Brainwashed

If I were to say I was surprised by my current situation, I’d be lying, I expected this all along. Over the summer this was all the news, I am surprised it took so long, I am glad, shortly for me, this to will be history. One of the guys missed a couple days last week, young kids, starting back in school, we have all heard about this, all over the news, planted firmly in most of our minds. I was hit hard, early Wednesday afternoon, really didn’t think Thursday I’d be worth a damn. It was a struggle, just getting home. I started the morning, mid week, at the top of my game,the weekend prior, my throat was a bit raw, a little worried, all this talk of swine flu, I wondered if I was becoming a victim. By monday, I was feeling good, maybe it was the air in my work space, who knows, all the yelling, communicating with co workers, spread out on seven stages of scaffold, had caused the soreness of my throat, in any event, come monday morning I was good to go, excited about another week of working. Now I don’t know, if listening to a Springsteen cd, riding my bicycle in on Wednesday was the catalyst, everything was in tune, a well oiled machine. Up hill, down hill, just a constant driven pace. At soon to be fifty seven, five miles on a bicycle, first thing in the morning, is a good warm up for a workday, I can get a sense of how I’m feeling. Back working, my first full check under my belt, I started buying higher quality food. I had settled in, the middle of my third week, accustomed to the routine, this was the best I had felt in quite some time. I don’t eat a lot of empty food, fruit, nuts, and oats in the day, vegetables, salads, a bit of chicken, or fish, at night. I try avoiding wheat all together, it is poison to me. Wild, brown, and forbidden rice, a bit of cinnamon cooked in, my weakness is Haagen Dazs. Such a contrast, I crawled off that job site Wednesday afternoon, I started sweating, feverish, shortly before lunch, from how I had felt that morning, this was 180 degrees, it was difficult to get home. Katie knew something was up, you see, the first thing, when I get home, I grab the raw hide, usually she’s placed it on the bed, and through it for her to fetch, I don’t think I ever had a dog that loved fetching the way Katie Kat does. She didn’t understand, this was her time, I wasn’t playing. I thought Thursday, I would be a no show at work, I ate just fruit and a salad Wednesday, was in bed by six, drank lots of water before turning in. When I woke, to my surprise, I felt ok, not the best, I knew I would be having a rough day working. The night before, I had gone to sleep, wondering how I would handle, letting the boss know, I would be missing. He needs his job done, he’s an easy guy to work for, he wants us on time when we start, when we stop. There is no ambiguity, concerning who is running this job, we are expected to listen. For the life of me, I can’t figure why, I found this so difficult in younger years, its pretty simple, its not too much to ask, sometimes I’m surprised at how simple it all becomes, just by taking the time to listen. I knew in any event, I’d be riding in, I had misplaced his number, I had to let him know, going into work, telling your boss your to sick to work, he’s gonna look at you funny, he needs hands to get his job done, he’s been counting on yours. Those morning surprises never go over well, everything changes, not like he doesn’t have enough on his plate, these jobs are tough these days. I was glad that bridge didn’t need crossing. Biking in thursday morning I took it easy, not the pace, the morning prior, I knew the ride would let me know, what kind of shape I was in. The brother that missed two days sick, showed up Thursday, he looked like he had been run through a grinder, the boss told him go home if your sick, don’t be getting everyone else sick. The boss knows this is going around, its nasty, he had it too, the job still needs to finish, the brother carpenter stayed. So its Saturday, I have a bit of a cough, I’m just gonna take it easy, maybe head on up to the Hollywood Farmers Market Sunday, I expect, riding in Monday, I’ll be back in stride. Pretty sure it was the flu, I think its unavoidable this year, let’s face it, that is all we’ve heard for months.