...like busboys in a restaurant.

The Richard Dreyfuss character in one of my favorite movies, "Stand By Me" narrated "It happens sometimes. Friends come in and out of our lives like busboys in a restaurant."

How true. You never really put it into perspective until you leave somewhere or someone else leaves somewhere where they were normally.

We had a co-worker leave today after 12 years here. Although I only knew her for the almost 3 years I have been here and we only ever really crossed paths, her on her way out and myself on my way in, it was still a little sad.

But it also makes you realize how quickly some people, who are usually there, can be gone the next minute. Is it sad if you don't really know them that well? Maybe not to the point of tears, but I think it demonstrates a true, yet melancholy fact of life. Friends , co-workers, etc. do drift in and out of your life. Someone you are best friends with for a long period of time could be someone you are reduced to just having small talk with, maybe twice a year, a little down the line.

It just seems weird to me I suppose. Sometimes if a co-worker leaves a job, and you never see them outside of work, it's probably going to be the last time you will ever see that person again in your life. Your absolute best friend in high school could now possibly have no clue where you live or what you do. That's strange to me. But, that's life.

In conclusion, if there is any point to be summoned from this blog, I think it's that it makes you feel glad for the people in your life who will always be constant,or are at least supposed to be constant, such as a wife, children, parents, brothers, sisters, etc.

I have been lucky to have remained close with a few elementary school friends, and to still hang out with a group of high school friends regularly. But casual acquaintances, co-workers, and the like, well, it's anybody's guess.

9-5

This is another random observation, but doesn't anybody work the 9-5 shift anymore?

It strikes me that this was the common work shift I always heard about growing up, they even had a movie and a song about it, but now it seems like barely anyone works this shift anymore.

Maybe it's just that I work at a government facility and all these people have free reign to work whatever shift they'd like (must be nice), as long as they come in sometime between 6am and 930am. But if that's the case, why doesn't anyone choose 9-5 anymore? People say they like to get in early so they can have the afternoon free, which I can understand. That's not for me, but I can understand it. I'd trade more morning sleep for being off at 230pm anyday of the week, but it seems like I am in the minority nowdays on that. I'd rather go to bed around 11, wake up at 7 or 730 and be into work by 9. That early morning, still dark out, birds chirping stuff to me is....well, for the birds. There's just something not right to me about being awake for your day when it's still dark out. And I know there's people who work graveyard shifts, etc., but I'm talking more about your average worker bee.

To get off work at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon? Who cares? May as well be at work in my opinion. Fridays are different.

Maybe people also like to beat the traffic. But still, didn't people want to beat the traffic 20 years ago? Or is this 'more people seemed to work 9-5 shifts a long time ago' all in my head?

It's different if you work at a place that requires shift work, like myself. Restaurants, gyms, shopping centers, etc. open and close at a certain time, so you have all kinds of different shifts-6-2,8-4, 3-11,2-10, etc.

But I'm talking about the office workers. Nowdays there's all this flex time and choosing of shifts. That's another thing, since when did employees start being allowed to choose their shift? It seems to me that years ago, employees were told their shift.

I bring this up only because yesterday at work I was cleaning up cones after a 5K race on a two lane road that surrounds my work buildings. I was riding on the back of a pickup truck, hopping on and off to grab the cones that had marked the earlier race. It was about 3pm. We had to stop a ridiculous amount of times to let cars go around us. People leaving work? 3pm? I said to the guy driving the truck, "What ever happened to 9-5?"

Are they a thing of the past, or is the past I am thinking of all in my head? Do more people work 6-2 shifts these days than they did 20 years ago? Did 9-5 used to be the staple and now it's not?

Sorry for the perhaps boring and arbitrary blog, but I figure, what would a blog be without the occasional dose of boring and arbitrary?

Calm After the Storm

And I was complaining.

Silly me.

What a wonderful weekend at the beach.

I am not an early bird. Anyone who knows me well knows this. Even as a little kid, I fancied sleeping in. Let's just say getting up by 10:00am on a weekend is early for me. But Saturday at the beach my wife woke me up somewhere around the area of 7:00am. At first I scoffed at the idea and wanted to go back to sleep, but with the impending tropical storm, she urged me to come see the beach, pre-hurricane, and I agreed.

