Ponderings and Musings

New York State, like a handful of other states in the United States, has a container law which requires the inclusion of a bottle deposit on drink bottles. Originally limited to beer and soda pop bottles when the legislation was introduced in 1984, the law now applies to many different kinds of beverage bottles (water bottles, etc). The mechanics are simple: you pay an extra $.05 for each bottle you purchase (for example, an extra $.30 when you purchase six pack of something) and when you return the bottle you get your nickel back.

Pretty simple, right?

The idea behind the effort is that it is suppose to curb littering and encourage recycling. I can speak to the former: I believe it has helped with littering efforts but I don’t know if littering is down because of the bottle law or because of general societal trends. I can’t speaking to the recycling effort: I don’t know what happens when a bottle is returned these days, we plunk it in a machine and the machine makes belching noises and adds $.05 to an accumulative credit slip. Don’t forget to press “Finished” when you’re done!

Earl and I lived in our previous house for six years. When it was time to move we had six years worth of returnable bottles bagged up and shoved in a dark corner of one of the barns. Too lazy to return the bottles, we donated the effort to a local civic organization (I think it was a high school band or something) and we were happy that they got to keep the proceeds of bottle return money. While I’m assuming returning bottles is making the environment a better place, we are lazy when it comes to returning the bottles. The vast majority of markets/packies/beverage places that take bottles for return have automated the process with machines must like the one pictured above, but it’s just a pain in the butt to actually return the bottles. Since New York State is famous for taxing its citizens to death, we just figure the $.30 on a six pack of whatever is just another New York tax and I’m sure the government enjoys that line of thinking. We don’t return bottles now until they start overflowing all over the garage floor. In the past we’ve convinced others (mainly Jamie) that they can keep the money if they return the bottles, but the lure of a little pocket cash isn’t as strong as it used to be.

Maybe we should start saving them up again for another civic effort and we’ll donate them if we decide to move someday.

I guess we’ll start building a barn.

It is a gorgeous day in this neck of the woods today and it’s just what the doctor ordered. I was originally scheduled to go into the office today, but I’ve been working on a big project that launches tomorrow and since I just found out about in the mid-part of last week and it involved lots of code creation, I ended up working late last night.

Today I’m tidying up odds and ends on the new code and fixing the few lingering bugs, so I decided to work from home today.

We are slowly moving towards my favorite time of the year. If you look closely at the photo above, you’ll see that the maple trees in the back are starting to change over to autumn mode already. After living here for 10 years I no longer get concerned when I see the leaves changing at a seemingly early time; it’s just what they do around here. That one tree likes to be the first on the block to show off colors other than green. Everyone and everything has their moment.

While there’s a fairly good breeze blowing, the air still has a marked calmness about it. Other than the wind chimes singing a song and the sounds of trucks in the distance on the Thruway, things feel very calm. It could be just my perception, as I’ve been feeling rather calm since returning back from vacation and then the travel for work last week. I mentioned to a friend online last night that I feel the most solid I’ve felt in a while.

Solid is good.

Well our little trouper is still holding his own. He’s slow and tentative with his stride. He’s not eating much. He really tries hard to get to the litter box but sometimes he doesn’t make it all the way there, but our little super trouper continues to hold his own.

He’s been insistent on going outside today, so he’s sleeping on the front porch as I type. When I went for my morning walk this morning he insisted on following our ritual of going on the porch, walking down the stairs and investigating the driveway while I was walking. It’s what he has always done and he’s apparently going to continue to do it for as long as he can. I tried to dissuade him from walking down the stairs, but like the rest of the family, he’s stubborn, so he slowly navigated the steps on his own terms. He did need a bit of an assist getting back up the stairs, but that’s why cats have humans around: to cater to their needs.

I thought that yesterday would be our last day together. Apparently I was completely wrong. His terms. The way it should be.

So I’m at the office for the first time in three weeks. This is not entirely a bad thing but I feel a little bit like I’m in the twilight zone. Things are changing so much at work that I feel like I skipped a chapter in a novel we were required to read. Still, I am being productive and getting things done so all is not lost. I just hope I’m doing the right things.

It appears that I have permanently lost my favorite lunch time parking place because there is now a building standing where I used to park the Jeep. Actually, it’s just the shell of a building but they’re feverishly working on building something there. There are rumors that it’s a Gap, but I didn’t know they were still around. I was never the overly fashionable type.

The seagulls were here when I parked the Jeep at the beginning of the lunch hour, but someone dumped a BK large fries on the parking lot on their way out of the restaurant and there was crazy mayhem. Now all of the seagulls have left, off somewhere to digest trans fat. The all white seagull was still around and he (or she) still looks prissy. But don’t be fooled, that seagull had some fries as well.

