Sometimes the craziest shit happens and I just scratch my head and wonder how all of these things can transpire with such synchronicity. It really is like writing a book in real time. The day started with joining the morning Zazen and then taking time to clean the barbecue. It was a gross disgusting mess of grease, dust, dirt and probably some raccoon DNA. I got it cleaned up and ready for use for the remainder of the summer. Summers are getting longer. Thank you global warming (I guess). I then jumped on the weekly planning call and followed that with a board meeting, where I voiced strong concerns regarding plans to upgrade some existing space into livable quarters for residents expected in the months ahead. I wasn't comfortable with the risks regarding permitting violations. We came to a compromised agreement regarding the plans and my initiating a site code review for retroactive permits. After that, I ended up trying to resolve a long standing issue with a legacy podcast account associated to an unknown phone and an unknown email. One hour and three tech-support levels later, I had no resolution. Most of my day was spent focused on tasks of this nature. It took a lot of effort to not get discouraged and to recognize these obstacles as challenges to navigate, not begrudge. Meanwhile, Jen grilled some steaks for us and also made the chicken sun-dried tomato artichoke dish which we took to my mom's for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner with her and lots of good conversation. When I got back home, I started working on further tech hurdles and tasks. Only to learn that earlier in the day a violation notice regarding code compliance was received on-site! It's stunning to imagine that this morning I was voicing concerns around the risks that were dismissed as unlikely, only to end the day with an actual documented infringement notice. It's incomprehensible yet poetically ironic. I could not make this up. It's just happening. And that's fine. It's forcing a hand that was already heading in the appropriate direction anyway. We have various theories and suspicions regarding the source of the complaint being filed that triggered this, but that doesn't matter. It's not within our control to manage anything beyond our response. The scheduled work will be deferred and the permits will be addressed. We will exit this experience resigned to ensure we are not exposed to compromised again. This is a growth opportunity and a chance to walk the talk.
