Young at heart

Being a senior of 70 years and feeling young at heart and in fairly good health, I decided I needed to get a part-time job.
So I went looking! I am not a people person and I thought if I could find something at night I wouldn't have to be around a lot of other people.

 I applied for a job as a night watchman for a guard service. Since I am a senior citizen and not as productive as I used to be, I thought this would be a good fit for me. I went through the interview process and waited a few days to hear If I got the position. I finally decided to call and was told they had decided on one of the other applicants. This was a little disappointing for me because it sounded so good and was definitely something I could of handled with ease.
I continued my job search and it was not too long after that disappointment that I found another night time position cleaning carpets at the mall. I was assigned to a crew of 3 including myself. This is perfect for me I thought. It was 6 hours a night,4 nights a week.  I was adjusting to my sleep pattern and able to get a lot of other things done during my days off. This new job was working out real well for me.

A few weeks later my wife happened to mention to me that her friends husband was the person who got the guard position that I wanted so bad. She said that they had hired 3 people at the time of the interviews, and that one of them had just quit. They are now looking for  a replacement to use as a fill-in when needed. She said I should give him a call and just see if it would be something you could do.

 I called and said I was interested but, that I had another job and did not want this to conflict with it. They assured me they would work with my schedule if I wanted the job. I accepted the position and since I had already gone through the interview process I was hired that same day. My new schedule showed me working on the days I was off from my other job at the mall, and  I was surprised at the amount of hours they gave me but thought I could handle it.

Last weekend I did 34 hours of guard  duty with 6 hours of sleep, and am feeling very tired and worn out. I finally got a day off and was able to catch up on my rest and regain some of my lost energy, After a day and nights sleep I am feeling young at heart again, but my body is telling me to remember my age. I have the mindset to work that hard and hours but, my body can't keep up. I worked the night watchman's job for 3 months and then had to quit.

No matter what each day brings I will simply keep working and living to the best of my ability.

Earl Baldwin

Old Folks and Young Adults in the work force

As I age I am finding it harder to relate to the younger generation. It's all of this new language with one letter for a word or a text message that I can't read. Everyone is carrying a smartphone that they check about every few minutes. It seems that verbal communication is being lost to text-ting and email, and the only eye contact you can maintain is a few minutes in between checking their phone. It is becoming apparent to me that leisure time and gaming has taken the place of commitment to employers and work ethics of old.

 I retired from my Contracting business about 10 years ago but still very active in the workforce holding down 2 part-time jobs. Most of the workers I am around are much younger, and their values and ethics are so much different than mine. I have always been one to get to work early and be ready to go when I get there. Not so with the twenty-year-old's that I work around today. I work the early graveyard shift (9:00pm to 4:00am) on the janitorial crew for a large commercial business. When I come in the other crew is in their last hour and winding down from their daily housekeeping duties.

I usually arrive to see three or more sitting outside smoking and waiting for the time to pass by so they can get there hours in and then check out and go home. Often I have seen them leave the job  and then come back an hour or more later and clock out without finishing their job. Many times the last-minute cleanup chores for them before they leave are not done and left for us on the graveyard shift. In the last 3 hours of their shift, there is no supervision and there is a lack in their job performance. I have noticed a sharp decline in the morals and work ethics of today as compared to when I was their age.

Nowadays most companies are only hiring part-time employees and reducing benefits to save money. It is the same with the company I am currently employed with. Many of the new hires are not trained and only given very basic instructions on their job duties. It's no wonder our workforce and performance has declined, if there is only limited training and supervision.

As for me I will continue in the ways I have been taught and practiced. To do the best I can and go beyond what is expected of me. It's my way of staying young and simply living life to the best of my ability.

Earl Baldwin

Subaru and my 5 year old grandaughter

I had wanted a Subaru Outback for several years, so I finally decided to look for a nice used one. After checking several used car lots I found a 6 year old Outback that was in great condition. It had quite a few miles on it and the body and engine looked clean and in great shape.  The car was a dark Maroon and Silver color; just what I was looking for so I purchased it. I needed to get an all wheel drive because of the mountainous area I live in.
 
Our city sets right between two mountain ranges and surrounded by mountains on all sides with several ski resorts within a few hours drive. Since our streets are usually covered with snow and ice most of the winter Its almost a must to have all wheel drive capabilities.

I purchased my car in September and drove it all winter. Having no garage I had to park it in the driveway and let it weather the bitter cold and winds. I never had any problems with it not starting or going through any kind of weather. So I was very happy with my latest purchase.   We had a fair amount of snow that season and I was loving the way it got around. Like a lot of people I washed and waxed it once a week to keep it looking good and rust free.

Spring had come and the weather was warm when our Daughter and her two girls came to visit.They live about 350 miles away and usually come three or four times a year. The oldest girl, her name is Iz, and she is 5years old and loves to play outside. Iz was in the front yard one day collecting rocks for her collection and we were all in the house visiting.

