Sunday Drive

Time in the car is getting to be a familiar thing. Six+ hours on Wednesday and Thursday, and another six hours yesterday and six more today. Personally, I would have made the 12 hours to Colorado Springs in a single day. Maybe on the way home next week. On the way home, we'll lose an hour, so we'd need an early start, and I realize that not everyone is as comfortable on an all-day car trip.
...Or getting up early.
No worries. I'm pretty easy about such things.

Depending on the sunlight, I may add a post while riding in the car since Chris is doing the driving. Maybe not. I thought about it yesterday, but the computer was packed in the back. I may keep it with me today. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the kids today.

Be well.
Enjoy your Sunday.

John

Traveling

We've got our traveling schedule backwards. We were in Puerto Vallarta while it was still hot and are traveling to Colorado Springs when it's cold. We need to switch that around.

One of the downsides of working the cold weather shelter this winter is the commitment to staying put for the winter. I know there will be days in January and February that I may regret having made such a commitment. I'll probably spend those days booking a spring trip or virtually shopping for condos on a beach somewhere.

I think we are overdue for a beach trip with our Canadian friends. Chris was in Nova Scotia for a girls' weekend in June, but it has been a while since I've seen them. And while Canada in the summertime might be fine, I'd much prefer a beach trip in the tropics - even in the summer! Planning such an adventure might be a project for one of those cold winter days that is coming. 
Maybe I'll plan a summer road trip on the motorcycle. I could plan a basehall and bike trip, riding from MLB stadium to stadium. Although my last bike trip was fun, I don't have the same enthusiasm for long days on the bike that I once had. I don't know. It might be that I just need to ride more often. 

In any case, we have travel plans for the Thanksgiving holiday and will probably be home for the rest of the cold weather season. We'll have to make up for that come springtime.

Tell me your travel stories.
Got any recommendations?
Invitations?

John

Rest Day

Having been retired for almost 8 years, it is rare that I need a day of rest. 
It's been a pretty busy week for my usually dormant life and I am looking forward to doing very little today. Tomorrow will find me back in the car and on the road, so it's an easy day but with its own kind of stress. 

The morning fire in the fireplace and my last cup of coffee from Oaxaca Mexico is a fine way to begin the day. 
I'm curious about how others begin their day to set themselves up for a good day. I know people that spend time in prayer, reading the Bible, or practicing a morning meditation. 
I know that there are many people that attack (a purposefully chosen word) the day seeking to conquer any problems or problem people that get in their way, while others just roll with the tide and sail seemingly unencumbered by the trials and struggles of the people around them. 

I do wish that I would have been more mindfully aware earlier in life. I think that I've always been pretty positive in my approach to life, but I also believe that I wasted a lot of time and energy trying to convince less positive people that there is a better way. It was an occupational hazard of an evangelist/preacher.
Now that I'm out of the "you need to change so God will love you" mindset I can work on the "I need to change so I can see that God already loves you (and me, too)" mindset.
It's a strange phenomena that evangelicals pull every text about the depravity of man out of the Bible to use against us, but fail to use the creation story of God looking at all of creation (including humankind) and declaring it good, very good!

If you need a restful mantra to begin your day, try this:
Look in the mirror or just close your eyes and repeat this to yourself,
"I am created by God, in the image of God. God looks at me and says that I am good, very good!"

John

Times Change

I just read a Facebook memory from 12 years ago about cruising through the first of three mids. After finishing three mids at the shelter this week (and driving to Central IL) I was pretty wiped out. I slept a pretty solid 8.5 hours last night. And that was after a couple of caffeinated sodas within an hour or so of bedtime!
I don't know if it's age, being out of practice, or both, but it ain't like the old days. That's for sure!

Thursday is off to a slow start. I'll be on the road for home in a bit - another 6+ hours in the car. There will be more car riding/driving this weekend as we hit the road to Colorado for the Thanksgiving holiday. 

But first--
Mom just decided that she's hungry and that I'm supposed to fix her something to eat, so I'll get back to you tomorrow!

John

Last Minute Post

Okay, so it's not exactly a last minute post; more like a final hour post.
It is in the final minutes of the day to successfully count this as posting on November 16th.

It has been a long day. Overnight at the shelter with a little more than the quiet, uneventful nights we normally experience, a 4 hr sleep, a few errands and then a 6+ hour drive to Central IL.  I arrived about 10pm and will be heading home shortly after 10am in the morning. It's too short of a trip to connect with my old buddies, maybe on the return trip after Thanksgiving.

I've been thinking about the people at the shelter and how serving them has changed me. This is one of those posts that I think I want to take some time with. If you haven't heard from me about this in the next week or so, feel free to remind me about it. I think it is worth examining.

