Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Short Complaint

The past 5+ years have literally been a blessing as Gleevec has held my leukemia at bay. I hope to be posting a similar message five years from now. But the truth of the matter is that I’m living on borrowed time, and to be honest, I just don’t feel quite as good as I used to. It’s been a frustrating process trying to work with doctors who seem to regard my seeing them as a privilege worth paying for. To a degree, this is true, but the privilege doesn’t eliminate the desire to be treated as a person of worth rather than an impending cadaver. It would be less than honest to not say that our move to Fort Collins is driven in large part by my desire to get Mary nearer to family. The peaceful death of which Thoreau spoke would, I think, elude me if I knew that I was abandoning her in Las Vegas. Per Desiderata, my timing seems to be pretty good because it looks like I’m going to be around for the relocation. This somewhat morbid musing on my part was instigated by my absence from work the last two days because of not feeling well enough to come in. I’m not feeling all that great today, but I have my three day weekend to look forward to as an opportunity to get “recharged” for next week. I’ve intentionally tried not to complain too much since being diagnosed, but I have to admit that the specter looming over my shoulder is getting a little old. I have so many things and so many people to be grateful for, and that will continue to be my focus as we move toward the good things yet to come.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Unfolding As It Should

The past weekend was a good and productive one. We signed a contract last Thursday night and it has been submitted to Bank of America for acceptance of the short-sale we are seeking. The Bekins agent gave us an estimate on Friday which we accepted. We are now scheduled to leave Las Vegas on September 10. Rachel and Steve were with us Saturday night through this morning as they travel on to San Diego. We’re happy that we’ll get to see them again on their way back to Fort Collins. We’re smart enough (I think) to understand that any of these tentative developments could fall through, but part of being optimistic is believing that things will proceed as they should. Mary is doing a tremendous job of getting us packed into boxes, etc, and I try to do what I can on the weekends. This coming Friday we’re going to make application for our retirement benefits. As I’ve already said, I’ve never retired before and that’s what makes this such an adventure. The primary goal is to move into our Fort Collins home on September 15, and right now it’s looking like we will succeed.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

I Was Born Here…

Another work week comes to an end at six this evening, and then I’ll have just five weeks and two days until retirement (but I’m not counting). It’s hard to believe that what’s been a dream for the last couple of years will finally be coming to fruition. While we moved regularly during our time with the United Methodist church, we’ve been pleasantly dormant for the past decade. Moving is like bicycling, though, and it comes back to you almost immediately. The prospect of settling in Colorado just in time to see the aspens turn color provides more than enough incentive to get the job done. We will not, as I have said before, be in a position to waive employment which will be necessary to supplement the modest pension we’ll be receiving, but even that holds the lure of a new adventure. As I watched an interview of a life-long resident of New Orleans, he explained that he came back after Katrina because it was his home. “I was born here, and I’m going to die here.” Whether it’s the Big Easy or the Rockies, that’s a sentiment I can understand completely.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

500

Just before lunch I finished my five-hundredth assessment of the year. It’s mundane, to say the least. Intake consists of identifying non-custodial and custodial parents and their alleged children. Eleven years ago, I was as naive as one could be about this seamy world of irresponsibility. For example, I thought that the father’s name was required on the birth certificate. That was the proverbial assumption I made on the basis of Rachel and Rebecca’s births. The child support enforcement in our country is mammoth and growing larger. Pitifully inept and inadequate sex education programs (or the complete lack thereof) are serving to pump out little bastards at increasingly alarming rates. The first case I worked this morning was for the seventh child allegedly sired by the same man with as many women (who says chivalry is dead? he at least had the courtesy to impregnate each woman only once). Some people feel that my progression from cop to preacher was a strange one, but I’ll tell you that was nothing compared to what I’ve been doing since I left the ministry. I must include myself among those who fear that the moral fabric of our society is fraying. How else do we explain the burgeoning illegitimate population in our country? Can anybody say “Palin”?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

It Feels Like the Last Time

A most fitting culmination to a weekend of packing and recycling was a stop at Luv it Frozen Custard, one of our favorite spots in Las Vegas. We’ve managed to take most of our guests there at least once with regular returns requested by those who have been initiated. As I savored my Western Special, it occurred to me that this might be the last time. The closer we get to moving day increases the number of these finales. Unless something unexpected occurs, I will be making my last visit to the Nevada Cancer Institute in a couple of weeks. Prudence the Prius will have her last scheduled maintenance from the dealer this Friday. Our last meal from the Omelet House may have been this past weekend, as well. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Nate Holt introduced me to its outstanding cuisine nearly fifteen years ago. And there are some things that won’t be lasts because they were never firsts: Olympic Garden’s topless fare which tantalizingly shares Luv it’s parking lot, or Cheetah’s Gentlemen Club which I have suggested to numerous visitors without any takers. Our Las Vegas bucket list is a work in progress, but there’s no doubt that we will need to be paying attention to the many things we’ll be doing for the last time.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Home Sweet Nothing

