Giving Time

Hi Readers,

Another post and you might be wondering what the prompt was this time. 

Or you just might not give a toss!!

I'm a shocker for using post-it notes all the time. I use them as constant reminders for everything from my shopping list, to reminders to do things around the house and even reminders about what to do each day! There is a post-it note pad in my car in case I need to jot something down before I forget it, one beside my bed in case I wake up and think of something and need to write it down in case I forget about it in the morning.

As a result there are often notes all around the place with scribble on them, some very important, but in most cases it's just mickey-mouse stuff that in the bigger scheme of things is very insignificant. I've just created a habit of doing it.

So a few moments ago I was cleaning up the kitchen bench and I found a note that I had scribbled on last week sometime. I'd glance at it so often in the past few days and made a mental note "I should check what I have written on that note", and it wasn't until I picked it up just now that I read it again, and thought it might be a good prompt for a post.

As I have to kill just a few hours this morning as I have to head off to work later today (more about that later) what better opportunity than to belt out a post?

As I have the radio going nearly all the time when I'm driving or doing stuff around the house, I listen to lots of talkback and podcasts. On one last week there was some discussion around the topic of "What do you give time to?"

It wasn't pointed in any particular direction, it was just asking people to describe the things that they give time to, be it super important or mediocre. Having said that, to me, anything that you choose to give time to must be important, and it's only the perceptions of others that diminish it.

An example of people giving time was described by a representative of a tourist organisation. Overseas Readers, there is a tourist attraction on the coast here in Victoria called The Twelve Apostles, a rock formation in the ocean not far from the cliffs. Most have fallen down over time, leaving just a few, definitely not twelve anymore!!

Anyway, this representative shared some data about the number of visitors per month, year etc, but the one bit that really caught my attention was when he said that a majority of people will travel up to 5 hours to visit this attraction and that the average stay was only 12 minutes!!!!

I presume that this is mainly foreign tourists doing a day trip from Melbourne, but isn't that a huge investment of time for only 12 minutes? Of course there would be so many others who travel for less, or spend more than 12 minutes there, but that is a big commitment still.

Which got me thinking.

What things have I, and do I freely give time to?

I can relate to some similar travel stories as Jen and I travelled extensively together and have so many memories and stories to share.

I remember when we were in Paris and we stood under the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I was totally mesmerised by its sheer size and just couldn't comprehend it even though I was there. I could have stood under it and marvelled at it for ages until I got my arm grabbed by Jen with a bit of a hurry up to go up the lift.

By the time we got to the top level my amazement just went ballistic. Being terrified of heights, I still managed to have a look around and I was content to just lean on the rails and soak up looking over Paris, and realising that I was actually standing on the Eiffel Tower!! I could have spent hours there, but then my arm was grabbed again and I'm being told "Come on, we've got things to do and places to see!" Clearly Jen wasn't loving it as much as I was, I just lost all sense of time while I was up there, I could have given it all the time in the world.

A slightly different experience for both of us when we visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

We had really been looking forward to seeing this, and I don't want to sound ungrateful for having the chance to do it in the first place, but after looking at it, we both then looked at each other as if to say "Is that it??" then just laughed.

In all our travels we found places that we could have just spent ages there just soaking it all up. This includes famous attractions as we would just consider ourselves so lucky to have the opportunity to experience them.

But some of our greatest memories came from just sitting in a quaint piazza, or along a riverbank or just on a balcony of where we might have been staying and we would just absorb the atmosphere and try to experience life as a local.

In my recent travels I have just loved having time to sit at a coffee shop or hotel and just watch how people from another country go about their business. I thought I'd be a person who'd always go for the big attractions, but over the years I've found that I just love giving time to doing the things that aren't as rushed or well known. Earlier this year I was in New York, and I just loved the time wandering the streets and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of such a vibrant city. Not what I'd say was relaxing, but a time when I would lose all sense of time.

Sorry to harp on overseas travel Readers, but it is something I had yearned to do since I was about 18, and it wasn't until many, many years later that I have been lucky enough to do it.

There is one place that I have been to twice, and I still consider it to be the most beautiful place I have seen anywhere. Not just the beauty of the place, but how it made me feel.

