Codex Deano

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Skipping School and Giving Speeches

I’ll be playing hooky tomorrow!  It’s amazing how I still get a thrill saying that.  It’s not like I’m in High School and I’m cutting class or anything.  I work in a state office building and I accrued leave time, but it still feels dirty.  All my coworkers will be stuck at their desks while I’m paddling my kayak down a river under the hot sun.  I’ll post some pics on Monday.

In other news I started my first session of Speech-crafters today.  I’ve wanted to join Toastmasters for a looooong time but I just couldn’t fit it into my schedule.  I’ve been doing structured outreach & education for about five years now and this is something I really need to do.  I have to do one public speech every week for five weeks (today didn’t count.)  It’s going to be very educational…and interesting.

Oh, and I'm planning a bonfire for Saturday night.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Question for the Young Ladies...


I have to wonder why most (almost all) people on Blogger are women in their late teens through early 20s.  Do guys really have nothing to say?  As I cycle through the “Next Blog” button I sometimes feel like some intruder peeping into some women's only sorority.  It makes me feel dirty; do I even belong here?  I know the older people in general are too busy working (or they can’t afford electricity due to being laid off) but why is the demographic so skewed? 

In a time where everyone is connected digitally but not physically, do you younger women need the two-way communication blogging provides?  Is communication lacking in your own life?  Is it a creative outlet for some of you?  I’m not demanding answers; I’m simply curious.

I’ve noticed a lot of you speak of being depressed or even suicidal.  I wonder if some of you just want to reach out to anybody who will listen.  Some of you are writers while others are designers or crafters trying to stake your claim in cyberspace.  I admire your efforts, all of you, and I wish you all success. 

Then there are the family blogs.  The only reason I know these blogs exist is because of the whooshing sound they make as they fly past my screen.  I’m not undervaluing families, I have my own and it’s enough for me. I was a stay-at-home dad for the first two years of both my kid’s lives.  It was the most educational experience of my life.  I just can’t imagine anyone logging into my blog to find out what my kids are doing.  My family members on Facebook hardly even notice what I’m posting.  I know it’s exciting being a new parent, but I just don’t get why you would want to post stories about how your 9 month old spit up on Aunt Bessie at the family reunion.  Or why some of you feel the need to post pictures of every skinned knee and boo-boo your 2 year old son gets.  Slow down!  If he’s anything like I was you’ll have plenty of X-rays and emergency room bills to post later in life.

So if anyone should stumble onto this post and actually read it, I’d love to know your thoughts on the subject. Why are women the great communicators on line? 

Thanks.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

I'm back...and exhausted!

Well, it's been an interesting couple of weeks.  I spent the 6th through the 9th incredibly sick. I contracted some kind of an infection from a tick bite.  My temperature was between 100 and 102 all week and every muscle in my upper body felt like it had been beaten with an iron pipe.  Between the muscle aches and the night sweats I was only able to get about 2 or 3 hours of sleep per night.  The doctor pulled some blood cultures for West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis and thankfully both came back negative.  I never experienced a headache so the doc said that pretty much ruled out meningitis.  I was given a prescription for an antibiotic that helps fight off Lyme disease and by the morning of the 10th I was feeling fairly normal.  I was completely drained and weak though and had no energy whatsoever.  The 10th was also the day I was supposed to start my vacation, which was actually my rotation as a leader at my son's Scouting Camp.  It was also the morning of my 400 yard camp swim test. 

I had to swim 300 yards doing the breast stroke and then 100 yards doing the back stroke, then tread water for several minutes.  I'm not sure if I spent more energy swimming or trying to prevent my face from contorting into a frightening look of death, but I made it.  I couldn't walk straight for about five minutes after I climbed onto the dock, and I kept yawning (gasping) for air for about 4 hours after I left the swimming area.  My ears also popped (like when you're in high altitude) and I couldn't clear them until the next day. That's when the real fun began.

Our Pack-group consisted of 10 Cub Scouts including two sets of brothers and my son.  Over the next five days we would walk between 25 and 26 miles (according to the GPS) and deal with everything from lost toothbrushes to mild dehydration to sibling rivalry. The 6:15 a.m. wake-up calls were a little harsh in my opinion.  Rain storms are awesome when you're in a tent; not so awesome when it's 95 degrees out at midnight and the humidity is 100%.  My tent was like an oven half the nights I was there and falling asleep in a huge puddle of sweat seemed normal by Thursday.  But the kids had a blast and nobody was injured.  That last part isn't completely true.  One of the scouts cut his finger during a whittling class on day two.  On day three he fell down a paved hill and skinned his knee.  On day four he bit his own finger during lunch.  For a moment I thought maybe he was trying to escape piece by piece.

