Casual Friday

Since coming to joining this company, “Casual Friday” has taken on a whole new meaning. The people in the office I work out of were once a start-up company that was bought out by a larger company. These folks all have back grounds with Microsoft and the Dot Com era so they tend to be a little more casual. Just this week we had visitor come and spend a few days in the office and the VP of Technology sent us all an email asking us to dress in more business attire and maintain normal business hours.

I for one have a closet full of ‘business’ attire so that is what I where every day except Casual Friday when I will allow myself to wear a pair of nice jeans a jacket or sweater and nice shoes. No tennis shoes (except for while I am on my afternoon walk), no t-shirts, no sweat shirts.

For the rest of the team since they think business casual means a pair of jeans and a sweater or a nice t-shirt, Casual Friday is a sight to behold. The last couple of Fridays I have been in the office my boss has worn his Grey Sweatsuit. Now I’m not talking about a nice warm up or jogging suit. I’m talking about the plain, no logo anywhere with elastic cuffs at the ankles sweatsuit.

Maybe I’m just a little on the old fashioned and set in my ways, but I know that dressing for success is important. The way you dress not only effects how you behave, but it effects how others perceive and treat you. How hard it is to take my boss seriously and with respect when we are having an in-depth business discussion and he is dressed like this:

Are You a Criminal?

Embezzlement, Fraud, Shop Lifting, crimes that tend to go unnoticed most of the time, crimes that most of us would say we don’t agree with and that people that commit these crimes should be punished for them.

So what is a crime –crime can be defined as a deviant behavior that violates prevailing norms, specifically, cultural standards prescribing how humans ought to behave.
So what happens when it has become culturally acceptable to break the law? It has become the norm for how we behave.

Let’s look at how we drive:
- Do you always use turn signals? There is a law that says we should.
- Do you always stay under the speed limit? If you did on most freeways you would cause more accidents because it has become the norm to go above the speed limit.
- What about using your cell phone while driving or even sending a text message? Some states this against the law, but yet we still do it.

Lawbreaker – Someone who violates the law.

I will be honest, I first thought of this post last Saturday as I was looking at a message on my cell phone while driving over the speed limit done the freeway.

When did it become socially acceptable to be a lawbreaker/criminal?

WHY TRAMPOLINES ARE SO DANGEROUS

An Experience

Have you ever been ruined by an experience? What does that mean? Let’s consider a sunset on the Pacific Ocean. If you go to Google and search for images of the Pacific Ocean sunset you will see many of them. With the digital technology today there are many pretty pictures for us to enjoy. They can be really moving. But if you have ever been standing on the beach at sunset looking out over the Pacific Ocean it is just much more than pretty, there is an experience that includes the smell, sounds and feelings that are part of the sunset.

Another example is the Grand Canyon. Again there a many pretty pictures, you may have even looked at an artist painting that has grasped more of the texture and shading that make for a beautiful piece of art. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon is an experience that cannot be described, it can only be lived. It truly makes your heart skip a beat with the pureness of the moment.

Before I had a chance to see the sunset or stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon I looked at the pictures and paintings and would view them with awe and amazement. I enjoyed looking at them and could only imagine what it was like. I dreamed of someday going and being there in person. Now I look at the photos and paintings with a more critical eye, I am ruined by the experience of being there in person. At times I wonder if I have become too critical. I have come to realize that nothing can compare and you can only feel the deep satisfaction when you can live the experience and I have to understand that not everyone has had that opportunity and allow them and I to just enjoy where we each are at.

Seeing Elephants

Today we walk up to the front of the church were the conference is and there stands an elephant next to the heater. Yep a real live elephant trying to stand warm in the cold temperatures, here we are in Dallas and it is only in the 40s where it is normally in the 70s.

So back to the elephant, the first topic of today was “The elephant in amongst us, Betrayal”. Betrayal is the topic that no one really wants to discuss, but we all go through it many times in our lives. What you do after being betrayed determines your character.

The last session of the day by a different speaker was “Can you see the elephant?” He did not know that there was going to be a live elephant on site today so that was really God to tie the theme together around something as unique as an elephant. This session was about as leaders we need to make our selves smaller some times to get out of the picture so you can see the elephant that is the potential of those you are leading.

As we left tonight, the elephant was gone and only a few strands of straw remained, but the mental picture will remain and I for one will look at elephants different from now on.

Highlights

For the next few days I am in Dallas so here are the highlights for today:

In the airport this morning we had Matt Hasselbeck the quarterback for the Seahawks were there with his family on the same flight. Then we get to Dallas and our hotel is across the street from Bass Pro Shop. So guess where we went to dinner, yep the steak house attached to the Bass Pro Shop.

I got a head cover of the Caddy Shack Gopher.

Ice Fishing

After Shanna wrote about her ice fishing adventure on her blog today, http://habichradio.vox.com/ I got to thinking about my brother and how much he loved ice fishing. My brother never had the time or the patience to fish in the summer with the rest of us. When we would go as a family on fishing trips in Northern Michigan, he would rent his own boat and out board motor and just spend the day driving the boat as fast as he could. But, let the our lake freeze over and he would put on his Snowmobile suit, grab his bucket, pole, and auger and spend hours sitting on the bucket next to the hole catching fish. It still amazes me.

