Thoughts with Richard Bleil
A few days ago (as of the writing of this) I found myself at the clinic. No, not that clinic. Believe me, I haven’t participated in any activities that could result in that particular risk in, well, since Obama was in office. This clinic was for one of the three major pharmaceuticals with Covid vaccinations, and I volunteered to be a lab rat. In fact, I had the original shot, the second, the booster, and just signed up for the next booster shot study, so I’m in it for two more years.
Early on, before the vaccine was even available on a large scale, I was getting a ride from the garage where my vehicle was being serviced. I told the driver that I was in the study, and his first question was if there were any side effects. I said, no, nothing really, but I was a woman before I got the shot. But on the plus side, I went on, at least I’m paid twenty percent more for the same work.
Of course, at the clinic, you’re not allowed to just walk in. Instead, you have to park in the lot and call to inform them that you are there. When they’re ready, they call you back and say, hey, you can come in now. Provided you have your mask on. And gloves. And Hazmat suit. KIDDING! Yes, you do have to wear a mask, but the rest is bull, well, let’s say fertilizer. I certainly don’t want to offend anybody by saying “shit”. I mean, fuck.
Pulling into the lot, I had a couple of choices of spots. It was dreadfully hot that day, so I certainly could park in a spot exposed to the sun, which would yield a vehicle that would need to be drastically cooled down on my egress from the building. Or I could park under a tree, where the sun would be less brutal on the internal temperature of the vehicle, but the risk of sap and leaves falling onto my car was real. And then it struck me that this is life.
Often, when faced with a choice, there is always a downside (or upside) to each. Chocolate or vanilla? Many of my readers will think this is obvious, just go for the chocolate, and yet with vanilla, you can add any topping you want, including chocolate, so if you’re not in the mood for chocolate, you can do pretty much anything else that you want.
Marriage is a trade-off. On the one hand, you get a lifetime partner (in principle, anyway) that will be with you through thick and thin. On the other, you lose some individual freedoms. And marriage is not the end of problems. In fact, you end up with more problems, and more than just the sum total of the problems each face as an individual, but the benefit is that you don’t have to face those problems alone. Me? I would take marriage given the option.
Kids or no kids? What a wonderful thing to be a father or mother, filled with great successes, proud moments and fun (in principle, anyway). And yet, it saps so much time. I’m not convinced that young people often really consider the responsibility of parenthood. They want to be moms or dads at very young ages because babies are so cute, and smell so good, and how fun. But it’s the end of late night with friends, concerts, parties, and so forth. Yes, sometimes you can find a sitter, but the question will always be there, “what about my child?”
I have two (soon to be three) rather expensive hobbies. I love guns and go shooting and enjoy my gun collection. Now I have serious photography equipment and am trying to learn more about it from an artistic perspective. And I have a 3-D printer that I’ll be picking up tomorrow. So my choices are buying guns or related equipment, lenses or related equipment, the necessary components for my 3-D printer, or, here’s a shocker, save my money. Saving money isn’t nearly as much fun as bringing home new guns, or lenses, but it’s also a great way to keep eating.
There is no advice I can give here. We all face choices every day, beginning with the most basic of, should I even get out of bed today? That’s often a difficult choice for me. As we are all individuals, we all make different choices. Some of us love chocolate so much and realize that you can also add any toppings you want on chocolate ice cream as well. My only advice is to be true to yourself, because, honestly, nobody does you better than you.
Bleil's Banter 