Greater Sunday, and greatest Monday

Some days you just want to hide, and other days you just know you are on a roll and want to talk to anyone crossing the path. Today (Sunday), fortunately, is the latter. I still need to find the right equation, so I can freely switch myself from one mode to another. But for now, I am just relying on my luck and take one day at a time, hoping my happy days are yet to come. Based on the trend of three data points, I am on the rise.

But really, these two days both start normal. Sunday, I got up, and I read a couple of magazine articles. I then went to the gym, and then I took a 2 mile run in the warm Boston spring. And then I met Ailio (who returned from Italy the previous day) in KFC, and met my landlord in the coffee shop and then a distant friend on top of the hub. I came back and met Ailio again for dinner, when he talked about his adventure in Cicely. I was quite happy the whole day, and felt connected to the world in a different way. I guess that I really love to be with people, and love talking.

Today, I was even more chatty, the chattiest in my whole life. If I have to name my happiest days in my life, this will be one of them. I got up, and went to the gym (did you realize that I went to gym every day?!), and then I went to a police impounded car auction. Yes, you are hearing it right, an impounded car auction. I did not have time to look at cars carefully, but jumped into one of the auction and got a Nissan 1998 Altima (120K miles) for 900 dollars. The car had some problems, so it is sitting in a mechanic's garage, and I am waiting for the verdict tomorrow. Hopefully it is not a lemon.

But strangely, as the day went on, owning a car lost its significance, and I could care less whether it was a good deal or bad deal. The whole experience was a blast. Both people bidding on the cars are either dealers or underclass folks. After the bidding was over, dealers are all gone (maybe they had some plans later), but all the other folks were scrabbling to make the cars start. I started with talking a couple of folks next to me, and then my chatting bug got me. I was circling around the parking lot, and tried to make connections with everyone (mostly blacks). Since buying a car is such a stressful event (not mentioning police auction with cars of unknown quality), everyone wanted to talk to release stress.

Perfect time to practice my consulting skills (active listening, smile, sympathy, eye contact, some street-smart expressions). Well, I am kidding about practice my consulting skills in the situation, but I do realize that those skills are important in human interactions, and you can use them sincerely. (But to be honest with you, since those people come from underclass, they probably won't realize if I manipulate the conversation). And I would not be able to make such talks without my consulting training. I was making smart talks with the mechanic to establish some good-natured trust (so he would not screw me). I got some lunch for the car key guys so he took out my after-market alarm for free.

I was almost ecstatic when I left the scene. Perfect timing, since I had a doctor appointment for annual check-up. On the way there, I chatted with a flower seller in the middle of an express way (not a good day for him, after the big mother's day bonanza). I saw a girl fell off her bike, and went forward to fix her bike. While fixing the bike, I chatted a lot. Not surprisingly, I was slightly late for the appointment. I further chatted with the nurse and with the doctor, fully aware that I had not been that chatty for ..... forever.

Got back home, and fixed my bike a bit. Went to microcenter, and couldn't help but chat with the guy in front of me. My opening line "what kind computer is it?" "What do you use it for?" Turned out he is a rap musician. "Have you watched Hustle & Flow?" Talking is just too easy for me today.

My suspicion is that my chattiness would not last for long. After a good night sleep, I will become the same old introverted me again. But somehow, I have a hope that I might be born as extrovert, and I am just discovering my hidden talent. Well, I will see.

Or maybe these days I just have time to reflect and think. I am not completely satisfied with my own life, or it is time to spice it up with different variations of me. After my fair share of disappointments, I am yet again free to experiment. But in the end, I just want to be a better person. Seriously.