Once I showered quickly and made myself a cup of instant coffee, we went out there. It was gorgeous, definitely a sight to behold. The waves were crashing in fast as if to say 'you ain't seen nothing yet' and the sun was shining right over the horizon. We sat on a blanket and took pictures with our cell phones. The sea air felt refreshing to breathe in. This was just one of those moments I have talked about in a previous blog called "Clarity". This was one of those 'glad to be alive' moments. With all the hubbub and news forecasts of the impending weather disaster we were about to have, we found perfect peace Saturday morning on beach.

The storm everyone was worried about turned out to be a fascinating sight. The rain did get annoying, but the sight of the actual ocean during this storm was incredible. The main thing I was worried about was losing power in the condo. This didn't happen. Good company, my newspaper,crossword puzzles, yahtzee, a couple of good movies, and junk food made for a very nice Saturday inside. There was no place I would have rather been.

Oh, and I can't forget, my wife loves to rib me about this, but I am kind of an oddball in that I love watching the local Ocean City channels. You know, the ones with DJ Batman standing in front of some random O.C. location and telling you about what's going on at the beach this week? I can watch this channel for hours. Don't ask me why.

I love going out to breakfast in Ocean City, we did that twice. We got some ribs at J.R.'s for dinner(ehh.)

We even got a chance to get on the boardwalk before the storm started. It was cool to see it pretty empty with the rides shut down. They had even taken the cars off of the giant ferris wheel on the pier in preparation for the storm. The water rolling around at the end of the pier reminded me of a lighter version of something out of the movie "The Perfect Storm". I understood the true meaning of the term 'the calm before the storm' on this morning.

On Sunday the weather turned out to be beautiful. We got some much needed beach time this day, and the ocean was extremely rough, exactly how I like it. Being in the water having to fight the current constantly pushing me down the beach reminded me of being a kid again in the water. It reminded me of being so little and young that the waves push you all the time anyway. Heck, I even wiped out a few times. It was a flashback to childhood summer vacations all over again.

And what would a trip to the beach be without some genuinely overpriced candy from Candy Kitchen?

People tend to criticize Ocean City, Maryland for being "trashy" or "dirty". And sure, it's no Bahamas. I have no misconceptions about that. But I love it there. It brings out the kid in me. It's just so comfortable. I always feel a slight depression leaving. I feel jealousy for other people who are just getting to ocean city when I'm on my way out. I find myself seeing people walking along coastal highway and thinking to myself "Man, that person probably has a few more days left here. Lucky."

I love the memories being at the beach invokes, and the hope it creates for creating new memories in the future. After all is said and done, I realize it's not just being there that I love, but being there with the person that I love.

It was a good weekend. I have the sunburn to prove it.

The Storm

I think one of my more unbecoming traits is that I tend to think bad luck hits me more than it does others.

Sometimes I get the feeling that I have to deal with a lot more...crap--if you will, than your average Joe.

I know in reality, this really isn't true, and there are folks out there who would laugh at what I call bad luck. However it's hard sometimes to think that Murphy's Law is not applying to you.

My lovely wife and I have been planning a quiet weekend trip to Ocean City for about 4 months now. We have babysitters lined up for the kids, and we are staying at the same condo we stayed in when we got engaged almost 4 years ago.

I love our kids, but it will be nice to have a few days where we can come and go as we please.

So, we have all these weeks in a row this summer of fantastic weather. But all of a sudden now we have a hurricane coming this weekend and it picked our weekend at the beach to arrive. No Saturday at the beach I guess, trying to get some sun, swimming in the ocean like I love to do, but high winds and flood warnings.

From what i hear it's going to mimic the famous Hill Valley lightning storm from Back to the Future, or the storm at the end of Karate Kid part 2. (c'mon, it's me, you knew I had to get in my 80's movie plugs)

How nice.

Oh, we are still going. I am dead set on having a nice weekend away from home, even if it means we have to carry an umbrella and wear a raincoat the whole time. We just won't really be able to do normal beach things I guess.

