Irish Blatherings Post 1: The Importance In Realizing Your Lack of Importance

Soooo...I am 52.  I thought for a while that I was 53 but then I did the math.  It was interesting to realize that no single fact could be less meaningless than whether I was 52 or 53.  Not to anyone.  Certainly not to me.  At 52/53 I am BUSY!  BIZZY!  CRAZY, STUPID BiZeeeee!  Get it?  I am busy because I am RFP (really Fucking Important).  I am:

1. A husband

2. An empty nest father

3. A lawyer which for me means:

a. I have clients who expect me to be available

b. I have employees who expect that I will bring in enough paying clients so they

can eat.

c. I need to bring in enough paying clients so I can eat.

d. I have to take care of a lot of administrivia (i.e. getting bills out to clients,

getting clients to pay bills, making sure we have supplies and helping to deal

with shit when it breaks.

4. I volunteer a lot of time with SLU’s law clinic

5. I blog infrequently and intelligently.

6. I keep in touch with a large number of people younger than myself on Facebook

(nothing creepy about that).

7. I am a home owner.  There is stuff to do.  Getting things fixed (can't fix them myself),

cleaning up and of course cooking.  I have to cook a lot because of specific dietary

needs related to being an asshole.

8. We also have a place in Michigan which requires attention and visiting.

9. My parents are old.  They don’t “require” attention but they “merit” attention.  More

thanI give.

10. My siblings had children who I like but who might or might not be “damaged” and are

now having children themselves.

11. I was active in my old church, I sense the same will be true of my new church.

12. I read

I say this not to impress anyone.  I trust you have busy lives as well.  But what I have realized is that… for some period of time… all of these things go on, things get dealt with and many things… thrive, in my absence.  This is, in no particular order,

1. Humbling

2. Frightening; and (if you're paying attention)

3. Liberating

I am a bitter, shallow man.  I complain...A LOT!  My glass, half empty.  This is a character flaw.  Arguably a DRAMATIC character flaw but if God is kind to you he delivers a modicum of self knowledge along with all the aches and pains and maladies that complainers deal with as they age. My recent dissatisfaction is evidence of how little I have to complain about.  That is a two headed complaint.  

1. My “career” does not lend itself to enjoying sabbaticals and as I have grown older and realized I might only be ⅔ of the way through my work life, the concept of sabbatical seems eminently sensible.  But this plays in with my second complaint;

2. I don’t travel enough, specifically internationally.  Every time I have left the country in my life it has been a broadening epiphany giving me a look at the world outside my silo and making more appreciative of our great country, God’s baffling kindness towards me, my family and my country and my home, wife family and… kitchen.  Sometimes it can even help to make me more appreciative of my job!

So my New Years Resolution was that for the rest of my life I would leave the country twice a year.  My wife and I then spent some time together in Florida visiting her parents and we stretched it out that in 2015 we would take two weeks and go live in another country, towards a goal of moving for one month a year to another country and just taking it in or in the immortal words of Jules in the movie Pulp Fiction we are going to “Walk The Land”.

Jules: I'll just walk the earth.

Vincent: What'cha mean walk the earth?

Jules: You know, walk the earth, meet people... get into adventures. Like Caine from "Kung Fu."

That is good stuff.  But my plan I think is to fly the earth, drive the earth, live around people I didn’t grow up with for a while each year and do it with my wife.  Sooo… my daughter is in Cambridge this semester and my wife decided I should go visit her so went and met her in Dublin and I decided I would spend a few days wandering around Ireland on my own which led me to Galway for a few days where I am now typing away preparing to fly back to the Lou tomorrow.  In my absence it appears things have gone… splendidly.  Perhaps I should leave more often and… perhaps I will but the next several posts will be known forever as my own personal “There And Back Again” and if you don’t get that reference, shame on you and Google it, but I think I will call this little series my…”Irish Blatherings”.  Round one was yesterday when I put up the Edward Sharpe Concert.

Peace!

Old Man Rant #1 "Back when I was a boy"

Soooo as I stated priorly I am not the biggest fan of February. I do like it when it snows though. Snow seems like the payoff for cold weather. If it is freezing I would just as soon have it snow. But there is a rub. On Thursday they were predicting some snow...perhaps accumulating over night. My daughter naturally took this as an opportunity to not do her math home work. Her assumption was snow=school closed. This annoys me. A GREAT DEAL! Not that I care about my daughter presuming that a prediction of snow might get her a day off. Hope springs eternal, even in the spiritual death that is February.

What annoys me is how the snow becomes a reason and an excuse for everyone to waste time talking about the weather and speculating on how "bad" it is going to be and to start thinking about "going home early" because the weather is so bad. There is always one boss in the office who should know better who drives the whole thing and starts to get everyone going. No one needs any help getting riled up but that one person walks from desk to desk and pretty soon you have a full fledge revolt at the place.

This general annoyance was exacerbated when it did not snow Thursday night or Friday morning but they were predicting snow "with accumulation!, for that afternoon and evening. Horror of horrors. My assistant normally gets to work at about 7:30 but on my way in at 7:29 my Blackberry lights up with a message from her saying that due to the weather she will have to leave early. Now I want to be clear. I am no slave driver and have a work ethic that could best be described as "questionable" but this kind of thing, for whatever reason really gets my goat. It always seems one way to me. When they predict snow you have a few things that you should do:

1. Make plans for child care the next day if school gets canceled.
2. Wake up early the next day.
3. Get your ass out of bed and get to work.

I am even more incredulous when men admit to being worried about the weather. I am not the manliest of men. I am in fact kind of a wimp...oK, I am total wimp BUT as a man I just could never admit I was "worried" about the weather and changing my plans because of what "might" happen. I mean, our job is be out helping people out who are stuck, getting to wherever we need to go and getting business done.... BECAUSE...when I was a boy it snowed 8 foot every day. We walked up mountains to get to school... both ways. There were locusts! Rivers turning read and running backwards,,,,BLACK ICE! I know we were not tougher. Really I do. But it just seems like everyone is so weak about bad weather. They say it going to start snowing tonight. Nu accumulation...but then continuing tomorrow night and accumulating 3-6 inches. I picture people who work for me running up and down the hall screaming "WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE! WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE"!

Rebel against the weather terrorists! Do not go out and buy bread and milk! You will get out! GO, DRIVE! Find an open parking lot and do donuts and laugh maniacally. If you see a little black Mazda...stay the hell outta the way! Daddy is going to work!