Everybody Hurts....

sometime. Michael Stipe had it pegged. My pain was in rare form today. I had eaten my normal granola and lactose free milk for breakfast, drove Little One to school and went to the office. I had my back brace on, and had taken my first handful of Advil for the day. By nine, though, I popped one of my prescription pain pills.

About 2 hours later a co-worker came up and was talking with me about an issue we are having with an office out west, and I apparently passed out. It caused quite a commotion. It happens every few months. Pain is trigger for my vasovagal response. I have become accustomed to these spells, but they do tend to freak out those around me when they occur.

It's the end of the world as we know it....and I feel fine!

So the process of severing the legal bond that still exists between myself and the NQEW has taken a step forward. My attorney called this morning and informed me that she is filing today. So, I would imagine that once the NQEW is served there will be a flurry of activity where she will call Little One every night and make efforts to see her in an attempt to make up for years of apathy with a few months of parenting.

It's not the end of the world, and something that I should have done realistically many years ago. But it has been a little over two years since we separated and it is time for closure.

I found out a long time ago,

It's a long way down the holiday road.

Or so sang Lindsay Buckingham. I need a vacation. I need to take my Little One on a vacation. But it is not to be until Christmas break, probably. School resumes on the 15th of August. I am hoping we can take a weekend trip to some coastal area before it gets too cool. Perhaps September, after Labor Day.

I am nice and busy with work, but I am also trying to explore some training opportunities to more fully develop my resume in case things change. I am also considering the option of leaving the white collar, corporate world for the world of a free-lance contractor, a white collar for hire.

The current project I am on here is rife with such folks. And they are paid outrageously. In their defense, they are working without a net: no insurance, no 401k, no retirement plan. All of this they must provide for themselves. No career track, either.

Some of them eagerly jump at full-time jobs within the company if offered. Some say they want to quit the grind of business travel. Others want the benefits. Others want the certainty of a career, and not a 12-month contract and then another job hunt.

I think the lure is stronger than the reality for me. My Little One needs me at home. I need to be here for her now. Perhaps when she has left the nest I will try the traveling life and see where it takes me. For now I am content to be a company man.

Words

I have been following the tragic situation in Norway as I would imagine have a lot of people. I saw a string of text conversations between a mother and her daughter was hiding on the island while the shooter was on his killing spree.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/27/norway.mother.daughter.texting/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

I suppose this serves as a powerful reminder to let those people who are important to you know that you care.

Well I wished I was in Austin....

actually, anywhere but here this morning. It is hot and humid. One of those typical summer days in the Deep South that makes you almost wish you were up in Yankee land or even Canade enjoying more temperate weather. Actually, I was looking at weather reports from Scotland and that seemed like a nice place to spend a summer.
I love to travel. I have roamed all over the US, parts of Canada and Mexico, and a fair bit of the Caribbean. Europe is on the list to visit, but goodness knows when. I got borrowed some travel videos from the library about parts of Italy. Being a student of the Empire I think I would love banging around Rome, Ravenna, Ostia, Cannae (I know that is more of a Republican site) and other parts of the country. Modern Italian politics and their economic mess are of little interest to me. That's not entirely true - their economic mess is quite interesting, as are those of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and let's not forget Iceland.

But for now I will sweat my summer away in the Deep South, looking at pictures of blue seas and cobbled streets, imagining the gritty narrow alleyways of cities many times older than my nation.

The Black Dog (and, no, not Pupps 2.0)

So, the big, nasty cur has returned. See you when he decides to move along.

Que Sera, Sera

My life takes unusual twists and turns at times, and can seem a bit surreal. Today was one of those days. I left work at lunch time to run some errands and then work from home.

My first stop took me to the office of my attorney to pay the retainer for my divorce. Finally, the ball is rolling. My next stop took me too Petsmart to buy some Gooberlicious treats for Pupps 2.0 as well as some more training pads. While I was there, Teenager called me and asked if he and his dad could come over. (So, Teenager's dad is the ex-husband of the NQEW.) I said sure, and rushed back to my place to tidy up and make sure that Little One was presentable.

The visit was fun. Teenager had spent the past two days in orientation in preparation for his first time of college. He was, as one might expect, excited. His father was equally proud.

We chatted for about an hour and a half, and thought that it was a little odd that I have become (almost)friends with her ex. But then perhaps Doris Day knew what she was singing about (and who would have thought that Alfred Hitchcock would have a musical number in The Man Who Knew too Much?).