Digging Deep And Discovery

Now that 2015 is underway, we are able to focus our efforts at lodge on the New Year and continue planning for the projects and events that we have been discussing over the last few months. Much of the progress was tabled as we wrapped up all the last minute items for the year and installed a new set of officers (well, some of the officers changed). Last night was going to serve as a means to get everything going and making sure that we are all pulling in the same direction to ensure that things run smoothly to start the year.

That was the plan but sometimes the weather doesn’t allow plans to come to perfect fruition. As also happened last year, the temperature plunged, a light snow coated the streets and sidewalks, and the ice quickly formed making for both a slow commute to the Ardmore and a deliberate walk to the lodge doors. Safe to say that for the second week in a row we had just a small group of brothers that converged on the lodge for fellowship and training last night.

Some may look at the recent dip in attendance and wonder if we are going to be able to pursue the same kind of progress that we achieved last year. I view this in a very different light. This is a time of year for family and many of the brothers, with their priorities perfectly in line, have taken the opportunity that this season affords them and have embraced the time to spend it with their loved ones. Those of us that have been able to make it every week have, somehow, been able to find the flexibility and balance to keep things moving forward. Of course, the whole workaholic thing also helps to motivate some of us as well.

Today there was also a discovery that helps to motivate many of us that commit the time and energy to the lodge on a daily and weekly basis. We are all part of a long Masonic history in this country and that reality was brought to the forefront in the opening of the 1795 time capsule today in Boston. The contents inside are not just contributions from the revolutionary patriots of our founding but also some of the more notable masons of the time: Sam Adams, then Governor of Massachusetts, and Paul Revere, then Grand Master of Massachusetts.

While today we play a much smaller role in the history of the fraternity, we are still a part of that continuation. Each small act that further solidifies the reputation of freemasons will continue to ripple throughout history. Sometimes it is short lived with the memory of events quickly fading while other instances and actions can continue to impact perception for decades or centuries. All that we can do at the moment is focus on the present by continuing to grow and further embracing not just our fellow brothers but the community around us as well.

Taking Turns

Yes, I am using this post as an excuse to include another picture of our baby boy!

 With everything that is going on lately with the move, work, lodge, and other things, I was looking forward to going to the next doctor appointment to check on our baby. That’s right, I actually had a reason to look forward to a doctor appointment. With our scheduled checkup a little later in the evening, I left the office a little later than usual and called my wife during the commute. It has been, to say the least, a little chaotic for her lately as well and she too was looking forward to hearing our son’s rapid heartbeat.

In the past we have endured prolonged periods in the waiting room so as the first flakes of precipitation brushed across our cheeks we walked into the office a little early and settled in for what we expected to be another long evening. Thankfully we were wrong as before we could even get settled, and certainly to the displeasure of those who were already waiting, we were escorted back to an examining room. Once all the basic vitals were checked, it was time for my wife to lay down and let the baby take over the moment.

As many of you know and have experienced before, hearing your child’s happy heartbeat takes over the moment allowing for everything else that may be going on in your life to disappear for a brief moment. Last night it couldn’t have come at a better time as that one instant, that fleeting flutter of a moment, made much of the thoughts from the previous few days, weeks, and months disappear from our thoughts. It didn’t last long of course but it was enough to get us through the rest of the day and into the night.

In the end, our baby remains healthy and slightly ahead of schedule. That is really all that we want. It just happens to be a bonus that he is already starting to listen to us, sleeping when we need to sleep, and shifting into a different position when needed. Even if he didn’t do any of those things we would still love him just as much as we do now and that, our new reality as parents, continues to be what is getting us both through many tough moments lately. Essentially, baby is already helping to take care of us know before we have to start taking care of him.

And now we wait for the next appointment. While we just had the most recent checkup last night, we are already looking forward to the next one. Before long he will be here and that is when our lives will really change but, for now, we are enjoying the change that he has already had on our lives.

Face Value

While there are some trying personal situations going on lately, I have been doing my best to stay as objective as possible, offer the few tips that I have to make things a touch easier or prepare those a little better, and, in some instances, just stay the heck out of the way. More often than not it all comes down to the “shut up and listen” mentality. However, there have been a few moments when I have attempted to make things a little easier by letting people know of a few things that they need to keep in mind.

