Savoring The Sunshine

Sunday May 5^th, 2013 – Gurnee, IL/Kenosha, WI

   No time for relaxing, even though today would have been the perfect day for it. The weather is finally starting to break around these parts after a long sloppy winter nobody thought would end – and in other parts it hasn’t. I heard there was a late season nasty blast of snow from Kansas City to Minnesota last week, and nobody would have been surprised had it hit Chicago or Milwaukee.

   All of this combined with everything else going on everywhere reminds me how unbelievably delicate the balance of life is not only on this tiny planet but probably in the entire universe with all its vastness. Sometimes I think too much, but how can one not? There’s too much going on.

   The fine line required to sustain life as we know it is fascinating to me. Our planet hosts a huge array of plants, animals and us, and that entails a lot of environment variables. There has to be an ample amount of fresh air for us to breathe and enough clean water to drink and use to generate a renewable food supply. One itty bitty tweak could easily throw it all off and we’d all be history.

   On top of that, Israel is launching missiles at Syria and one wrong move there could easily lead directly to the dropping of bigger ones closer to where we call home. I’m ashamed of my species with our warmongering ways, and I wish someone with power would put a permanent end to the insanity before these idiots put a permanent end to everything. It would be nice to just enjoy life.

   I’m trying to do my very best to do exactly that, even though I’ve been pounding the pavement pretty hard of late. I’m trying to squeeze as many positive things as I can into the days I have left – and nobody knows that number. Every one of us is living on borrowed time, but not many of us are really living. We’re busy farting around with all sorts of meaningless tripe, and I’m there too.

   What really means anything? It’s different for everybody, but I think it boils down to enjoying each day as it comes. It’s hard not to worry about the future, but nobody promised any of us will live to see the end of even this day. As for me, I’m going to savor all the sunshine while it lasts.

   I was scheduled to attend a storage unit auction this morning, but I must have gotten some bad information. I showed up at the place and there was no auction going on. I’d heard about it from my friend Karl Newyear, so maybe he heard it wrong. Whatever the case, I was out and about on a sunny day so it was no big deal. I didn’t have any spare money to buy a storage unit anyway.

   I just went because Karl suggested it, but at some point I’d love to dabble in that area. It has an appeal because of the treasure hunting angle just like hitting flea markets, thrift stores and estate and rummage sales. There’s something exciting about finding a trinket and selling it for a profit.

   I’ve only done it a precious few times, but it was a lot of fun when I did it. In the big scheme of life in the universe, my finding a doo dad for a few shekels and flipping it for a few more doesn’t put the slightest ripple in the cosmic fabric, but it sure makes me feel a thrill for a few minutes so who or what does it hurt? Since I was already up and outside, I spent the rest of the day junking.

   I didn’t find a thing to buy today, but I still had fun in the sun just observing the freak show we call life. I browsed and talked to people and just took everything in that was around me. It was as fun as anything I’ve done in a while, and just being in the moment felt great. I did get to squeeze in a nap, and then went to have dinner with my Mothership Connection co-hosts before doing the show from 8pm to midnight on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, WI. I savored the sunshine all day.  

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Russians And Lutherans

Thursday August 5th, 2010 – Waukegan, IL

I’d like to meet the anal retentive S.O.B. that can keep up with everything that has to be looked after in 21st century life. I have a hard time believing anyone can do it. There’s just too much to do, and too little time to do it. I know I’m having major difficulty, and I only have me to look after. If one little thing goes wrong, it throws everything else off course.

One little thing rarely goes wrong though, it’s a cluster of major things. That really puts everything into a state of total disarray, and trying to manage it is like trying to keep a pit of snakes under control just by talking to them. For some reason, snakes just don’t listen.

I was all over the place today, getting myself ready to head out to sea next week. I broke yet another dental filling so it was back for an unexpected stop at the old Russian shop of dental horrors to get drilled on – again. They really do great work there, but there’s not an ounce of sympathy for pain. They waited in line for toilet paper, I better learn to shut up.

They’re actually very nice people, but I do notice a hardness about them in some ways. I guess I’d have it too if I grew up in Russia, so I don’t complain. My dentist this time was a Lithuanian woman with a great sense of humor. She told me to stop moving my tongue or she’d cut it off. She said she’d already cut off two and a third would win her a jackpot.

