#64 In the present timeframe

“Still kind of waiting for my Nevada Day cards

I will be very hurt if you-all forgot (again).”

This is the only email I still have from Eric. I’m kind of compulsive about cleaning out my email inbox. I don’t like there to be unread messages, they make me anxious. I will only leave a message unread if it is to remind me to do something. Every few weeks or months I go through and delete old messages and threads that I don’t need anymore. I like it if my inbox can fit on one screen. That means I have lost so many funny emails from Eric.

The above was pretty funny and totally unprovoked. Who even knew there was a Nevada Day? It was the only email from him I had not already deleted, and now I never will.

I have been having technical difficulties for days trying to watch a video the hospital system has added to its credentialing requirements. I have been on the phone with tech support multiple times. I finally managed to watch the first of the two, one hour videos in its entirety, and now I can’t get the quiz to work. This should not be this hard.

It reminded me of Eric’s master’s program. He was taking courses online and would get email assignments. Some of them had such poor grammar, you literally couldn’t figure out what you were supposed to do. Some of them had the wrong due dates on them leading to inadvertent late filings. Eric would share the best of these with me. Unfortunately I no longer have these emails or I would share them with you.

I miss Eric’s spontaneous omnipresent humor. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t see the lighter side of, and there were few times he couldn’t make me laugh.

Humor about Eric is still painful. He wouldn’t like that. He would want us to joke about him, so I try, even though it sometimes falls flat. Maybe someday it’ll be easier, but then again, maybe not.

At least I still get a smile when I see my email about Nevada Day.

Addendum: After I wrote this and passed it by my editor (my husband) it came to pass in the present timeframe that my editor is not so anal about cleaning out his email inbox. Here is the email from Eric that I was talking about. I dare you not to laugh while reading it.

The following is an assignment from Master's program. It is eight
sentences long.

"History shows that there was a catastrophic occurrence of a casino
property in Las Vegas."

Really? Few Las Vegans would argue that the "occurence" of a casino
property is catastrophic. We tend to work at casino properties. As
an aside, did you learn English yesterday?

"Specifically, there was a devastating fire of the MGM Grand
Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas strip."

Apparently so. How about a devastating fire "at" the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino?

"There needed to be reconstruction of that property in the previous timeframe."

This reads like something google automatically translated from
Vietnamese...sometime in the "previous timeframe." Either that or
I've joined the cast of "Back to the Future IV." Marty! We must
restore the previous timeframe!

"Compared to that previous timeframe there needs to be reconstruction
of that property in the current timeframe."

Compared to that previous timeframe I had more respect for my Master's
program than I do in the current timeframe.

"1. You are currently the CEO of the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino strip
property in Las Vegas.

2. You have the responsibility to direct your Vice President of
Planning and Operations to form an Executive Team with the purpose of
formulating a proposal plan for dealing with catastrophic events such
as fire (as occurred with the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino previously)."

Did your Mom write these sentences for you in the previous timeframe?
Be honest.

"3. The Executive Team is charged with researching the process of
reconstruction conducted by the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino from the
previous timeframe."

Again with "the previous timeframe." You keep using the phrase. I do
not think it means what you think it means...assuming it means
anything.

"4. Lastly, the Executive Team is charged with preparing a detailed
comparative proposal plan analyzing the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino
previous process of reconstruction versus a current and improved
process of reconstruction for the current MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in
case of a catastrophic fire occurrence."

Ughhh....you get the point.