A dream//2012 -2013/ Hoppin' John

1. I was wakened at about 3:30 a.m. today (Dec 31st 2012) by the sound of a moped just outside my bedroom.  I thought “what the heck”.

As I emerged into consciousness I realised that there was no moped.  What I had heard (and what had awakened me) was the sound of one of my long and drawn out snores. Pity my roommates when I go to Vietnam.

2. The internet is not perfect.  I know this because I’ve had problems when trying to log on to my e-mail account at Comcast.net.  My user name and password works well on my desktop, but they are always rejected on my tablet.

This afternoon I trundled off to the local Comcast office to try to resolve the problem.  That office was mobbed. Folks all around me were grumbling on account of the long waits. I decided to be patient on the grounds of “fake it until you make it”.  That “faking it” worked well: so I was in a good frame of mood when my number was called after a one hour wait.

My clerk was Phyllis. She listened to my story, and then told me that the problem could not be resolved at that office, but that I needed to deal with it by ‘phone.

Then Phyllis went beyond the call of duty, and wrote out a note with the ‘phone number I should call, and the options I should choose when I get through to that “press 1/press 2 etc” menu.

“Comcast” is in the communications business, but their own communications are dismal -  unless we encounter an employee such as Phyllis.

I made certain to shake her hand and thank her before I left the office.

3. As I write (Dec 31st at 6:45 p.m.) it is still 2012 in the USA. Places east have already entered 2013.

Even though the passage from one year to another is a bit arbitrary (after all, there are other “New Years” (in Judaism, Islam and other religions and cultures) we in the western/christian world love to mark this passage of time in our end of year celebrations, even as we know that January 1st is nothing more than the day after December 31st,

“Marking the passage of time” is the way in which we all try to come to terms with our mortality - as well we should.

I declined an invitation to a New Years Eve party, mostly because it will start at 9:00 p.m. – at least half an hour after my bedtime!.

4. But I will host a January 1st 2013 lunch for my friends Jack and Donna Chrisman, and our mutual friend Muriel.

I will of course serve “Hoppin John”  - the traditional Jan 1st meal in the USA south.  If you are unfamiliar with “Hoppin John”  a Google search will  set you straight.

5. Feliz año Nuevo.  Feliz Ano Novo. Bonne année. Chúc mừng năm mới. Glückliches neues Jahr. Head uut aastat,  Ευτυχισμένος ο καινούριος χρόνος