What I Did On My Summer Vacation – Day 8 - It Was the Best of Days, It Was the Worst of Days

I look to Charles Dickens for inspiration on Day 8 of our vacation.  For our son’s family taking in, not one, but two Disney Parks in a single day, it was the best of days.  For my wife, unable to walk without pain and depressed that she was missing out on the grandkids excitement, it was the worst of days.  As for me, I'm an adherent to the maxim “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy and if grandma ain’t happy, run!”

I ran.

Leaving my wife in a darkened room watching a Tim Allen comedy-fest of Tool Time and Last Man Standing, I headed out to “run" a few errands.  After nearly 45 years of marriage, I have learned that if the first few attempts to cheer her up don’t work, it only makes her mad for me to keep trying.

Thursday was hot,
but not THAT hot!

Off to the Premium Outlet Mall I went looking for some North Face workout t-shirts.  I couldn’t find North Face but I did find Under Armor, and they were having a buy one, get one sale.  Sorry, North Face.

Then it was off to the Tibet Butler Nature Preserve for another hike around the swamp.  It was extremely hot, but not as hot as the forecast had been for the day.   I made a copy of it just to prove I wasn’t making this up.  Thank God & Gatorade, I made it just fine, though a couple of my favorite trails were flooded from a locally heavy downpour the previous day.

On the way back to the room, I thought of something that might cheer my wife up: Chinese Food!  I found a small Chinese restaurant, perused the menu, and ordered carry-out.  If pork fried rice won’t cheer her up, nothing will.  As I was waiting, I got a text from my son.  “Did you hear that the K. C. Chiefs fired John Dorsey?”  No, as a matter of fact, I had not.  And it was mighty surprising news then and still is as I type this.  Rumors were that some people didn’t like his management style.  Hey, he was successful.  I greatly prefer a tough boss who is successful to a guy everyone likes whose teams lose.  Now I was depressed!  When it comes to management style, I agree with the most successful manager the New York Yankees have had in my life time, Casey Stengel, the "old perfesser".  When asked about the secret to his success, Casey said “It's important to keep the guys who hate me away from the guys who are undecided.”

My wife was mildly cheered up by the Chinese food, but her day took a big turn for the better when our grandkids returned and regaled her with tales (and videos) of getting to sword fight with Darth Vader at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  It was their favorite day of their three days at the Magic Kingdom.  It’s hard to stay depressed around happy, excited grandkids.

How ya gonna stay depressed?