{"id":18023,"date":"2016-01-07T10:15:11","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T17:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=18023"},"modified":"2016-01-07T11:08:46","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T18:08:46","slug":"thursday-bag-o-cautious-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=18023","title":{"rendered":"Thursday Bag o’ Cautious Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cautiousParents of adult children should be able to relate to this: our 40-year-old daughter Polly left her boyfriend in late June and moved in with us. It’s just until she gets back on her feet, we told ourselves. Since then she’s been employed three times: once for two weeks, once for two days, once for a single day. In between\u00a0she’s been on her laptop, submitting electronic applications and emailing copies of her resume. We resolved, over the holidays, to lean hard on her to get out and knock on doors\u2014not electronically but physically\u2014and to lower her sights; in short, to find work and start contributing to the household economy.<\/p>\n

The bag says “exercise cautious optimism,” and that’s what we’re doing now.\u00a0Today is Polly’s first day at job number four. Her\u00a0new gig is\u00a0keeping the books\u00a0for a used car dealership near the air base. Full time, decent pay. Apparently this guy’s record-keeping and financial management is a mess, but he’s been in business for years, so we don’t think it’s a fly-by-night deal. Now the question is, can Polly keep this job? We’ve learned not to start popping champagne corks too soon.<\/p>\n

As I write she’s walking out the door to\u00a0drive to work, spiritually wreathed in\u00a0mental waves of cautious optimism from her mom and dad. It wouldn’t hurt if you, dear readers, kept your\u00a0fingers crossed for her, too. Thanks!<\/p>\n

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Here’s another short\u00a0video, this one a blooper reel from the motorcycle ride my son and I took a week ago, me on my Goldwing, Greg on a rental Harley. Just outside the little mining town of Superior, Arizona,\u00a0I pulled over so we could swap bikes. Greg\u00a0got on my bike but couldn’t remember how to start it. I shut his bike off and walked over to show him how to start the Wing. Once Greg was squared away I couldn’t figure out how to get the Harley started, and\u00a0he had to walk\u00a0over to\u00a0talk me through it.\u00a0Eventually both bikes were running again and\u00a0Greg took off with me in pursuit, assholes and elbows on the unfamiliar Harley: how do you shift this thing, where’s the brake, why does the windscreen shake like it’s about to fall off? A\u00a0comedy of errors captured on my Christmas GoPro.<\/p>\n

\"Comedy<\/a>