Delightful Gift, Excellent Carseat, Early Anniversary Meal

My wife & I love the character "Mater" from the Cars movie, & have given ourselves a couple little toys for display & fondling close by our work areas, & enjoy making Mater jokes & referring to the character from time to time. We spent time together today celebrating our anniversary a day early, & after returning to our home, my wife gave me the gift she had picked out for me: an incredibly delightful, funky & fun Mater radio/alarm combo *:-) It is hilarious, & has actual audio clips from the movie in Mater's voice that are used as the wake up message. Helluva a lot of fun to listen to *:-) Well, then the fun really begins *:-) The instructions for setting the time, establishing the alarm time & sequence, & for finding the radio station we want remind me of when the very first stuff started to arrive from Japan, & yes I am old enough to remember when "made in Japan" was a very derogatory thing to say about a product. Well, no one actually knows where this product was made, because all the literature vaguely refers to import sites in New York and Canada, but nothing really specific as to where it was made or as to where the impossible to follow instructions were written. I will be spending time figuring it out, because we love the crazy thing, & about every 15 minutes tonight while we were watching a dvd, Mater blasted out his wake up message in an uncontrolled manner, & after about 7 times of that, I had to take the batteries out *:-)

We dropped by our granddaughter's home this afternoon so we could have her mom & dad give approval to the very excellent new carseat we purchased so that we can truly be helpful grandparents & so they won't have to worry about our granddaughter when she is with us in our car. Our granddaughter was asleep, but that was fine, & our son came out to the car & checked it out and approved our installation *:-) My wife stayed in the house with our daughter in law, who is ready to give birth any day now, & was radiantly beautiful with the birth process coming down on her very quickly. I felt honored to see her in that state *:-)

I took my wife to the Indian restaurant that I recently discovered with my work colleagues & she really liked the food too, so hopefully we can meet up there sometimes *:-)

Saint-Tropez? Well, Almost *:-)

So wonderfully beautiful & warm, with ocean breezes here today! As I drove along the ocean coast during my lunch hour, viewing the distant hills over the perfect bay waters, with small white caps, sail boats, power boats, and smaller craft moving freely and happily about on the water, the thought of Saint-Tropez came to my mind and I was grateful that I could enjoy such a wonderful day *:-)

Today's staff meeting washed more of the masks off, and we are beginning to see each other for what we really are. That is good, but not comfortable. Several staff members paired off after the meeting and went for long walks outside to find their new places in the scheme of things. The report I gave was well received by the senior managers in the room, but was uncomfortable for a particular faction that is attempting a coup by usurpation of mandate. Who knows what will happen next?

Software Imperative; Headhunter Calls

We are discovering, partly because I am doing the discovering, that our software packages currently installed on our desktops is not matching the requirements of what we believe will be our new mandate. Today I recommended to senior management, after conferring with the IT Manager, that we needed to upgrade several desktop apps. This will be one way to find out if the Super Big Biggies are really intending us to stay in business, or if they are just going to let us bleed to death slowly.

The reason I bring that up is that I got an offer from a county office to take a position that I applied for 2 years ago, and which I wanted quite a bit. The hiring officer agreed, after hearing what I was currently making and what I was currently doing, that it might be close to a wash, but he and I like each other and I would also be good at doing that job, so we have agreed to sit down and talk it over in a couple weeks. It is hard for me to know if the position I have now will continue past fall 2008, or even if it will last that long. I believe the county job would last longer, but it also would be vulnerable to budget cut backs, so this is a bit of a tough one. I am asking for guidance and I believe I will be shown the right road to take. Nice to be wanted though *:-)

Moodle Schwag, Forums, Courses

Its been a Moodle day for us Moodlums *:-) I got my Moodle hat, & some magnetic thingies, and some buttons for the learners who successfully complete my trainings, & most important for me, two books that are the best ones for learning/using Moodle. The company will reimburse me for the stuff I use in the trainings, buy not my hat *:-( I spent quite a bit of time in the forums and looking around in the lounge, & actually got a personal helpful email from one of the Moodle staff pointing me in the right direction after I posted in the wrong place.
Tomorrow is planned for me to actually begin building courses, & I hope that will happen. We will see.

