Waking Up

It has been a year since I was laid off on April 20. It was the date my career at Nike ended, albeit with a massive package and two years of salary, insurance, etc. I remember this Monday as a work day. I did not even think about it on Sunday as it was Easter, and Z and I had pancakes to make. I was tired after that and stayed home, passing on various Easter Dinner offers. But there was a slight hint of melancholy on the anniversary day.

Looking back, I wish I had enjoyed my retirement longer. I do not think there was an opening until the layoff with its package appeared in my life, but I do not miss corporate life, and wish I had left it sooner. I remember having to do nearly impossible computer things with insane deadlines and swollen budgets invented by managers with sights set on higher office. The managers, directors, and vice presidents always assumed credit for success (I only had one project fail in all my years at Nike). The budget excess found a home with a wink and a nod in another failing project. Status meetings were often early or late to include other time zones. I am not missing my work at a multinational company at all.

Nike’s HR asked me to reconsider my departure due to my brain tumor. They wanted me, and it was kind of them, to put me back on the payroll and take medical leave instead. The recommendation was to let Nike’s generous leave policy cover me during my recovery. I took the layoff package and turned down an HR VP. It all worked out.

I enjoy owning my day and jealously protect it from volunteering possibilities. I have noticed that retired folks exchange one busy life for another. I want to do some new things and something different. I choose to travel, write, and play board games. I did take a church position that takes some focus, but I guard my choices.

With the passing of Susie, colon cancer, and surviving a brain tumor, I will try to enjoy life for a while.

Sunday started with me waking to find Deborah’s ‘Happy Easter’ text. I rose and found my laptop on my work table in the fireside room next to the kitchen. I woke early, pushed the start button on the coffee I had assembled the night before, and started on the blog. I had only an hour to write. I managed to get 3/4 of it done before I had to stop, time-boxed, and hopped into the shower. I did the usual things. Today, I put on a pride tie for Easter as it has all the Easter colors and a good message for the holy day. This is with a white shirt, dark blue slacks, and green sweater vest.

I loaded the cooled ham and butter. Yesterday, I put the grills and other items in Air VW the Gray’s cargo hold. It is a quick trip, and Jack lets me into the First United Methodist Church of Beaverton, where I start to unload. Dondrea and Z (Z is head of Hospitality at the church; anyone over 13 is considered a member and can serve on most committees, even lead) appeared, and we assembled the kitchen for pancake cooking and ham reheating.

I showed the secret electrical plug in the drawer, connected a short extension cord to it, and started up one grill. This was a shock to Methodist folks, as apparently, the knowledge of this plug was lost in the various personnel changes. I just smiled. The other two plugs on the other counter were also a surprise. My two grills and one borrowed were running after a quick wash.

Z and I soon updated our skills and made it through some practice pancakes, and we got out the ham for a taste. We thinned the batter, remembering it looked thin, but then the cakes thickened and worked. Our first ones, failures, were not cooked in the center, but looked good. Yikes!

The ham was well received. It was roasted at the house and then reheated with foil to prevent it from becoming pork jerky. I bought a cheap ($31) ham because the flavor is not overly done or too salty—just ham. I did not glaze or use cloves, as it would not be presented, but disassembled and served. I first put it out, but the ham was not coming apart as easily as I hoped. We had to slice it in the kitchen. I will have to get a larger one next time, as that would make it easier.

I let others serve, set up tables, decorate, and all of that. I find it best to let others take over, as these are Methodists. Methodists love to set up and arrange meals. It’s best to let them go. Soon, everything was ready.

Z and I raised a pile of pancakes with only a few takers. We had more workers than customers, but eventually the workers ate, and others showed up much later than the 9:30 start time, but it all worked. Z and I just made more hot pancakes. Hot food was always on top, and the heat radiated to the other food. Putting the new stuff on the bottom would have been more de rigueur, but the process would more likely make a mess. We just stacked ’em.

The food was good, and we had about twenty to thirty customers. We had one distressed older man who looked homeless and was angry, but seemed to like the company and the food. His hands shook, and he was pretty rude. But he liked the food, and I think he resisted enjoying himself. He was mostly ignored, but he never crossed any lines, and I never thought him a hazard. He attended the church service, and we could hear his voice here and there. He was from a more evangelical background and did not like the bilingual service. The last time I saw him, he was waving his hands and clearly unhappy with the service and experience. But he left without incident.

It is not the job of Christians to judge: He got breakfast, I brought him coffee, and we let him go with his complaints. Happy Easter!

This year’s sermons were less serious and focused on the joy in the Easter text in John. Our Pastor Ken and the Pastor of Principe de Paz (a group that also worships at our church in a Spanish service), Enrique Caldera, gave a message. Dondrea ensured the service ran according to plan and gave an Easter prayer. An egg hunt followed, with Dondrea discovering she was running that, too. A squirrel joined in and was last seen running away with a blue plastic egg.

We had cleaned up the kitchen, and I could head out. As I said, I demurred when offered Easter Dinner. I returned home, unloaded, and froze a few spare pancakes (according to the NYT, you reheat them in the oven). I soon stumbled into the bedroom. After an hour of rest, I sent a note that I was not joining dinner and made a salad for lunch. I include many olives from the Olive Pit I bought on my trip back.

After considerable effort, Deborah and I connected my iPad to her run of Matlock, and we shared/watched another episode. Deborah was catching up with her laundry and cleaning after spending a weekend together while we watched. I still like the show and speculate in my mind where it is headed. In this episode, we learned a few more things that should have been obvious, and my mind drew paths of possible solutions. Deborah rang off and headed to bed.

It was late afternoon, and I started on something I wanted to do all day. I rolled the bed out of the office and folded it. I sat at my desk and found it still like May 19, with even a church bulletin from that day. This was the day before my surgery, and Linda was using the office as a place to sleep during my recovery.

I grabbed my laptop, plugged it in again on my desk in my office, and started picking up the area. It was like waking up after a year. Here was the office I had set up, and I had one day left to get better—time to be better and enjoy this.

Somewhere in this story I finished the blog on Sunday.

It was dusty, and things were thrown here and there, but a coaster from a breakfast in Texas and postcards from New Orleans were still where I left them. The program from A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2023 is still saved. I felt welcomed. I was back home, though a disheveled home. Easter, April, and spring are all times to start again, some of the melancholy left, and the laptop was left in its usual place, plugged into its landing station (sadly, the fast cable is lost and my internet connection is still slow, but I will replace it soon). The backup drive is now plugged into the landing station.

I was tired, so I made dinner of baked beans with freshly made wheat bread. Then, I watched the first episode of Doctor Who’s new season. It was fast-paced and well put together, and I was surprised by the storyline. I would recommend it. And he wears a kilt for the first part of the filming, got to love that.

After that, I headed to bed early, 10PM, as the time zone change and workout in the kitchen started to slow me down. I soon slept, reading first, waking at 2, and then again before sunrise. There were pleasant, but forgotten dreams. Thanks for reading!