day of mini-wonders

THE ONLINE VERSION of the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines wonder three ways, but my favorite is that which defines it “as something or someone that is very surprising, beautiful, amazing, etc.”  That one works well for me, especially when you hear about my day yesterday.  Because they’re not that surprising, beautiful or amazing, I classify them as “mini-wonders”, thus the title above this blog. ***** It started in a very humbling way.  An unscheduled staff meeting produced a backhanded compliment from our supervisor, who very routinely handed out the week’s shift assignments.  For the first time in eight years, I was on shift not to perform regular shift assistant’s work or chores, but to train as a shift boss, to be trained by the most experienced and most reliable shift boss, lucky me. I’m not sure if bisor realized it, but it was an affirmation of the years I’d put in the outfit, and the discipline I fashioned.  True I’ve never been a mechanically-inclined person, and my initiative to learn to troubleshoot factory breakdowns and work in faster ways left much to be desired.  But the little I learned, I did my best to do well.  I could’ve been trained earlier, and given more responsibilities sooner, but I had no outstanding skills, and it took me more time to absorb. It was meant to happen the time it did. ***** Once again I’ve fallen into the trap.  As an inevitable part of being a sports fan is internalizing too much of a sports team’s fortunes (or misfortunes, as the case may be),  I followed the path of success of this particular team, which I likened to an Irresistible Force, breaking down one adversary after another in the NBA playoffs, only to meet the Immovable Object in the Finals in the person of LeBron James.  After a close win in their homecourt, they lost two games to the future Hall of Famer, and now it looks like LBJ will pick up yet another title on his way to immortality. Except that yesterday, they achieved the unlikely feat of tying the series 2-2 in their best-of-seven, and keeping their hopes alive.  Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavs may yet eventually capture their well-deserved title, but for yesterday at least, the City of San Francisco, California and their beloved Golden State Warriors were champions-in-waiting.  That for me, is a wonder. ***** And finally… I still can’t be too specific about the last wonder, knowing very well the taboo attached to counting your eggs before they’re hatched and all that, but a very important wall was breached in the obstacle course of migration in our Land of Promise.  Let’s just say that, after seven years the rusty wheels were finally greased and had begun to turn, but the queue of permanent resident hopefuls was long with no end in sight. At the very end of this queue was not even the beginning of the end but rather the end of the beginning, where the chaff would be separated from the wheat, the serious applicants from the gamblers, and only those with real chances of being considered would actually be heard.  That queue, Precious Reader, we invested in and we were finally favored with a crack in the opening, or a foot in the door. Because we had not been moving in the queue for so long, we had begun to give up hope that we would even be considered, but yesterday, through the magic of online status updates, we realized we had just been kicked upwards to the next level.  No more pushing and shoving here, but still no less uncertainty.  But still exhilarating. All these, in one day.  Wouldn’t you agree we exceeded our daily quota of wonders?  And oh yes, levels in both Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga that took us more than a few days to finish, we inexplicably finished, today. Certainly worth two bottles of beer, at least.  Will wonders never cease?  Thanks for reading!