I arrived home on the 15th and immediately did a lot of smelly laundry.  The past two weeks had been physically and mentally draining, but the next day was going to be the biggest challenge and completely drain me emotionally.  I made a trip up north with my best friend's widow. We kayaked out onto his favorite lake and scattered some of his ashes not far from the rope swing he and I played on as children almost 30 years ago.  We toasted his memory with two bottles of Molson Canadian and shared some stories and memories of the man we both loved so dearly.  Then we drove east and ate a seafood dinner big enough to sink a humpback whale; no regrets.  My friend, Jim and his wife had been together since high school and they were still going strong.  You could see the love they had for each other when they would stare into each others eyes.  It was like the whole world would stop for them.  He was my best friend but he was also my technical adviser on all things electronic, my therapist, my career councilor and my closest link to so many childhood memories.  I hate not being able to call him. But he comes to me in my dreams once in a while and I'm thankful for that.  He passed away just three weeks after his 39th birthday.  I miss him so much.

After I returned home from the lake I fell asleep at 4 p.m. and didn't wake up until 10 am the next day.  I finally had caught up on my sleep.  It's a good thing too.  I had to go back to work the next morning.  I showed up to the office this Monday looking ten times more exhausted than when I had left.

I need a vacation!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Wait, what day is it?

Well I’m back at work and my recovery from the 4th of July weekend is well underway.    I was at work for almost 2 hours this morning before I realized it’s Tuesday.  What?  A four day work week?  I didn’t even think about that, woo hoo!  What a bonus! 

So I rolled my mangled carcass out of bed at 6ish and began the search for all those little items that would get me through the day.   It’s the morning scavenger hunt game that we all play.  Some of us play a little harder than others:

1 Cash, just in case I break down or need an emergency whole-grain bagel…check

2 Access ID badge, forgot the stupid thing last Friday!  Not today!  I found it clipped to the belt I was wearing last Thursday…check

3 Car keys, crap I haven’t seen those things for two days.  When all else fails look in the laundry basket. Ah-ha!  Gotcha!…check 

4 Glasses, you can’t fool me again, I’m wearing those…check 

5 Sunglasses, forgot those last Friday too.  Man, last Friday must have sucked…check 

6 Something for lunch,  Luckily the fridge is full of cook-out leftovers so I didn’t have to really think about this one.  I accidentally bumped the door and a blue lidded glad-ware bowl fell into my hands.  Vegetable soup it is.…check

As usual, I ate my breakfast on the highway.  But today I didn’t wear any of it; another bonus.  I have two breakfast options every morning.  Eat in the car or go hungry.   I always have enough time to make a healthy breakfast at home, but not enough time it seems to eat it too.  I know what you’re thinking…just get up earlier.  Well I’ve tried that and ya know what?  The earlier I get up, the slower I move and I still end up with the same options.  Besides, a bowl full of grapes, apple slices, raisins, chopped walnuts and vanilla yogurt is fairly car-friendly.

It’s going to be in the mid 90’s today so I packed a change of clothes too.  I hate it when my good pants, dress shirt and socks are saturated with sweat.  It’s just not good for anybody. I actually heard a guy complain that I changed cloths in the bathroom once.  Let me tell ya, I spent almost 10 years in the Army and I don't give a damn where anyone changes clothes. As long as it's not in public view obviously.  This guy must have lived a sheltered childhood if that's the kind of thing that offends him.  What a wuss.

I’m scrambling to get things caught up at work for my week off.  It’s not really a week off; I’m volunteering as a camp councilor at a local day/overnight camp.  The kids will range in ages from 6 through 12.  This should be interesting.  It doesn’t feel that long ago when I was the one at summer camp doing all the things campers aren’t supposed to do.  Now I’m supposed to regulate these kids and tell them not to do all the stuff I did.  Seems like a conflict of interest to me.  Didn’t anyone do a thorough background check on me?  Oh well.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Nothing Yet

Well it's been about a week and nobody has subscribed to this blog. It's had over 300 views though.  Hmm, is that normal or does my writing just suck?   I'm not sure what I was expecting but I at least thought I would keep up with the approximately 50 twelve year-olds giving makeup tutorials.  Apparently I was way overconfident.

I've seen people who have been on here for less than a year with over 900 subscribers and I also see people who have been on here for five years and only have 14 subscribers. I guess I still need to find that "hook."

Well I probably won't be on here over the Fourth of July Weekend.  There are celebrations to attend, a birthday party to plan and a bottle of rum with my name written all over it...aarrgg!  Sounds like potential fuel for future writing.

If you happen to stumble onto this blog over the long holiday weekend I wish you the best 4th of July ever.  See (hopefully somebody) when I return on Tuesday.