Excess Office Space

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

No one.

No one who?

…

No one who?

…

That was pretty much my day today. I got in the car this morning and with the exception of a few idiots not caring that they were going ten miles under the speed limit, it was a smooth and unusually fast commute to the office… what usually takes me 45-50 minutes took me 30-35 minutes. Once I got to the office I checked the front door, which was locked, and immediately went to the back door, unlocked it, and walked into the dark and quiet room.

Soon after entering I staggered into my morning routine and started to slowly get the day going. A few hours and several long overdue projects passed and I found myself still the only one in the office. It was pretty safe to say at that point that everyone had decided to work from home today which was find with me, I had the entire office to myself. No noise, no distractions, and no waiting for the coffee maker. But there was also no conversation.

Thankfully they have these things called phones now. While today was a day to catch up with work it was also a day to catch up on conversation. All the calls that have been pushed back time and again and all the messages I forgot to answer finally were resolved today in-between tasks. While I am far from up to date with my communications, it is a heck of a lot better than it was 24 hours ago.

Around lunch time there was also a brief few moments when I did have a couple of visitors which was a nice break in the day. I didn’t expect to see my boss show up and I really wasn’t expecting to meet her mother who was stopping by to finally see the office. We had an excellent conversation for about 30 minutes during which time we talked a lot about my Masonic affiliation and who in their family was a Mason. It’s interesting what conversation can be sparked by the simple display of a pin on my shirt pocket.

 

After the visit the afternoon went quickly. Before I knew it, it was time for my wife to start texting me and for the final push to get a few last things done for the day. So my quiet day ended in a similarly exciting manner as it began and my short holiday work week concluded with a few less things on my to do list and a lot of items added to the list of things that should be done to start the year.

Having Fun

Today is a bit of an odd blogging day for me. I have been having trouble all day trying to figure out what to write about while at the same time I have so many things I would like to rant about (mostly dealing with the complete BS deal that the US and other countries has struck with Iran). There has also been a very simple fact floating around in my head in that this is the tipping point for my year of blogging. This marks my 183 post and, therefore, I have managed to post every day for just over half a year so far.

Not quite sure how I feel about that as I think it is more of a serious cause for concern more than it is an accomplishment because to post every day, regardless of topic, is a little nutty. But it is also something that has given me a daily constant. No matter what is going on that particular day I always have those 30-60 minutes to myself to put a quick post together. Of course, sometimes they take a bit longer, usually with the genealogy and photography related posts but for the most part I try and not overthink things and let myself just write.

That may be the most important part of this whole process. It is an exercise in being. For years I have spent hours if not days writing, rewriting, and polishing single lines making sure that every word had its place and purpose. While that undoubtedly is an important process and skill to have, you can quickly lose site of the actual writing process and the sense of freedom that putting words on a page (or in this case a screen) can bring to you. It is a cathartic process that most keep behind closed doors, buried in the pages of a journal, or hidden away in a file buried beneath the desktop.

That is how I used to treat my writing. Obviously, that is no longer the case. My process and my thoughts are in the posts on this blog out in the open for all to read. Whether you like it or not, here it is and here are the topics that I think about and want to write about. Whether its hobby or passion or routine I am not really sure at this point but I can say definitively that writing is a part of who I am and has been for most of my life at this point.  

But this was never intended to be a one way discussion. I think I enjoy listening to people’s comments about some of my posts than I do writing them. Whether someone agrees with me or not I get a kick out of starting that dialog and maybe making that person consider a topic, subject, or perspective that they may have otherwise overlooked. So, I guess this entire blogging process, from beginning to ‘end’, is one of the ways that I have fun. I have no idea what that makes me but I really don’t care because it is another way that I am able to enjoy my limited abilities and life in general.



But that is to be expected after an evening
filled with Guinness and Pepto-Bismol.