Recently I did just that and, just like in previous instances, it was a complete mess. While I will not get into details or divulge any names, let’s just say that the reaction that I saw made me second guess the motives of some individuals. Furthermore, it confirmed that those people don’t trust me whatsoever and believe that I have an ulterior motive with everything that I say. While that perception is not in line with the reality of my words, the fact that things were so heinously skewed makes me question the motives of the person with whom I spoke.

I take great offense when my offer of assistance, however minor it was in this instance, is viewed in such a manner. And frankly, I am done in trying to help certain individuals. There are other caught in this same situation for which I would do anything I possible can but then there are the others. I wasn’t even expecting acknowledgement of this tip so if nothing were to be said I would continue to offer the little I have from my experiences to assist. However, to be confronted in this way… I am done. Thomas Hardy said it best and for those incurables there is little that can be done to change their prognosis.

So while I am finished with those who revel in the conspiracy of their on minds and searching for a different meaning behind advice that does not exist, I will continue to listen, process, and do my best to relay any helpful information to those that will take it in the way that it is intended… a simple offer to ease the process in any minute way that I can. And with all that is going on we can’t say with any certainty about what is going to happen in the future but some things are coming into focus and we are able to plan for the inevitable. Until then most of the time I will simply shut up and listen and help those who take my offer at face value.

Last Minute Notice

Sometimes we all forget about things until the last minute and we have to rush to get them done. It happens to all of us at one point or another. This was the case when I was finishing up some work on my computer late on Friday night when I realized that we had not finalized the lodge notice for the month. With all of the end of the year things that we have been working on is simply slipped our minds and was in limbo for much of the holiday season.

Thankfully the stated meeting was postponed for a week due to the holiday so we still had a little bit of time to get it done. We had both dropped the ball on this one but, fortunately, there was still enough time to pick it up and make the play. By 8am the following morning, we had a rough draft in place and I was able to edit and update the content that I needed to add. This was with no help from my lodge email which decided not to allow attachments during the process. By noon, everything had been finalized and the notices were being printed.

Of course, now that we had gotten it done and had arranged for a time to meet at the lodge to get all the mailings put together, the next bumps in the road presented themselves. On my way to Ardmore I had to take a quick detour to Staples to pick up stamps and envelopes as I have been unable to find the time to get the stamped and addresses envelopes from the post office. I guess a couple more steps won’t hurt us.

We got to the lodge in the mid afternoon and shortly after arrival I pulled out the address labels and noticed another step that we would have to take this month. Normally I go through the list beforehand and cross off all the brothers that get the notice emailed to them… when I looked at the labels it was clear that this had not been done and so I had to go by memory crossing off names that I was certain would receive the electronic version.

Even with all the extra steps we came together and got all the mailing done in under an hour. Not too bad and still faster than when I have to do it myself. Not a great way to start the New Year but at least it got done and it will make the rest of the year seem that much smoother. At least that is the hope.

Box Bombardment

What happened UPS? 

Last week the packages began arriving at our townhouse. It started with a few small items that I pulled from out mailbox as there were a few items that we ordered for the holidays. Of course, this is in addition to the numerous things that we purchased for the house, crammed in our car, and carried up and down stairs. The latest deluge is a result from the large items from our baby registry being left outside our door.

Each time one of these large boxes arrived my wife would get that look like the father receiving his ‘major award’ in A Christmas Story. Of course, she would have that look as I was carrying or pushing the box up the stairs and into the baby’s room. Let’s just say that it really isn’t fun when the 110 pound box barely fits up the stairs and you spend the majority of the time just trying to navigate the corners while keeping it from tipping back.

Now we have all of the furniture in the townhouse without any help from UPS due to their not being allowed to bring things inside of homes. And everything has been finagled up to the second floor with the only exception being that of the dresser which it simply too big for one person to maneuver. We are going to have to unbox it first and have at least two people carry it up the stairs on its end… it is the only way that we are going to be able to make the turn.

Thankfully there should only be one more big item that will be delivered in the coming weeks as we have another couch due to arrive this week. This too will have to be taken up stairs but this time to my wife’s office to serve as the guest bed for when we have overnight out of town visitors. Hopefully it is like the other couch and I can simply take it up in pieces and assemble in the right place.

