to go overseas! I'm even looking forward to customs and several hours in the air. :) Anything to get that stamp in my passport. What does one even look like, anyway?
I can identify with the scene from that David Ducovny movie "Return To Me" with ... who? (brb) Minnie Driver! (I had to Google it..) where she ... NO! Wait a minute! Wrong romantic comedy. :) It was "While You Were Sleeping" with Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. I think. Whatever. You've cried at one... you've cried at them all.
Anyway, I identify with the scene where the lead actress bemoans the fact that she's never gotten a single stamp in her passport and wants one so badly. It's silly, but - I do!
I saw an Omni movie in a local museum here in St. Paul about the Vikings, and how they settled Iceland. It looks gorgeous. I can hardly wait to see those vistas in person!
But first, some fun in old St. Paul while I wait for my departure flight. Museums, shopping, movies... mmmm. Plenty of time to sleep while I'm on the airplane.
Another week on the road almost in the books. A couple more days and... I'm free to enjoy life! Not that work isn't enjoyable, but - you know what I mean. ;)
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Yet another away message
on my voicemail and email at work...
This last week was nuts, a combination of trying to catch up from being out of the office 8 days out of 10, touching all my staff in some way, keeping developing projects going, and keeping a lid on PeBo's anxiety over the Great Fire Drill To Find The Missing Money.
I really have to stop calling it that, though. One of my staff said "I'm putting all this time in for a fire drill?" No no no no no - sorry, Carol. Didn't mean it like that. THIS IS NOT A DRILL! No one's effort has been wasted! Sometimes sarcasm from the mouth of a department head is inappropriate and this time it was my turn to goof.
It's just that I can see clearly that the problem is solved, but so many other people need proof, and it is taking up soooo much time... I wish sometimes that I could let people inside my head what I see. In this case they might relax. But the problem then would be... how do I get rid of them after they're done looking? ;)
Hmmm. That would make a good plot for a sci-fi movie. A guy has the ability to allow people to see things as he sees them. Selectively at first, and only when he wants them to. But then, as the psychic connection gets deeper, they can see through his eyes whenever THEY want to (of course seeing things that he doesn't WANT them to see, like how he views them and others), and even later... they begin to alter HIS perceptions to match theirs, and he loses his identity in the process. Sort of like a Vulcan mind-meld gone bad. =:O Creepy.
So... where was I? :) Oh yes. By the end of the week, everything at work was calm, cool, collected. No one's nervous, everyone's tended to. I did my job. :)
And now, off again! Next week on business to St. Paul, and then... yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhhh! A stamp in my passport! Finally! It's only taken 50 years to get one. Jeepers Molly. That's a long time.
After the week of work, I leisurely enjoy poking around St. Paul for a couple of days, and then fly to Reykjavik (I'm finally learning how to spell it) for 3 nights. Then hop the North Sea to Glasgow for another 3 nights and then back to Mpls & Milwaukee for 2 (jet lag adjustment) before back to work on the 11th.
Right now I'm fretting over luggage. Do I have to pack my winter jacket? (Yes, dopey. It's 50 over there.) Do I need more than one pair of dress shoes? Can they be my cordovan penny loafers so that I can wear them with jeans? Do they even do that anymore? ;) Why can't I check 3 bags?!?!?!? Arghh. I may have to ship a box of dirty clothes back to New England to make room for all the souvenirs I need to bring home. Christmas gifts are from Europe this year, I guess!
The cab comes in the morning. Woo hoo!
This last week was nuts, a combination of trying to catch up from being out of the office 8 days out of 10, touching all my staff in some way, keeping developing projects going, and keeping a lid on PeBo's anxiety over the Great Fire Drill To Find The Missing Money.
I really have to stop calling it that, though. One of my staff said "I'm putting all this time in for a fire drill?" No no no no no - sorry, Carol. Didn't mean it like that. THIS IS NOT A DRILL! No one's effort has been wasted! Sometimes sarcasm from the mouth of a department head is inappropriate and this time it was my turn to goof.
It's just that I can see clearly that the problem is solved, but so many other people need proof, and it is taking up soooo much time... I wish sometimes that I could let people inside my head what I see. In this case they might relax. But the problem then would be... how do I get rid of them after they're done looking? ;)
Hmmm. That would make a good plot for a sci-fi movie. A guy has the ability to allow people to see things as he sees them. Selectively at first, and only when he wants them to. But then, as the psychic connection gets deeper, they can see through his eyes whenever THEY want to (of course seeing things that he doesn't WANT them to see, like how he views them and others), and even later... they begin to alter HIS perceptions to match theirs, and he loses his identity in the process. Sort of like a Vulcan mind-meld gone bad. =:O Creepy.
So... where was I? :) Oh yes. By the end of the week, everything at work was calm, cool, collected. No one's nervous, everyone's tended to. I did my job. :)
And now, off again! Next week on business to St. Paul, and then... yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhhh! A stamp in my passport! Finally! It's only taken 50 years to get one. Jeepers Molly. That's a long time.
After the week of work, I leisurely enjoy poking around St. Paul for a couple of days, and then fly to Reykjavik (I'm finally learning how to spell it) for 3 nights. Then hop the North Sea to Glasgow for another 3 nights and then back to Mpls & Milwaukee for 2 (jet lag adjustment) before back to work on the 11th.
Right now I'm fretting over luggage. Do I have to pack my winter jacket? (Yes, dopey. It's 50 over there.) Do I need more than one pair of dress shoes? Can they be my cordovan penny loafers so that I can wear them with jeans? Do they even do that anymore? ;) Why can't I check 3 bags?!?!?!? Arghh. I may have to ship a box of dirty clothes back to New England to make room for all the souvenirs I need to bring home. Christmas gifts are from Europe this year, I guess!
The cab comes in the morning. Woo hoo!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Deja Vu a generation apart
I feel like draggin' out the ol' banjo and gettin' everybody in a whompin' big circle and gettin' all y'all to singin' "Will The Circle Be Unbroken (by and by Lord by and by)", since it seems like a circle got closed this week.
With Janey (or whatever it is I call her in this blog. Is that it, Kitten? I forget.) getting her first genuine full-time permanent salaried position (with the 401K and benefits thing, too) this week, it seemed like someone drew a circle through our two points in the universe, along with some other points we now have in common. As of last Monday, she works for the same company I do, in the same department (granted a darned big department - 13,000 people), just in a regional service office in Chicagoland. She's Field, I'm Home Office. Ha. The tension is maintained. You know, "I'm from Home Office and I'm here to help." We are so paternalistic that way toward the Field - it suits our father-daughter relationship! Hee hee.
Anyway, it's been a real kick to email back and forth about what she's learning and who she's meeting and how the work is. I have a spy now in the Field! Someone who'll tell me the unvarnished truth about how it REALLY is. I'll just never be able to quote her as a source! And in turn, she may wind up getting advance copies of memos that the Field won't necessarily see in raw form. Hmmm... This could be mutually beneficial. Just discreet.
Plus, it's been nice to see her upgrade from a Neon that was a total loss to a Passat with leather interior, and from a shared 2 bedroom on Irving Park to a one bedroom (with air and parking) in the suburbs. "We're movin' on up! Toooo the West Side!" Just watch the malls, honey. Go home for lunch, don't go to the food court. :)
So now I have an even better reason to visit Chicago (and environs) than to check on my house. Guess I needed one just about now, since my house... is SOLD!!!! Yay!
The paperwork is going smoothly. The advance of the equity may happen this week. Hope so. Next week... there'e nobody home. Not for 2+ weeks. And that check needs to hit the bank. Hmpf. Maybe it should be electronic. I can live without paper. Especially if it's faster.
With Janey (or whatever it is I call her in this blog. Is that it, Kitten? I forget.) getting her first genuine full-time permanent salaried position (with the 401K and benefits thing, too) this week, it seemed like someone drew a circle through our two points in the universe, along with some other points we now have in common. As of last Monday, she works for the same company I do, in the same department (granted a darned big department - 13,000 people), just in a regional service office in Chicagoland. She's Field, I'm Home Office. Ha. The tension is maintained. You know, "I'm from Home Office and I'm here to help." We are so paternalistic that way toward the Field - it suits our father-daughter relationship! Hee hee.
Anyway, it's been a real kick to email back and forth about what she's learning and who she's meeting and how the work is. I have a spy now in the Field! Someone who'll tell me the unvarnished truth about how it REALLY is. I'll just never be able to quote her as a source! And in turn, she may wind up getting advance copies of memos that the Field won't necessarily see in raw form. Hmmm... This could be mutually beneficial. Just discreet.
Plus, it's been nice to see her upgrade from a Neon that was a total loss to a Passat with leather interior, and from a shared 2 bedroom on Irving Park to a one bedroom (with air and parking) in the suburbs. "We're movin' on up! Toooo the West Side!" Just watch the malls, honey. Go home for lunch, don't go to the food court. :)
So now I have an even better reason to visit Chicago (and environs) than to check on my house. Guess I needed one just about now, since my house... is SOLD!!!! Yay!
The paperwork is going smoothly. The advance of the equity may happen this week. Hope so. Next week... there'e nobody home. Not for 2+ weeks. And that check needs to hit the bank. Hmpf. Maybe it should be electronic. I can live without paper. Especially if it's faster.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
SOLD!
(I hope)
I think the ordeal is over. Funny how the timing of this stuff works. The company offers to buy us out of our house at a lowball price, and suddenly we get two offers! Hmmm...
