Paddy's Wanderings

A Simple Thank You

I have always been fascinated by posters from World War II. This poster is just one of many a wandering person can find on the 'net. I like this poster, it says a lot and means so much more, in just a few words. As we know, words are very powerful, and in the right order, can convey much.

I was reminded of this saying and thought of this poster yesterday.

I was graced with the opportunity to help a service person yesterday. Simply put, I did my job and serviced a customer as I do everyday. I did nothing special, just what I try to do with every customer I come in contact with on a daily basis. I helped them with a problem and just did my job.

That person thanked me repeatedly for listening, for helping them. I could hear the tears in their voice and I assured them that it was my job to help and that in fact, I should be the one thanking them, for the service they provided. I am not ashamed to say that by the time I hung up, there was a tear in my voice as well.

They said I was the only person that listened, that helped them that day. The only person that had ever thanked them for serving the country. I sit here, the day after, and frankly I am still stunned.

I thought we, as a country, were better at thanking a veteran or active duty service person. To think that there is even one service person out there that has not been helped in even a small way, or that has never had someone say thank you for your service, is stunning.

I did nothing special. I did my job, and said thank you. I guess I forget that even simple courtesies and being of service to others can make such a huge difference to those that never get that. I just do it, it is a habit. I guess one of my better ones, but really, it is not hard to do. It is, after all, how we are raised and how we like to be treated as well.

The point of the story is to never forget to be a good citizen, a good person, and to be of service; to never forget that 'never was so much owed by so many to so few'. It is as true today as it was over sixty years ago. It is a new day, and just 'round the corner, a new year. There is a new opportunity to be a person of goodwill, to be of service, and to be what we have been raised to be.

Happy Wanderings

 

 

 

Paddy's Poetry Corner ~ Veil

Hey groovy hip cats, welcome back to another edition of the Poetry Corner. For the regular crowd, you now the skinny and can kick back and sip the Gibsons and enjoy the show. For all the new cats who wandered down the broken stairway trying to catch the smooth vibe floating up from the dark doorway, you have entered the Corner.

Most times, when the boyos take a break between sets, we turn on the spotlight,drag out the stool and lay down some words. So order a cocktail, kick back and before you know it, the boyos will be done resting their fingers and head back in to lay down some more vibe. For now, let me spill a few words I strung together. This is a sestina, a recent poem of my own... you can find it in From the Dark Side Anthology and get a whole book of cool poems and short stories from some very talented writers for your Kindle, click here.

Veil

Standing at the edge of the balcony

looking across the beach, into the bay

seeking the coming of the white sail;

dancing across sand, the morning fog veils

the slender finger of the lonely pier

the blue water, a reflecting mirror.

 

I catch a glimpse of her through the mirror

beyond the railing of the balcony

she stands at the edge of the pier

pointing, looking outward across the bay

a parting of misty morning veil

revealing the white line of ship's sail.

 

I search past faded buildings, a sail,

shielding eyes from reflection mirror

breeze billowing lace curtain, a veil;

sun kissed kaleidoscope balcony,

hiding, blurring images of the bay

shadowing, illuminating the pier.

 

Blue water crashes white against the pier,

harvest sun blazes on far off sail

far, far out across the sheltering bay

the sun dogs dance across the blue mirror;

I step through, onto the rain washed balcony,

from moon to morning fog through the veil.

 

To eclipse the secret of the veil

to catch her at the far edge of the pier

standing at the edge of the balcony,

longing to touch the horizon sail

but she has gone through the rainbow mirror

dancing out of the fog into the bay.

 

The night is gone, far out into the bay,

searching, seeking beyond the dream veil,

tracing the lay lines of the mirror,

the way of the dream is gone from the pier

she is fading with the passing sail

I am washed out on the balcony

 

She has faded from the pier, from the bay

gone with the sail, behind the veil

from the balcony, lost in the mirror.

 

A Tot And His Camera

The Techno-tot is fascianted with the camera phone. He is also fascinated with flashlights. Mix in the typical little kid desire to hide under the blanket and you get this picture.

He has taken to the phone, and for that matter, any type of camera with joyful abandon. Most times the pics are weird or out of focus and blurry. He wants to take a picture of the kitten running across the room, but the phone camera will not do that at all, it is just a black blur.

I have to say that I am happy with his desire to explore and to just grab my cheap phone and take pictures. I am cool with that. Anything that sparks his creativity is ok by me. Oh he colors and draws and builds all kinds of stuff with his duplos. He has even graduated to legos this Christmas and got his first little set and is doing well with the small pieces. But in spite of all that, it is the camera that seems to fascinate him.

