In today’s NYTimes was a memorial to Christoffer M. Carstenjen, one of the many killed on 9/11/01. Chris was one of two from the English/Morris dance communities killed. He was on UA flight 175 enroute to join a group of bikers for a ride up the California coast. His web site included this advice:

Best of all…..

Keep healthy, wealthy and wise. Your job is important, but don’t live for just your job! Keep active and an open mind. Practice random acts of kindness. Complement someone each day. Listen to all sides of a story before making a decision. Don’t be afraid to admitting on being wrong. Learn the meaning of Life. Try, please try, to live within your means. Don’t worry about saving money for your kids’ college costs, it means lots more if they pay their own way. Save at least 15% of what you make for retirement. Try to meet someone new everyday. Ann Landers really means well. Plan for the future. Listen and surround yourself with positive people and speakers. Don’t let the turkeys get you down. Write when you get work.. :-)

Take care,

Christoffer
aka Sir Sword Boy , The Porch Guy, and Mr. Wonderful

Thank goodness for friends. Many of my online friends wrote with calming words, words of personal experience, and just to let me know I was being thought of. So today I’m not as freaked, but just a normal amount of worried.

Worked til 8 and sold some stuff today, talked to some nice people, some not-so-nice people, and spent the last hour or so tidying up the stock room. It looked great. Would that cleaning my own house would be so easy and rewarding.

I had a total brain spazz for about 20 minutes today. When I mentioned this to an asst. mgr, he cleared me of all responsibility, saying that it was all because of the full moon. I can live with that! For that short period, I could not ring up sales easily because everything I did, I did out of proper sequence. Totally strange.

I noticed today while driving in to work that there are these wonderful areas that are a real yellow tan and a mahogany brown color – think marsh grasses and oak leaves. I just kept catching glimpses of this and thinking that the irregular jagged edges and those two colors together were just compelling. Overall a grey and rather rainy day, which of course helps pop out those colors. we really need the rain, so I have no complaints there. And now to sleep.

OK, this has just been a totally weird weird weird week. I’m tired. I’m over loaded. I’ve apparently lost whatever little I had. I haven’t been able to keep a schedule of when to go to work with me so that I have it when I get home since last week. Monday I was early, which was OK – I went and had my hair cut. Yesterday I was there insanely early because of the way-to-early doctor appointment. Today I was sure positive I was supposed to start at 11. Got there right on time. uh….. did you know the schedule has you starting at 10? yikes. So I’m not doing well. I made DOUBLE sure I had the schedule for the rest of the week and next in my pocket when I left work tonight. Geesh. They were totally ok with it, had enough people, not swamped with customers, but boy did I feel like a total ditz.

And while we’re on the “lost it” subject – as I was reviewing a handful of sites last night for yesterday’s entry links, I managed to totally freak myself out about the spots I was having checked out yesterday at the doctors. He wants to remove and check out both of them which is pretty routine but he seemed more interested in the one that was less worrisome to me. After looking at the photos I understood why. This left me wondering – should HE remove them? should I ask for a referral to a surgeon? Should I ask for the day off? Is it likely that it’s really bad? If I hadn’t been really sleep deprived I doubt I would have slept much last night. Luckily I guess I was so tired that sleep was a good thing.