Let it snow,let it snow,let it snow

**arr&bee** · 03-22-2014, 06:04 PM

I'M SERIOUS.....[stop that laughing]...!

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-22-2014, 07:50 PM

Is the hooch mist you mentioned beginning to work?

**Jerry Oz** · 03-22-2014, 09:13 PM

Ummm... Which one of them are you asking..?

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-23-2014, 07:06 AM

Both of them, just to get their individual views.

**Jerry Oz** · 03-23-2014, 08:06 AM

Good luck. It appears that they can't agree on much.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-23-2014, 08:15 AM

It's like I'm back in the day, sat between two stereo speakers.

Now, in listening to arr&bee and Voice, one of those speakers is right..while the other could be to the left, or the right.

**Jerry Oz** · 03-23-2014, 10:14 AM

There's a difference between different sounds coming from each speaker for the same song and two different songs playing from each. When they start talking to each other, the left and right sides of my brain start disagreeing with whose right and the next thing I know, I've got a little version of VOICE all to myself.

[NO YOU DON'T!!! STOP IT!!]

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-23-2014, 10:26 AM

I'm now starting to hear voices myself.....

**moe** · 03-23-2014, 12:25 PM

Well, this voice is telling you that it snowed this morning in NE Ohio!!

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-23-2014, 01:29 PM

I was wondering how it was going.

Disregarding previous snowfall this winter [[as if you ever could...), is snow at this time of year a usual occurrence there?

**Jerry Oz** · 03-23-2014, 05:08 PM

It's not unusual. It is kind of like what we call "Indian Summer", which is sort of the last gasp of the previous season before the weather becomes truly seasonal. It'll be off and on cold and mild before Spring quietly settles down, takes off her coat and stays for a while.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-23-2014, 05:13 PM

A little chillier here at nights [[but milder most nights over the winter) - otherwise, Spring is definitely here.

Easter late this year, too.

There is activity in the bird world. There is a blue tit around [[you might call it a chickadee, or titmouse?), must be male, which has seen its reflection in our large windows. Flutters up and down, tapping the glass, thinking it spies a rival. Been doing that for about 10 days. Incredibly energetic birds. Not dead yet, so must be eating something at the same time......

**Jerry Oz** · 03-23-2014, 08:44 PM

"Blue tit" sounds like something from an adult film with naked zombies in it. And "titmouse" makes me blush for mostly the same reason.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-24-2014, 04:46 AM

I'm not sure what you'll make of 'Great Tit','Bearded Tit', ' Crested Tit', 'Coal Tit','Marsh Tit,' 'Long-Tailed Tit' and 'Willow Tit', then.....

**Jerry Oz** · 03-24-2014, 08:10 AM

[[Jerry rushes to cover up his computer screen before Mrs. Oz walks in, looks over his shoulder, and asks what exactly he's reading on the SDF... If he answers that "he's talking about birds", she'll mistake it for the British colloquialism and suggest that she knew that already, sealing his fate...)

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-24-2014, 05:38 PM

Mrs Oz must be an owl. A very wise bird.

It would have been so very much worse had Mrs Oz looked over Jerry's shoulder, to discover Jerry was talking about 'blackcock' on SDF.......

**Jerry Oz** · 03-24-2014, 06:41 PM

Oh man, I am dead... I'm convinced that she reads my mind as it is, so she will put me on the hot seat for sure after that last post.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-24-2014, 06:49 PM

Why Jerry, you're quite safe. It has never happened! Of course, if Mrs Oz can really read your mind, then only you and she really know...

And I've just read your post on the Vegan thread. Pickled pig's feet. Never heard of them before but, right now, oh how my own mind really doesn't like the sound of THOSE.....

**arr&bee** · 03-25-2014, 12:44 AM

Actually west,pickled pig's feet are tasty..have you ever had hog's brains and eggs..oh and to stay on subject snow is coming again.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-25-2014, 05:09 AM

The very time arr&bee stays on subject, he wants to tell us about more snow....

**144man** · 03-25-2014, 08:11 AM

It's turned a lot colder in London. I don't think winter's quite done yet.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-25-2014, 01:09 PM

Let's look forward and be a bit positive. It's been generally lovely sunshine here on the coast, although cooler in the last few evenings [[unsurprising, as it's still March), so I'd call it a nippy, at times, start to Spring....

**Jerry Oz** · 03-25-2014, 01:17 PM

We are expecting snow today in central Ohio as well.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-25-2014, 01:29 PM

As you said in #411, it's not unusual. Most of the snow has got to be behind you. Figuratively speaking, of course....

