Day 12 - "Parking" Dude

Last night I went to dinner with my family in order to celebrate my step-daughter's 19th birthday. It was close to downtown, so naturally parking was a bit of a struggle. I pulled up to Marcella's and dropped my wife off at the door. Directly across the street was what appeared to be a parking area with meters, so I jutted across the street and pulled into the lot....curious about the parking attendant that was telling the car in front of me where to park. I pulled up and gave me the skinny - "You can't park in the front or the middle...if you park in the middle, you'll get towed...park in the back...and if you have any spare change, I'd really appreciate a little."

Ah, okay...now I get it. Great service though. I'm dense enough that I wouldn't notice the difference and end up with no car.

I reached into my change pile and grabbed what I could - put enough for 2 hours in the meter, and went over to the guy and told him "Thank you - you get whatever change didn't go into the meter." This man was the most gracious pan-handler I've ever encountered. He was truly thankful.....and told me that he loved me :)

Day 11 - Stepfather-Hood

Okay, I won't take a day for each activity....but tonight made me think that the past 11 years have allowed me to have at least one day, right? Tonight I got home with a desire to do nothing other than have some sleepy-time. But Mary....the 18 year old and youngest of my wife's children needed to record a speech on video and download it to the computer...which she doesn't know how to do. I wasn't in a teaching mood because frankly it's a lengthy process, especially when it's time to create the AVI/WMV/MP4/whatever file and save it to a CD. Today I did NOT complain (bullshit, I bitched like a female cat in heat humping a lightpole)....and DL'd the video, created an opening credit, and burned the CD. Of course I screwed up the ONLY CD that Mary had and she had to go out at 11PM to get more, but regardless....I burned the damn video. I even removed her major stuttering. So there's my day's gift...skillz, yo.

Day 10 - Sawin' Wood

I had the chainsaw out the other day when I saw my neighbor and remembered that she’d asked me some time ago if her husband could borrow my chainsaw. I reminded her of the request, but she informed me that while they did have a limb to cut down, her husband didn’t trust himself to use it while perched on top of a ladder. They were then going to hire me to cut down the limb. Silly neighbors. I went over to take a look at this monstrous limb that was sure to be 40 feet off the ground. Okay, it was a 2-inch thick limb and it was about 10 feet off the ground. I ran back to the house and grabbed my extended pole saw. Here ya go, Roy. Go to town. Won’t cost you a cent, and you’ll have a happy wife. I even had him throw the limb in the wooded area behind my house.

Day 9 - Twizzlers

Okay, this gets me caught up from the days I missed before. I have a colleague who went a little ballistic on me one day a couple of weeks ago. She later apologized, and we surmised that the problem was that our office ran out of red Twizzlers. I immediately went out and got her some. Today, I did the same. Twizzlers - first thing in the AM! Not an entirely selfless act. I give her Twizzlers...and she doesn't rip out my jugular.

Day 8 - Jolly Ranchers!

Ahhhhh, Jolly Ranchers! Who doesn't love them? More importantly...who doesn't love SOUR APPLE? Good stuff! Today I grabbed a handful of the little suckers (so to speak) and took them to my bartender. She gives me booze...I give her Jolly Ranchers. We're both happy.

Day 7 - Bonus Recommendation

Okay, this one is a little lame...because I should be doing it anyway, so it's not like I'm doing something "extra" here...but it's effort-based and I need something to fill the requirement for the day. Whatever - they're my rules. Today I recommended the admin assistant for a little bonus/award for some extra excellent work she completed. This qualifies her for additional rewards beyond the little one I'm recommending her for. Hope she gets it!

Day 6 - Bicycle

Sometimes, all it takes is a walk outside with a cup of coffee. I ran into my neighbor yesterday - he needed a bicycle. Well, says I...I just happen to have one that's been sitting in my back yard - needs a little oil and someone to ride it. Done. Now you can ride your bicycle...and sing about it, too.