I’ve invited Earl out for dinner this evening. He arrived from Chicago late last night and we hadn’t seen each other in nearly a week so we’re going to go out and have dinner and have some couple-like conversation. We have big plans and ideas and we want to make sure we’re on the exact same page. There’s no reason to think we’re not, but we’ve always been good on communication. I think that’s why we’ve been together for so long.

It’s always good to be reading the same chapter in the same novel.

In four hours I will be awoken by the sound of an iPhone alarm that is desperately trying to be cheerful. We have a long drive to our next destination ahead of us and since I am a control freak, I will be doing all the driving.

But it is storming like crazy right now and I want to be out driving in it.

I know, I’m crazy.

My dreams thus far tonight have had thunder in the background regardless of the scene I’m dreaming about. The rain hitting the hotel window has awoken me a couple of times. Not wanting to wake up my husbear nor wanting to put on any clothes, I am typing this blog entry on my iPhone whilst sitting on the floor of the bathroom. Yay for the familiar Hampton Inn room layout.

I’m going to try to sleep again in just a moment but I’ll probably still be mesmerized by the strobe light like lightning.

All we need is a disco ball.

Blog entries written in the middle of the night on an iPhone can be strange at times.

I’m having a hard time finding my zone today. I’m trying to write some code for some personal projects I have going on and I am seriously lacking the ability construct code that is going to make any sense.

I know, I should be outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. I’m sitting on the back patio enjoying the decent amount of breeze we have going on. I’m kind of in the mood for a bike ride but I’m going to wait until the sun isn’t at its peak in the sky before attempting that.

I’m not missing motivation today. I’m kind of missing focus but that’s because I’m mostly missing comprehension. I try to learn something new but it just doesn’t make sense to me and because I’m not comprehending what I’m reading I’m losing focus.

Does that make sense?

I’ve gone for a walk. I took a short nap. I had a few M&Ms.

Maybe I’ll find my zone after I write about not finding my zone. Things occasionally happen that way.

Last night, after deliberation and forethought, we made the spontaneous decision to go to Saranac Thursday, an event held every week during the summer at the local brewery. Proceeds from this weekly event go to the United Way.

I love to people watch at Saranac Thursday, because folks range from NeimanMarcus to People Of Wal*Mart and all points in between. Last night we met up with some of my former co-workers and their partners, as well a couple of people that we have met via mutual friends and/or the Internet. All in all, a good time.

While we were visiting, the conversation made its way through a myriad of topics, as conversations fueled by alcohol often do, and the subject of TED talks came up. Earl was unfamiliar with TED Talks but I had discovered them a couple of years ago when I came across the first explanation in a talk that actually kind of changed my life in a way, The Power of Introverts. Since discovering these talks, I have installed the TED Talk app on my iPhone and when I’m feeling out of sorts I’ll dial one up in search of some sort of inspiration. A favorite of mine is Steve Jobs’ Stanford University commencement speech, “How To Live Before You Die”. In fact, I enjoyed Steve’s speech again this morning. My day has been quite productive and enjoyable because of it.

I was delighted to hear that our friend Ann does a similar thing with the TED app; she dials up the “Inspire Me!” category when she’s feeling the need to feel inspired. I find this interesting in a way, because she’s has a really good vibe about her but I guess all of us can use some inspiration to keep our vibe adjusted accordingly.

Helping each other out, it’s rather awesome.

This led to the conversation about an upcoming TEDx Event here in Utica, as two of the other folks that were part of our little social circle last night as coordinating the event. John (and his better half Christine) and I all worked together at my previous employer. (Christine, John’s better half, impresses the hell out of me with what she has done with On Location Vacations or OLV.) Ryan, the organizer of the local event, and I met on Twitter a few years ago and then met IRL (In Real Life) at John’s photo gallery showing earlier this spring. Ann (the aforementioned inspired by TED person) knows everyone that was in the little circle we had formed last night.

It’s a small world after all.

Last night we had the opportunity to meet Ryan’s girlfriend, Sara and she was telling us about her experience trying out someone’s Google Glass. She found them to be amazing. That was just another confirmation for me that they are freakin’ awesome and are going to be on the “must have” list. Quite inspiring as well and that’s two IRL hits I’ve had with Google Glass. w00t!

Earl gave me the “think of the budget” look when he saw my smirk.

If I had to describe last night I would have to use two words: inspiring (surprise!) and dynamic. I don’t think it was the beer making me feel this way, I think it was just a groovy night and I needed the reminder that good things do happen close to home.

I hope to have the chance to be in the audience at TEDx Utica (but if not, I’m certain I’ll still enjoy the videos) and in the meanwhile, I’m going to continue to enjoy this feeling of inspiration.

It’s making me smile. And smiling is good.

Earl is out of town on business this evening. I believe he is in Wilmington, Delaware. He returns tomorrow. If my hunch is accurate, and it usually is, he’s probably in a casino this evening. That’s not a bad thing, we all have our ways of relaxing and I fully support this.

