End Of The Year Thoughts, 2013

So we’ve come to the end of yet another year, a ridiculously arbitrary milestone, but a milestone none the less.  I could talk about the good . . . or the bad . . . the indifferent or even the irrelevant.

But I’m not in the mood.

If I’d written this yesterday afternoon, I would have written about some of the bad.  If I’d written it yesterday evening, I would have written about some of the good, but now . . .?

Right now I’m just going to call it a year, raise a toast to honor the old and salute the new, and be done with it.

See you next year.

Or Any Of The Other Examples History Thoughtfully Keeps Supplying Us With

If you treat people, particularly people who work with and/or for you, like disposable resources, they’ll tend to start to return the favor.  When that happens, you may find out the hard way that you are the one who had the most to lose after all.

If you don’t believe me, you could always ask Caligula.

But When It Struck, It Struck Like An Iron Fist

So I’ve been sitting here a while now as I tried to decide what I wanted to write about.  I paused to tell someone in need of motivation that all they needed was to provide themselves a bigger reward to aid their motivation, then came back to this and wondered how I was going to motivate myself to make a decision.

The funny part is it actually took me a full minute before the irony of that struck me.

So Just How Exaggerated WAS Yesterday’s Tale?

Pretty exaggerated.

For a start, I knew she said “floss,” but saw the joke opening and decided to take it.

The story becomes even less true after that.

A HEAVILY Exaggerated Christmas Tale

“When we get home, I’m going to find some flaws,” I hear my mother say on the way back from Christmas lunch.

“Really, Mom?” I asked in exasperation.  “Do we have to do this every year?  What is it this time?  My hair?  My clothes?  My lifestyle in general?  What do you want from me?”

“The floss, Robert, the floss,” she answered.  “I have something caught in my teeth.”

“Oh,” I said softly.  “It’s in the bathroom.  On a completely unrelated note, have I mentioned how much we enjoy your Christmas visits?”

Ironically Enough

People who upon first meeting assure you of their honesty, are almost inevitably proven to be liars.

Then I Realized The Question Contained The Answer

Today I asked myself at what point did I shift from trying to see the house clean for Mom’s visit, to “clean enough” until Mom is rested so she can play with/distract/babysit L. so the rest of us can be free to finish in peace everything that needs to be done.

A Bit Early, I Know, But . . .

I’ve been giving some thought to New Year’s resolutions, lately (something I usually don’t bother with), and while the exact phrasing is still a work in progress, I’d like to resolve to be more empathic before I respond to a provocation.  At this point in time, at least, I know it’s beyond me to make it my first reaction, but I’d like to make empathy the second thing in the queue to automatically trigger so my actual response, if any, is properly tempered and more likely to be the best one under the circumstances.

 

All Work, No Ethics

At what point exactly did most people start confusing “coming into the homestretch” with “now take another lap . . . now another .  . . and now another . . . and another, ad nauseum”?

Today’s Time Blocks

I’m watching you play as I type this, son.

And I’m typing this line fifteen minutes or so after my first line, and you were pulling on my arm half the time I was trying to I type this.

And this line is being typed about five minutes after my previous one now that we’ve made Gordon out of Duplo blocks for the third time today.

(Some things are more important than working.)