One-up

It was an unprecedented phenomenon for me.  I went to a taco place today about 3 miles from my house at 7 in the evening.  It was still registering 100 degrees on my car thermostat.  That's not the phenomenon, though.  Many days are 100 or more  in Texas.  However, it was 7:00.  I was there for about 10 minutes, then made the trip home.

Now a person would think that, if anything, the temperature would take a degree south the longer time went by into the evening.  Oh, no.  As I went the three miles home, the temperature moved north to 101 degrees.  No joke.  On the way down - all the same temperature.  On the return trip - up one.

If I apply this to life, I know there's a direct analogy.  Often at work just when you think some crisis or pressurized matter is just about over - it's in the waning stages - then, yes, something prolongs it and you enter the one-up phase of the issue.

I remember a time when a man wanted something for an individual that I had denied to that person.  He came into my office wearing a gun around his waist, which he had never done before.  He asked that I change my mind.  A few days passed.  I thought the whole episode was over.  But no, I was directly accosted by the person I had denied earlier in a place where he had about 120 seconds to do anything before people around would notice anything out of order.  Close call.  He backed down after a minute (literally) and left.

Things can heat up in a hurry, but it generally takes a while for heat to subside.  I learned that then.  I still know it now for there were other times.  But the unexpected one-up phase from something intense is rare.