Why I enjoy my perfect job

I had been looking for several months to find a partime retirement job, one where I could help people, and improve their living quarters. I had been doing property maintenance for several years and really enjoyed it.
While my wife was reading the paper one morning she circled a small add for a building maintenance caretaker and told me I should check this out.I got online and filled out an application and the next day I received a call asking me to come in for an interview right away. The interview went good and I was hired the following day.

Right away I was thinking this is the perfect job for me. I had the responsibilities of upkeep, maintenance, and repairs of two buildings. Both of the buildings were in pretty good condition, although very little maintenance had been done in the last few years. One building has 8 apartments and the other building has 24 apartments. Each of the buildings is occupied with people who have some sort of disability and are not able to do any repairs themselves.

Many of the people are confined to their wheel chair but are still very mobile and able to go wherever they want to. Also there are about 10 of the residents who travel around in power wheel chairs who I see on a daily basis. Two of these people out of many that I would like to mention are who makes my work days so special.

Eric and Kay have gradually become my inspiration for doing the best job possible.
Eric lives on the second floor and Kay lives on the first. They are good friends and visit each other often, they must go past the office each time they go out or check their mail, and I always leave the door open so any one can come in, but usually they just go by and always give me a greeting, like (Hi Earl or Morning Earl) or like Eric says "Earl's Snacking again". I have done several repairs in both of their apartments, and they are always so appreciative of how quickly the repair was made or taken care of. They both have a good outlook on life and usually seem happy with their environment. This makes coming to work a pleasure and I look forward to seeing them each day.

My office is located on the first floor just inside the main entrance,and the mail boxes are on the other side of my office. I have windows on three walls so I can sit in the office and see pretty much every thing that is going on. When I first started this job I was advised not to become personally involved in the residents lives, so I have pretty much stuck to greetings and uplifting comments. It has been no surprise that over the last year and a half most of the people have shared a lot of positive feed back, not only to me but to the corporate property managers. Granted there have been stressful times but for the most part this has been the perfect job and the reason I enjoy it so much. The people and variety of tasks I do each day is what Simply Living Life to the best of my ability is all about.

Fire in the engine

I was having flashbacks of the good old days when we would hop in the bug (Volkswagen beetle 1969)and go for a joy ride. Every time we would go out it was an adventure because that little bug could go anywhere and we could whip in and out of traffic easily. I have had a variety of beetles over the last 25 years, and have had great times in every one of them. So many memories, but one in particular always comes to mind first.
We had moved to one of the larger cities in the state and lived in a small apartment. My two sons were both pre-teen agers so we always had a lot of activity going on. Friday afternoon and I was home from work early, we had lunch and then wrestled around for a bit.
It was a beautiful fall day in Montana, and my two sons and I were getting ready for our afternoon cruse around town or maybe into the mountains. We threw our jackets in the bug and backed out of the driveway. ( I have to mention here that when I drove that bug it was full bore) There were no seat belt laws then and I don't think there were any seat belts in the cars, and the only speed limits we had were in the city limits.
Most of the time the boys would kneel on the back seat facing the rear window and hold onto the back of the seat, so they could see more of the action.I shifted into gear and pushed the peddle to the metal, and then second gear, then third gear, just then my sons said DAD there is fire coming out the back of the bug. I thought maybe the tail pipe was dragging and it was just sparking, so I slowed down and stopped the car. As I walked around the back I could see the engine was really on fire. I quickly opened the car door and grabbed my jacket. The boys jumped out and stood over by the sidewalk watching. I went back around and got down to reach under the car and smother the fire. God must of been watching because I was able to put it out in a few seconds with no injuries.
I checked around the engine and found that the fuel line had popped off and that is what started the fire. We had only gone about a block, so we pushed the bug back home.I looked around the garage for another piece of hose to put back on; with the new hose on we all got back in and took it out for a test run. Everything worked fine, so we drove around for a couple of hours and went back home. Another day of simply living life as it comes.

Life is good.

It's been almost 7 weeks now without my wife here at home, she has been helping our daughter in another state with her second child birth. I have been missing her, especially when I come home and the house is so quiet and no aroma of dinner coming from the kitchen. I had been so used to just coming home and giving her a big hug and kiss, and then almost immediately sitting down to a nice meal and relaxing. We would have a short conversation about the day and then I would dose off for a short nap on the sofa. The TV was always on and she would usually be working on a new craft project. I took for granite how nice it was to have a warm welcoming home each evening.

"Even so"

The bachelor life is not that bad as long as it is only temporary. I welcomed the alone time at first: I could almost forget about the family obligations and just think and do what I wanted to. I went out and bought some of my favorite snack foods,worked on a couple of projects that I had been putting off, watched some movies and napped a lot. But as the days went by the dishes were piling up, dirty clothes by the laundry, and the yard needed mowed. Reality was setting in and I needed to do some housework.

I am so thankful for my daughter who lives here in town. She calls me often to see how I am doing, and if there is anything I need. Several times she has brought me pre-cooked dinner, so I have been well taken care of.

Two weeks ago I received airline tickets from my daughter and son in-law to come and spend the weekend with my wife, it was a surprise for her, and a thank you for all the help she has been. The visit was short, but worth it. My wife is still there , and will be as long as she is needed.

This is what simply living is all about; It's doing what needs to be done each day.