**Jerry Oz** · 03-25-2014, 02:02 PM

It didn't phase me at its worst. It's not going to phase me as it breathes its last breath. I'm just happy to have made it for another day here on planet Earth.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-25-2014, 03:21 PM

Seems like it's an anxious feat of endurance , living from day to day over there in Oz Ville.....

**Jerry Oz** · 03-25-2014, 06:02 PM

Only at work, which seems to get crazier by the day. And at home, I guess. I have what I believe to be an excellent entrepreneurial opportunity and my wife is scared for me to take it. That he's had me stressed out more than the weather.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-25-2014, 06:15 PM

Divulge......

**Jerry Oz** · 03-25-2014, 07:41 PM

I'm going through my mid-life crisis, I guess. I hate my job. I dislike my condo and neighbors. My parents are aging. And I have maybe one chance to try to do something more in my life than I have done every day for the last 24 years. I won't do it without her support, though. And every time I try to talk about it, she looks at me as if she doesn't recognize me, let alone bless or outright reject the endeavor. We talk about everything, but she won't talk about this. It's like she does not believe me when I suggest that my job is sucking my spirit like a tick sucks blood.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-25-2014, 08:01 PM

Jerry, in your posts there is sometimes an undertow in your responses, which occasionally forms the impression in my mind that you could be just a little depressed. If not that, then at least unfulfilled.

If so, I bet there is no-one here on SDF who hasn't felt depressed at some time. I certainly have, and I did twelve one-hour sessions with a counsellor - but that's a side story.

I get the feeling that, like a singer straining at the top of their vocal range, your job often has you straining at the top of your endurance. The job should be well within your capability, but you feel out of your comfort zone.

Time to be off to bed for me, so to be continued. Am I on the right lines here.....?

**Jerry Oz** · 03-25-2014, 08:54 PM

Perhaps. I am the only person in my position at work who has prior experience or a degree. I mentored every one of my peers and I am proud of their success in moving from hourly employees to management. However, I feel stuck. I'm convinced that not only is the job within my capabilities, it's actually beneath me.

I am as credentialed and much more experienced than my manager, who at times makes decisions that make the workplace tense to the point of being intolerable. I am finding it harder to shrug my shoulders and encourage others to let these decisions go. I am the guy that everybody else feels comfortable to listen to their grievances - both from work and from home.

The constant complaining has convinced me that I am not where I want to be professionally or away from work. I am far from depressed, I can assure you. But I am also far from happy. I won't create a bucket list because I don't expect to have the opportunity to fulfill it.

As I said before, it's just a mid-life crisis...

**arr&bee** · 03-25-2014, 11:41 PM

Hey Jerry this is about as serious as I get,when we hit about fifty we go through a stage when we feel not trapped but wanting to do something else with our life,not angry at anyone but wanting to just get away from the day to day humdrum of our life at that point,I hope this will pass and you'll be ok.

**Jerry Oz** · 03-26-2014, 08:06 AM

It's passing already. I woke up this morning feeling much less gloomy. It bubbled up in a bit of frustration, but I've got a great support network.

Don't take this as a reason to hit the hooch, but you and WGB are part of it. God bless you, amigo.

[[And now, back to the thread...)

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-26-2014, 10:17 AM

Glad to hear the mood passed, Jerry [[they do...) but did you have anything more to share on the entrepreneurial opportunity you mentioned, and Mrs Oz's unsurety about it? [[I think we touched on it a little while back..)

It sounds more interesting than 'simply' a mid-life crisis.....

**Jerry Oz** · 03-26-2014, 12:26 PM

She said that she's concerned that rather than running toward something that I'm truly interested in, she thought that I was grabbing at the first lifeline to pull me away from what I have. She'd like me to spend more time validating this opportunity and researching others that might interest me. Actually, I've done plenty of research and already turned down another one that was probably more lucrative [[long term) than this one.

On one hand, I appreciate her being tentative. It's a huge step and it's not just my future that we're dealing with. I love my wife dearly and would never want her to be stressed over uncertainty of our affairs. On the other hand, my hands are now pretty much tied. In the chance that the venture failed, it would probably be a big problem in our relationship. Not something that we couldn't overcome, but I don't want there to be any unspoken "I told you so"s, either real or imagined.

Like it or not, I'm 90% resigned to the fact that toiling in the salt mines is my lot in life and so long as it's putting food on the table and a roof overhead, I'll eventually count it as a blessing.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-26-2014, 12:58 PM

My immediate thought is : does your wife work, and what would you say if she presented you with the same scenario?

Your final para is realistic and makes perfect sense, but also suppresses the possibility of many hopes and plans. [[I'm concentrating on that 'other' 10% now!) .

