Labor Day, for real

I actually DID have to work today! There wasn't a ton of work, but there were so few of us there that we stayed busy enough. That's okay, because it made the day go by fairly quickly.

I've got golf on (while Ken is powerwashing), the Deutsche Bank playoff. Or as Ken likes to call it, the Douche Bank playoff. It cracks me up every time, and I always have to say, "Doy-chuh. Doy-chuh bank!" Mickelson is in the lead at the moment. Grrrrrrr.

Hey, I found a little more info about the Alba Court Inn (I wrote about it here) in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. 

"This 26-room hotel was built in 1906 by James and Clyde Pennell. The three-story lobby provided cross-ventilation to the guest rooms. Steam heat and gas were supplemented by in-room plumbing added in 1917."

Kinda cool. If you've ever been in Florida in July or August, you'd know that cross-ventilation would be a very good thing in the pre-air conditioning days! Seems like 1917 was fairly early for in-room plumbing, also. Must have been quite a place in its day. Doesn't it make you wonder what life was like then? In 1906, was Florida a big vacation destination already? (I'd guess that it was.) Was it really rich people who went there? Did they go there to visit the beaches? Was there some kind of high society present in New Smyrna Beach? All the questions it raises in my mind, and I wish I could know what it was like. Who stayed at the Alba Court Inn? What kind of people were they? Hmm, maybe I can write to their local historical society and ask if they have any more information on the place. Yeah, that's a great idea, Beth! You should do that! Look...it's kinda spooky, isn't it? I bet it's haunted.

Later

The good, the bad, and the just plain silly....

The bad: Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank. But he won it fair and square, so that's okay. And by the way, Ken knows it's not DoucheBank. He just wants to make me laugh.

The just plain silly: I was reading some old correspondence tonight. Honestly, how long do some people have to hang on to crap? I've dealt with a good portion of crap in my life (and I'm sure I'll have to deal with more in the future), but I don't dwell on it, and I move on with my life. How pathetic to see someone still hanging on to things that happened years ago, and to be so consumed that they can't be happy with their current situation. And I have to admit, I found much of this old correspondence laughable, because the melodrama was just too funny! Spending so much time in harboring such bad feelings is just ridiculous, and it's also some majorly bad karma. It's amusing to me, but it's also pretty sad. Like the commercials say, "Are you enlightened?" If you're dwelling so much on the past that you can't enjoy the present, you are not enlightened. You're willfully ignorant--and there are not many things I despise more than willful ignorance. You are stumbling down the wrong path, blinded by your own obstinance and stupidity. The only thing that can stop this is for you to make a conscious choice to change, and to find another way to exist. People do it all the time. If you don't choose another way, you will continue to wallow in your own misery, and unfortunately, you're probably the kind of person who wants to share that misery and bring everyone around you down with you. That's not just sad, that's sick.

The good: After feeling sullied by the aforementioned correspondence, I tried to cleanse my palate. When I drive to work, I go by a homeless shelter. I'm not sure how it got started, but there are many mornings when a guy in a wheelchair is sitting out front, and we started waving to each other. Now I look for him every morning, and I hope to see him so we can exchange a smile and a wave. I don't know his circumstances, I just know that it brightens my day to see him. I wrote a note and a little check, and who knows? Maybe it will make a difference for someone. Seeing this guy in the morning and exchanging greetings sure makes a difference for me.

Good karma vs. bad karma. You decide how you're gonna play it. I know what I'll choose every time.