| COMMENTS FROM THE CORNER........... |
| copyright 2001 James W. Grace |
| Well, it's about time I guess. It's been almost three months since I last sat down here and put words together. "Writer's block" I suppose, or I can use the excuse of "not having time", or, maybe more accurately, "nothing to say". But I decided to try it anyway. The past two-plus months have been a whirlwind. There have been some significant changes in my life, at work and at home. I have finally achieved what may seem like nothing to some of you, but to those of us who work at the Bulk Mail Center, this is kind of a "milestone"..... having a day-shift job with BOTH Saturdays AND Sundays off. It took me over 17 years to reach that goal. I've been at this new bid since early June, and the verdict is still out on how well I like it. For obvious reasons, it is desirable to get weekends off. But there's something to be said for what I had before, Fridays and Saturdays off. It was nice to have Fridays to do things on my own, everything is open, kind of relaxing just sit around in my underwear playing on the computer as I do little chores around the house. I got really used to being home Fridays, and really hate getting up and heading to Des Moines. BUT, it took me no time at all adjusting to NOT having to drive to Des Moines on Sundays! It's a trade-off, what used to be my "family day" (Saturday) is now my "multi-task day", doing what I used to do on Friday. Sundays are the family day now, and it's kinda hard to find a better day for that. The actual job is great, more variety than what I did before, I get along well with those I work with, and so far at least, those I work for, and I have no intention of giving it up to take back what I had before. As I'm sure you all know by now, Joanie and I are "taking the plunge" and getting married on August 18th. We've talked about this for a while, and, to me, it seems so right! We're having a small wedding, just family in attendance, and we're planning on having it out at our acreage. Those plans haven't been finalized yet, but hey, we've got plenty of time, right?? I tried giving up smoking a couple of weeks ago. I lasted EIGHT days without one cigarette, until the nerves started getting to me, and I was tiring of behaving like a total asshole! Maybe that's a little strong, but to say the least, I was VERY irritable. At this time, I manage to hold the smoking to two or three a day, but most likely that will increase the closer August 18th gets! Lots going on with Josh and Jennie. Josh is doing great in school, really enjoying it, and really enjoying the fact that he now knows SO MUCH MORE than I do when it comes to MODERN AUTOMOBILES, more specifically, WHAT MAKES THEM RUN!! I'm enjoying that, too, as I know who I can go to with future problems and not get raped when it comes time to pay up! We're looking to start a project, we're gonna take an older Ford Ranger pickup, take a wrecked Mustang from about '87 to '92, swap all the computer gizmos (AND the V-8 engine and 5-speed) into the Ranger. Should be lots of fun, both building it AND driving it when all's done. It will take a year at least to finish, first to get it all fitted, bugs worked out, then taken apart for a complete going over. I've long had this desire to do something like that with my son. Jennie is getting ready to start cosmetology school this fall. She's going to be living an hour and a half away from home. THAT will take some adjusting for all of us. I'll have to drive to Ames to get my hair cut when she goes! BUT I'll probably be getting my hair cut more often that way! Well, I feel better now, I've actually sat down and unwound enough to put this together. I'll let you all know more wedding details when we have them put together, but I can say this, we're both looking forward to a week away from work, and away from here! 6/27/01 |