Friday, March 27, 2020

Okay...Let's Talk

This will not be a normal post. I haven't had much time to put together a proper one, so instead I thought I'd just talk to you for a bit about the way things are right now. No, this will not be a preaching or proselytizing entry, and I won't be mentioning politics or who did what or why or when, but merely to express my thoughts about what I do here, and how I'm feeling about things overall.


First off, a few things about me.
I work for the federal government. Specifically I work for the Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Indianapolis. More specifically I work in the Central Supply Department - you know...gowns, masks, gloves, etc. Imagine working in the very department where those highly-sought-after items are, and being told to give them out with an eyedropper because of the ever-changing rules and knowledge about this new disease. People seem to think our supplies are infinite and that we should be able to supply the entire hospital with everything they need in an instant. I so wish we could.

We're been yelled at, threatened, and criticized. People have attempted to bribe, manipulate, and scare us into giving them supplies that they are convinced they need. Some folks are stealing toilet paper from the bathrooms, others are taking boxes of masks from the surgery floor. (That's my assigned area of work, by the way.) I truly understand everyone's fears, and wish the supplies were limitless, but they just aren't. It's getting uglier by the day, and it makes going in very tough. But, we do it because we have a responsibility to our fellow employees and patients. Let's move on.


Right now, lots of Sherlockian blogs and sites are talking about different diseases in The Canon. I considered it, too, but there's only so much to talk about. And since when I come home I am very often exhausted, I have to admit that this blog has been the last thing on my mind. Thus, nothing about that. But, I still want to deliver a good product because I love doing this so much. I've been in this hobby for 23 years, and I still don't see any kind of end to what I'm doing. The world of Holmes and Watson is one that I believe I haven't even scratched the surface on, so I know there's a lifetime of knowledge that I can draw from and report on.

I come to you every time from my office here at my home on the southside of Indy. It's my warm, loving, inviting space, and as I sit in my vintage chair at my vintage desk with my vintage typewriter and vintage lamp looking out on my (not) vintage bookshelves filled with hundreds and hundreds of tomes about Holmes's time, it fills me with a comfort that what I do is necessary and welcomed. I know that chronology is the pariah of the Sherlockian world, but it fascinates and intrigues me, and thus I won't be stopping any time soon. There's always another fact to find, or another uncut diamond waiting to be uncovered, and I'm in it for the long haul.


Now, I am not the world's best "people person." I struggle with wanting to be around my Sherlockian ilk, but also dream of chucking it all and moving into that cave in the mountains that has called to me since I was a child. I keep my regular Page on Facebook, though lately I haven't wanted to. There's always something to brighten my moment or day, and in turn try to do the same for others. (Sometimes, though, I also want to piss people off, but who doesn't want to scream at the top of their lungs at the world from time to time?)

I pride myself on being able to stick to my original concept and not let the current world creep in too much, so I promise this won't happen again unless it becomes necessary due to illness or something else. However, so that we can take a copy of our receipt and make this a working lunch, I'll tell you on this date in 1886, Jean-Pierre Crauser believed Holmes and Watson were about to travel to Norbury for 'The Yellow Face' (YELL), and that in 1895 Ernest Zeisler and Robert Pattrick both thought The Amazing Two were headed to a "university town" to work on 'The Three Students' (3STU). There...now I can write this off on my taxes.


I am fully aware that this blog isn't at the top of anyone's "important list" and I'm okay with that. Right now folks should be concentrating on other things. (If this blog IS on the top of your list, thank you.) My work puts me in a petri dish of germs and gobbly-gooks of all kinds everytime I walk in. Should I get sick and can no longer do this, I can only hope that there's something of the world left over so that someone else can pick up my baton and go with it. I don't want to be morose, but it is a true possibility. I have bigger dreams for all of this - books, a possible chronological society, and maybe even a YouTube channel. As my dad said to me once..."Cross everything you've got two of and hope real hard."

So, I've rambled enough. I'm not sure what I wanted to accomplish with this, except that I felt the need to put a few thoughts on the ol' proverbial paper. As I've said many times - I'll keep doing this as long as you keep reading. Holmes and Watson gave us a world to enjoy in The Canon, and since there's still millions of words to be written about them and it, I think we're safe as long as the world doesn't explode. It's always 1895 in my office, and I hope we'll all be here after this east wind blows by.


Thanks for reading.

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