Dark Nebula Gets Bytten

The Big Biggie made it perfectly clear in his presentation that he wants obvious and easy to see change in the organization, so his bosses will be assured that he did a good job in cleaning up the "mess" made by the Former Executive Director. He defined which departments were "going away", and which would be "leaned", and also left some unaddressed until further study.

He made it very clear that the organization is NOT a service organization any more, but is now to be a Repository of compelling content that is easily delivered to anyone who wants to use it, and for free! Obviously, the headcount won't be as high as it is now, and also obviously, no new hiring will be happening. Also, the limits to what sort of content should be available have not fully been defined, but will still need to serve the ultimate goals of the University of Blueberry Syrup, and the taxpayers, who are paying for all this.

In addition, he demands that all content be formed into byte size pieces, so that users can quickly grab only the morsel they are specifically looking for, kind of like rats sneaking from the walls, grabbing pieces of excellent cheese from a fine French kitchen, then scampering off to their holes without paying, and consuming the tidbits there *:-) I've been doing that on the web for years, so no surprises there, but what tidbits to put in the kitchen? I have decided to call each tidbit that I will be creating an EduChunk (c) 2007, and will check to make sure nobody else is using that, then I will copyright it *:-)

Have Fun *:-)

Dark Nebula Hears Voices From The Future

One of the Big Biggies came to town today and spent 60 minutes providing a still vague outline of what we will be doing as an organization in the future. A firm promise was made to provide a very clear and written description of the strategic plan to all of us on April 1st. We shall see. I was not disappointed with the words that were machine-gunned at us, and I have no problem following the predicted return to core values and mission from which the organization had strayed far and wide under the captaincy of the Former Executive Director, who is now out on bail. What fun *:-)

Dark Nebula Gets Too Much Sun

Now that I have stopped ROFL, and the guffaws and snickers of my co-workers are no longer able to be heard outside their cubicles, I can tell the tale of too much sun.

One of our Directors was charged with the responsibility to create the PR spin paragraphs that would be issued to all of us as the official words that we are allowed to say when queried about our Former Executive Director, who is charged with evading arrest and embezzlement, and after many long hours of working with legal counsel and the Directors upline management, the Director had the final document ready to issue, which was based on mark-ups and changes that had been emailed to him from the legal eagles and his management. OK, then, ready to go. Not.

We received the covering email that said the attached documents were ok to use as the basis for our spoken responses, and also that if pressed, we could just email the spun FAQs directly. Ooops. I was one of the first to open the email, and when I clicked on the attachment, I noticed that a comment balloon opened up with a name as the author of the comment that I had never heard of. The contents of the balloon were not visible to me yet, because I had not taken the time to roll over the comment with the mouse. I emailed the Director and asked "Who is ______"?, filling in the name that I saw. The Director wrote back that that person is a member of the senior management team that reviewed the document prior to issue. Ok then, no worries, thought I. I printed the attachment out so I could have it to review while driving home, and guess what happened?

ALL the edits and comments, complete with balloons and authorship, were showing and in plain sight to everyone who received the attachments, which was the entire organization, including remote offices, etc. Ooops. I casually walked over to the Director's office, knocked, and asked if I could show him what I had found, which he might want to know. He said sure, to come in, because he was relaxing just a bit because it was the end of the day, he had just gotten his last big task completed (sending out the PR spin email), and he was leaving for Hawaii for two weeks the next morning. Uh oh. Maybe my timing was not favorable. Too late, I was already in the office. I showed him the printed attachment pages, which showed all the comments, some of which were of the nature "...maybe we are telling too much here. Let's cut some of that out", which of course a reporter would love to dig deeper into. He took the pages, read them, paused, and then, without raising his head but definitely raising his voice to a level that everyone in the office heard, shouted

"GOD DAMN IT!"

Have a nice vacation *:-)

Dark Nebula Entering Wierdness Asteroid Belt

Today, and yesterday, an energy flux of wierdness passed through Dark Nebula, affecting all humans. All of us became work-disabled and could not bring ourselves to work hard at accomplishing anything that might have long term impact. A floating, disconnected feeling, as though reality was yet to be defined. I chose to try to define my own reality, and hence could move a few things around and get a few things on their way to completion, but not much and not many. A few minutes from now, a quickly scheduled staff meeting will occur, of which we know nothing of the contents, nor the impact. I have chosen lots of dance and trance mixes to listen to, and my favorite one right now is U.F.O. Phenomena, which includes some of the actual verbal exchanges between Mission Control and the Eagle on the first flight to the moon. Exchanges, which BTW, were spoken using headsets manufactured by the company I worked for before the position I have now, and a model of which I have held in my hand. Cool. Wierd. Nebulous.

Late last evening I got a call from a former employee, who had a close relationship with the Former Executive Director, and this person wanted a favor. The Boss Man of the Former Executive Director (the Boss Man now lives in a different state, and has a very high position) wanted to use a backdoor to get some samples of the products we offer, and so tried to use this person to contact me directly, because this person knows I can make things happen. I was shaken by this experience, and did not quite know how to handle it given all the investigations going on, and the instability, but on the drive home from work, and after talking to my wife about it, I realized that this was something I needed to uplevel to the Directors. I did that using webmail (I had not taken my laptops home with me because I was tired), and immediately felt better. Boy, was that ever the right thing to do! The Directors met on the issue this morning, and contacted the person trying to use the backdoor on behalf of the Boss Man of the Former Executive Director and the person was informed that the demand would not be met and that one of the Directors was to be involved in all communications regarding this relationship. The person trying to access the backdoor called me later, and again asked me to just enable him to have internet access to one of the products, and I asked him "Don't you read the newspapers?" "Are you aware that we can't do anything here now without getting approval from a Director?" He said yeah, he understood, but felt that his request was simple enough that it would be ok. I told him I would take his simple request to the Director, and get a response. How do you spell c-o-r-r-u-p-t-i-o-n ? Have Fun *:-)

Dark Nebula Experiences Slight Refreshing Breeze

Last Thursday's meeting with the Big Biggie and the follow up meeting with local talent has turned out to result in improved morale and attitude, at least for the moment. Although some of the Directors felt that some of the employee commentary during the second meeting was "rude", with me being a primary target of being identified as "rude", I believe any perceived assault on the impervious dignity of the Directors is all in their minds only, because 100% of the employees have confirmed that the meeting resulted in a reduction of work-place tension, and that the session was badly needed by those of us who work for a living by producing "things". It has become very clear, through various subsequent-to-the-meeting emails from some of the Directors that several of them still don't have a clue, and also that some of them have decided to take all comments as being personally directed at them, which of course is an immature management tactic and implies lack of management experience.

True fear and concern do exist however, because we all know that some of us won't be here when the final curtain is drawn to reveal the "new and improved" organization formerly known as "home of the embezzler". Have Fun *:-)

Return To Dark Nebula

My current position as a teacher at the University of Blueberry Syrup is very enjoyable to me, and I believe I can contribute there for many years to come. It is unfortunate, but true, that current events beyond my direct control have exposed the corner of the employment universe I currently call my home to scandal, arrests, illegal acts, and the presence of the usual spin doctors covering the explosion with as many blankets as they can.

I am calling my work place "Dark Nebula" for now, because that is how I feel when I enter it. A dark globule of dust and non-luminous gas, which obscures the light coming from behind. I shall continue to work to see and follow the light *:-)

Tomorrow brings a return to Dark Nebula. May the force be with me.

Meeting, + Meeting, + Discussion Meeting

First meeting: Big Biggie and his assistant arrive on time. Second Big Biggie doesn't show up, but nobody seems to care *:-) Big Biggie is professional, open, honest, and does a good job of bringing all of us closer to an understanding of what is going to happen to our organization. He takes questions and is able to answer all of them satisfactorily except those that have to do with specific configurations of the organization, which have not yet been signed off on by the Super Big Biggies and the legislature. I make a brief verbal preso in the form of a question outlining the need for those of us who are professionals and need to get on with our careers needing to know the number of days, weeks, or months before our new direction is known, so that we can either get off this train and get on another, or stay on this train as it pulls out of the station for a new journey. He gives a very precise date in the near future and promises us a bright, shiny, new & beautiful train to ride *:-)

Second meeting: Big Biggie and assistant leave. We are left alone with our own management and the professional facilitator. Required question asking is attempted, by sending the management out of the room and the choice to us is either to write our questions on sticky pages, which will then be read by the facilitator to management when they return, or to wait for management to return and to ask our questions verbally. I do neither, realizing that the un-indicted co-conspirator cannot be trusted and therefore I keep my questions to myself. However, after having broken up into 3 groups later, and again without management input until we reconvene, we are given 3 impact issues that we are to develop responses to about how they have affected us in view of the recent event of our CEO being jailed for embezzlement. A group speaker is chosen for each group to provide anonymity, and so I participate fully. Once reconvened, this generated substantial discussion and presentation, with management present, and at one point someone in the audience asks our group speaker for specifics on one of the impact statements, which happened to be one that I contributed. Our group speaker states that these are anonymous inputs but that if the person who generated the input chooses to expand and clarify on the topic, that is fine. I take the bait, and deliver an impassioned speech detailing the impact on our client base that the removal of our CEO has had, and this gets both nodding and verbal agreement from those who actually speak to our customers at levels below management. When I sit down the person next to me said it was a brilliant speech *:-) I was so full of emotion that I cannot, then or now, recall anything that I said *:-) This meeting went much longer than planned, and we were all exhausted after it ended.

