drumcorps 1 Comment

A Measure of How You’ll Be Missed

Last Sunday was the 2004 LakeShoremen Banquet. You may recall that I didn’t attend for a couple of reasons, not the least of which was the two-hour drive. Anyway, I had assumed—or, perhaps, just hoped—that someone would miss me. That I’d catch some flak from someone for not being there. That someone would tell me that I’d won some award or other, and that they’d have it for me at the first 2005 rehearsal.

But alas. Nothing.

My egotistic assumption that someone would miss me at the banquet reminded me of a poem my Mom taught me long ago, that I’d nearly forgotten (and Google managed to remind me):

Sometime when you’re feeling important,
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction
And see how it humbles the soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water.
Put your hand in up to the wrist.
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is the measure of how you’ll be missed.

You may splash all you like as you enter,
You may stir up the waters galore,
But stop, and you’ll find in a minute
It looks just the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example
Is to do just the best that you can.
Be proud of yourself, but remember,
There is no indispensible man.

                —Anonymous

anecdotes, health & fitness 4 Comments

A Visit To The Optometrist

I practically had to take out a loan to order my new glasses today.

Is six months at 0% financing on credit close enough?

I took the afternoon off of work today so I could go to my 2:30pm appointment at Lifetime Vision Care in Maumee (formerly the office of Eugene Levey Philip Levy, Aaron’s optometrist since 1980—now a partnership between Dr. Levey and Dr. Henry). The exam was no sweat; typical questions (any problems? headaches? changes in vision?), typical tests (which is clearer: 1 or 2? A or B?), and to my joy, I got to forego the jet-puff-in-the-eyeball glaucoma test in favor of the yellow eyedrops. Yay!

Now, the bad news. My headaches may be caused by eyestrain from working at the computer all day (ya think?). The solution? Two pairs of glasses: one for computer-work, one for everyday use.

Oh, my God… It’s like having reading glasses. I’m getting old.

But the humiliation of having two sets of eyeglasses isn’t the end of it. Don’t forget the price of said eyeglasses.

$693.71—and that’s after insurance and discounts.

After I’d picked my jaw up off the office floor, Dr. Henry’s wife gave me a credit application good for 0% interest and no fees, as long as I get my seven hundred bucks paid off within six months. That I can do, so I gratefully and willingly signed on the dotted line. I’ll soon be receiving a card that I can only use at Lifetime Vision Care, that’s mainly just a reminder that I still owe them a crapload of money.

Granted, I’m looking forward to being able to see properly again, and to not having headaches anymore… and I’m highly grateful to Dr. Henry for the 25% discount on the second pair (since Aetna only covers the exam, $15 toward lenses and $30 toward frames)… but still. My God.

randomness

Being A New Urbanist

Not that I don’t like our new house or anything… but I do kind of miss having a downtown area to walk around. Tonight, I could have seen myself braving the cold chilly wind and traipsing down to Grounds with a notebook and pen. Maybe bringing a packet of Splenda and pocketing the miniature bottle of caramel sugar-free syrup from our fridge and ordering a decaf.

Sure, there are places in Toledo I could have driven to, but there’s something different about having the walk to clear your head. When you’re driving, you (or at least, I) have to pay attention and don’t have much brainpower left for properly zoning out.

I like being closer to more things we can drive to, but not being able to walk to real shops and stores and restaurants takes some getting used to.

Maybe this is just a manifestation of the weird depression I seem to have been in lately. Can’t seem to shake it. Don’t want to sleep, don’t want to do crap. I’ve been terminally bored for nearly a week now. It’s a little early in the chilly season to be going through this—this was once what I expected to go through every February. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not nearly as depressed as I once was, and it’s been quite a while—years—since I’ve been even recognizably depressed… and this isn’t nearly as bad as I’ve been in the past. I can handle a general lethargy. It’s just pushing through it, when I know that it has no reasonable cause and no foreseeable cure, that’s the trouble.

randomness

Nothing New To Report

It’s been a few days, so I figured I’d check in with my faithful readership.

On the stiff neck front: it no longer hurts everywhere, but one or two muscles are still stiff. It doesn’t bother me that much, though, and another good hot shower and a nice long night’s sleep may make it better. That, and not playing on the computer all hours of the night.

On the job-hunting front: Designski never got back to me. I submitted my updated resume to Thread on Friday afternoon/evening, and have yet to hear anything beyond the standard autoreply e-mail. Just checked the Sunday Blade classifieds online, and the only thing even remotely close was a graphic design and vinyl cutting job op. Must be for a sign maker somewhere in town.

In other news: I keep having bad dreams that someone is going to spill to Aaron what I’m doing for his birthday. It’ll still be a good present, even if he finds out what it is ahead of time… but I really hope he doesn’t. And if you know about it, don’t post anything damning here, because he does read my blog. 😉

Skipped out on Sunday’s LakeShoremen banquet, mainly because 1.) the main course was pizza, with the remainder being potluck style (read: Aaron and I would be eating salad and nothing else), and 2.) the venue is two hours and fifteen minutes from here. This is also where all the rehearsals will be held for the 2005 season, which makes me a little unhappy. I’m planning to go to the first few rehearsals, see how the drive is, see how happy I am with the membership and the music and getting to really march again. If the drive and the mental payoff don’t equal out, I’m turning in my mello. I mean, really. That’s farther than driving to Cleveland.

In other news: MY GOD, PEOPLE, EITHER LEARN TO SPELL OR USE YOUR SPELLCHECK. Professionals look like complete idiots when they misspell words like “preform” or “there” or “your” or some such thing. Good Christ. The common layperson writing a random “tommorow” or using the wrong “its” can be excused… but for God’s sake, people, proofread the copy that’s going to the printer for a mass-media run! I know I’m the queen of finding the spelling error / typo, but I know I’m not the only one who catches this sort of thing.

Oh, and my printable Imation CD-Rs from Amazon were actually non-printable Spin-X CD-Rs, according to the two incorrect items I’ve received. I’m apparently getting a refund and a $5 coupon off my next order. So, so annoying. The question now is, do I want to try to find some other brand of printable CD-R on Amazon, or do I give it up and just order another Muppet Show DVD?

randomness

Catching Up

Just got off the phone after talking with Carolyn for over an hour. (Aaron – we’re going to have a large long-distance call to West Salem on our next phone bill.)

It’s amazing how much we’ve both grown up, yet we can still relate to one another. It’s partially an age thing—both married with a new house, both age 28 (she’ll be 29 two months before I will). But some of it still a personality and interest thing—both interested in the arts at some point and in some form, both in “boring” jobs we never thought we’d end up in.

I also think we’ve both gotten to be better communicators over the years. She may have been holding back, but her humor didn’t seem as caustic as it once was, and I know I didn’t hold back anything like I might have at one time—if I had a question, I just asked it, to hell with propriety. “How much did you pay for your house?” “Are you breastfeeding?” That sort of thing.

Sounds like she’d be quite excited to see me at their shower on the 30th, so I think I’m going to try to make it out there. I don’t know if Aaron will be up for making a day of it, even if I drive out for the first leg of the trip. Either with or without Aaron, though, it’d be good to see Carolyn again.