Let the year begin!
Santa brought me one of those spiffy little six-by-six calendars for my office. It is perfect in all ways – fits in a small space, has date squares big enough to write legibly in, and has terrific ‘sayings’ for each month in crisp white letters on a fire-engine red background! I love it.
The calendar’s title (if calendars can be said to have titles) is “Keep Calm and Carry On” which, as most of us know, is from the iconic poster designed to help Britons persevere through World War II. As the back cover blurb says, it is “a big dose of inspiration and pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps attitude” which, actually, I need right now even before 2016 enters the picture.
No Here Here
We are still in a world of hurt here at our house in Oysterville. No internet access and only partial landline access. Partial, insofar as getting messages from people who call us. People apparently have been calling and leaving us important information or callback requests since the telephone went belly-up on December 15th. But, at this end, nada. Our end of the voice mail program has gone away – maybe off to cyberspace land to marry our internet connection and eat with a runcible spoon. Who knows?
So, I sneaked a peek at the January page of my new calendar. The quote-of-the-month (from John Heywood, 16th Century English Writer) is: “A Hard Beginning Maketh A Good Ending.” Methinks he gotteth it bassackwards – a least for us. This ending to 2015 is about the hardest we want to deal with, telephone and internet-wise. We are hoping that by tomorrow we will have a good beginning to the New Year.
Words To Live By
I flipped through the calendar’s eleven remaining pages and came across several other cheerful sayings to help keep spirits up. For February, “The Best Way Out Is Always Through” (Robert Frost, American Poet); for June, “Hope Is The Pillar That Holds Up The World” (Pliny The Elder, Roman Writer); and for September, “Press On! A Better Fate Awaits Thee” (Victor Hugo, 19th Century French Writer).
Actually, it sounds as though the upcoming year is going to be another series of problems to solve. But wait! Didn’t I write about that yesterday or the day before??
Not to sound jingoistic, but if you are having difficulty making yourself understood or understand them, ask to speak to an American. They are required to comply. Not that that helped us with Comcast the time our Internet was out for a month. They repeatedly sent Americans to the house who refused to get on the roof to hook up the cable. “No, I don’t get on roofs. I’ll arrange for the right person.” Next time, same thing.
But what you REALLY need is a better quote for 2016. I suggest searching my two favorites: Victor Frankl and Charles Bukowski. There has to be something perfect in these guys’ writings.
With all due respect, dear Kuzzin Bruce — have you considered writing your OWN blog??? lol