Discussion Meeting: This is interesting. We have a person who, with his young family, is a refugee from the Katrina disaster, where he had a job as a programmer for a small company. He is a white middle-American from Iowa, with the normal baggage that brings with it. He prides himself on his self-perceived ability to be "in the know" about everything that goes on where we work, but in reality he just isn't in the loop to catch the haps. So...after the Second Meeting, he steps into my cube and asks if we can go somewhere to talk so he can get clarity on some of the things I said during the two meetings, and which others gave nodding or spoken agreement with. I said sure and off we went to my training room, where we closed the door and sat for very nearly a complete hour, while he grilled me on details and looked for holes in anything I had said. He didn't find any, and when our meeting ended, which was prompted by another employee wanting to meet with me privately for about the same thing, he said that he was astounded by how much he hadn't picked up on, and left shaking his head in amazement at what goes on around him that he doesn't pick up on. He also was greatful for the additional clarity.

Onward, into the unknown...

Un-Indicted Co-Conspirator Still In Charge

Funny how sometimes the most guilty parties dress up the most, flair their speech the most, move about the most quickly, and also are the most suspicious of everyone else...I have been a guilty party myself, which is how I can so easily recognize the behaviors *:-)

Anyway, several Big Biggies have just arrived to hold a series of "emotional disturbance containment" meetings with any employee brave enough to admit that we are all pretty devastated by the arrest of our former CEO on embezzlement charges, and that the Big Biggies have left an un-indicted co-conspirator in charge of the operation. How much openness do they think that will engender? Answer: Only those who are blind, deaf and dumb to reality will fall into that trap.

We don't know what the future divisional configuration will be, but our spies have told us that 6 different scenarios are in the final running. I shall follow the wise advice given to me long ago, which I followed successfully in my previous position, which I held for 25 years, which is:

"DON'T QUIT, AND WHEN THEY LET YOU GO, DON'T CRY"

...works for me *:-)

Embezzlement! Official Public Notice

Wow. The official public notice of what crime our ex-CEO is supposed to have committed was published today. That is a big word: Embezzlement. Kind of a stupid word too, IMHO. Apparently the ex-CEO had hidden from the authorities who had gotten a warrant for his arrest, and he might even have gone into Mexico to escape. Anyway, he gave himself up yesterday. What a story! The Big Biggie is coming into town on Thursday to "help us all cope with this severe loss". What I want to know is why hasn't the CFO, who IMHO enabled the CEO and saw all this stuff going on for so many years has been left untouched by the investigation, and has actually been made the Interim Acting Executive Director. Something stinks here, and I can smell it. I shared that thought with a senior colleague today, and she has gotten input from some mucky mucks, who, although not directly involved in the investigation, are wondering the same thing. Typical cover up, I guess. I suspect the organization will be somewhat dismembered and broken up, so that the stink can be blown away by the winds of change.

Eagle Scout Still Means Something

A couple part time IT jobs for students have come open here, and applications have come in. I was asked to screen the applications prior to selecting interview candidates, and I did so. I included one young man who seemed a little weak on the actual networking experience side, and I included him partly because he is an Eagle Scout. My IT manager, a female, kinda looked askance at me for using Eagle Scout as a criteria for selecting interview candidates, because she had screened him out. I stood by my selection, and explained a little about what it usually means to have completed the Eagle Scout requirements and to have gotten the award. She agreed to interview him. He is getting the job *:-) Enough said *:-)

My wife and I are very glad that Helen Mirren got her well deserved Academy Award, and we enjoyed the movie very much. I also appreciate the way Helen Mirren has lived her life.

Walking, Woods, & Earthquakes

Slow day at work today, and so after I sent off emails to my boss and colleagues, responding to their requests, my wife and I got away for an hour or so to take a walk in the redwoods *:-) I telecommute on Fridays, and am very careful not to abuse my privilege but today it felt ok to get away for what would ordinarily be a lunch hour. We got back in plenty of time, and no harm was done.

As my wife lay in bed just before nodding off tonight, she turned on her little emergency radio and heard that there had been 4 small earthquakes north of us. This explained why, as we began our walk in the redwoods, she could not keep her eyes off the top of the redwoods and actually stopped still just as we were getting going, and stared at the tops of the redwoods. She didn't remark on it at the time, and did not connect it to the earthquakes, although she is known to be nearly as sensitive to their arrivals as are the animals. Sure enough, the radio report confirmed that the quakes happened at the same time she was staring at the tree tops. She has vowed to pay more attention to her natural information input in the future.

Serendipitous Opportunities Taken

Having more and more difficulty coming in to the workplace with a positive attitude, I was struggling with the usual attitude improvers that I use this morning, working to be as positive as possible. My boss has been out of the office for more than 2 weeks, and therefore the usual stress "uploads" haven't been available, and everybody who reports to him is getting more and more irritable.

Serendipitously, a well respected Director stopped in my cube about 10:20 and asked if I had some time to talk about something not related to work. I trust this Director totally so I went to her office. She sits on the senior management team, and I respect and trust her, so when she asked me, during conversation after the original reason for our discussion, if anyone in the office was having difficulty during the transition we are in. I let her know that everyone was, with some more than others, and that some have already started looking for other work, myself included, although we didn't want to, and one high performer has already had some interviews. That got it off my chest and it was good for me to be able to express it. Many other work and stress related subjects were talked about and so it was a two way street of info flow, which will benefit both of us *:-)

Also Serendipitously, as I was escaping the office to go and get my hair cut, another Director who sits on the senior management team stopped me at the double doors, he coming, me going, and mentioned that he had attended a high level meeting at the state capital yesterday, and that my name had been mentioned as a "star performer" for the the division of the University of Blueberry Syrup that I work for, and that the person speaking to him was hoping that I would be available for them to use during their big enrollment campaign set to begin in April. Our Director told me he responded that nobody was really sure about what was going on (shrugging of shoulders). I then said it would be a good idea for the biggie that he spoke to to hook up with the big biggie that is responsible for us now, and for the two, the biggie who wants my services, and the big biggie who oversees the division I report to, to make a decision about yes or no would what I do be available or not. Without that decision soon, I won't be able to prepare the material and might have to default if they make their decision too late. Not that they would care about how hard it was for me, but it would be better if they made the yea or nay decision right now.

Our IT manager shared a very cool tool with me today, which is free, and which you might find valuable:

http://secunia.com/software_inspector/

I have used it twice now and it is amazing and very helpful. I print out the results and keep them with the laptops that need service, so the techs and I know everything we need to clean up software wise. Have Fun *:-)

OMG...They Are Asking For Me Again!

I have learned over the many years of my employment with several organizations, that when Senior Management reaches the point that they are so confused, disoriented, and hopelessly lost that they have to come to me to get help in stabilizing the boat we are all on, that it is just a matter of time until we sink.

Today, about 1/2 hour ago, I am working in my cube and the Former Exective Assistant To The Former Executive Director comes running into my cube waving her arms for me to take my iPod earbuds out. I did. The Former Exective Assistant To The Former Executive Director then said she had an emergency and that I was the only one who could help. I asked, not without irritation btw, "What is the emergency"? The Former Executive Assistant To The Former Executive Director said that a call is on her line which was the line that belonged to the Former Executive Director and that the call was from Mexico City and that a VIP from a major partner in Mexico needed to talk to the Former Executive Director. Obviously, the partners of our organization have not received the word that the Former Executive Director no longer lives here *:-) The Former Executive Assistant To The Former Executive Director said she could not handle the call because she does not speak Spanish (she is white) and that the person on the other end had said "No habla Engles".

I reminded the Former Executive Assistant To The Former Executive Director that I also am white and that my Spanish is not of the formal variety but is home grown from the days I traveled on business to Mexico and Spain. She said "just take the call, ok?".

Not wanting to piss off the Former Executive Assistant To The Former Executive Director, because she is snuggled up tightly to the current Interim Acting Executive Director, I said OK I will take the call. I got enough information communicated to let them know that nobody of any importance to them would be around until next week, and I got an email address to maintain communications, and then said Adios. I gave the info to the Former Executive Assistant To The Former Executive Director and when I suggested that I should tell my boss about this, because he is the only one left who knows anything about what the partnership was about, she freaked and said "No, no!", only the Interim Acting Executive Director is to know about this. I said, OK, cool, I won't tell my boss then.

I began walking back to my cube, which is two cube farm rows over from where I was while talking with the Former Executive Assistant To The Former Executive Director, and as I started down the aisle to my cube, the Interim Acting Executive Director herself came rushing over to me and said "Was that you who was speaking Spanish?" I said, quite calmly actually, "Yes". She wanted a verbal dump of what just happened, which I provided, and she became visibly calmer when I mentioned that I would not be doing anything with this information, and that the Former Executive Assistant To The Former Executive Director would be giving her an update.

For an organization that was founded to serve the state population of Hispanic learners who need help in getting ready for college, I find it amazing that their is no longer anyone in management who is not white, or that speaks Spanish, except for my direct boss. Uh-oh.

Longest Walk So Far *:-)

3.55 miles at about 130 beats per minute, with a fastest mile leg of 16'02". My goal is to get a fastest mile leg of 15' 00". That'll take some faster swiveling of the hips *:-) Right now these are walks on my lunch hour, so I go 1/2 hour out and 1/2 hour back. I'll work on different stuff as I get more acclimated to the style of exercise I am trying now. Have fun *:-) Grandma did a solid 3 mile walk today too, but we couldn't do it together, so we compared stats after uploading to Nike+iPod. Its fun *:-)

Loving Learners

I love learners. That's one way I can learn to love myself more too *:-) But the point is that if I can remain patient enough with my students, accepting their sometimes irritating attacks on the learning process and learning institution and learning structure and learning pedagogy and rubric, then Every Time, sooner or later, there comes a breakthrough point at which all of a sudden the students' energy shifts from somewhat negative to mostly positive, and then the fun begins *:-) This results in a rush of energy not just for them but for me too, which is very cool. I am grateful that I am a teacher *:-)

The clueless accountant that is our Interim Acting Executive Director is now trying to build a closer relationship with everyone by inviting all of us at once to a lunch at a local mexican restaurant, where we would pay for our own meal, and also need to give up our lunch hour to listen to her explain how everything is going to be all right, and that our mission is still the same, despite the fact that the organization, which had a mission of serving those who were not served before due to race and financial position, and which was run by people of color, is now completely white, except for one remaining Director of Otomi extraction, who is very beleaguered because the white folks just don't have the vibe required to tune in to the root needs of the population intended to be served. No matter if the organization "survives" or not, it certainly won't be filling the need it was before.