I am trying to look on the bright side. We still have a nice place to stay (if the power doesn't go out), and we can still go out to eat or have some cocktails and have a romantic weekend. It just bothers me that after all these weekends of nice weather, the tropical storms decide to hit on the weekend we chose to go away. I know this is just dumb luck, there are no weather gods out to ruin our good time. And I try my best not to be pessimistic, even though I am a large amount of the time.

Tony Soprano, of the HBO series 'The Sopranos' said in one episode, "Okay, every day is a gift, but does it have to be a pair of socks?"

See what i mean?

Still, I say- storm, bring it on. You may stop us from swimming, sun bathing, or sitting at an outdoor pub, but dammit you aren't going to ruin our good time.

It's going to be a quiet romantic weekend with my wife if it kills me. I mean, what's more romantic than floating down coastal highway on a chunk of the boardwalk that blew off?

See you Monday.

"Drill Baby Drill!"

I have been pretty conservative when it comes to politics for a while. However, over the past couple of years I have realized that there are a few issues on which I am not so conservative.

I've never been a 'bible' conservative at all, and when it comes to religion, I have faith in some sort of higher power, but I am more of a 'show me some proof' type of guy. And protesters who use bible passages as their only reason for their stances have always rubbed me the wrong way. Protesters who get down right nasty all in the name of what 'the bible' says to me are using the same reasoning as terrorists, just not killing people. I don't really care what someone's sexual orientation is because it doesn't effect how I make my way in the world, and to each their own. I don't like how people think they can tell others how to live their lives based on the bible. Again, show me some practical proof that this is the be-all, end-all.

Another issue on which I am not with the conservatives and that is that I am largely pro-choice. Again this goes back to the 'telling people how to live their lives thing'.


And last but not least, I don't even know if you'd call this an issue, per se', but I don't like hunting. I could never pick up a gun and shoot a defenseless animal for sport. That's just not me. Using guns for protection is a different story.

There are a few other issues I am fairly liberal about that I won't get into, but let's just say that on everything else I am very conservative.

I won't get into everything but I do believe we need to have zero tolerance for terrorism, and stop showing compassion to proven criminals in our legal system.

Anyway, this blog is not about the issues, so I'll digress, I just wanted to point out that I can be fairly middle of the road at times. However I feel a lot stronger on my conservative views, so I consider myself on the right. Maybe not as far right as I once thought I was, but enough to be inspired by last night's Republican convention.

Now look, I don't know everything about politics. I am not educated enough on a lot of issues to really chime in on every last thing either. As I have grown into my early 30's I started to realize that I can't always put in my two cents on matters that I can't fully back up. I've been doing a lot of listening lately. I find you can learn a lot just by listening to others talk. But last night, it was Mike Huckabee who said something that made me realize that I am still definitely on the right.

Huckabee said "I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich, but because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me."

This struck a chord with me. I loved this line, and I almost cheered out loud when he said it. I can't quite put my finger on why, but it just did. If I had to guess it'd be because I have, for the past couple of years, been a huge proponent of making your own way in this world. Things aren't going to get handed to you in this life. Stop waiting for a free pass. Make your own luck. That's why things like affirmative action and welfare just don't sit right with me. But again, I digress.

Another thing Mr. Huckabee said was "Maybe the most dangerous threat of an Obama presidency is that he would continue to give madmen the benefit of the doubt. If he’s wrong just once, we will pay a heavy price."

I agree. Totally and completely, I agree. I want someone in office who is going to give zero benefit of the doubt to terrorist maniacs who think it is okay to decapitate innocent people on TV and hang dead bodies from bridges, then cheer about it.

Rudy Giuliani (My original choice for President) pointed out that during the Democratic convention, it seems that all the speakers were afraid to use the term "Islamic terrorist", perhaps worried how they'd be perceived by certain people. In other words, being 'politically correct' and not wanting to offend anybody. Who were they worried about offending? Terrorists? I think this burns me up more than anything.

So it is not just that I found VP candidate Sarah Palin extremely dynamic and inspiring last night, it's that I don't want people in office who are worried about offending every last person. Yes I am liberal on a few issues, but when it comes to the safety of our country and the threat of terrorism, I want someone who is going to be extremely tough.

Needless to say, last night I felt so inspired and enthusiastic about McCain-Palin '08 that I felt like I was watching a 'Rocky' movie. These speakers moved me to the point of excitement and goosebumps.