Anyway, they came in a day or so apart, and we countered, then they countered, then they... well, you know how it goes. I think we locked in on one yesterday, though I can't quite be sure. I'm currently 3 time zones away and not quite in the loop...
The really really nice thing about the relo program is this deal called an "equity advance", where the relo company buys you out and you get your equity NOW! And, let me tell you, brothers and sisters - we can surely use it! New hardwood floors, lounge furniture, vacations out of the country... um, yeah.
So hopefully it's done. I have a call in (several calls, actually) to find out for sure for sure for sure.
In the meantime the corporate jet is home away from home. It's a darn sight better than flying commercial. I can carry on my lip gloss, for one thing. ;) Second, Coreen (the flight attendant) goes out during the day and buys me stuff for the next evening.
Yeah, what else does she have to do, but she's so considerate! First it was Miller lite, then last night it was a cheeseburger from In & Out Burger. SWEET! Tonight I'm thinking peanut M&Ms... Then, I'd left my Steve Tyrell CD on the plane (she had put it on the stereo system for me) and she brought it to my hotel afterwards thinking I might want to use it to fall asleep to that night. Aww... She needs to work on her gin and tonics, though. Just a little strong. =:O
I think the ordeal is over. Funny how the timing of this stuff works. The company offers to buy us out of our house at a lowball price, and suddenly we get two offers! Hmmm...
Anyway, they came in a day or so apart, and we countered, then they countered, then they... well, you know how it goes. I think we locked in on one yesterday, though I can't quite be sure. I'm currently 3 time zones away and not quite in the loop...
The really really nice thing about the relo program is this deal called an "equity advance", where the relo company buys you out and you get your equity NOW! And, let me tell you, brothers and sisters - we can surely use it! New hardwood floors, lounge furniture, vacations out of the country... um, yeah.
So hopefully it's done. I have a call in (several calls, actually) to find out for sure for sure for sure.
In the meantime the corporate jet is home away from home. It's a darn sight better than flying commercial. I can carry on my lip gloss, for one thing. ;) Second, Coreen (the flight attendant) goes out during the day and buys me stuff for the next evening.
Yeah, what else does she have to do, but she's so considerate! First it was Miller lite, then last night it was a cheeseburger from In & Out Burger. SWEET! Tonight I'm thinking peanut M&Ms... Then, I'd left my Steve Tyrell CD on the plane (she had put it on the stereo system for me) and she brought it to my hotel afterwards thinking I might want to use it to fall asleep to that night. Aww... She needs to work on her gin and tonics, though. Just a little strong. =:O
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Lesson learned?
Another one today. Maybe.
Ironically, I was just reading a book on the airplane which contained this quote that I'd never seen before:
"The lessons of life amount not to wisdom but to scar tissue and callus."
- Wallace Stegner
It was timely.
He's right, I think. I don't believe you get wiser via life lessons, necessarily. Maybe I'm just building up callus, you know? ...by making the same mistakes over and over. And after a while that repeated mistake will simply stop hurting as much.
You have to be either pretty stubborn or pretty desperate to repeat the same painful behaviors again and again. I mean, who wants callus, anyway? It's ugly, and in some cases - deforming.
I do know that I have scar tissue from some of life's lessons. Here, see, I'll show you: this one's from when I was in high school and a bunch of us ... woah, never again, man! And this one here - it's from college when this girl ... how could I not have seen that coming? Blind! And, oh yeah, this beauty! Ow. I can feel that one yet. It's from when I found out that, no matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't ... but, that does NOT define me anymore! No way!
See my point? Yes, I learned some things from life experiences. As they say, I have the scars to prove it. But then there are some scars that mark an experience where I don't think I learned anything at all. The only thing I got was pain and the scar. What did I learn, for example, when they told me I ... and what did I learn when she just ... and what in the world did I learn when I suddenly lost ... I learned nothing! It just hurt.
Perhaps, as time goes along, I'll look back and see something that indeed represents a lesson learned and wisdom gained from the experiences that left those particular scars. As they say, time heals all wounds. Sure. Yeah, eventually you die and that'll take care of it...
But mostly, as Stegner says, you're left with scar tissue or you build up callus. And I don't think experiences or life lessons is where wisdom comes from, either. Wisdom comes from another Source altogether.
So I don't think I learned much today. But I do feel the callus in that particular spot getting a little thicker. It's not as tender as the last time it got poked. So, lesson learned? Maybe. And maybe not. I guess we'll see if the callus keeps growing, or if that spot grows soft again.
I'd rather it be soft... even if it hurts now and then.
Ironically, I was just reading a book on the airplane which contained this quote that I'd never seen before:
"The lessons of life amount not to wisdom but to scar tissue and callus."
- Wallace Stegner
It was timely.
He's right, I think. I don't believe you get wiser via life lessons, necessarily. Maybe I'm just building up callus, you know? ...by making the same mistakes over and over. And after a while that repeated mistake will simply stop hurting as much.
You have to be either pretty stubborn or pretty desperate to repeat the same painful behaviors again and again. I mean, who wants callus, anyway? It's ugly, and in some cases - deforming.
I do know that I have scar tissue from some of life's lessons. Here, see, I'll show you: this one's from when I was in high school and a bunch of us ... woah, never again, man! And this one here - it's from college when this girl ... how could I not have seen that coming? Blind! And, oh yeah, this beauty! Ow. I can feel that one yet. It's from when I found out that, no matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't ... but, that does NOT define me anymore! No way!
See my point? Yes, I learned some things from life experiences. As they say, I have the scars to prove it. But then there are some scars that mark an experience where I don't think I learned anything at all. The only thing I got was pain and the scar. What did I learn, for example, when they told me I ... and what did I learn when she just ... and what in the world did I learn when I suddenly lost ... I learned nothing! It just hurt.
Perhaps, as time goes along, I'll look back and see something that indeed represents a lesson learned and wisdom gained from the experiences that left those particular scars. As they say, time heals all wounds. Sure. Yeah, eventually you die and that'll take care of it...
But mostly, as Stegner says, you're left with scar tissue or you build up callus. And I don't think experiences or life lessons is where wisdom comes from, either. Wisdom comes from another Source altogether.
So I don't think I learned much today. But I do feel the callus in that particular spot getting a little thicker. It's not as tender as the last time it got poked. So, lesson learned? Maybe. And maybe not. I guess we'll see if the callus keeps growing, or if that spot grows soft again.
I'd rather it be soft... even if it hurts now and then.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Stuffy New Englanders...
not!
At our tag sale today (the local version of a garage/rummage/yard sale, depending on where you're from), the people who stopped were extraordinarily friendly. And talk! Yak, yak, yak... you know, the whole drill, welcome to the area, what brought you here, how do you like it so far, where do you work, oh my wife/husband/child works there, I'll bet the winters will be more to your liking... sheesh. Give it a rest! You broke the stereotype already!
Actually, it was very nice. :) And just like the tag sale we had in June or whenever it was. Boy, are they friendly! They even have a local restaurant chain here (sort of a cross between Denny's restaurant and a Farrell's ice cream parlor) called Friendly's. Yikes!
Not to mention they bought all kinds of broken stuff we never been able to get rid of before. ;) Good for them.
At our tag sale today (the local version of a garage/rummage/yard sale, depending on where you're from), the people who stopped were extraordinarily friendly. And talk! Yak, yak, yak... you know, the whole drill, welcome to the area, what brought you here, how do you like it so far, where do you work, oh my wife/husband/child works there, I'll bet the winters will be more to your liking... sheesh. Give it a rest! You broke the stereotype already!
Actually, it was very nice. :) And just like the tag sale we had in June or whenever it was. Boy, are they friendly! They even have a local restaurant chain here (sort of a cross between Denny's restaurant and a Farrell's ice cream parlor) called Friendly's. Yikes!
Not to mention they bought all kinds of broken stuff we never been able to get rid of before. ;) Good for them.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Stepping into the new life
There were a couple of positive steps this weekend toward stepping into the routine of new life here. One was resolving where we will go to church. It was a pretty thorough search, and even though the answer is "the same place we went the last time we lived here", I can embrace that answer because it's still the best fit of anything we've seen. So, past history aside, I'm ok with that and will dive in, helping out wherever there's a need. And, plug into a neighborhood group of some sort, too, to make new friends. That's hard work, and slow, but... needs to be done!
The other positive step was a successful bit of entertaining Sunday afternoon. It was supposed to be a large outdoor cookout on the deck and in the yard, but turned out to be a small dinner inside, because of the rain. 9 people around the dining room table was just right! It got us familiar with our new space vis-a-vis entertaining, and kind of broke the ice. It felt good to do. Seemed a little funny that our first guests would be people who work for me (and spouses), but... I've been here longer, so I know them somewhat. Next, it's the neighbors! Maybe in October...
Might be turning a corner here. Hm. But also talked on the phone with people back home (home is still not "here" for me - it's ... somewhere else.) And that felt nice, too. It was a good weekend.
The other positive step was a successful bit of entertaining Sunday afternoon. It was supposed to be a large outdoor cookout on the deck and in the yard, but turned out to be a small dinner inside, because of the rain. 9 people around the dining room table was just right! It got us familiar with our new space vis-a-vis entertaining, and kind of broke the ice. It felt good to do. Seemed a little funny that our first guests would be people who work for me (and spouses), but... I've been here longer, so I know them somewhat. Next, it's the neighbors! Maybe in October...
