Let’s say that you have 40 hours per week to get a job done. No more, no less, just 40 hours. After that was done, you could spend the rest of the week doing exactly what you wanted. 40 hours is just shy of 2 full days. How would you allocate your work time.

I am contemplating on this. 40 hours is a normal full work week. Some jobs require a bit more, some a little less. That is our ‘normal’ allotment for work, job, career.

If I were the only one to think of, my desire would be to get as much in as I could in a day. Two 16 hour days and one 8 hour day could do it. Then I would have 4 days on my own every week. Maybe a 14, 12, 14 week? Four 10 hour days? Four 9 hour days and a 4 hour day? The old standby, five 8 hour work days? Five 7 hour days and one 4 hour day?

Is it worth contemplating this at all?

A wandering mind can discover many new things. A stagnant mind only sees what has been.

Back in the day, when I let myself go, I would talk about different philosophies. It was an interest of mine that I had a yearning to discover. I have since dropped the formal training from my current recallable knowledge base. (it has been too many years since I’ve read or discussed anything about formal Philosophies.) So if you are expecting me to name drop some famous philosophers you will be disappointed.

I am now more interested in the interactions between people. What makes friendships. How can we remain friends with someone we rarely see or communicate with. What is trust? Why do people behave differently in a group. What masks do we weave for others to see. And of course, how does this all interact with the new electronic neighborhood.

I’ve always been a people watcher. I do tend to notice the background or driving force behind the hustle and bustle of daily life. I notice when people are having a bad day, sometimes, to my embarrassment, before they realize themselves. I notice when people aren’t getting along. I see when people really like each other. I usually can tell that people are putting on a mask to hide their true feelings, and at times I can see the truth behind the mask. I find that interesting.

I also see the way people are on-line compared to how they are in real life. Some people really hide behind the machine. Others, thinking they are anonymous in their computer lives. They hope their employer never finds out about their on line activities. Again, I find it interesting.

We are social beings, constantly (almost) looking for acceptance in our little parts of the world. Not finding that acceptance can cause pain or sorrow. Finding too much can give inflated feelings of self-worth. We need to look elsewhere for our worth. Find it, hold on to it and live it. Everything else is then just gravy on the meal. Nice to have, but the base can stand on its own.

I was recently reminded of how alone I felt back just a few short years ago. I often wondered what my future would be like. In a few short months all of my future plans were crushed. For the next couple of years, I felt that there was no need to plan for any future.

Tonight, as I sat here trying to figure out if I wanted to read, watch a movie, or listen to a ballgame, I started to think about what the future may hold for me. And of course I started to think what sort of things I should be doing to get the future that would be best for me.

No definite answers this evening. That would just be too easy. No, I have some more thinking to do. I guess I will have plenty of time to do it. One day at a time for now. But at least I have given some thought about tomorrow.

I often wonder if I will ever get lost in my thoughts and not be able to find the way out. I tend to think about some strange things when I should be getting some sleep. I have a feeling that this is the main cause of all my sleep problems. I just can’t turn my brain off long enough for sleep to come easily. I tend to stay away until I can no longer function.

Maybe my body clock doesn’t conform with the standard 24 hour day. Maybe I’m really a night person and should be working a 2nd or 3rd shift job. Maybe I just think too much. Hmmm I need to think on this.

I’ve worked both 2nd and 3rd shift jobs, but I had the same problem with sleeping. I never seemed to get enough until the days I had off. Sleeping late wasn’t what I intended to do, but I slept late because that gave me my 8 or 9 hours of sleep.

I’ve been involved in a sleep study, but never one that would allow me to ‘set’ my body’s clock. I think that may be an interesting study. I don’t think I would mind finding that out. That could explain the times I feel like sleeping and those times that I don’t. I’ll have to keep that in mind if I ever see that sort of study in the area.

And of course I could think too much. The various ramblings on this blog and other places tend to show I have a lot on my mind. I could talk about all subjects, but there are a couple that I stay away from just because I really don’t want any conflict on this blog. Maybe I should start another blog or two under other assumed names for controversial subjects. Now that may be able to clear a thought or two from my mind to let me sleep.

If the two previous posts weren’t enough to give it away, I thought I might just let everyone know. Yes, I’ve been thinking. A dangerous pastime.

There are a number of things driving the thought processes at this time. My children have either grown up and moved out, or are growing up and moving out soon (youngest is a senior in high school). Out of 4 daughters, number 3 will be getting married very soon (How did I miss that?). A good friend of mine lost his son (about the same age as my oldest daughter). It is spring and review time at work. I’m sure there are a couple of other things that I’ve misplaced from my brain.

