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This is completely unrelated to today’s set of gratitudes, but the number 30 holds a special place in my heart because of a class in college about The Divine Comedy (see: Dante’s Inferno plus two more books that almost no one’s heard of before). I would occasionally jot down funny things Professor Shutt said in the margins of my notebook and I’m not sure which book this was in reference to, but…

“It happens in Canto 30. I know, you would think it would be Canto 27, but this is three times three times three plus three. Whoa, too intense!”

And so to celebrate Day 3x3x3+3, we’re starting with…

1. Pads of paper. They work well with pens, but they don’t look very good sticking out of Baby Groot’s head. (They’re also handy for writing down quotes from your teachers and professors during class.) In today’s case, though, I was grateful to have something for writing gratitudes because I didn’t have my cell phone at work.
2. Leaving my cell phone at home. It wasn’t intentional, but in a way, I didn’t mind forgetting to put it back in my pocket after sending someone a text message this morning. It meant there were no distractions: no email, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, games on my phone, etc. That was like a weight off my shoulders that lasted for a large part of the day. However…
3. Work email. I couldn’t reply to text messages that people sent me, so being able to send emails was a way to let them know I was still alive. (The more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that without my cell phone, that email account is my only connection to anyone or anything outside the building. Unless I finally snap and run out the front door screaming like my hair was on fire. And if I do actually snap, odds are pretty good that something will be on fire.)
4. Clocks. There’s one up on the wall in the break room and I’m really grateful it was there today so that I knew when my break was over. I couldn’t check the clock on my cell phone, soooo… yeah.
5. My brain. I was debating what to label this gratitude: my inner monologue, imagination, thoughts… I decided to settle with the overarching “My brain.” The issue was that I didn’t feel a strong urge to take a break today because I didn’t have a cell phone to give me something to do, keep me distracted for 15 minutes or so before going back to work. However, it occurred to me that I could grab a pad of paper, bring it to the break room so I could watch the clock, then start thinking about what my gratitudes should be today. Given how smoothly this went because I could refer to my notes, I think it turned out pretty well.

It’s late and I’m running low on energy, so I’m lacking the gumption to come up with a theme for today’s gratitudes. Not that I don’t have anything to be grateful for, just that there probably won’t be anything to tie everything together. Unless I’m just that good and don’t even know it.

1. Cloudy days. I know, it seems a bit counter-intuitive… “What’s so great about cloudy days? They’re… full of clouds!” But that can be good sometimes. I like to sit outside during my work breaks if the weather is nice, but when it’s sunny and warm, I might get a little sweaty and my phone’s screen will get really dark in response to so much light. When it’s cloudy outside? The temp is usually nicer and I don’t need to try to cover the phone with my shadow.
2. Pens. Aside from using them to write stuff, they look really good sticking out of Baby Groot’s head.
3. Bedside lamps. Teresa already went to sleep. I don’t want to turn the ceiling light on, so being able to see around the room with a smaller light source can come in really handy at times likes this.
4. Electrics fans. Gray noise helps me fall asleep and stay asleep, so turning it to low and pointing it at the wall works really well in the bedroom. (Oh yeah, and it helps muffle the noise outside so the dogs stay a little calmer, too.)
5. Adobe Acrobat Reader. Aside from seeing around the room, I also needed to copy some editing notes tonight. Previously, I had to pass a hard copy back and forth with the person helping me (Thanks, Mom!), but now I can use Acrobat Reader to make notes on a PDF, then email it as soon as it’s done. Waaaaaay faster, especially since I live 15 minutes away. Not a long drive, but it’s half an hour on the road that I can use to write gratitudes instead.

This is one of those milestone numbers that would usually be a double-length issue of a comic book, but no such luck here. (The fact that Issue #25 means the title is starting its third year vs. three and a half weeks of gratitudes probably makes a difference, too.) Nope, this one is going to focus on the essentials:

1. Oxygen. Without it, we would suffocate and die.

2. Food. Without it, we would starve and die.

3. Water. Without it, we would dehydrate and die.

4. Shelter. Without it… well, it can get really cold at night, so you might be fine in California, but during a Minnesota winter, you’d turn into a Minnesot-sicle and die.

5. Love. “All you need is love.” — The Beatles. I’m highly skeptical of the validity of these song lyrics. (See: #1-4 above.)

6. The Beatles. Because we could all use more yellow submarines in our lives.