Indian Food *:-)

Cool. There is a new Indian food restaurant in town, & our team went there for lunch today & it is very good! I think my son & perhaps my daughter have already been there & mentioned it, but I am not sure if I remember that correctly. When the 4 of us were in the middle of the meal, the owner, an Indian man but dressed western style, came over & asked us how things were, and we all agreed they were excellent. He made some remark and I realized that I could respond by using my very limited Hindi, which I did, and he was slightly taken aback briefly & then said "Oh of course, you have been to India & you have learned some basic & helpful words & phrases". He had the traditional Indian mask of non-commitment, but I believe the interchange was pleasant for him & it was for my colleagues & I as well. Fun! Good Food! Why Not?! *:-)

Foggy Journey, Metamorphosis Affective Disorder, Moodlum

The virtual dust & residue thicken on the few artifacts of the old workplace still standing, but all the windows are broken, letting the fog into the structure, which gets blown back out through the disintegrating roof. Senior managers are now feeling the loss, which I am hereby naming "Metamorphosis Affective Disorder" -"MAD" [(c) 2007 OurAutumnBlog] because some of them got reduced in grade, and some of them have had to lay their people down. The senior managers are depressed, and this is dangerous for those of us who have already moved past the moment of destruction which happened last week, and are working hard to build a new starship. I am preparing 6 trainings for staff development to support the changes that are happening, and I hosted a meeting for the managers today, and the trainings all got thumbs up, but when I said I only wanted those who have been kept to attend the trainings, immediate resistance was spoken by the managers, who want to let those who have been laid off but are working out their 2 month severance work life "be let down gently, and to still feel part of the workplace". I understand their desire, but I don't want to waste time & energy on people who will be negative coming in to the trainings and won't give anything back after the training. I will probably lose this one *:-)

Last Friday I got a call from a colleague at my former workplace, both of us veterans of the US Army, and he said the local VA office has been trying to get in touch with me. I interviewed with the local VA office for a Veteran's Service Representative position, and I placed first in all the assessments, including the face to face interview. They wanted me, and talked to me, but then at the last moment a senior VSR from another city in this state wanted to spend his last year of service on the coast, where he wanted to retire, so he bumped me and they didn't get to hire anyone and had to take him. Possibly he has retired now, and maybe they want me to go back through the process. Don't know. I found all the info this evening and will call them tomorrow *:-)

I plan to get certified in Moodle (becoming a "Moodlum"), so if anyone out there knows of any reason I would be wasting my time doing so, please let me know *:-)

Shiva Dancing, Five Stages, Walk In The Woods

Shiva is wonderfully engaged in dancing the dissolution of the former place of my employment, & is dancing the birth of the new place of my employment. I shall endeavor to enjoy the dance, add my own music to the celebration, & go with the flow of creation.

All of us who are participating in the dance with Shiva are cycling through the five stages of loss, & I have a poster in my cube that reminds me what they are, & that they are inevitable, & that they can be moved through safely with a little help from grace.

What a tasty treat yesterday! We got a spontaneous call from our son & his family: an invitation to meet them in a park that is located in the environment we live in, instead of the usual city park that gets trodden in tandem. We were thrilled with the opportunity to see & be with our 19 month old granddaughter in places that we believe are very special & unique, which she cannot see or be in anywhere else in the world. She was just brilliant, a real trooper, & made it through the whole experience, including getting up close & personal to a real steam train. She seems very well socialized, so kudos to my son & his wife, & she is taking the bumps, cuts & bruises of her life so far in stride. We had a really good time, & are filled up with good feelings. Thanks you guys *:-)

Dark Nebula Passes, New Star In Birth Canal

Dark Nebula has died, squeezed into non-existence by forces of nature and chaos. Total silence. Total darkness. Total nothing. Total null.

At a meeting lasting 14 minutes today, the management team handed out copies of the new organization chart, without names until everyone who will be laid off is told in person.

