Spring 2014 6 1 Sunday

72 degrees this morning.  After getting two new "armadillo" tires for my bike, my pedals locked up this morning.  Really strange, they just locked up for no apparent reason.  Can see anything wrong with the chain etc., probably a bearing or something frozen up.  Hope it wasn't terminal for the bike, I just spent $120 on tires etc!  Strangely, it happened at the exact same location where I had a flat tire last week.  Maybe I should stay away from that area, at least on my bike.  I did hear seem "grunts and groans", but I attributed it to just about anything but the pedals freezing up.  Unfortunately, any major expense is terminal for an 8 year old bike.  My last bike lasted about seven years, and I put $200 into it and then within two months had another major repair and I donated it to a local non-profit that fixes bikes for children, so I doubt if I will put a lot of month into this one.  That one was an entry level bike, I really expected better from this bike.  Could be I don't maintain it well enough.  I am going to buy a second bike when my life settles down a little.  

You develop a relationship with your bike, just like your car (well, I do anyway) and I feel a little betrayed!  Maybe I should become a bike mechanic.  Sitting out on the patio, wonderful day.  I bought some music out (of course, Vivaldi's "Spring", but I'm not sure if I want to listen to music, I think I prefer the music of a Spring morning, the birds singing, the wind through the woods, the deer messing around in the woods (they are very nosily is music I can't listen to all the time   

It is kind of strange, one of the things I missed when I got back from China was the Chinese spoken language, it is so musical.  That is, if I don't understand it.  I'm sure once I understand it I wouldn't hear the music but I would only hear the spoken meaning of the words.  When I joined the Air Force, there were a bunch of men from, I believe, Georgia.  At night, I would lay and hear the soft tones and, since I didn't really hear the words, it was also like music.  I'm not sure where they were from, I don't hear that specific southern accent   often, in fact I don't recall ever hearing it again. 

Today is a "tea morning". I am drinking tea while I write this and handle other early morning routines instead of my beloved coffee.  I will drink coffee when we have breakfast at Steak n Shake.  Steak n Shake (when the coffee is fresh) ranks up there with Starbucks.  Coffee is a key judgement with me.  I figure if a restaurant cares to provide decent coffee, they probably care about the customer.  I have no problems with sending coffee back anymore if it is cold or old.  I always ask (after 10 a.m.) if the coffee is fresh.  The correct answer is "yes", or "I'll make some", not "It was made an hour ago, so it must be fresh!".  Probably just means the server isn't a coffee drinker, but for what they charge for coffee now it should be fresh.  I enjoy tea, but I"m not ready to start a day without coffee!  (On Saturday, we go to Starbucks, so I am a 7 day a week coffee drinker.)

Listening to Vivaldi's "four seasons", I never get tired of it.  I even have all four seasons on my phone as various ring tones, although my main ring tone right now is  the opening of Styx "Fooling Yourself".  I love the opening.  Long ago, I used to go the OKC Blazers minor league hockey games and that was the song they used when the players came out on the ice, for some reason it struck a chord with me, so to speak.  The version of Four Seasons I am listening to now if probably my favorite, a particularly spirited violin version by Vanessa-Mae.  I never get tired of the violin or fiddle.

Sunday papers are sitting facing me.  I normally finish my newspapers while riding the stationary bike, but never on Sunday, I don't even come close.  A lot to do today, I am preparing for an interview next week, which I take seriously, although my chances are very good, since I expect the Interim will get the permanent job.  He is good and I don't have any problems with that, but I'm not sure if I shouldn't be using my time elsewhere.  However, I can't go without really assuming I have a chance, so I will work on it (researching it etc).  

I'm not sure where the time goes.  Technically, I should have plenty of free time to read, catch up etc., but I don't.  And that doesn't even include the time it will take to pack to move etc.  

June 1, 2014.  It is amazing it is already June.  It seems like forever since November of 2014.  Maybe I will publish what I wrote on May 26, the six month anniversary of my "Manager in Transition" status, maybe not. 

Wonderful morning, although there are still some clouds. We are not approaching he nadir of Summer, and then the cycle starts back to Winter.  

That's it for today, Sunday, June 1, 2014.

Fall 2013 12-8-13 Sunday

30 degrees.  Light drizzle, but doesn't seem to be affecting the roads etc.  (It is gathering on the trees etc.)  Walked my usual walk this morning and drove to ATC without any problems.  Papers came right as I was leaving, which is  relief, although I always have plenty of reading material.  

Listening to music this morning, the "Orange Blossom Special" reminded me of my experience with the fiddle/violin.  

