This A&J strip from 2015 is about as close as I come to office humor these days. Actually, I did a lot of office humor starting out, when the dysfunctions and inanities of the communal workplace still were fresh to me and those around me. I was doing office humor when Scott Adams worked for the phone company. I will admit, though, many of the experiences upon which I drew have been exorcised by time, and today I feel neither inclined nor qualified to comment on “the office.” Besides, working or not, I think most of us the age of Arlo and Janis find our lives centering more around relationships and home and less around career. Remember careers? When I started in 1985, there were no “jobs,” only “careers,” and I think it’s safe to say Arlo and Janis both considered themselves on a career track. Well, that little fad went off the rails long ago, and many of us count ourselves lucky to have any kind of “job.” So, do Arlo and Janis still have jobs? Are they retired? To be continued.
186 responses to “Work in Progress”
I’d agree that my wife’s life doesn’t revolve around the job. Certainly not a “Career”. I still remember when school counselors were called career counselors. Since I’ve been disabled, life is ALL about relationships.
Love today’s strip. When we moved into our house in 1990, I planted more than a dozen trees. They’ve grown wonderfully, well, except for the two ash trees that succumbed to the emerald ash borer. The best time to plant a tree is yesterday. The next best is today.
domaucan1, Ghost: However, it does not work w/ italics. Peace,
At my 40th class reunion several of classmates had retired and the topic of conversation was “How much longer do you plan to work?” My answer was “There are some people at my company that have wondered when I plant to start working!.
I meant to say earlier… it is clear that Janis has a different idea about going out to eat vs Arlo’s. She must have done pretty well in the football pool for a fancy dinner out!
Having observed Arlo’s tendencies over the years, I’m surprised he wasn’t there to help Janis dress or to be otherwise pleasantly occupied.
c ex-p, there was a line in a tv show I watched last night that reminds me of Arlo. Guy is watching his wife dress and says to her, “You know. Every time I watch you getting dressed I can’t help thinking about undressing you.”.
Symply tough for me to see Arlo as still having any kind of regular job. He seems to be more like me….usually around, occasional walk, some TV, some local travel, but a rather sort of comfortable at home person…not that a Fargone flight to some past fascination fancy would be perfidious to that life style either…(always allow alliteration; I like it)
My official outing to the village, for those that did not know…..inspired by another villager…do you know who…regards to the inhabitants.
Symply, it’s good to hear from you! (Alliteration? Always appropriate, attractive, and agreeable.)
Rick, my condolences on the loss of your classmates.
Steve:
I am not sure about much, but I know that life continues in some form after this prison of flesh no longer works.
I know that your sister-in-law was listening to each word that your brother said to her.
Smigz:
Thank you.
Because we had the largest graduating class (587) in the history of the high school, knowing everyone was difficult, and I did not know the last two who passed.
Still, it’s sobering to think of the families and friends they are leaving here and to realize that my whole class is entering one of the final stages of this physical life.
Sixty-four is too young for anyone to pass.
My high school graduating class of ’71 lost a member before we finished–she died in a car crash while returning from a debate competition when the teenager at the wheel fell asleep. We lost another to suicide a few months after graduation. Then there were those lost in that little “conflict” of the era.
I’ve never bothered with any reunions of the class but made it to some high school band reunions. We had those for about 15 years until our teacher passed a few years ago.
TruckerRon:
As did your class, we lost one quite early to extreme diabetes. Steve was 22.
Like you, I have not attended one class reunion. None of us is the same person we were then, and I have no interest in being in a room full of strangers talking about a past that didn’t actually happen the way that we remember it.
TruckerRon:
Speaking of the undeclared war, I was in the last draft ever conducted to date but was not selected.
How about you?
Kenya river is flowing R to L, backwards. Water still at greatest ht. I’ve seen. Beats me.
http://explore.org/live-cams/player/african-safari-camera
Peace,
May have mentioned before the only reunions I’ve attended, my 50th in fall ’97 and Elaine’s in May or June ’98. Mine: all ? [now coed], Manhattan, new Stuyvesant H.S. nr. Ground Zero [old was roughly 2 miles NNE], w/ a visit to Ellis I.*, tour of new school, ceremonies, good chance to catch up w/ some guys from old neighborhood, though Stuy. was a magnet science sch. w/ ?? from all 5 boroughs, some an hr. and a half commute. Also, friends from both coasts Actually 2 grad classes, ’47 [mine] and ’48, arr. by two bros. that were in those classes. Total potential hundreds, w/ maybe 100+ in attendance, mostly from E. Coast. Many wives, most unk. to other alumni.
Elaine’s, Brewster, NY, total potential about 30, and at least half were there, mostly from CT & NY state [Brewster is about 10 mi. from Danbury, CT]. She was valedictorian. Again, good chance for her to renew old acquaintances [I knew a few / our courting days], and to see what changes had occurred. At BHS commencement next morning, our group marched in w/ the ’98 graduating class, about 150. Brewster is nr N edge of reasonable distance / Amtrak to NYC, and is now a larger town, mostly bedroom community. Like many Eastern suburbs, you cannot tell how populous it is in summer / the mature trees along the residential streets.