You've not gone into detail, but I guess the current new opportunity, and also the previous one, would have required you giving up your current job. [[if your wife were now to chime in 'and all he's worked for in a quarter century!' , then I'd just have to agree with her regarding that basic fact

)

For the next step, and because I believe there should indeed be one [[don't tell your wife...)is it possible for you to find a new outlet and expression for Jerry O. in any free time you have, while you continue 'putting food on the table, and a roof overhead' with your established job- ?

I don't get the impression you are a chancer or a gambler by nature, and are conservative, although I'd say you were also definitely idealistic, with a high sense of values. If you don't have a vision or a hope to carry every day, your heart won't fully be in what you do that day, and you won't function as well as you could.

**Jerry Oz** · 03-26-2014, 04:06 PM

You perceive very well. One curious thing though, is she encourages me to quit, even before finding a new job. Because of that, I have to consider her concerns to be legitimate and not based on the lack of income from giving up my current job. We've saved enough to get by for the next 10 years with no income, but if we're to realize some of our goals, we'll need more loot. And I have goals.

Of course, the fact that I have a woman who cares enough about me to say "quit and we'll find a way" just reinforces the fact that I can't do that. I'd be less of a man to be unemployed without a plan. At least in my eyes...

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-26-2014, 04:25 PM

I agree with that.

Mrs Oz won't want to see you enduring unhappiness simply for financial gain, if it is not absolutely essential for you to continue with it. She'll be unhappy, if you're unhappy.

That said, it does seem to make much better sense to have something better to pursue, than simply stop something which isn't working so well for you. In that case, there may become just another void to be experienced, but of a different kind.

I often feel that activity and movement is best wherever possible, while I mull over ideas.

Is the new opportunity a radically different activity from that in your career to date? If income is not so essential at the outset, does Mrs Oz feel you would be happy with it, or is she simply concerned that you may not....

**Jerry Oz** · 03-26-2014, 05:34 PM

She thinks that I should devote months or years to figuring out what I want to do. I simply saw what opportunities were out there, whittled down the list and selected the most attractive of them. The franchise that I am interested in provides event planners with DJs, photographers, and videographers. My function would be to coordinate and direct, not to do any of the services. Since I am already an operations manager with more than passing interest in all three areas, I found it to be intriguing.

I would work mostly from home and do mostly what I do best: manage people. The company has 40 years of experience and glowing referrals by its franchisees. To be honest, I can find nothing about it that I do not feel myself to love. But, then there is the security of the salt mines where I have had no raises or promotions for seven years and we work constantly under the threat that our jobs can be outsourced if someone can do it cheaper. I'm swimming backwards when I would be more than happy to simply tread water.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-26-2014, 06:04 PM

Whatever we do as individuals doesn't really make us buzz unless we have a natural feel for it. It sounds as if you're already half way to taking on the new opportunity.

I recall you mentioning it before, and it seems you contribute to SDF during breaks in your working hours. I'm self employed, so am working to my own version of a work standard to be maintained, but it's different when one is employed. He who pays the piper, etc....

It's not everyone who can express themselves articulately, and compose to a high standard, which is easily understood. Your posts rarely, if ever, contain spelling errors. You can compose both at length and at speed, and quickly respond to different subjects. And your words are read on thousands of occasions by people who do not actively respond. You have an audience.

I feel that scenario is illuminating yet another path for you, away from 'the salt mines' and towards tomorrow......

**Jerry Oz** · 03-26-2014, 08:47 PM

Well, I've been toiling for the last three weeks straight, Saturdays and Sundays included. Tomorrow can't come fast enough. I'm just afraid that I'm going to wake up tomorrow, look in the mirror, realize that I'm suddenly 62 years old and ready to retire. I'll look back and consider the roads that I didn't travel and wonder where the time and opportunities went.

I'm not one for regret; I never had children by design because I didn't feel compelled to fatherhood and I knew that I wouldn't have second thoughts when I was, well, 51 years old. There is so much that I didn't choose to do. But, I wonder if my approaching awareness of the ticking clock is going to freak me out or cause me to shrug my shoulders, look at what I did achieve, and move along to whatever's next?

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-27-2014, 06:24 AM

Jerry, with just a little effort, you could be a tad more positive about yourself and life in general. Putting things into a slightly clearer focus.....

"There is so much that I didn't choose to do".

OK, so what would you choose to do, right now....?

**Jerry Oz** · 03-27-2014, 08:08 AM

You misunderstand what I meant to say [[or I failed to communicate it well...) with that quote. When I say there's so much that I didn't choose to do, I meant that I evaluated the options and, good or bad, I accepted the one that was best at the time. I could have gone out and partied with my friends at the expense of school, but I chose the future over the present. I could have had children over the expense of freedom and self-determination. But I valued my life more than the ability to create another. I could have been a womanizer, but I found the one I wanted and have been more than happy with her for 26 years. Even when I'm not happy with her. So believe me when I say that I'm quite okay with my choices to date.