Grandma and I just got really cool news! My son and daughter in law had their scan (or whatever it is called) done this morning and the next arrival in our family will be a boy *:-) The process of raising his own male offspring will offer my son the chance to fully graduate in life, and he is blessed, as are we *:-) We are grateful.

Really Cool Combo

My wife and I decided to go ahead and get the shoes that go along with the iPod Nanos we got ourselves, so that we could plug in to the Nike website and see what our workouts look like as graphs, with the data posted in a way that we can easily see whats what. It is very cool, and after some initial problems getting registered on the Nike site, then it has been very easy. We have posted 2 walks each, which we did together, and I like it. During the week I will be striving to get my average speed up, and my distance up. We are both walking for our workouts, not running, because of our age and also that we aren't in as good shape as we used to be. I used to cycle several thousand miles per year, and my wife used to swim several hundred miles per year, so then we were doing pretty good. I had a major bike crash and haven't ridden for mileage since.

At work the "Interim Acting Executive Director", who is a clueless former Accounting Manager for our organization, but very "safe" from the biggies point of view since she doesn't not know how to analyze or make decisions, has made 2 major faux pas that I am taking note of. First, she made a big deal about a month ago that she wanted to make sure to get input from all of us about how often the all-staff meetings should be held. By far, the input showed that once per month was plenty, and she told us that was the result. Then last Wednesday, during the first of the supposedly once a month meetings, she said that despite the input from us, she had decided that the meetings would be held every two weeks. So much for giving input, which I won't offer any more. Then, last Thursday evening about an hour before quitting time, there were only 3 of us in the cubicle area, and all of us know and like each other very well, so I was keeping the volume on my iTunes going into my headphones loud enough for the other two to hear, which they had requested, and we were starting to enjoy ourselves, although still at our desks working, and were sending occaisional jokes back and forth, when all of a sudden the "Interim Acting Executive Director" came around the corner and said that she had heard too much "giggling" out here and wondered what was going on. I shut down iTunes right away, and we didn't say anything to her, but obviously we finished the day very quietly and alone. She has also started to dress like really fancy, like some account exec for a bank or something. It is actually embarrassing. I understand what is going on, and that when a person gets put in a position way over their head, they grasp at anything to try to be the part. I have compassion for her, but it is quite destructive to the organization, because people are tuning out more and more, and a couple have already started interviewing. Maybe that is what the biggies have in mind.

Letting Go; Letting Go; Letting Go

Others need to do what they need to do, and it doesn't have anything to do with me. Shake it off, what happened is due to someone else's need to do what they did, not mine. Respect the person, love the person, and don't get caught up in whatever drama is going on with that person, just be. Damned hard to do *:-) Guilt easily rises to the surface even when the happening has absolutely nothing to do with me. Where did I get that? I believe it was fostered in me by my mother...I wonder why she fostered that in me? Probably hated my dad, or something. Ahhhggggg, get rid of this stuff...I don't want it...let go let go let go. Easier now that I have talked about it. Thanks for listening. Have a nice day *:-)

Granddaughter on my knee, reading together *:-)

How cool. I had found what I thought was a cool CD for our granddaughter to "bop" to, the Taj Mahal kids CD mentioned earlier. That worked great, and she did bop to it, moving her shoulders first and then trying to coordinate the rest of her body into the rhythm...she still has some work to do there *:-) Because my wife and I had pretty much just dropped in to our granddaughter's place, with just a 10 minute notice to her parents, I expected to just get a quick look at her dancing to the new CD, then we'd leave, because we know how hard it is to get out of the house with a kid and still get anything done, so we didn't want to take too much time, since it was also raining pretty hard which makes the kid thing even more complicated. However, our son and daughter in law seemed very comfortable with us hanging around a little, and so I got to be there long enough for our granddaughter to get used to me enough for her to accept sitting on my lap and the two of us read some books together, which was very cool.

My wife and I just returned from a "shoe run". I have been having some pain with heel bruises and other issues with my legs, partly because I have been wearing only one type of shoe day in and day out, and often for up to 14 hours per day, which kind of whacks the feet a little. Anyway, we had already purchased the iPod exercise module that fits in or on the shoe so that our new iPod nanos can help us get better at walking and running, and we were going to use our existing shoes, but with the difficulty I have been having, I decided that we would go ahead and get the Nike+ shoe model that is designed to work the best with the iPod module. We did that, and I am wearing my new Nikes right now, and they feel great. I know that it is good to not wear the same shoes all the time, but I did it anyway and am paying the price now. We will go to a measured distance track, calibrate the module and the shoes, and then we can have fun tracking our workout progress. I believe it will be fun and am looking forward to it.

My wife has created some new artisan breads that are absolutely incredible, and we are looking forward to sharing them with our family the next chance we get.

Taj Mahal for our granddaughter *:-)

I came across a very cool CD of Taj Mahal music especially created for kids and families, and since our granddaughter is already a natural born "bopper", since she sways and moves when music is on, I am excited about giving this to her and watching her reactions to it.
She also likes to be read to, and I have a very good version of the Winnie The Pooh stories ready to read to her. I am hopeful of getting some time with her soon.

I got a nice break at work, since management accepted my official request to postpone a week-long training in another part of the state that I was to do, since the software app that the training was to be given on is not ready for prime time. The ability of the newly responsible management team, since our previous CEO was removed, to make a decision of that difficulty, which included having to tell the customer to cancel, gives all of us hope that maybe the company will be successful in riding out this transition period, which we were told on Thursday would be for another six months.

We just watched "Running With Scissors" for the first time last night, and really like the movie. Very creative, very cool, very poignant.

Thieves in the night, and daytime too...

Our local police blotter is consistently reporting that homeowners' sheds, cars, and rarely, houses are being broken into and small items stolen. I believe folks who are homeless are cold, tired, hungry, and up here in the mountains are too far from the city-based support services to get what they need. Most aren't caught, and they do a little damage, steal some stuff, and move on. We haven't lost anything yet, but we do have 3 sheds on various parts of our property and we hope the local dogs and our own vigilance, plus the fact that we live on an inconvenient stretch of road, will keep the thieves away. I have no problem nailing them with my .68 calibre paint ball gun with the bright orange paint balls if I do happen to see any of them ripping us off. Might be an improvement in their overall appearance *:-) I choose not to do anything about the homeless at the moment, but I know they need help, and it is beyond my capacity to resolve. I'll keep an open mind about it as long as I can.

Hard times at work, but it is all emotional so that means I am eating too much to compensate, and to try to get away from the feelings. I hope it doesn't go on too long because I am already 30# overweight and I want to trim down.

Fear in my gut...picked up from colleagues like the flu

From top to bottom the fear level where I work at the University of Blueberry Syrup, and subsequent irrational behavior level in the workplace, is soaring. From Directors on down to temp staff, the fact that a super-big biggy is coming to visit for ONE HOUR this week has severly disrupted the normal work flow. Also, the official announcement that the former Executive Director "resigned" was made today. There are many other stories about why he is gone, but it would be completely inappropriate, and actually unfair, IMHO, to repeat any of those. Apparently it was one of those "whistle blower" things, or so I am told, and as the person who said she blew the whistle also left the company last week, she said she was disappointed because the acting Exec. Dir. did not give her a plastic whistle or something as a momento (sheesh).
Jammin' to get a major project done that I will be on the road for four days next week delivering in the south part of the state.
Back to work...

Water...I am worried about it...but am letting go

Global water resources is the thing on my mind this evening. Having just watched a documentary about it probably has something to do with that, but actually I have thought about it for the 25 years since I heard a wise man, and the only true adult I have ever met in my life, tell me that there are now three things that a family man needs to keep his family healthy: Water, Electricity, and Roads. I will do what I can *:-)

Gymnastics...wow...gotta be tough on the body...

We watched a dvd this evening that was part of a collection from a somewhat idiosyncratic dvd store in our small mountain community, titled "Stick It". Never mind the movie; the gymnastics in the movie, all done live, were jaw-dropping and a delight to watch, and we learned things too. Awesome.
Just got an email from one of the local Directors of the organization I work for that tells all employees that next Thursday we need to be on our best behavior, have our cubes neat and tidy, and dress nicely because a super-big biggie from the great headquarters in the sky is coming by for one hour to "visit"...makes me immediately want to email back and say "piss off, mate". I won't though, because my wife and I love our granddaughter and we want to be able to stay around here (in this very expensive part of the world to live in) so we can share her life, which will require that I continue to be employed *:-)
I am still getting emails tonight from a university student that has been hired to help me do some research, which means that college life hasn't changed all that much...I did almost all my work at night when I was in college.

Telecommute for health & the environment

Well, yes, I certainly feel better at the end of the day when I have a telecommute day, but I am not sure that the environment actually got better. Basically the same amount of fossil fuels got burned to support the work I do, and possibly even more food got consumed. It is more productive, IMHO.
We didn't get any time with our granddaughter this week due to sickness, but part of that is on our side, and the other part is that our granddaughter is "out in the world" more and is getting all her immunities built up, so since that is part of the natural process, then no worries.
I have a video conference of 1.5 hours length tomorrow, which I will attend through a virtual room via our vendor of such things, so I will have to shave in case they want me to show myself on video when I speak. I could say it was broken or something but I don't like to lie.
Cheers.

Payday *:-)

Money in the bank...for a very short while though. Deposit one day and take it out the next. Kinda the way it is these days. I blame the government's spending on tools of war, which I believe have now sapped economic energy from the USA economy since all that value is being wasted in ammo of all kinds for the military-industrial complex (thank you President Eisenhower, for trying to keep us on the right track).
Of course if my employment and family welfare depended on a job that was within the military-industrial complex, I probably wouldn't say anything negative about it.

