Thursday, March 23, 2006

The Retro Lounge

Went out to dinner with pastor and wife last night, after shopping for furniture at a local store with a modern and retro flair. What a funny conversation! :)

I'm insisting on being able to decorate one room in the new house with some real splash to it - edgy, avant-garde, etc. OK, so I was given the basement to work with. Still... it's a room!

I've settled on a 50's/60's martini lounge motif. And we looked at couches, chairs, end tables, small bar & stools, etc. Fabrics, rugs, throw pillows... I think I was the only one of the four of us that even remotely liked what we looked at. But, when has that ever slowed me down? :) I mean... those of you who know what car I drive would know that, other people's opinions notwithstanding, I like what I like! And there's no accounting for taste, especially mine.

So, I'm thinking bright orange and olive-y green and brown as the major colors, with a brown painted concrete floor, a light shaggy area rug, open modern cube shelving displaying stereo components and old vinyl albums, chagall prints on the walls in his characteristic oranges, reds, blues, blacks, yellows. Orangey-yellowy-olivey accessories (lamps, coasters). Bobby Darin or Sinatra on the stereo. Mmmmm.

Care for a drink? I have an excellent Bordeaux-style blend aged 16 months in bulk and bottled last Fall to rave reviews. Of course, as the winemaker I'm biased...

Friday, March 17, 2006

Home Again

For two weeks this time. :) One of normal work in the local office and the next one in Chicago for a seminar and to visit our office there. One night I'll have dinner with an old friend from my prior company who now lives in an apartment in the Loop, on another have dinner with the kids (together or separately - not sure which), and all kinds of other fun things too numerous to mention! Sure, sure, you say... me, have fun? Nooo - way too stodgy. ;) I need to hang out with younger people. But if I did, then how would they have fun? :) Oh, I'll think of something to do, I'm sure. At least walk to Navy Pier on a clear night. It'd be nice to ride the ferris wheel... oooh - heart stopping entertainment!

I think I'm ready for Saturday and the funeral. I've worked through my feelings and am as ready as I'll get. For some reason it reminds me of the conversation Jesus had with various people when He was calling disciples. One went like this: "Come, follow me." "Lord, first let me bury my Father." "Let the dead bury their own dead. You, come follow me." But the guy never came. It always seemed harsh to me. But the cares of this life do have a tendency to crowd out one's devotion to God. It's hard to integrate the two, devotion to God and living in the world, especially with "responsibilities" to others that seem to just accumulate with time. Jesus knew that. I trust that "He knows my frame and remembers that I am dust."

So - wonder what kind of car I'll be handed the keys to at the airport this time? All I ever seem to get are PT Cruisers. ;)

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The baton passes...

Found out this morning that my Dad passed away last night. He'd been in the nursing home for a while and he was pretty weak. Then he got pneumonia a few days ago and everything went fast. Hospice came in to try to reduce his pain. Mercifully it wasn't a long struggle. So, he joins Mom now. God rest his soul.

When my brother died last month, I realized something of my own mortality - my siblings have started to pass on. My turn is coming. This now sort of confirms that my generation is becoming the leading edge on mankind's endless pilgrimage to eternity. In the great scheme of things, it's not long until that happens for me. But, in terms of the day-to-day, the mundane, the getting up and working and loving and eating and sleeping, it's still a long way off. I can keep on ignoring it. Just not forever.

I think I'll go exercise. :) Right after I finish this beer.

It felt so strange today to tell my bosses and staff that I'm taking bereavement leave - again. They must think "how much more can happen to this guy?" No kidding. Remember that study about stress levels? So many points for a divorce, so many for a job change, so many for relative's death? Add them all up and they can mean serious health issues. Since June there's been just a few accumulated points.

Starting with hearing I was losing my job, then beginning a job search, interviewing, going unemployed for several months, then starting a new job, moving to a new city, selling and buying houses, my brother dying, my Dad dying, and a whole host of other things I can't even begin to list, all I need now is... well, no - let's not talk like that. Maybe it stops here. Maybe this is all for a while. I sure hope so. That is of course after the movers come and haul all our stuff to a new house 1000 miles away.