All in all, I’ve been a bit busy, but today was a slow day. Not a lot planned, but things fell into place. A time for reflective thought. Good, bad or indifferent. Today was a day for thinking. Even the weather was cooperative. Rainy weather is always good for thinking.

And think I did. As far as I can tell, nothing dangerous has happened yet. 😉

A dangerous pastime. I know…

My daughters would be able to tell you the whos, whats, whys and whens of the beginning words of this blog. Something we do quite often is quote movies that fit the situation we are in. It is amazing the number of really good movie quotes you can fit into a daily conversation.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking. It could be a good way to get me in trouble, or just a good way to keep me up all night. Actually I fell asleep much earlier this evening while reading a book. I guess the house was just too quiet. I had to get up to make sure my alarm was set for the morning, so here I am wide awake.

I’ve been thinking about this coming year. My youngest will be graduating High School. Sometimes it seems like yesterday I was meeting her when she got off the Kindergarten bus. So very many things have happened since then. Graduations, marriages, deaths, births, have happened. I guess life has happened. Not always what we like, but it is what we get.

Both daughters have been out of the house this week. The youngest left Sunday afternoon, and the older left early Monday morning. So I have had time to think. Many things have entered this head of mine and I am ruminating on them even as I write this. Maybe more thoughts will form, while others fade away. I’m never sure on this.

Good night..

I was going to make a quick post on the new Batman movie, but that can wait. Watching the movie made me think of other things.

Earlier post is in Bold print, newer thoughts are in the regular type.

Things like if doing good makes things go bad, are you still doing good, are you in the right?

Heroes in movies are always trying to do good and the right thing. It doesn’t always work out for them. We see that in everyday life too. We try to do what is right, or good, and sometimes the way things work out, a different path should have been chosen. We can tend to dwell on this, constantly asking “What if?”. Dwelling the “should ofs” and “could ofs” will inhibit our chances of make the correct choices on later issues. We can’t always be assured that doing the right thing, means things will turn out good for us. Sometimes being right is worth the effort, no matter what the outcome.

What would it take to go from good to bad, or bad to good? Is it that big of a difference?

This is something I have some experience with. I know exactly how far I can be pushed. It isn’t so much of going from good to bad, but it is going from easy going to violent or fairly relaxed to a nervous wreck. Major events in ones life can do a number on how you behave. You think beforehand that you know how you will react, but once in the situation, you did something you never would have believed possible. For me those experiences revolve around protecting the weak and innocent, and protecting and loving my family and friends. Since I have been in these situations more than once, I know I would put my own health/welfare on the line if anyone I care about is in trouble. This is something deeply ingrained in who I am. I also know that if pushed too far, I could fall apart. I’ve been close to that too.

At what point do you have too much power?
My feelings is that you can have too much power, when power is your goal. I’ve always found that the people who handle power the best, are the ones that really don’t want it in the first place.

What sort of circumstance would break your will? What would drive you forward? What would stop you dead in your tracks?

I had a daughter in a very serious car accident. I did things I never thought I could do. At the time it was the most difficult life experience I ever had. Just the possibility of losing a child brought me to the brink of stopping my dead in my tracks, but I pushed through and drove forward. Not much more than a year after that, my wife was told she had cancer. 1 1/2 months later it would take her life. This loss was almost to great for me. Even with my children needing me, I almost fell apart. They pulled me back from the abyss. This was something that broke my will. If my girls had not been there, or I had people pushing me in a different direction, the person I am today would not be around. Frightening thought is that I don’t know who or even if I would be today. There are things that happen, that will change the person you are today. Sometimes for the good, sometimes not. I never take abrupt changes in behavior for granted any more.

Various thoughts have been attributed to many comedians and authors. But a did a random google search for some odd thoughts. Like:

Why to we drive on Parkways and park on Driveways?
Why do they put braille on drive up cash machines?
Do man-eating sharks eat women too?
Why do irons have a setting for permanent press?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Why do we call something sent by car a shipment and something sent by ship a cargo?
Why do we sing “Take me out to the ball game,” when we are already there?
Why is it that doctors call what they do “practice”?
Why was Evelyn Wood in such a hurry?
If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?

Now why just cut and paste these from various web sites? Well, just the way I was thinking today. It started when someone brought of the Parkways/driveways on the radio this morning. I remember reading/hearing a lot of these. I found a lot more, but most didn’t seem funny today. These were the best of the lot in my opinion.

Look here for others.
Dumb Questions
Things—Hmm.
And a Song?
More Hmmm
More serious Hmms

And of course there are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary, and those that don’t.