Gifts

When I cranked up the mower both kids had to see what I was doing. Angel helped from time to time but Carter stayed in this position the whole time. He would get mad when I had to lift him out out of the way to do some closer work, sometimes I just picked him up, put his hand on the bar and maneuvered the mower with him attached. I will have to buy a plastic mower for him to push along side papa, so we can mow together. My grand babies are a gift and I am grateful I can really enjoy being in the present with them. It is a gift to not get upset when they try to help me and slow me down in the process, to be patient with their curious minds. I let them play with hammers, small gardening tools and other things from the shed, it isn't an inconvenience to make sure they are safe or not messing something up. They are a gift to be cherished each moment they are around, even though they to tend to smother me with attention. I am finding ways to get some me time, there is a nice small lake park a couple of miles away, I can go there take a walk, mediate or just sit and read. We only have the here and now and I do my best to live in the moment at hand.

Prayer Girl, a blogger I really miss, once wrote and I am paraphrasing, " sometimes when one door closes and we just have to sit in the hallway and wait for another to open". I have returned to her words often since I read them, they are a reminder to me to not let situations I dislike get me down because in time a new door will open, we don't know when but one will always open in time. This is what happen with my job situation.

Monday I walked into one of the employment agencies, they had posted a custodial/general maintenance job, listed as part time but not specific as to whether part time meant less than 40 hours or not long time employment. The lady told me it was only 25 hours a week. I told her I was looking for something seasonal with 40 hours, something to pay the bills and keep me busy until school starts in August. She said the grain elevator in a town 10 miles away was looking for someone to mow, weed, trim and do general ground maintenance, pay was more per hour than I make now, she called the guy and I was scheduled to meet him in an hour. Her data base was on the fritz so she couldn't send him my resume but told me to just go and she would send him my information later.

I told him my work history and also my personal knowledge of maintenance. Told him I like to say busy and find stuff to do when things get slow. He asked about my understanding of safety, company has been almost 7 years without a reportable accident, meaning an accident which required medical attention. I told him you have to be aware of possible hazards all the time and good housekeeping is important. Between the Air Force and manufacturing work, I have learned you have to keep your eyes always open to things which may harm you or others, gave examples of forklift driving, using proper lifting procedures and utilizing all tools available to make the job safer. I was honest about going to college in August and wanting a job for the summer, wanting a normal day time job with weekends off so I can spend time with family and friends. He said if I was hired and things worked out maybe he could work around my classes and have work for me in the fall as well.

O.k. side note for those who don't know. Grain elevators are tall storage units for corn and soybeans, Midwest skyscrapers. They also have concrete bunkers or large piles of corn. The grain is purchased from the farmers at market rate, the grain is the loaded on trains and transported to manufacturers. Field corn is different from the corn you buy in the stores, it doesn't have very much nature sweetening content, the corn you eat is a hybrid actually, originally corn was not sweet. The corn produced by farmers in dried on the stock prior to harvesting and then dried some more, the corn is checked at the elevator for moisture content, if it is too wet it will spoil in storage. Grain bins and elevators have large dryers to assist in the drying process. The elevator areas including offices, maintenance shop and bunkers covering about 10 city blocks.

So anyway by the time I got back to town I was hired. Evidently the guy liked my answers and trusted my experience. I will start a week from Monday, not sure what all I am suppose to do other than mow, clean up around the grounds, trim and pull weeds. I may have to clean out bunkers and also do some vehicle maintenance and general cleaning. I don't really care what I am going to be doing, it has be easier on my body than lifting and bending steel, less repetitive motion. I get work outside, I will be working 7am to 4:30pm mainly Monday thru Friday, maybe the odd weekend all depends on what needs to be done and if the weather during the week keeps me from getting my work done during the week.

I am taking this coming week off, one for some R&R and second try to get my mind and body use to going to bed at a normal time and getting up in the morning. I am use to going to bed around 5am and now I will be getting up at 6am. I have also made plans to meet up with a couple of friends for supper during the week and hit a couple of meetings I haven't been to in over a year.

I will now be able to attend meetings during the week, not sure which meetings I will pick up for sure. I started a Living Sober meeting on Friday night a couple of years ago and will probably start going to it. I will start doing jail meetings again for sure, we really lack in people willing to chair or participate in jail meetings. I will have my summer free for camping or just doing something on the spur of the moment with friends. I will be able to see my friends on a more regular bases and also connect with some new people. Basically I get my social life back and have a less stressful job to boot.

So I sat in the hallway for a year with a job I didn't really like. I was up and down with acceptance and taught about patience and tolerance. I found out I could do manual labor after sitting at a desk for 16 years. I had to make the best of meetings and really talk to my sponsor and friends, be open and honest about my feelings. I had blind faith in the impermanence of everything and trusting that the God of my understanding would see me through this and I would come out the other side better for it. I did and lot of footwork and didn't like the results I wanted but this lead me to seeking the path of going to college and finding a temporary job and not worrying about full time employment for now.

The promises in the Big Book have come true once again and I have been given another gift.

Well campers, I need to take a shower and get ready for the day. Tonight we are having a potluck and speaker meeting, need to make a pasta salad. The guy who is speaking was 1 grade ahead of me in school, we were not friends back then, in fact he use to bully me. He has been sober for just over a year and we are building a friendship based on who we are today and not who we were 30 years ago.

Love and Blessings to all. Enjoy your gifts!!

Peace Love Light

Scott