That's it for today.

Expect another short post for tomorrow.

John

Good, Bad, Indifferent

I made it to the middle of the month and posted every day. I don't know if I'll keep it up or not.
I like writing. I like sharing thoughts, ideas, books, etc., but I'm not sure if I'll keep it up. The idea of writing every day is a challenge for me. The real challenge is in trying to organize the scattered thoughts in my head into something that actually makes sense once I put the words together in written form.

Coming into the shelter tonight I was thinking about the great work that many people around our city are doing to help others. So much kind work and so many good deeds seem to go unnoticed by the news or by people in general. Bad news gets talked about, good news doesn't.
There are probably as many good people doing good things as there are jerks and dumb m/f-ers doing bad things, but we just never hear about it because good deeds don't make for good ratings. Maybe the real problem isn't with bad people doing bad things. Maybe it's with the majority of people being indifferent about good people and their good deeds and bad people and their bad deeds.

Maybe we (I) need to do more to share good stories and spend less time sharing or talking about the bad stories. I do this little thing about working in the shelters during the cold weather season. But the real work is being done all of the time - especially during the cold weather season. By the time I got to the shelter tonight, hundreds of meals had already been served by volunteers in our community and so much coordination between the different agencies and groups that try to organize the shelters and get as many people as possible into warm, safe beds on cold, wet nights like tonight. 

Typing away on my keyboard while a few dozen people sleep isn't exactly difficult work. The difficult part of tonight's work was in having to turn people away or find an alternate place for them to shelter for the night. One man had been waiting outside the shelter for quite some time, but he didn't know that he needed to sign up to reserve a place here. He had to wait until the people that had signed up were in and then hope there were cots left. There weren't. His frustration and anger showed in his tears as he just wanted in out of the cold and rain, and to know that he'd be safe and warm for the night. We were able to find him a bed at another shelter and provide the transportation to get him (and others) into a safe and warm place to sleep. 
The situation will repeat itself over the coming nights and throughout the winter as there are literally hundreds of people that will not be able to find shelter on cold nights. I think the indifference of our City Council is the major player in ignoring the growing problem of homelessness in our community. 

This is what I mean when I talk about not having thoughts organized and just writing stuff. It might be better to just write it as I'm thinking about it rather than never getting around to actually writing something more well organized and more well written. 

More unorganized rambling tomorrow.

John

The Midwatch

It's been a little while since I've worked the midshift. In ATC world I worked a lot of mids. Light traffic most of the night, light staffing, no supervisors - what's not to like?

Working the overnight mid at the shelter isn't bad. I'm back again for the next couple of nights. I didn't really pre-sleep the for last night's shift, so I should sleep well today. I had a quick post-mid meal, grilled cheese sandwich topped with a fried egg. It's a pretty tasty, eat with a fork kind of sandwich.


 

I'll be up for a little bit to get into rhythm for the coming nights.
I'm expecting to sleep pretty well.

John

Things that make you go, "Hmmm..."

 

Brrrr...

Cold weather has made it to the Ozarks!
This isn't my preferred way of spending my more coffee and quiet time, but I'm pretty certain it will become the norm in the coming months.

I am ready for spring.

Last night was the first night Springfield's overnight cold weather shelters were open. 
Chris and a friend joined me to help get guests settled at one of the shelters. The set-up and hospitality crew is usually out of there by 10pm. We were out a little earlier last night. 
Due to this early overnight freezing streak, I'll be starting my overnight monitor duties a little earlier than planned. I know that spending the night at the shelter then working the next day isn't an option for most people, but there are other areas where volunteers are needed. Talk to me if you'd like to help in some way.

Stay warm
...and consider donating blankets, coats, hats, gloves, etc., to a shelter or organization in your area.

John
 

Reading

I've been in a bit of a reading funk lately.
I'm still reading every day but these last couple of non-fiction, full of science data reads have slowed me down quite a bit, sometimes just a chapter a day. Interesting stuff, but not something you can just breeze through. Learning stuff is work - even when you don't have to. It's a good reminder that I probably would be wasting time and money to go back to school for any reason.

My Kindle streak is still intact at 445 consecutive days, 100 consecutive weeks, plus there are those occasional books - you know, actual paper and ink books - that I pick up from the library or buy. I'm at 70 books for the year with two currently open. 
The oncoming winter may inspire more reading time, though that's hard to imagine for a retired guy.

My current books are Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahnemen and The Day the Revolution Began by N. T. Wright, both nonfiction which is rare for me. Reading more than one book at a time isn't unusual for me. Reading more than one nonfiction book at a time is.

What are you reading?

John