I am writing to my blog again.  I actually created a previous post this morning as soon as I concluded a two hour video-conference call that began at 9 AM Eastern.  Our video-conferencing tools allow me to observe and host and participate in meetings right here in my office.   That post was rambling around in my head, an echo of thoughts of my first ex-wife. I had to get it out.  Then for the rest of the afternoon, and well into the evening, I was back in product development mode, stopping only to respond to a few comments and read a few other posts.  That is what I do.  I create sales and marketing programs, and I develop training programs.  I also train all of the new people in our company.  (I have a few calls that I did not return today.)  

That is not what my business card says.  My business card lies. My business card has executive stuff all over it.  It implies that I still actively sell our services to corporations and personally deliver our products to a broad range of audiences.   I don’t do very much of that stuff these days.  I am supposed to, but I just can’t.  (As a principal in the firm, no one bothers m about it.) 

Sunday afternoon, I met my mother and father at the nursing home so that we could take her out for a drive.  I’d purchased a handicapped van for her wheel chair, but it’s still a lot easier for me to push her chair up the ramp than it is for my father.  She acted like she really wanted to go, but I’m not sure that she had fun or even enjoyed the outing.  That’s just the way it is.  

Then, later that evening, a friend’s wife called me to ask for help.   She needed to unscramble her network so that she could print a report for one of her clients. My friend is recovering from hip surgery and will be laid up for several days.   It took hours to do, but I did it.  In return we shared a glass of wine and I promised to come to his birthday party later in the month.  

I returned in time to watch True Blood and Hung on HBO.  

I still haven’t really looked at the new community newsletter that I found stuck in my door on Saturday.  It’s got a very different format now.  It’s of some interest; because this is the first newsletter the community has ever had that I didn’t personally publish.   While I was on the Board of Directors, I did all of the layouts, most of the writing and most of the printing of the previous publication.   It was another one of those artistic outlets for me, but it took up so much time.   Even after I’d assembled teams of neighbors to help print, fold, and distribute the monthly publications… it was just too much work.  

This year, I’d finally walked away from the Board… and from the newsletter… and from all of these very neighborly obligations.  It’s nice to see that the condo association is doing quite well without me.

My son sent me a text message.  He is back in DC with his mother, although he is planning to live somewhere else for a few weeks.   He wants to know if he can come down here to stay with me before he returns to school.   That means I will have to clean my house and do a better job of food shopping.   I can’t do justice to this via text messaging.  I will need to call him…. but not tonight.  I will call him tomorrow.  (I missed my ex-wife's birthday.  My other ex-wife.)  

I will also have to check on my daughter.  She has her second interview coming up and I need to know how that is going.    There’s a lot going on there.  

I’m blogging again now.  If I do this now, I can actually find words for this balancing act.  It’s after 2:00 AM on Monday night.  I simply couldn’t do any more of my product development chores this evening. I’ll need to get an early start again in the morning, but tonight I have to write.   There is yet another post swirling around in my head, but it will have to wait.   I really need to read some more of the work from my friends here on the OS, but I can’t do it tonight.   

(I’m thinking about a woman, that I shouldn’t be thinking about.   I wonder how that will turn out.)

It’s going on 3:00 AM now, but I still know that when I get in the bed… I’ll just lay there for quite a while before I actually fall asleep.  (I think I will publish this now.)

I wake up at 7:00.