Rant #2,181: Some Kind of Wonderful

Today is Monday, so it is a day where most of us go back to work, to the toil that helps us to make money to put bread on our tables.

Sure, that is very important in the grand scheme of things, but it is not some kind of wonderful.

The weekend--or whenever you have your days off during the week--ARE some kind of wonderful, because you can pretty much do what you want and do them without hindrance.

Yes, you need your job, but you also need time off to fully round off your life, and for me, the weekend is it.

Forget about all the troubles my company is having with staying solvent--we just got our latest hint that we probably won't last past October--but whatever job I have had over the years, I do work for the weekend.

Nothing else is important, because the weekend is devoted to your family.

And when I first became a father 30 years ago, the fact became even more important, and more focused.

Personally, I had a busy Saturday and a somewhat less busy Sunday, with each balancing out the other.

On Saturday, I went to the eye doctor, my wife and I went shopping, and then later on, we went to another barbecue, this one thrown by one of my brothers in law. We had previously gone to a barbecue at my other brother in law's home, so we have been well covered with barbecues this summer, as we have also held a few of our own.

Anyway, it was a nice, relaxing day, a day to unwind from the previous five days of work.

On Sunday, we ended up doing next to nothing.

My wife and I wanted to go swimming in the backyard pool, but the weather wasn't really cooperative--it was warm, but a bit rainy here and there--and the day did not improve until late afternoon, so after I took my son to work, my wife and I went shopping for things we needed here and there.

I bought another storage case for my 45 RPM records. This is the fourth one I have purchased over the years, and with my collection still growing--I must have at the very least several thousand singles--I need at least two more of these things to get them all safely away in convenient devices to hold them and enable me to get to them easily.

This has been an ongoing project for me--many of my singles still remain in the drawers of my son's old changing dresser--so it is really time to get this done.

I then picked up my son from work, watched a little baseball--a very disappointing Yankees game--and then went out to get my family and I something to eat. Not that I am so gallant, but I don't want my wife to cook on the weekend after a busy week at work.

After trying to watch the WWE's Extreme Rules pay per view event--I barely made it to 9:30 or so--I went to sleep, woke up earlier than I normally do, and decided that yes, it was time to get up to prepare for the pleasure I have at returning to work today.

And now we meet the latest workweek head on. My wife is off this week--I would have loved to join her at home, but I simply cannot do that this week--so at least she will be enjoying some extra, well-deserved time off. I hope she enjoys it fully.

Me, in about three hours from right this moment, I will be back at work, and no, I am not looking forward to it at all. The atmosphere at work is toxic, my fellow co-workers, looking at their own survival, are throwing others under the bus with aplomb, and I count the minutes until we reach 5:30 p.m., and I can stand up, shut off my computer and leave work to come home.

This IS, actually, a short work week for me--I did take off on Friday, so at least my wife and I will be together for one day of her vacation--but certainly to get to that point is going to be difficult.

So anyway, have a good day at work, I know that I will (ha ha), and I will speak to you again tomorrow.

But with one parting thought--Monday is really a horrible day of the week, because it is the first day of the workweek. I guess that is why there are numerous songs about Monday in the pop pantheon, including "Monday, Monday" from the Mamas and Papas; "Manic Monday" by the Bangles, and my current theme song of this post, "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats.

Yes, Mondays are difficult, but you have to get through Monday to get to Friday, so even though we moan and groan about Monday, is it really any worse or any better than Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?

Yes, it really is Saturday and Sunday for me!