On both occasions I just found myself finding a quiet place to myself and just soaking up the atmosphere and sheer beauty, I'm sure I'll go back there again!

And this place?

Lake Louise in Canada. 

When I came back from my first trip there I was constantly banging on to Jen about this lake that I had visited, and how we must go there together one day. As she hadn't been there, she'd just nod politely and let me finish gushing about a place that had no relevance to her whatsoever.

Fast forward a few years and one of our sons is working in Banff, just down the road from Lake Louise. Of course, one of the first things I did was drag her up there and instead of me talking all about it it I just let Jen make up her own mind.

And then she says to me, "I get what you were saying about this place"

We then just took a slow walk around the lake, taking in all the sounds, the quiet, the smells and the incredible scenery. Nothing needed to be said, and for one of those rare times, neither of us was in a rush to go and do other things.

Jen had taken me to Reggio Emilia in Italy on a previous trip, a place that had such special memories for her, and it wasn't until then that I began to understand her love and passion for what she experienced there.

We would often just sit in the Piazza and watch the world go by, and time meant nothing to us at all.

As I mentioned earlier when we at the Eiffel Tower and Jen rushed me off to see other things (we'd probably been there for ages, I was just so absorbed!) I am so guilty of doing the same to her.

We love our coffees, so every day we'd sit somewhere and have one. Now Readers, it is a bit of a joke in our family that I just chug my coffees too quickly, and as soon as they are served they are gulped down, no matter how hot they are.

This always happened when we'd go somewhere. No sooner after sitting down, my coffee would be demolished then I'd get 'The Stare' from Jen as she might not have even had her first sip!! I learnt to understand the stare as soon as I'd finish mine I'd be fidgeting and shuffling about trying to give her the hurry on as "We have places to go and things to see". Sound familiar???

The first few times this happened I foolishly asked her to hurry up, but over time she developed 'the stare' which I very quickly learnt to understand!!!!

Then 'the stare' became a wry smile, as she knew she had me on her leash!!!

It has only been in the past few years that I fully realised this was her "giving time" moments. Just because I didn't value the pleasure of really sitting back and enjoying the coffee and soaking up the atmosphere, I was denying her the opportunity to do what she valued. Now I get it.

Let's get away from travel, as I could bang on about so many occasions where I could 'give time', but that would bore you to tears as it is only really relevant to me, and you would just be thinking "Meh!!"

But having said that Readers, here's something for you to think about.What do you love "giving time" to? 

What are the things that mesmerise you, entrap you and make you lose all sense of time?

In a way, when I'm doing these posts I lose track of all time as I just love the way that it gets me thinking about things that matter to me. But probably not to you!!!

There are things we do when one eye is constantly on the clock as we just hope it will finish, while there are other times when we look at the clock and think "Where did those 3 hours go??" When does this apply to you? 

And more importantly, do we give ourselves the chance to do them, or do we let the other things overrun them?

I know it's an old saying, "I don't have the time", but when one commits to making the time it is such a joy to experience.

Back in the day when I was able to do the thing that I just loved so much, going for runs I would experience this so much. Of course there were days when I'd grind out a run as I knew I had to maintain the training in order to achieve certain goals. 

But on other days I'd get out on the road and everything just clicked. The legs were moving, the breathing was steady and the hills felt even less steeper than they did before. I'd stop looking at the watch and just run for the love of it, and before too long I'd have 20-30km under the belt and still feeling as fresh as a daisy.

How I'd long for those days again as just walking around the block at the moments stuffs me up for a day or two!!!! Still, I'm so grateful for what I was able to do, I'll just find other ways to get the same feeling.

Now, as I mentioned earlier in this post, I mentioned about heading off to work later today, so I better finish this post and start getting ready.

For the overseas readers, I had been a teacher for 38 years then retired at the end of last year. However, there is still the opportunity here to do be a Casual Relief Teacher, or CRT, where you are hired for a day here and there to fill in for teachers who are away for different reasons. 

