Author: Shay

Yeah, I’ve got the day off today. Spending some time over at the church working John (the youth pastor) on some stuff, trying to finish it all up. But he left for lunch and I have been distracted.

I got really into digg.com today. I added it to my Google homepage. Have I said that I love Google? I really do. Nevermind that right now, but digg.com is great. I think I had surfed by it one time before, but I didn’t think anything of it. It’s just a wonderful way of receiving the news of what’s really going on. And you can find anything you want there, ahh.. finally.

Oh man, I was watching TV this morning and I found something I like, out of the box. Some guy decided (and I agree) that he’s sick of waiting on the phone with some dumb automated system. So he made a site called GetHuman. Click the link and check it out, it’s great. Make sure you clck on “Database” at the top or the GetHuman logo. It has lots of 800 numbers and tells you the secret to talking to a person, and some hints as to what to do about getting through to people.

That’s probably enough fun for one day. I’ll be back later, maybe 2 posts in one day.

Life has many directions. I know this because I meet people at different crossroads all the time, and this week it has been at Starbucks. Take Richard (aka “Richy) for instance. Richy is an older retired fellow who worked for the postal service for 35 years. He comes into my Starbucks every day. He’s fun to talk to and always has something to say. Recently he told me how he has been moving with his roommate to another apartment building. I don’t know why they’re moving, but it seems it has been taking them a long time. His roommate is a funny guy too. He has long hair (and I don’t know his name) and owns TONS of Beatles paraphernalia. Richy on the other hand has been coming to Starbucks probably since it opened in 1971. He has every cup that you can think of and owns tons of Starbucks music CD’s. Sometimes he buys new cups just to stay up with the trends.

Then take this other lady. I don’t know her name, but she comes in often and has sort of a slur to her speech. I asked her how she was doing the other day and she proceeded to tell me that she walks with a limp, can’t speak loudly or even yell, and does OK for the most part. I asked her why and she told me she got into a bad car accident when she was younger, it’s pretty sad. But she’s a super cool lady, and always leaves a tip and is friendly to all of us.

Then take another customer. The other day he came in a started talking to one of the other employees working with me. After a few minutes he started crying. I didn’t really know what was going on, but after they were done talking my friend proceeded to tell me that this man’s 15 year old son committed suicide. Horrible. My friend then told me that he knew the father (who was talking to him) and that he was, “… a good father..”

Today, in our apartment building, the fire department came to one of the rooms on our floor. After talking to the apartment manager I learned that this man hadn’t been to work in a few days and they got worried and someone called 911. When they got there the man could barely move and they were checking for his life signs; I still don’t know the outcome.

I am not sharing all of this so you will go away depressed, but merely to remind us all that everyone has a story. Life is sort of about stories. When I walk around all I hear are different opinions about this and that, and what one guys thinks about something else, and how this person got ahead in life and how this person lost someone special. Everything is a story. Without stories we don’t have conversation. It could be a story about something that happened at work, or something that happened while driving. I mean, we listen to stories on the news all the time, but sometimes we become callous to it all I think. That’s why this blog is title what it is. We don’t even think about the blinker anymore. We just click it up or down and turn the direction we need to

I’m in the middle of my turn right now. I’m probably making a left hand turn because they are generally harder than most other turns. But that doesn’t mean my life is hard, it just means that I’m turning and I’ve a got a little more to go. Maybe you’re in the middle of a turn? I don’t think there’s a good way to end this blog, but I guess this is just how this kind of stuff is.

Wikipedia says work is defined like this:
Manual labour, effort expended by people on productive activities in the home, school, or employment, or, by extension, one’s place of employment or employer.

That’s what I do. I work. Maybe you work too, I don’t know, but no matter what we’re doing, we’re usually working. It’s hard to think sometimes that I spend the majority of my day right now making latte’s for people who think that I’m some kind of loser kid. Now I know that’s not all people, but I think that’s probably the majority. I mean, these guys in suits walk in all the time, I say hi to them and ask them how they are doing and they just ignore that fact that I said anything to them and then follow that by saying, “Venti Carmel Frappuccino.” The best part about that is they go to their office later with their Frappuccino as if that is some sort of intense coffee drink. But we all know that those Frappuccino’s are simply a cup full of sugar and ice. There’s nothing intense about it. I like the guy who runs the construction company and orders a black coffee, and minutes later he’s in line again for a refill, that’s intense.

Maybe I’m complaining, but I hope not. It’s not that I’m not thankful for my job, because I am. It provides the money I need to support the wife and me. Maybe that’s why we work in general. I mean, it’s not like we can just go through this life being supported by the kindness of others. People are kind yes, but like Paul said, “If they don’t work, they don’t eat.” Anyways, I smell like coffee right now and I need a shower, so I’m gone.

So next time you go to Starbucks and you’re wearing your work clothes, try smiling at the person behind the counter, and when they ask “How are you?” you might try responding by saying, “… uh.. it’s going OK, thanks for asking..”

Ok, that might sound a little bit disgusting, I know, but let me explain. The funniest thing just happened while talking to my friend Tristan on the phone.

So I randomly called Tristan to talk to him and just to say hi. But while I was talking to him we suddenly stopped. And that’s when I heard the words… but before I tell you.. let me set it up. He was driving his new Mazda down in Orange Country, CA and talking to me on the phone. And when Tristan stops mid sentence, I know something is wrong. So he was driving around with his sun roof open and then he says, “.. Oh man.. ” and I said, “what?”… to which he replied “… I JUST GOT POOPED ON!..” I couldn’t believe my ears. Then he says, “.. THERE ARE CONVERTIBLES ALL AROUND ME WITH THEIR TOPS DOWN, AND I GET POOPED ON THROUGH MY SUN ROOF!..” I couldn’t stop laughing. I think I almost crashed the car I was driving when I heard that. I mean, I’ve heard of people getting pooped on while on boats and stuff, but never in their car, through their sunroof. My friends are great.

So here I am. I’ve opened 4 days in a row at Starbucks this week. That’s 4 days in a row at 4 in the morning. It’s good money, but it’s not good hours. Nothing I can do though, gotta take care of the wife and me. I need a shower though, I smell like coffee. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, yet I smell it all day long, so I’m over it. Maybe I need to drink some coffee? hhm.. We’ll see.

Shaycam.com welcomes the Winter Olympics..

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