Okay. So where did I leave off?
Oh yeah -- February. :)
Since then, I started a new job and now I work from home. At first I reveled in it -- having pajama days, saving lunch hours for a quick nap or a Clay check on the boards, and playing my music at full blast while online. But it didn't take long for the novelty to wear off. I went from a world of downtown bustle, attorneys and corporate types, restaurants and daily meetings to getting up, yawning, turning on the coffee pot and stumbling straight to the computer. Life was suddenly very ... quiet.
Then I discovered Testosterone Row. Who knew that down the street, just one block away, there were four houses (out of five) owned by males? Not unusual, you're thinking. Except for this -- they are all single and they all live alone. Note: For the rest of this blog, names will be changed to protect the innocent.
Vance works for a think tank and travels a lot. He has an odd schedule and when he's not in Asia or Eastern Europe, he pretty much gets to hang out at home. It seems he had most of the summer off.
Dirk is one of the operations managers at the local university and works at night. (I think you see where I'm going with the names here.)
Rex was a police officer who was injured in the line of duty and is on disablity. He volunteers part-time; other than that he just hangs out.
Clint works for one of the local pro sports teams and his employment is based on the team's season. During that time, he also works mostly at night.
Goodness. Did I mention they are all within five years of my own age?
Anyway, they have formed a stoop group, with Dirk's porch stoop being the location of choice. This particular expanse of steps is in direct view of my picture window. And other than these guys, the rest of the street seems deserted during the work day. So being here every day, how could I not help but notice this daily gathering, taking place a mere 30 yards from my own front door? A gathering of four guys. In good jeans.
Want to know how to invade an all male stoop group? Walk your dog. It's that simple.
Once you get close, you let the dog leash pull (like you've trained him not to do for the past ten years) and guys being guys, one of them makes that clicking, inside the cheek sound. The insular boundaries have been broken -- it's over, folks. The dog lunges, thinking only of playing and petting and licking. I am forced to lunge with him. No, I was not also thinking of playing, petting and licking. Puhleeze. I hardly knew these guys.
It took one week before I was able to get the loose downspout on my house reattached. A month before I got an offer of free passes to a game. Voila. The stoop group now has a female member. The real breakthrough? When we gathered on my stoop; I was so proud. And now Vance has my ladder at his house, Clint has my miter box, Dirk always wants to know if I need anything from the store, and Rex wants to give me a puppy from his sister's litter of Malamutes.
So that's what I've been doing lately. Working from home isn't bad, not at all. The only trouble now is actually finding the time to work. And I don't have as many pajama days. You never know when the stoop will beckon.
There's a house around the corner that went on the market earlier this month. It's rumored that some guy named 'Bart' might be moving in ...
I really like my neighborhood. I only have one question -- what happens to stoop groups in winter?
Clandy
nyama
Rejenne
laughn
NeelieB2
karebear65
ldyjocelyn
samtaycai
jmh123
imsothankful2005
maggieo
YSRN
toni7babe
katiaiken
Callmespitfire