Challenges
5/21/01
The universe has been handing me a lot of challenges in the last week. And also enough good stuff to make it worthwhile.
Barely.
The most recent challenge happened Saturday--Diana and I were invited to a friend's house for dinner. I drove to our local store for some wine and a few groceries, and when I got home I realized that my car's temperature gage was off the chart.
So, after a few phone calls our arrival at the friends' was postponed by an hour and a half, and Diana drove up here to get me and then we drove back down into the valley. It was worth the effort--a wonderful evening, good friends (old and new) and lots of laughing. I packed a bag and spent Sat. at Diana's. On Sun., we got up and went to Church and then Diana and Yson tried out for a musical (I attended the audition(s)). Then raced home, dropped Yson off, and went over to Sam's.
I met Sam many years ago because she and I both do Reiki, a Japanese healing art that involves gentle touch. Sam has been a Reiki master (meaning she can teach others) for several years, and I always knew that I would become one someday also. Well, Sunday was the day--Diana and I were initiated as Reiki masters. The experience was gentle and wonderful, and just writing about it brings a smile. I'm honored and delighted.
Actually, the whole process can take up to a year. Reiki is rather unlike most other things I've experienced. Rather than being a kind of graduation, in Reiki you are initiated at the beginning of your study, and then you practice and get comfortable with it. So we still have far to go.
So we got back to Diana's and I promptly took an hour and a half nap. It was a very intense experience! We had dinner, and then headed up the hill to rescue my car. I had hopes of making it down the hill to the dealer's, but no such luck. I only got about 3 miles before it was overheating again. So I found a place to leave it overnight, and spent another night at Diana's.
This morning by 6 AM, we were on the road, and by 6:25 were at my car. Diana left me with my cellphone and several good books to read, while she dashed home to wake her kids and get them to school, and then get to work. I called AAA, and then waited. And waited. And waited. By 9AM, I was at the dealer's, and by 9:45 I had a rental car and was tucking into some breakfast at last.
The bad news--new radiator, water pump, timing belt, and clutch seals. Will be ready tomorrow. Hopefully will be under $2,000.
I tell myself it is cheaper than a new car. And it is. I like my car a lot and it has been very good about running for 90,000 miles without giving me much trouble at all. Hopefully I can get a few more miles out of it with this transplant...
I got a 'no frills' Geo Metro at a good price for the rental car. I really didn't know they still made cars without power steering! Every time I went around one of my many curves on the way home, I was reminded of how things used to be. The many cars of my youth that felt just like that. I'm sure I worked of a few more calories driving the thing home than I do in my car. But I'm counting the hours before I can give the Metro up and get back in my car...
There is one truly wonderful thing that has happened this week (and this has a lot to do with why there have been no entries for a week). Sam and I finished the zeroth draft of our book!
That is, we have written text and exercise for all 50 chapters (albeit some are skimpy) and have a short list of topics that we want to fit in somewhere. We have both printed out the whole book (it's a comfortable inch-high stack of paper when typeset single space, so I think we have enough material), and have our red pencils out. We meet Thurs to do some editorializing--after that, we will make another pass and send it to a couple of early victims for their comments.
We are about a month ahead of the schedule I had set out for myself. I keep forgetting how productive I can be if I just sit at home and crank it out, rather than having to go to work and deal with all those people... I know that I'm really just postponing the inevitable people processing. Still, getting the energy charge at the beginning seems like a good place to have it.
This week seems rather quiet, by comparison. Things to do in the valley every night this week except Fri. But the days are mostly free to stay up here and "relax". Fat chance...
I have so much energy now, it's amazing. Even though I knew I should get out of my last job, I hadn't realize what a drain it was until I was rid of it. With each passing day, I'm more rid of it, and it's feeling better and better. At my worst, sitting under a tree reading romance novels sounded like a pretty good retirement. Now, with all this energy (fueled, I'm sure, in part by weight loss), I'm ready to lick lions. Bring 'em on!
The funny thing is, I'm the only person who seems surprised by this. All my friends have said variations on "of course, I wondered when you would realize that!" Well I have. I'm off and running...
Thank you for reading.
Copyright © 2001 Pete Stevens. All rights reserved.
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