Saturday, April 6, 2019

The Week That Was


Had a nice trip with The Missus Herself yesterday, up to a General Dynamics facility for various and sundry reasons, none of which are critical to the story. Three choices of route, two were mostly on interstate highways, one was through the Massachusetts countryside. What one might call the scenic route. What recommended it was that it was the shortest, though not necessarily the fastest, route to our destination. Well, it was scenic, that was a factor as well.

As I've mentioned on more than one occasion, I work a 9/80 schedule. We cram 80 hours of work into 9 days, weekdays that is. So every other Friday I get the day off, giving me a three day weekend every other week. What's nice about where I work is that the work schedule is somewhat flexible.

Given certain factors you can swap hours and days around, as long as in a two week period one puts in 80 hours. Yes, they expect those to be productive hours, my work is such that it would be rather noticeable if it wasn't getting done. As the work is interesting, I don't mind putting in the hours.

I was supposed to be off Friday next, but I decided to take Friday last (yesterday) off as we had stuff to do and home projects to kick off. Spring is here, time to shake off the sloth of winter and hop to it. (So sayeth the love of my life and I cannot disobey, 'tis devoted to her I am.)

We made our trip, got some necessary documentation accomplished, and I still had time to get a haircut. (As I was already there, I had them all cut. Sigh, I knew you were thinking it, so I had to write it.) It was a good day.

Now it was a pretty good week for me and mine, all things being equal. Not so for some of my acquaintance.

While I was up at the American Heritage Museum last Saturday, thoroughly enjoying myself, a friend of mine died. Not someone locally, a distant friend, one of the Internet variety. We weren't close but we knew each other. She was a Marine spouse, an advocate for Marines, and for all veterans. What I knew of her I found impressive, she was a good person.

Now she is gone.

What's worse, I didn't realize it until late last Saturday night. There were blog posts to write, movies to watch, games to be played, you know the drill. By the time I got around to what I consider the town square (virtual in nature) to see what was going on in my other world, it was rather late in the evening. Now Facebook is my "town square," and it functions well in that respect. For all its perceived evils, Facebook allows me to stay in touch with friends and family. I also belong to a group dedicated to the memory of Neptunus Lex. It's how we keep that flame alive.

Carrie was a fellow Lexican, a very funny, very dedicated lady. Equal parts snark, humor, and compassion. I know some of you who stop by here knew her as well. I am still stunned. She was only 55.

When I got the news of her passing, it was a punch in the gut. I spent Sunday somewhat adrift, I hate losing friends. In the quiet of last night, it hit me again. Her funeral is today.

As Spring awakens and new life springs forth, there are those who are mourning the passing of a loved one. Time marches on, sometimes in a good way, sometimes not.

Farewell Carrie, I'll miss your humor, and your wisdom.

Godspeed.




26 comments:

  1. Did you ever see the comic strip that she made about her and Jean? Carrie was not intransigent chappess, she was my favorite cartoon character!

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  2. Condolences for your friend Sarge. The greater the person the bigger the mark they leave. Figures it's raining now as I read this, apopros for your loss as Heaven is weeping.

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  3. Villainous Company was one of my favorites. Had many a stimulating (and informative) conversation therein. Missed her when she stopped the blog a while back. Miss her more now.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't know she had a blog, only interacted with her on Facebook, one of those best friends I've never met.

      I found the blog, classic Carrie.

      Delete
  4. Hey AFSarge;

    My Condolences on the loss of your friend, friends are what makes travel through life interesting and one goes, it makes it a bit less.
    As far as your hours goes, I work 3/12 with a "Stick" in the eye 12 every 3rd Wednesday. so when it goes good, I get 4 days off :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks MrG,

      Four days off in a row is a very good thing!

      Delete
  5. I am saddened by the loss of your friend. I shall look for her blog in some small effort to get to know her.

    Paul L. Quandt

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    Replies
    1. It's here, you need to go into the archives to see her posts.

      Thanks Paul.

      Delete
    2. I have bookmarked her blog and read one of her posts. I shall return to it to read more to, in a small way, keep her memory alive.

      Paul

      Delete
  6. I am sorry for your loss, my friend. The ebb and flow of life and death confuses us sometimes because we cannot always predict it. Jeanie and I lost a acquaintance yesterday. Frankly, it was a blessing. She had suffered enough.
    Two deaths - two reactions. And yet we are all headed in that direction. What will they say as my time comes? "What a blessing he was to us!" or perhaps "Glad to see him go." I hope the former, not the latter.

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    1. Death is a part of life, some of us (hopefully a lot of us) have faith in the Resurrection. Which is all I need to keep going.

      But it's hard when people you care about leave. I pray that the reunion will be sweet.

      Thanks Dave.

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  7. The wider we spread our net, the bigger our community becomes, and the bigger the risk we have of losing someone.
    The rewards of friendship, fellowship, and camaraderie still outweigh the risks.
    My condolences.

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    Replies
    1. The rewards do outweigh the risks. And the way I look at things, the separation isn't forever.

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  8. Oh, I am so sorry for your loss. It is so hard to read/interact with folks online, people who you would never otherwise have known. Like extended family or neighbors.

    And 55!! That is just WAAAY to young.

    One of the nice things about online friends is that you can still look at postings/blogs and continue to enjoy and maybe even learn new stuff from old postings. So, not really gone, just away for a while, until you meet up again.

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    1. Supposed to say "hard to lose folks that you read/interact with online"...obviously my fingers and brain were not attached this morning as I had not yet finished my cup of tea.
      (#facepalm)

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    2. Don't worry Suz, my brain read it the way you intended it.

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  9. Could you email me the details? I followed Cassandra off of the page of Lex and as long as she posted I was one of her daily readers. I never got into facebook so missed the news on her passing. She was so full of life it's hard to believe she's gone.

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    Replies
    1. Check your email Sir.

      Still stunned.

      Delete
    2. Thank you. I knew she was special every time I read her words. She was original and a wizard who shaped and scattered words brilliantly.

      Delete

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