All this year I have tossed the idea about and whether or not I would be up to it, do I want to do it or if I'd be any good at it.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I contacted my previous school and said I'd be available for CRT work if needed. In some ways I might have been thinking "There, I've put my name forward, but I hope they don't contact me"!!!  But I was also thinking that I was keen to give it a try just to see if I was absolutely finished, and I didn't want to regret not giving it a crack.

Well, lo and behold I have done a few days this week, and guess what? I've loved it!!!

I went in and took Indonesian for a few classes (Okay, stop laughing!!) and because I don't know any Indonesian I can't really say if I was successful or not. The kids didn't cry or run away so at least that was a win!! At one point I was thinking if my Indonesian was failing I'd slip into Japanese mode, as I taught Japanese back in the day.

Then the next day I took a class for the day in the room that I'd taught in for the past two years, it felt very comfortable. And the icing on the cake was taking 4 classes for a combined sports session. Talk about living the dream!!

Today I'm going in for the last part of the day, so anything could happen.

I know I've only been out of the game for 10 months, but things have changed dramatically since I retired so I was constantly asking the kids "Am I doing this right?" I'm not to proud to do that I can tell you.

A funny moment was when I was doing something on the screen and was once again not knowing what I was doing and I glanced up and a student obviously read the situation and just gave me an approving nod, as if to say "You've got this". In the end I just told the kids to tell me when I was in the wrong, and to their credit they didn't wind me up or prank me, they were just the best. Bless them!!! 

I have been so nervous about going back to work part time, there's a part of me that says "You don't need to do this", but also another part that is saying "You want to do this"

So the experiences of the days back in the classroom this week have made me give a bit more time to thinking about the approach I will take as a CRT, as it is quite different from going in as the usual teacher. And whether I'll continue as a CRT next year is up in the air, I don't know which way I will go, but for the moment it has been just the tonic for my wellbeing as the past few months have been a real challenge.

Readers, I have loved 'giving time' to doing this post as it has given me clarity about making some recent decisions, and for something I'll be doing in the coming days that I'm still uncertain about. In recent posts I spoke about not spending too much time dwelling on decisions, so in the next few days I hope that I can find out if this decision is going to be good for me or just something where people will say "Yep, he's losing it again!"

Time will tell!!

Readers, In the coming days I hope you can identify at least one thing that you'd love to give time to, and treat yourself to it. Forget mowing the lawns or doing work related tasks. Do something for YOU!!

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁

p.s. I actually love mowing the lawns, and weeding the gardens! It gives me time!!!!!

 Nailing It !

Hi Readers,

I already had an idea for a post planned for today, but something that started my day has caused me to write about it instead. At least I still have a prompt for my next post!!

Each morning I get up pretty early as I have quite a bit of rehab to do on my hands, shoulders and ankles so that I can move about as much as I can. Over the past 3 years as the number of ops has increased, so has the amount of rehab and that means my sessions are getting longer and longer!! Still, I've always been diligent at being an early riser over the years so it's no big deal. But by mid afternoon I'm ready to create some 💤💤💤💤 so I'm careful not to sit down otherwise I'll be in the land of nod!!

This morning was pretty cool by the time I got into the shower. As usual I just turned on both the hot and cold water taps, hoping that I'd get the temp right. Nine times out of ten I'll get in and need to adjust either tap, or both, rarely do I get it right first time.

But this morning was different.

When I got in it was just perfect!!! For a moment I thought about adjusting one or the other, but then realised that I'd actually nailed it!!!

You must be thinking that I must be totally nuts when something so trivial got my juices going, but it did get me thinking.

What are the things that are so mundane and pedantic, that when we nail them perfectly we feel like a million dollars???

The times when we just snag something perfectly?

This was all prompted by my shower this morning, and as I soaked up the warmth I started to think about other things that I do all the time, but rarely do I get them done perfectly, or close to perfection each time?

Warning!!

I'm going to venture down the path of pedantism, but at the same time I hope I get you thinking about similar things in your own lives that you celebrate with private gusto when you nail them!!!

As I prepare to mow the lawns later today, it's always in the back of my mind if the battery life in the mower will go the distance. Usually it does last, but only if I push quickly, something that is a bit of a challenge with my leg at the moment. Other factors are the length of the grass, and how quickly I can do my neighbour's nature strip as well.