Maybe next year, the big red dude will drop off a digital camera and he can really do some cool stuff. I might have to hire him as chief photographer of ye olde blog. Thats ok too, he works for chocolate and I can do that.

Happy Photographic Wanderings!

Bulldozers: The Ultimate Gift

I just wanted to pass along a funny story. You know, I like funny stories and kids can be so funny sometimes. The techno-tot likes to play and have fun and although he may not realize it, he can be very funny, even when he is totaly serious.

The other day, we had to go pick up a couple things from the store. Mom was working so we volunteered to brave the last minute shoppers and head out and pick up a few much needed things. So off we go and procure the needed items and I asked the question..

'So, do we need anything else?' He had the list and he looked at it and said yep. Now I know there is nothing left on the list, but I just had to ask because we were having a good time shopping and he was the assistant.. soo.. I asked.

He says, yep, we gotta get something for mom. I said oh? what? He fires right back, we have to get her a girly present, she is my mom. Oh and she is a girl. Okay then... Not learning my lesson that you should never ask an open ended question when speaking with a five year old, I asked what that was.

He says, she needs a bulldozer. I was seeing a pattern here, everyone had to have a bulldozer for Christmas. Apparently, that also qualifies as a girly present as well as a grammie present and a present for baby Olivia. Hmm.. I had no idea.

So we shopped around a bit and purchased an item or two, but no bulldozer. He was satisfied with that but he still wanted to make sure the bulldozers were still there on the shelf and we just had to go check out the toy section. I said sure and off we went. Silly daddy, never take a five year old into the toy department three days before Christmas! Arrghhh! I had lost my mind!

He made me 'text' pictures of stuff to Santa to add to his list. I dodged a bullet. You know, the one where he must buy everything in the store. I am thankful he is a tehno-nut and was satisfied with texting pics to Santa..

I am having a bunch o fun this time of year shopping and getting ready for the big day with the techno-tot. And remember, get a bulldozer for everyone on your list.

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

The Transporter Part II

You know, today I was going to ruminate on how tough the year has been, how long I was laid off and how some of the things we wanted to do, or have always done, have been put on hold at best, in some cases, it just never did happen. It has been hard in some ways, frustrating in other ways. Really though? It has not been that bad.

It could have been a lot worse. A lot of folks have had it really hard and continue to do so and that light at the end of the tunnel is but a dream. For me, I can see the light, I have a goal and things are not looking that bad really. I should not complain. I am thankful for all the good that is going on and feel very fortunate, very lucky.

But this year, Christmas is not as exciting as it normally is for me. I don't know, but I am really fighting the bah humbugs this year. If you were to ask me yesterday if it was okay to just skip the next couple of weeks and head on in to the new year, I would have been just fine with that. All that Christmas is, all the good things about the holiday season just seem kinda gray to me.

Yesterday, better 1/2 and me were out shopping, trying to come up with some gift ideas for the family we could afford and it was frustrating and kind of, bah. The mood in the stores was not all that cheerful either. It seemed most people were feeling a lot like we were. No one was smiling or having fun or seemed in the spirit. The first couple stores we bought a couple small things, less then ten dollars and the cashiers smiled and looked relieved that someone bought something.

I am not talking bad customer service, rather desperate service with a look in their eye that seemed... panicky. The mood was off, it was not joyous celebration or the act of giving, but rather a look of resignation and downcast eyes on the part of shoppers, a look of pleading on the part of staff for someone to buy so they could maybe keep their jobs beyond the new year.

It was depressing.

So we headed over to the Mall. Egads! But we wanted to have lunch in the food court and we did a bit of shopping and the mood was off their as well. It was getting very frustrating and really put a damper on any mood we could muster. We then went over to another store, found a couple cool things for the older boyos and decided to brave the toy store.

The mood was depressing there! It is a toy store! You are supposed to have fun! It was not even crowded and everyone seemed depressed. We were striking out ourselves and I was feeling pretty low.

Then I found the ultimate cool gift for the techno-tot and it was like a light came on. I got really excited, better 1/2 got exited and our mood changed. All of a sudden, we started to find some cool stuff, stuff that the kiddos would love to have.

I even found a Transporter from the latest Star Trek movie Enterprise and I so wanted to buy one, it was $15 and it was cool! See, even my thoughts are starting to race! It was cool, I so wanted to get one but better 1/2 said no.. She was traumatized one Christmas with the Transporter Incident and she said the kiddos were not gonna do that again. (See this previous entry.)

