monday tidbits

hello, how are you today?

well, you know . . . eh.

not so good?

well, i'm a little punk.

{a conversation with an 83-year old patient of mine}

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my current desktop. heels by Louboutin (love that man).

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things i'm grateful for right now:

1. Geico's emergency roadside service
2. the enormous black man that changed my tire yesterday (it made JW and i feel better that he almost fell over trying to loosen the bolts, despite his superior equipment and more magnificent breadth of body)
3. the Just Tires on my way to work and the fact that it was only a loose valve (that being said, who knows how much a replacement valve and labor costs --- i'm not letting myself go there yet, at least it isn't a completely new tire)

oh yeah, can anybody guess? i got a flat tire this weekend, hours after i put air in all the tires. i must've busted the already-loose valve. oh, the myriad of things that can go wrong with all the machines we depend on these days . . .

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my amazing dad proudly showed me his NEW work computer last night! i've been ranting about this for months, as his company expects him to be productive and efficient, yet he still had the ancient IBM monstrosity that they'd given him years ago, before his company was bought out. seeing as my dear father is the prime age to be fired and replaced by a younger, less experienced, yet newer and thus lower-paid employee, i assumed that they'd never give him a new machine. but still, it made me angry - the new company he works for doesn't value their employees at all. how is he to work on a computer screen with a line 1/2 an inch thick running down the center of it? with a joystick mouse in the middle of the keyboard that barely works anymore? i was fit to be tied.

and yet they've finally given him a new machine, sleek and updated. in my mind it makes me think they're planning on keeping him around for awhile longer, but i know i shouldn't assume. the job market is such a scary place for people my parents' age --- i don't know how my dad lives with the thought every day that it could be his last. almost everyone he's worked with for the decades he's been with the company has been laid off.

i respect my dad more than i could say. he lives his life simply, he doesn't let his temper or his fears get the best of him. he says that there's obviously a reason why he hasn't been fired yet, and he will live in that reason until the day he's asked to leave, if that day comes. until then, he works his heart out every single day, never giving less because the company has changed and doesn't treasure him like it should.

to be like that . . .
thanks dad, for being who you are.