Yesterday was a tough day. My life has always been a roller coaster, with soaring highs and depths so low I wonder if I'll ever be able to surface again. Yesterday was a low day, but thankfully, only lasted a day and I'm distinctly more even today.
There is so much going on right now - scrambling to keep up with my work so I can get a few days off at the end of the month. I decided I'm going to go on a cruise - all by myself. Last time, my best friend went with me, so while it wasn't lonely, I did have to tolerate a great deal of drunkenness. I love his company when he's sober. He's intelligent and witty. When his demons act up, unfortunately, he turns from an impressive man into a drunk little frat boy. A really irritating drunk little frat boy. Sadly, he doesn't recognize that he is really great when he's sober. He thinks he has to drink to fit in. He thinks he's still 20 and the frat house party is still going on. So, he's my friend. My best friend. But until his demons go away (which will probably be never) all we can be is friends.
This cruise, I decided to try alone. It's a gamble. I might shut down and hide in my cabin the whole time (which is about what I did when I went to the Bahamas alone). But maybe I'll be okay. If the ship is like the last one, there will be plenty of things I can do alone. There was a library and an "adults only" pool area. (Now that my kids are grown but I have no grandkids, I find it depressing to be around the children of strangers. I want them to be mine, and they aren't). Given the recent knee surgery, I think it might be wise to skip the rock-climbing options. Based on the advice of a very experienced cruiser who knows me well, I'm opting for a balcony room. (Excuse me, a "Verandah Stateroom" LOL). That will allow me to enjoy the fresh air and the ocean without necessarily having to be around a lot of people if I don't want to.
I'm gambling a little bit on my timing. A few days ago, I signed up for a Delta Airlines credit card. I get 30 thousand frequent flier miles once I spend $500. I'm waiting for the card to arrive in the mail, so I can use that to buy my passage and get the bonus miles. Each day I check which cabins are still available. I've picked out the one I want, if it's still open when the card comes.
Hmmm - I just realized something. After today I'm going to be gone until Thursday night - and no mail will be coming on Sunday. The cruise is only a couple of weeks off. I think my master plan has failed. I'll have to buy the ticket using my other credit card or gamble that it is still available nearly a week from now and the price hasn't changed. That's NOT a good gamble. I'm a seasoned enough traveler to know that. I guess I'll order the ticket today.
Anyway, it's this sort of daydreaming about the cruise that allows me to keep going on the bad days. When the cruise is over, I'll have to find a new daydream - but I have to always keep something good out there in the distance. My carrot, so to speak, when life gets me stuck in the mud.
My liberal political leanings have allowed my curiosity to be piqued by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Thirty years ago, I would have been there. The media is doing a remarkable job of ignoring it for the most part, except for the sensational bits...the cop pepper spraying women who were already in custody, for example. I haven't seen the media reporting on the big picture. I think maybe they don't understand the big picture.
My son, Jeremy and I had a great discussion last night, comparing the 60's to today. There were huge inequities then that resulted in rioting and violence, which eventually became a more peaceful protest and which eventually led to change. I think this generation is trying to skip over the violent part and go directly to peaceful protest to try and solve the inequities of our time. Unfortunately, I suspect that the only reason the government of the 60's became willing to consider change was to stop the violence. Peaceful protest may inconvenience some people, but I'm afraid it won't be enough to lead to any meaningful change.
The protesters also need leadership - someone intelligent and well spoken who won't hijack what they have been doing to suit his or her own agenda. The 60's had Dr. King. Today, the voices that have spoken up have been heavily laced with agendas of their own.
Some folks in Raleigh have gotten a permit for an "Occupy Raleigh" protest, including permission to camp in the park. There is a planning meeting today. I think my son is going to attend. He was clearly nervous about it when he said that last night - saying he didn't THINK he could get in trouble for attending a planning meeting. It made me sad to think that young people are so afraid of our government that it makes them nervous to even talk about having a protest, but at the same time it makes me proud that my son is planning to stand up for what he believes is right.
Steve Jobs died this week, too - may he rest in peace. He was certainly a man responsible for a huge amount of innovation in our lifetimes. Thank you Mr. Jobs! I saw an absolutely lovely tribute cartoon, with Steve Jobs talking to St.Peter at the pearly gates... St. Peter flipping through the book of life to see if Steve Jobs was in there, and Steve Jobs saying to him "I have an app for that!" 8-) RIP
I had decided a couple of weeks ago to postpone surgery on the other knee until next year and this weekend my knee advised me that this was not a good decision. After being challenged with stairs repeatedly during the past week, twice this weekend it put me in such pain that I had to just completely stop halfway down a flight of stairs to regain my composure. That's just not a working thing in my business. Planning to call the surgeon's office ASAP and discuss getting it done in early December, which is my slowest time of the year.
Today I have to finish laundry and pack for this week's trip to audit a foundry in Atchison, Kansas. I have to go to the drug store and re-fill prescriptions (among my least favorite tasks) and I just need to brace myself for another week of running. Fortunately, the planes in and out of Kansas City are big ones, not hop jets, so I shouldn't have to do nearly as many stairs. Jet bridges are SO much easier.
Well I guess I should get at it.. Time to prepare for another week.
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