So many times I've been left with a strip about 15-20m long as the battery dies, needing a recharge. And that means coming back later and starting again, all for just 2-3 minutes.

But later today I am anticipating getting it all done in one hit, just because I nailed the shower this morning.

It's amazing how just that one little success this morning has created such a positive mindset for the rest of the day!!

Even just having breakfast can bring its own little challenges.

When I make my coffee I always put the milk in first before I add the coffee from the coffee machine. As I use lots of different sized cups, I never measure the milk, I just guess. Most times I put in either just a bit too much or too little, but on the times I just nail it I just stop and figuratively pat myself on the back.

The same goes for making toast. We all know the trials and tribulations involved when breaking in a new toaster and finally settling on the level that does your toast just right. 

Until you start using different types of bread and with different thicknesses.

One of my bugbears is having to dip back into the butter for more when you are buttering your toast. If I can get enough on the knife in the first go, then life is good. It sort of feels like I'm double dipping if I have to go back for more. Worse still when you have taken too much and are still left with a blob on your blade. What do you do now? Wipe it on the edge of the container for someone else to use?? I hate it when I open a butter container and I see the dregs of jam, vegemite, peanut butter etc lining the edges.

I suppose my habit of always trying not to have to go back to the container stems from my wife Jenny being Coeliac, and even a crumb or two would be enough to cause her serious reactions. At some times we even had seperate containers of butter and our own jars of spreads just to eliminate contamination. We definitely had seperate toasters.

As we continue our stroll down Pedantic Street, how many of you suffer from toothpaste rage?

You have just eaten your perfectly buttered toast, drained your perfectly milked coffee and are now nicking into the bathroom to give your fangs a wipe.

But whoever used the toothpaste last (in our house it's always just me now, so I can't blame anyone! 😖) has left just enough for half of what you need, but not enough for what you need for a proper clean.

But today is different!! You squeeze out the last dollop and it is 100% perfect for your needs. No mangling of the tube to grind out the last micron of toothpaste, just what you need, and no need to question if you need to leave the tube there for perhaps one last attempt. You are content that it has done its job and a new tube will be opened next visit.

On these occasions even my teeth feel cleaner and I'm not stressed about having to have rolled around on the bathroom floor trying to coax out that last bit of toothpaste that I need.

The same applies for shampoo in the shower. Who gets in and finds that the previous person has left only the tiniest bit in the bottle jus so they don't get lumbered with the responsibility of changing it over or refilling it. The joy of squeezing out that last bit and knowing thatit is all that you need. But please replace or refill it!!!!

Putting on socks and then not having to fiddle around making them feel comfortable once you put your shoes on. That seam that often runs along the toe line really bugs me if I can feel it, it just has to be perfect for me. So many times I've needed to take my shoe off again and adjust, but on those days I nail it, I just glide out of the house!!

Putting on a jumper over a shirt and not having to fiddle with the sleeves if they have scrunched up, especially with long sleeved shirts. Back in the day it never bothered me as much, but with all my recent shoulder issues I just can't reach and stretch as much as I'd like and one does need flexibility to adjust opposite sleeves. When I'm doing this in public I swear I must look like someone trying to change the wheel on a moving car!!

Cooking rice or pasta to add to a dish.

I'm not one to rely on measurements, I usually cook by sight ( and sometimes taste!)

Most of the time I just pour in what I think will look like enough once it is cooked, but more often than not I'm left over with an amount that is not enough for another meal the next day, and if I added it to what I was eating at the time it would just be that little too much.

Which is why I tend to overcook, meaning a dish might last me 3 nights!! By then I'm over it, but on the nights when I just nail the quantities, just call me Masterchef!!

Ever put on sunscreen and are left with way too much still on your hands that just won't be absorbed by your skin? You are so covered because you may have been a tad exuberant in squirting/pumping from the bottle that even after rubbing it in everywhere, you still have a few litres of it still in your hand? I'm not for a minute discouraging the use of sunscreen, heaven forbid, but on those times when you just get the right amount for what you need to cover one gets that feeling of invincibility against the UV Rays. We all end up with a bit extra on our hands that can be wiped away, but when we have totally covered ourselves and our hands look like they have just been painted white, perhaps we may have taken just a bit too much to start with. Just nail it!!

