New in the New Year

"Ring out the old, ring in the new..."

 Not many of us actually get a really new start to the year.

At the end of last year the Working Man's office home was sold.

 So we all went out to help him look for a new one.

 We liked this large empty space, full of possibilities

 and with great views of downtown.

However, shortly after we looked at that space, another one became available.

 It was in the very building that his company's very first office was located!

We liked the idea of coming full circle.

 The space was already divided into offices.

 The view included the courthouse square --

and the excellent coffeehouse across the street.

 The Man gets to start the year in a new space, with a clean desk.

We'll toast to that!

Closed for business

 Notice is hereby given to all past students, staff, interns, volunteers and incidental employees -

I am no longer available to write you a reference letter.


I have shredded my memory.

All your applications, philosophy statements, interview question answers, records of activities and so forth - everything that I brought home nine years ago just in case you needed a reference - it is all going.

I have enjoyed looking over them one last time. It has been pleasant having your names float into my mind and to remember all the work we did together.

Makes me tired to think how hard we worked!

And all the problems - all the incident reports, the patron complaints, all your suggestions for improvement and all those painful evaluations - all going, along with my regrets that I didn't handle all those things better and my relief that I don't have to now.


Thirty-one years of records....


So no more letters of recommendation, my friends - my mind is shredded.

The Job Well Begun is Half Done

The sun had barely burned off the morning fog when the pond guy and I began working.

He waded in to the deepest part and began tugging up cattails, I waited on the bank to receive them and fling them on the tarp.

Granddad sat all morning in the bedroom watching out the window waiting for something to happen.

The morning passed without much incident.
There was the time the pond guy startled the turtle and the turtle startled him. He staggered splashing around but didn't fall in.  Good thing.  His cell phone would have suffered.
Then I nicked my finger on a sharp dry blade but it didn't bleed much.
So not much drama going on.
It didn't really matter, Granddad just likes watching people work.

Three hours later we had a big stack of discarded cattails.

The waterfall is once again visible, and the center of the pond reflects the sky again.


It was my father who used to say " A job well begun is half done."  I am telling myself this, and that this is a good start we've made on getting the pond in shape.  Never mind that I thought we'd actually finish the job in one morning.
I promise myself that I'll get back out and work on it soon, before the good beginning gets overgrown again.  When my knees recover.