June of 2005 through May of 2006 will have been maybe the most change I've ever experienced in one 12 month period. Oh, did I mention turning 50? :)

It's a good time to reinvent myself. To choose to do some things that I wouldn't have felt free to do a decade ago. To live more, to play more, to try new things, to learn more, to understand more, to love more. Time is short, darn it. That's awfully apparent to me. I want to make the most of the time I've been given. No sense holding back now. Fifty's a good age to spread my wings, like the butterfly emerging from a cocooned stage of life. Because soon enough, I'll be spreading them once again, but in a different context. This one:

"I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." I Cor 15:50-54

Now that will be a real metaporphosis! And today, I'm ready for it. Bring it on, Lord, anytime. I've lived well. But UNTIL it's my time, I will live the rest of this life, however long, with all the vigor I have. I still have some wing-flapping to do!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Feel free to buy now. Anytime...

Boy, it went smoothly on this end! House comes on the market Monday, we see it Thursday, offer that day, accepted next day with only one small change, and then today the inspection, which was nearly perfect - only small items to fix. Feels like a Divine appointment to me...

Picked out flooring and carpet today. Niiiiiice. Dark gold plush for the bedrooms, incl. den, and with that cherry furniture, mmm, mmm. Ooh, and the white guest bedroom set with the gold leaf, too. And check out this new bedding for the master! Yowza! Pretty spiffy. :)

Closing is May 15, with immediate occupancy. I'll have the new flooring (hardwood in living/dining, and new carpet in bedrooms) installed 5/16 and following, have the plumber install a utility sink in the "wine cellar" (if you can call it that), get the electrician to put in some different outlets and a ceiling fan in the Florida room, and hopefully schedule the moving van to drop furniture that next week, with an eye toward spending Memorial Day cooking out on the deck in the new house! :) Bring on Summer!

Plus, when I'm home next week it's off to the modern furniture store to look for neo-retro lounge furniture for the basement. Hipsville, baby! I can actually put out all my vintage vinyl on those modular shelves, crank up the hi-fi, serve a martini or two on the green teardrop table, and lay back on the orange naugahyde sectional. Woohoo! Groooovy.

Now then. All you prospective buyers out there, c'mon down! We still have a house to sell, appropriately priced... and stop telling me it's dated! Grrr... no more dated than the one I just bought! Hey, I like the 1980's. :) A lot of nice things (and some of my favorite people) got their start then...

Friday, March 10, 2006

Puleeeeeze accept!

Made an offer last night on a house that has no flaws, from location to price to layout to yard to room sizes to neighborhood to decorating. It appeared on the market Monday and we offered on Thursday. Full price with a carpeting allowance.

The sellers won't see the offer until tonight, and I hope very much they accept immediately, so we can get the home inspection done before Deb goes home Monday afternoon. It would be soooo nice to have this behind us!

C'mon, people, say yes! Please!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Lights, Curtain!

My first big public "performance" was today. Mousewoman had asked me to come train her senior staff (SVPs, VPs) on some topics where she felt I could raise their overall level of understanding. The idea was to increase their expertise, but I positioned it more as wanting their advice on how this "training" would play in the field offices or with the managers in their departments. I think it felt better to them that way. :)

I had met about half the room already, so was not a total stranger, and several people I hadn't met knew who I was and what I am supposed to be doing - sort of.

I prepared this PowerPoint thing and practiced it twice in my new office space (sans furniture, which is coming Thursday. A woman who sits near me said "I like your Zen approach to decorating your new office." Yeah - it's empty! I know...)

Anyway, during rehearsals, I hated what I was saying. It didn't sound right at all. Awkward, stumbling, nervous. Ugh. But, as is typical, when the audience starts filling the seats in the theatre, the actor's blood is up! And when it was my turn in the footlights, there wasn't a trace of nervousness, and the performer "switch" came on. All the transitions were smooth, remarks funny, etc. I wowed 'em in Poughkeepsie! :) Well, more like 3 hours from Poughkeepsie, but... you get my meaning. Even got a little applause at the end - at a staff meeting, yet! Unheard of.

