Bloggin' Umholtz

Just tell me what day it is and why I'm here.

I almost did it again. Back in 1985 or 86, I got up one morning about 5 AM, as I was wont to do, performed my morning ablutions, walked out my door and headed for work. Since I lived, at the time, only several blocks from my office, and it was fine summer morning, I chose to walk. The office opened at 8 AM but I was in the habit of arriving at least an hour or so before. I found that hour, with no interruptions, was one of the most productive of the day. I walked to the local eatery, ate breakfast and proceeded to the office. I was involved in reviewing surface mining permits and since we had been without a reviewer for quite some time before I took over there was quite a backlog of permits to review. I buried myself in the next permit and did not look up for several hours. It was at this point that I realized I was the only one in the office. Now, at this point, it should be noted that I was relatively new to government employ, (about 2 years) and I immediately jumped to the conclusion that there was some big meeting I was suppose to be at that completely slipped my mind. Panicking I picked up the phone and dialed the home of our clerical supervisor, figuring her husband could bring me up to date on what I had screwed up. I was completely surprised when she answered the phone. Apparently, the day of my uninterrupted permit review was a national holiday; July 4th. Who would have thought it?

Fast forward to the year 2006, after some 22 odd (the emphasis should probably be on the “odd”) years working in government, I almost did it again. To my credit, I realized a holiday was imminent, I even knew which one. I just wasn’t sure what day. So it came to pass that I was sitting in a Perkins restaurant last Wednesday with my boss discussing my plans for the upcoming week, specifically Monday and Tuesday. He looked at me, somewhat puzzled, which was a look I was not unfamiliar with as he often forms it when I speak, and finally he questioned why I was planning to work on the 4th of July and more importantly why I hadn’t taken Monday off as was expected of someone with 22 years seniority under their belt. I grinned sheepishly and shrugged my shoulders. Upon returning to the office later that day and not wishing to upset the natural balance of things I immediately filled out a request for leave on Monday.

I freely admit to being calendrically challenged. In part I blame it on my upbringing. When I was a mere child my calendar consisted of simply two seasons; school and summer. It worked very effectively for a number of years until I was forced to expand upon it. Neither the Gregorian on Julian calendars were sufficient for my needs as I matured. They were too problematic, counting each and every single day. I settled for the hunting and fishing season calendars, which more aptly reflected a simple expansion of my school/summer calendar into blocks of time during which I could legally kill or catch a particular species. It is true, there were some corollaries to the everyday calendar, for instance, I knew that the Monday after Thanksgiving was the first day of deer season and that once deer season ended, Christmas, as well as ice fishing season were soon to follow. It all worked quite well for a number of years.

Unfortunately, at this nexus of my life I am being forced to reexamine my form of chronology. For it seems the rest of the world is hung up on this day to day thing and haven’t quite got the hang of setting up meetings so as not to interfere with Spring gobbler season or the opening day for walleyes. Much is their loss if you ask me. So to humor them, I carry a PDA, and I use Microsoft Outlook and a Daytimer and heaven forbid, I’ve even taken to wearing a watch and carrying a cell phone, though I must add, the date on both is wrong. Still, with all these new found ways of keeping track of time. I still, when it is my responsibility to set up a meeting, make sure I get to hunt the rut for deer, or toss a crankbait for bass.

And yes, I must admit, I’ll probably accidentally work at least one more holiday before I retire. Oh, woe be the natural order of things!

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Read my Blog!!!
You never know, you might be in it!

http://www2.Writing.Com/authors/joeumholtz/blog

The Regular Writing Rampage  (ASR) Competition: Each fortnight new prompts for a short story + 10,000 GPs/Awardicon available #660949 by Rasputin

Pick Your Prompt  (18+) Do you like to write to prompts?Have a prompt contest? This is the place for you. #819961 by Rasputin

~~Image #4000 Sharing Restricted~~