Variety is the spice of life. As long as it does not lead to chaos. There is something comforting about having a routine. It can also become so boring you just have to break out and try something new.
I was not bored when I started a new thing recently, I did it on advise of my doctor. She thought I needed to have some set exercises to strength my bones. She recommended Curves. I am into my second week at Curves, and am learning to use the machines the way they were intended to be used. Today however, I agreed to try something new in conjunction with the machine workout. I knew in advance what it would be but had no idea it would be so vigorous. It is called Zumba dancing.
It has an African flavor in the music and also in the moves. In any videos, or films I have seen with African dancers, they are all younger people. This should have been a tip off that the workout is not for sissies. But I went into it knowing it was not a piece of cake but would be fun. It was fun, and it was vigorous and I did not do the moves perfectly but hey, I was in there trying!
Our teacher danced like her body was a piece of music. Her flexibility and dancing were impeccable. It was fun to see her and to try to imitate her. However, I am not sure it is for oldsters like me. In Curves the machines and physical tolerance are within my range. The slow exercises which I do as per directed by the Physical Therapist are also within my range of physical tolerance. So, the jury is still out on how long I will follow this new trend. I want to wait until next week and try it again. I am not inclined to give up on something after only one try.
For example, last year I made many attempts to propagate kiwi, both the male an female plants. I was not successful. This year I tried again. Failure. But, I persevered, trying a different method. Now I have both a male and a female plant still alive. One has a green leaf unfolding at the top. The other one is still alive and has the original piece of leaf still attached and it is still green. The instructions I read did not say to put the cutting in water (with a trace of liquid fertilizer). But I have propagated gardenia bushes by taking the bloom and letting it sit in water for a few weeks. I got five gardenia bushes. Two, I gave away. Three are thriving here near my house. So, I thought, if it works for gardenias then just maybe it will work for kiwi.
It is good to try new things, but within reason, and as long as no one is placed in danger. My daughter and her husband took their 26 year old son to Six Flags for a day of fun recently. This trip was the culmination of his two week visit from college. They all had a great time and rode everything there. My daughter got soaking wet on one ride. All three of them had done this before as teens, and it was a great repeat for them. I am pretty sure it is not for me but I was glad that they were still so young at heart.
I am not so sure that my brother at age 85 should have gone sky diving - for the first time. But he did, and survived it just fine. He had a great time and being able to look down on earth was an exhilarating experience . He and our former president George H. Bush have at least two things in common. They both are World War II survivors and both are survivors of sky diving at an advanced age. So, don't allow yourself to become bored or caught in a stale routine. Try something new. You just might be happy that you did.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Good Jobs After the Rain
Last night we had a rain while I was sleeping away. A good time to pull up weeds is after a rain, when the rain has settled into the ground. The ground is soft and it is just an easier chore. Pulling weeds is back breaking work as you must bend over to reach them (that is for the uninitiated among you).The growth that I attacked early this morning had the same weeds of varying heights. Some barely one inch high, but if allowed to reach full growth would have at least two thousand seeds in the fall. Obviously, I have neglected them in the past at this one spot around my Acuba in back of my house. Some of those weeds were almost four feet high.
As I was bending over and then standing up to pitch the handful of weeds to the collection place, something occurred to me. When Adam and Eve were banned from the Garden of Eden and turned out to toil for the rest of their lives, did God plan to make them regret their disobedience? Every time I bent over I had a humbling feeling , like I was bowing before God . It made me wonder if Adam and Eve had to pull weeds and if so did they feel like they were bowing before God? If the Garden of Eden was perfect, then there were probably no weeds there. Perfection was a given.
Perfection is not a given in humans, it takes hard work to become proficient in anything to reach perfection. It also takes dedication to a cause and usually a lot of time, perhaps practicing for a certain skill, over a long, long time. I was watching some high dive performers and to be able to do some of those twists and flips and enter the water with hardly a ripple, requires a supreme effort.
