It's the little things...

I'm off today.

I was going to sleep in a little, but I forgot to turn off the alarms in my phone, so they still went off and woke me up early. Oh well.

But I still could take my time reading the paper and waking up before I went downstairs to grab a coffee (yes, I'm still drinking coffee), and breakfast.

I served up some fruit and a cup of coffee and sat down to continue reading the paper, and listen to the news on the television, in my home-away-from-home Hampton Inn. As I was heading back up to my room, walking through the lobby, I glanced at the reception desk in the lobby and was greeted by a friendly smile, and a cheerful and almost sing-song "Good Mor-ning!"

I carried a smile with me up four flights of stairs to my room. What a nice way to start the morning.

I was channel surfing the other night, and stopped on C-Span 2. An elderly, well spoken black gentleman was seated in what looked like a small, living room-like home office setting, speaking to a smallish audience. I was enthralled for the next hour and a half or so, as the author of "To Sir, with Love", E. R. Braithwaite, held forth on his life, and the experiences that led him to write a book.

It would have never happened, had he not a brief conversation with a man in a park. The man suggested that perhaps he should consider teaching. It had never occured to Mr. Braithwaite before, but it changed the course of his life. He never saw the man again.

I don't recall whether I saw the movie, all those years ago. (The book was published in 1959, the movie released in 1967.) Certainly, I'd heard the song of the same name made famous by one of the first one name stars: Lulu.

It seems the book is out of print now, although it is still available via auctions and used book stores. I believe that I'll track down a copy.

A core belief of Mr. Braithwaite, was the idea of respect. A belief that I hope to instill in Mattea, Noah and Grayson. I'd like to read about a black man's experience in London, teaching rebellious, lower socio-economic white teenagers, in an era before the common acceptance of this situation. And I'd like to see how he cultivated and earned their respect. Sure, I could rent the movie, but I want to get it from the horse's mouth, not filtered through some director's interpretation.

A smile, and sing-song "Good Mor-ning!"

A conversation with a stranger in a park.

Channel surfing. (See... channel surfing can be a good thing!)

It's the little things that can change a life.

UA's are everywhere

They go by different names.

Some are much less flattering than UA.

But that's what I call them. The Un-Awares.

Going through life, blissfully unaware of any and all activity going on around them.

Coming off of the jetway from the plane, stopping to adjust their clothing, pull out their cell phone, remove or put on their jacket or sweater, place their briefcase carefully on their carry-on, all three feet past the door of the jetway. Blocking anyone else from getting off of the plane. Because everyone knows, no one else has to do any of those things.

Stopping at the bottom of the escalator to hug every family member and friend that lovingly came to greet them at the airport. Causing a pileup of weary road warriors, rollaboards and backpacks in their wake.

Meeting their neighbor at the grocery store, talking about how green their grass is this week with all this rain we're having, as they are walking out and the neighbor is walking in, thereby preventing anyone else from entering or exiting the store.

One of my favorites happened as I was driving from San Diego to Tucson last week.

Approaching a vehicle stopped by the side of the freeway, well away from the flow of traffic, the elderly gentleman carefully and cautiously and slowly driving the old Ford F150 truck pulled slowly into the left lane, so as to give the stopped vehicle on the side of the road, parked well away from the flow of traffic, a greater margin of safety. Pulling directly into the path of the faster moving vehicle coming up behind him, in said left lane of traffic, going considerably faster than said F150. Said elderly gentleman's eyes grew rather large when he finally looked into his rear view mirror.

And more mundane, but still reflective of the breed, the next morning, as their friend was dropping a vehicle off in the auto dealership service department, patiently waiting for said friend to get done with their dealings with the service writer. Parked in their running vehicle (you can park anywhere as long as your vehicle is still running) right in the middle of the traffic lane that leads to customer parking.

Yes, you can pretty much do whatever you want, as long as you don't have to think about anyone else.

Yesterday

I only had to work at one store, so I had a short 2 hour day.

Unless you count the 6 hours it took to drive to get there, or the two hours that I drove after to get to my next store for today!

I had been working in San Diego, so I had the opportunity to sleep in my own bed, with my own wife, for one more night, or drive part way to Tucson on Tuesday night and drive the rest of the way yesterday. I opted to leave home at 6 AM yesterday to get to Tucson in time for my 2:00 PM training. Good thing I allowed myself some extra time. I forgot about the hour time change. So instead of arriving at noon, I got there at 1:00 PM. Just enough time to wash the bugs off the car and get to the store a half hour early to get things ready.

Then I get to my hotel in Phoenix last night, only to find it wasn't my hotel in Phoenix last night. The internet ate my reservation. And this is snowbird season in Arizona, so after the front desk clerk called about 8 hotels on my behalf, I let her off the hook and called a few more on my own 'til I found a place to call home the next couple of days.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

While driving, and you think of something to write on your blog, but can't write it down because you're driving, you suddenly remember you can use your PDA/Navigation device/digital voice recorder to take audio notes. Very cool!

While driving 422 miles from San Diego to Tucson, when you get out of San Diego in the middle of nowhere, it's not a good time to discover that you are actually addicted to caffeine and you have a headache because you didn't drink any coffee this morning, and your next opportunity won't come for an hour or so.

(Note to self... wean yourself from daily coffee... Sorry Bob)

Shiatsu massage is a good thing. Playing with the boys Sunday night, I tweaked my neck. As luck would have it, I had already scheduled a Shiatsu massage on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, I had forgotten about my pinched nerve that allowed me little sleep on Sunday night because it had been almost totally relieved by my massage therapist. If you've never tried Shiatsu, I highly recommend it. (Wear loose comfortable clothing, you don't get naked for it.)

Simon Cowell is responsible for the album "A Teletubbies Christmas"

When you have satellite radio you can listen to NASCAR races from ten years ago, and "The American Top 40 with Casey Kasem" (sp) from 1979.

Driving on Arizona Highway 79 from Tucson to Phoenix there is a sign by the road that says "Roadside Table", and sure enough, there by the side of the road, is a table.

Honey... lookit!

Theresa has always called the kids honey. All of them, from when Mattea was little, to the boys even now.

Noah and Grayson have taken to calling each other honey lately as well.

"Honey... lookit!"

What the world doesn't need now

Theresa subscribes to a sometimes useful publication called "Bottom Line Personal". I think it comes once a month or so, and has information in multiple areas of life that may or may not be useful, although often-times the content is interesting. This would have to fall into the "interesting" category.

From the Feb. 1, 2007 issue comes this news:

The VIDSTONE Serenity Panel is the first personal memorial monument product of its kind. Utilizing solar-power technology and a weatherproof LCD panel it provides families the option of viewing a personalized video tribute right at their loved one’s final resting place. The VIDSTONE Serenity panel features a 5-10 minute multimedia memorial detailing the most precious memories of your loved one’s life. Their unique memories are no longer solely relived in your mind , but at your loved one’s place of rest.

I don't know... I just had visions of walking through the cemetary with hundreds of these things blaring videos and music. There goes the peace and serenity of the cemetary...