*Ellis I. is well worth the visit. Neither Elaine nor I had any ancestors who passed through there, but many of my classmates did. Lotsa grandparents, + quite a few parents who had escaped Europe in time. Spain and Portugal in 1492, and the Nazis in the late 1930s-early ’40s contributed much brainpower to the USA [and other tolerant Western nations] , including to the Manhattan [not NYC’s borough] Project. Also, some Nobelists. Peace,
I was wrong; the project was named after the NYC borough. Wiki: ‘the 18th floor of 270 Broadway in New York, where he could draw on administrative support from the Corps of Engineers’ North Atlantic Division. It was close to the Manhattan office of Stone & Webster, the principal project contractor, and to Columbia University. … Reybold, Somervell, and Styer decided to call the project “Development of Substitute Materials”, but Groves felt that this would draw attention. Since engineer districts normally carried the name of the city where they were located, Marshall and Groves agreed to name the Army’s component of the project the Manhattan District.’
Good morning Villagers….
Real quick…what is the shortest two minutes in sports? Why, it’s the Kentucky Derby!!! My money is on Patch…my underdog. With 30 to 1 odds, drew the outside position, and has one eye….plus a sloppy track….Patch it is!
Good to see Simply stop by….stop by more often, please. Had to look those two $50 words up, see I told ya’ll, I learn something here every day.
Prayers and positive thoughts to those who are suffering from the floods. Saw some horrific scenes on the whether channel….a school bus…with children on board… tried to go through a flooded road, slid off the road and was leaning into a flooded ditch….I’d ditch that bus driver if I was a parent of one of those children….idot, the world is full of them.
Rick, I don’t do reunions either, eggcellent statement you made there regarding the past, or making up the past.
GM Old Bear 🙂
blessings on all…..
Good morning! Debbe, you bring the sunshine. 🙂
Mindy….happy day 🙂
Today’s TIP BlogSpot will disturb no censors, but I like the comment. This was once called a ‘well turned ankle’, but in the early 20th c., cops are said to have shooed men away from 23rd and 5th and B’way, because they were ogling women’s ankles, hence ’23 skidoo’. Flatiron Bldg., maybe tallest in the world for a time, generated winds at street level, as skyscrapers do.
http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/
I had to laugh as one of our Engineers wished one of our Mexican colleagues a happy Cinco de Mayo Day and his reaction was “Huh?” From what I understand, Mexican forces scored a major upset in a battle against the French in 1862. This in turn kept the French from helping the Confederates in the Civil War. California has “celebrated” it ever since, but it did not receive notoriety until Chicano activists raised awareness of the holiday in the 1960s, in part because they identified with the victory of indigenous Mexicans (such as Juárez) over European invaders during the Battle of Puebla.
Of course the popularity of the holiday was due to the commercial impact (especially beer) of Mexican culture in the 1980’s. About 5 or 6 years ago I went to a company outing at an afternoon baseball game in Detroit and we decided to drive out to Mexicantown afterwards. We had a blast and the food was great. By the time we left the restaurant at 6:00 PM, the lines to get in were huge.
Hopefully my observations are not too inaccurate. I never experience Mexican food when I was growing up, but I have grown to like it.
awww, Llee, shucks, thank you. Means a lot to me when I can put a smile, a grin and a laugh in someone’s day.
So much rain here, it brought down a good size branch down across the fence here. Guess what Ian will be doing when it stops raining 🙂
Trying to reason with Dad that it’s not a good idea to go car riding….yes, he wants me to take him car riding. He reminded me of a five year old yesterday, instead of stomping his feet, he raises his walker and smacks it on the floor.
Evidently the school systems around this rural community had a two hour delay. I would not want to be a school bus driver on these county roads…they are so bad, so soft, no rock, just mud.
I have gone to only one high school reunion, and that because my mom insisted. She loved her high school years, and didn’t understand why I hated mine. I never fit in, was bookish instead of athletic, and was taller than the captain of the football team. Ten years later I still didn’t fit in, and left the party early.
As to college, I have kept in touch with close friends, and none of us has gone back to reunions.
Debbe,
Thanks for the memory and mention of my favorite horse race, the Kentucky Derby. I’ve been following the Derby since I was a child. I remember Citation’s win in ’48 and was fortunate to have had a vet school classmate who lived withing blocks of Churchill Downs and who very graciously offered to let me and my wife stay at his house and attend the 1965 Derby. It was won by Lucky Debonaire, ridden by Willie Shoemaker, who won about 8 races that day. My friend, Dr. Mike Macdonald, is no longer with us but I offered my thanks to him at our 50th reunion. May he rest in peace. Thanks for a wonderful lifetime memory, Mike.
God bless us every one. God bless the USA.
I did not care for the kids in my HS class, but there were quite a few that were OK, so that is why I went. I noticed after about the 15th reunion, quite a few of them had matured. When I went to my 40th a couple of years ago, many of them were on Facebook, so I really knew more about what they were up to. Even some that I had little contact with became very good friends on Facebook. I even took my wife this time as she was friends with about 10 of my classmates.
As far as college (Purdue), I have had zero contact with anyone since graduation. A couple of football and basketball players that I discovered on Facebook. One guy kicked the winning FG against Michigan when they undefeated and ranked #1. A few years ago he was troubled by a HS friend who had recently died and I guess I said the right thing. He had his hip done just before I had mine and both have lost close relatives, so we have become good friends. Funny how that works!