One could compare their regimen to working toward perfection in lifes most challenging endeavor. What comes to mind for me is human relationships. It may be that achieving that perfect plane is actually impossible. There are too many variables to make it possible. A machine can be designed to make something perfect over and over, and maybe even when it interacts with another machine, as on an assembly line. But for us humans it just does not happen. Too much has to be taken into consideration to have harmony with another person. You must be able to understand how that other person feels about a given situation.
If Ronald Reagen was a good communicator, he no doubt had a habit of looking at all sides of a situation when he was trying to achieve a certain result, with another person. It does not require any skill at all when you bend over to pull up weeds. It helps to have a good strong back, and a good dose of humility as you bow down to the ground. It does have its rewards however. A sort of cleansing both in the appearance of your garden and in clearing your mind.
As I was bending over and then standing up to pitch the handful of weeds to the collection place, something occurred to me. When Adam and Eve were banned from the Garden of Eden and turned out to toil for the rest of their lives, did God plan to make them regret their disobedience? Every time I bent over I had a humbling feeling , like I was bowing before God . It made me wonder if Adam and Eve had to pull weeds and if so did they feel like they were bowing before God? If the Garden of Eden was perfect, then there were probably no weeds there. Perfection was a given.
Perfection is not a given in humans, it takes hard work to become proficient in anything to reach perfection. It also takes dedication to a cause and usually a lot of time, perhaps practicing for a certain skill, over a long, long time. I was watching some high dive performers and to be able to do some of those twists and flips and enter the water with hardly a ripple, requires a supreme effort.
One could compare their regimen to working toward perfection in lifes most challenging endeavor. What comes to mind for me is human relationships. It may be that achieving that perfect plane is actually impossible. There are too many variables to make it possible. A machine can be designed to make something perfect over and over, and maybe even when it interacts with another machine, as on an assembly line. But for us humans it just does not happen. Too much has to be taken into consideration to have harmony with another person. You must be able to understand how that other person feels about a given situation.
If Ronald Reagen was a good communicator, he no doubt had a habit of looking at all sides of a situation when he was trying to achieve a certain result, with another person. It does not require any skill at all when you bend over to pull up weeds. It helps to have a good strong back, and a good dose of humility as you bow down to the ground. It does have its rewards however. A sort of cleansing both in the appearance of your garden and in clearing your mind.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Beauty Saloon Information
A lot of information floats around in a Beauty Saloon. Some of it is pure speculation on the part of the patrons. Some is interesting but not applicable to the listener. An example of this kind of news is what I heard last week. A gentleman with gray hair and moustache to match, was in with his wife. He was a man of some girth and was a jolly type. Comments were going back and forth as is common when regular patrons gather there and know each other. The subject came up of him making a good Santa if he had the beard. It seems that he had looked into this matter and learned that this seasonal job is very well regulated. There is a professional organization for Santa's, who keep tabs on the kind of men who can belong and find jobs through them. I had no idea such a thing existed.
I am reminded of an episode of Seinfeld showing what happened when Kramer and a "little man" went to work at a department store as Santa's. The little guy was pretty savvy about union rules and convinced Kramer that they needed to have better pay and working conditions. Of course it all ended in a comedic debacle and they lost their jobs. The gentleman in the Saloon that day had researched it all and found it was not for him, even though it did pay well for a seasonal job.
My hairdresser happens to own the shop and she likes to cook. She can tell me about a lot of easy to prepare dishes while she is setting my hair. Some of them do give me some ideas and I can use them with some modification. Because I try to eat healthy foods, mine probably do not taste as good as her dishes. Her son is a preacher in a near by town so she helps a lot with dinners there. She looks out for her customers and tries to see that they are well taken care of. Her customers like her and the work she does. They bring her vegetables from their gardens and flowers and other things to show their appreciation. She in turn, finds ways to help them in various ways. I have given her a lot of perennials from my place and she has given me things she finds at bargain stores, which she thinks I can use and/or will like. She once gave me black Capri pants which are my favorites to wear anywhere casual. Also she had given me shoes, and other clothing which she has found at a real bargain. She found a pair of bright yellow rubber shoes, a size too big for me but they have become my favorites for working in the wet garden. I can just hose them off and they are ready to go again. She really likes the challenge of finding things at bargain stores. I, on the other hand, never do this kind of shopping. It is a game for her and I am not into that kind of game.
