Three ring circus

Pat M. is a teacher at MATC. She’s off for Christmas break - or whatever they might call it. Downtime. She teaches basic skills to adults that might not have graduated high school or that have to brush up on something for their new job in the new economy. We’d call it remedial reading, writing and arithmetic.

We’re both a little older. We remember news when there was more news on it - and less jocularity. And the weather comes with so much drama attached. Hey, it’s cold. It’s winter in Wisconsin.

She likes to watch the BBC. Me, too. It’s news without the goofing around. 

Mr. B is retired. He spends most of his better weather time on his 36 foot sailboat. Sometimes he has a small crew and sometimes he can ‘single hand’ it. He likes going across Lake Michigan to the other shore. He’s got 15 to 16 hours of solitude like that.

I told him my first experience with a sailboat was not on Geneva Lake where I grew up but on Lake Travis outside Austin, Texas. My new friends, twin brothers Mike and Pat, rebuilt a sixteen foot (?) Mystic Seaport sailboat. They kept the wooden hull and the engine and rebuilt it as a pirate ship.

And I still love the wind chimes of the rigging blowing against the aluminum masts when the boats are asleep in their slips. It’s relaxing - meditative. He did not invite me down to South Shore Yacht Club.

And, Elesio. We talked about Mexico; especially Cuernavaca, the Land of Eternal Spring. He lived so close to the dealer that I don’t know what he does, has, or likes. His brother-in-law preceded him to Fond du Lac and that’s how he wound up in Wisconsin. He did spend some time in LA. Too crazy. Too expensive.

I told him our handyman Ernesto brought tamales the day before Christmas for his pals in the wash bay. Man, that was good eatin’. We talked a little about good eatin’. We talked about Mexico City, security and the fact that most cities have their dark side; like Milwaukee, for instance.

Yes, I guess.

Here was my day. I made a parts run to Wilde on Hwy 100 south of Oklahoma and a bank run.

111 W. Michigan.
62nd and Main St. West Allis
10th and Drexel
13th and Milwaukee in So. Mil.
62nd and Bottsford
15th and Howard
98th and Loomis

It was a nicely paced day and I drove about 85 miles. Some days are lighter days. This was one. It gave me some time to reflect on the three ring circus aspect of this job.

The first ring is the driving people part. That’s the part that shows up in the blog. The second ring is what I talk about when customers ask about me. It’s the addition of my experience to whatever topics is at hand. Some of that shows up.

The third ring is a three-ring circus all by itself. It’s the stories of the ADD nature of the service drive along with the toxic and barely functional treatment of employees by management. In 18 months half the staff has turned over. And the bloodletting before Christmas this year? Think of your last check as your bonus, fellows. We’ll mail it to you.

Finally today, it surprises me to an almost embarrassing degree to discover this and then tell you about it. I used to love to listen to public radio after I dropped my customers off. Whatever the set of reasons ... I am doing that less and I’m missing the wonderful authors and their books. I miss the fresh ideas. The length of time I can listen is shorter than it had been. But wait ... and here’s the embarrassing part ... I do have a smart phone and there is bluetooth in the van. While I cannot put the radio on pause I can pause the feed on a radio app. Heck I could be listening to TEDtalks.
Why has it taken this long to figure that out?

The phone may be smart. The operator requires some remedial training.

Lately I have been looking at my entire driving tenure with a new eyes. I am looking to package the stories into book form. That is news to me.

Thanks, dear readers, for stopping by.
Happy New Year, darlings.

...

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
~Norman Vincent Peale