And now for someone completely different

My office is located in one of the larger care facilities in Maine and like any significant other I sometimes come home and share the day with my wife. Many times she lovingly screams "NO MORE POLITICS!" "NO MORE UNION" and then goes on to remind me that we have a couple of kids. I told her that I take time off from Union affairs and Blogging but it seems to me that the last time I looked whatshername and the guy seemed a lot older and taller than I remembered.
Due to my fascination with computers, my kids have nicknamed me GeekDaddy. Where are we if we can't laugh at ourselves? So here is my best half's take on my typical workday.
Her Blog can be found at lillhawkins.com

He’s Not Heavy, He’s My Tomato Plant

16-Jul-08

I believe I’ve mentioned before that Geekdaddy works at a health institution. He has a very nice, sunny office in the basement where he keeps the phones and computers humming. He also has a small farm of tomato plants, flowers and greenery that he tends with loving care. He’s the go-to guy for Mainers who want a fresh cherry tomato in January and you don’t have to worry about salmonella either. Glasses cleaner, maybe, but no germs.

Geekdaddy subscribes to the theory that if one pair of glasses is good, two or three are better. This is why you sometimes see him with one pair on his nose and another pair pushed up onto his head and a third pair hanging around his neck. I don’t believe I’m letting any cats out of the bag here when I tell you that, sometimes, he even puts one pair over the other pair to read. This is all because of less than successful laser cataract surgery and a tiny little buckle inserted into his eye.

And, no, before you ask, there’s no tiny little belt. Just the buckle. It holds the cornea or lens in place or something like that. I’m a little hazy on the details, but I know that it makes seeing anything farther away than the end of his nose a less than optimal experience. Hence the glasses in triplicate.

So, the other day, there he was in his office, examining his favorite tomato plant and thinking that it looked a little peaked. There was that certain something lacking in the luster of its leaves and its flowers were drooping. The geek decided that what the tomato needed was a change of scene. Maybe, he thought, a walk out through the parking lot onto the lawn would perk it up. He could even leave it there for a while.

True, one of the clients who wander the grounds might become fascinated by it, but odds are that it would be safe. So, off he went with the tomato plant held in front of him - did I mention that it’s a good-sized patio tomato plant? As he walked, he tried to cheer it up by talking to it, something that’s a good idea or so he’d heard on one of his talk radio shows.

He was nattering away to it, describing the scenery they were passing when he realized that he wasn’t alone. One of the psychiatrists who are so useful for other people was walking beside him and peering at him through the tomato plant’s foliage.

Geekdaddy is always cordial, so even though he’d never met the man before, he greeted him with a smile and walked on, out into the parking lot and onto the lawn where he gently settled the tomato plant in the dappled shade of one of the huge maples that dot the grounds. It was about then that he realized that the doctor had almost certainly mistaken him for a client, and then he realized that he was over-endowed with 3 pairs of glasses - one each on his nose, his head and on a cord around his neck.

When he got home, he mentioned the incident to me and asked me if I thought the doctor had gotten the wrong impression. I assured him that the doctor almost certainly hadn’t gotten the wrong impression and I think I eased his mind. What I’d really like to see though, is what happens when he comes in and starts tweaking the doctor’s phone or computer the next time one of them breaks.
I like to think that Lill has just taken a little poetic license. Any good gardening book will tell you that talking to your plants will help them grow. I admit I am still having a little trouble getting the spider plants to wear MSEA T-Shirts.

Enter your Email to receive a notice when this blog is updated.





Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz