I don’t really have a choice, you know. I am 2B, which is my age in hexadecimal. I thought it might soften the blow, but it does not. It is my thirtieth anniversary of puberty, and I don’t believe I’ve changed much. In fact, my priorities from age 13 are probably the same priorities I have right now.
So today was special. My friends at work asked repeatedly what I was going to do to celebrate. I really had not planned on anything. In so many ways, every day is special, and I’m happy enough just hanging around the house. But it occurred to me that it’d be nice to sit around with a beer and learn a new song on my accordion.
That’s when life intruded. I purchase an accordion from a gentleman on eBay last week, and it arrived with a leak. So I decided to correct the leak before playing tonight. It took quite a bit longer to correct and, in the end, I didn’t solve my problem.
There is that adage that life is what happens while you are planning on doing something else. There is also that adage that you can not control what others do, or all the challenges that arise in life, but you can control how you react to those things. So I could have been crabby about things not going my way.
I should confess that I did get very angry at our new kitten when it threatened to jump on my workbench while I was working on the accordion. I really don’t like the little beast.
But for the most part, I enjoyed this strange evening repairing an accordion. They are amazing machines, and are frequently broken. It’s not a hobby I recommend. I am reminded of one of Bob Newhart’s colleagues from the medical office in his first TV show. This was the urologist, I believe, and he told Bob once that most evenings, after dinner, he worked on wood-working projects in his garage until his family was asleep, rarely interacting with them. It was funny because, of course, that’s not a normal way to interact with your family. But every once in a while it’s nice to have something to distract you, and dedicating an amount of time helps accomplish your goals, assuming you direct your energies wisely.
I will strive to make some progress on my goals, as should we all.