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Date with fate - post 18 - I could use a man like you
This entry was posted on 7/28/2010 1:58 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies.
Recently I have been contemplating returning to my ongoing postings on fate. I haven't visited the concept for a while. Recent events in the hospital jolted me (no pun intended) back to thinking about it again. I call the Category "Date with fate." I did not realize I had posted up to 17 odd occurrences in my life. I had dropped the subject for a couple years.
I blame one's fate fairies for some of the mischief that befalls a person. You know; they are those little creatures that are the minions of what ever God you bring with you. God is too busy killing off 200,000 people at a crack with earthquakes and such to be bothered with lost keys, wallets, and broken hearts. He turns over the small shit to his, "fate fairies." I suspect the ones assigned to me spend excess time smoking pot and staying drunk.
Back in the early 1990s when I worked at the farm store as well as the landscape maintenance company in both Madison and Middleton respectively, we moved into a neat little house on the edge of New Glarus. It was the summer of 1994. It had a work barn; it also had lots of extra rooms in the house. It was what was left of an old farmstead. The yard was a fright. Farms usually have big yards. No one had taken care of it for years. But, I had my old landscape equipment from when I ran my own business. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed glad we moved in. I cleaned up the yard in no time.
While living in that house I had an epiphany. I would work out again. I turned one unused bedroom into a workout room. I had plenty of equipment from years of off and on again athletic activities. At 39 years old, I plodded away at an incremental and easy going work out schedule.
After about a year I had biceps again that looked like small bowling balls. I also had lost 50 pounds. I tell you the privacy and solitude of a good workout area helps. There was a dandy patio window in the old bedroom and I could look out over the picturesque village while I rode my stationary bike and rested between weight lifting sets.
The farm store was on the east side of Madison. I frequently stopped in the giant east-side Woodman's grocery store up the road for soda pop and supplies after work. One evening, I was strolling down an isle and a ruddy faced man about sixty years old stopped his cart and blocked my way. You could tell he was a blue-collar man. His hands were muscular and rough, his face weathered, and he wore a flannel shirt and my guess is if he went to church, he wore it there too.
My first instinct was, "Oh no. Is this some kind of nut? But, I resisted the thought because he just seemed too genuine in his demeanor.
"You got big arms son," he said looking at my arms. He said it rather matter-of-factly. And, not as if he was starting a con of some sort.
"Thanks," I returned. As I tried to pass by him he handed me a business card.
"Son," he said. "I can tell you did not just fall off a turnip truck. And, it looks like you might know a thing or two about how to work smart, and, work hard."
Then he looked me in the eyes with a squint and said, "Mister, you ever need a job, you call the number on the card. I could use a man like you."
"I have a job," I said without much thought.
He finally cracked a grudging bit of a smile, nodded and pushed his cart past me.
I never saw him again. But....
I wish the fuck now, I had never lost that goddamned business card over the years.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Staff Sergeant Patrick L. Lybert, 28, of Ladysmith, WI, died in Gowardesh, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, June 21, 2006. His unit encountered enemy forces using small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades during combat operations. Staff Sergeant Lybert was assigned to the 1st Platoon, C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, New York. Lybert entered the United States Army in August of 2002. He had also served a tour in Iraq from 2003 to 2004. Lybert was deployed to Afghanistan in February of 2006. According to a posting on blogspot.com honoring Staff Sergeant Lybert, awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Course, Overseas Service Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Parachute Badge, and posthumously in February 2007 he was awarded the Silver Star. The blogspot posting went on to mention Patrick has a Special Needs Brother who has Asperger Syndrome (Autism). And, the posting goes on to say Patrick's goal was to return to his home area in Wisconsin after retiring from the military and become caretaker and Guardian for his Special Needs Brother's future. He also had plans to marry his fiance. According to a posting by the Ladysmith News, there is a remote outpost in the Hindu Kush mountains of northeast Afghanistan (near the Pakistan border), named for Lybert - Camp Lybert - is referred to as the Edelweiss of Afghanistan because of its rugged mountain beauty. It is atop a 6,500 foot high mountain. Wisconsin 2005 - 2006 Assembly Joint Resolution 109 noted Patrick graduated from Ladysmith High School in 1996, and also graduated from Western Technical College in La Crosse with a degree in criminal justice before enlisting in the Army. He also excelled in athletics, especially wrestling; other sports included baseball, cross country, and football. He was awarded the Outstanding Senior Boy Athlete Award from the Ladysmith Jaycees. Staff Sergeant Lybert enjoyed scouting and earned an Eagle Scout rating. At the time of his death, Staff Sergeant Lybert was survived by his mother and stepfather, Cheryl and Terry Nussberger; his father and stepmother, David and Janet Lybert; his fiancé, Carola Hubbard; his brothers, Stacy Lybert and Noah Nussberger; his grandparents, Robert and Helen Patrick, Frances Kettering; and, his stepgrandfather, George Kettering. Army Staff Sergeant Patrick Lybert was the seventh Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
97,110 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,566 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,413 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1206 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
760 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,888 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
7,011 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
19 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
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