No me, I would much rather have an Fishing Shanty. For those of you that have never lived in places like Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan in the winter you probably don’t understand how elaborate an Ice Fishing Shanty can be.

Here are a few pictures of one I found. It sleeps 4 and has a bathroom.

Now this is the way I want to ice fish. Thanks Shanna helping me to remember my brother today.

Shopping, AAGH!!!!

I’m going out of town on Wednesday and needed to buy a new pair of jeans so off to the mall I went today. I can’t think of very many things that I dislike as much as I do shopping for myself. It is not that I don’t like to spend money on myself; it is just that I have an interesting body shape and it sure doesn’t fit what is so called normal. I could make a list of area: feet, arms, legs, and waist; they are just in a different proportion than what cloths are made to. Then there is the whole idea of buying something that I don’t feel like I’m 80 or that I’m trying to look 18. Is there really a style for someone that is over 50 that doesn’t include support hose and hairnets?

So back to my fun shopping experience; as I said I am not proportioned I have a 35” inseam and a typical woman’s jean is between 32 and if you are lucky you can find a few that are 34 or 35. I have only had success when I go to the bigger department stores, no sense even trying the Targets or Kohls. Nope if I’m going to find jeans, I’m going to pay about the price of a car payment for a pair.

I go into the first store and I don’t even look on the racks I find a sales person to ask where the Longs are? She says all of their jeans are 34 inches. I then as which designers stuff tends to run longer? I try on 8 different pants and nothing works, either they are too short or they are too tight. It doesn’t help that I am carrying more weight right now than I should. So off to the second store and I find a clerk to ask about the longs. She is so kind, she immediately takes me over to a few that are long and low and behold they are over $300. I’m sorry there is just something in me that won’t let me pay that much for a pair of jeans. I look past the clerk and there I see a whole area of jeans that she had steered me away from. Just for kicks I look at the sizes – sure enough I find some that are 34 and 35 in lengths in my size. After trying on another 6 different pair of jeans, I head out of the store with my little bag feeling totally defeated and thinking about skipping my trip.

The only good thing was that I got that pair of jeans for under $100. Too bad for that second clerk, in her greed to get a big commission instead of helping a customer, she missed out on a commission all together. I went to another clerk to buy them.

Changes

The last month has been full of ALL kinds of change. Change is going to happen. Changes can be good, they can be bad and they can be ugly.

The GOOD:
I accepted a new job offer and resigned from my old job this change was one of absolute elation, relief and peace. My job had been a source of deep displeasure, but at the same time whenever there is change, there is an amount of fear of the unknown and uncertainty.

The BAD:
Our oldest son, his wife and our only granddaughter moved out of town to Phoenix, some 1400 miles away a change full of pride, sorrow and loss. I was extremely proud of my son for taking the steps necessary to follow his dream of becoming a full time fireman, to not let the potential risk stop him from trying something different. Sorrow and loss because they will not be near and we won’t get to have our granddaughter come and spend a night and play dominos just because we want to.

Next was the loss of my Aunt. Not only did I feel grief, but I also am trying to comfort my mother in this time also. One of the good things that have come about from this loss is that I have made contact through this blog with some of my cousins that I haven’t talked to in over 20 years.

The UGLY:
Last Friday night as I woke up just feeling bad, I was sick and just praying it was not the full blown flu that was going around. I so wanted to stay home in bed and yet because I had many things I had to do, I kept going and going and pushed through. At the onset I attributed it to the fact that I had only gotten a few hours sleep on Thursday night. But on Saturday I felt worse, feeling sick to my stomach and couldn’t sleep, Sunday was a little worse and on Monday morning I was just miserable. Sunday night and Monday, I survived on Ginger Ale. By Monday evening I was able to eat a little and here finally today I am 100%.

Life is about changes, we change physically and emotionally until the day we die. Embrace. Some changes are forever, some are temporary, embrace change, manage those you can and don’t let others like illness overtake you.

Flat Stanley - My New Best Buddy

For the last two weeks I have had a new best buddy, Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley came to me from Mrs. Teskey’s class at Oxbow Community School where my niece Lynn attends. Flat Stanley is a book character and has become a well know project in schools around the world. Mrs. Teskey’s class is currently comparing their community to regions of the country and as part of that they send someone a Flat Stanley and ask that you spend some time with him and let him get to know what it is like where you live, describing the differences in the weather, geography and other community life.

Stanley arrived a couple of weeks ago while I was out of town, but once we met we have been constant companions, he has ridden around with me in my coat pocket all but one day when he went to work with Kyle. As I wrote the teacher this morning it was so much fun for both Kyle and I to participate in this project, it made us think of all the things we are blessed with living out here in the great Northwest.

