An Unusual Review Of 2015

We interrupt our genuflection at the altar of Should I Stay Or Should I Go? so as to insert just a tiny bit levity for this blog. After all, being a Danny Downer is certainly not the most intelligent way to start off a new year.

I got to thinking the other day, which as you know has gotten me into a peck (remember, a peck equals a half a smooch) trouble, about what to blog about. Usually nothing of note comes to the forefront, but this time, the idea of looking back at 2015 gently tapped on the chamber door. Well, I shouldn't say "gently tapped" but more like "punch-a-hole-through-the-door-and-pull-you-through-it".

And in keeping with the violent nature of the tap, we decided to do a certifiably strange review of 2015. Most people review what they wrote, what they read, who they visited, what they blogged about, what they accomplished, etcetera, etcetera, so-on, so-on, ad infinitum and to infinity and beyond.

For me, I plan on pontificating about the NEW THINGS I DONE DID for 2105. I know, it's hard to believe that this old dog done did something mighty newfangled (no, I didn't get a new phone), but I did. In no particular chronological order of importance, here are some of the NEW THINGS THAT I DONE DID for 2015.

1} Commit career suicide.

This is something wickedly hard to do, yet when you do do it, the short term consequences usually morph into something extremely long term. Kind of like declaring personal and business bankruptcy at the same time. I finally managed to extricate myself from a particular nasty job duty that was seriously affecting my job evaluations/performances for the past several years. But, in order to accomplish that ignominious feat, I had to put myself in front of the proverbial firing squad and take a couple of bullets. Trust me, it's something that you shouldn't do, but when you're left with no other alternative after exhausting all possibilities, you do what you need to do. I did it, but more importantly, it's a decision that I can conformtably live with for the next few years.

2} Went to a high school football game.

Now this may not sound like much, especially to those of you who live in an area that lives/breathes/eats high school football, but the last time I went to a high school football game was when I was in high school doing the marching band thing. That's 34 years ago for those who are too tired to do math (Barbie says, "It's hard!"). Sure enough, the marching band is what got me to go to our town's annual Thanksgiving football game between Newington and Wethersfield. My daughter Jenelle plays the French horn, so being the supportive parent I is, I went to the game. My daughter performed very admirably, especially with the wind chill being in the low teens. The team, not so good. Scored a t.d. on fumble recovery (missed the PAT), then gave up 37 straight unanswered points to lose the game.

3} Went to a figure skating show.

Considering how much I've bragged about my daughter's ice skating ability, you'd be probably saying to yourself, "Duh!". Well, the truth of the matter is this: the amount of figure skating shows/competitions that I've gone to in her entire life (she started skating @ 3 years old) you can count on One. Entire. Hand.

One of the man reasons as to why I haven't gone to most of her skating shows is money. My friends, dropping anywhere from $10 to $100 a pop just to watch a child perform a sub-two minute skating routine, is not getting bang for your buck. Multiply that by seven to twelve competitions per year and you can see why Dad doesn't attend.

But, attend I did. She did a fine admirable job appearing in the annual winter show that a New England area skating group puts on, and I was very proud of her showing and talent. For those of you who are curious what the total outlay of this particular event was, it came to a shade under $27 (event ticket, parking, concessions, and yes, ticket was approx. 60% of the total outlay).

4} Career suicide redux.

Going back to the original point, there was one very important lesson that I gleaned from that event. I learned how to portray myself as a "I told you so and in spite of your misguided opinion about me, I know WTF I'm talking about and I can do your job just as well as you can" in such a way as to let everyone know that should you disrespect me, I do indeed bite back.

(c) 2016 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.