From the Observation Deck

I had lunch this week with some pretty fun people I used to work with. In fact, this whole week has been great for getting out of the house and seeing friends. And getting out of the house has allowed me to observe more things—which is what this blog is supposed to be about.

So other than noticing that a whole lot of my neighbors are home during the day, I’ve noticed that one of the main topics of conversation everywhere seems to be about cutting costs.  On that note, let’s talk about a word we all love so much—FREE. In the old days people thought they liked free stuff. In the old days free stuff was really crap. It meant not valuable. (Because here in American we rate the value of things by how much they cost.)

It’s a new day folks. Free takes on a new meaning. It’s a necessity. And after ringing the office budget so much that even the Splenda gets cut, it’s time to realize how much fun free can be. It’s also good business. Using social media—the free networking sites—for marketing has become a hot new trend. (But that’s part of my professional expertise and you’re going to have to pay me to learn my secrets.) 

The truth is, there can be value in free. And as cliché as it is, we know deep down that the best things in life are free. Here’s a list—some very important and some just for fun.

• Love.
• Salvation.
• Laughter. (Always share a good joke with your friends.)
• A walk in the park.
• For DC metro residents and visitors, the National Mall and the Smithsonian museums. (Hey, there’s a new Ben Stiller museum movie coming out that looks funny. But that costs money, sorry.)
• Today a laptop. Tomorrow—not sure. Visit the free deal of the day to find out.
• Air.
• Network TV.
• Swimming in the ocean and playing in the sand.
• Great books in the library.
• Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Word press.

 What do you like to do that’s free?

My great-uncle Pete lived in Dayton, Ohio near the Wright family. Milton Wright, father of Orville and Wilbur, gave him the nickname Peek. Now don’t get the wrong idea, he wasn’t a weirdo, but when Pete was little he used to go up to the Wright’s house and peek through the kitchen window to see if anyone was home and wanted to come out and play.

 It seems that Grendel has adopted that family trait. After his buddy Elwood (the dog who lives two houses down) decided he was done playing, Grendel started sniffing around. Poor Winston. Winston is the cat who just moved in next door. All Winston wanted to do was stay in his house behind the glass door and look at the birds outside. He didn’t want to come out and play with Grendel.

Come out and play.

Grendel seems to think that everyone likes him and doesn’t mind his big nose in their face or his weapon of a tail banging against their leg. He should know better. The cats he lives with smack him on a regular basis for no reason in particular.

I guess I can’t blame him really. I’ve been cooped up so long that I’ve been asking all my friends and neighbors to come out and play with me. I think it’s time to develop some new hobbies. Give me some ideas people! Otherwise, you may see my dog looking through your front door.

Do you know the song, “I don’t want to work, I just want to bang on the drums all day?” I heard that song on my way home from the beach yesterday. Don’t be jealous folks, I spent the long weekend painting, scraping, hammering, and performing other tasks meant for young people. On the way down there and back as well as during the stay, I met several nice people in various job roles. So I thought I’d start a sort of Canterbury Tales series of people I meet. The first of this series is dedicated to the hardware store guys (and gals).

During my four-day stay at the beach executing those hateful muscle wrenching tasks, I managed to visit the hardware store a total of six times. Now I’ve always had an appreciation for people who work in hardware stores. They are the only retailers that I will talk to. I bet you know exactly what I mean. Finding the needle in the haystack is easier when “Jeff” the hardware guy says, “That’s in aisle four, halfway down on the left on the second shelf.” The hardware store guy is my new BFF. And I really hope we get some renters in this summer. I want people to notice the nice new toilet seat and the new stove vent (the conducting kind as we learned on trip two to the store).

Tune in for more tales and I’ll tell you about Chris the A/C guy, Shawn the plumber, and Dee the grocery check-out line lady. All really nice people doing important work with a smile. Have a great week! If you really aren’t happy at work, just think, you could work for Dunder Mifflin.

And just for fun I’m including this photo that has nothing to do with this post except maybe that Grendel would not allow me to start the pilgrimage home without him.

Grendel driving