I got my appointment with the Interim Acting Executive Director about 40 minutes after the meeting ended, and I am happy to report that I am still employed, still have the same title, and will receive at least the same amount of money that I am now getting *:-) I am grateful *:-)

So...what's next? We don't know for sure. We just know that a new star is being born, and has not yet taken sufficient shape for us mortals to recognize & name it.

That is enough for today.

Late Night Blinkers, Packed Key In Purse

Yesterday afternoon, when I returned from getting the dvds, I put my emergency flashers on while I was backing up into our hilly parking space, as I always do, & was extra careful because of the kids that were visiting next door for their Father's Day celebration. I forgot to turn the blinkers off *:-( -Seven hours later, when closing up the house & getting ready to turn in for the night, I noticed the reflection of my blinkers on the house across the way & realized what I had done. I dressed quickly, went out to turn them off & tried to try to start the car, which of course would not start because the battery was way too low to turn the engine over. Still, all was not lost, because that gave me a chance to charge up our emergency battery booster over night, & when I went out this morning & hooked up the booster, the engine, although complaining, did turn over & I was able to leave the car running about 30 minutes while parked to get some juice into the battery. Although I am carrying the booster around with me, I have not had to use it today *:-)

In addition to a couple urgent calls for support for some of the men in the men's group I work with, also my wife called me in a dizzy tizzy because she could not find the key to the rental car even though she had it in her hand a few minutes prior, & she was due to leave for work immediately. I recommended she call a taxi & get it to bring her down to my workplace, then she could transfer all her stuff into my car, take my car, & then pick me up at 9 p.m. after she got off work. She sort of agreed to that, but then after a couple minutes I changed my mind & called her & said I would drive up to get her & she did not need to call a taxi. Ten minutes after I was on the road to get her, what do you guess happened...

Yup, she found the key. -All's well that end's well *:-)

Peaceful Day, Dizzy & Nauseous Wife, Chocolate Father's Day Cake

This Sunday, today, which happened to be Father's Day, was peaceful. Our neighbors had a fairly loud, raucous family outdoor party going on, but our home is very well built & we could not hear the noise unless we were outside. I got a call from my eldest son to wish me happy Father's Day, who was pretty worn out because he and his family attended a family gathering on Saturday (not ours) which included a sleep-over, & his 18 month old daughter had a little trouble sleeping, so of course he did too, since he is the dad *:-) Happy Father's Day son *:-) Thanks for giving me the call too *:-) My father is dead, so I cannot call him.

My wife fell ill mid-morning today with dizzy spells & nausea, which arrive every few months, which made the day unpleasant for her, but we were ok with it because we could be together, & we did not have any heavy pressures on us, & there wasn't much pain, so no worries. She was able to get a little of the work done that she needs to complete for her upcoming show, but not as much as planned & she didn't enjoy it as much as usual. I don't know the name for what she is experiencing, & neither does she.

My daughter did not communicate with me today, but I don't worry about that either, because sooner or later everyone gets to the same point about their parents, so everything will happen in its own time.

I made a brief trip to the dvd library because we didn't have much to watch, and since my wife is not feeling well, we thought some diversion would be good. While out doing that, I also went to the grocery store, and in addition to the regular stuff to get us through the week, I bought one piece of vegan chocolate cake *:-) We shared it when I got home (after micro-waving it for exactly 22 seconds), and it was good *:-) Happy Father's Day me *:-)

Cease Fire, Rest & Recuperation

Bliss today. I was given a full day with my wife, & we were able to do peaceful daily activities that were natural, full of pleasant social interaction, and productive. No incoming small arms fire from Dark Nebula, and the mortars, RPGs & missiles were quiet too. I have been very active and in the front lines during the last 2 weeks, and this R&R is needed and I am grateful. I did not do heavy physical labor today either, because my feet, ankles & knees are still healing from the efforts of the last several weeks. All in all, a restful & fulfilling day.

Something special happened also. My youngest son, from whom I have been pretty much estranged for many years, sent me a father's day card that said for the very first time, he can truly say "thank you" for me being his father, and he also made reference to my spiritual practice as being something he appreciates also. Very big deal, and with tears in my eyes, I called him to make sure he knows I appreciate him sharing his feelings with me. Very cool *:-)

TGFT, Apple Store, Mad Hatter

Wow, what a week....

Thank God For Trance, which keeps my brain slate clean, so I can catch all the data coming in and process it as quickly as possible.

Fabulous, just fabulous, results for my wife from her natural dye workshop...the colors are truly some of the most beautiful I have ever seen....way to go *:-)

I got to visit an Apple Store for the very first time! I loved it! I want to go back! I want to take my wife! My MacBookPro was down to 84MB of available space, which means I could not do anything. It has been getting worse and worse for several months now, and although I researched diligently, spent an entire Saturday looking at the size of every file on the machine, I could not find the huge block of space that was not available. I gave up. I booked an appointment with the Genius Bar, and took it in. It took even the genius 1.5 hours to fix it, but it is totally ok now. Way back, more than a year ago, because I work for a government organization and sometimes have data about minors on my machine, I had set up File Vault to always run, and boy did it ever do a good job *:-) File Vault had diligently locked up 68.4GB, yes, that's GigaBytes, of data, and was in the process of consuming nearly my whole hard drive, but it couldn't be seen with the properties tools that I had on the standard software on the mac. The Genius Bar guy used "WhatSize", a shareware tool, to determine where the problem was, and then we spent a lot of time figuring strategies to be able to do anything since the mac was nearly completely locked up on disk space. I had my 120GB external drive with me, and we were able to use that to move stuff around. Deleting the files, once they had been moved, took 23 minutes just for that. I picked up one small software package while I was at the store to enhance my Keynote stuff, and then went back to work. That same night, I was so happy that I stayed up until 1 a.m. creating the Keynote preso I was to give the next day. Very cool. I am happy to have my mac back *:-) I also purchased the ProCare card, which is very excellent looking, and have already used it to get one of our other, older macs in for the annual tune up. Like I said, I am happy *:-)

I wore a "Mad Hatter" top hat today, complete with the little paper notice sticking out of the brim, for the presentation I gave. The presentation was well received *:-)

Have Fun *:-)

Pedagogically Black, Natural Dye, & Trust

Excellent learning experience for me on Saturday, as I delivered a sponsored training to a room full of well educated, mono-ethnicity educators. I was not aware that the participants would all be of one race, & as a result of that I was privileged to observe an entire day of teaching & learning delivery systems that I don't have in my bag of tricks. My training was well received, and I got enough input to build on my own skills to last me a year or so. Cool.

My wife is a passionate fiber artist, and she hosted a natural dye workshop on our property this weekend, and it was a fulfilling and valid learning experience for everyone, and all seemed to have had a positive and enjoyable experience. Good on ya, girl *:-)

Dark Nebula continues to rotate slowly in a universe of silence, but as a result of last weeks intervention by two professionals, I have a mandate to develop trainings based on answers to the question "How shall we develop trust?" I have some materials on order & have already begun changing my behaviour, because in a private email to me from the intervening professional facilitators after the workshop, they said that I had been identified as a primary role model for the other employees, and so it makes sense for me to do my best to turn Dark Nebula into the best place it can be. I have started *:-)

Oasis Of Healing During 10-Hour Ceasefire

A 10-hour ceasefire was negotiated for yesterday between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., so that the two high level negotiators who were brought in could meet with everyone, including all management and staff, in a day-long gloves-off common session which got all emotional issues on the table, and then during the second half of the negotiations, discovered some stepping stones that we can lay down, if we choose to, to create a path out of the war zone with minimal damage to personnel and the organization. I made significant commitments to change, and I am at peace now with the challenges coming, and my place in them. I grew personally quite a bit in the experience, so it was "good for me" *:-)

All Peace To Dark Nebula And Those Who Dwell Upon It

At dawn tomorrow, the first small crackle of energy toward positive change on Dark Nebula will begin to seep toward the workplace I inhabit. A team of neutral, third-party change facilitators will be working with all inhabitants of Dark Nebula in an all-day workshop, to begin the process of aligning toward the future with a minimum of collateral damage. I wish all participants well, and I wish for all the help I can get in participating openly and honestly, to ensure that my own future is constructed of what is best for me and for all.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Dark Nebula Shelled, Suffers Mortar Attacks

