Received an e-mail from a friend about an hour ago...a friend who is blessed with ESP (Extra Sensory Perception, NOT Educational Support Professionals...the secretaries, custodians, cooks, bus drivers in a school district!)

Was just telling her a few days ago that I had opened a new account at the local bank...that the "Site Key" security had arbitrarily and randomly assigned me an image that I should see each time I sign on...or do NOT enter password. I told her "You'll never guess what image they assigned me." Good I didn't bet! She wrote back shortly thereafter and said "butterfly". WOW!

Skeptic? You say you could have guessed that one after reading my accounts of "signs" on julieanewell.com.

All right...how about this?

Couple of hours ago, I sent an e-mail to a couple of friends...the aforementioned "psychic" AND my next door neighbor who keeps hollering across the fence when I labor in the blazing noon-day sun..."Are you out of your mind?". Told them that, YES, I was venturing forth...to cut my grass. It's what I do. (Julie always nagged at me..."Wait till the sun goes down...you'll have a heat stroke!" Later, when I would reappear, soaked from head to toe, she would shake her head and mutter..."Stubborn as a Newell.")

Well, I mowed for 45 minutes...then took a 15 minute break. (I'm not as crazy as I look/act! Okay, I heard that..."Thank, God!") After I stopped dripping, figured I'd do a quick check of e-mail. Lo and behold, the psychic displayed her abilities once again! And...you will NEVER guess this one.

Disagree? Okay, go ahead and try...just don't peek at the next paragraph before giving your answer!

Well...give up?

What the psychic wrote was, and I quote, "You just don't want to sit down and write contract language." She's not only right, but it's almost exactly what I muttered as I turned the doorknob to go out back..."What I won't do to keep from writing contract language."

See (unless you are my next-door neighbor who might also have guessed right), I told you so! You didn't even have a clue!

Okay, I guess I do have a few friends who have gotten to know me over the years...and THAT is a good thing!

And, as further proof of my procrastination...

Spent much of the morning writing "the gospel, according to Ron" in a "forward" to one of my postings on CAT Tracks, our teachers union newsletter. I can dash them off pretty fast, but being slightly anal (Quit laughing!)...THEN I hone...and then some. You can probably triple the time it took to write. And now...

...here I go again!

My last two posts have related two songs by the Eagles...one, that in conjunction with a post by Rachel, I truly believe to be a "sign". The second I freely admitted to being a "reaching for a sign"...a matter of how one interprets things based upon her/his life experiences and/or their frame of mind at the time. Well, the very next day, I had another of those "perspective signs"...again from the Eagles. (By the way, I've finished the double CD...heard all the songs a couple or three times. There will be no more "Eagle Sightings"...after this one, of course.)

Actually, I "discarded" this sign yesterday...figured we were all "Eagled Out". Had actually given some thought to an intro, but then thought better of it.

Today, while mowing the grass, I ran out of gas. Jumped in the car and drove to Cairo's 2nd Street gas station (aka Spirit House II) and filled up with a 12-pack of regular unleaded. (I tried to follow my brother-in-law's lead and run on "light", but, I'm sorry, it sucks! Like running on fumes...)

As I approached the "filling station", the Eagles' song that I had "discarded" played...on my MP3 player, NOT the radio. (If it had been the radio, I might have taken it as an actual "sign". Again...I'm not that desperate. Hmmmm...The Eagles...a Desperado? Groan...) Anyway, a bunch of thoughts started bouncing around in my head. It's at times like that, that I sometimes tend to sit down at the keyboard and type.

ALSO...IT KEEPS ME FROM WRITING CONTRACT LANGUAGE!!! (That's what I meant above about "further proof"...that I would do anything!)

Okay...what's the 3rd (and final!) song by the Eagles...that "reached out and touched me"?

Drum roll, please...

"Do Something" is actually a refrain that I have been hearing from many of you over the past nine months...that I need to "do something"...the "distraction thing" you use to constantly flail me.

Of course, I can hear Julie as the "voice inside me"...urging me on. That's not "a reach"...she always did.

As a "survivor", I will have to admit to asking myself - often - "What is it that I'm supposed to do...why am I the one still here? Please, Dear God, let me know!" (Okay, I'll admit what you readily sense...I'm not too upbeat in my plea. But, hey...I'm hanging in...that's "something".)

I've consoled myself over the past months that maybe my "unfinished business" is union business. THAT would be in accord with Julie's spirit...she would want me to continue the fight for those who have been wronged. In fact, Julie "started" the one piece of "legal action" that follows me into retirement when she "sent me a client", telling him that "Ron will stand up for you." (Julie DID try to call me "Ron" in public!)

And...if Julie were here today, we'd probably be talking CAT Contract. She would be reminding me..."Ronnie, aren't negotiations tomorrow night?" (Julie was always so subtle!) Julie was my "sounding board". Almost anything I wrote - especially nasty letters to the Superintendent or School Board - JULIE would hone..."Not strong enough, Ronnie!"

Julie was an excellent writing and speech teacher. Unfortunately, in my union days, I've had more than my allotted "15 minutes of fame". After each of my "televised appearances", Julie would weigh in with a critique. Sometimes I didn't appreciate it 100%, but I have to admit...Julie was always right, and I would later admit it to her. If Julie were public relations manager for politicians (and unfortunately many, many professional commentators), you would hear a lot less "uh, uh, uh's".

And, as I round up this post, if I listen very closely, it's just possible that "I can hear a voice inside me say...do something."