Cheap Trick still rocks me *:-)

Yup, I still "Want you to want me" *:-) I'm not sure I ever really left the 60's and 70's, during which I got to live in the most peaceful and fabulous world possible. Ram Dass was hanging in Boulder the same time I was, the Internet had not yet become available to me, the Haight was just like the history books say it was, and the smoke was pure, clean and simple...a real gift to consciousness. I'll never forget that one night in North Hollywood...ah, well...another time for that story *:-)
Native American music is becoming important to me as a path for me to heal some of the stuff I still carry, and last night I finally found the chant on iTunes that is an Honoring Song For Veterans, which was sung for me live at an informal Powwow in a local city parking lot several years ago, and the Native Americans who sang it for me made a point of asking the crowd if any veterans were present before they announced what the song was going to be, and not knowing any better, I raised my hand, and was the only one to do so. They directed me (firmly) to the center of the drum circle and sang the Honoring Song for me. It had a profound effect on me, and was the only time anyone or any group has sought to honor me for the warriors service that I rendered without complaint to the USA. It connected me with many energies and taught me much. Thanks guys.
There is some cool stuff going on at www.wely.com too, and I stumbled across that while reading a camping magazine in the dentist's office yesterday.
Have Fun *:-)

Flossing Works!

Oh...you knew that? Oh...sorry. I did not believe it, and I had not believed it for many many years, starting in the year floss was invented *:-) Six months ago, my new dental hygienist exhibited positively obvious enthusiasm in the way she flossed my teeth for me at the end of my appointment six months ago, and then told me that I had to go on a shorter cycle of cleanings, up to every four months instead of every six. I said, "Uh, how can I avoid that, since the company I work for will only pay for two cleanings per year, and also it is a very long drive to the dentist office?" She told me then, that there was a possible chance I could stay on the every six month schedule if I would floss, and that she was willing to give me another chance, and also that she would show me how to do it. I took the bait, had the lesson, which truly was a different way than anyone had shown me before, evaluated and tried several floss brands and types, chose one, and left the office with what might have been my last six month return ticket.
The floss she and I chose is Oral-B Satin Floss, made in Ireland. I flossed, just as taught, as much as I could, which ended up being 162 days out of the possible 180. She did not remember all this when I sat in the chair today, and she started cleaning my teeth, completing just one of the back molars, before she glanced over at my chart and then asked me point blank, somewhat incredulously "Have you been flossing?" How sweet was that sound *:-) I described my practice and faithful activity level, and she completed my cleaning and said that I did not have any "pockets" over 4, which previously had all been 6's and 7's, and she said that was excellent, and when the dentist himself did his overview, he said "No problems, good job!" Cool. It works. I'll do it *:-)

Have A Corn Munchies (Om)...

Well, they used to have the Om sign, but not after 9/11. Fascinating story (click the title). We have eaten, and sometimes nearly lived on, Have A Corn Munchies since the 80's. They are actually called Have A Corn Chips now, and they are still exactly the same. Excellent *:-)
Anyway, the point is that this evening I did not have time for dinner and needed to get to a meeting and so I went to our local fairly large natural food store and picked up a bag of Have A Corn Chips and a bottle of water and headed to the checkout line. There were 2 people ahead of me, both women and both in their early 30's, but dressed quite differently, with one clearly classy and the other naturally natural. Anyway, the classy one, who was directly in front of me and had quite a bit of stuff already on the conveyor, suddenly turned to me and said "If she gets done before I get back you go ahead and check out", and then left the line leaving her stuff on the conveyor. I didn't say anything and moved up a little, and sure enough the other lady got done with her check out, and then turned to me and said "Looks like you get the benefit of her leaving the line", and I said, while smiling, "Yes, very painful experience, I'll have to blog about it tonight", injecting obvious humor into something that was going to get me out of the store. The lady then said, also humorously, "I'll be sure to watch for your blog" and left. So anyway, since I promised, I just blogged about it, although of course she will never see it since I blog anonymously *:-)
Off to the dentist tomorrow, which is an all day affair. We use a dentist many miles away because for us he is the best in the entire state, and we started using him when he had a practice where we live now but then moved. I will take the day off and so will my wife, so we can be efficient and both get the work done on the same day so we don't make two trips.

Baked potatos for dinner

I love baked potatos *:-) Even though I no longer put butter on them, or even cheese, I still love them *:-) That is what I made for myself for dinner tonight, and they tasted g-o-o-o-o-d. I put a little seasoning, and a few fresh cut veggies mixed in, but 90% just baked potatos, and yes, I always eat a few of the skins, since I remember the story about the potato famine in Ireland where only the poor got enough nutrition to survive because they ate the skins of the potatos while the rich just ate the white, or anyway that is how it was told to me.
We got an update on our granddaughter this evening from our son via phone, and she is doing well *:-) The outdoor play structure we got for her is getting some use, and her mom and dad have enhanced the outdoor stuff by adding some of their own. I mentioned to my son that it won't be mom and dad leading granddaughter, it will be granddaughter leading mom and dad, which is just how it should be IMHO.

Letting go, walking the jagged cliff in the dark

Very helpful quotation from Carolyn Myss came my way yesterday that captures my life process at this time. Here it is:
"If we let go of things, our life is going to change. And the reality is that we are actually more afraid of change than we are of death" - Carolyn Myss. Thanks Carolyn *:-) How that relates to me is that for the last several years I have been practicing "letting go" so that some of my obsessive and compulsive behaviours can be reduced to a non-harmful level. The practice however is quite fearful, because the reality for me is that living through letting go is equivalent, for me, of taking each step each day as though I am on the edge of a jagged cliff, and it is the dark of night. Only trust and faith give me the confidence to keep walking my path.

Here is a quote from me:
"Go to college, because there are more doors there" - listeningforthesoundthatcan'tbeheard

Fabulous day today, perfect in every way. My wife and I got out and about and met and greeted several acquaintances who rarely cross our path. Nothing spectacular, just very nice to be out in the moist mid-winter day which also had plenty of sun for the time we were out. We are greatful and feel good to have had that chance *:-)

Our recently deceased cat has been appearing both in and out of our house, doing what she used to do all the time, which is "mapping" the property and the rooms. I saw her lying in our upstairs bedroom bay window (the one that gets all the sun), and she seems to be doing ok. We love her, and hope her after-life journey, whatever it is, is a good one.

We miss our granddaughter, and while we were out today, we were wishing that we would be "approved" to take her with us to some of the neat yarn shops and other places that are part of our travels. I guess the trust level on the part of her mom and dad hasn't reached a high enough point for us to be given that chance. We are patient, and will wait until it feels right for them.

Welcome to the town of ENNUI

A town peopled by generally listless and discontented employees, who are burnt out by the abuses from previous management, and also suffering from the vacuum caused by no leadership being offered after the removal of a previous senior leader.
Occasionally a light goes on in the small group meetings attended by those with like minds, and good hearts. This is not happening at the organization level however, and several believe it is too late to establish an energy flow that will see us through this becalmed time.
Some instances of Stockholm Syndrome seem to be appearing, probably because there may not be anything else to hold onto.
I suffered a surprise attack myself, late last evening, from the most senior "acting" "interim" manager, who apparently has been put on a short leash and told to get some data on her remaining "assets" (that term was actually used in referring to me) so the Big Big Guys can decide what to do with the remnants of this organization.
I am letting go of the impact of the data attack that happened last evening, and I became physically ill due to that attack, because I blamed myself for not responding the way I could have, which would have been to say, "Hey, let's get together with my Manager, who has a copy of my "Exceeds Requirements" performance appraisal, and find some nice things to say about me to the Big Big Guys. Instead, I stumbled around and tried to feed whatever I could to the "nice lady" so she could finish filling out her form. It is the anger and resentment I felt against myself that caused me to get ill. Ah so, grasshopper, another learning experience *:-)
A friend here has suggested that I divert my depressive state by purchasing the Apple accessory that will let me know how far I have walked by posting the info to my Nano, which I have on all the time. Sounds good to me...when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping *:-)
Whew, sigh, why am I not perfect already?

I like piano music

Ok, I am going to admit it, I like piano music a lot. All kinds. Funky, classical, operatic accompaniment, jazz, blues, bebop, ethereal, rock, street. Ok, there it is, I really like piano music. *:-)

SMILE, it has happened for you, finally *:-)

Late yesterday, an email arrived for my wife from one of her studio portfolio managers. My wife is a fiber artist, and has been her entire life. She cannot help it that she is an artist, and has been faithful to her calling, also for her entire life. She does not have a "marketer's constitution" and can't deal with the issues of getting her finished work into the public's hands, and is also quite sensitive about who should be her portfolio manager. She was fortunate recently to find a good relationship with a person who has placed her work in an excellent venue. Guess what? Yesterday one of her creations, actually the highest priced one she has out there right now, sold to a quite distinguished purchaser *:-) Congratulations sweetheart, and I have been fortunate to witness the feelings of acknowledgement and fulfillment that the sale has brought to my wife, although she knows that selling is not her primary focus. Still feels darn good though *:-) Yea! Hip Hip Hooray!

Wildcat in the house

It is not the cat's fault, but...
Our daughter in law was wounded today when the largest, quite a hunk, of their 2 cats leapt upon her from behind and injured her on the head with its claws because of stress, while she was sitting at her computer.
We are greatful that our granddaughter was not involved, and we are sorry that our daughter in law had to experience the fear and the pain.
Too many things happened during the day that caused the cat to feel hemmed in, too tightly controlled, and generally angry.
Again, we are greatful that he did not take it out on our one year old granddaughter.
Scary stuff, and our son and daughter in law are sorting it out this evening, which I believe will be difficult but they are straightforward and intelligent, so we trust what they will decide.

