I bought myself a watch for Christmas. What I really wanted to do was buy a new battery for my old watch. But the cost of a new battery was $6.41 and the cost of a new BETTER watch was only a few pennies more at $8.88. AND much bigger, I mean a lot bigger. two inches! Big. Fancy! Merry Christmas to me!

I needed a watch. I grew tired of asking people what time it was. I only wear it when I work balloon gigs and when I go to meeting. My new watch really fits my persona better than the old watch which was stainless steel and so GQ. Not the new one - BIG numbers so I can from 18 inches away!

I usually arrive early to meeting. As I sit, my BIG watch shows 9:46AM...I'll sit in my spot and chant quietly. I'm usually the first Friend sitting. I then take in who arrives before 10AM. Yesterday there were 4 people who arrived before 10. A good many walked in right at 10am, for a total of 11 that were "on time".

7 Friends arrived after 10:30AM too. I counted 34 people at rise of meeting. Do the math.

A year ago I would have steamed for the entire hour over these lateness numbers. But not yesterday. Since my decision to expect very little from CFM, I don't stress over lateness or mindless behavior.

BTW: Most the time, the majority of Friends sit after10AM.

So, go ahead Friends, arrive late. Really late Friends. Stomp your feet coming to your seat. Jingle those keys. Dig through that bag. Gurgle that water. Get settled late. Keep your cell phone on vibrate or beep away my Friends. It doesn't matter to me any more.

More to come...