This past week started off with me having a catch up chat with one of my former colleagues. I had wanted to speak with him before my departure from the company, but he got busy with his own work tasks, and it took him until last Monday to give me a ring when he had a spare moment.
He had not picked up on the fact that I had left the company, so was a little surprised and sorry to see me go. We worked well together over the years, and shared very similar work styles (and frustrations). During our call he told me about his latest frustrations and challenges, and once again (as if I really needed it), I was reminded that this new adventure is going to be a good one, at the very least because I can leave behind all of the negativity of the not so pleasant elements of my last job.
That night, I slept really really well, and woke up the following morning feeling really refreshed. I was a little suprised that I had woken later than normal, but quickly noted that normal is kind of fluid right now. After all, it is not as if I need to be up and at 'em bright and early each morning; there is no place I actually need to be. Come to think of it, there really isn't anywhere I can be, right now, other than at home.
This does not mean I have nothing to do. As part of the ranks of the unemployed, I need to spend x hours per week looking for work, and this week, just like last week, I have stayed on track. Of course, what exactly constitutes "searching for work?" Is it sitting at a computer reading through various online job boards? Is it sending out a bunch of emails to various recipients requesting that they review my CV?
Well, those things are part of it, but I am also taking time to quietly think about a variety of things: the right industry for me, how I want to approach new opportunties, and most importantly, what kind of job is going to help create a better balance for me?
Each day I spend some time sitting in the recliner in my living room and just let my thoughts flow.
It's a pleasant experience, made even more so by the gentle "whssshhhh" sound that my little airwick product that shoots out a little mist of scent every nine minutes.
Several years ago I purchased the product on a whim while I was browsing in the grocery store. I figured it would help out in my kitchen, where smoking is permitted, so long as the balcony door is open. It proved effective, and I have continued to buy refills as I need them. I even bought a second thingy for use in another room in the flat.
The problem I have encountered, however, is that my favorite flavors are not readily available in my local supermarket. There are a couple of scents that I really like, and others that are okay, but not fantastic. Not surprisingly, the scents that I most like are the ones that seem the most natural. Thus, the ocean spray scent is not really a favorite, nor is the one that "smells like Grandmother baked cookies," Both just strike me as a little artificial. I much prefer something that smells a lot more natural.
Natural scent is not always a good thing, either. Once I went to the pub immediately after putting some tea tree oil (a scent that I quite like) on a small wound. True, tea tree is rather pungent, which is why one of the bartenders exclaimed "Aggh! What is that? That smells like crap!" soon after I had walked in the door. I was kind of glad that some other people had walked in with me, so that he never discovered who the offender was.
Then again, I am prepared to make some pretty strong arguments that tea tree is a much more pleasant alternate to some of the odors that tend to linger in the same pub. All too often, I can recall moments where I have been in the jacks during a full house, including some poor soul in the stall. Those of us at the Pissoire are all frantically trying to hurry, and I am quite sure we are all thinking the same thing, "Oh my gosh, what happened to that guy?"
One of the few times I have been able to make my friend Mono laugh out loud was when he told me about an odoriferous encounter he had with one of the pub staff, a girl who had some unfortunate body odor. I happened to experience the eye opening odor a couple of nights later when she was next on shift, and the following day I remarked to Mono, "Let's just hope that it was teen age spirit..."
But I digress.
My most favorite scent happens to be citrus, primarily from orange. I absolutely love it. Years ago I happened to be in a Body Shop and came across a shower gel with an orange scent. I stocked up, and was really really pleased. Others were, too, it seems. Once, I got sort of picked up in a bar, which was rather surprising. Her opening line was "Wow, you smell really good," and I was momentarily taken aback until I glanced at her t-shirt, which had "I love oranges" printed on the front.
Sadly, nothing really else really came from that evening, except for a mental note to myself to stock back up on my mandarin shower stuff. This actually has become more complicated than I expected, as said shop now only offers that flavor through their online shop, and it costs 3x more than their normal line of products.
I do tend to peruse the available flavors on the shower gel aisle, always hoping to find another "super orangey" product for use in my shower; one that is in my price range. Sometimes I can find something that is a bit orangey, but more often than not, usually only lemon or lime are available.
But that's okay, because I like those scents, also.
During one of those shower gel shopping trips, I found myself in the airwick section, and discovered a new scent: mandarine and limette. I won't call it "hoarding," but I did buy two 2packs, and returned home to refill the units in my kitchen and living room.
It's awesome.
It just makes thing seem naturally fresh and orangey.