Long weekend work-slog, but beautiful weather *:-)

4 minutes ago I sent the last email with all the new logins our partners in San Diego will need to enter their digital classrooms tomorrow morning. Yesterday the broadband pipe was clogged with something and I just couldn't get the uploads to work, so my wife and I decided to spend the 3 hours it took to stand in line at Verizon and renew our agreement and to get our new phones. We chose the Razr V3m, and so far we like them. It took us another couple hours to get a little familiar with them, since we switched from LG phones to Motorola phones, and by then the broadband was working fairly well again.
My wife and I had a very nice, perfectly timed walk through the redwoods today, which helps a lot. There were lots of non-USA residents visiting the redwoods today too, so that was nice to see people from all over the world acknowledging and respecting the natural gifts we have in this area.
We are disappointed that the outdoor play items that we ordered for our granddaughter have not arrived yet, but then we don't think our son has the safety fence up yet anyway, so maybe it's no big deal.
I downloaded my first "Tuva Throat Singing" selection from iTunes this evening, and we'll see how well I like it during the work day tomorrow *:-)
Have Fun *:-)

Panic In The School House

A pilot program partner begins training their staff on our applications on next Monday. You'd think they would have gotten the planning for that training pretty well complete by now, eh, since it is Friday before the Monday. No. They haven't. They are panicking, and are wanting state employees to "give it their all" on Friday afternoon to help them "sleep better over the weekend" (they actually put that in an email). U-m-m-m-m, I doubt it. Everybody does the best they can, but I continue to wonder when everyone will realize that they are not the only people on the face of the planet, and that others are not alive just to instantaneously serve them, especially when they have had several months to get this together. One potential bright spot: I am an hourly employee, so if my boss sends me an email tomorrow (Saturday) and asks me to work to help them out, then no worries, because I'll get paid for it :-)
An incredibly wonderful gift was given to my wife, and hence shared with me, yesterday. We have been encouraging our daughter in law to get our granddaughter out into the world more, and even the medicos have been saying the same thing. Anyway, yesterday, after a great deal of discussion and checking things out, my wife ("Grandma") and our daughter in law actually went to a park and our granddaughter got to go down a sliding board for the very first time *:-) She was of course very well protected and supported, but what is cool is that it happened, our granddaughter's eyes got real wide, and it was great *:-) I am greatful for being allowed to share experiences like that, and when I saw my wife shortly after they returned from the park, she was glowing with the wonder of the time with our granddaughter in the outdoors. Fabulous. Very greatful. And hopeful for more in the future.

Preso day...nothing new there *:-)

I have a couple presentations coming up in 11 minutes. Just blogging to take some of the pressure off. No biggie, just working sessions with a couple Directors and we all know and respect one another. I'll be back later.

Depressed, but curious...not depressed anymore *:-)

I plugged my iPod Video cable into my Nano by mistake, and USB'd into the Mac. My Nano is now totally frozen, ON, and I can't override it. I don't have the correct cable until tomorrow, at which time I am hoping it will sync again. The Nano is only a couple weeks old, and I use it all the time, so that is where the depression comes from. I am also curious to find out what is going on with it.

Oh Well.

[ one hour later ]:

Aha! I remembered that when at Blockbuster the other day (we don't go there that often), I noticed an impulse buy item at the register that is a book entitled "The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide", Second Edition, which I bought at that time, since I had just purchased the Nano and the iPod Video, and you know that not a lot of documentation comes with them that is convenient for browsing unless you go to the online docs, which is not always easy. So anyway, I spent some time with the book and there, on pages 207 - 208, was the fix I needed and which worked the first time:
"The frozen iPod" - For click-wheel iPods, hold down the Center and Menu buttons for 6 seconds"...worked perfectly *:-)
All is well with my world.

Like, where's the power man?

The entire county was without power for several hours today. Our servers sucked all the backup power our UPS's could deliver and the Sys Admin was madly shutting everything down and pushing buttons on the KVM like mad. Got 'em all shut down in time except for 2 that don't have anything on them right now. Then the power came back on, and we got to run around turning it all back on again *:-)

Plenty of office politics to keep us diverted from worrying about electrical power though. It's the other kind of power that is causing damage right now. We are all looking forward to new leadership to find a course that will inspire us to forget about the small s__t and work toward common goals. Sounds very human to me *:-)

My wife and I are getting ready to choose our new Verizon mobile phones. One of our kids suggested the Razr, but after checking them out, no way are they for us. We will go with the latest LG phone that Verizon offers. We like them, we are used to them, and they fit our plan renewel package with no extra charge *:-)

Ok, time to focus on work now that my work PC is back up...

Kangaroo climbers & Fossil fuels

My wife and I, who are grandparents of a one year old and delightful girl, were able to order some small backyard play structures to help her mom and dad get her outside in her own yard a little more. Both her mom and dad were climbers when they were little, so we are greatful to be able to help move things along some. I was going to order a much larger structure than we ended up getting, but I must be getting smarter because I called my son (granddaughter's dad) and asked him to preview what I had in mind on the vendor website, and he wisely suggested that I buy something that would be a little closer to her age capabilities, which I did. We hope she has a lot of fun on it *:-)

With the super-cold nights lately, the fossil fuels are being used, in a mix with wood, which has heat shooting out the chimney too, but also doing their job of keeping us warm and cozy. A visitor asked today if using wood heat, our primary heat source, in a nice wood stove like ours with the glass front, was really as romantic as she had heard it was...yes, it is. We really like it, and there just doesn't seem to be any other heat source, other than the Sun itself, that delivers such healing and warming energy. Lots of work though, but worth it.

It is cold, but I'm happy to be home

The Toyota and the Lloyd's Tires people were both accurate. Both my pickup and my tires were fine to make the business trip I just completed. Thanks you guys for being willing to give me your opinion without charging me anything (I buy plenty from them at other times).
Our wood stove did very well last night, and the house was just a little nippy this morning; easily overcome with a small electric heater in each bathroom to make sitting down less of a shock to the system *:-)
We are deciding on our next mobile phones, and whether or not to stay with Verizon. My wife and I like to have the same phone, so whichever model we pick, it will be a 2-fer. The RAZR has been recommended, the iPhone isn't available yet and will be Cingular anyway (although we could switch), and our 2 year contract is up already, and we are on month to month, but the LG phones we have are very good. We will probably have to go to the Verizon outlet 15 miles away and just stand there and talk until we understand what we should do. My wife's phone now has a cracked screen, so it is time to get the new phones. Recommendations welcome, but it needs to be Verizon because that is the only coverage that works where we live.
Back to trying to get the new banner image to upload to the LMS course I am building. Have Fun *:-)

Ok, so Yahoo Maps is not all good, or all bad

In preparing for my return trip to my home from the business trip I have been on, I again compared Yahoo Maps to 2 other well known resources. While on my trip TO my business activities, the Yahoo Maps directions were seriously flawed, sending me on a 1-hour "lost and confused" experience through parts of a very large city that most folks would not enjoy driving around in, I found that for the return trip, Yahoo Maps made a recommendation that was hugely helpful, keeping me away from serious snow problems and also keeping me on roads that were far more personable than the major multi-lane Interstate highways. So, from now on, I will check all 3 major map resources and pick the best one.

I am grateful to be home and close to my family again, and I got the "grandma" report from my wife which described her experiences with our granddaughter today that she had while helping out over at the granddaughter's home. She also picked up on a need that they have, and with any luck, we will be picking up something very cool to give so granddaughter can have more fun *:-)

A special contract came in where I work, and even though I just returned from a very rigourous trip, I will be working straight through the weekend to meet the deadline. I am greatful to be employed however, and so there will be no complaints from me.

I am really enjoying the iPod Nano I got for the holidays, and especially like the Harajuku version of Phantom of the Opera and also the version with Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. I listened to my iPod while driving today for nearly 8 hours, and had no problems with battery or with the shuffled song mix. Very nice *:-)

Torrance & Toyota & Training

Hello from Torrance, where I need to stay for 3 days to deliver a product & process training to a client.
The hotel I am in is located in an industrial part of town, and a quite large Toyota facility is across the street. My son, who has reason to know about these things, tells me it is a research facility. Cool.
I got lost for over an hour coming here today, and unfortunately I need to retract my praise of Yahoo's new Yahoo Maps portal. The site is beautiful, easy to use, and visually precise. The map sucked, and I will need to try one of the others and then hand write the directions for getting back because I don't have a printer with me. Some Marketing person must have fired the engineers and put it together herself. Pisses me off, actually.

L-o-o-o-o-n-g day, and still goin'...

Wow, everybody wanted to talk about stuff today, just kinda nice, people stuff, but I am trying to focus because I leave tomorrow for a 3 day business trip and I am still a ways from being ready, even as I write this.
I'm goin' with the flow *:-)
Keep On Truckin' *:-)
Mellow, Baby *:-)
No Worries, Mate *:-)

New Yahoo Maps rocks!

Wow, as part of my trip prep, I decided to try Yahoo Maps, which I haven't used in about 6 years.
It says it is new, and it is fabulous, IMHO *:-)
The multiple trip legs capability, and the easily available map detail is gorgeous as it is displayed on my screen.
Thank you Yahoo!
My son works there, so maybe his billions of stock options will be worth more *:-) (I don't really know if he has options or not BTW - NOMB)
It is really fun to find tools that actually help me and make life easier.
Thanks again Yahoo, and may you live long and prosper *:-)

Trip Prep...Training Prep

Lots of prep work in creating from scratch a new Training that I will be giving in LA in a couple days.
The product set is not well defined, and the Sales team doesn't like to really sell, so they are hoping that Training will put some spark into the product and also that it will help overcome the user resistance to using new products.
It will do both.
I don't sell however, and I refer all sales stuff to the sales guys. I just train, which is to use appropriate pedagogy to change learners behavior toward being more productive and effective using the new tools.
I will do my best *:-)

San Jose Starbucks...across from Camera 12 Cinemas

Crowded, noisy, nice.
Lots of interesting conversations, and the T-mobile actually works, but only in one corner of the building and as long as my laptop is almost touching the window, unless I want to walk about 1/2 mile up the street closer to the center of town. Promises of ubiquitous wifi have been made by the city fathers for sometime next year. We'll see.
The Museum show where my wife is an exhibitor and demonstrator is still going on, and is about 6 blocks away from here. I will walk back in about a 1/2 hour and see how things are going, since it is supposed to last until 11 p.m.
it is cold outside but almost all the tables, about 15 of them, are full of people out there. I am inside and will stay that way.