Buying clothes that fit perfectly first time. One of my pet hates is trying on new clothes at shops and trying to get the right size. Just because a Medium fits at one store does not necessarily mean that all Mediums are the same. Which means going to the change rooms with 2 or even more sizes of the same item just to see which one fits best. And being a pedantic beast, even if I am buying more than one of something as I want another colour, I try on EVERYTHING!!! 

On my recent trip overseas earlier this year I had some hours to kill at Singapore Airport, so I wandered among the shops. Imagine my surprise when I discovered some pants that were just perfect for travelling, at a great price, and when I tried them on they fitted perfectly!!!! Usually I'll require adjustments, but these were just perfect. So perfect in fact that I bought 3 pairs there and then. I was only 8 hours out of Australia and already my luggage was getting harder to pack, but when I buy something that fits perfectly first go, that feeling of nailing it is so good.

As I drive into town most days there are a number of intersections to go through that have traffic lights. If you are like me, don't you hate it when they change to red just as you are approaching?

But yesterday I drove like the Grandpa that I am, right on the limit and didn't care about the driver who was right up my arse trying to push me to go faster. This car did a drastic overtaking move into the next lane as if the world was ending, then settled down in front of me at the same speed that I was doing. That was a big move!! Then it did the same thing to another car and ended up in the lane beside me behind another car that was going slightly slower. I kept going at Grandpa speed and caught every green light while this very impatient and erratic driver got caught behind an even slower driver, ending up way behind me.

And as I approached a major intersection I caught sight of two motorcycle police parked behind some trees waiting to catch drivers just like the one I had experienced. These lights turned red, and just by chance I pulled up right next o them, and as I knew one of them well we managed to have a quick chat while waiting for the lights to turn green.

On those days when I just nail the green lights, life is so good!!!

By now Readers you must be thinking that I have way too much time on my hands if I am writing about such boring things like the ones that I have mentioned, but often when I don't get them right they are the things that can bug me intensely. They become the ants that I turn into elephants, when in fact they are so purile they needn't cause me any alarm at all.

Dressing perfectly for the weather.

I don't know if you are like me, but I can't stand it if I dress badly for the weather. I know it's easy for me now, if I get too hot or cold I just go and change. But when I was working, and a nice day was predicted, I'd be wondering whether to wear shorts or not, would I be too cold or too warm etc. So pedantic would I be that I'd wear shorts even if most of the day was too cool for shorts, but if it got warmer in the last hours of the day then I felt just justified. I'd nailed it!! I may have suffered in the cold for most of the day, but that one hour or two when shorts were best meant that I'd made the right decision. Funny how our brains work isn't it!

Travelling overseas causes me the most challenges with dressing, for although the temp might be cooler, I'm usually very active and on the go, so I tend not to pack too many warm clothes. I have been caught out on a few occasions, but generally I nail it.

And now the best for last.

Have you ever poured the perfect beer? The one that uses every drop from the bottle?

As I make my own beer I have a very vested interest in this and take a lot of notice in how they pour.

If there is too much head, that means I still have a few mouthfuls left in the bottle, and being home brew I won't just guzzle it as there is a bit of sediment left in the bottom of every bottle. But if I pour it perfectly it uses up just about every drop and just leaves a little bit in the bottom with the sediment.

Then there is the size of the glass that one uses. 

For me, a beer needs to come to the rim of the glass, and not only fill the glass 3/4 or near the top. Many would argue against this, but for me it has to be full, so when I pour one that uses just the right amount from the bottle and looks perfect in the glass, then I know that I have nailed it.

Well Readers, a very pedantic and light hearted look at the piddly little things that cross our paths across our days, but although being somewhat minor, they can still dictate the way in which we might approach the day.

Who knows, the very grumpy person you encounter later today might not just have nailed something that we all might consider an ant, but for this person it has become an elephant. On the other hand, it might be the person who didn't have to break stride to go up a step and just glided up it gracefully. We've all been there.

So Readers, I hope that you get to nail something today, and that you might even reflect momentarily on it and see how it can change the course of what you do next.

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