see as i saw

Despite my appreciation for the 70 degree December day, it's thrown me off-balance.  Pair that with the fact that it's Monday and clearly I was incapable of gaining equilibrium.  That means I have nothing thoughtful or provoking to share, no stories or adventures of substance.  Unless, of course, you're interested in the cilantro-garnished chorizo taco that I ate for lunch.  Highlight of the day.

Actually, I take that back.  Lunch was usurped on its pedestal by the later realization that a business trip next Tuesday will put me within 1,026 AAdvantage miles of the 30,000 needed for the lowest class "free" ticket to Ecuador.  And it just so happens that the timeframe in which I want to go is considered part of the off-peak season (also a necessary caveat to get the flight for 30,000 miles).

Thanks to some site where I was taking surveys for points during my unemployment this summer, I redeemed those points for 500 additional miles.  And a little internet digging tonight may have warranted me a promo code that doubles any miles earned through the end of the year.  That should be me at no more than 526 miles shy and hopefully the double miles pushes me beyond 30,000.

I'm not getting my hopes up that a flight will actually be available, because word on the street (internet) is that these lowest-class tickets are hard to get a grasp on.  Hopefully, since Ecuador isn't a huge destination for the average American, I'll have a fighting chance.

Sometimes there isn't much on my mind, believe it or not.  Today is one of those days.  I made it as far as the entry way after work, put on my pajamas, and settled into the couch.  Despite the voices in my head telling me to work out or work on something, I lounged, chilled, vegetated, whatever verb you'd like to use.

My greatest use of contemplative energy was how to use the five days of paid time off that I have this year, when I'm not going anywhere.  We have to supply our requests so that the managers can ensure coverage during the holidays.  So maybe I'll take off December 26 and a few random Fridays.  I'm horrible at using time off if I don't have plans to leave the country; next year's days are already numbered and accounted for.

So I guess I'll end on this note.  Today I'm thankful for the abundance in my life that I often take for granted.  Such as the fact that having more vacation days than I do plans is a problem.  Or that my company is funding lunches for the entire company from Monday through Thursday during the fourth quarter, so that we can remain focused.

Yes, that is the phrase often used to teach children about crossing the street.  We'd do well to heed as adults, but in a slightly different manner.  Life has a tendency to get busier as we transition into and through adulthood.  Maybe we start thinking one task or step ahead of where we are and what we're doing.  Or perhaps we just lose track of another lesson common to childhood, minding our 'Ps and Qs'.

I've tried to start being more cognizant of this in recent months and attempt to alter my own behaviors in areas where I'm an offender.  I make an effort to greet my bus driver and exit the front door with a "thank you".  And when everyone clambers to make it on to a crowded bus, cutting people off, I first have to remember to keep my composure over their rudeness.  Then I wait for my turn.  If I don't make it, there's bound to be another bus in less than ten minutes or two other routes a couple blocks away.

Today I went to an independently-owned lunch spot, where I remembered the owner to be a great man.  So when I stepped to the counter to make my order, instead of just barking out a menu item, I smiled and said hello.  When he asked me how I was doing, I responded and mirrored the question.  He smiled in return, said he was well, and told me in a thick middle eastern accent, "Nice always to see you".  I think we both made one another's day.

Or the other day, when the cashier at a store asked to see my credit card and ID.  I held them out for him while he finished folding the shirt I was buying.  And for that simple act, he thanked me.  He said that usually people just tossed them on the counter as if he were either contagious or they were annoyed.  We had another thirty seconds of lighthearted conversation before he smiled and wished me a wonderful day.

It's so simple.  Thank your cashier.  Treat your server like a human instead of peon.  Hold a door for a perfect stranger, even if you have to wait three seconds for them to reach the door.  I'm still not perfect at remembering all of my common courtesies, but I'm trying to make it more habitual.  I find it promising that I often mentally kick myself a few minutes too late when I do forget.

Honestly, it's getting more difficult to come up with something to say every day.  I didn't realize how much bandwidth my brain had for extra-curricular thinking when it was unemployed.  In the past three weeks, my social media access has dwindled and my visits to Pinterest have clocked in at zero.  I'm still managing to read books every day, but articles and blogs have fallen by the wayside.

Maybe it's just a readjustment period, since my information intake is so great every day I don't have the capacity to take on outside pondering.  So far I haven't even managed to get 50% caught up with my DVR.  And it looks like I'll be spending three of the next four weekends traveling, again.  How did I possibly develop such a busy life after eight months of going with the flow?

It's funny though, I've been through enough life changes to realize that a few months from now, everything that's pushing and pulling me now will come to feel like routine.  Despite how different my new office life is different from my unemployed life, or even my old office life, it'll start to feel like I've never been anywhere else.

My 200th post, cue the virtual confetti. The number seems nominal and huge at the same time. Quite a bit of time and thought has gone into those 200 posts. Sometimes I start worrying about how I'll possibly have content or a photo at least nine hours before I sit down to post them. A labor of love.

