Last year my company, like many others, announced that Juneteenth would be a company holiday. It was yesterday, but since it was a weekend day yesterday, the company observes the holiday on the closer workday, so today.

The wife doesn't have the day off. The kids are back to their all-day summer program of play. I'm home alone with a whole day to myself, and I'm not sure what to do.

I started with some normal Monday chores, like taking the trash out and puttering around picking things up. I took a broom to the deck in a halfhearted attempt to sweep away twigs and things that have fallen on it. I took the weed trimmer to the overgrown weeds in the dog area, hoping that they won't be afraid to go in there any more. I looked at the other things growing where we don't want them, and the decaying planting boxes that I should try to replace, but then just sighed heavily and returned to the air conditioning.

I am purposefully trying to avoid doing any company work, since it's a company holiday, but I did peek at our support Slack channel, and skimmed the team channel for any trouble. Everyone should be taking the day off, but our stores are open, and our app and services are being used, so at least some of us have to keep our eyes on things.

I ran through some maintenance on my servers and desktop. I'm looking (literally) at my seldom used old 2011 Mac Book, which probably needs some maintenance, too. It's been sitting closed for almost the entire calendar year, and doesn't deserve that. I've opened it now. Let's see if I get to do anything on it, or if I just close it again in a little bit.

I have a big list of things I should do, and excuses why I'm not doing them.

Most pressing, i should run out to my Jeep and collect my reading glasses. I ran for an iced coffee, since it's so hot this morning, but wore my shades in from the Jeep, since it's so bright out. I don't want to go back out 'cause it's hot, of course. But that means everything electronic is a little blurry.

As I scan my desk, I realize how much I have cluttered on the edges around my workspace. I should just take some time to filter the rubble and organize the rest. I like to have a clean workspace, but since I'm in the chair basically straight out of bed, in Zoom meetings until it's time to fetch the kids, and then not in the office again until the next day, clutter builds up. I could putter a little while I'm on Zoom, since there isn't often a break between that lasts longer than a beverage refresh or bathroom run, but that seems rude in the moment.

Looking over my desk, the rest of the office is still a mess from when the wife moved out a few months ago. All of the clutter that was in the other rooms is now in this one. I let it slide since I focus on the screens in here, but it really would only take a little while to sift through the things that should be garbage and put the rest away. There are collections of KiwiCo boxes that have been assembled and set aside, and some that were received and not opened. Most, if not all, of the used boxes could be discarded, as they're never returned to after the brief play upon completion. I subscribed to the boxes to keep the kids engaged while the pandemic swelled, but that's kind of over, and they're back to "normal," so we've let the subscription lapse. Still, a few boxes remain. There are a few other things that should just be discarded, and some that could be put in proper places. It's easier to ignore, though.

Considering my desk makes me think of the basement, which is where most of the clutter that we remove from used spaces ends up. It should probably be sifted through as well, and the bulk of that junk can be discarded. It used to be pretty clean down there, but especially during the hunkering down of the pandemic, so much crap has built up that just needs to go.

Same with the garage. Some of it is disarray, like bikes and toys not put in their places. Some of it is extra, like bigger bikes now that the kids are bigger, but still we have their older and smaller bikes. Toys they've outgrown, but haven't moved on, and scraps from projects completed but not cleaned up from. We have an always growing, sometimes shrinking, pile of shipping boxes from all of the online ordering that has been done since in-store shopping isn't our new normal. We break them down, but can only recycle so much in a two-week period, so the pile seems to recover about as fast as it gets depleted. It'd be nice to have space to park a vehicle again.

To get to the garage, one needs to pass through the yard. The lawn is about equal part grass and weed. From a distance, and without my glasses, it's a wash of green, but less of it is Kentucky blue grass (or whatever), and is instead some clover or whatever. Interspersed in the edges, lined with bushes, lilies, and hostas, are tree sprouts, thistles, and other things in the wrong places. The planting beds on the south side of the house are not filled with tomatoes, as we had optimistically thought before the spring alternated arctic and desert days, but instead the weeds are six feet tall sucking all the delicious nutrients from the soil. I should get out there and weed a bit, but it's almost 100°F today.

If I'm going to stay indoors, I'll do some laundry. I'll probably dig out the Kirby and run it over the floors, maybe sweep the wood, too. I should take the Shark vacuum around and clean the windows that have screens on the inside, as they don't get any kind of clean from rain. There's probably some other dusting that's overdue. We usually have cleaners come in a couple times a month for that detail work, but they're taking vacation this summer. They didn't come over during the 2020 pandemic summer, either. It's starting to show why we hire cleaners...

I have enough to do, but I'm distracting myself on (and from) my computer. I have some hobby things I should work on, too. I've been horrible about blogging for the last month or so. I might go back over some recent things, so I can remember them, too.

I should do something. or maybe nothing. It is a day off, after all.

Everyone's healthy.