Off to the museum...

My wife has been chosen, and published, as an exhibitor and demonstrator at the city-wide Open Museum program which runs on the First Friday of each month in the major city about 26 miles from us.
So, the pickup is starting to be loaded with her art, and I will be the driver and security guard for the evening, which is scheduled to run until about midnight.
She has not done this before, so we don't really know what to expect, but it is really cool that her work has achieved this level of recognition.
Congratulations to her *:-)

I am Microwave Water Certified (MWC)

Yesterday I used tap water to make my tea...a wretched, and nearly wretching, experience *:-(
Late in the afternoon I happened to go by the lunchroom and observed a person, clearly more intelligent than I, using the lunchroom microwave to heat up her tea water. Voila! The light bulb went off! I took my scummy tea cup, rinsed it out, ran into the office complex lobby to get some decent filtered water from the drinking fountain, hurried back to the microwave, put the cup of water into the microwave...and then was halted by the array of choices of cooking times on the auto-select panel. We don't use a microwave at home (there is an old one in the basement) other than when my wife does strange things to fibers, and I had zero experience with heating water in one. Not wanting to admit defeat, and with trepidation, I chose "Soups/Beverages", which ended up being a 1 minute cook time. It was not the right choice. After fooling around, I have determined that 2 minutes is the right tea water heating time, and I now stride confidently into the lunchroom with my lobby-drinking-fountain water, and heat it up for 2 full minutes and then place my tea bag in the water and stride confidently out. I am now Microwave Water Certified *:-) Truly a great day for mankind, at least until the bottled water guy gets the water here so I can go back to using the hot tap on the water dispenser.

Back in the office...No water...but new lights *:-)

Ok, so I'm back at work. I put it off as long as possible.
Good news: Full spectrum lighting has been installed in the Training Studio that I am responsible for, and it is much better than before the holidays *:-)
Bad news: No bottled water is available for making tea, at least until next week, so I have used tap water this morning, and am still afraid to taste it *:-( Just tasted it...yucchh...and there was a bunch of scum on top and it wasn't very hot. Oh well.
My plants lived...I actually watered them the day we left for the holidays, so that is good news too *:-)
Some stuff came it that I had ordered, so I'll check that out soon.
I have big travel coming up next week so I'll be getting ready for that too.
Now for the part of my day that my wife found very funny (chapter 1):
I received a notice in the mail with the logo of the car company of the pickup truck I drive. It told me in no uncertain terms that it was time for my 60K mile checkup. Since I spend a substantial amount of time on the road, I felt I should adhere to the schedule, since I like the truck a lot and don't want to break down in some of the places I have to go. So, I made the appointment for this morning at 8 a.m., scheduled a rental car, and got up extra early and was there on time. After taking my stuff out of the car and starting the paperwork, the senior service advisor looked in the computer and said "Why are you here?". Ok, my brain stopped, and then I said, "Well, I made an appointment based on the letter I got from you guys." He said: "Well, actually that comes from a company that we hire just to mail out reminders to people, and they don't really know when you are actually ready for a service." I said: "Oh. So what happens now?" He said: "Well, if you want to do the service you can of course, but you don't really need it for another 8K miles." I said: "Ok then, I guess I'll be going." He said: "Give us a call when you are ready for the service." I said: "Ok, I will, thanks."
Now for the part of my day that my wife found very funny (chapter 2):
I had made an appointment to purchase 4 new tires for tomorrow, since I had been told that I would need them before I started driving all over the state again, which actually begins next week. So I figured, OK, since I didn't have to leave the truck for the big service, I'll just take the truck over to the tire shop that we use and have the tires put on now, since I'm already up early. So I pull in and 2 young service guys come over and I say "May I please have 4 new tires, I made an appointment for tomorrow but things changed and I can do it now." They said: "Yeah, sure, no problem, just give us a minute." So as they were looking over the tires, I started to walk away to the waiting room, and then one of the service guys said: "Sir, why are you here? You don't need tires...not even close." OK, by this time I figured I must be in a parallel universe or something where nothing is as it seems, so I didn't fight it, I just said "Well, if you are sure, because I do a lot of high speed driving and I don't want to cause an accident." So the second young service guy says "No sir, you are fine for quite a while yet." So I said: "Ok then, I'll just be going, and I'll see in a few months." ...and off I went.
So I called my wife to tell her all this and give her a chance to laugh at me, which she did, and then she suggested that since I had all this time that I call our physician while I was driving to work, so that I could schedule the full physical that I am due for this year. So I agreed and called the doctor's office, where, of course, not only was I told that my records were in storage and they couldn't give me any definite information, but that also there was no way they could get me in this month and I should call back and try to schedule for next month.
So, I am back at work, with really bad tea, and am starting off the new year.
Have Fun *:-)

Let the changes begin...

Ok, here I am, at the beginning of a new chapter, and with no idea of what the content will be. Time to have faith, take one step at a time, tidy up loose ends, look forward while watching where I step, and reaffirm basic life tenets.
Did you know that The Economist believes that the number of women who find it hard to focus seems to be rising? I work with a person whose employees have been suggesting that she has this issue, but in the work environment it certainly won't be me that brings it up. Anybody have a proven practice for success is working with someone who has this form of ADD?
I wonder if this blog can handle podcasting? I'll check into it and perhaps you will hear the melodic tones of my voice one of these days *:-)
Have Fun *:-)

My last day...

I shall no longer walk the ground I so much loved, feared, and needed, and must pass from this place in time on this, my last day.
I have triumphed and failed, truly laughed and truly cried, and am at this moment finding my eyes filling with tears as remnant emotions wash through me once again.
I am grateful to God, to my wife, to my fellow men's group members, and to all who have found it possible to open their hearts to me, no matter how little or much.
I am grateful that my family continues to visit, to communicate, to hug, and to recognize me as part of their lives.
Life does, and shall, go on as long their are mountains, trees and seas, and I love nature and God more than anything else, and have been blessed with much communion with both.
I ask only for eternal devotion to my higher power of choice, and wish all a wonderful last day...of 2006.
Until next year...may the road rise to meet you, and the devil not know you are dead until an hour after you are in heaven *:-)

Through the rough water, still afloat...

The toughest time of year for me is past. The period from December 15th through December 29th contains many swirling currents of doom that in the past I have been swallowed by. Through experience, and awareness, and remembrance, and good fortune, I was not drowned this year. So many emotional traps are presented by society and family during the holiday stress period that I become exhausted manuevering successfully through them. Enough of that *:-) I am well, and I did not do damage to anyone this year, and that includes myself. I did the best I could to help others achieve their holiday desires, and I am content and happy that it is so *:-)
Onward, once more into the breach my friends, for God and country *:-) (I love Shakespeare)

EOY, Happy Birthday, & More Blotter Stuff *:-)

"End Of Year" contains danger for my self-esteem. I am tempted to review the year and list all that I did not do, or did not do to the best of my ability. That is silly of course. I absolutely did the very best I could, and for me there is no value in reviewing the year at all, especially since the Federal Government will make me do it in April anyway *:-) So, bye bye 2006, I shall think of you no more (yes, I know there are still 2 actual calendar days left, but I am going to ignore them).
The winds of change have begun to pick up in the place I am employed. I can feel them, although no official announcement has been made because the company neither has the office open nor does any business over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Already there have been a couple spurious emails arriving that portend meetings of significance in the first week we shall all be together in the office again. I shall work to find the courage and appropriate attitude to approach the changes that are coming with peaceful intent and integrity in my steps.
Today is a lovely day, with far less wind, no rain at all, and wonderful Sun shining. It is also my wife's birthday, which sometimes can be a difficult transition from Solstice and Christmas celebrations having just completed, and the New Year revelry just around the corner. I took a firm stance this year however, and I worked hard yesterday to make sure that all traces of Solstice and any other celebrations were removed, so that she can feel that this day is being lived just as a celebration of her birthday, and should contain only those experiences that she chooses, uncolored with any other holiday influence.
Here is a true entry from our local (very local) paper "Police Blotter" section, for your enjoyment:
"3:45 a.m, Monday:
A County Sheriff's deputy responded to a report that a man was burning a guitar on his car. When the deputy arrived, he reported finding that the 22-year-old man had used lighter fluid to burn his guitar on the hood of his car while it was parked on his own property. A report was taken but no arrest was made."
May each step we take find solid ground, and lead us to our intended destination.

Big Storm Comin'...so they say...