Interestingly enough, I was reading an article today about writing.  It happened to be from the mind of Stephen King, who happens to have a little experience with writing.  He referred to the immensity of new ideas stemming from opening new doors.  When you feel like there's nothing left to say and nowhere else to go, it's because you're not opening doors.

I've mentioned before that it can feel like a struggle to come up with inspiration.  As recently as yesterday, I referred to my restlessness in this current routine.  Today, with the assistance of Stephen King and the blogger that posted the excerpts, I tied those two thoughts together.  I don't struggle for ideas because they've all been used, but rather because I've let the well of my mind run dry.

It's up to me to change routine and discover the novelty and inspiration.  Reading.  Seeing.  Doing.  As long as it's something different.  You can leave a rut only to end up in another routine that becomes a rut.  That's not where I want to be, in my blog or in my life.  So, I'm opening doors and taking a peek.

For a while I was doing so well with my routine of working out, learning to code, practicing Spanish.  Trips to Michigan interfered with my scheduling flow and the hottest summer days ever made me listless instead of motivated to work out.  One thing that stuck was the Spanish, maybe not every day, but most days.

Today I reset the counter.  The workout didn't exactly feel great, but I completed it.  Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to go out for a little run.  Hopefully two miles.  That doesn't sound like much, but I haven't been able to nix this nagging foot injury from my surfing adventures in Costa Rica.  (I unofficially dubbed it turf toe.  If it can take down NFL players, I had no chance.)  My last attempt was during those glorious spring days in March, but ended badly in shooting pains before I could go a mile.  Four months later, I'm ready to give it another try.

If all else fails, I'll just veer off the Lakefront Trail and plop down in the sand.  Call it a beach morning.  Then it's back to this computer to throw my name in some hats and explore my return to the world of full-time employment.

LinkedIn sends me a lot of emails each week.  Sometimes it's jobs that they think I'll be interested in, although I never have been.  Then there are the trending articles that may be of interest, and sometimes actually are.  This doesn't take into consideration the emails generated by the alumni groups that I'm a member of or recent changes made to the profiles of people in my network.  Oh, and then there are the free trials of premium services that they want me to try.  Moral of the story: I don't necessarily find value in most of these emails, but I tend to open each one anyways...just in case.  Today that decision felt justified.

Attempting to sell me on a new book, "the start-up of YOU", LinkedIn provided a free preview of a chapter.  Perhaps you received the same email.  Although the excerpt didn't necessarily tell me things that I didn't already know, it drove home some things that I've been wavering on recently.  My rational self knows these things, but a succinct reminder never hurts:

"You won't encounter accidental good fortune - you won't stumble upon opportunities that rocket your career forward - if you're lying in bed.  When you do something, you stir the pot and introduce the possibility that seemingly random ideas, people, and places will collide and form new combinations and opportunities."


"'Keeping your options open' is frequently more of a risk than committing to a plan of action.  Many failures in results can be chalked up to people trying to keep their options open.  Making a decision reduces opportunities in the short run, but increases opportunities in the long run."


I've been overwhelmed by the sheer number of possibilities in front of me - and I've been afraid to choose the wrong one.  Depending on how you twist it, though, there may be no such thing as "wrong".  Instead, if I don't hit a final destination on the first try, I can look at it as a stepping stone.  A perspective that I've always managed to have in looking back on my life is not regretting any of my experiences.  I can see how aspects of each one led me to greater and happier places.  Now I need to employ that attitude in looking forward to prospective opportunities.

It just so happened that this elementary school in my neighborhood is rocking a sign that summed up this mindset perfectly.  Thus, today's photo.

It was a typical Saturday night, which means that I donned my fleece pants and headed a bit north to watch a movie with my favorite Chicago duo.  Since the midwest is still in the midst of this obnoxious cold front, my outdoors time has been a little more limited the past few days.  The sun decided to make a last second appearance in the evening; so, despite the cold, it seemed like a good idea to skip the bus and stretch my legs.

Headphones on, I started the 2.2 mile journey and quickly shifted to analysis mode.  That's pretty standard when I walk.  Well, actually, it's pretty standard 24 hours a day.  My eyes kept shifting around to all of the different people roaming the sidewalks and patronizing the establishments that I was passing.  My mind was taking into consideration the vastly different ways that we all define our urban living style.

Although the majority of us could practically be considered neighbors, based on the proximity of our living quarters, the diversity with which we utilize our surroundings is astounding.  I don't recall feeling this sort of disparity in my more suburban past.  Maybe it has something to do with the less dense population and more scant variety of options out there.  In reality, though, I probably don't keep a much larger consideration set when it comes to urban shopping and dining than I did in suburbia.  Blame it on being a creature of habit, I suppose.  Maybe when I rejoin the ranks of being a paycheck recipient, I'll try to branch out.  Maybe.