So, earlier this week while I was on the recliner, my mediation session was quickly heading towards a napping session, but one of those cool nap experiences where you are so deeply relaxed but not completely out of it. The whole time I lay there, my internal clock was counting the 9 minutes, so that I could hear the little "whssshhhh" when the airwick sent another little burst of citrus into the room.
It was so comfortable, and my thoughts wandered. At one point as I enjoyed the Duft, I realized that the smell reminded me of my favorite breakfast cereal, Fruity Pebbles. Ironically, this is not a cereal known for natural flavors or natural anything, other than the obvious ability to enable a young kid to eat three bowls in a single sitting, then suddenly be able to run 2 miles to the grocery store and back in record time.
I have not had Fruity Pebbles in many years, but I like the way that this lingering Duft gives me just a little fresh (and citrusy) reminder.
I won't question how "natural" the scent from my airwick is, but simply enjoy that it seems natural. I don't think it's toxic; only a few times have I inadvertently gotten too close to the dispenser (while checking to see if it really was dispensing every nine minutes) and gotten a surprising faceful of citrus. As one could expect, it doesn't taste anywhere near as good as it smells.
Fortunately, the ice cream section of my supermarket has just started offering, yep, you gussed it, "zesty lemon and mandarin."
I must say, sitting in a living room with a little burst of citrus shooting out every 9 minutes and enjoying a little container of a similarly flavored ice cream is a rather nice way to spend an evening, especially if you are watching a modernised German version of "The Love Boat,"
Which is what I did a couple of nights during this eventful week. In one of the episodes, a recently fired doctor was on the cruise, but during a beach party was called into action to help a woman suffering from a severe stomach problem. The plot really thickened as they all discovered that they would have to do emergency surgery in the middle of nowhere. Out came the "portable emergency surgery kit," (which apparently was stored on board the ship in the captain's quarters) and the doctor, along with the captain and the social director (who was not on cocaine) proceeded to find a quiet place in a hut and perform the needed operation. Meanwhile, the other passengers were entertained by learning to dance salsa a little further down the beach.
The captain made the executive decision that they would all stay overnight on the beach, as the patient needed a little more time to recover from the op. So, everyone else drank cocktails, and the next day they all were able to reboard the ship and continue on to their next location.
Upon arriving at that next location, the doctor and his wife parted company with the ship, passengers and patient, so as to meet up with his son, who was living in the region with his family. The doctor and son went to a building site (where the son worked), during which time a worker had an unspecified accident.
Again, the doctor was called into action, but he quickly realized that he did not have the tools needed to take care of the emergency. Fortunately, the son's father-in-law was a local physician, and despite the rural location, happened to be in the vicinity. He quickly assessed the situation, then grabbed a coconut, some tubing from the jeep they were using, and carved a needle out of a plant stalk, then went on to do some sort of coconut milk transfusion on the poor guy lying there in the rubble, and minutes later, order was restored.
That all seems natural enough, right?
"whssshhhh"
The sweet overload to my senses prompted me to start watching another series, even though the evening was growing late. I stumbled onto a Scandanavian Noir series, and to help build the complete contrast, I almost made myself some late night nachos, thinking that a little salt would help offset the sweet.
However, I got caught up in the program and quickly forgot about snacks. I had expected the program to be just as dark and bleak as all the other great Nordic shows are, but within a few minutes I realized that I was actually watching a sort of spoof of said shows, and a really great spoof at that.
As much as I like this genre, it really is at the other end of the "hey, lets go on a cruise and find out we want to swap wifes after 15 years of being friends and neighbors" program spectrum. I personally like the extremes, though sometimes seeing someone get their face melted off in a barrel of boiling water in a little village just outside of Stockholm can be a bit much.
This spoof was incredibly funny, particularly since I am so familiar with other works, most of which received some sort of nod during this program. For example, the detectives were preparing to sneak into a dark and scary house of the suspect who had just knocked someone's head off (with, ironically, a coconut) and they all agreed to use the code word "Wallander" if any of them got into trouble.
The whole series (8 episodes, 30 minutes each) is filled with little funny suprises like that, all while following a standard police procedural format.
Of course I stayed up to watch the whole thing and finally went to bed just before dawn, never having known that the Swedish have such wonderful senses of humor.
I kept all of this in mind later on in the week as I tried to get some documentation together for the Arbeitsamt. I got very anxious as I struggled to make sense of the complicated German system. Fortunately a couple of friends came to my support, helping with the language but more importantly, just providing encouragement. It wasn't quite as easy as performing surgery on a beach with a Planters Punch in my hand, but I still got it done, and am quite prepared to provide a postive report on my productivity to the local civil servants.
My fresh start is, "whssshhhh," staying fresh.
see you out there
bryan
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