So, I think I made a decent impression. Afterwards a couple of the execs came and signed me up for their upcoming staff meetings and a countrywide meeting of key managers coming in for training. Fun! I love this stuff. Almost as much fun as singing. :)

And, you know... the singing really has helped me deliver talks and training like this, just like it does in the classroom when I teach at church, or preach occasionally. There's a knack to phrasing - and use of ........... the dramatic pause ............ that does drive a point home. Or at least grabs the audience's attention, and holds it. It did today, especially considering it was right after lunch. Very participatory. I got lots of suggestions on how to adapt the talk to other audiences.

It was grueling, though. 2 solid hours of standup. I was exhausted afterwards and just entered data into spreadsheets for the rest of the day, to unwind from the "performance". I'd been worrying over this thing for 3 weeks, and finally it's done. A good day.

Starting tomorrow, then, I can concentrate on house hunting without this hanging over my head. The process of buying begins in earnest Thursday morning. Deb will spend two days with the realtor, and then I get brought in over the weekend to help make (emphasis on "help") make the final call. Hopefully we 1) find the right house, 2) make an offer that gets accepted, and 3) send her home the proud owner of two homes. =:O For now. Ai! Ai! Ai! We need to sell as well as buy...

Friday, March 03, 2006

Dullsville, man

Looking at a dreadfully dull weekend coming up.

It's too cold to go out tonight. Windy... brrrr. So, I eat - and read - and eat - and read - and drink wine - and surf the net - and go to bed.

After 9 hours of sleep (I hope), tomorrow dawns and I venture out to find a local blockbuster to rent a video or 3 for the rest of the weekend. While I'm out I'll grocery shop, get the weekend paper...

I'll come back, follow the MU game on the net, then read the paper, watch a video, eat some peanuts, read, watch, eat, read, watch, eat. All this in my underwear. :) Lucky me! Except the part about going out earlier. I'll put some clothes on for that.

Sunday morning I'm going to check out an Episcopal church nearby. Their website says they have great music and choirs and organs and such like that there. 10:00 AM service, 11:30 Sunday symposium (whatever that is), then 4:00 Evensong (whatever that is.) Might just make a day of it! Maybe I'll convert... :) I could use a little "high church" right now.

I'm reading John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany", and it's one of the best books I've ever read. Lots of theology (incl Congregationalism vs. Anglicanism) and really interesting characters. That plus my good friend the evangelical pastor Episcopal professor with the Ph.D. in theology from Catholic Marquette U has inspired me to look this Episcopal thing over a little. I think there's something to be said for Catholicism, but maybe going to an Episcopal church for a while will help me observe it from a respectful distance...

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

My First Hire!

Yay! :)

I've been trying to make an internal hire for several weeks to fill a big hole on my very empty org chart, and he finally said yes over the weekend. I negotiated with his current manager to get a 3/15 start date, although I've been roping him in on things already.

It's been such a long process, it was almost like a seduction. I invite him to interview, he does. He asks questions, I answer, he goes away. I pursue, he politely says he's thinking about it. I follow up, he plays coy. Has more questions. I take him to lunch and answer them. I pop the question. He'll get back to me.

Then, I start to have both Rug and Alpaca work on him for me (this sounds like junior high - "tell Bobby I like him"). He likes the attention and affirmation from the two SVPs, and gives me some signals that he's interested. We meet for lunch. More questions. I answer. I ask him to work for me. He hedges. Then, while I'm away, an email... "I look forward to working for you. Let's meet to discuss some further questions I have."

So before he changes his mind, I talk to his boss, negotiate the date (and the brideprice and the dowry, for Pete's sake), send in the HR change form and publish the news on email. Ha! She's mine now!!!! (I mean, HE is, of course. Got a little carried away there.)

Now we just have to consummate the marri... oops I mean complete the transition and get him physically moved over to my building and floor to get him away from all his old relationships, uh, I mean responsibilities. Yikes! The parallels... I hope the rest of my staff isn't so difficult to fill out. I don't want it to become like building a harem. Blecch. What must it have been like for King Solomon? All those trade negotiations, and then to have women come along with all of them... makes the head spin.

But, I have the next posting up! Just a glutton for punishment, I guess.

On another front, the official official official houseunting trip takes place 3/8-13. The way we usually do these things, we buy something that week. Period. I hope the right house is just waiting for us. Lots of listings coming on the market every day. Should be a good time to look. It'd be nice if it was also a good time to sell, too! One house in particular.
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