A Sunday Kind of Day

Yeh, it’s been another one of those. Sunday.

It always starts off with the best of intentions. Just like today.

i had one semi-major puttering project i wished to finish. Had it planned out. Wake up early, work out with stretching exercises, do a little writing, do some administrivia in the office, have another great Maureen breakfast, read the Sunday paper, sip more coffee, hit the project for a while, go hit golf balls, light lunch, a NORP, finish the project, have a nice dinner, watch a little television, write a little for my pleasure, plan for tomorrow and the upcoming week, go to bed.

Well, it didn’t turn out that way. i piddled instead of puttering. i kept getting distracted (remember my wihas affliction). Then when i went to purchase the board i needed to finish my project — it was a small project and i planned to use scrap wood and screws, nails, glues, and paint on hand to keep the cost zero; but i made a bad cut yesterday and had to get another piece of lumber large enough to replace the error…hmm, the goofy guy strikes again.

So i go to Home Depot to get the cheap lumber. One purchase. In. Out. Back home. Get the project done. But on the way, i get a call on my mobile. Answering with the bluetooth, i find Maureen wants me to get a thermostat. We have two heating systems and the thermostat on one had died a good death. It’s getting cool enough we will need some heat to knock off the morning chill for a couple of hours for a couple of months. So i, being a well-intentioned guy told my bride i would get two because the second thermostat had a bad light.

Great idea.

In. Out. Back home. Replace the first thermostat. Set the clock and the schedule. Turn it on. Nothing. Pissed. Go to the second thermostat. Start the replacement. Wiring by the installers looks a little screwy but i follow their example. Done. Doesn’t work. Pissed.

Don’t have a clue, but i have crammed this two-hour project into almost all of the day. Finally make one cut on the original project but have to stop to make a run for Thai (good stuff: the staff of Thai Taste 2 on Bonita Road don’t speak good English. They speak and cook Thai).

On the way home with the aroma of Thai cooking in my head, i get down. No, i get downer. Bad day. Like most Sundays, i messed around. Piddled. Not successfully. Should have gone to the driving range and chipping and putting green; had a beer.

But then, my music kicks in on the bluetooth. Right out of the bat, it’s Jimmy Smith. Jimmy Smith, the jazz organist, one of my favorite musicians of all time, not my friend Jimmy Smith of Lebanon and Vanderbilt fame. But both were cool beyond description. This Jimmy Smith always seemed to have Kenny Burrell as a sidekick. Couldn’t do better. This Jimmy Smith also had a soul kitchen down on Fifth in San Diego before it went posh and touristy with it’s new cool marketing moniker of “The Gaslamp District.” Wish i had known about that soul kitchen: it was gone before i found out.

But Jimmy Smith, the organist can turn my day around. He did this Sunday. “Johnny Comes Marching Home” was the tune. i was swaying with the music, marveling at the improvisation, smiling to myself, beating the time with my thumbs on the steering wheel. By the time i got home, it wasn’t such a bad Sunday after all.

Listen. Bet you can’t keep from smiling.

 

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