Waltzing to Work

Had a very nice, long weekend. Took MAX (the local Light Rail) to the Exposition Center for the largest Antique Show west of the Mississippi if not the whole country. We (P, Fred and Diana) had to switch from the Red to the Yellow line when we got downtown. While we were waiting we scoped out the Sand Castle building competition at the Pioneer Courthouse Square. Amazing what can be done with a little water and TONs of sand. Diana has a cell phone with a camera in it she got from her daughter, but doesn't know how to take pictures on purpose. Apparently she has taken some inadvertent pictures of tabletops, the floor and odd cornors, but never of something she wanted to take a picture of... yet. Shes still getting comfortable with the whole technology thing.

We proceeded to the Antique Show. Acres and acres of antiques, treasures and some just plain junk. We didn't even see the half of it before we gave up. We went through most of the outside areas and then discovered that the exhibit halls were full of booths too! Lots and lots of people. Very few places to rest. Thats what finally convinced us to call it quits: we couldn't find any place to sit and rest. Next time we will get some of those folding chairs that break down into a little cylinder that you can sling over your shoulder. Then we will be able to "take a load off" when ever we want. For all the stuff there I was the only one to purchase anything. I found Parker 21 fountain pen for $5. So we headed back to the MAX train just to sit. And it was air conditioned too. Saturday it was suppose to get into the 90's but I don't think that happened. It was overcast and we actually felt a few rain drops walking back to the train. The train line went through neighborhoods that both P and Diana had lived in when they were younger. P shortly after she got married and had her children, Diana grew up there. They talked about all the "good old days" and the way things had changed. Landmarks missing or moved, business changed and new buildings and developments. You can't go home again. We refueled at a resturant downtown before heading to the first ever Portland Pen Show. The first pen show I ever attended! Pretty cool! 50 tables full of pen: new pens, old pens, (vintage) pens, pen parts, books about pens, books to write in with pens, tools to work on pens, inks of every sort and color. It was great! I was able to see and handle pens I'd only looked at on-line or in the catalogs I get from the big pen stores. I was able to show P some of the pens I'd been drooling over. Theres nothing like holding a limited edition pen worth thousands of dollars, seeing it up close in all its detail and beauty, to realize that the price may not be all that unreasonable. There were some good deals there, and we took advantage. I got an Pelican GO pen for everyday, knock about use, a lipstick pen (ballpoint) for P, a couple of bamboo looking pens (one for P, one for me) because they were half price, and I got an Aurora Talantum, again for half price. Very nice! Writes like a dream. A big pen.
Also got some dark brown ink to use in these new writing instruments. (Right! got all these nice pens and what am I doing? Writing about them on the computer!)
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I gotta start sooner when I want to write a lot. Here it is Friday, three days later and I haven't been able to get back to finish this.

So, the point of the title to this entry goes like this:

It was a good weekend.
I was up later than I'm used to Sunday night.
I was not fully awake and alert when I got into my truck for the drive to work.
Apparently I'd turned the radio up a little louder than normal on my way home the previous Friday because when I turned on the vehicle the very beginning of the Blue Danube Waltz came from the radio. Not blasting, but loud enough to occupy the space between my ears for the ride to work. A beautiful piece of music! I remembered the use of it as part of the sound track to the movie 2001. The ride from Earth to the Moon: slowly drifting in space in a graceful, elegant manner, the music pushing you forward, onward.
The song lasted right up to my arriving at work. It was the only song I heard, not even an announcers voice, just the song.

It was a great way to reset my mind and attitude for work. It clearly separated home, and the weekend from the pressures and personalities I would have to deal with once I crossed the parking lot and went into work.

And what a week it's been.....


Can you say preparing for an ISO audit only two weeks away?