There will also be a continued package bombardment as the due date approaches and the baby continues to accumulate more and more items. But at least we are nearly done with the items that we wanted to get to complete our new home. Everything is finished in the basement (at least everything that I had planned on putting down there), my wife’s office is nearly done, and the first floor is full of all our existing furniture. The baby’s room is the only one that will continue to accumulate a heck of a lot more stuff… stuff in all different sizes of boxes.

Firearms Friday: We All Need A Good Work Bench

For the last few years, while my wife were living in an apartment packed from end to end, top to bottom, I had to have my desk serve double duty as my work bench as well. It was always a process and a project just to get things started as everything needed to be cleaned off from the usual work day so that I could pull out the work mat and attach the vice to the side. Once that was all done, it didn’t really leave much time to get things done. Of course, having the office next to the bedroom didn’t allow for any work getting done beyond cleaning at night either.

Now, in our spacious new place, for the first time I am able to set up a dedicated work bench (from Home Depot) in the basement, two floors away from the bedrooms. In a different part of the space I have my desk set up solely dedicated to writing, filing, emailing, and other work on the computer. Finally, each of my passions have areas designated for each. While I will maintain an organized space, there is no more clearing off and hiding away electronics, papers, tools, parts, and cleaning supplies. Everything can be left out, set in their designated spaces.

Just having each of these areas divided in the basement, I feel as though I have more time to do what I enjoy and the small projects that I want to get done are accomplished much faster leaving me with more time to spend with my wife. Everything is easily accessible. Still locked away but a simple matter of security that is still much faster than the previously lengthy process of shifting purposes for a single work space.

This new workbench will also impact my work as it will allow me to bring new content to this blog. Reviews of firearms, equipment, and parts can now be achieved now that I have a work area dedicated to those projects. I can also now take on minor cleaning, repairing, and upgrading projects that will not only provide additional content but will allow me to better educate myself on different processes and systems. So look for some different content every Firearms Friday as I continue to organize and get my work bench outfitted to fit my needs. It should be fun and provide a much needed respite both now and in the future!

Back To The Present

The New Year has started and there is a lot that we have to look forward to in the coming months and a lot that we have to be thankful for from the past year. In the past I have taken this opportunity to make a list of resolutions and to look back on the previous year. Well, those posts will be coming soon but I found myself thinking about something else today… Back to the Future… part 2.

A couple of days ago I found my wife watching the first movie in the trilogy as I ventured up the stairs and got ready for bed. It has always been one of those movies that she would fall asleep to and I really don’t mind because I remember watching them growing up as well. Last night we had to change things up as she had watched part one for a couple of nights in a row. So I put in part two, tucked her in, and came down stairs to get some work done not thinking too much about what was flickering on the screen.

As the clock struck midnight and the calendar turned another page, I could hear the faint sounds of the fictional 2015 echoing down the stairs as the reality of that year was around me. It is amazing to think about something that seemed so far off when we were growing up to now be a reality. While always a little far afield in their predictions, it is even more entertaining to see the drastic difference between reality and the trajectory that Hollywood portrayed over two decades ago.

So where is my freaking flying car?!?!

I am fascinated watching the prediction of the flying car, hover boards, Café 80’s (I am sure there are a few that are around), rehydrating dinner (makes me think of Ramen noodles), 3-D advertisements on the street, the national weather service, and faxing still a prevalent form of communication. All of these things are in addition to the craziness of the ‘fashion’ which you could tell came out of the time when the movie was made. It would be interesting if these things were really part of our daily life but that is not the case.

However, what might be more interesting is what is not represented. The internet and email are a huge part of daily life but are nowhere to be found on the screen. Smart phones are more ubiquitous than the walkie-talkies that Marty and Doc employ but don’t make an appearance. Flat screen televisions have replaced the large boxes that once played our movies but the café still contained the former format. And did you see the size of those discs where they hid Jennifer?

So while we may not have flying cars and weather that we can control to suit our needs (or time travel), there are still a lot of things that we have today that even Hollywood couldn’t predict. It certainly isn’t all perfect but things could be a lot worse as 2015 gets under way. Of course, we will have to see if the Cubs to really beat Miami in the World Series this year… now that would be one heck of a prediction.