Fun and Games Dept

What many folks call “Interstate 90” or “Route 90” we call “The Kennedy”. Taken in the rain while my husband is behind the steering wheel, we are currently on The Kennedy headed home from the annual Flying Club Holiday Party. We had a very nice time at the Country Club with fellow pilots and friends.

I will never tire of talking airplanes. And I will never tire of my husband driving.

So I’ve been working from home for over five years. Prior to my current gig I had a cubicle in an office building that I would visit every week or two; since taking my current job in 2015 I have been an official “virtual employee” at a Fortune 500 company.

I enjoy the gig.

Remote employees are quite commonplace here in the new Roaring 20s, especially with all the telecommuting technology at our disposal. Most of my team works remotely. I have employees reporting to me that I’ve never met in person, though I see them on an almost daily basis via videoconference. I like my team.

People have visions of remote employees kicked back in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, propped up on a couch, working on a laptop. For me that’d be a great way to lose focus and start slacking at my job. One of the things I never want to be is a slacker. There’s too much to do, too much change to make in the world, too much example to set. I have a routine that involves working out, eating breakfast, and getting cleaned up in appropriate work attire, even though I’m working out of an office here in our condo. I stay focused because I look the part of a corporate executive. I dress for success.

A few months into working from home full-time I realized I had a need to get out and about when I wasn’t working. Being at home all the time seems awesome, and in many respects it is, but there are times when I want to be outside, seeing other people In Real Life, and interacting with other humans. Occasionally I’ll jump on the ‘L’ just to walk around another neighborhood or The Loop or whatever just to get a change of scenery. It helps keep me sane. I also go for a walk in the morning and a walk in the afternoon, short walks mind you, and that helps me process whatever opportunity I’m processing in my head at the moment. Plus it gives me a chance to see something other than the grayish-green walls of my office.

I love working from home but I firmly believe it’s not meant for everyone. It takes extra discipline, extra focus, and extra effort to stay productive and be a prime contributor to the goals of your employment.

Sometimes you just want to hear the waves. Lake Michigan is great for that.

My husband and I are out for a drive today. Normally when we embark on this activity we tend to head south or west out onto the Illinois Prairie, once in a while we’ll head north up into Wisconsin. Today we are hugging the Lake Michigan shoreline as we wind our way through the south side of Chicago, into Indiana, and probably a bit into Michigan before we turn around and figure out how we’re getting home.

We are stopped at Panera in Michigan City, Indiana at the moment. Earl is perusing his business on the iPad he received from Santa a couple of weeks ago; I have my trusty iPad Pro with keyboard that I tend to take with me everywhere I go. Remember when we used to use laptops? Remember when we used desktops? Mainframes? Punch cards?

Oh my god.

Previously to this journey the only time we’d been in Michigan City is when we would stop at the Culver’s just off the Indiana Toll Road on our way to Chicago. This is before we moved to the area. We’d always rejoice over being in the Central Time Zone with a delicious Butter Burger from the incomparable Culver’s.

I was planning on flying today, in fact, I had a solo cross-country flight planned to Dubuque, Iowa and back. I’ve been watching the weather for the past two days and I had a feeling I was going to have to cancel. The ceiling is just too low for my tastes. I don’t mind a high ceiling as it’s usually very smooth up there when there’s a solid cloud cover that is well out of the way of my intended attitude, but when clouds are lingering at 2500′-3000′ AGL (above ground level), it’s a little too close to the ground for my comfort. Even when flying over the prairies and plains of Illinois, which tends to offer a bunch of emergency landing spots should I ever need it.

I was surprised to see a huge cooling tower in the middle of the Michigan City. I’ve always associated cooling towers of this nature with nuclear power plants, but this cooling tower is at a coal and natural gas power plant. Hence the reason we could drive so close to it. I grew up not too far from a group of three nuclear power plants. The road to the complex mentioned the use of deadly force if you ventured down that road without a reason to do so.