We have received a third warning on the radio that a "huge & windy" storm is about to hit. The same radio station has warned us twice before during the last week, and there has not been any rain at all, nor any wind. Maybe this time *:-) Just to cover us, I brought in enough wood for about 3 days, so we should be warm, even if the power goes out.
Slowly, slowly, and intermittantly, some energy is returning to me as the Sun begins its climb back to the heavens. I would enjoy being able to be exceptionally productive during this holiday time, but that isn't happening so far. Oh well, I trust that it will all work out.
I keep the full spectrum lights on even during the dreary day, to balance the lack of Sun, which helps. We use certified OTT lights, which provide true Sunlight. I visited John Ott's studio in Montreal, Canada, just as he was becoming famous for his time-lapse photography of how plants respond to different types of light. We have used OTT lights ever since they became commercially available, and we have one honker dual 300-watt light for when my wife needs to balance the colors in her weavings while the warp and weft are still on her room-sized loom.
May your path to the New Year be brightly lit, and easily followed *:-)

Christmas Day

Because my wife and I focus so much on Solstice, when she greeted me this morning with "Merry Christmas" :-), I had to stop for a moment and realize that today is the day when most Americans are doing the heaviest celebrating.
We, OTOH, will be traveling to our son's family home to feed their cats while they are celebrating at his wife's parents place *:-) They are nice cats, so no worries *:-)
I will stop in the office briefly today, and will also attend a community meeting tonight, wearing my goofy santa cap, so I guess we are celebrating Christmas Day too.
Have Fun everyone *:-)

Peace...peace on earth...peace in all beings

For a few hours, we were the center of the universe *:-) Laughter, love, and Solstice joy were everywhere. Thanks be to all higher powers for opening us all to those moments of light.
Today is a day of recovery for my wife and I, because we were honored to host the event this year. We have heard from some of those who attended, and they are happy to have been there.
Our granddaughter, just a little over one year old, and a first time visitor to the mountain home of her paternal grandparents (us), was a great guest *:-) Very cool little one. May many blessings come her way.
Enjoy *:-)

Housecleaning...real housecleaning...but not perfect housecleaning

A Winter Solstice gathering is planned for our home tomorrow, and so the process of rearrangement of furniture; moving excess "stuff" out to the invisible storage areas around the home, car & sheds; preparation of foods; laying in enough wood for the woodstove; planning and preparation of entertainment; creating safety gates for the "little one"; making a few clean windows, preparing "mountain clean" bathrooms (not perfect); preparing a very clean kitchen, and preparing to serve the truly inspired and wonderful food made by my wife (and the mother of some of the planned guests) in an attractive way, is going as well as we can manage, given that at this time of the year, with the Sun at its lowest, less energy is available to us. It will be nice to have everyone here for a little while.
For the last few days I have been "encouraged" to not eat in the areas I usually do, because, in the perception of my wife, I am a "crumby" eater *:-) Oh well, I can manage until after the Solstice gathering *:-)
Welcome Sun, I am glad you are on your way back *:-)

Hotel reservations...and local Police Blotter...

I admitted I was powerless over having to travel in 2007, and made my first two hotel reservations meaning long drives and hotel rooms. The sales team is out there finding opportunities and then my job is to train the clients in how to use our stuff. Although I have developed highly respected online learning tools for our clients, "they are still very old-fashioned and expect somebody to show up" according to our sales guys. I think maybe the sales guys are old-fashioned too, and like to give things away. No worries, its my job, and I will do it.
I have posted below some actual, factual and real stories found in the "Police Blotter" section of our local mountain community weekly newspaper. Who says living in the mountains doesn't offer entertainment:
#1: "At 1 p.m., a [local neighborhood] woman smoked meth an hour before meeting with her probation officer."
#2: "An 8:15 p.m. traffic altercation between two men on the 9000 block of ___ ___ ___ (the road and block we live on) ended when one of them fired a gun. The victim fled and was unharmed, but the suspect also escaped."
#3: "In a parking lot on the 6000 block of Highway [local highway], a furious driver rammed another man in the leg at 9:21 a.m."
#4: "A man broke through the front door of a [nearby neighborhood] house in the 200 block of ___ Way with a crow bar and an ax. He pinned the female resident to the floor and screamed death threats while waving his ax around. It was almost 9 p.m. when the cops came to pull him off her."
#5: "At 8:07 p.m., a man was rushed to the hospital after he fell unconscious at the Starbucks on the 200 block of ___ ___ Road. But doctors determined he was just very drunk."

...and that's the news from our part of the world *:-) Have Fun *:-)

Academic Training Officer

My new title *:-) I like it *:-) I love learning, and have managed to put together, with lots of help, some professional skill sets that let me help others learn also.

I am excited about my two new groups, one at my .mac account, and one on YouTube. I hope to invite others and to begin some excellent work there leading to professional quality Podcasts and Vodcasts. I just purchased my first iPod (video) to support this work, and plan to use my output to further clarify who I am and what is important to me. Lots of interesting places to go with this project. My first Vodcast will be about black squirrels, and will probably be about 2 minutes long. If it turns out, I will put a link to it here when I blog it.

Solstice get-together planning is consuming my lovable wife, and she is putting as much into it as she can. We are hopeful that our children will bring themselves (and their own children) up to our less than perfect home in the wooded mountains for an afternoon of sharing. My lovable wife is truly gifted as a chef and culinary artist, and has prepared her custom Bundt cakes and also the main course using tofu. She has earned the title we gave her of "Queen of the Bundts" *:-) Pere Noel is still scheduled to make an appearance, and if the weather is pleasant at all, we can all get some quality time on our very nice deck.

A Glimpse Through The Fog...

It is a little better in the work place today. Those that over-reacted and became emotionally wrecked by the events of last week have sent their emails of apology, and most of us are moving about almost normally, instead of expecting an IED to go off at any moment.
I believe the fear level is perceived as reduced, although it is my belief that the Biggy that was sent from headquarters to pour oil on our waters did only that, and couldn't care less what actually happens here. We have about 6 weeks until we find out what the "final solution" will be, and of course we all hope that someone who doesn't know anything about what we do is not the one making the decisions.

I am amazed at how much energy the world has devoted to documenting the life and times of black squirrels. I saw my first one about a month ago and am finding out there are actually cults devoted to the black squirrel. Good grief, Charlie B. *:-)

Have Fun *:-)

Sun! Sun! (that's why we don't live in Oregon anymore *:-)

Really nice and quite nurturing for us to be in our rooms as they fill with the spectrum of colors coming from the crystals (some motorized) that we have in the windows of the South and Southwest sides of our home. We loved Oregon for its closeness to and fullness with Nature, but there just was not enough sun to keep us balanced. When the kids came along, we got tired of seeing them having to be bundled up or waterproofed when they were outside during almost 9 months of the year. So, after getting some guidance from a good source, we packed as much as we could into our VW van (we had a total of 7 different VW vans during the, ahem, semi-hippie years) and set off for California, not having any idea of what would happen, or if we would stay.
We did stay, and have stayed, and hope to stay *:-)
There is enough breaking sun during even the most difficult and cloudy of times here that we can remain balanced and comfortable in trusting that warmth and light will return for longer and longer periods of time.
Solstice is coming up. Are you ready?
Rumor has it that Pere Noel is in the area and may be making an appearance, especially for the benefit of our granddaughter. We hope she doesn't get too scared by the unusually dressed fellow.
An amazing thing:
In my work, I have reached the point where Pod and Vod casting are going to be required in the course that I teach. So-o-o-o, being a loyal Amazon.com purchaser, and after first checking to see if Apple recommends any books on their site (they don't), I ordered "Videoblogging for Dummies", and when noticing the Author's name, Stephanie Bryant, a small click was felt in my brain, but not a strong enough one to cause me to do anything at that moment.
However, about 30 minutes later, when I was finished researching what I was going to buy to help me with Vod casting, my eye caught the link to Stephanie Bryant's profile. Guess what?
We know her! Fairly well actually *:-) She is a good friend to our son and we have been to parties and gatherings when Stephanie is present, and she also is a handspinner, and she and my wife, who is a fiber artist, have spent time sharing about that pursuit.
How cool! I know a published author who just put out a Dummies book! *:-)
It'll be neat to see her next time, and have a chat about the whole process. By the way, she is a very nice person, IMHO, and doesn't exhibit, at least in front of me, some of the characteristics that can make some authors onerous to be around.
Congratulations Stephanie! *:-) There is a link to Stephanie's Amazon Profile page on this post by clicking on the title.

James Bond Is Dead!...Long Live James Bond!

We loved it *:-) From the very first scenes to the end...we loved it *:-) Some of the scenes and scenarios are the best I have ever seen. Just the right amount of history & setting, just the right amount of contemporary staging & props. Thanks Barbara Broccoli for keepin' it alive.
Santa's Workshop (our local version) is keeping us busy, but we feel good doing it. We actually focus on Solstice ourselves, but of course nearly everyone else is focused on Christmas, so we do too.
I need to redesign the course I teach, and want to begin as quickly as possible tomorrow. The new version of the LMS is successfully installed, and so now I believe my work won't disappear once it is in place. New students are enrolling at about 6 per week, and now is the time for me to make changes.
There is a Canadian TV series, now available through Netflix, that I would recommend: "Slings & Arrows". Solid acting and believable characters, and some very funny stuff.
"Bond...James Bond"
*:-)

Whew, its over...

Ok then. A huge, and potentially disastrous software upgrade to the apps and databases that are the core of our business is complete, and all the bugs are fixable by our own team. It will be a bit tedious replicating the same fixes over and over throughout the apps, but who cares, the damn thing works *:-)
So...I can concentrate on getting enough firewood into the house to get us through what we are told is going to be a ball-chilling weekend.
Woodstoves ROCK *:-)
Have Fun *:-)

Been here, Did that, Gone now, Do It Yourself

Ok then...the biggies have come and gone, and by listening carefully, here is what I got:
1. The organization I am employed by will be permitted to exist, for now.
2. "We are watching", but take everything to the managers that are left, don't call us, we'll call you.
3. The managers who are left will be creating a team amongst themselves to run the company.
4. We are part of something much larger and are being evaluated to determine how we might fit in.
5. January 31st is when we will know what is really going to happen.

