Tag: dailyprompt

My Middle Name

Daily writing prompt
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
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We already did a prompt writing about our name, didn’t we? I guess focusing on the middle name is different… different-ish, I guess.

There is no deeper meaning behind my middle name, just as there is no deeper meaning behind my first name. My uncle, my mother’s big brother, had the same name but that’s not exactly where my name came from. I’m a junior. I was named after my father. James is my middle name (you can see it in the URL of this page) as James is my father’s middle name.

I’m named after my dad. I am proud of that, even if it often made answering the phone annoying because once I hit puberty our voices were pretty much identical over the phone and people would think I was him when I answered and just start talking. Nope, you have the wrong Robert. Hold on a second while I get him…

The Last Thing

Daily writing prompt
What is the last thing you learned?
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We all probably learn something new every day, right? That should be the goal, at least. I learned a couple of little things yesterday. Nothing important in the grand scheme of things, but new things none the less.

I learned that a US passport doesn’t include a street address. Who knew?

I learned a couple of small details about filling out travel requests at work.

I learned that our new work in the office policy (two days a week instead of just one) has lead to a lot of people choosing to come in on Wednesdays.

In the last week I learned for sure something I already suspected. Kitchen remodeling projects are stressful.

See? You really do learn new things every day!

I Hate That

Daily writing prompt
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
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I don’t have a real answer for this. There’s nothing specific that sets me off or anything like that. Nothing that I feel strongly enough about to label as “hate.” Maybe I can come up with some mild annoyances?

  • The company I work for has some goofy policies. I get annoyed when I have to explain them to people who work for other software companies. Companies that have more traditional policies that aren’t quite as goofy.
  • I don’t like being asked about religion. I won’t hesitate to give my thoughts and opinions with both barrels right into the questioner’s face. That doesn’t mean I enjoy being put in that situation. I don’t care about other people’s religious beliefs at all. Not even the faintest hint of a care. I would ask you to not care about mine in the same manner.
  • So Rob, why don’t you drink alcohol? Well because fuck you, that’s why. That one hasn’t come up in a very long time, but it used to come up multiple times per week and I would get really annoyed by it.
  • Okay, here’s one I hate. Say Rob, that donald trump is something special, right? No. He’s a fucking nazi who tried to overthrow the US government. He’s disgusting and evil and I cannot believe he has actual support from people who claim to be Americans.

Okay… I’m really pissed off now. This post is over.

Epic Fail

Daily writing prompt
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
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I finished high school in June of 1989 and started college that September. I was a music major with an emphasis in sound recording technology. Basically, that was music crossed with electrical engineering. The core course work included two semesters of calculus and one of physics. Therein lied my problem.

Coming out of high school, my math skills were flat out awful. I was unprepared for college level classes which meant I was unable to pass calculus, and given that calculus is the foundation of a lot of physics, I was hosed there too. There was more to it than that. I was also just not in a place mentally where I could handle school anymore. I needed a break.

All of that lead to me dropping out of college. I couldn’t do it at that time. Academically or emotionally. That was my failure. College, the first time around.

I followed that experience with a job, and then a tech school and a certification in a field where I was unable to get a job, which was followed by a shitty job in a warehouse for garbage money. When I couldn’t take it any more I went back to school.

All of that is what lead to my eventual success. I majored in computer science. Another field that required a strong math background. I went into it knowing that I had to strengthen my basic skills. I told my first academic advisor that I was going to start at the lowest math course available. I had taken a placement test that said I could start a little further along. I said no and started at the bottom. I then studied my ass off at each level. By the time I was hitting my upper level computer science courses I had aced three semesters of calculus and two semesters of physics.

Success, babie. Take that, failure. Suck my awesome grades.

After graduation I got a job in the field. Not the best job. Not a development position. I figured I’d worm my way into a development position, but then never did. I stayed in client services and moved into management. I’m still there.

Autobiography Again

Daily writing prompt
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
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This is the second time they’ve given us a daily prompt about our autobiography. This is so lame. So exceptionally lame.

