citizen of the planet

Yeah, so what was yesterday’s post all about? To be honest it was really a matter of just venting some frustration. There was a lot of talk going around on our team that our development schedules were really quite packed, leaving very little wiggle room. That would have been all well and good, but then a bombshell was dropped on us that one of our team members just got laid off. Yeah, I totally feel bad for the guy. Thing is, he took the news really well. You could say he looked at peace with the situation. By the end of the day yesterday, I wasn’t sure I processed all of what happened. That’s why the post was very much one of shock. Today though, I think it has all been straightened out in my mind. Really, all I can do is feel fortunate that I wasn’t the one cut. Who knows how all of that could have went, right?

As I was travelling back to my car yesterday, my head understandably felt heavy. There was just a lot going on. As soon as I got to my running class though, I felt all of my troubles fading away. Why? Well, after 2 months of training, they finally got to a point where they were running ten minute intervals comfortably. From the beginning that was one of the goals we’d set for them. Starting at 1 minute of running with 2 minutes of walking, week after week they built up their endurance. Before, every time I bumped the intervals up by a minute there was much worry about whether or not they’d be able to make it. By now though, everyone was just entirely confident in their abilities. As they reached the turn around point I hung back to cheer everyone on. The look of pride in everyone’s eyes was just amazing. By the end, yes, many were tired, but that didn’t dampen the light beaming from within, you know?

That’s one goal down. In less than two weeks it’ll be race day. For many of them, it’ll be the first 5K race they’ll ever run. I’ll be there. They will do a fantastic job.

So yeah, yesterday was a day of contrast, no? Emotions ranged from being a little distraught over loss, to feeling proud from watching other achieve their goals. Highs and low. Peaks and valleys. Some days that’s just the way life goes, no?

Oh my goodness.

We were just saying that we were having to deal with very tight development cycles with very little wiggle room.

Then this happens.

How the heck are any of us supposed to feel? Sure we can buckle down, but…

Maaaaaaaaaaan.

Just another lazy Sunday today.  Back on Thursday, at the end of the work day I emailed a document I was working on to myself in hopes that I’d work on it some point between Friday and today.  Well…at least I had good intentions.  Thing is, I know very well that I was unlikely to spend time at home working on it.  It would have been a different story if I was far from being finished, but no, the document has decent progress on it.  There are also some open questions against the project that need to be answered before I write about them, so I would have been stalled anyway

Funny how I seem to be attempting to justify it.

Anyway, since I’ve got nothing much I figure I’d pick a picture that showed up in the “Random from Viewport” widget on the right and give a few words on it.  I ended up choosing a picture from my trip to Japan in June 2006.  On one of my first days in Tokyo, me and a couple of travel companions headed over to the beautiful Meiji Shrine complex on the west side of the city.  If I recall, it’s pretty much adjacent to Harajuku station and a short walk to Takeshita-dōri which is that fashion forward place that Gwen was going on about in her pop albums. It’s accessible from the JR Yamanote line via Harajuku station, or the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line from Meiji-Jingūmae station, which can be translated as “in front of Meiji Shrine.”  How descriptive.

Anyway, Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine.  This is where you would go to pay respects to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken.  What’s pictured here is a part of the complex where there are a huge number of these wooden plaques.  These are called ema.  You would buy these ema prayer boards and then write a prayer or a wish or some form of thanks on them.  You then hang these boards on a designated rack.  Now, what’s pictured here is just one rack, but at the Shrine there are many more racks right next to this one.  These are meant to communicate with the spirits.  Now, when you consider the fact that these boards hold what amount to the hopes, dreams, and wishes of thousands of people, it’s an extremely powerful symbol.

I’m not planning on heading back to Tokyo anytime soon.  However, if I somehow found myself there again at the big Meiji Shrine I would buy an ema.  What would I write on it?  I would pray for peace.  I would wish for someone to come into my life to change my life for the better.  Most of all, I would give thanks for all of the blessings I have in my life: family, a place of my own, a job, and nice things.  I wonder if that’d all fit.  Guess I’d just have to write smaller.

Hey, so what would you write on an ema prayer board?

My mind has just been overflowing with thoughts over the past day or two, and really there’s nothing to point to except for the whole deal about me moving out. Last night I was kept awake just thinking about the possibilities. I entirely blame the hyperactivity on all of the mortgage talk over Thursday and Friday. I suppose all of that just drilled the idea home (ha!) that in a little over a month I will be a home owner.  That’s just utterly insane.  Am I mentally ready for such a leap?  Can I survive under the new burdens that I’m going to put myself under?  Well, if I answer “no” to any of these questions then I better damn well figure out a way to get myself ready.  I’ve started this runaway process, and there’s no way to stop it short of doing a “kill -9″ or some equivalent.

Sorry, was that geeky?  Did anyone get that reference?  I can pretend to know Unix, but really, I know jack squat.

Anyway, that’s only part of why my mind was buzzing.  I was actually playing out scenarios of sorts, trying to figure out what to take with me and what to leave behind.  I’m somewhat fortunate in the sense that even if I leave something behind I will live close enough to my parents that any retrieving or returning will be somewhat simple.  Even so, having to move big items more than once would be tough.  Originally I was thinking that I wanted to leave most furniture items here and just get all new stuff for the place.  That’s all well and good.  I mean, it means that moving will actually be a light job and that I won’t require much help with things.  I guess the thing is: I’m not sure why it didn’t click for me just how expensive such a plan was.  Duh!  Will I have that much free cash to make such a decision to get all new stuff?  Even if I did, it wouldn’t be the wisest of decisions.

I eventually came around and decided that taking my mattress and box spring would be prudent.  The parents can just replace the bed if they need something to go in my room for guests.  I will also probably take the computer desk in the other room.  The one in my room–the one this laptop is currently resting on–is pretty beat up and ugly.  The other one is decent and won’t be a mess to move.  Do I want to take the extra dining table with me?  I don’t know because the light wood will probably clash with the dark flooring.  Can I afford to be picky?  I don’t know.  Long ago my mom offered to bring home boxes from the hospital for the sake of packing things.  I balked at the thought.  Why would I do that?  Well, in all likelihood the boxes she’d bring back would be from boxes of adult diapers.  See, in a hospital full of seniors those would be the most common.  I just thought it’d be weird to carry around boxes labelled with Depends on the outside.  After much thought last night I decided to just say “screw it” and get the free boxes if available.  A box is a box, right?

See, I indulged the idealistic free-spending part of the mind for a while.  It’s now time to suppress it for a bit and let the pragmatic saving side do it’s thing.

Of course, the move is still a month away.  I still need to get through my inspection.  OOOH, that will be damn exciting.  It’ll be my first chance to see the suite mostly put together.  Still.  The way things are rolling, July will fly by and then August will bring many many changes to my life.  I’ll be ready one way or another.