Hot Time In The City

After a couple of earlier hours in the day on my back deck reading and relaxing with Michael and healing my leg and soul in the warmth of the the Mission sunshine it was time to come in. It got a little too sunny for us and was time to retire to the deep blue, cool and refreshing mancave I call my bedroom to watch some Batman Beyond and nap and cuddle under the slow whisper of my room fan. I should know by now it's difficult to cuddle and be cozy when your one leg is elevated 2 feet in the air on pillows, but we managed, even slept for a bit, and well. We woke rested and relaxed but when I stepped out of my bedroom and into the rest of the house I thought I was going to die from the blast of dry heat! The whole rest of the house was like 80 *F and the back deck was the same if not worse. Screw the hammock and sunshine and previous posting, I'm going back to my cool bedroom cave for the rest of the day and elevating my leg. Ugh! Hope Michael made it home without melting.

Photo Dump

Big Dick's Halfway Inn

Coming up to Yosemite to visit Richard for his 68th birthday has been wonderful so far. We got up to the ranch Saturday afternoon and almost instantly I felt myself relax. There was no one at the house when we got here so I found a comfortable reclining chair out on the deck and just melted into the hilltop breeze of fresh air, clear skies, long vistas, and slow forming clouds. I put my feet up, let my mind follow my breath and slowly absorbed the beautiful wilderness energy. Once everyone got back from four-wheeling we all made our greetings and kisses and settled around the outside coffee table to have a drink and laugh and share stories of the wilderness, horse purchasing and dog breeding, knee surgeries, old stories, and new crazy times. Some of us have known each other since the very early 90's and have some great bonds and stories about each other, PG and XXX.

Birthday dinner was a big todo as Richard's son is a great cook and they have a new Egg BBQ.  There was cheese and wine and salmon and steak and asparagus and broccoli and of course a delicious birthday cake. The 14 of us sat down at the outside dining table a little while before the sun went down and as we were finishing dinner candles were lit and chairs were pushed back for comfort. Lips were loose and soon stories got sordid and everyone was trying to keep themselves in check and their words and topics appropriate for the 5 year old that was present. 

Soon after dinner and dishes everyone dispersed to their chosen rooms and by 9pm the house was dark and quiet and everyone was asleep. Being the only single individual up here I was offered a couple different locations and places to sleep and settled on the couch in the living room with the recliner and fireplace. I instantly fell asleep and snoozed for a couple of hours and woke up to a house and night dark as pitch and managed to maneuver my way through the dark halls landmined with sleeping dogs. After a quick stop in the restroom and a couple more dogs snoozing on the floor I retrieved a glass of water and headed back to my room. Taking full advantage of the amenities offered me I made a nice sized fire in the hearth and settled into the recliner to dive back into the lively book my sweet pup recommended and gave to me. It's been nice to carry a book and read from paper instead of my Kindle. After a few good chapters of vivid life in Venice, Italy I stoked the fire and laid down to go back to the land of slumber and comfort. 

The sweet life of ranch living is slightly sweeter when one is a guest of a well tended ranch. 

Thank you Richard. Happy Birthday. I love you. 

Spent

I

Four days in and I'm pretty worn out and mentally exhausted from managing the store. The world of kink retail has it's very unique attributes but ultimately it's retail management. I was given two weeks notice of resignation from a crying member of my staff first thing this morning and then proceeded my afternoon of cat/staff herding and delegating. It's amazing how the youngest member cant't stop working and complaining about the other staffs work ethics while the older staff do everything they can to get away with ficking off. No surprise really, but after months of scolding and catching them on their phones or using our retail computers to peruse the internet I would think they would understand what's expected of their performance. Perhaps the consequences aren't clear or harsh enough. I've been trying to be relaxed at work, because my absence I'm trying not to come down too hard too quickly right after my return, I'll give them a week or two, and I'm trying to manage the swelling and pain in my knee without over stressing it. Next week some shit's going down for my staff and things are changing, procedures are getting streamlined and consequences will be tougher, all well deserved and overdue. I feel like I have kids working for me sometimes, and daddy's done with the piggy back rides and candy necklaces. 

Massive Attack - Angel

Ugh!

Cursed Sandman why do you evade me?

The Prodigal Son Returns

After six long slow weeks of recovery from ACL surgery I was happy to return to to work today. Well received and apparently quite missed by many I made little attempt to kick ass and give it my 110%. I was asked to take it easy and have fun and let everyone enjoy my return without giving them reason to resent my absence. I was happy for this suggestion, I made an effort to remain humble and unobtrusive, and had a wonderful day letting Rob run the store as I made an appearance in various departments and made pleasantries with my coworkers and staff, and a handful of customers. Regardless of my attempts to stay under the radar as a manager my folding 'have a seat' chair was set out most of the day and I had a number of staff come visit to exhale and carp, talk about so and so, ask for time off, and catch up with their drama. And a relyable few just wanted to know how I had been. It was actually nice to feel needed if only for an ear or to put out interpersonal fires and care for my staff's woes. Honestly I didn't get much done but I feel good about the momentum. I did some laps of the shop, drank more water than I have been doing at home, did some scheduling, gave a lot of compliments, and put out some customer fires that have been smouldering since before I went away. Not bad for the first 8 hour day in 6 weeks.