Try these on for size…

  • He was grotesquely obese, mentally and physically. Then he went under the knife and had his guts butchered and rearranged. Then he was only grotesquely obese mentally.
  • He had no real brains to speak of, no talents, nothing special at all and yet somehow he lived a long time without accidentally blowing himself to smithereens.
  • He was a Rush fan, but was Rush a fan of him? Probably not.
  • First he was a red head. Then he was a husband and a step father. Then he was old.
  • Soft as a sneaker full of shit.
  • Cursed from day one with red hair.
  • A roll model for how to be a bad person without being a nazi.
  • At least he wasn’t a fascist like so many other Americans.
  • How to always say exactly the wrong thing: A red head’s story.
  • Inside the red head’s head there was nothing but mud.
  • If ever there was a life that wasted too much time and energy on Star Wars, this was it.
  • Mad Eye Moody said it best in Harry Potter : “his head may be filled with sawdust.”

Those are all possibilities, but there is one that would sum them all up perfectly. One that would be the first line of my autobiography, the last line of my autobiography, every line of my autobiography……….

Meh.

Me

Three Objects

Daily writing prompt
What are three objects you couldn’t live without?
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Okay, I am not going to take this question so literally that I answer food, water, and shelter. I am going to take it literally enough that I don’t gloss over the word “objects” and answer Jen, Bellana, and Harry. I am going to take it seriously and try to come up with three material items that I really can’t get along without. Okay? Now that I have established the ground rules, we’re good to go?

Right then, three objects I can’t really live without.

  1. My glasses. I’ve been wandering around the house this morning, getting things ready for the wall/tile guy who’s coming over today for the next phase of the kitchen remodeling, and when I got up and started getting stuff done I forgot to put on my glasses. I couldn’t read my watch, I couldn’t read the receipt from Lowe’s, I couldn’t see anything clearly. I need my glasses. I can’t get along without them.
  2. I need a computer to do my job. I also need it to keep track of my food and water post-gastric bypass surgery. I also need it to keep in touch with everyone I need to keep in touch with. It’s also more or less my TV and movie and book and music connection. I could get by with my iPhone, but I am more efficient and productive with an actual computer. It’s sort of a necessity for life at this point.
  3. My car. Since Covid started I haven’t been driving nearly as much as I used to, but it is still absolutely a necessity. If the kids have a problem, I need to be able to get to them. If anyone in the extended family has a problem, I need to be able to get to them. If the contractor realizes he doesn’t have enough tile to finish the kitchen back splash, then I need to be able to go out and get him more quickly. My car allows me to do all of that, as well as a million other things. It would be nice to not need a car, but I wouldn’t be very good in a world like that. I need my car.

So there you go. I took the question seriously, but not too literally. Here’s hoping you all have a good Sunday. The Boston Bruins aren’t playing today, which is disappointing, but after getting shelled by the Islanders last night it’s probably a good thing. Other than that, may your Sunday be grande.

Growth

Daily writing prompt
What experiences in life helped you grow the most?
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Would it be easier to ask what experiences did not help me grow? Every experience leads to growth. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? We’re human. That’s what we do. Theoretically of course. Maybe not if you’re a maga cult member. Who knows.

Here are some things. I am not going into details about how each thing changed me. Mostly because it’s kind of obvious when you think about it. We’re probably all just about the same in these respects. I will also try to keep the sarcasm at a minimum, but I can promise you that I will fail in that regard. Spoiler alert.

