random thoughts – Day 1,421 – (Tuesday) – steam cleaned

It started as a regular work from home day, all innocent and fresh. Before long, the guy who lives in the house behind mine was hanging out the window smoking and adding his special brand of ambiance to the ‘hood. On the bright side, he wasn’t coughing today, which was a good sign. It had been really bad for months and I wondered about his health.

Today, instead of coughing, he bellowed into a cell phone in a spectacular display of vocal projection. This was not even a passionate, argumentative situation, just a normal conversation about not much of anything. Maybe he feels sheltered and protected at the back of his house, which might make sense if there weren’t houses directly behind the one in which he lives. It destroyed my focus and I made a cup of herbal tea.

Steamy soup.

The day got busier and more frustrating with a massive influx of entries for the week’s to-do list, most unrelated to any of the others. One minute I was a production manager. The next, a copywriter. Then, a photo scheduler. Logistics analyst. Back to production management. Inventory management. Invoice processing. Troubleshooting. 

Some of the too many “things” were so annoying I snapped. There are days it’s a blessing to work from home, alone, free of witnesses. The guy in the house behind mine probably heard the ranting and wondered what the heck was going on and who was infringing on his territory. At least I wasn’t hanging out the window.

What constantly kills me is the word “specialist” in my job title. Marketing specialist. Ha! I long to specialize in something besides frustration. I dream of the day where I can wear one hat all day long. Maybe specialize in copywriting for one entire day. That would be a treat. The constant shifting is exhausting.

The edges were smoothed a bit with a lunch of cabbage vegetable soup. Sunlight from the window accentuated the steam from the soup bowl, which was captured in pixels in a moment of triumph. The number of unsuccessful steaming soup bowl photos is in the triple digits. 

Lunch was teamed with a quick mental break and internet search. The query was to determine how many days until Medicare enrollment and I can potentially, maybe, hopefully retire from being a Jill of all trades and specialist of none. The tally to freedom is still deep in triple digits and closer to 1,000 than 100, but hey, it's fewer than 1,000 days, so there is that. At least there is a pinprick of light at the end of the dark tunnel. 

Steam in the alley.

Downtown, after work, it was Boozy Book Club night and a fun conversation about the book No Land to Light On. As I was heading home, the alley in Palmer Street was especially resplendent in steamy glory. 

I've often seen the steam in the alley, but rarely has it looked so cool. And like the bowl of soup earlier in the day, it was captured in pixels and lightened the mood. Remarkable how the little things in a day, like steam, can clear the cranial cobwebs.