Semi-Daily Scribbles

Yesterday a couple of workmates and I met up with a colleague who’d recently been laid off. Since this fellow trained me, and I’ve now taken on most of his job responsibilities, one may presume this lunch meet-up to be awkward. Not so. Just four folks chewin’ the fat (we did have burgers, after all) and catching up. As luck would have it, our buddy went and broke his foot. Truly a bad break when you’ve lost your medical benefits. However, the upside to his newly acquired employment status is that he qualifies for financial aid through the government’s Displaced Workers Program. He’s been meeting with a career counselor to assemble the necessary documents to start applying to schools. He has his sights on the medical industry, perhaps x-ray technician or pharmacist. Certainly a departure from our collective backgrounds in telecom. Speaking of which, I mentioned that his former company now has us working on Saturday’s. An off-hand comment I regretted when he replied: “Yeah, that sucks…but not as much as being unemployed.” GULP. That last bite of turkey burger didn’t go down so well. It’s good when reality sends a reminder by whacking me upside the head.

Language defines a culture, through the people who speak it and what it allows
speakers to say. Words that describe a particular cultural practice or idea may
not translate precisely into another language. Many endangered languages have
rich oral cultures with stories, songs, and histories passed on to younger
generations, but no written forms. With the extinction of a language, an entire
culture is lost.

via travel.nationalgeographic.com

Watching. Waiting. Vigilant. The right moment eventually comes along when instinct and opportunity brings reward to the dogged.

A creature of habit am I. Meet the morn with a mug full of meal (oats and flax and wheat.)

I used to work food service. Waitron, prep cook, deli counter bagel flayer, and espresso jerk. Sometimes I’d work a double. Sometimes I’d be the only one working the front of the house. Hectic dinner rush and forget about making weekend plans. A tough job it is, serving food. But I liked the pace and cast of characters. Writers, and actors, and musicians. Oh my! I know first hand how cranky hungry people can get. The lessons I learned in patience and humility while slinging hash and counting cash have served me well, indeed.

a pile to ponder

too few leaves to rake & bag

autumn hits the deck

 Life’s a banquet, or at least a mélange of things bitter and sweet. It’s all in how you slice it. As long as the biggest portion is filled with love and laughter, the sour bits that come our way won’t weigh us down for long. Eat. Drink. You know the rest.