While Flat Stanley was with us he went to work, he stopped at Starbucks, he saw the mountains, including the huge amount of snow at Snoqualmie pass, he rode on a ferry, he crossed the 520 floating bridge, he crossed the Deception Pass Bridge, he went to the Space Needle and Harbor Island. He saw the Hyak Ferry in dry-dock and he even went in to the meat locker at Savannah Meats. While Stanley was with us I taught him how to play the guitar and he was on stage this past Saturday night as the band played.

I will miss Flat Stanley, he helped me to see all that I tend to take for granted each day with new eyes of exploration. Thank you Mrs. Teskey’s class.

A Wrong Turn

Yesterday on the way to work the wonderful little light came on the dash board informing me that I needed gas. The night before I saw that I was done to almost a ¼ tank and thought about filling up but was tired and thought I had enough for one more round trip. Last night as I was leaving the parking lot to head home I realized I wouldn’t make it home and really didn’t want to run out of gas. As I was sitting on 520 waiting the needle on the gas gauge kept getting lower and lower so I figured I better pull off in Redmond and get some before I ran out. Only problem with that is that I really don’t know my way around there and didn’t know where a gas station was.

So I’m get off of 520 and start looking for a gas station. I finally spot one on the other side of the road in the opposite direction. I see an opening in the centerline barrier and take a left turn into that opening. Now remember this is rush hour traffic, it is getting dark, it is raining and I don’t really know where I am. As I pull into this opening I see a small truck trying to turn into where I am, I look down and realize that the turn arrows in the road are pointing at me not away from me. Yep, I was heading the wrong way on a one-way turn.

How often do we do that, take a turn in our hustle and bustle, distracted by all the things that are in our lives; kids, friends, work, spouses, as we take a wrong turn missing all the signs and warnings. We end up in a spot we really don’t want to be, in danger from a head on collision and just flat out at risk.

I quickly merge into traffic and out of the way of that poor guy in the truck trying to make a turn. I get to the gas station and thankfully no police car is behind me. I fill up the tank, which by the way took 15.6 gallons into a 16 gal tank.

This time I did get away with going the wrong way on a one-way street, but I also had a price to pay. If I had gotten gas the night before I would have saved myself the anxiety of looking for a station, never would have been in that situation and would have only paid 3.05/gal instead I paid 3.19/gal.

Where Are You?

”If you aren’t where you are you are no where”, that is what Col. Potter said after seeing that the team was down in the dumps because they were in Korea and not back home.

How often do we become discontent with where we are and have our hearts in a different place. This can be a physical place, like this time of the year in the Northwest when it is rainy and we dream of summer or being in some place like Arizona in the warm sunshine. But it can also be that our hearts just aren’t in the ‘right’ place for the situation we are in. We are in a job that we see as just meeting our need for a paycheck and not as an opportunity to grow and help others even if it is just the example we set. Maybe it’s the stay at home mom that really wishes she could be out doing something “important”. In each of these instances we are really no where because our hearts and minds are divided. So where are you?

The Love of His Life

Today my uncle lost the love of his life; I received a call at 10:30 this morning telling me that my Aunt Agnes passed away. Uncle Joe and Aunt Agnes have known each virtually their whole lives because they grew up on neighboring farms in Northern Michigan. Aunt Agnes would have been 95 in March and Uncle Joe have been married for 73 years.

You want to talk about what true love is lets look at these two; they never dated anyone else; years ago when the doctors told Agnes she had asthma, Joe gave up his heavy smoking because he didn’t want her to suffer. The fact that Joe is going strong at almost 98 is a testament to the changes in his diet that Agnes instituted after his heart problems surfaced some 40 years ago. My uncle has retired from two different jobs and in recent years he has been the full time care giver for my aunt. She could get around, but lost most of her sight, battled and beat breast cancer, struggled with intestinal problems and became more and more limited in what she could do. She and Joe would finish each others thoughts, but often Agnes wouldn’t let Joe get a word in edgewise.

When they found out they couldn’t have children the just loved all of us nieces and nephews like we were theirs, it just didn’t matter. If anyone of us showed up at their house even as recently as this past summer, Agnes felt she had to cook you a meal.

These two were one, it was always Joe and Agnes and it will always be. Some day I know they will meet up again in heaven and in the mean time God will be getting an ear full, her famous catch phrase (well maybe infamous and only to the family) “let me tell you” as she shares her opinion.

Love for a life time is not an accident and I am so blessed to have had such an example in my life.

Super Bowl:

Definition: a self-cleaning toilet

The End / The Beginning

Today marks the end of a season and the beginning of a new one. Today is my last day (actually jut a few hours) at one job and the first day in the office (afternoon) at a new job.

Today is the end of a season at one place that has been an interesting experience. I experienced highs and lows, respect and sabotage. I thank God for this job that allowed me to grow in areas both professionally and personally.

Today is the beginning of a new season at a new job. The new job is one of possibilities and excitement I can hardly contain. I thank God for this job and that will allow me to grow in new ways, ways that I cannot even comprehend at this moment.

How often do we have to end something to allow room to begin something else?