I’ve searched so many different things on Youtube lately that the algorithms are finally confused enough that I’m not quite sure exactly what I’ll hear when I click on something. What would you think you would hear clicking on this one? I had no idea but it looked interesting enough to try.

NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS delivers good old-fashioned punk rock. You can’t even assign them any specific period or incarnation of punk rock for reference points. It’s very 70s, but with some 80s thrash and then some 90s references also. It’s 2021 though and anything goes. I’ll take it. I guess it’s a change of pace for me with these morning rambles, but I’ve always been a sucker for old school punk. It makes me happy. Neighborhood Brats make me happy. Nice to know music like this is still being made.

Some moments have come over the last several days where I’ve actually been looking forward to heading back into the office for a few days a week. This working from home thing has outgrown its benefits. No reason to list them again now. Let’s just repeat one more time that it’s been spiritually and emotionally illuminating. It’s been liberating. Now it’s grown a bit old. It’s time to put on long trousers and play at being an adult again. I’m ready to go. Hell, even the idea of putting on real clothes is appealing!

It’s been 15 months now and it hasn’t all been easy. There have been some hardships and fears along the road, and some have been more than minor roadbumps. I’m proud of myself though because I kept moving and didn’t let any of them hold me back or even stall me. Furthermore, I navigated it all entirely on my own. There is a degree of choice in that, but making the choice to push on by myself came only after the disappointments in finding out that those I’ve always loyally propped up during their travails over the years were missing in action when I reached out. A couple disappeared entirely when I approached them with my own troubles. Are there resentments? Yes, I think so but it’s time to let those go also. There were never any deals struck when I helped these people. There were no promises made. There was no reason for me to expect they would be able to repay in kind.

Still, it was rather a shock to learn that… well… it’s a lonely road. Plenty of people kept me going over the years, and then I disappeared when I didn’t need them. Maybe this was just karma, pure and simple. I don’t really thought karma was real, but that just shows what thinking will do for you. It’s never been more clear though.

Turns out I didn’t need them anyway, and it’s good to know what I’m capable of. I am proud of myself. There were a few shocks though, turning to a couple people for help and watching them vaporize and disappear altogether. Okay, so there are still resentments, warranted or unwarranted. Again, there was never a single promise, and I’ve done the same to other people. I didn’t get here by myself.

Time to let it go and move on. That’s the lesson, kids. Never do anything for anyone expecting something in return. It could just be that the help you offered and the efforts you put out were the repayment for something that an entirely different person had already done for you.

Time to let it go and move on.