I am looking madly for my flak jacket and my steel helmet as the management structure is hit by shells & mortars, and the structure of Dark Nebula continues to crumble. I am making the effort to continue to have fun through all of this, but I may be injured or killed by the warfare in progress. I am content to know that I have significant value to offer in the workplace, & if Dark Nebula falls to the forces of darkness (2 of whom were seen quickly exiting the back door at 6 pm last night) then I shall make my escape as possible, and find another planet to continue my work life on. I am actually getting bored with all this stuff, and my impulse is to just cut the cord and jump. However, I am modifying my personal desires to take into consideration my family and the worlds they live in also. I do not want to begin a series of mini-explosions related to the fall of Dark Nebula, and I will wait just a little longer *:-)

Going With The Flow

A dilemma was presented to me yesterday (Saturday), between two mutually exclusive choices:

1. Attend the "sprinkle" (they said it was going to be too small to be called a "shower") to celebrate the second near-full term pregnancy of our daughter-in-law, who is wife to our son who just had emergency surgery last Monday.

2. Continue the preparation work for the major workshop that my wife is hosting on the grounds of our home next weekend, which includes fire safety issues, heavy objects being moved about, and fairly major visual adjustments so that the attendees can focus on the workshop uninterrupted.

Because I used the Memorial Day holiday to support my son during the surgery process, I needed to spend yesterday installing support structures for the propane-fired burners that will be used, and continuing the moving of objects that need to be cleared out of the way for the workshop. So, I did not attend the sprinkle *:-)

There is so much work to do, and since I will be traveling next Saturday, I have requested a vacation day for tomorrow so that I have a chance to get as much done as I can. Have Fun *:-)

Dark Nebula, Drifting; No Hope For One Year

An emotional meeting today with two representatives from company HR, one of whom is a lawyer! The same basic message: "Many of you will die, deal with it. Oh, & by the way, we (HR) are here to screen the big biggies, who injected you with this disruption, from any feedback on what it is doing to all of you employees, and so no, you can't communicate with them and no, we won't be inviting them to any of the meetings". Boring, actually.

I have decided to prepare a new job description for myself, & submit it to my boss. At least then I can say I shared my vision, & who knows, perhaps I will get what I ask for *:-) I have been encouraged to assume there is a reasonable chance I will be kept, so what the hell, I may as well play along, since they are still paying me *:-)

My beautiful wife pulled out some of the clothes that our children wore when they were just wee ones, & seeing them pulled at my heartstrings. Tiny suit jackets, tiny hats, & the like. I don't know why they had that effect, but they did. We are looking at 3 new grandchildren over the next few months, & that will change our priorities. I am hoping to stay employed so we can provide this & that when needed.

Road Trip, Office Stress, Underarm Odor

A colleague & I were given the interesting task of driving a rented lift-gate truck half-way across the state to the location of the brand-new home that the Former Executive Director, recently indicted for embezzlement, had used to store equipment that belongs to the organization. He has lost the home to the bank & we needed to get the equipment out before the home was resold. The trip was through very beautiful country & went smoothly, & the realtor met us shortly after we arrived. I was actually hoping to see the indicted Former Executive Director to get a picture of how he was doing, but apparently he has fled into sanctity with relatives in a large city nearby, after turning himself in via the warrant for his arrest. We also heard on the day of the trip that a several hundred thousand dollar check for restitution of what he is accused of embezzling has been received by the organization.
For the rest of the day, after returning in mid-afternoon & giving the student assistants thrills by letting them ride up & down on the hydraulic lift gate *:-), there were many small but intense moments when flare-ups between employees threatened to spill over into outright conflict. This did not have to do with me specifically, but being in the environment I was impacted. The crisis level has finally reached the point, via a threatening email sent to four specific individuals in the organization (not me), that management has belatedly taken the action I recommended in early February and is holding a mandatory all-hands all-day workshop next week, using outside professional trainers, the same ones I recommended, to help overcome the dangerous stress levels.
Our son seems to be recovering very well from his emergency operation, & we are very grateful that he did not have to suffer the life-threatening consequences that would have happened if he did not have the surgery.