasted about 5 minutes while I pushed and pulled and lifted and swore and pondered. The it came to me that if I could get the stand to cross one of the expansion joints in the concrete it might hang there sufficiently to keep it from sliding and allow the bike to rock back over center and back on to the tires. That took a while to organize but it worked. Don't ask how long it took to get the master-cylinder cap off. Crumby 3 minute exercise now took nearly 40 minutes. Man what a Goat Rope.

Déjà Not Vu

I am sure you have all experienced this and so have I to one degree or another but last week I was really knocked for a loop. I woke up believing in that it was Wednesday, it was a Thursday. I went through the entire day thinking that I was just a bit ahead of the work load and that Thursday was going to be a good day and that I was well on pace for Friday's deadline. I worked fast and carefully. I worked the usual 12 hours and went home. I was helping sweety in with something from her truck and some how the day came up and that it was Thursday. I about pooped, and denied that it was possible. She "messes" with me all the time. I thought this was one of those times and pushed her several times to stop messing around… she was not… this time. For a solid minute I was panicked and thought about going back to the shop to get more done so that I could maybe get half done for the deadline.

I did not go back. I just gave that one up.

I was just so SURE it was Wednesday. I thought this must be what an Alzheimer patient must feel like in a moment of lucidity. How horrible.

Empty nest

Everyone has seen the phone commercials where the (typically Jewish) mother is haranguing the daughter or son … "You never call, you never write. Did you think I died? Make an old woman happy call once in a while will you?"

I never paid that sort of thing any credence in as much as well I wasn't the old Jewish woman before… now I am.

My daughter grew up, graduated and moved down to live with her mother for the summer before reporting for duty in the Navy. I have listened to my mother talk to me about talking to my daughter… "It's like pulling teeth to get a complete sentence out of her". But having lived with her I didn't experience that too very much only on occasion and that was sort of cyclical issue.

So now here I am and well… Make an old man happy call once in a while will you?"

About me

I decided that the racism thing can wait. I wrote a bunch of stuff up but saw that it was just so much ugly memories.

So, about me some.

I don't think you or the people I work with would know to see me or listen to me but I am a craven fraidy cat. I woke up this morning in the middle of what I would call a mid level panic attack. I live that way a lot; worrying about this and that and the other. It consumes me some times. I think that is why when I do something fun or interesting or build something cool I point it out to my family… they have gotten used to the idea that I do cool things and are no longer impressed. I am though. I always marvel at the end result, because I don't think I could have done it. I mentioned a while ago that my work is no longer fulfilling. It is starting to eat me. Yesterday the guy I sort of work for asked if I were up to a challenge. I about pissed my self. Not like this thing I am doing 12 hours a day going on 7 days a week isn't enough of a challenge? Now I have to sift through someone else's work and learn how they did it and how I am going to redo it. There are good notes, better notes than I make. In the past, though, my function was to do a thing then do a different thing. I never had to do the same thing again now or months later so I didn't need notes much except what I needed to get through the thing. This past couple years has been really trying. When I first moved here I had a job that was about the top end of what it is that I do. And I was not in any way ready for it. I was tossed, not in to the deep end alone… I was hurled in to the ocean in the middle of a "Perfect Storm", with no help… much. I had to learn the whole thing alone… mostly. That was nerve wracking day in and day out. That job went away, moved out of state. Now I am in a sort of similar situation again. I suspect this is a case of what doesn't kill you makes you better, faster, stronger… but I am getting very tired of pushing this old boulder up this steep learning curve day after day. I suspect God is making this all work out though because I sure don't see how it keeps working out. I haven't need for any thing, wanted for yes, but not needed. I don't go hungry, the bills keep getting paid. I keep shaking in my boots though.