Another game she really enjoys is gambling. She knows all of the favorite gambling places and often gets free lodging and food just to go there and gamble. Some of her patrons give her money to gamble with and if they win, she takes the winnings back to them. She considers it innocent as for her it is only entertainment. We do not agree on how to shop or spend money but she is a great hair dresser and is very good with hair color, which I need on a regular basis.
One of her patrons has lost most of her vision and she looks forward to seeing me so we can chat and exchange ideas. My hairdresser manages her schedule on Wednesdays just so we can visit. She has me come in right after her so this lady can have a little social life. She rarely gets out now except on rare occasions and she looks forward to these visits. Her son drives her there and picks her up later. I enjoy her company as well. She has another customer, of considerable age who is in a similar situation. She lives nearby and does not have transportation so my hairdresser goes to get her and then takes her back home.
This saloon owner has been in business for over forty years and has a faithful following. Going there is more than a business transaction. It is part social, part therapeutic, and is small enough to be intimate. She keeps her prices under the high end saloons as her shop is modest and her goal is to have happy customers and she goes all out to please them. I think it is an excellent business model for a small shop. It is sort of like Cheers of sitcom fame. Almost everyone knows your name, not to mention that you can hear some pretty interesting things while you are there. It is all good fun.
I am reminded of an episode of Seinfeld showing what happened when Kramer and a "little man" went to work at a department store as Santa's. The little guy was pretty savvy about union rules and convinced Kramer that they needed to have better pay and working conditions. Of course it all ended in a comedic debacle and they lost their jobs. The gentleman in the Saloon that day had researched it all and found it was not for him, even though it did pay well for a seasonal job.
My hairdresser happens to own the shop and she likes to cook. She can tell me about a lot of easy to prepare dishes while she is setting my hair. Some of them do give me some ideas and I can use them with some modification. Because I try to eat healthy foods, mine probably do not taste as good as her dishes. Her son is a preacher in a near by town so she helps a lot with dinners there. She looks out for her customers and tries to see that they are well taken care of. Her customers like her and the work she does. They bring her vegetables from their gardens and flowers and other things to show their appreciation. She in turn, finds ways to help them in various ways. I have given her a lot of perennials from my place and she has given me things she finds at bargain stores, which she thinks I can use and/or will like. She once gave me black Capri pants which are my favorites to wear anywhere casual. Also she had given me shoes, and other clothing which she has found at a real bargain. She found a pair of bright yellow rubber shoes, a size too big for me but they have become my favorites for working in the wet garden. I can just hose them off and they are ready to go again. She really likes the challenge of finding things at bargain stores. I, on the other hand, never do this kind of shopping. It is a game for her and I am not into that kind of game.
Another game she really enjoys is gambling. She knows all of the favorite gambling places and often gets free lodging and food just to go there and gamble. Some of her patrons give her money to gamble with and if they win, she takes the winnings back to them. She considers it innocent as for her it is only entertainment. We do not agree on how to shop or spend money but she is a great hair dresser and is very good with hair color, which I need on a regular basis.
One of her patrons has lost most of her vision and she looks forward to seeing me so we can chat and exchange ideas. My hairdresser manages her schedule on Wednesdays just so we can visit. She has me come in right after her so this lady can have a little social life. She rarely gets out now except on rare occasions and she looks forward to these visits. Her son drives her there and picks her up later. I enjoy her company as well. She has another customer, of considerable age who is in a similar situation. She lives nearby and does not have transportation so my hairdresser goes to get her and then takes her back home.
This saloon owner has been in business for over forty years and has a faithful following. Going there is more than a business transaction. It is part social, part therapeutic, and is small enough to be intimate. She keeps her prices under the high end saloons as her shop is modest and her goal is to have happy customers and she goes all out to please them. I think it is an excellent business model for a small shop. It is sort of like Cheers of sitcom fame. Almost everyone knows your name, not to mention that you can hear some pretty interesting things while you are there. It is all good fun.
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