The occasional treat
Tag Archives: Personal
Teenagers and shopping
I spent today reconnecting with my old friend’s family. He has two teenage girls, now 14 and 16, and since they’re temporarily in a larger center, they decided that they’d like to go shopping. Old Navy is a special place for them, since there’s not one back home.
The girls appeared to be quite sensible, actually, and only bought what they felt the need for – and that means they didn’t walk up to the till with armloads of cotton. They spent a long time in the change rooms, and occasionally called mom in for an approval.
The eldest was torn between orange and blue flip-flops. Coordinating clothing and flip-flops was news to me, and my comments didn’t help her in the slightest. After getting back to the van I made the suggestion that she should have chosen the orange. Did I get a dirty look! — but they both knew that my peanut gallery comments were meant only in good fun.
In total, I think they walked out with two and three items, respectively – not a lot compared to other teenagers I have known in the past
For me, it was a treat to have participated.
Meandering
Yesterday I stopped yet again for an overnight visit with a former colleague. He and his wife are camped out at a lake for the summer, so I was able to enjoy the mosquito ambiance of a northern Ontario summer. I’ve not experienced that for a long while. He does have all the comforts though. He’s not in a tent; he has running water; the roof doesn’t leak; the air conditioner works and the toilet flushes. Roughing it is a bitch.
So far, the weather has continued to be fantastic. It’s cooler today, but only because of some high cloud cover. I’ve not had any rain to date, but I think that will be coming tomorrow following my crossing on the Tobermory ferry. I’ve always liked that trip, especially when the sun is shining. On my odyssey last summer I rode into heavy summer rains after debarking. It didn’t last long and I dried out quickly, but it can be a pain on a two-lane highway.
Truthfully though, heavy rain can be a pain on any highway.
I should make my destination tomorrow also — not that that will be a good thing. My friend’s surgery is on Thursday, I believe. (As always while on a long distance ride I’ve been in a time warp, so I’ll need a day to adjust. That’s pretty typical for me. — losing track of time like that — when I’m riding.)
I’m looking forward to seeing my friend and his family, but not the reason for doing so.
Boring stuff
I took a day off today to stop in and congratulate a friend on the sale of his motel. He’s had it on the block for a while now, and I think he was getting antsy about the prospect of not being able to unload it – if I can use that expression.
It’s located in a high-traffic location close to a crossroads, with plenty of traffic traveling in all directions. I think the new owners will do just fine.
I was wondering where the Red & White were heading. Apparently there’s a gathering out west.
Truckers are a biker’s friend. Thanks, guys.
Boxing George Foreman
I’ve got a south-facing balcony with a nice view, so I thought I might like to do some cooking out there too. You know how it goes: sit out, enjoy the view, might as well cook something, damn but I don’t want to go inside to cook…
Ergo, a George Foreman electric grill!
So, off I go in search of something that should be as common as a nail in a tire. Not so, apparently. After driving around aimlessly, I finally discover one at a linen store. A linen store? Well, all right, I do need some sheets.
Out with the credit card, home with the ‘q (and the sheets), and lo and behold, if I’m a midget, I could use the thing. One section of the stand is missing.
There’s no way I’m gonna hit the barbie on my hands and knees, so back to the store it goes — but first I have to get it all back in the box.
An ill wind
I learned today that an old friend has cancer.
We worked together back in the ’70s and ’80s and had a ton of fun doing our respective jobs – his specialty was air attack, mine was in aerial delivery. In the mid-’80s we went our respective ways but we always stayed in touch, either by phone, or in person when I went on one of my gypsy motorcycle treks across North America.
When we got together we always had plenty of stories to tell one another and the peals of laughter would cause his wife to wonder what in hell it was that we could be so carefree about. It was that devil-may-care attitude we both had that comes with each of us being competent and proficient at our jobs – to the exclusion of all else – when it was required. That, and an ability to see through the pretentious phoniness of those who attempted to interlope and ride to glory on our backs, so to speak. Eventually his wife would catch on, but she had to be re-trained a time or two before it became permanent.
Ted has two daughters, and the last time I saw them they both looked like trouble — in a good way, of course. One is now 16 and driving. Now there’s justice for him. I can’t wait to remind him about the beer in the back seat and the girls in the trunk – just in case he doesn’t have enough on his mind right now.
He’ll be thrilled when I hit him with that one just after he comes out of surgery.
Will my vagabond days be over?
Yesterday I dusted off my résumé.
I know, I know, it goes against every single precept that I have been preaching to myself for the past seven years – or longer – but it’s for a position that I just can’t ignore. At least, that’s my story, and so far, I’m sticking to it.
It’s actually a management position, overseeing and directing an existing operation while developing, funding and implementing additional technology to complement the existing. I’ve done this before, so it’s not new to me by any stretch of the imagination; however, I’ve not done it on such a small scale as will be required. It should be interesting, to say the least.
Consequently, my operational background and experience shoehorn me into the somewhat enviable position of being capable of competing for the job – which, per se, isn’t really a job to me. It sounds as though it might be “fun” – which is how I characterize every job I’ve ever had.
For the most part, I have tended to look at employment this way: If I can’t wait to get to work in the morning, and, subsequently, can’t wait to lock the door and go home in the evening, then what’s the point of being there? And, in fact, that’s the reasoning behind why I abandoned my last period of well-financed career employment seven years ago.
I’m not counting chickens, though. I’ve been a vagabond for so long now that my work-related experience seems to me to be only a figment of an overactive imagination. Has it really been seven years since I was last gainfully employed in the profession that I chose as a teenager? It seems to me to be only a heartbeat. That seven year layoff may end up costing me, but then, that’s all right too.
If I’m fortunate, I’ll still get a bike ride to a job interview that’s over a hundred miles away, plus expenses.
There’s nothing wrong with that.