"I could blog about that!" I had one of those today.
Most times those experiences never see the light of day.
Fortunately, now it's dark outside!
About an hour after I got to work, the power went out. Usually this happens for a few seconds or minutes. Not this time! After about twenty minutes, somebody came in and said power lines were down up the block.
It is so sad sitting in an office without power. Even with the window light. I think it would be more fun if it were pitch black!
We could play co-worker battleship!I decided to go up
the block and take some pictures.
So I trot up the block with camera around neck. It was a beautiful day! Perhaps perfect. The accident occurred at an intersection, where they were putting a new steeple on a church. Yes, still working on Katrina stuff. I'm not sure what happened to knock the lines down, never got that close.
As I was walking up the sidewalk toward the accident, a police officer at the intersection looked over at me and held up his hands, palms out. Yeah, that means stop.
I nod and start to back up. Then he starts waving his arms in a cross fashion. Like, "No, NO!" That stops me in my tracks! Instinct tells me to stop thinking!He jogs down the street to me. He says, "The fence, it's electrified!" That metal fence around the church, a foot from my arm, alongside the sidewalk. The one I was going to probably lean on. "The power lines fell over the fence. It's hot." Okee Doke! For the record, I'm not a Methodist, but that church almost put me on the fence!
I went back to the office, enjoyed the unique shadows of a midday powerless office, then went home a bit early! I'm sure the power's back on by now.
Here's another one that happened a while back.
We have an arena that occasionally hosts Walt Disney Ice Skating Productions. Recently, they had the "Walt Disney Winnie the Pooh Icecapades!" Or something like that. In the newspaper, the headline for the event read,
"Pooh On Ice!"
TG
I'm always trying to keep my blog up to date.
But it's gotten tough over the past few months.
I don't know what it is. And I've been a little concerned about it. That's why I paid a visit to Dr. Bob Hartley, professional tv psychologist.
Dr. Hartley: So, Mr. Tuckgraph...
Me: Call me TG. Or Jesse. I don't care. I'll call you Bob.
Bob: Okay, Jesse. Why did you come here today?
Me: I can't blog like I used to.
Bob: Is that, is that something you want?
Me: Yeah, wouldn't you blog as much as you can if you could?
Bob: Well, I don't, don't blog myself (looks down at pad).
Me: Nobody blogs for themselves, Bob. They blog for others. You should try it.
Bob: I don't think that's, you know, really necessary (tries to write on pad).
Me: That's because you never tried it. Two words: Hi Bob!
Bob: I'll take that, take it under consideration. Back to your situation.
Me: My situation? Oh yeah. I don't blog like I used to. I used to blog two or three times a week. Then over time, I became happy to just blog once a week.
Now, it's almost like work to perform once a week. Doesn't matter whether I'm inspired and really want it or not. I don't feel adequate. You ever have any problems like that?
Bob: (cough) Well, no. No, I mean, I can't think of anything... symbolic, or comparable to... (shifts in seat) you know, anything. Nothing. Anything.
Me: That's a shame. I was thinking, if I could just have a pill that could make me blog more. Anytime I get the inspiration, I'm on it. Something that could just turn me into a blog machine! I could blog on as long as I want, and satisfy anyone. Even myself!
Bob: Mr. T, I mean G, Mr. Jesse. It looks like our time is up for today... Carol!
I've always been a big fan of The Bob Newhart Show.
Oh Well...
I missed House again tonight. Worked a little late again. I'll tell you what's tough. When you get home in time to watch the last 15 minutes. Do you watch it? You know you won't know what the heck's going on! But what might you get to see? A couple of choice lines of dialogue, House's epiphany that solves the case, and a musical montage that serves as a bow to wrap up the episode! Sigh. Did I really miss anything?
I've got some other stuff to cover, but I'm tired tonight. I need a prescription! Here's a sunset pic I took last night.
TG
I debated with myself about doing this blog. I decided I had to do it, because that pumpkin was starting to stink up the joint!
I voted for Barack Hussein Obama.
This isn't a political rant! In my opinion. I wanted to write a bit about my experiences leading up to last Tuesday. I've always had a rule. I don't tell people who I'm voting for. Unless they ask. But now it's past tense, so I don't have a problem with it. Split those hairs!
Friends and Family
Early on I decided who I was voting for, barring something that would change my mind. My older bro was the first to ask me about my vote. At the time, he and my sister-in-law were voting for Hillary Clinton. In addition to supporting Senator Clinton, they were concerned that people supporting Obama might divide the party. A valid concern!
But I wasn't concerned about that. I thought he had a shot to win. Above the charisma factor, above the history making "First Black President" hysteria, he articulated his ideas better. And that's important. The demeanor thing, not attacking his opponents, all good. And I liked his ideas! Bro respected that. We're family!
So there were a couple of other times, when someone asked me who I was voting for. My best friend kind of expected my answer. He's about as conservative as you can get! It's something special when you can have a best friend who is polar opposite from yourself politically. We get after it from time to time, but keep it in perspective. We're best friends!
And I had a coworker who kind of confronted me. She asked, "Are you an Obama Supporter?" "No." "Are you voting for Obama?" "Yes, because I think he's the best choice we have right now." She walked away from my desk and out the front door! That was interesting, because a few people were watching or listening to our conversation. After that, a few coworkers stopped talking with me as much! They eventually warmed back up.
We Have So Much Not In Common!
But nothing adversarial. This is the Deep South! Lynching is so out of fashion! Racism is such a difficult word. As is this blog! I grew up with it, and I think everyone does to some extent. Fortunately, my parents raised me right. Racism is the "black sheep" of the prejudice family. It can be religion, geography, fat people, baldies (losing hair, not shaved heads. that's different), physically or mentally handicapped, or anything that is wrong with whoever kept you from being what you wanted to be.
It can be genuine hatred, or just laughing at people who are different. If you can laugh at people with someone else, you're participating in an ancient form of bonding. This is a good place to point out, if you don't like Obama, I don't think you're a racist! I personally hate everyone equally! Seriously, I don't care much for Wesley Snipes. Don't hold it against me!
So election day at the office was really cool. We had a cookout! Mostly hot dogs, fully dressed, and chips. Everyone loved the polish sausages I brought! I received the Best Weiner Award Honors! Or the BWAH! The best thing was, nobody talked politics. We talked the weather, sports, whatever. We were celebrating Election Day, and a moment in history.
We spend our lives working around the imperfections in ourselves and others. But that day was special. To put it all aside, and appreciate what we do have.
Words Are Important
The night before, Monday night, my bro checked in with me before going to bed. We talked about the vote coming the next day, and then about some even more trivial, family stuff. As he left, he stopped at the door, looked back at me and said, "You were right." Then just walked out. Of course, I thought of that House quote in Son of A Coma Guy:
The patient, who is about to kill himself so his son can have his heart and can't think of what to tell his son, asks House, "If you could hear one thing from your father, what would it be?"
"I'd want him to say, 'you were right, you did the right thing.'"
I never understood why House would think hearing that was important. But I do appreciate it a little more.
TG