My first and biggest mistake was to fall in love with the place where we now live. It’s a condominium, dammit, and to project human emotions upon it is irrational. Nonetheless, for quite some time I was convinced that Ironwood would be our home forever. In my opinion, its design and setting are very nearly perfect. The homeowners association and the management company we retain are progressive and competent. The grounds, including the pool, spa and fitness center, are always impeccably maintained. There has never been any hesitation on our part to make improvements (ceiling fans in every room, water conditioning including reverse osmosis, solar shade, interior completely repainted, etc) because this place is ours and we love it! So, the humbling experience of having to accept that none of this counts for anything is indeed a bitter pill to swallow. Not because of anything we’ve done, the housing market in Nevada is worst in the nation (anyone keeping tabs will discover that this is characteristic of the Silver State in that it is #1 in almost every worst category and dead last in numerous positive measures) and that translates into no one cares anything about our home other than when the selling price will bottom out. Our gratitude for the willingness of Rachel and Steve to share our “retirement home” increases on a daily basis as we realize that our housing future is not dependent upon selling the present property (although there have been comments about the “retirement home” where we may get sent that are cause for concern). I suppose it’s something akin to loving your child dearly only to have the school principal tell you she’s worthless. I’m not going to accept that without a fight!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Watch This!

If you haven't yet read Bill Calm's July 12 comment, I'm providing the link to his video here:


I am in awe of the gifted people I am privileged to call friends!

So Long, Farewell!

I’ve been humoring myself with thoughts of how my exit interview from this place might go. “Please tell us, Mr. Hanna, what things we might be doing differently to raise our performance measures.” That ain’t going to happen! My retirement from Clark County is going to consist of turning in my ID badge and the key that locks a couple of drawers in my cubicle while providing an address to which my final paycheck will be mailed. A pat down and search of my backpack will be consistent with the detention facility mentality that prevails. There might be a Men in Black type of memory eraser to prevent my walking out of here with valuable passwords and codes. I’ve never seen anyone who has already retired to ask. They just disappeared as I will the first of September. All kidding aside, I leave this place with a heavy heart for my coworkers who have no choice but to remain and endure this incredibly dysfunctional environment. Yes, I said dysfunctional, and I challenge anyone who might question my analysis to take as close a look at this middle school culture as I have for the last eleven years. I know dysfunctional when I see it, and I’m sticking by my judgment. As with so many organizations, the most valuable resource in this organization is its people. And as with so many dysfunctional organizations, management sees its people as the problem rather than the solution. I am grateful for the paychecks I have earned from Clark County, but I can honestly say that they (and my friends) are the only things I’m going to miss when I’m gone.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

What Happened?

I didn’t post yesterday because I was thoroughly enjoying lunch with some of my colleagues at Baja Fresh. My time at my current employment has been remarkably unremarkable; perhaps with the exception of being the only recipient of the “bad attitude” lecture from former assistant D.A. Bob Teuton (I’ve long had the knack of rubbing authority the wrong way). But even though my name will never be engraved on the employee excellence trophy, I’ve gained some very dear friends whom I will miss greatly when I retire. My lot is the grunts (I do not say this disparagingly; we know who we are and we accept it) who do the dirty work so that our masters can keep their hands clean. In the world of superiors, we are the inferiors who manage to keep things going in spite of the elite’s best efforts to screw things up. I’ve discovered that this is not necessarily helpful when supplying references on job applications because prospective employers don’t really care about what grunts think, and those whose reference employers respect aren’t inclined to say nice things about grunts—if they even know who we are. So, the chapter about my being a Camusian bureaucrat is about to close, but the story of my friendships will last forever.

Monday, July 12, 2010

T-minus 30 Days and Counting

Counting today, I have 30 working days left until I retire from Clark County. My brain is in the process of trying to assimilate that information. Many things are being affected, including this blog. If the past week of vacation is any indication, there may be no more posts after August 31. I enjoy journaling too much to believe that such may actually be the case, but it will be interesting to watch what kind of schedule emerges when I am no longer required to take hour-long lunches. Las Vegas is treating us to characteristically hot summer weather as a way to make our departure to cool, colorful Colorado just that much sweeter. We listed the condominium the night before we left for Fort Collins, and are trying to get the word around that the home we’ve loved for a dozen years is on the market at a ridiculously low price. We feel so fortunate to have already secured new digs with the kids in Colorado which is alleviating what could otherwise be a source of profound stress. So, there may or may not be another twenty-nine posts coming to Incite, but you now know the reason why if there aren’t.