Might be turning a corner here. Hm. But also talked on the phone with people back home (home is still not "here" for me - it's ... somewhere else.) And that felt nice, too. It was a good weekend.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
The Fringe
Where the heck did I hear this? I can't remember now. Somewhere... maybe it started with the reaction of the Democrat leadership to Joe Lieberman, and how they are distancing themselves from him because he's not anti-war enough.
Hm.
Well, anyway, what I heard was this: what unites the fringe elements in society is what they are AGAINST. I think the logic was being applied to one end of the political spectrum, I won't bother to say which, but after further thought I think it applies to fringes of all sorts. Maybe it's even how you can recognize fringe elements...
The political right is against abortion-on-demand, same-sex marriage and so forth. The far right fringe focuses on those things to excess, and the figureheads for their vitriol are Michael Moore, George Soros, Hillary Clinton. They focus on what they're against, not on what they're for. The political left is against the war in Iraq, against an American theocracy (the Bible defining public policy.) The far left fringe focuses on those things to excess, and the figureheads for their vitriol are President Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter. They focus on what they're against, not what they're for.
Who is FOR something? Especially something positive? The political moderates, mostly, who the far right and far left criticize roundly as not having CONVICTIONS. Moderates are those who are in the middle of the bell curve, not those on the fringes, in the "tails" of the curve. Most people are in that range, leaning left or right, yes, but not drastically. Yet, the public debate is dominated by the fringes.
I'm not at all advocating that we adopt the mantra of the timid "oh, can't we all just get along?", not that. I expect people to disagree, but I'd much rather disagree in a discussion of positive ideas as to how to deal with the ills of society instead of polarizing the country by digging in our heels and screaming, whether we are leftist or rightist in our leanings. Lean away, but persuade and convince reasonably, with a positive outcome in mind!
The Nazis were focused on who they were against: the Jews, the Gypsies, the religionists. The radical Islamists are focused on the Israelis, who they are against. The communists and athiests are focused on those with religious conviction. The skinheads and feminists are focused on who they are against, and the pro-lifers, pro-choicers, bible-thumpers, Libertarians, Greenpeace folks and the PETA people are, too. ANYBODY on the fringe of any movement is energized, galvanized, by their common opposition to something. Even what they are FOR is based in large part on what they're against! Really. Any positives are really negatives in disguise. Examples: Gay rights activists are virulently against Bible-thumpers. Watch a Gay Pride parade sometime and see what they mock. Traditional values proponents are virulently against homosexuals. Watch the signs they carry sometime and who "God hates." It's hard to see love motivating either group. Love doesn't motivate the fringe. Hatred does.
Who is FOR something? I'd like to be part of a political or religious movement that binds people together, that seeks common ground we can agree on, that strives for the positive. Is there such a thing?
Hm.
Well, anyway, what I heard was this: what unites the fringe elements in society is what they are AGAINST. I think the logic was being applied to one end of the political spectrum, I won't bother to say which, but after further thought I think it applies to fringes of all sorts. Maybe it's even how you can recognize fringe elements...
The political right is against abortion-on-demand, same-sex marriage and so forth. The far right fringe focuses on those things to excess, and the figureheads for their vitriol are Michael Moore, George Soros, Hillary Clinton. They focus on what they're against, not on what they're for. The political left is against the war in Iraq, against an American theocracy (the Bible defining public policy.) The far left fringe focuses on those things to excess, and the figureheads for their vitriol are President Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter. They focus on what they're against, not what they're for.
Who is FOR something? Especially something positive? The political moderates, mostly, who the far right and far left criticize roundly as not having CONVICTIONS. Moderates are those who are in the middle of the bell curve, not those on the fringes, in the "tails" of the curve. Most people are in that range, leaning left or right, yes, but not drastically. Yet, the public debate is dominated by the fringes.
I'm not at all advocating that we adopt the mantra of the timid "oh, can't we all just get along?", not that. I expect people to disagree, but I'd much rather disagree in a discussion of positive ideas as to how to deal with the ills of society instead of polarizing the country by digging in our heels and screaming, whether we are leftist or rightist in our leanings. Lean away, but persuade and convince reasonably, with a positive outcome in mind!
The Nazis were focused on who they were against: the Jews, the Gypsies, the religionists. The radical Islamists are focused on the Israelis, who they are against. The communists and athiests are focused on those with religious conviction. The skinheads and feminists are focused on who they are against, and the pro-lifers, pro-choicers, bible-thumpers, Libertarians, Greenpeace folks and the PETA people are, too. ANYBODY on the fringe of any movement is energized, galvanized, by their common opposition to something. Even what they are FOR is based in large part on what they're against! Really. Any positives are really negatives in disguise. Examples: Gay rights activists are virulently against Bible-thumpers. Watch a Gay Pride parade sometime and see what they mock. Traditional values proponents are virulently against homosexuals. Watch the signs they carry sometime and who "God hates." It's hard to see love motivating either group. Love doesn't motivate the fringe. Hatred does.
Who is FOR something? I'd like to be part of a political or religious movement that binds people together, that seeks common ground we can agree on, that strives for the positive. Is there such a thing?
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Stones are being rolled away...
This is really meant to be a diary of MY job search and the aftermath of it, but to some extent my daughter's job search is all wrapped up in it, too. :) The parallels at some points were frankly pretty eerie. We frequently commiserated on how slow followup after job interviews was, the feeling being invalidated or rejected when you were "passed" on, etc... and I found that while I understood the process, and knew from experience how things work, it didn't mean that it hurt any less from my vantage point of age and experience. I just knew it was coming. :) For her it was a surprise.
But, yesterday there was that glorious feeling of being "validated" as a human being and a contributor to society when she got a job offer, and accepted! It's with the same company I work for, but in a field office about 45 minutes from her apartment. Full-time, permanent, benefits, and roughly twice her current earnings. Financial independence is around the corner!
I feel good on several levels, but one of them is that I was able to help her make some connections inside the company that she wouldn't have normally made. She used me as a networking resource! Good for her! And she really got herself the job, I didn't - no arm twisting, string pulling, nothing behind the scenes except a little email followup now and then to keep things moving. She made the sale herself.
Of course it's not a job directly in her field, but then... her current job wasn't either! This one, though, gives her the opportunity to transfer into a job later on that IS in her field, and pays her decent money while she learns the ropes.
And more good news today! The company changed its relocation program and was willing to roll me into the new one, which - drum roll - includes a house buyout! Woohoo! It will be a lowball offer, 95% of the average of two appraisals, but still - it's a safety net we didn't have before. We CAN cash out if we want to. It's like that credit card commercial where the Viking horde is rampaging down the street and is about to rape and pillage, when you whip out your credit card (with no fee) and stop them in their tracks before they can ruin you financially. Take that, Vikings! See my home buyout card? Hahahahaha. Pfui on you. :)
Plus, I think we're getting very close to a church affiliation decision, which is a big deal for creating a network of friends around here. One more week, and I think we're locked in on something there.
It almost seems like 3 big stones that have been blocking the path are getting rolled away, and the way is clearing to move forward. Maybe 30 days hence, we will have 1) house sold, 2) daughter independent, and 3) a support network building.
Wouldn't that be nice? :) ahhhh...
But, yesterday there was that glorious feeling of being "validated" as a human being and a contributor to society when she got a job offer, and accepted! It's with the same company I work for, but in a field office about 45 minutes from her apartment. Full-time, permanent, benefits, and roughly twice her current earnings. Financial independence is around the corner!
I feel good on several levels, but one of them is that I was able to help her make some connections inside the company that she wouldn't have normally made. She used me as a networking resource! Good for her! And she really got herself the job, I didn't - no arm twisting, string pulling, nothing behind the scenes except a little email followup now and then to keep things moving. She made the sale herself.
Of course it's not a job directly in her field, but then... her current job wasn't either! This one, though, gives her the opportunity to transfer into a job later on that IS in her field, and pays her decent money while she learns the ropes.
And more good news today! The company changed its relocation program and was willing to roll me into the new one, which - drum roll - includes a house buyout! Woohoo! It will be a lowball offer, 95% of the average of two appraisals, but still - it's a safety net we didn't have before. We CAN cash out if we want to. It's like that credit card commercial where the Viking horde is rampaging down the street and is about to rape and pillage, when you whip out your credit card (with no fee) and stop them in their tracks before they can ruin you financially. Take that, Vikings! See my home buyout card? Hahahahaha. Pfui on you. :)
Plus, I think we're getting very close to a church affiliation decision, which is a big deal for creating a network of friends around here. One more week, and I think we're locked in on something there.
It almost seems like 3 big stones that have been blocking the path are getting rolled away, and the way is clearing to move forward. Maybe 30 days hence, we will have 1) house sold, 2) daughter independent, and 3) a support network building.
Wouldn't that be nice? :) ahhhh...
Monday, August 21, 2006
Routine?
I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine again. Seems like every week, every month, there's something unstable or temporary. Whether it's travel or unpacking or contractors or family visits or church hunting, it's still something that keeps us from settling into a routine.
Vacillating back and forth between routine and spontaneity is a pattern for me, and when I have too much of one, I crave the other. So tomorrow night I go to the airport, pick up Deb (I hate these pseudonyms, but...), and then have about two weeks of "normalcy" before I travel again. September & October are busy travel months.
Some travel over the Holidays is "normal", so that should be OK. Maybe then after Halloween there will be some sort of routine to build and set in place for a few months. Then the spontaneity will seem so much more fun!
Vacillating back and forth between routine and spontaneity is a pattern for me, and when I have too much of one, I crave the other. So tomorrow night I go to the airport, pick up Deb (I hate these pseudonyms, but...), and then have about two weeks of "normalcy" before I travel again. September & October are busy travel months.
Some travel over the Holidays is "normal", so that should be OK. Maybe then after Halloween there will be some sort of routine to build and set in place for a few months. Then the spontaneity will seem so much more fun!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Not the President, the poet, but it's me, O Lord...
standing in the need of prayer.
Amen to that.
Maya Angelou and I have never gotten along. I'm pretty sure she's blissfully ignorant of it, poor thing. I don't think I've ever told her how disappointed I was when she was named Poet Laureate of these here U-nited States. But, I can see why the name-r, our former President Mr. Clinton, would have liked her work, especially this piece.
But then again... I do too - this piece anyway. I'm becoming pretty sympathetic to those that stand with John Newton, former slave trader, crying out in their own unique verse the equivalent of "Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." From what I can read of Newton's biography, it sounds like he experienced the saving grace of God in 1748, and continued to work the slave trade for another 7 years before health issues drove him ashore and into the pulpit.
Then there's John Donne (1572-1631), profligate, sensualist (and preacher), who's "Hymne to God the Father" cuts to the heart of the sinner's despair before God, but his deep and abiding hope in grace.
So, maybe I should cut both Ms. Angelou and Mr. Clinton some slack. While I don't know her personal moral dilemmas and failings, she stands in the midst of a great tradition of poets & lyricists (of varying levels of skill and popular recognition) with a sense of their own need of mercy and, along with Mr. Clinton, stands in a great tradition of sinners publicly admitting their need for the saving grace of God.
Here's a poem of Angelou's I recently ran across. I get it.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say.. "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say.. "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!
Amen to that.
Maya Angelou and I have never gotten along. I'm pretty sure she's blissfully ignorant of it, poor thing. I don't think I've ever told her how disappointed I was when she was named Poet Laureate of these here U-nited States. But, I can see why the name-r, our former President Mr. Clinton, would have liked her work, especially this piece.
But then again... I do too - this piece anyway. I'm becoming pretty sympathetic to those that stand with John Newton, former slave trader, crying out in their own unique verse the equivalent of "Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." From what I can read of Newton's biography, it sounds like he experienced the saving grace of God in 1748, and continued to work the slave trade for another 7 years before health issues drove him ashore and into the pulpit.
Then there's John Donne (1572-1631), profligate, sensualist (and preacher), who's "Hymne to God the Father" cuts to the heart of the sinner's despair before God, but his deep and abiding hope in grace.
So, maybe I should cut both Ms. Angelou and Mr. Clinton some slack. While I don't know her personal moral dilemmas and failings, she stands in the midst of a great tradition of poets & lyricists (of varying levels of skill and popular recognition) with a sense of their own need of mercy and, along with Mr. Clinton, stands in a great tradition of sinners publicly admitting their need for the saving grace of God.
Here's a poem of Angelou's I recently ran across. I get it.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say.. "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say.. "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!
Monday, August 14, 2006
Flame On!
A while back my daughter sent me this quote on poetry.
"Poetry is the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry
is just the ash."
-- Leonard Cohen
I liked it, and composed a short poem in reply:
The body goes to ashes
The outer shell to dust,
The inner life to poetry
As life incendiary must.
I thought about this again today while I was cooking steak on the grill (barbequed with curry sauce... mmmm.) I like the idea of a life incendiary. A life that is burning well, leaving the clean grey ash of poetry behind.
But I don't want my life to fizzle out like a candle sputtering or like a campfire slowly dying or a cigar cooling and going out. I don't want to burn out fitfully. I like the notion of my life being like the propane tank on my grill. It's finite, limited, but capable of either great heat or a low simmer, cooking fast or slow. And, most of the time, you have no idea when it's going to suddenly go empty. You're blissfully cooking along, you hear that characteristic "pop", and all of a sudden... its done. I like that.
The propane tank is productive and useful, doing what it was designed to do, right up until the end. Sure, what you're grilling right this minute may not be done when the fuel runs out, but think of all the good meals it made before! Maybe a few things got burnt, yeah, but... mmmm, remember all the good stuff! And the smells, the entertaining, the comraderie that surrounded those flames on the grill. Yeah.
So, that's what I want. Light me up, turn the dial, let's go! And when I go "pop" - so what? I did what I was supposed to do at the last - I was cookin', baby!
Can you feel the heat?
:)
"Poetry is the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry
is just the ash."
-- Leonard Cohen
I liked it, and composed a short poem in reply:
The body goes to ashes
The outer shell to dust,
The inner life to poetry
As life incendiary must.
I thought about this again today while I was cooking steak on the grill (barbequed with curry sauce... mmmm.) I like the idea of a life incendiary. A life that is burning well, leaving the clean grey ash of poetry behind.
But I don't want my life to fizzle out like a candle sputtering or like a campfire slowly dying or a cigar cooling and going out. I don't want to burn out fitfully. I like the notion of my life being like the propane tank on my grill. It's finite, limited, but capable of either great heat or a low simmer, cooking fast or slow. And, most of the time, you have no idea when it's going to suddenly go empty. You're blissfully cooking along, you hear that characteristic "pop", and all of a sudden... its done. I like that.
The propane tank is productive and useful, doing what it was designed to do, right up until the end. Sure, what you're grilling right this minute may not be done when the fuel runs out, but think of all the good meals it made before! Maybe a few things got burnt, yeah, but... mmmm, remember all the good stuff! And the smells, the entertaining, the comraderie that surrounded those flames on the grill. Yeah.
So, that's what I want. Light me up, turn the dial, let's go! And when I go "pop" - so what? I did what I was supposed to do at the last - I was cookin', baby!
Can you feel the heat?
:)
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Back to the Future
On my own this week and next, just me and the dog. I can't let lethargy grip me, though, even on a lazy Sunday morning like this one. To much to do. Up and out! Lawn chores and grocery shopping yesterday, and I rewarded myself with some nice roses, 
steak on the grill, fresh buttered green beans (and yes, I cooked them myself), some great dip - feta blended with cream cheese and Indian eggplant spread from Trader Joe's - plus a couple of movies "Little Miss Sunshine" and "World Trade Center." I was pretty worn out by the end of the second one. Got 10 hours of sleep though! Wow. It felt great. And the noodle-headed mutt slept in, too. Good boy...
So off to church it was, after my hearty breakfast of a peanut butter, bacon, and muenster cheese sandwich. Mmmm.... This time the church was the one we had gone to when we lived here 5 years ago. I still have scars from the experience, but those were my fault - overly high expectations, mixed with a heavy dose of presumption. I needed to learn a lesson, and did. Still, who wants to go back and visit the woodshed where you got your whuppin's as a boy, even if you know now that you benefitted from it? Talked to the pastor afterwards, and we're having lunch on Wednesday. I think I'll tell him about the "schooling" God gave me the last time I was part of his church. :)
So, I walk in the door with a little trepidation, and who is standing there but the one guy I was closest to as a friend from living there before. I sat with he and his wife. Worship was peaceful and contemplative. And when they sang "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know" slowly and acapella... there wasn't a dry eye in the place, mine especially. There are a lot of people who heard that song on mama's knee like I did, or in nursery at church. It still has an impact on grown-ups.
Hmmm. Then he used this quote in his sermon:
"If you have no faith in the future, then you have no power in the present. If you have no faith in a life beyond this life, then your present life is going to be powerless. But if you believe in the future and are assured of victory, then there should be a dance in your step and a smile on your face." - Max Lucado
I think two years ago I felt like this - without much hope for the future, and therefore pretty powerless. Things have changed since then. The future looks much brighter, and I don't feel powerless, but vital and strong. The future isn't as daunting, and I have more courage.
That reminds me of another quote. Don't know who first said it, but I like it: "Loving someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved deeply by someone gives you courage." And as St. Paul said: "Love never fails."
steak on the grill, fresh buttered green beans (and yes, I cooked them myself), some great dip - feta blended with cream cheese and Indian eggplant spread from Trader Joe's - plus a couple of movies "Little Miss Sunshine" and "World Trade Center." I was pretty worn out by the end of the second one. Got 10 hours of sleep though! Wow. It felt great. And the noodle-headed mutt slept in, too. Good boy...So off to church it was, after my hearty breakfast of a peanut butter, bacon, and muenster cheese sandwich. Mmmm.... This time the church was the one we had gone to when we lived here 5 years ago. I still have scars from the experience, but those were my fault - overly high expectations, mixed with a heavy dose of presumption. I needed to learn a lesson, and did. Still, who wants to go back and visit the woodshed where you got your whuppin's as a boy, even if you know now that you benefitted from it? Talked to the pastor afterwards, and we're having lunch on Wednesday. I think I'll tell him about the "schooling" God gave me the last time I was part of his church. :)
So, I walk in the door with a little trepidation, and who is standing there but the one guy I was closest to as a friend from living there before. I sat with he and his wife. Worship was peaceful and contemplative. And when they sang "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know" slowly and acapella... there wasn't a dry eye in the place, mine especially. There are a lot of people who heard that song on mama's knee like I did, or in nursery at church. It still has an impact on grown-ups.
Hmmm. Then he used this quote in his sermon:
"If you have no faith in the future, then you have no power in the present. If you have no faith in a life beyond this life, then your present life is going to be powerless. But if you believe in the future and are assured of victory, then there should be a dance in your step and a smile on your face." - Max Lucado
I think two years ago I felt like this - without much hope for the future, and therefore pretty powerless. Things have changed since then. The future looks much brighter, and I don't feel powerless, but vital and strong. The future isn't as daunting, and I have more courage.