Jamie returned from his latest tour in the wee hours of the morning. He, along with the four members of the band he was touring with, slept until early afternoon. The layout of our house provides ample room for these indy bands to crash for the night. This sometimes makes me nervous, because even though I can be rather chatty in person, I am mostly a shy, private person that really enjoys my personal space. So when things gets disrupted I can feel a little uncomfortable.

This evening Jamie and the band started recording a music video in the back lawn. The video will apparently have two components to it: a daylight component and a night time component. Jamie let me know that they would be recording more of the music video after dark. Lamps were being moved from our living space out into the lawn to light the scene. If fireworks were legal in New York State I’d imagine that there would be fireworks involved with the production. This was making me uneasy and since my rock is out of town tonight I decided that I would get a good night’s sleep by staying at a local hotel for the night.

I am rather comfortable.

Now, folks might translate this as me being driven out of my own home but that is not the case at all. I merely made a decision that was in my own best interest. I would have been worried about noise and the neighbors and the like if I had try to sleep through the music video production, so I analyzed the situation and made the decision to let the guys do their thing tonight without interruption from me.

I’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep, work from the hotel room until lunch time tomorrow and then resume my day at home, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my husband, where the three of us will be able to sit down and have a little family dinner together (the band will be on their way to the next gig). I don’t know the name of the band but they’re really nice guys. I can’t understand a word of their music but that’s only because I’m getting old and/or set in my ways.

Either way, I’m quite content.

I always find it humorous that when you drive through Syracuse on the New York State Thruway, you see a snowplow parked in a maintenance yard that says: “Welcome to Central New York — 115-inches Annual Snowfall”, or something like that.

It’s almost 100º degrees today, but then again, it’s mid July.

When it’s January I’m looking forward to the heat. When it’s July I’m looking forward to the cold. If I had to choose one or the other, I’d like long days with cooler temperatures. It’s easier for me to warm up than it is to cool down.

I keep hearing mentions of Global Warming but I remember summer days like this way back in the 80s, so while I think this is a warm spell, I don’t think it’s overly unusual for this time of year. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think the climate is changing, because I really think it is, but I don’t think this part of the world is experiencing anything wildly abnormal at the moment. If it’s like this in September then I’ll start to wonder.

I get concerned when people leave their animals in the car in this weather. I haven’t seen anyone doing that today, but a few weeks ago I saw a dog in a car with the windows open only about 1/4 of the way down and I was concerned for the dog. He seemed like he was OK but I didn’t know how long he would be there. If I saw an animal in serious distress I don’t know if I would be able refrain from breaking the window and helping them out. The one bad thing about a pet has to be the reliance on the human. Sometimes the human isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

A horse and buggy just walked by the parked Jeep.

The buggy was loaded up with boxes of tomatoes from the local market. The Amish man driving the buggy parallel parked the horse and buggy so he could go into the nearby Burger King. He didn’t get anything for the horse but the horse didn’t seem to mind.

I bet it’s hard to pull a buggy in this heat.

It’s the little things that I notice. For example, I’m looking over at a new department store in the strip mall that I’ve parked myself at for lunch time. The new store is called “Rainbow” and it is in an old Fashion Bug. The first thing I’ve noticed is that I can still see the words “Fashion Bug” underneath the Rainbow logo. The second thing I notice is that the logo and accompanying markings of this Rainbow store are completely devoid of color. Everything is in white.

You would think that a store called Rainbow would be colorful, yes? I have no idea what’s inside the store because I’ve since lost interest.

I’m sitting in the Jeep still trying to find a spot in this parking lot that still feels comfortable to me. Today I’m parked in the spot closest to the Dunkin’ Donuts drive thru speaker.

Every time a car or truck pulls up I can hear “DunkinDonutscanihelpyou” really fast. The voice sounds pleasant in a 21st century kind of way, but the attendant is speaking really fast. I wonder if she is bored in her job and just wants to get it over with, if there’s some sort of efficiency contest going on or if in all truthfulness she just doesn’t care. The prevailing customer request is for anything that ends in “latte”.

I still feel a little off my game during these lunch hours after having been evicted from my edge of the parking lot spot that used to set along side the trees. All of the trees are gone, the cat that could be spotted hunting for mice and birds has moved on to greener pastures and my spot is fenced off as they build a new store onto the end of the strip mall. Rumors have this addition housing everything from a Baby Gap to a Jamesway department store, but I think the Italian restaurant is just expanding. Only time will tell.

In the meanwhile I will try to find a place to park that has some breeze, some shade and the friendly passing by of a feline on the prowl.

Because of feeling off my game during lunch hour (solely because of the location issue), I’m unable to take my midday nap because I don’t feel “safe”. I guess I’ll just have to nap under my desk again this afternoon.