Got Dad???

Allow me to preface this post by 1st saying that my Pops is a great dude. In a world where fathers are attacked & slammed daily by abandoned children, mis-stresses, wives, ex-wives & the ever-so-popular: baby mother - it's only right that I take the time to combat the trending twitter topics & various Facebook posts by announcing the fact that my father is indeed the exception to what most certainly seems to have become the rule.

Not only did he beat my ass when appropriately ordered to do so by Ma (lol), he praised each of my individual triumphs, while also managing to support (financially & emotionally) a great number of my unique ventures into the great unknown, which he commonly referred to as - the real world. Recalling my memories of him as a child, I can remember he was an early-riser, I myself, now wake between 5 & 6am daily.

He always left for work while it was still dark outside & very rarely did he ever take leave from work. He always took his lunch with him (a practice Mom & I had long since given up in school, lol) & was home daily by 4:15pm. I swear, you could set your clocks to this guy's daily routine. He handled all the typical maintenance & upkeep any house requires over time. As a former used car salesman, he understood the maintenance required to keep a car running - he was just handy.

As a kid, I just thought he was my personal Mr. Wizard (80s tv reference, lol) - he was a computer specialist at the Pentagon, so I was fascinated by his work early on. Around the house, he could fix/build just about anything it seemed. The day I took over grass-cutting duty was SUCH a big deal - I was finally old enough to start doing man-stuff too, lmao. At age 10 or 11, he & I would come to learn we both shared something in common - the love of football. I think it was then, he knew his blood coursed through my veins, lol.

From that point forward, our campaign to convince Ma to allow me to play was on! Eventually she conceded & the rest is history. I guess it turns out, he was my 1st coach in life & on the field of play as well. I remember he was a tough coach & an even tougher parent, but at the end of each scolding, the life lesson was evident to me & I always walked away a better athlete/person as a result of his taking the time. He didn't try to raise me just as he raised my brother, but instead judged us both on our own individual merit. 

Though he's never been a man of many words, he ALWAYS knew the right time to sit-my-ass-down & put a lil' sumthin in my ear right quick. I'm forever gratetful for the many lessons he taught by way of the example he lead. He showed me exactly what being a devoted husband & loving father entailed, something I've yet to come across in any book, so I certainly recognize the blessing it's been to have him around.

Pops is getting up there in age nowadays, so I find myself spending more time with him, while at the house doing yard work, at family gatherings over holidays, birthdays, or whatever. Guess I just wanna soak up what I can, while I can. Throughout history, the sacrifice of the mother who is forced to be both Mom & Dad has been well-chronicled. But on this day, let it be known that MY father was also my Dad, & you know what? He was fuckin' good at it too...

Casual Wednesdays...

So tomorrow is the 1st day of an experiment I'm conducting. I'll be telecommuting from home tomorrow & will continue to do so for the next couple of Wednesdays as well. 


If I'm able to stay disciplined & actually complete a day's worth of work from the couch, I'll commit to telecommuting 1 day a week for the foreseeable future. I've got quite a few buddies who love the traditional alternative work schedules they've got at their jobs, but honestly, I'm not really willing to work the 9+ hours per shift required to earn the day-off every-other week. I barely manage to stomach my current 8-hour shift as it is, so I'm positive I'd be ducking-out early, each day, if I was expected to be there for 9 or more, lol.

So we'll see how this works out for me. Kinda reminds me of being back in high school when teacher's would give us those open-book tests. I always felt nervous about 'em, some things are just too good to be true, lol. I'm supposed to document what I've accomplished from home - that ought to be... interesting.

If this new wrinkle does become a regular part of my work schedule, it'd be pretty helpful. I normally ride the subway to work Tuesday thru Thursday, while I drive on Mondays & Fridays. So if I can save subway fare & parking fees each Wednesday simply by drafting documents & responding to emails between loads of laundry, while frying bacon in my underwear, then I'm ALL for it!

Not to mention the freedom it would give me to run many midday errands that might normally be inconvenient or bothersome during rush-hour or weekends. Doctor/dentist appointments, appliance repair service, runs to the cleaners, oil changes, so on & so forth.. could ALL be done on Wednesdays. Then there's the ultimate prize, the extra sleep I'd get :-D

Sure, some supervisors or management might feel like telecommuting would be less productive for worker-bees, but there's actually been a lot of research showing how the quality of work actually improves when employees have alternative work schedules - then there's the money saved on the employer's end, so... why not? 

I guess only the application of said theory remains. At any rate, I've got my secured VPN access squared away, emails & calendar items from the work computer seem to be syncing flawlessly with the home computer & mobile devices - plus, the Sup is very much on-board with everything. I've even installed Microsoft Word on my Mac (forgive me Steve, unfortunately Word remains a necessary evil in the workplace, lol).