That reminds me of another quote. Don't know who first said it, but I like it: "Loving someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved deeply by someone gives you courage." And as St. Paul said: "Love never fails."
Monday, August 07, 2006
Distance Management
So here I am sitting at Dunn Bros. Coffee in downtown St. Paul last Thursday morning having a large dark roast (with Splenda and Half&Half) along with Julie, this not-yet-30 y.o. girl whom in May I tried unsuccessfully to recruit to come work for me. We agreed to keep in touch in case the other job she took didn't work out so well. It had been a couple of months, and I was in town, so it seemed like catching up over coffee was in order.
Well, one thing led to another and before I knew it she was asking why this company has such a hard time hiring people in the field offices to do jobs related to Home Office units. "I mean", she says, "don't they know that they can manage people long-distance?"
Um, yeah, I say, that's a hard concept for some people to understand. I go on to explain that I've both done it (managed long-distance) and have been managed that way. So I say "How hard is this to understand, really?" And I ask: "Suppose you were in a long-distance romance. What would you do to make it work across the miles?"
Immediately she had an answer. Apparently she and her now-husband had dated long distance while in college. She said, "oh, it's simple. You'd email, call, write, as often as you could. You'd try to make daily contact somehow, even if it's something little, as if you were really really busy, but still together. Then, you'd plan times each week to talk at more length. You'd carve out the time in your schedules to talk. It doesn't have to be structured while you're on the call, but you commit to a time and keep it if you at all can."
She went on to say "Then, you'd try to see each other every few weeks if you can. Even if it's just a day or a night every 6 weeks or so - you want some face time. Maybe you each have to drive a ways to meet, but you do it because you love each other! And then, just as important, 2 or 3 times a year you plan a trip together, time away, just the two of you, for several days. A long weekend, or a week's vacation. You sacrifice, you make the effort, just because! You are committed to making it work out, and you know you need that time together. You just do it, no matter what. Nothing gets in your way! It's important."
I ask her: "OK, but can this kind of thing be sustained over time?" "Sure!" she says. "People do it all the time. Think of the 2 income professional couples on both coasts, or the military families who are separated for weeks, months, years. They don't give up! They are committed to making it work."
A pause. Silence. She says: "It's like that, isn't it? Without the romance, yes, but it's the same concept. You want to make the situation be the best it can be, given the circumstances, and keep the relationship good, so you put forth the extra effort. You sacrifice in terms of time and travel to make it work, for the sake of both parties. But not everybody wants to sacrifice and put themselves out like that, do they? Not everyone sees preserving something good across the miles as worth the effort - they'd prefer either doing without altogether, or prefer the immediacy of having someone lesser, but close by, to grab when they have a need."
Yes, Julie. Very good. In distance management of any kind, you make it work, because you are committed to a successful relationship with the other person, and that person is valuable to you, even if they are miles away - 100, 500, 1000, 3000. It doesn't matter whether it's a romantic or a family or a work-related relationship. You make sacrifices and work at it; you don't mind the effort because of the reward that follows. You do what you need to do - so that it's successful. Why don't we get that?
Despite my natural introversion, which prefers to shy away from contact, I get it, too. Which is why I was in St. Paul last week visiting work colleagues, and why I'm here this week visiting relatives and friends, alone. I'm trying to make it work. There's relationships that I don't want to lose from neglect. Not to mention the fact that my family circle shrank a bit this last year. I have fewer loved ones left now. So I take vacation, spend some extra money on gas and hotels, and do what's necessary to have even a LITTLE bit of face time with those I love. It's important. I don't always connect with everyone every time, as much as I want, but I hope to do at least some.
Now, I just have to remember the 3 people on my staff who work out of Baltimore. I haven't been there yet. I think I need to schedule a trip... soon.
Well, one thing led to another and before I knew it she was asking why this company has such a hard time hiring people in the field offices to do jobs related to Home Office units. "I mean", she says, "don't they know that they can manage people long-distance?"
Um, yeah, I say, that's a hard concept for some people to understand. I go on to explain that I've both done it (managed long-distance) and have been managed that way. So I say "How hard is this to understand, really?" And I ask: "Suppose you were in a long-distance romance. What would you do to make it work across the miles?"
Immediately she had an answer. Apparently she and her now-husband had dated long distance while in college. She said, "oh, it's simple. You'd email, call, write, as often as you could. You'd try to make daily contact somehow, even if it's something little, as if you were really really busy, but still together. Then, you'd plan times each week to talk at more length. You'd carve out the time in your schedules to talk. It doesn't have to be structured while you're on the call, but you commit to a time and keep it if you at all can."
She went on to say "Then, you'd try to see each other every few weeks if you can. Even if it's just a day or a night every 6 weeks or so - you want some face time. Maybe you each have to drive a ways to meet, but you do it because you love each other! And then, just as important, 2 or 3 times a year you plan a trip together, time away, just the two of you, for several days. A long weekend, or a week's vacation. You sacrifice, you make the effort, just because! You are committed to making it work out, and you know you need that time together. You just do it, no matter what. Nothing gets in your way! It's important."
I ask her: "OK, but can this kind of thing be sustained over time?" "Sure!" she says. "People do it all the time. Think of the 2 income professional couples on both coasts, or the military families who are separated for weeks, months, years. They don't give up! They are committed to making it work."
A pause. Silence. She says: "It's like that, isn't it? Without the romance, yes, but it's the same concept. You want to make the situation be the best it can be, given the circumstances, and keep the relationship good, so you put forth the extra effort. You sacrifice in terms of time and travel to make it work, for the sake of both parties. But not everybody wants to sacrifice and put themselves out like that, do they? Not everyone sees preserving something good across the miles as worth the effort - they'd prefer either doing without altogether, or prefer the immediacy of having someone lesser, but close by, to grab when they have a need."
Yes, Julie. Very good. In distance management of any kind, you make it work, because you are committed to a successful relationship with the other person, and that person is valuable to you, even if they are miles away - 100, 500, 1000, 3000. It doesn't matter whether it's a romantic or a family or a work-related relationship. You make sacrifices and work at it; you don't mind the effort because of the reward that follows. You do what you need to do - so that it's successful. Why don't we get that?
Despite my natural introversion, which prefers to shy away from contact, I get it, too. Which is why I was in St. Paul last week visiting work colleagues, and why I'm here this week visiting relatives and friends, alone. I'm trying to make it work. There's relationships that I don't want to lose from neglect. Not to mention the fact that my family circle shrank a bit this last year. I have fewer loved ones left now. So I take vacation, spend some extra money on gas and hotels, and do what's necessary to have even a LITTLE bit of face time with those I love. It's important. I don't always connect with everyone every time, as much as I want, but I hope to do at least some.
Now, I just have to remember the 3 people on my staff who work out of Baltimore. I haven't been there yet. I think I need to schedule a trip... soon.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Fire drills on the road
What a crazy week. In St. Paul for meetings and training, with a full schedule, and then pandemonium breaks out back in Home Office. Critical systems aren't working, and money is missing!
SR. MGMT: "FIND THE PROBLEM!!!"
ME (and several others like me): "I'm on it, sir! Should I cancel my other meetings, sir?"
SR. MGMT: "WHAT?!?! Of course not. Do both! Do everything! Everything is top priority!"
ME, etal: "Certainly, sir! Everything! Immediately, sir!"
ME, etal: "You, Sr. Flunkie, FIND THE PROBLEM! I have important meetings to attend. Keep me informed of your progress."
Sr. Flunkie: "Sir, yes sir! Right away, sir!"
SR. F: "Junior Flunkie! Stop surfing the internet on company time and FIND THE PROBLEM!"
JR. F: "Sir! Oh, I mean, Ma'am, sir! One moment, Ma'am! [hastily puts up 'brb' and 'away' message on AIM] I assure you I was not surfing the 'net, Ma'am, merely communicating something business-related to a co-worker on a non-standard-but-tacitly-approved application widely used in our company for communications. If you please, Ma'am, I believe the problem is THIS, Ma'am!" [explains problem in indecipherable 20-something hipster techie lingo]
SR. F (not wanting to admit lack of hipness, turns the tables): "No, I think YOU are the problem, JR. F! You must tell me why you are NOT the problem!"
JR. F (seeing bluff is called, adopts non-generation-specific approach, namely passes the buck to someone else): "Sir! Or rather Ma'am, Sir! I am not the problem because this other Jr. Flunkie over here is the problem, sir, Ma'am!"
SR. F.: "Of course! That's sensible. Very good, Jr. Flunkie. Dismissed." [Jr. flunkie immediately IM's other flunkies about the newest management fire drill in progress]
Sr. F. to me: "Sir, I have found the problem and it is not me or my flunkies, but these other flunkies over here. They, though excessive use of communications software, are causing an unexpected drain on our critical applications' bandwidth space partition, sir. I'll ask for our partition to be increased, sir."
ME: "Very well. But why wasn't I informed of this before, Sr. F.?"
SR. F.: "Because sir, as you well know, there is never a problem until you say there is one, sir."
ME: "Ah yes, of course. Very good, Sr. Flunkie. You are dismissed."
ME and many others like me simultaneously to Sr. Mgmt.: "Sirs, we have found the problem, and it is a systems error, beyond all of our collective control. It may indeed be an undetected siphoning off of our essential bandwidth, sir, by excessive internal communications applications such as Instant Messaging, which has been rumored to cause cyber-farts in the ether, sir. The systems people should have discovered this during testing, sir, don't you think?"