I was actually wondering if I'm going to regret the decisions that I make in the future, not those that I've already made. Time runs out on all of us and I have a sneaking suspicion that these next few years are going to go quickly. With that said, with a limited amount of choices remaining, each of them becomes more precious and worth much more consideration. Am I going to regret what happens today or tomorrow? God only knows.

I'm pretty positive in general, but I'm admittedly in kind of in a funk right now. I'm sure the dark little cloud that's following me around has a silver lining, but I'm kind of consciously not looking for it.

It's been my experience in life, however, that the sun has a way of shining through, even when it seems like I'd prefer rain.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-27-2014, 08:26 AM

Don't give in to a bad habit of not looking for sunshine,and just waiting. Just quietly insist on seeing sunshine, even when it isn't too much in evidence.

It does bring a lighter step and touch with it, and has a habit of recolouring the tones in life we see, so even the dark side isn't such a heavy, deep shade as it could be. VIbrant colours are called for!

I'm a good bit older than you, and I don't regret not doing things the way others did - although yes, of course, at times I have wondered and reviewed the possibility of regrets.

We are who we are, so have to make the best of ourselves.

**Jerry Oz** · 03-27-2014, 10:11 AM

I agree. Part of my nightly prayers are that I be able to see the new day and also be able to bless God by living. How would I bless Him? To my definition, it's to do whatever I can to make someone else's life better. I'm in a fortunate position at work where the entire workforce needs me at some point or another and I try to treat their requests, even when they are kind of trivial, with the concern and urgency I would appreciate.

But with that being said, I typically have a day or so when I just am in a funk. I don't fight it because I always snap back in short order. People usually look at my expression [[or non-expression) and either try to cheer me up or give me a wide berth. I'm already well on the way to wanting to smile again. It's funny that way...

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-27-2014, 11:08 AM

I have one of those faces where, if my mind is intent on something [[as it probably is right now, typing this), I have the same expression as if I'm chewing on a wasp.

When I was younger, I came to hate feeling 'off', partly because I'd prefer to be cheerful - and also because it was probably obvious to absolutely everybody that I felt 'off' - and that was a feeling that I didn't/don't enjoy, either. In other words, if I felt 'off' and it showed, I was then putting other people 'off'.....and not showing myself at my best.

You'll have noticed how just one person who is unhappy [[even if only temporarily) can really influence a group mood - sometimes in sympathy but, most times,in annoyance and irritation. [[as in "well, you think you have problems....??")

I try to resist having moods now because, unchecked, they can cause a lot of soul-searching, and unrest. So, I tend to relentlessly keep upbeat in my heart wherever possible [[although it may not always be fully on show), and follow that frequency as if it were a script. If I wobble and deviate, I can usually snap back to the script, then become a little more spontaneous again. It's a form of idealism, I guess.

Of course, deep down, I can get in a funk just the same as anyone else! LOL

**Jerry Oz** · 03-27-2014, 12:22 PM

Well, things change suddenly. One of my employees called to report that his wife passed this morning after taking a drastic change for the worse about a month ago. She had cancer and was only 46 years old. It's been horrible for him; he's missed the last three weeks and will be gone for at least another week to take care of her funeral.

Of course, the first thing that popped into my mind was the passive-aggressive snit-fit that I've displayed to my wife due to her fence-sitting on the franchise issue. I called her up immediately and apologized. My demeanor is normally much more even keeled and typically more positive, so she worries when the dark side pops up. I am ashamed because she's proven that she deserves better. Curiously, all signs of Lord Asshole seem to have dried up and I'm suddenly in a better place.

The only thing that bugs me about being positive is that people seem to feel that I'm obligated to be that way. I'd love to always be the one to try to put on good face in bad situations, but sometimes it's hard. And it makes me feel worse when I recognize that my surly disposition affects others who expect more of me. Thankfully, with the sad, sad news that things can be worse, I got my groove back.

**westgrandboulevard** · 03-27-2014, 01:15 PM

Cheerful people can, it's true, be really irritating, but they could well be hiding behind a mask.

Given a choice, I'd rather have a cheery mask, than a sad one, as the sad one offers nothing in aspiration. I guess it's a bit like looking at a photo of ourselves which we feel is flattering, and hope we look like that all the time. It panders to our insecurities!

Isn't it interesting when news of sadness in someone else's life can immediately shift our perspective of our own lives. Like walking around the edge of a horizontal clock face, and seeing the numbers from a different angle - even though they do remain the same, unchanging old numbers, in the same sequence....