I must begin today's blog with a statement I've said before, "I love my job." Granted, I don't always like going there because I have other things I would much rather be doing. But if I have to go to work, this is the place I want to be. My boss, Arnie, has to be one of the most positive people I've ever met. And part of his positive attitude is his sense of humor. Arnie is a born comedian and so, I have realized that it took a very special person in his wife, Liz, to marry Arnie. I don't know if I could live with the constant one-liners, although living with it at work is quite tolerable and enjoyable.
On Tuesday, I told Arnie that we're starting something new in the office. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, 30 minutes before we eat our lunch, we are going to do calisthenics. Arnie immediately went into the yoga tree pose I taught him a few weeks back (how a 61 year old, out of shape man can do the tree pose when I struggle with my balance on that one is beyond me). I said, "No, we'll do some yoga to wind down but we need some aerobic exercise." Arnie went back into the tree pose, I rolled my eyes, and went back to work.
Later, Arnie was eating what looked to me to be a Snicker's bar. I didn't say anything but only gave a look at what he calls his six-pack of a stomach when, in reality, it's a quarter keg. He said, "What? This is an energy bar," and with a huff went back into his office. He reappeared just after lunch with a cup of tea. "YOU'RE drinking tea?" I said. I have been trying to sell Arnie on tea for awhile. I drink about 4 cups a day which has all kinds of health benefits - anti-oxidants for the inner body and for great skin on the outer body, phyophenols for anti-aging, and so on. Arnie replied that Liz has him on a diet and that he's supposed to drink this energy tea at 3 pm. I looked at the clock and it was 1:05. He said he was still hungry from that power bar and decided to drink the tea now. I asked him what was in that ENERGY tea. "I don't know, a little cocaine, some strychnine." He disappeared again into his office.
It was a busy day with rushes to get things out, but we did it, and I left my desk in good order at 5 pm. Driving home, I listened to the radio and the topic was Earth Day. We have done so much damage to this old earth, that I wonder if we really have destroyed it beyond repair. I think of those who just don't care and who say, "I won't be here when the earth dies, so what do I care?" People, what's wrong with you? If any of you have a beautiful child or a grandchild who looks at you with absolute trust and dependence, don't you care about them? Don't you care about their children? Just because you won't be able to see 
them or hold those great great grandchildren in your arms, does that make it easier for you to say it's ok for them to suffer in sweltering heat, or to fight each other in the streets for clean water? My neighbor around the corner recycles nothing. She bags up her trash and recyclables in black bags and throws them on the curb Wednesday evenings and she is ok with that. She and her husband drive big cars and think nothing of not cleaning up after their dog when they take her on a walk (Ok, well maybe the dog poop is not so much related to Earth Day...). And she insists that the earth will be fine or her other statement, as I said before, is that she won't be here anyway. These are the times when I wish there really was such a thing as reincarnation and she comes back over and over again as the earth gets worse and worse. For more information on what you can do to help this old Mother Earth, go to: http://www.earthday.net/
Meanwhile, Liam's fussiness seems to have been quelled somewhat by a wonderful natural substance called "Gripe Water." He is so used to his screaming and our attempts to soothe him that yesterday when I got home from work, he was doing more of a whining/cry type of thing when he was put down. I told Catherine we have already created a little tyrant and he's not even 8 weeks old yet! And for such a little guy, he sure can bellow. But we are so in love with this little man and always will be. God is good.
