How To Succeed in Busyness

K's sick.

That's the most important thing.

K's sick, and she's not getting better.

It started with bronchitis on Thursday, settled on Friday and on Saturday she and niece Kayla walked (nearly) ten miles, got a healthy massage (that turned them Gumby-like) and at that point I met them for dinner at a restaurant that we'd had some good luck with in the past. They had salad and a seafood pasta dish. I opted (adamantly, for some reason) for some french onion soup (which was quite good, actually). Good choice, that.

Saturday evening, the girls conked out about 7:30pm, while I sat and wrote about "Sweet Land." But, both of them began suffering from powerful stomach-cramps and nausea. Kayla left early Sunday to avoid Sunday ferry traffic. Poor K stayed in bed and suffered. Wouldn't eat for fear of feeling worse and her bronchitis came back. Dr. Yojimbo was on call and kept her hydrated, and hovered like a mother-hen ("Do you want..?" "You asked five minutes ago!") Monday seemed better (I stayed home from work and took care of her. President's Day, after all, and I was waiting for marching orders from a different sector). Tuesday, better still. Tuesday night was a night of wrenching coughs that sounded like they were do some mighty lung-rattling. Not good. We cancelled her Wednesday plans and she stayed in bed. I just fixed her some tea and soup. She's spent most of the day in bed. Poor baby.

I hope I don't get it (he said sympathetically). And I've been pounding "Emergen-C" and "Airborne" to avoid it. I don't think I will.

I'm moving too fast for it. The reasons: read on.
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Job-wise things are picking up:

1) The ol' 1's and 0's Ranch: Nearly the end of my contract. Got another "Outstanding" rating from my supervisor and rewarded him by letting him know that my last day would be at the end of March, and (sorry, them's the rules) I couldn't come back until a 3 month hiatus. Neither could the guy whose contract ended the day before mine. Or the guy who was up in May...and that's the entire department. They hadn't looked into hiring new folks to take over our jobs and we'd done a good one of making ourselves indispensible (or at least look like it!). Oops. Anyway, they know now. Started to use the term "Short-Timers" around the office. Few get it. What will I be doing after? Well....

2) There's the "Special Project" that I'm working on, though I'm not working on it as soon as I thought, owing to some political bumps and grinds, me coming on at the eleventh hour. Hey, they asked. I'm happy to help. How and where--that's to be determined.

3) Went to a screening last night at the U-Dub of Honest Abe and Geez Louise's work-in-progress "Searching for No-No Boy"--the story of author James Okada and his non-fiction/fiction book "No-No Boy" which told the story of a Japanese-American draft resister, just returnd from prison, post-WWII in Seattle. It has become a "classic" over the years and Abe has been waltzing around this particular subject for years, first as a feature, and now as a "full-story" documentary. It's at the half-hour phase for school-study, but the plan is to turn into a full-hour for PBS. That should be easy as there's a lot of ground to cover. I'll be doing the sound here at home over the next couple of months in dribs and drabs. If you want to see more of his reportage of Japanese-American history, there's his web-site www.resisters.com which can also tell you about his earlier film (and it's a doozy!) "Conscience and the Constitution." I've gone to a few screenings and each time the audience comes back with amazed questions and outrage that this story is never told. It is now.

4) Had lunch with Malott & Associates and a client about editing for a Math tutorial program that has done so well here that they're now "localizing" it for Britain and India. Lots of recording and lots of editing. I'll be doing a bunch of the latter.

5) The local radio station called. I talk to them Friday about "where I could fit in." I haven't "done" radio for twenty years, but I've been tangentially a part of it the whole time, so I don't think it's much of a stretch. I see it as an opportunity to give to the community. It's such a local radio station (one of the few independently owned left!) and with a little community out-reach and some boosterism it could be quite an asset on the Island. Plus, I can expand on the writing-side. I'm getting the "itch" to write commercials and bits again.

6) Then if any of the resumes and applications "hit," I'm sunk. My dance-card has the potential of getting a little raggedy, but that's fine. Bring it on. I'll take a flood over a drought any day.
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There may be frost on the ground out here in the mornings, but you can tell Spring is coming...earlier than expected.

The black-birds are singing.
The sea-lions are barking at night.
The owls are hoo-hooing, as well.
Haven't seen the hummingbirds in awhile, but I think it's just a matter of time.
And the eagles and crows are a constant all season.
Haven't seen a deer since the night I passed three of them on my way home (last Wednesday). They may be getting more discreet.
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After going up 10¢ last week, the gas prices have settled to stay at $2.49 a regular gallon at my "bench-mark" distributors (which are usually 10-20¢ lower than the rest of the market). The price of a barrel of sweet crude is at $60.07, ten bucks higher than the low point at the beginning of the month of just over $50 a barrel. Gas prices never reflected the large dip in oil prices, and I doubt they ever will. Rigged game. Always was.

On the other hand, there's word that the first bio-diesel fuel pump has gone in at a grocery chain. Supply-and-demand should do some wonders there.
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Song in me head: Nothing comes to mind right now.
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I need to look in on K now.