Small Victories
Life • August 9th, 2006This has been such a good week, it probably deserves to be acknowledged…
Last week, trying to get some acid-free varnish to finish my tryptic pieces, I bought a Krylon product that claimed to be “not yellowing”, but it didn’t say it was actually archival quality. Unable to answer the cuchi-cuchi question, the sales person suggested I called the 800 number to check… something I once attempted with not great results for a completely different product.
So anyway, I called Krylon, and the rep confirmed that the product I had was in fact NOT acid-free. I asked which of their products would do what I needed; that is acid-free UV and moisture protection for art work. He found it. He checked to see which stores around me carried it, and as he discovered that not a lot of places did, he asked how many cans I was planning on buying. I said only one, and he simply said they could ship me one as a courtesy, free of all charges… The precious can made it home safe and neatly packed via Fedex this week. I was so happy, and Krylon has won me over as a life-time customer. So easy.
Today… wait to hear this… I took the train on my own and successfully visited three places scattered around downtown. According to the plans, I’ll start doing some contract work for an important organization located in one of those far away places, and although I’ll continue to work from home, I’ll be attending a weekly staff meeting. Under different circumstances the pain of having to drive once a week into town would’ve made me think about the whole deal twice – I really hate driving that much now. But, in my little adventure today I discovered that the train puts me right at the door of the work building… I don’t even have to change trains, but even if I did, I have always dreamed of living in a city where I have some real transportation options, and I can’t believe it, but today I felt I was living the dream.
With my recent transformation into a curly-haired hermit, Joey has this little thing he does now to make fun of me every time I tell him I’ve been out… He puts his arms out, bent like chicken wings, and waves them simulating a clumsy and trembling bird flight. It cracks me up!… And it’s so right on…
I told him about all my adventures today: Riding the train, figuring out where to get off, walking to place 1, getting on the train again (different station), meeting cool people, getting excited about the coming work prospects, walking to the nice mall downtown, getting on the train again and making it home without none of the stress I get from all these crazy Utah drivers who love to make left turns completely unannounced, as you come down on a green light. Crazy people!… I’m all proud of myself, and in response, Joey waves his clumsy yet daring alitas reminding me that today the little bird has flown out of the nest.
I’m also very excited about the coming work. After a few weeks of non-commercial creative experimentation and intensive blog reading, it’s now time to get back to reality and end the vacation.