  • Failing at my first attempt at college, and similarly succeeding in my second
  • Starting a career and not failing miserably at it
  • Starting a relationship with Jen
  • Literally everything that has happened with respect to being both a husband and a step father. There are a lot of failures in there, but a few glowing successes too
  • Becoming a home owner… who knew?
  • Having weight loss surgery. I don’t know who I am anymore, or what I am, or how to be who or what I am. My entire identity has been shuffled. Jen got annoyed with me the other day when I referred to myself as “fat boy”. Thankfully I still have red hair, but for how long?
  • Losing my mother
  • After 86 years of colossal failures, the 2004 Boston Red Sox finally won the World Series. That lead to so much personal growth. The Bruins winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 did too, but they had actually previously won it in my lifetime so it felt a little different. Granted that previous win came when I was about one year old, but it still counts.
  • Seeing Star Wars for the first time. Seeing the original trilogy end. Then decades later getting a second trilogy that I never thought would happen. Then another decade after that getting the third trilogy and seeing that through. Then getting a bunch of television series and more movies. All of this Star Wars has lead to oh so very much personal growth
  • After almost 14 years of talking about it, getting the kitchen remodeled. I feel like a new man when I stand in the new kitchen, and it isn’t even done yet

How’s that list. We just have to accept the fact that the Red Sox are going to finish in last place again, and our championship run is long over and won’t be coming back for quite a while. Let’s just hope the current drought doesn’t last 86 years like that last one did. The new season is just a few short weeks away though. Eternal optimism, even in the face of certain baseball doom.

What was I talking about?

Nope

Daily writing prompt
Do you believe in fate/destiny?
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This is a one word answer kinda deal. Fate? Destiny? Nope. Not this red head.

Allow me to quote a famous philosopher:

I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other; I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff. But I’ve never seen anything to make me believe that there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. Anyway, it’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.

Han Solo

I don’t believe in fate. I don’t believe in destiny. I don’t believe in astrology. I don’t believe in fairy tails. I do believe that The Simpsons is able to predict the future, but I don’t believe we’ve discovered the workings of that particular magic as of yet. I do believe that the universe doesn’t give the faintest shit about the little specs of dust called humans. I think it just keeps on truckin’, minding it’s own business and I think we’re all the better for it.

In other words, let’s let Neil Peart chime in.

Workin’ For a Livin’

Daily writing prompt
Do you enjoy your job?
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This July I am going to reach the 20th anniversary of my first day with the company I work for. This past Sunday (four days ago) was the anniversary of my promotion that put me into my currect role within the company. That was 11 years ago.

Given all of that, I would say that I enjoy my job. I would not have stuck with it for all of these years if I didn’t enjoy it. I mean, it’s not as much fun as playing guitar for a living should be (theoretically at least) or taking pictures for a living should be (theoretically at least) but it’s a good job and I like it. I feel good doing it. I feel like I am able to indirectly help people who help people for a living. That’s rewarding in it’s way.

If I could make a living playing guitar though, I would drop my job in a heartbeat.

It’s Just a Phase

Daily writing prompt
Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.
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I’m having a tough time coming up with an answer to this question. I can’t think of any phase of my life that was difficult to say goodbye to. Every time some major life period ended, there was something better waiting in the wings to replace it.

High school was replaced with college and even though the first time around in college was a mess, it was so much better than high school.

College the first time ended long before I wanted it to and getting a full time job afterwards was anything but a positive experience, at that time though college was becoming a nightmare and it had to end. I couldn’t figure out how to move forward academically, apart from starting from scratch, so I put it aside for a few years… and then started from scratch.

Graduating from college and moving into a career… you’d think that would have been tough to say goodbye to, but really I was ready for it. I had been a student for a long time and I used to joke that I was really a career student. By the time I graduated though, I was ready for that phase to end and I welcomed what came next.

I was depressed when my 20’s ended and became my 30’s. I didn’t want them to end, but I was already so low that I wasn’t sad to see them go. I was, but at the same time, not really. You know? My 30’s started out bad but I was 36 when I met Jen and 38 when we got married. Once I had started a life with her I was ready for whatever the universe could throw at us. I looked forward to time passing and phases… phasing. I was sad to see my 40’s end, but only because I don’t want to be old. I accepted that I was already old though so it didn’t actually change anything.

So I guess the answer to this question is that I never really had a phase in my life end that I had a difficult time saying goodbye to. Sorry if that’s a lame answer. I guess I am just a super mature dude who is able to roll with the changes, as the song says. Maybe I should pat myself on the back for that.