random thoughts – Day 1,584 – (Friday) – window dressing

Friday, how I love you. Not quite as much as Saturday, but it reminds me of a one-sided situation of my college years when my young and insecure self boldly professed love. The target of my affection in the (in retrospect, dysfunctional) scenario responded, “There are a lot of different kinds of love, Tam.” Ouch. But it's true.

Outside the spiderweb window.

Anyway. Today, the bucket lift continued work on the front trim. The sidewalk was still blocked, and for part of the day, the front door. There were some odd scraping and scratchy noises coming from the front of the building. At least one of the two guys in the lift was working on the spiderweb window on my floor while the other seemed to be yammering away and possibly entertaining him as I surreptitiously snapped a photo.  

I was the only living soul on the fourth floor, which it seems must be stated after recently hearing some stories of the potential existence of alleged ghosts allegedly living in our old building. We were also recently informed that the space in which we sit, which was previously our call center, and before that storage space, was earlier still, a holding space for Civil War soldiers picked up for civil disobedience. What the what? I knew about Lincoln speaking in our building, but his was new information. Dang I wish I could hear the walls that might want to talk.

With the exception of one of the mail team ninjas who are expert at slipping in and out to leave and pick up mail, and a colleague from facilities who needed some signs whipped up to direct people to another door while the bucket lift thing blocked the main entrance, I was truly alone in the space. It can be okay, or totally unnerving, with no rhyme or reason. Or maybe it’s the ghosts.

Throughout the day, there were two phone calls from other bankers (a new record – usually it’s no calls or cold-calling salespeople who make me wish I never signed up for LinkedIn). Thank goodness I remembered to log into my phone, which is an extra step of annoyance every office-office day and some days doesn't happen until noon or not at all.

It was an extra busy day and nobody to commiserate with in person. Griping over Teams message just isn’t the same, mostly because I’m not a great typist. Sigh. At 5:00, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Merrimack Street was lively, just like the past two Friday nights. The side streets featured pedestrians in an abundance of  flowery dresses and jackets with shirts and ties. It is the third weekend of the Jehovah’s Witnesses annual event at Tsongas Center, and the attendees have really added an element of class and obedience to the downtown area. In addition to the wardrobe, they are very diligent about crossing at crosswalks and waiting for the walk signals, unlike us jaywalking downtown workers in our casual Friday jeans.

This morning, a group leaving the parking garage included several pre-teen boys sporting crisp dress pants with shirts and ties, accessorized with kid-sized briefcases. For real. Most of the people coming and going from Tsongas were carrying baggage in the form of backpacks or briefcases, and just like when I was a kid seeing business people with briefcase, I wondered what is inside. Regardless of the visible baggage, based solely on how nicely the men have dressed to attend the three weekends of this event, I’m about ready to sign up. I miss the dress up days and office worker fashion of the 1980s and 90s. Sigh.

No shopping, no chopping.

At home, there was the dinner double-whammy at play. Minimal desire to prepare food from the vast reserves of ingredients crashed full force with an absence of leftovers to quickly reheat. 

The preferred local pizza shop came to the rescue with a delivery of a large cold veggie sub. No shopping or chopping for me made for the perfect solution.

The after supper reading on the deck visit took place, but it wasn’t nine-millionty degrees out. It was breezy and I got chilly. 

Dahlias dressing up the flower bed.

The dahlia in the front yard, bought from one of the distressed plant racks at Lowe's a month or two ago, is enjoying another round of blooms.  It's dressing up the flower bed much like our annual convention visitors are dressing up downtown.  

Back inside, it was time to kick back with a glass of wine and unwind. The current Netflix entertainment is The Green Glove Gang, featuring a group of senior citizen thieves. Let the weekend begin.