To think back in the 1980s, when they were building the third plant, my dad and I would fly right over the plant in the 1940 Piper J-5A. I can remember looking down into the cooling tower from 3000-feet.

How times have changed.

So this song has been stuck in my head. From “Waking Up With The House On Fire”, here’s Culture Club with “The War Song”.

My husband and I just had the oddest television viewing experience. With the New Year Earl is encouraging me to venture outside of my viewing comfort zone. Instead of watching the handful of series we follow on network television, let’s look at the streaming services and watch things we wouldn’t usually watch.

Netflix suggested “John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch”.

Now, we’ve been to see John Mulaney before. He’s a funny guy. We’ve seen him live, we’ve watched his stand up specials, I think we even watched one episode of his self-named series so we were familiar with his comedic style.

There were moments in “The Sack Lunch Bunch” where I wasn’t sure if I was suppose to laugh or cringe or applaud or whatever. And that was perfectly OK.

Pre-teens singing about their father, a drag queen, or grandma’s boyfriend Paul, well, was interesting. It was funny but I felt a little odd laughing. I was constantly wondering if the kids knew what they were singing about.

The production value of the special was spot on 1970s and 80s “Children’s Television Workshop”. All that was missing was Rita Moreno’s “Hey You Guys” and Morgan Freeman looking young and hip in a leisure suit.

Overall a catchy show with catchy music and catchy graphics and production values. I suggest watching it, even if you do it ironically.

Earl bought me a digital piano for Christmas. A Casio AP-260, this digital piano features a full-sized keyboard with weighted keys and full pedals. The instrument is sturdy and substantial. It has a bunch of electronic features that I’m just learning, including a variety of instruments, and I am very excited to get well acquainted with it.

When we moved to Chicago back in 2017 I decided to gift the Gulbransen piano I inherited from my grandmother to one of my cousins. I just didn’t feel right moving the piano out of New York State. I missed having a piano very much and I was delighted to open this under the Christmas tree earlier this week.

When I went to college to become a music teacher back in the mid 1980s I was deemed needing “remedial piano lessons” because I could play but not the approved way by the music school at SUNY Fredonia. Apparently I used the wrong fingers and played by ear more than I played by sight reading sheet music. The only available piano class for us remedial students was Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM. Nothing wakes up the soul like banging out “God Save The Queen” with a bunch of other freshmen that don’t want to be at an 8:00 AM class on a Tuesday morning.

Still unable to really play by sight (though I can plunk out a song if I have to do it by sight, just with the wrong fingers), I’ve decided to start piano lessons on my iPad. I’m trying out the Simply Piano app after watching a few reviews from other piano students on YouTube. After the first lesson I’m already finding playing using the proper fingering makes life much easier for me. I’m looking forward to becoming a decent piano player in my 50s. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I look forward to the challenge. I’m also excited because Earl has decided to work on lessons off of his iPad as well.

I love using new technology this way; the way technology was suppose to be used.

And it’s wonderful filling the house with music again.

So my husband and I are celebrating our 23rd anniversary today. 23 years ago today we stood together on Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, witnessed by my future brother- and sister-in-law, and exchanged our vows of commitment for this happy journey we call marriage. It would be 15 years before the law would catch up with the facts; luckily we’re blessed with patience.

I remember the ceremony as if it was yesterday. I still had hair on top and a small little mustache. I was a little lighter than I am today. I drove a 1994 Hyundai Excel. It was cherry red. I had driven down to Philadelphia on Christmas Day to meet up with my future husband and my future in-laws; they have always just considered me family, right from day one. My mother and father were supportive.

As I looked across the table at the restaurant tonight I fell in love all over again. I can’t believe the guy still loves me after all these years. But I’m lucky.

I married my best friend.

Happy The Cat and Happy The Dog are a wonderful part of our Christmas holiday. Long live Happy The Cat and Happy The Dog on the Hallmark Channel.