I don’t have a lot to say today. Why? Because I had a good day. I managed to avoid the trap of getting caught up in anyone else’s problems. The Boss didn’t call (in fact, I called him once), and I didn’t hear from Julie at all. When the phone rang today, it was (a) a sales person I could blow off, and then (2) a wrong number (who called twice in a row, but I set her straight the second time when I realized she was transposing numbers).

Oh, and there was one other call. Out of the blue, I heard from the woman who now lives in the place I used to call the Home Office. That’s the duplex in downtown Santa Rosa where I lived for twelve years before moving out here to the country almost six years ago. Somehow one of the company’s hardware suppliers is still sending catalogs to that old address, and the current tenant phoned to ask me if it was something I wanted.

I gave her permission to open the package. She was going to forward it to me, but I told her that I wouldn’t ask her to do that, and if it was important I’d come by and pick it up. “After all,” I said, “I know where you live.” I think I detected a little nervousness in her laughter. (But at least she had the grace to laugh.)

The catalog wasn’t anything I needed. If these folks hadn’t been able to figure out in six years that we’re not there any more, they must not be one of our critical resources. She said she would throw out the catalog and keep the box, if I didn’t mind. I thanked her profusely for calling. She didn’t have to do that. A lot of people wouldn’t have. I probably wouldn’t have.

That phone call was a nice diversion, but most of the day was about working. I got more items crossed off my to-do list in one day than I expected to have done in a week. And that’s bad, because there’s less than a week left until the deadline. But it’s good, because that much is now done. I’m now for the first time confident that I can finish on time. I’ve always known I could, but now I’m confident. There’s a difference there that I can’t quite explain.