Reflecting in Reno

We woke to blue skies and it would stay sunny all day long.

Jeanne saw there was an RV show at the Hilton Hotel in Reno, so wanting to take advantage of the day, off we went to see the RVs.  By Los Angeles standards the show wasn’t much, but we did stroll around for a while and saw the inside of some rigs we were wondering about.  The more we look, the more we like the rig we have.

Around noon, driven by hunger, we had hamburgers and onion rings at the Johnny Rockets inside the Hilton.  This was way more calories and saturated fat than either of us needed, but it was sure good.  I’ll be thinking about the hamburger next time I’m sweating it out on the treadmill.

What a strange life we have.  There we were sitting next to the sports book at the Reno Hilton having Johnny Rockets burgers on a Thursday afternoon.  This lifestyle might not last forever, but we plan to enjoy it while it does.

It has been about 15 months since I left the workplace and I still think about work often.  What triggered it this time was an e-mail from a former coworker letting me know his job was outsourced; all the workplace angst came flooding back.  On reflection, I formed some lasting friendships with coworkers and I was lucky enough (except for one brief period working in Florida) to have bosses that were bright, talented, honest and self-assured.  But the dark side of the ledger includes a frustrating array of pointless meetings, vaguely defined assignments, shifting deadlines, unaccountable senior management and a few coworkers I absolutely couldn’t stand being around.  I can only hope that the disliked few felt the same way about me.

So, what did I get out of it besides a semi-monthly direct deposit and pattern baldness?  Maybe the reward is cynicism and mistrust.  Maybe the reward is satisfaction of accomplishment.  Maybe the reward is knowing you had a positive impact on a few lives.  Maybe I should stop looking for the meaning of life and do something useful, like flush the black tank.

Returning to the coach in the late afternoon, we spent the rest of the day reading and watching TV.

Jeanne thinks she caught the flu I had a few days ago, we’ll see how she feels in the morning.