Between now and then: Have Fun *:-)

High Noon (well...actually...High 3:00 pm)

So, the old CEO is gone, all his access to files, furniture, and future cut off. We have an acting CEO but no way could that person possibly be considered for the long term. Tomorrow, a previously seen biggie, the one who booted the previous CEO, and a new biggie, female, that nobody knows (or at least nobody at my level knows) are coming to our conference room to introduce themselves and give us all an "update". That may or may not make the refreshments that are going to be served taste better.
I'm nodding off as I write, due to 4 pieces of excellent pizza at lunch, courtesy of my direct boss, and due to having to tend the woodstove until late these cold nights.
We just watched the DVD "Why We Fight", released in 2005, and it is very good IMHO. I am buying a copy from Amazon. We already own "An Inconvenient Truth", and I bought a copy and am loaning it out for free at work.
Have Fun *:-)

Nothing has really changed...

Fact: CEO was removed and placed on administrative leave, with all access to company info, computers, phones, office space, etc., terminated.
Fact: We are to act as if the CEO is still part of the organization and we are not to say anything even suggesting improper behavior on his part because the company's lawyers are hard at work making sure there is no "come back at ya" position that the former CEO can take.
Fact: The remaining management has decided to go ahead with the holiday celebration, even though it isn't authorized, but a memo was issued that contained the words "No alchohol". DUH!
Fact: Changes will come, but we don't know what yet.
Fact: I will say my prayers for acceptance and letting go, whatever happens.
Have Fun *:-)

Emotions, Fears, Colleagues & Peace

Arghhhh. Arghhhh. Arghhh.
In my workplace pain and emotional chaos have arrived in visible full force. Our CEO was removed and put on administrative leave while being audited for a wide variety of potential abuses of position.
Tomorrow we shall all assemble in our large conference room while the Directors who remain try to explain to us what is happening, without telling too much of the truth, of course.
My fervent hope is that we do not become becalmed due to the suspended moment in leadership.
In the career I am currently occupied with once a moment to move forward is lost, it does not come again, because the recipients of my efforts change and move on, either with or without my work reaching them.
Emails arrived this weekend from management folks who do not send emails on weekends.
Some of my colleagues who are usually active on email over the weekend did not send any emails.
Googletalk has been silent. Maybe there is a big game on or something, or maybe the fairly hard rain here has brought snow to the delight of "those who ski".
I ask for help in remaining centered during what tomorrow might bring, and perhaps I can be of assistance to others who ask for it.
Peace for all, would be fine by me *:-)
Good night.

Its late...Biggies in the office today...which wore me out...

Hello (I felt like blogging "hello" because I never do). Way fatigued, barely functional, its after midnight and I have a interactive video session in the morning for work with colleagues, so this will be short. Glad the fireplace is going strong, and my love and I enjoyed watching a segment of "Slings & Arrows", which I love *:-)
Time for sleep. Cheers.

Yo...Meetings...Yo...Work...Yo...Chairs

The "biggie" is back in the office for a while, so it is meeting city. Productivity is DOWN & needs to go UP! New opportunities are OUT THERE! We all need to work SMARTER, not HARDER! *:-)

I am not motivated to get much practical work done today. I put together some bright accomplishments for our ORG today, and got them done, but not my basic "get it done" stuff. I am hoping my energy will shift into "get it done" gear soon.

So many egos, so many perspectives & opinions, so many ingrained behaviors. I feel fortunate that I am being given the awareness and opportunity to slowly change some of my behaviors so I can "do myself a favor".

The money has run out again, and so the final 8 chairs that we needed to complete one of the new conference rooms will not be ordered. I will accept orange crates in good condition, let me know *:-)

Have Fun & Take Care *:-)

Excellent day, warm fire, & Shakespeare...

Just a very excellent but cool day in the mountains of central coast California...nice. In the 20's now up here, so wood heat is the way to go and our old ironsides wood stove is doing a great job *:-) That infra-red heat just goes right into the muscles and relaxes them perfectly...love it.
Found some info on Shakespeare that I didn't know today. Shakespeare is one of my heroes, so it was good to find out that one of the things that makes him great is that EVERYONE he came in contact with, and subsequently ended up as a character in his work, was shown in the most compassionate way possible. Excellent lesson in that for me, which I will try to keep aware of.
I wish everyone a good Sunday night, and of course as good as possible a Monday *:-)

A beautiful Saturday *:-)

Nice, nice, nice. My wife got to go to several activities she likes today, and she also got to visit our recently one year old granddaughter, who happens to be a sweetie, but who fell down yesterday and scraped her nose, which means that her dad and mom won't be having the holiday family picture taken for the holiday cards after all *:-( She is fine, but is beginning to experience more of real life. I am working away to help my students succeed in the courses I am teaching, which is what I want to be doing. Also discovering that the upgrade to IE7 on one of my computers caused some HP printer executables to crash, which HP had an online fix for, but which HP did not tell me about, so it took me an hour to figure that all out. Have fun everybody *:-)

New Post to the New Format

Ok, I'm back in the saddle again. More blogging on the way after quite a tumultuos several months that required concentration elsewhere. All in the family are well, and several celebrations recently have been very pleasant and nurturing. May peace be with us all, and may those who fight daily in far off places be supported and also welcomed home soon.

University of Blueberry Syrup: More Reality

Reality:
Lots of travel. Lots of PowerPoint slide preparation. Lots of research into the digital mechanics of how the online courses work at the actual click-by-click level. Lots of 3.5 hour training sessions in high schools and university buildings across the state.

Lots of opportunity to continue practicing "letting go", as the chrysalis of the previously "all for free" educational institution moves rapidly toward the "all for fee" model, necessitated by the change downward in government spending on education, which results in internal tensions about what clients should be given and what they shouldn't.

Amazing discoveries such as "my pickup truck has cruise-control!", and such as "room service is a great idea, but sometimes the food seems to have been prepared by sycophantic dairy industry sous chefs", and such as "no matter how many times I tell the marketing guys that I must have an accurate count of attendees prior to the training, far more than are planned for show up", and such as "wow, the state I live in, and now drive through for hours at a time, is a very, very beautiful place", and such as "even people who live in wine country full time can be grouchy, selfish and stingy", and such as "the simplest hotels are the best", and such as "I am thankful that I purchase my tires from a very reputable company", and such as "the new hard tonneau cover on my pickup seems to drastically improve airflow, and my gas mileage is better too", and such as "I am no longer good at driving after dark", and such as "some gas station bathrooms are horrendous, and a few are quite nice", and such as "the new, $59 Swedish driving pillow that I use is truly helpful and has reduced the pain to zero", and such as "every once in a while I think I should use 89 octane instead of 87 octane, just to give my truck a bit of a perk, and so I do", and such as "the nurturing and protective effect of the woolen cap, mittens and scarves that my wife lovingly knits for me truly protect me on the road, and my hands do not suffer from the vibration of the road, and my neck does not get stiff from the cold air rushing past, and my head stays cozy and contained, helping me to focus".

More later...

University of Blueberry Syrup: Reality

Reality:
Yup, I am actually working full time at the U, complete with travel, deadlines, bosses, colleagues, contract staff that can't be made to do anything, women in sexually suggestive clothing, way casual young folks, multi-cultural misunderstandings, and...I love it *:-)
So far my boss has dropped by to tell me that due to a paperwork error they wouldn't be able to pay me for the first month until the end of the second month (they got that fixed), that he is not sure if I am hourly or salaried as far as HR is concerned, that he expects me to do the job as though I were salaried, and we are compromising on how much time I put on my time card in case he actually has to pay me for all the extra hours I am putting in *:-)
I am a good fit for the job and have been successful in the field already, and also with some high mucky-mucks working in the President of the University's office, so I am hanging on for the ride.
Pisses me off though that so far everytime (3 times) I have been returning from a trip where I had to drive my own car for a couple hundred miles each way, that on the way back the car's "check engine" light has come on just as I am leaving to start home, so I have to worry all the way back after checking with the dealership and hearing them say "No, I think we fixed that last time, don't worry about the light". My kids tell me just to cut the wires to the "check engine" light and stop worrying about it *:-(

Cheers *:-)

Movie Recommendations:
"Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants" (2005) - Yes, see it. OC+

Music Recommendations:
"As We Are Now" (Renee Rosnes) (1997) - Yes, listen to it. OC+
"Life On Earth" (Renee Rosnes) (2001) - Yes, listen to it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Hello, University of Blueberry Syrup

Hello, University of Blueberry Syrup:

Well whaddya know...

I passed the one hour and forty minute, three person panel interview and have accepted the offer they made to me and am now employed by the "U".

It was a tough interview, and included a manager from IT, a Director from Academic Programs, and a Director from Operations. Each question rotated among the interviewers, and they weren't easy.

In addition, as a condition of accepting the interview, I had to agree to prepare and present a full 12 minute PowerPoint presentation that was created 100% by me, on a software application of my choosing. The presentation was live and was to an audience of people who knew what they were doing and were able to ask me questions during the preso. I did good *:-)

So I've been there for a couple days already, and I like it *:-) I plan to be with the "U" for at least ten years, and assuming I get through the 6 month probation period, I'll be busy working for a long time.

Also, they actually checked with every one of the 7 references I provided, some of whom live far across the country and back east.

By the way, if you can't answer the question "What is your pedagogical approach to teaching" correctly, you would not pass the interview. I had the right answer, because I have a degree in Education and have been a teacher and happen to love it *:-)

Please wish me good fortune in this position, and I will do the same for you *:-)

Cheers.

Movie Recommendations:
"Wire In The Blood: Justice Painted Blind" (2002) - No, don't see it. OC-
"Angels In America" (2004) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Dirty Filthy Love" (2004) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Turtles Can Fly" (2005) - Yes, see it. OC+
"The Longest Yard" (2005) - No, don't see it. OC-
"Safe" (1995) - Yes, see it. OC+
"The Girl In The Cafe" (2005) - Yes, see it. OC+
"The Pacifier" (2005) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Monk" (2002) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Caddyshack" (1980) - No, don't see it. OC-
"Alias" (2001) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Chasing Freedom" (2003) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind" (2002) - No, don't see it. OC-

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.