So we had a bit of playful banter and other shoppers were looking at us as if we had lost our mind. We may have, but we were laughing and chatting away and having some fun. It was infectious. A few people even smiled and the mood lightened. Either that or they were reaching for cell phones to come get the crazy people who were bantering back and forth over a Star Trek toy.

Either way, it brightened the mood. Better 1/2 said if we found this doll she wanted, I could get the Transporter. The hunt was on! I never looked at so many dolls in my life! Alas, it was not to be.. but I still pestered like a little kid all the way out the store. It was fun and a mood changer, all good in my book.

It may have been a long, tough year in some ways, but I realize it was not that bad for us. A lot of folks have had it a whole lot more difficult then we have. We are fortunate, and we know that, and are lucky in many ways.

Sometimes I forget that for a moment. I need to work on that and remember to take joy in the small things. Oh... and I need to remember to be a good boy. I do want that transporter.

Happy Transporter Wanderings

 

A Bear and his Nemesis

Bully Bear is not mad, he always looks like that. That is the face of a bear who has resigned himself to his fate.  When he hit the flood this morning I swear I heard a sigh. Our two cats, mommy and baby kitty, were rolling around on the skirt, the tree rocked, and down came Bully Bear. He landed with a rather loud thump and the two cats scattered and I am sure I heard a sigh come out from under the tree.

You see, Bully Bear is rather used to the Holiday Tradition of being carefully put on the tree and then at some point, falling to the floor with a thud. The bear is rather heavy for an ornament and no matter what we do, at some point, he takes a dive. It is the cats fault.

No really! Bully Bear has a nemesis, and it is the space aliens that disguise themselves as cats. I have proof and will explain.

A long, long time ago, better 1/2 bought me Bully Bear the ornament(she was a Santa Bear nut)for our first Christmas. So of course, it was an early present and on the tree he went. I thought he was pretty cool(I still do), and all was well in the world of ornament.

Enter the cat.

Our first cat was Cleo. She was rescued from the street and after a trip to the vet and the removal of a crushed paw, she came to live with us. A three legged cat can climb a Chrismas tree no problem! Down came the tree and Bully Bear was trapped under the trunk! Well the cat was fine, sitting on the couch grooming a paw and looking indignant but poor Bully Bear had a chip on his leg to go with the metaphorical chip on his shoulder.

That was 1988 and pretty much every year since, he has taken a dive to the tree skirt. Today, he took a trip again. The aliens, ahem.. cats, have it in for him, but he has preservered over the years and he is still going along just fine. He has resigned himself to his fate. He looks forward to the day that he can fall with a bit of grace and land on a kittens head. I do believe that is his goal.

Until then, it is not Christmas without a cat up the tree and Bully Bear on the floor. Tis the season and it has arrived.

Happy Holiday Wanderings

 

Junk Drawer Dec 2010

What a month November has been. It was a good month, but long and I am tired.

November is birthday month and that was fun. Thanksgiving was good, I stuffed myself like normal on all the great food. Then spent the weekend with a killer chest cold that is trying to hang around even now. The cold will not win, they never do, but they can be persistent little buggers.

On the creative front? Yeah.. I got about six thousand words on the NaNo thing and just did not have any energy left. Inspiration? Oh sure, have that going no problem, but just too tired to write much of anything, on any project.

The new job. I like it, it is groovy. Four weeks in and its cool. I have four more weeks of training to go then boom, into the mix. I was thinking about that last night. I have studied and put into practice (lots of practice) about 1200 pages of material so far. Yeah, seriously. It feels like condensing a semester's worth of college into four weeks. No parties or craziness though, no time or energy for that! And I am thinking.. I have another four weeks to go of more of the same.

Lots of testing and assesments and a weekly review each week. Intense seems too mild a word for all of that. Cant miss a day, cant be late, too much to do in a day to not be fully committed each step of the way. So far, so good.

I am tired today, very tired. But not once, not even a glimmer of a thought, have I asked myself is it worth it, because it is, very much so. Trial by fire and the heat is on. In the end, with all of the effort of 8 weeks of training, I will be prepared and do just fine. That is the part I like, the strive for success and the desire of everyone to work hard and be successful. It will be cool.

I just need a nap.. Then when I am in the groove, all that creative energy will return and I can rock it with the words again. Patience is the key, something I have always had to work at very hard to attain even a modicum of a smidgen of on any given day. Doing that too.

Then we'll finish that novel in the spring eh?

Happy Wanderings