Friday is "Vappu" in Finland, the First of May and the start of the growing period from some Pagan past. It is a public holiday that is normally filled with a lot of city markets, funny hats, fairy floss and partying - plenty of drinking too. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions - probably only the drinking will be on the cards - and that'll be home drinking. "Kalsari Kännissä - Underwear Drinking.
But, it is a short week at work and will warm me up for the next 3 months (at least) of short weeks at work, as next week my furlough period starts and I will have 40% of my salary cutaway. However, since my business is also dead in the water, that will mean that I will lose around about 75% of my usual income - Let's see what ensues.
The last couple days the electricians have been here (20% over budget) and today the heating changeover started. which means that currently we have no heating in the house and, no warm water. We borrowed two electric radiators to tide us over, but unfortunately one of them is short-circuiting and flipping the fuse switch. I am glad we have a fireplace, and I might sleep on the floor in front of that - since my wife tends to steal the covers in bed anyway.
The people who are probably doing the bathroom also came by after work with the plumber, who has said that it is going to be much more expensive than what had originally been indicated. At times like these, I wish I had gone to trade school instead. While not completely useless, I am far from skilled with my hands when it comes to these things and am more workhorse than fine craftsman. Tearing stuff down and carrying heavy things is my specialty. Nothing wrong with being a workhorse, for as they say,
Horses for courses.
I don't think that is about eating horses as a dinner course, but who really knows with some of these sayings.
It is interesting how money affects so much of our lives negatively, yet we are largely in a cycle we can't seem to break. The other interesting thing is that those who do manage to break the cycle, often end up being the ones who will hold others back from doing similar.
For me lately, I don't know if it is the current situation we are in or what, but I just don't seem to care that much either way - I seem to take the approach that whatever happens, it'll work out in the end one way or another so, why bother worrying. I recognize this as a dangerous mentality, one that I haven't taken for a very long time.
THe problem with it is that in this frame of mind, it is easy to screw oneself over, to burn bridges or not maintain what needs to be taken care of - especially if it is mundane or repetitive work, like that of maintenance work in a job - that pays the bills. If you don't do the maintenance work, things ten to go pear-shaped very quickly.
Noticed that?
I think that this is something that many of us do, we want the fruits of our labor, but we tend to pick and choose parts of the work that we enjoy more or are better suited too. Because we feel good doing it and work hard at it, we feel that when the rewards don't come - it isn't fair. Life isn't fair ever - but not taking care of all of the prerequisites required to at least a passing grade, will mean the overall outcome might be out of reach.
A large part of maintaining consistency isn't at the pointy end of the game, it is at the base, the fundamentals. My wife was a competitive ballroom dancer when young and while she trained near daily, even after a decade, a great deal of time was spent on practicing the core basic steps of dances, as it is that which forms the foundation of all the other patterns. I have seen plenty of men dance with a lot of fancy spins, but heard a lot of women say that as long as the fundamentals are on point - the dance is enjoyable. While people like to watch the flair, without the underlying basics, it is just sloppy.
I think that this is the case in most professions and performances where consistency matters, those who pend the time perfecting the groundwork will reach higher highs than those who look to perfect outlier cases, without having a strong grasp of the core. I have found that my writing takes the same trajectory and my ability to produce is because I have strong fundamental skills that deliver unconsciously - unconscious competence. It makes it easier because the pre-work was done, the foundation laid.
I guess I can thank my mother for a lot of the basics, as my grammar was corrected from a very young age and I learned to read and write before going to school at five. This allowed me to focus on other things, while the class learned the basics together, in an environment with a range of skills and wills and teachers who weren't necessarily invested in the outcomes. I have n't been an avid reader ever, but have hardly read anything in the last 20 odd years - which is a shame, as there are some great writers out there and I actually enjoy consuming words.
I guess though, that in the last few years I have far more enjoyed creating words and playing with the limited vocabulary I have to express and represent experiences through my life. I think that it doesn't matter really what the starting skill level is, spending time reflecting on and then sharing personal experience has value - for myself - and perhaps the reader too. While people want to be entertained, what they actually value in the world is what improves their own experience, not what just takes their mind off reality for a while.
This is part of the maintenance, the mundane or the hard to face reality that needs to be taken care of in order to move on to something much more special, something meaningful. It is mental and emotional hygiene and like physical hygiene, very few people enjoy cutting their toe nails and plucking out stray hairs from wherever they feel it is required. However, they do it because they know it matters, they know other people pay attention and, they know that attracting the attention of some people is something they value.
On Wednesday it is my wife's birthday, someone who's attention I do want to attract. While we see each other daily, with all that is going on, it isn't always easy to make the time to flirt and keep the attraction ticking over. With the current situation, I don't know what I am going to do for her or get her. We can't go out to a restaurant, we can't have anything fancy together at home, we don't have a babysitter for our daughter... but, perhaps it is okay just to light the fire and open a bottle of champagne to celebrate just being here together, regardless of the struggles.
May the first is the day I asked her to marry me. We were eating cotton candy in the central city outdoor marketplace and she was high on sugar, so the timing was good. I told her then in more words than I will put here, that if she says yes, life with me is unlikely to be easy in many ways - but I will work hard to give her a good life - She is very demanding.
Luckily, I am a workhorse.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