In OKC, I went to see Jana Jay perform at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.  I can still feel the shiver that went down my back as she played the Orange Blossom Special" and other fiddle works.  Another time I was at an event in Kansas (can't remember what city, but one of the border cities near Tulsa).  The fiddle player broke into the Orange Blossom Special and I really got into it.  He noticed and we connected (via the music) as he seemed to be playing directly to me.  Not sure how long this went on, but I literally felt like I was part of the music.  I go to fiddle/violin events when possible and have assembled quite a collection of "Orange Blossom Special", "Faded Love" and "Ashokan Farewell" versions.  I also have a collection of "Amazing Grace".  

I tried to play the fiddle/violin for 10 years, but finally gave up when I moved to Lakeland.  A matter of time, hand problems and not having a teacher..  I never was that good but I enjoyed it.  I kept a fiddle I bought and also a Viola I bought thinking ti was a fiddle!

The Sunday papers were HUGE this morning, I guess with advertising.  They came right as I was backing out to go to ATC, so it was very welcome.

I have the best newspaper deliverer I have ever had (yes, I will remember his well at Christmas) and I dread the day he leaves or I move and no longer can get it delivered doe early.  I am always surprised at how important small delights are in life.  

On the other hand, maybe it isn't since a small delight.  I spend at least 36 minutes a day with my newspapers (Wall Street journal, New York Times and Commercial Appeal) and another 10 or 15 minutes with the electronic edition of the USA Today.  I get the electronic version of the other papers also, but enjoy reading the actual paper. 

Indulging in my secret vice, watching Country Music videos (at least they are on while I read or work on my computer), watching the video (Mumford and Sons,  "I will Wait") which I love to hear and plan on purchasing.  (no fiddles in the band though).  I don't know what attracts me to the song, but I loved it the first time I heard it. 

I like "CMT Pure" because they don't have  talkative "video jockey" (or any type of announcer) and I tape them so I can fast forward through most of the commercials and announcements.  

We'll see what Sunday brings.  Hopefully the freezing drizzle has stopped.

Summer 2013 September 11

76/79 degrees this morning.  Walked and weights, but didn't cycle again.  I have a meeting in Jackson, so I have to leave early, so I decided not to push it.  Hopefully will get started back tomorrow.

Obviously,  remember September 11, 2001, as well as April 19, 1995.  Almost like you can't believe it's happening, but you know it is.  I have a hard time believing has been 12 years since the Twin Towers and almost 19 years since Oklahoma City.  I was in Oklahoma City when on April 19 and the weeks and months after so I saw the continued impact of the destruction and all it entails.

I think that is something I always try to remember is the "long tail" of any action, the effects of an act you can't predict and how it affects you in a myriad of ways that you did't expect and frequently didn't want.  

The saying "First, do no harm" is perhaps a good start to actions.

It has been in incredibility  busy  two days (Monday and Tuesday).  Hopefully get some relief to day and get some time to get some things done that I have to get done.  

I am taking a class this morning to get some of the required hours for the "Certified Municipal Finance Officer" (CMFO) training.  A super program, it includes 11 full days of instruction with a test over the material for each day (that is 11 days over the period of a year, not straight through).  It requires 24 hours of "continuing education" training  each year, which is good.  

Unfortunately,  the opportunity to get hours isn't as good in West Tennessee (which I found is frequently the neglected part of Tennessee) as in other areas of Tennessee so I have to take every opportunity to obtain the certification hours.  

A short thunderstorm yesterday afternoon shut down the City e-mail and phone service.  You forget how important it is until you don't have it

Poem today from "The World Without End is Ending" is " Winter Sundays", probably written as a special assignment, I'm not sure what.  The first part refers to my Father, who grew up in an orphanage that would probably be considered child abuse in today's world.  He saw his sister about once a year and got an orange once a year at Christmas.  Reading on the orphanage in later years, I expect he was telling the truth and probably not telling us some other events that would have stunned us.  He worked his way through collage, which I think the "shoveling coal" probably refers to.  

I doubt that this ever actually happened, except he did listen to WIBW , Topeka pubic radio and "Music of the Masters" on Sunday while (I assume) he took a nap, maybe he was only meditating.  Actually I enjoy classical music and did even as a child.

I have always been entranced by fiddle and violin music.  My Mom told me once, even as a child, when I heard a violin or fiddle, I would stop everything and listen to the violin or fiddle music.  

WINTER SUNDAYS

 Sundays, my Father

Walked briskly in the early morning cold

Heels crunching on the frozen grass

And describing his early life of

Shoveling coal for little pay

Oranges only at Christmas

Life without electricity, running water

And money, while I

 Walked with him

And dreamed of a future

Of thundering red Corvettes

Travel to beaches and mountains

And plenty of money

 Sunday afternoons

He listened to classical music

During his after dinner nap

Dreaming of the good old days while

I listened to the Orange Blossom Special

And the Black Mountain Rag

Captured crooks

With the Hardy Boys

And dreamed of fiddling

With Bob Willis and the Texas Playboys

Dilemmas

In the magical kingdom

Of life