h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

3/15
At 3:00 the Law and Order that came on was the one I watched last so I decided to try a smoke. The temperature was up to 39 degrees, the sun was shining, and the wind was mild so I considered taking a risk by having a Gran Corona (6” X 46 ring, Honduran, Maduro wrapper; $.90 ea.). The risk was that it meant a 45-60 minute commitment, which is fine is the sun stays out, but if the wind picks up, or if clouds come in front of the sun, or both, it gets a little nippy on your fingers. I looked in the box and saw one that I had clipped back in the fall and then had decided not to smoke. That clinched it. I sat on the front stoop which faces west and gets the afternoon sun. Earlier today I had taken a walk for about an hour and began to think about the fact that I might have a smoke later. It occurred to me that whatever I would think would end up as a journal entry and therefore had to something worthwhile. Did this not make the whole procedure artificial and pointless ? By observing the process, I had influenced the outcome. I thought more about this as I smoked and then decided not to worry about it.
I got up and crossed the road to check out the parking lots. I thought that maybe the Grounds guys only worked till 3:30 and so would be heading back to the shop and I wouldn’t run into any of them. The lots were picked clean but I did find two miles and a penny. I reached the far side of the paved lot when I saw Boyd coming toward me. “You guys cleaning up this week?”
“Yep.”
“How long are you working ?”
“Three o’clock.”
“No, I meant which day.”
“Friday.”
“Monday through Friday, huh.”
“Yep.”
We production people have the week off but the Kitchen Laborers and Managers have to work; well, the K.L.s work but I can’t vouch for management. Boyd is a strange man with many problems that I don’t care to go into now. I feel bad for him but I’m glad I don’t have to work with him on a daily basis any more.
The cigar is smoking well; not too hot and with a good draw. I was afraid the box might be getting dry because during the winter, I don’t watch it closely and may go six weeks without adding moisture. I used to keep it too wet and then wondered why the draws were so hard. Now, anything between 65 and 70% is fine. I think it’s a little drier than that now and I’m all out of distilled water because I put it all on the houseplants.
I continued on toward the north side of Grant when who do I see pulling around the corner in his truck ? John. Busted.
“Stop stealing my money !” he yells when he gets within earshot.
“I’ll give you what I got.” I walk up to the truck sporting my most sheepish grin. “It’s a fair bust.” I hand him the miles and the penny which he takes.
“So you guys work till 4, huh ?”
“Yeah, they changed it a while back.”
We chat for a while and he gets a call on his cell. I wait for him to finish and l find another penny on the ground. When he’s done, I hand him that penny too. Another truck pulls up; it’s Guy and Bob. Bob used to be John’s partner but now he is with Guy. I ask him about this and he says he will probably be back with John in the fall. I ask him if he remembers Steve who is the new guy they hired to replace me at Douglas. Steve used to be a janitor and remembers working with Bob. I don’t know Steve’s last name so Bob can’t place him. It’s time for them to go so they take off.
My cigar has gone out so I continue across the street and relight it in the shelter of the front of Grant. I decide to walk around a little more and head for the lot between the back of Grant and married student housing. As I feared might happen, the sun has not been reliable and the wind has picked up; my fingers are getting cold. I’m in a little pain but what of it ? It’s not a gall bladder attack, a bad toothache, or a migraine. I head toward the East side of Douglas, the west side of Lincoln, and then the front (South) of Lincoln. I don’t find much, just a mile and a Newport. The butt has about 10 minutes left so I head toward home via the road. I walk around to the back and survey the small ruin of my garden--the ruin of my small garden. I look at the skeletons in the hanging baskets across the front and the remains of the chenille plant and the strepto carpella hanging by the wall. I just left them all hanging. I was thinking of bringing the strepto carpella inside but as winter came on, I just let it die. I can’t imagine cleaning it all up and re-planting in two months but I know I will. In the same way that I collapse when the weather does, I am rejuvenated in the spring. What would it be like to live in the tropics or farther north ? The butt is pretty far down now and is tunneling. I toss it and go inside. It’s 4:10; just about an hour.

So until Spring you're just Cigar eh?

Nice today, sunny, cool light breeze, about 20 degrees (Celcius).
Spent the last hour outside studying Japanese and puffin' on the pipe. An Orange Blossom blend from Thompsons. Not bad, a bit sweet, which makes it burn a little bit too hot. But pleasing overall.

I guess. In the dead of winter I'm neither. I'm dormant. I have other interests but life has a not-quite-real, detatched quality. I guess it's a form of S.A.D. I don't get really depressed but I just don't handle stress as well. I tend to neglect my health and my blood sugar goes up. I'm guessing a lot of people go through it. Bedtime.

I'm quite the opposite, I love winter. Gives me an excuse to watch movies all day and then spring feels so refreshing. But I guess it also depends on the severity of winter. California didn't exactly have a 'dead' of winter as such and I remember spending some time in Seattle in winter and being pretty bumbed out by the constant gloom. Japan's still too weird generally for me to be regularly affected by the seasons yet.

It's probably true that there is a correlation between the degree of contrast in the seasons and that of the moods of those who live in the various climates. Did that make any sense at all ? You grew up where there wasn't a huge difference between summer and winter and didn't experience big mood changes. I didn't and did--and still do. You know what S.A.D. is, right ? You've come across that term before ? Some people have severe cases of it which can lead to serious consequences.
I will say this: the Spring high is that much greater coming out of a bad winter. It almost makes the whole thing worthwhile.

Yes, I've had two friends who moved from the SF Bay Area to more extreme climates; one to Seattle and one to Chicago. Both ended up being struck by seasonal affective disorder as time went on. One got so depressed he quit his job, the other moved back to California. I start getting kind of paranoid and depressed every night when the sun even goes down so I'm sure the extreme weather here in Japan will affect me at some point. In fact, clinical anxiety and depression runs in the family and the family psychiactric nurse was a bit concerened about me suddenly moving to a new climate with no friends or family or anything familiar but it.

Wow ! Well, forewarned is forearmed, I guess. Last winter was a lot worse for me than this one in regard to the stresses at work. It hit me just after a good freak out about some problem: Maybe it's a form of S.A.D.. A couple weeks later the same problem came up and I reacted calmly to it. I thought about the difference between the two incidents and it confirmed my suspicions.
Knowing that helped me cope better this year.