My nephew looked out the picture window to check on Iz and see that she was ok and still rock collecting. He saw her with a rock in her hand and she was making marks on my nice shiny Maroon and Silver Subaru. He mentioned  that Iz was making marks on my car with a rock and her dad immediately went out and shouted at her WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO PAPA'S CAR? Iz stopped and looked at him and said " I was just drawing a picture of mountains".

She had started at the back of the car and scratched marks all along the side and around the hood and along the other side. I thought for sure he was going to spank her butt. As he looked at the marks he could see the landscape of the surroundings of our mountains. He pulled her aside and explained that we do not make marks on anybody's car. Then mama came out and was furious with her. Mom made Iz come inside and apologize to me for drawing pictures on my car. I went out and looked at it, and I could not get angry at her. Even thou it was upsetting, the drawing was a work of art. I came back in the house and got my camera and took a picture to keep as one of those great grand kid memories.

I took my car to the body shop where they were able to buff the marks out. Some of the marks were fairly deep but the polish filled in the gaps. Now it is back in the driveway looking bright and shiny again.

I am so proud of my daughter and son-in law for the way they handled the situation. I know it is difficult to restrain oneself in a time like that. Their visit is over and they are back home, and I have a photo that brings back fond memories and a smile.

Life is full of surprises and I am trying to simply live and enjoy it.

Earl Baldwin

A Rough Holiday

Right after Thanksgiving the big shopping season started and family was making plans to come for Christmas. We haven't had a family Christmas at our house in 11years, so there was a lot of planing and gifts to get ready. Both of our daughters with our four grand kids ages 4 to 20 would be celebrating the holidays together  for a full 10 days. We were so excited that they were coming, but I was thinking this is not a very good time.

I had lost my job in September and had not been able to find other employment, so we were living off our savings. It doesn't take long to put a strain on the bank account when there isn't any income for 5 months.We still had a lot of gifts to buy and meals to plan for each day. I was out almost every day filling out applications either in person or online just trying to find some part time work. It seemed that employers were looking to hire , but I was not getting any return  messages or interviews. As frustrating  as that was we were able to get most things done and ready for company.

Saturday morning came and our daughter called to say her 4year old was vomiting and running a fever. They had packed the night before and was already to leave for their 350 mile trip to see us. We encouraged  her to come anyway and if she needed to go to the doctor, she could do it here. Six hours later they were here and the excitement was running high. We helped unpack the truck while listening to our granddaughters ( 4yrs. & 7yrs. ) tell about their trip,and wanting to be picked up and played with.

It had snowed about 4" two days before and was a good moist snow for building a snowman or sledding. One of the last things to get unloaded was their plastic sleds.They said there was no snow on the way until about 50 miles from here, so the closer they got, the more excited they were to go sledding.. We live in a bowl surrounded by mountains, and it snowed 1/2" every night for the first week they were here. No more than about 100yards from our house is a big steep hill that a lot of the kids come and go sledding on, so you can guess how my afternoons went. Most of the time it was with our 7 yr old ,but the 4 yr  old did get to go out once and had a blast.

Christmas evening was filled with a Christmas service and carols, then soup and sandwiches! After dinner it was time to open some of the presents. Each person was given one gift and then they opened them one at a time. After a couple of hours it was time to put milk and cookies out for Santa, and then off to bed. Waking up in the morning, it was no surprise to discover Santa had stopped by and brought more presents.

Christmas day was full of snacks, food, and more snacks. The kids were playing with their new toys and reading in the books Santa had brought to them. All of our grand kids love to read. Mainly because mom and dad have read to them since they were one day old. Our 4 year old granddaughter is in preschool and can read out loud 3rd grade reading books! She amazes me how fast she processes words and sentences.

The next day every one wanted to go shopping at the mall to spend their gift cards and get a little walking exercise in. While the grownups were in the shops looking at clothes I took the girls to the Pretzel shop and Orange Julius for a little snack break. We had fun just sitting and watching the people go bye.

Back home I had put some cut onions around the house to absorb the germs and bacteria. I wanted to try a home remedy I had read about for curing colds and flu germs. We were all starting to get the sniffles and coughs and I didn't want it to get any worse. There was only a couple of days left before everyone was going home so it was a last minute effort to kill all the germ bugs.

Our company is all gone and it's 2 days until a new year. We cleaned up the house and thru away the onions, confident the germs were all gone. On new years eve day both of us had running noses and coughs, then by 11:pm we couldn't stay awake any longer and went to bed. We woke up in the morning sweating with a head and body aches. The onion cure did not work! We both had a full blown case of the flu. We are starting the new year out with the flu and hoping for good health for the rest of the year.

NOW TO GET BACK TO JOB HUNTING.
Earl