Coincidence? Or a divine plan? If the latter, I want to speak with the manager.

I was thinking about my novel for the past few days when, while catching up with blogs, I came across this excellent post by author Crawford Kilian.

Does one notice helping hands more when one's looking or do they really show up when you need them?


Weights
I drove to the gym last night. My motive was less than noble; I went more to observe than to work out. As I unpacked my gym bag, though, I realized I forgot my gym shorts. In the end, I spent much of the time in the steam room reflecting on my stupidity and being thankful of my (sometimes) forgetful nature.

Whew.

Whatever
Last week I changed my work schedule. My boss notified me, though, before approving the new time that I have to stick to it. Apparently there had been problems in the past.

So, of course, yesterday I had to call and notify my boss I was going to be late. Wednesday the electric company had come out and shut off the neighborhood's power for much of the day. Irritating. But I noted Thursday morning the shower pressure wasn't up to snuff. I checked the lawns and, sure enough, all our sprinklers were on. And the automatic sprinkler system wasn't working.

Upon R.'s suggestion, I called Mike Diamond. I notified my boss I'd be late to work. This is not a way to impress your boss in your first year as a perm, I thought as I sat in front of the television.

Help came faster (and for free!) from an unexpected quarter. I received a call from my contractor. I explained my situation. He called one of his buddies who lived nearby to come out. M. did and showed me where the manual shutoff values were located. (NOTE: I'm having them moved when we redo the lawn.)

My boss wasn't angry when I arrived, understanding the situation. Later in the day I received--of all things--a review! I had scored high marks. We also discussed a new assignment and how best to coordinate my schedule to accommodate it. A side effect of the assignment is a positive impact on my expenses. Whew!

As I returned to my desk and continued the new assignment, I reflected on all the myriad events that presented themselves to me this past week. Normally I would not have noticed most of them. But either the daily coffee had supercharged my brain or my Muse was more observant than usual. In any case, it doesn't matter. They were there and I took up their offer.

How Zen can you get?

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