August 19: Changing Seasons, Accepting Change, Magic 8-Ball Monday

At work today (my first day without my friend/coworker), I changed some things.  Last week, while I was walking around all depressed about my coworker's impending exit, people kept telling me things like, "Change can be good.  You don't know what's going to happen.  You need to accept change."

Well, I took down all the summer decorations in the medical office.  All the American flags, all the red-white-and-blue lamps and baskets, are gone.  And then I put up pumpkins, scarecrows, baskets of corn, cornucopias.  I plastered the place with silk yellow, orange, and red maple leaves.  When I was done, I stood back and felt really good.

I'm sure, tomorrow morning, when the other employees of the surgery center show up (the nurses and surgical techs and nurse anesthetists), there's going to be a whole lot of whining:  "Summer's not over yet.  You shouldn't have changed things until after Labor Day.  It's too early."

I'm going to smile at every person who says something like that to me, and I'm going to reply, "Change is good.  You don't know what's going to happen.  You need to accept change."

Yes, that may be a little passive aggressive, but I'm OK with that.

My question for Holden Caulfield and company today deals with change:

Will my medical office job suck because of this current change/reduction of staff?

And the answer from Catcher is:

If you want to know the truth, I don't even know why I started all that stuff with her.  I mean about going away somewhere, to Massachusetts and Vermont and all...

Yes, I want to know the truth, but that quote is the equivalent of the Magic 8-Ball answer, "Difficult to see."  It's a non-answer.  Oh, well.

Maybe Saint Marty will ask again next Monday.

Maybe I'll put up some snowmen next week

September 6: Past, Present, and Future

"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed.  "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.  Old Jacob Marley!  Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this!  I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"

Yes, I have returned to one of the passages that inspired my year-long adventure in blogging about A Christmas Carol.  Scrooge is embracing change in his life.  He has seen his future, and it wasn't very pleasant.  He needs to do something, or else he's going to end up on the wrong side of a gravestone very shortly.

I'm not a person who embraces change easily.  (For disciples who have been following this blog for a while, this should come as no surprise.  I mentioned this morning to a coworker that I wasn't a big fan of change.  Her response:  "You're kidding.  I never would have realized that."  Imagine huge eyes and a sarcastic smile accompanying that statement.)  No, change and I do not often break bread together.  Generally, I have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the table when Change is the dinner guest.

My wife starts her new job today.  She has to be there around 11:30 a.m.  I'm really happy for her.  I can embrace this change.  It will be great for my wife's self-esteem, and it will be great for our finances.  Unfortunately, this job may mean that she won't be able to go on our family vacation to the Wisconsin Dells in October.  We talked about this possibility last night.  Of course, it's going to be very disappointing if she can't accompany us.  We have to go in October; it's for a dance convention for my daughter.  There's no changing the dates.

This would be an example of Change being both good and bad.  I have a niece who is currently studying abroad in Costa Rica.  She's been preparing for this semester for quite a while.  Well, she got there a few days ago, and an earthquake rocked the country a day ago.  She's fine, wasn't even near the epicenter.  However, she is a victim of the good and bad of change.  She's loving the country and the parrot who curses in Spanish in her house; she's not that fond of a glass building shaking and shivering while she's in a classroom on its second floor.  Good and bad.

So, the upshot of this post is:  wife's new job, good; wife not going on vacation, bad.

Saint Marty wonders if Scrooge ever regretted raising Bob Cratchit's salary.

Bad change