SR. MGMT.: "Of course, they should have. But, they don't know the business like we do - they are merely programmers. So, in this instance, no heads have to roll. It's just the nature of the world, son. If you saw the BIG PICTURE, like we do in Sr. Mgmt., you wouldn't have gotten this all blown out of proportion the way you did. Really, you can't let routine glitches like cyber-farts cause you to lose focus. It's nothing more than electronic gas, and this too shall pass. :) Go back to your duties now, and let this be a lesson to you."
ME, etal.: "Thank you sir. I deeply appreciate the chance to learn at your feet." Retreats, bowing and scraping.
Ok, so maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but it WAS a bit of a fire drill, getting all kinds of people riled up over a systems problem that SHOULD have been caught in testing. Personally, I think heads SHOULD roll.
But we have way too many unfilled openings as it is. We can't afford for heads to roll. Like the personal ads lament: "Where have all the good men (or women) gone?" What they really mean, of course, is: "where are all the men/women who see past my obvious flaws to my inherent value and desireability, and give me the respect, yea verily, even the admiration I deserve?" Which is pretty much what we want when we go to hire people. I think our company needs more slavishly worshipful grunts to do our bidding. Where have they all gone?
SR. MGMT: "FIND THE PROBLEM!!!"
ME (and several others like me): "I'm on it, sir! Should I cancel my other meetings, sir?"
SR. MGMT: "WHAT?!?! Of course not. Do both! Do everything! Everything is top priority!"
ME, etal: "Certainly, sir! Everything! Immediately, sir!"
ME, etal: "You, Sr. Flunkie, FIND THE PROBLEM! I have important meetings to attend. Keep me informed of your progress."
Sr. Flunkie: "Sir, yes sir! Right away, sir!"
SR. F: "Junior Flunkie! Stop surfing the internet on company time and FIND THE PROBLEM!"
JR. F: "Sir! Oh, I mean, Ma'am, sir! One moment, Ma'am! [hastily puts up 'brb' and 'away' message on AIM] I assure you I was not surfing the 'net, Ma'am, merely communicating something business-related to a co-worker on a non-standard-but-tacitly-approved application widely used in our company for communications. If you please, Ma'am, I believe the problem is THIS, Ma'am!" [explains problem in indecipherable 20-something hipster techie lingo]
SR. F (not wanting to admit lack of hipness, turns the tables): "No, I think YOU are the problem, JR. F! You must tell me why you are NOT the problem!"
JR. F (seeing bluff is called, adopts non-generation-specific approach, namely passes the buck to someone else): "Sir! Or rather Ma'am, Sir! I am not the problem because this other Jr. Flunkie over here is the problem, sir, Ma'am!"
SR. F.: "Of course! That's sensible. Very good, Jr. Flunkie. Dismissed." [Jr. flunkie immediately IM's other flunkies about the newest management fire drill in progress]
Sr. F. to me: "Sir, I have found the problem and it is not me or my flunkies, but these other flunkies over here. They, though excessive use of communications software, are causing an unexpected drain on our critical applications' bandwidth space partition, sir. I'll ask for our partition to be increased, sir."
ME: "Very well. But why wasn't I informed of this before, Sr. F.?"
SR. F.: "Because sir, as you well know, there is never a problem until you say there is one, sir."
ME: "Ah yes, of course. Very good, Sr. Flunkie. You are dismissed."
ME and many others like me simultaneously to Sr. Mgmt.: "Sirs, we have found the problem, and it is a systems error, beyond all of our collective control. It may indeed be an undetected siphoning off of our essential bandwidth, sir, by excessive internal communications applications such as Instant Messaging, which has been rumored to cause cyber-farts in the ether, sir. The systems people should have discovered this during testing, sir, don't you think?"
SR. MGMT.: "Of course, they should have. But, they don't know the business like we do - they are merely programmers. So, in this instance, no heads have to roll. It's just the nature of the world, son. If you saw the BIG PICTURE, like we do in Sr. Mgmt., you wouldn't have gotten this all blown out of proportion the way you did. Really, you can't let routine glitches like cyber-farts cause you to lose focus. It's nothing more than electronic gas, and this too shall pass. :) Go back to your duties now, and let this be a lesson to you."
ME, etal.: "Thank you sir. I deeply appreciate the chance to learn at your feet." Retreats, bowing and scraping.
Ok, so maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but it WAS a bit of a fire drill, getting all kinds of people riled up over a systems problem that SHOULD have been caught in testing. Personally, I think heads SHOULD roll.
But we have way too many unfilled openings as it is. We can't afford for heads to roll. Like the personal ads lament: "Where have all the good men (or women) gone?" What they really mean, of course, is: "where are all the men/women who see past my obvious flaws to my inherent value and desireability, and give me the respect, yea verily, even the admiration I deserve?" Which is pretty much what we want when we go to hire people. I think our company needs more slavishly worshipful grunts to do our bidding. Where have they all gone?
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Bushes, bushes everywhere!
Took out the hedge trimmer this morning at 10, the 50' extention cord, a towel, 2 cans of soda and 4 advil. I was ready to trim the bushes! :) Now it's noon, I'm done, it's 84 degrees already, the towel and all articles of clothing are soaked, the soda is gone and I want 4 more advil before I step into the shower.
These things must have gone at least 4 years without trimming. Various spruces, cedars, some azaleas (almost like hedges), and holly! They all smell so good when trimming them. I think this is going to be a multi-year project to get them matched and balanced. But now I can get to the water meter, the outdoor faucets and outlets! They were REALLY overgrown.
What a busy week this week! Many, many "conversations" with nervous employees waiting to see where they'll be placed. Writing up and vetting my organizational announcement, trying to nail down the occupant of my last senior opening left to fill, keeping my bosses informed and communicating with each other, getting project inventories from all my staff, and the usual meetings meetings meetings... whew! I'm glad I'll be on the road for a while starting Tuesday. I need a break! :)
Heading for St. Paul for a few days on business, and then a few days of vacation, seeing some elusive rarely-sighted migrating family members, and maybe a friend or two, etc., after that. Back on the 10th, for two weeks alone with the dog, as Deb goes to see family and friends from the 9th until the 23rd. We actually pass each other in the airport. :) It's strange. But with no kids, it can work to function a little more independently like this. But I'll have to mow the grass! Yuk. Maybe it will be really dry and it will all turn brown and stop growing. Oh, but then I have to water it... oh well. Guess I have to do some lawn work. I suppose it will keep me off the streets...
The job-hunting saga continues for Jenny. An interview in Naperville on Tuesday with the company I work for! An entry-level claims adjuster position, which could allow a transfer in 2 years or so to the fine arts claim unit where she really wants to work. Plus, there's openings here in New England now in a regional claim office of ours, and her resume' is circulating there. Wouldn't that be strange? And, no, don't even think about it... she'd get an apartment. :)
Jonny will finally get his butt hauled into the eye doctor and the DMV while Deb is back home. Honestly, he's 19. What's so hard about calling Sears Optical, or standing in line for a license renewal? I hope he finds a wife who can manage his life for him. Sometimes he seems so helpless. Maybe that's why girls are so attracted to him. He's like a puppy they can care for and he's soooo cute!
There, I think the perspiration has finally stopped and I can go shower. Then, off for a drive in the car with the newly recharged a/c. Mmmm... cool, man!
These things must have gone at least 4 years without trimming. Various spruces, cedars, some azaleas (almost like hedges), and holly! They all smell so good when trimming them. I think this is going to be a multi-year project to get them matched and balanced. But now I can get to the water meter, the outdoor faucets and outlets! They were REALLY overgrown.
What a busy week this week! Many, many "conversations" with nervous employees waiting to see where they'll be placed. Writing up and vetting my organizational announcement, trying to nail down the occupant of my last senior opening left to fill, keeping my bosses informed and communicating with each other, getting project inventories from all my staff, and the usual meetings meetings meetings... whew! I'm glad I'll be on the road for a while starting Tuesday. I need a break! :)
Heading for St. Paul for a few days on business, and then a few days of vacation, seeing some elusive rarely-sighted migrating family members, and maybe a friend or two, etc., after that. Back on the 10th, for two weeks alone with the dog, as Deb goes to see family and friends from the 9th until the 23rd. We actually pass each other in the airport. :) It's strange. But with no kids, it can work to function a little more independently like this. But I'll have to mow the grass! Yuk. Maybe it will be really dry and it will all turn brown and stop growing. Oh, but then I have to water it... oh well. Guess I have to do some lawn work. I suppose it will keep me off the streets...
The job-hunting saga continues for Jenny. An interview in Naperville on Tuesday with the company I work for! An entry-level claims adjuster position, which could allow a transfer in 2 years or so to the fine arts claim unit where she really wants to work. Plus, there's openings here in New England now in a regional claim office of ours, and her resume' is circulating there. Wouldn't that be strange? And, no, don't even think about it... she'd get an apartment. :)
Jonny will finally get his butt hauled into the eye doctor and the DMV while Deb is back home. Honestly, he's 19. What's so hard about calling Sears Optical, or standing in line for a license renewal? I hope he finds a wife who can manage his life for him. Sometimes he seems so helpless. Maybe that's why girls are so attracted to him. He's like a puppy they can care for and he's soooo cute!
There, I think the perspiration has finally stopped and I can go shower. Then, off for a drive in the car with the newly recharged a/c. Mmmm... cool, man!
Monday, July 24, 2006
Now THAT'S worship!