That probably doesn’t translate very well, but she delivered it perfectly with her accent and it put me in a good mood because it was unexpected. She showed more humor in five minutes than in all the others I’ve dealt with in probably twenty five visits over the years.

I was surprised my credit card worked, but it did, and now I’m in a financial hole bigger than the one that was in my tooth. I need this money from the ships to bail me out at least a little, and to make it worse I still haven’t filed my income taxes yet. I filed an extension.

My accountant called today and said there’s a problem with the IRS. They said they had not received my return for last year, even though I know I mailed it. I have to see him this coming Monday to straighten it out, and that’s more money I don’t have to pay him to file this year’s return. It just keeps coming and I have no defense. I just have to deal with it.

After the dentist I went to get a haircut, then did my laundry after that. I had a mountain built up and was out of socks and underwear. I also answered a fermenting stack of phone messages along with some emails I’d been needing to get to and all in all it was a tornado.

My friend Karl Newyear invited me for dinner at The Quonset, a great pizza joint in his hometown of Waukegan. We flip flop buying, and it was his turn. Good thing, as I’m all tapped out at the moment. We had a hot waitress that distracted us both, but we liked it.

Karl bills himself as ‘The World’s Funniest Lutheran’ which is a great gimmick. He has a job and just got married, but he’s getting an itch to perform. I get it, but it’s not always an easy sell at home or work. Check out Karl’s site at http://www.worldsfunniestlutheran.com.

Shave And A Haircut

Wednesday April 21st, 2010 – Lake Villa, IL

Since I blew my chances to both rest up or accomplish anything productive yesterday, it felt extra good to kick it up a notch and get a lot done today. The weather was spectacular and these kind of days don’t come along very often around these parts. I enjoyed all of it.

I used today as a rebooting day to mentally start over. I finally got around to the gigantic mountain of laundry that’s been fermenting in front of me for weeks if not months, and it always feels good to get that out of the way. I have a backlog of socks and underwear and shirts that keep me from having to do laundry every week, so when I do it’s a major deal.

The woman I rent from told me I could use her washing machine, but I choose not to do that. I’m used to going to a Laundromat, and it’s actually quicker. I do it all at once and it ends up not taking that long at all. Usually three washers and three dryers gets it all done.

Road comics are used to doing laundry on the run. I wish I could count how many times I have had to stop at some strip mall between Albuquerque and Zanesville to scrub up my grundies for another week of road touring. Sometimes I’ll just buy cheap traveling clothes at thrift stores and wear them until they’re funky and then toss them. That’s a lot cheaper.

It’s also hassle free. One time I was in a restaurant and someone bumped a waitress who in turn spilled a big plate of spaghetti all over the front of my shirt. It was a chain reaction and obviously an accident but when it happened I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I saw the look of terror on the waitress’s face, but I just laughed out loud and calmed her down.

The shirt I was wearing probably cost $1 at the most, and it was no big deal. It was very funny to see everyone turn and look at me, just like a scene in a movie. The manager said he’d pay for the cleaning bill, but I couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t feel right. I just tossed the shirt and put on the spare I always carry with me in my car. It comes in handy quite often.

I also got a haircut today and had my bean sheared pretty good. I had my hair quite a bit longer than I’m used to wearing it and there was a big pile on the floor when I was done. I wanted it a little shorter this time just to symbolize a renewal of attitude. It’ll grow back.

My friend and former comedy student Karl Newyear lives in Waukegan and invited me to dinner at The Quonset on Grand Avenue. They have outstanding pizza and we sat and talked about basketball, since Karl played and is a big fan. It’s always fun to talk sports.

Karl has a great comedy angle. He’s “The World’s Funniest Lutheran”. Great gimmick. He hasn’t been hitting it as hard because he has a day job, and in this economy that’s not a bad thing. Like many people, he does comedy part time when he can. That’s totally fine.

Everything was laid back and easy today. I have a load of clean clothes and a three state killing spree haircut and I even made time to do a lap in the Gurnee Mills Mall to try and restart my exercise experiment. All in all, it was a productive day. I rebooted my attitude.