I don’t want some drone tailing me….looking over my shoulder.
I don’t want robots to take over the world.
That being said, and in spite of any Luddite tendencies I might have, this is beautiful.
Imagine all these drones….dancing in the sky!
That’s pretty cool.
Now, if I can just remember the catch phrases, “Dude! DON’T TASE ME, BRO!” and, maybe for later, “HOLMES! CALL OFF YOUR DRONE!”
I hope I never have to use either one.
This sure is pretty.
We dress it up now and call this type of business an “auto recycler”.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
It’s never junk if you need a part to keep something running….
I drove around without any radio on today….and it surprised me that my head wasn’t full of interesting thoughts.
In fact, it amazed me.
Amazed.
I think that the thought that was swirling around up there most violently and continuously was the one that said, ” I really don’t have anything interesting to think about.”
That was pretty boring to focus on that for the bulk of my work day.
The other thought I had was this one:
“I wonder why, given the decrease in size (per USPS decree) of my co-worker’s routes after going over the route size limit,that they would almost immediately come to the conclusion that my long and difficult route needed to be cut….too…even though I was still under the limits set by the USPS…and that it should be something that they bring to the awareness of the people who could get that process started?”
Not very grammatical or linear….but it’s hard to be grammatical and linear when you’re delivering a bunch of Amazon packages….and mail.
Maybe it’s better to just fill my head with car dealership commercials and hyperactive DJ’s?
Maybe that would be a safer place to park my tired brain?
It’s not so amazing that I don’t have much going on upstairs sometimes.
Who can think and be a postman at the same time?
It’s like walking and spitting gum.
One of the folks in this video was asked, after finding out that WiFi and cell phones weren’t allowed in this town, “what do you people do around here?”.
His answer was, “I’m doing it right now!”
Hah!
Good answer.
I have a cell phone and like being able to call home….but getting calls from other people is weird out on the mail route.
It’s weird being “contactable” wherever I am.
It’s weird to be so trackable.
But….it’s convenient and maybe better than hoping there’s a payphone within walking distance when I break down.
We won’t be able to slow all of this down, will we?
Maybe we need a big dish on the edge of town to do it for us?
It’s unusual for me to recognize, in the moment, at least, that I am savoring something.
When I’m hungry enough to appreciate something simple, I’m often eating so fast that I don’t really notice what I should be thankful for.
“What I should be thankful for.”
That’s the story of my life.
Out on the route the other day, my peanut butter sandwich was something to savor.
I eat on the run.
I don’t even park to open my lunch box.
It’s a low-speed juggling act, reaching for the banana and sandwich that I know is waiting for me somewhere behind me, opening it all one-handed while I drive…..while I move towards the next mailbox.
I don’t stop.
I don’t stop….and, somehow, my route is still at least a 10 hour day by the time I finish.
Given all that, it would take a miracle to be in the moment long enough to savor a warm peanut butter sandwich.
I get miracles daily.
The other day, I noticed.
What does it take to make me notice how good a sandwich can be?
Every warm and chewy one-handed bite was delicious.
Really delicious….not just “tolerably edible”….really, really delicious.
Maybe it was just being really….really….hungry.
It was good enough to make me wonder why this sandwich, exactly like all the other sandwiches I’d eaten, unaware, was so different.
It was the same…but… better… because I noticed it.
What the heck? It was just a sandwich.
What do I need to “lack” before I have enough space in my head to notice and appreciate what I have?
Gratitude is what it’s all about.
Every thought….every molecule….should be screaming for a chance to offer up some thanks for each breath and thought we’re given.
Gratitude for what is and for what could be.
And….gratitude for what we don’t notice.
Why was that sandwich so good?
Was it all just my stomach talking?
What’s going to be funky enough….after you grew up listening to stuff like this?
Great Rufus!
Great Chaka!
The title of this post is a quote from the beginning of the video.
What is one man’s treasure might be another man’s trash.
I know that it wouldn’t be a place that Jenny would enjoy going for a vacation.
That wouldn’t be much fun for her.
This process is an interesting one….doing all your shopping in one 75 acre piece of property….looking for parts in the piles of old vehicles that surround you.
And….having the “know-how” is pretty cool.
We need to keep more things running.
We’d need fewer new things if we could keep the old stuff running.
(I think that I’ve used this video before….but….)
Heard this band in a live “Studio B” performance from WNCW in Spindale, NC the other day.
What a great thing to have a radio station like that in our area!
Everybody isn’t blessed with good music in their area.
Commercial radio can be kind of a dismal thing sometimes.
Pressing Strings is a good band.
My style.
Thanks for cluing me in, WNCW!
These videos are great.
They take my mind off the vehicles I need to get up to speed.
And, when I say “up to speed”, I mean “running right”.
Distraction is a kindness.
And….check out the dragging at the beginning of the video.
Brakes are a funny thing when they won’t let you roll….less funny when they won’t stop you from rolling.