Went here on Sunday, me for the third time:
http://www.firstcathedral.org/
Wow! I could get real comfortable here. The place is enormous, but so doggone friendly. I don't know if they would have someone like us over to the house for a meal (kind of like the Bernie Mac remake of "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner"), but I sure felt welcome in the service. And the songs are so good and the enthusiasm of the congregation and worship leader and choir so contagious...
Communion is weird with the little "creamer" cups they use - a wafer sealed in plastic, sitting on top of a serving of wine, also sealed in plastic. Like those little flavored half & half cups you get at the gas station. That kind of container. Very modern but... weird. But afterwards when they sing "The Blood Shall Never Lose Its Power" with that slow swing shuffle beat... you forget about the container.
And the pastor - whooeee! You are defiinitely not bored when he preaches... If it wasn't for the prosperity theology that underpins much of the church's philosophy... oh well. And like most predominantly black churches, they are very politically wired in. Sharing the platform on Sunday were Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and the guy she was stumping for, Ned Lamont, the Democratic challenger to Joltin' Joe Lieberman's Senate bid. Not exactly conservatives. What they "preach" on the campaign circuit is not exactly what you hear from the pulpit in this church. I wonder if they allow the opposition to stump, too. At least they waited until the service was over and people could stay or go as they wished. Maybe I'll go back next week and see if Joe is there! :) Go Joe Go!
Switching gears, I had my first staff meeting last week. With real staff, yet! :) Things are finally looking up in that department. Should be able to put out an announcement next week and then... get some real work done!
Now if it would just cool off and stop raining...
Oh, and - did I mention we have a house to sell? We got another offer yesterday, anyway. Lower than the previous one we had gotten. Arghh... they're going backwards!!!
http://www.firstcathedral.org/
Wow! I could get real comfortable here. The place is enormous, but so doggone friendly. I don't know if they would have someone like us over to the house for a meal (kind of like the Bernie Mac remake of "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner"), but I sure felt welcome in the service. And the songs are so good and the enthusiasm of the congregation and worship leader and choir so contagious...
Communion is weird with the little "creamer" cups they use - a wafer sealed in plastic, sitting on top of a serving of wine, also sealed in plastic. Like those little flavored half & half cups you get at the gas station. That kind of container. Very modern but... weird. But afterwards when they sing "The Blood Shall Never Lose Its Power" with that slow swing shuffle beat... you forget about the container.
And the pastor - whooeee! You are defiinitely not bored when he preaches... If it wasn't for the prosperity theology that underpins much of the church's philosophy... oh well. And like most predominantly black churches, they are very politically wired in. Sharing the platform on Sunday were Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and the guy she was stumping for, Ned Lamont, the Democratic challenger to Joltin' Joe Lieberman's Senate bid. Not exactly conservatives. What they "preach" on the campaign circuit is not exactly what you hear from the pulpit in this church. I wonder if they allow the opposition to stump, too. At least they waited until the service was over and people could stay or go as they wished. Maybe I'll go back next week and see if Joe is there! :) Go Joe Go!
Switching gears, I had my first staff meeting last week. With real staff, yet! :) Things are finally looking up in that department. Should be able to put out an announcement next week and then... get some real work done!
Now if it would just cool off and stop raining...
Oh, and - did I mention we have a house to sell? We got another offer yesterday, anyway. Lower than the previous one we had gotten. Arghh... they're going backwards!!!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Priesthood?
Visited another new church this week: a congregational church that left the UCC a few years ago and affiliated last year with the Evangelical Free Church, an old familiar favorite denomination. They had to ask for the liberty to NOT agree to point 11 of the EFCA doctrinal statement (regarding the pretribulational return of Christ), but hey - who doesn't disagree with that? ;)
Anyway, one of the ushers took pains to spend time talking with us before and after, and I instantly liked him. He reminded me of a dear friend where we used to live (Mark M) but 15 years older. Same outgoing, warm, engaging and caring personality - just ... old! Old but full of vitality. My kind of "old" guy... ;) Old on the outside only!
But HOT? Oh my. No A/C in this building either. It's an old building from the 1850's and there's just no way...
Ha! I asked about church planting, do they do that kind of thing, plant new churches? And he said "well sure! We ourselves were a church plant - about 150 years ago." Apparently their "mother" church was formed across the river in 1630. Guess the gestation period here is pretty long for birthing new churches, but - at least they did it once. So now this 150 year old church is birthing a new one down on the coast in a poor community with lots of opportunity for service work. Maybe their biological clock was ticking...
The sermon on this brutally hot day was from 2 Peter, on the subject of the priesthood of all believers. For once, when I read the passage, it struck me that the priestly role the church has is essentially and subtantively ministry to God, service to Him, not primarily to the rest of the world, either in evangelism or social action. Those things are commanded of us, yes, but still ancillary to our primary purpose of offering ourselves in service to God in whatever role He guides us to. It's not unlike the Old Testament priesthood, where many priests were given duties in worship/music, or temple care, or people care, or scripture care (scribes), but all were separated out for service, and some were appointed to serve constantly in the temple making offerings before God, which was the highest call to service there was. Service to people's needs or witness to the nations never superceded that - it attended it, accompanied it, but never came before it. The same in the New Testament in Acts when the deacons were called to serve the people so the Apostles could attend to prayer and the Word. Service to the world was ancillary and an extention of the primary call of service to God.
Hm. I got it, I think. Even though the pastor was on vacation and it was an elder who preached. He fell victim to the same temptation every elder does who gets to substitute for the pastor. He stuffed 10 pounds of sausage into a 5 pound casing. 40 minutes of sermon instead of 20. I was getting faint toward the end and had to go out to the car and sit in the air conditioning for 10 minutes. When I got back he was still preaching...
Guess I've done the same thing myself especially years ago when I first preached. I've learned since then to write it, time it, cut it, time it, cut it, and then read it verbatim (with great feeling, of course) to keep within people's absorbatory limits. Is that a word? Absorbatory? Hm. It is now.
Anyway, one of the ushers took pains to spend time talking with us before and after, and I instantly liked him. He reminded me of a dear friend where we used to live (Mark M) but 15 years older. Same outgoing, warm, engaging and caring personality - just ... old! Old but full of vitality. My kind of "old" guy... ;) Old on the outside only!
But HOT? Oh my. No A/C in this building either. It's an old building from the 1850's and there's just no way...
Ha! I asked about church planting, do they do that kind of thing, plant new churches? And he said "well sure! We ourselves were a church plant - about 150 years ago." Apparently their "mother" church was formed across the river in 1630. Guess the gestation period here is pretty long for birthing new churches, but - at least they did it once. So now this 150 year old church is birthing a new one down on the coast in a poor community with lots of opportunity for service work. Maybe their biological clock was ticking...
The sermon on this brutally hot day was from 2 Peter, on the subject of the priesthood of all believers. For once, when I read the passage, it struck me that the priestly role the church has is essentially and subtantively ministry to God, service to Him, not primarily to the rest of the world, either in evangelism or social action. Those things are commanded of us, yes, but still ancillary to our primary purpose of offering ourselves in service to God in whatever role He guides us to. It's not unlike the Old Testament priesthood, where many priests were given duties in worship/music, or temple care, or people care, or scripture care (scribes), but all were separated out for service, and some were appointed to serve constantly in the temple making offerings before God, which was the highest call to service there was. Service to people's needs or witness to the nations never superceded that - it attended it, accompanied it, but never came before it. The same in the New Testament in Acts when the deacons were called to serve the people so the Apostles could attend to prayer and the Word. Service to the world was ancillary and an extention of the primary call of service to God.
Hm. I got it, I think. Even though the pastor was on vacation and it was an elder who preached. He fell victim to the same temptation every elder does who gets to substitute for the pastor. He stuffed 10 pounds of sausage into a 5 pound casing. 40 minutes of sermon instead of 20. I was getting faint toward the end and had to go out to the car and sit in the air conditioning for 10 minutes. When I got back he was still preaching...
Guess I've done the same thing myself especially years ago when I first preached. I've learned since then to write it, time it, cut it, time it, cut it, and then read it verbatim (with great feeling, of course) to keep within people's absorbatory limits. Is that a word? Absorbatory? Hm. It is now.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Alternating Current
The sermon this morning at the Episcopal church (the last one here before the search for a church moves elsewhere) was a good one. This is the regular guy, the head dude, who they call a rector. Hm. Then there's the sexton, and the vestry... more terms of vague anglo-saxon origin. It all feels very... what? 17th century. :)
So, he's preaching from the Epistle for the day, which I gather somebody a few hundred years ago said SHOULD be the Epistle lesson on this particular Sunday. He's in Corinthians where Paul is talking about the thorn in his flesh, which God arranged for Satan to harass him with, to keep him from getting too uppity over the vision of Paradise he had 14 long years before.
Now, I've heard people say that "you should never get too happy with your situation or pleased with your life, because God will have to come along and smack you - send you tragedy - to bring you back to reality." And I usually think "that's nonsense, God doesn't do that kind of thing, doesn't send you tragedy because you're too ecstatic about your life." But boy, in the divinely inspired Word from today's lesson, which is infallible, without error in the original languages, it certainly sounds like that's what He did to Paul - spot on, in fact. "...to keep me from becoming too exalted" he puts it. Hm.
Anyway, the preacher used that illustration to describe our lives on earth as if they were AC, alternating current, where the electrical charge goes out from the power source to the end of the circuit and then returns, back and forth, back and forth, a bazillion times a second or so. Or thereabouts. Approximately. :)
Negative/positive/negative/positive/negative/positive, etc.
