Simple Text With A Sad Message

 April 28/21

Yesterday I received a text message from someone I worked with asking if I had heard that one of our coworkers had passed away over the weekend and it caught me completely off-guard.

I worked with them at a job that was four positions in the past but one I'd spent almost 8 years at in a variety of different positions. I started out as a financial analyst, moved to a senior financial analyst, acted as the interim controller on two separate occasions, and spent a few months as the interim chief financial officer during these 8 years so I interacted with pretty much every employee in the company at one time or another.

One of my favourite people was Robert, he was our VP of Operations and always had time for me when I had questions, comments, or just need to shoot the shit about things. I found out a few years ago that he actually told the president that it was stupid that I was only ever the interim controller and he should have just given me the position permanently as I was the best they'd ever had in that role.

What is kind of funny was that I never even knew he thought that highly of me during my time there.

Robert was a pretty nice guy and I have to say that the news of his passing has rattled me more than I thought it might as I have nothing but fond memories of sitting in his office and listening to him explain how our customer service, implementation, and technical groups worked to support our software development and sales.

Over the course of my career, I've crossed paths with more people than I can count or even remember but Robert was one of the good ones.

Rest in Peace my friend and I hope you get to spend countless hours tinkering with the engine on one of the many cars you had tucked away in your garage.

My name is Marcus and people come into our lives for a variety of reasons, some we know and some we don't, Robert came into mine and helped me develop a sense of confidence in dealing with others.

Why No Easter Googlet Google?

 Sunday, April 04/21

So I'm used to seeing the cute little Google Applets on the home page celebrating holidays and special events or individuals so imagine my shock today when I booted up my laptop and saw the Google Chrome home page didn't have anything celebrating Easter.

I'm hoping this was just an accidental omission and not somehow a statement about religion or the Easter Bunny as that would just be taking things too fucking far with cancel culture.

I'd love to see an explanation about this but doubt it's going to happen, prove me wrong Google......

Marcus

Happy Easter!!

 Saturday, April 03/21

I hope everyone had a relaxing Good Friday and is able to enjoy Easter Sunday with family and friends.

We're doing the family gathering down at my daughter's place, which seems to be where we gather more and more these days, and I'm sure to have lots of smiles and laughs with the grandkids, especially my granddaughter who has become more and more taken with me and trying to get me to snuggle and watch Peppa Pig with her all the time, there are worse ways to spend an hour than having her sitting in my lap and leaning back against my chest while I plant little kisses on the top of her head.

Stay safe, be healthy, and watch out for one another.

Marcus

Wasn't My Story to Tell

 Saturday, April 03/21

So I've been sitting on something the past couple of months that I really wanted to talk about but it wasn't my story to tell at the time.

Now it's my story to share......

I am happy to share the news that another baby will be joining the clan come this August when my son and his girlfriend will welcome baby boy Maximino Atlas to the world.

We learned the gender of the baby last weekend and it was kind of funny to see those who thought it would be a boy outnumbered those who were hoping for a girl almost 5 to 1. Both my son and his girlfriend were hoping for a boy and this grandpa, well I'm always just hoping for healthy and happy when it comes to my kids and grandkids.

There is a tradition in the family that girls have a specific middle that starts with the letter J, there are 7 generations of women who now carry that middle name, and boys have a middle name that starts with the letter A, not locked to one A name but that middle name just begins with A. My son pointed out that our future arrival has my exact initials and he thought that was kind of cool.

I was shocked when he shared the news of the pregnancy and think he was worried to tell me for fear I might be mad or disappointed in him in some way.

I'll admit that becoming a father at 22 wasn't how I saw his family life starting but I also know he's going to be a great father and they'll have a village behind them as they enter this new phase of life.

The families blended well together at the gender reveal that his sister set up and hosted for the couple last weekend. Pretty sure my daughter is as excited at becoming an aunt as her brother is at becoming a father and I've already warned her I'm not fighting her for time with the baby as she has her own, she laughed at that but I'm sure she thinks she's going to get first dibs, silly daughter lol

I'm working on another post about the actual gender reveal and a couple of things that happened that left me a little misty-eyed that didn't even revolve around Maximino, so stay tuned over the next few days for that post.

Sadly, as I gain a new grandchild I'll be losing a son as he'll be moving into his girlfriend's parent's place to be her and the baby when it comes. That is going to take some getting used to on my part as I've really looked forward to those weeks he's with me and now I'm going to be an empty nester full time come the end of this summer.

My name is Marcus and I can't wait to meet my next grandchild, but in the meantime, I guess I'll be cruising Babies-R-Us and working on my golf game.

I think today's musical suggestion will come from deep within my library in the form of Orangutan Gang by Shadowfax. They were a cutting-edge new-age jazz fusion group that gained some traction in the mid 80's. YouTube or Google them and let me know what you think of them.

Questions or comments are always welcome, even the not-so-nice ones, at ooasm2018@gmail.com