Except our lives alternate from failure to success, from tragedy to victory, from ecstacy to despondency, from joy to grief, from hope to despair, from plans destroyed to dreams realized, acceptance to abandonment, from frustration to ease, from encouragement to discouragement, etc., etc. His point was that God sends the times of great pleasure to help us get through the times of sadness that are inevitable in this life, AND that the difficult times are also sent from Him to keep us both humble and dependent on His grace.
It made me think, as a statistician would (good grief! during the sermon yet!) of statistical distributions. The normal curve. I suppose an engineer would think of an oscilloscope and accomplish the same thing, but I like my example better.
The normal or "bell" curve has as much of the probability on the left side as on the right - it's symmetrical. See below:
Random events (or at least events that APPEAR to be random to our eyes - but that's another discussion) fall equally on either side of the middle (the 50th percentile of probability and the mean of the distribution.) The shaded areas represent standard deviations from the mean. And in the Standard Normal curve, one standard deviation around the mean contains about 2/3 of the events that happen. 2 standard deviations (2SD) contain 95% of the things that happen.
This curve describes lots of natural phenomena, and we can see a lot of life events happening this way, too. Good stuff, bad stuff, happy times, sad times, mostly falling fairly close to the middle ground, the "happy medium". I think people differ, though in what their "medium" is. I know people whose "medium", whose normal setting, is NOT at all happy, but rather blah or even morose. And I know others whose medium is almost giddy compared to mine. Seems like those with a "medium" that's pretty positive could stand to help those whose medium is not so upbeat...
But does God "set" the mean of the distribution for people? Does He set mine different from yours, by the events He sends into my life? Does He push for "balance" and "symmetry"? The yin needs the yang, etc.? If not, then what is Paul talking about? Is his experience normative or unique?
Then I got to thinking (and I can here some of you say "and just when was this, during communion?" - noooo. During the canticle for the day which tune I didn't know. Sorry.) about another statistical principle. Kurtosis. Kurtosis, I said! Not ketosis as in the low carb diet phase when you are burning fat and your breath tastes like aluminum foil, no... Kurtosis.
Kurtosis describes how tall or flat the curve is. In other words, how close are most events to the middle? With some people, the events in their life don't vary a lot from the "middle" - they don't have wild highs and brutal lows. They just kind of go along without a lot of variation from one day to the next, one month from the next, one year to the next. They live in the same place for a long time, work for the same company for years, have the same friends, do the same things. Their curve is tall. See below:
Others have a flat, broad, curve, where the events of their lives are spread quite far from the middle. What's normal for these people? Change, I think. Big emotional swings, too, maybe. Over the last couple of years, I have felt like the kurtosis of my life has been changing, making the distribution even flatter than ever before. Big swings in emotions and in life events. I think I still have a "normal" setting, but I'm not sure what it is anymore. I suppose I cross paths with it from time to time as I'm swinging by the middle on my way to something else that's extreme...
I think I could go for a little more height in my curve, God, ok? And the middle? Could you push it a little more to the right, please? Thanks for listening. I'll just wait if you don't mind. :)
So, he's preaching from the Epistle for the day, which I gather somebody a few hundred years ago said SHOULD be the Epistle lesson on this particular Sunday. He's in Corinthians where Paul is talking about the thorn in his flesh, which God arranged for Satan to harass him with, to keep him from getting too uppity over the vision of Paradise he had 14 long years before.
Now, I've heard people say that "you should never get too happy with your situation or pleased with your life, because God will have to come along and smack you - send you tragedy - to bring you back to reality." And I usually think "that's nonsense, God doesn't do that kind of thing, doesn't send you tragedy because you're too ecstatic about your life." But boy, in the divinely inspired Word from today's lesson, which is infallible, without error in the original languages, it certainly sounds like that's what He did to Paul - spot on, in fact. "...to keep me from becoming too exalted" he puts it. Hm.
Anyway, the preacher used that illustration to describe our lives on earth as if they were AC, alternating current, where the electrical charge goes out from the power source to the end of the circuit and then returns, back and forth, back and forth, a bazillion times a second or so. Or thereabouts. Approximately. :)
Negative/positive/negative/positive/negative/positive, etc.
Except our lives alternate from failure to success, from tragedy to victory, from ecstacy to despondency, from joy to grief, from hope to despair, from plans destroyed to dreams realized, acceptance to abandonment, from frustration to ease, from encouragement to discouragement, etc., etc. His point was that God sends the times of great pleasure to help us get through the times of sadness that are inevitable in this life, AND that the difficult times are also sent from Him to keep us both humble and dependent on His grace.
It made me think, as a statistician would (good grief! during the sermon yet!) of statistical distributions. The normal curve. I suppose an engineer would think of an oscilloscope and accomplish the same thing, but I like my example better.
The normal or "bell" curve has as much of the probability on the left side as on the right - it's symmetrical. See below:
Random events (or at least events that APPEAR to be random to our eyes - but that's another discussion) fall equally on either side of the middle (the 50th percentile of probability and the mean of the distribution.) The shaded areas represent standard deviations from the mean. And in the Standard Normal curve, one standard deviation around the mean contains about 2/3 of the events that happen. 2 standard deviations (2SD) contain 95% of the things that happen.
This curve describes lots of natural phenomena, and we can see a lot of life events happening this way, too. Good stuff, bad stuff, happy times, sad times, mostly falling fairly close to the middle ground, the "happy medium". I think people differ, though in what their "medium" is. I know people whose "medium", whose normal setting, is NOT at all happy, but rather blah or even morose. And I know others whose medium is almost giddy compared to mine. Seems like those with a "medium" that's pretty positive could stand to help those whose medium is not so upbeat...
But does God "set" the mean of the distribution for people? Does He set mine different from yours, by the events He sends into my life? Does He push for "balance" and "symmetry"? The yin needs the yang, etc.? If not, then what is Paul talking about? Is his experience normative or unique?
Then I got to thinking (and I can here some of you say "and just when was this, during communion?" - noooo. During the canticle for the day which tune I didn't know. Sorry.) about another statistical principle. Kurtosis. Kurtosis, I said! Not ketosis as in the low carb diet phase when you are burning fat and your breath tastes like aluminum foil, no... Kurtosis.
Kurtosis describes how tall or flat the curve is. In other words, how close are most events to the middle? With some people, the events in their life don't vary a lot from the "middle" - they don't have wild highs and brutal lows. They just kind of go along without a lot of variation from one day to the next, one month from the next, one year to the next. They live in the same place for a long time, work for the same company for years, have the same friends, do the same things. Their curve is tall. See below:
Others have a flat, broad, curve, where the events of their lives are spread quite far from the middle. What's normal for these people? Change, I think. Big emotional swings, too, maybe. Over the last couple of years, I have felt like the kurtosis of my life has been changing, making the distribution even flatter than ever before. Big swings in emotions and in life events. I think I still have a "normal" setting, but I'm not sure what it is anymore. I suppose I cross paths with it from time to time as I'm swinging by the middle on my way to something else that's extreme...
I think I could go for a little more height in my curve, God, ok? And the middle? Could you push it a little more to the right, please? Thanks for listening. I'll just wait if you don't mind. :)
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
It's a scorcher out there
Wow! Is it ever hot! 90, sunny, humid... ugh. And to think some people like this stuff.
But this is New England. Why should it be like Savannah around here? Oy!
So, I stay inside today. Yesterday I built shelving for the garage wall, to get all the junk up and off the floor. Getting pretty close to fitting one car inside!
It would have been so much easier if we had sold that big living room sectional while still in the Midwest, but... a consignment place is coming later this week. Maybe they'll take it. Still have 4 dining room chairs, a stereo/TV cabinet, a computer desk, two iorental rugs. Someone! Buy our stuff!
But last night, I retreated from the heat to the existential coolness of the Lounge. Not only is it cool in the sense of hipster cool, but also very cool in the sense of air conditioning cool! :) :) :)
Reading Gods and Generals now, by Jeff Schaara, which I picked up at a bookstore at a Civil War battlefield on the way back from WIlliamsburg earlier this month. Is it ever good! He gets inside the heads of some of the men who were torn between love of homeland and duty to country. Cried a bit last night at one passage... I think I'm getting maudlin as I get older. :)
But I actually wrapped a throw around my legs because I got cold! Ahhhhh... almost like December. And the music in the Lounge - last night was Hawaii Calls from the 60's. Groovy, baby! Makes you want to light the tiki torches.
But this is New England. Why should it be like Savannah around here? Oy!
So, I stay inside today. Yesterday I built shelving for the garage wall, to get all the junk up and off the floor. Getting pretty close to fitting one car inside!
It would have been so much easier if we had sold that big living room sectional while still in the Midwest, but... a consignment place is coming later this week. Maybe they'll take it. Still have 4 dining room chairs, a stereo/TV cabinet, a computer desk, two iorental rugs.
But last night, I retreated from the heat to the existential coolness of the Lounge. Not only is it cool in the sense of hipster cool, but also very cool in the sense of air conditioning cool! :) :) :)
Reading Gods and Generals now, by Jeff Schaara, which I picked up at a bookstore at a Civil War battlefield on the way back from WIlliamsburg earlier this month. Is it ever good! He gets inside the heads of some of the men who were torn between love of homeland and duty to country. Cried a bit last night at one passage... I think I'm getting maudlin as I get older. :)
But I actually wrapped a throw around my legs because I got cold! Ahhhhh... almost like December. And the music in the Lounge - last night was Hawaii Calls from the 60's. Groovy, baby! Makes you want to light the tiki torches.
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