A House Fly on Steroids

I am here in Cincinnati, Ohio at one of our other locations to do some training. It has been nice, sunny and warm. Yesterday I finished up my day at the office about 6:30pm so I was one of the last people to leave the building. I walk outside and hear this noise that sounds like a giant electronic transformer humming. If you have ever been near a very large, high voltage, power line, you know the sound. Only thing is that you need to amplify that about 10 times to be at the volume of this sound. As I walk out onto the sidewalk the noise continues to grow and I notice that there are all of these bugs flying around the trees.

I keep walking across the parking lot to get to my car. These bugs are in every tree and the noise is incredible. The parking lot runs along the freeway with traffic passing only about 50 ft away, only a hedge of trees separates the parking lot from all the evening traffic but tonight all you hear is the bugs. I look down to see one of these things laying on the pavement and it is “A House Fly On Steroids”.

Some call them loud, ugly, smelly and annoying; but regardless of how people feel about cicadas, they have returned in force. Each brood usually emerges every 17 years when the ground temperature reaches about 65 degrees and usually only last 4-6 weeks until they return to hibernation and return 17 years later.

I guess in some cultures they eat these things. Anyone want me to bring you some in a baggie?

At Least I Can Read

This past weekend I made a run to the used book store to sell back some of the books my mom has read in the 18 months, there were two boxes full. While I was there I went through the mystery section trying to find more books for her to read.

My mom has been an avid reader since she retired over 15 years ago, but now it is different. With my mom’s disabilities reading is one of the few tasks that she can do by herself as long as the book isn’t too large or heavy. More and more my mom’s body is not able to perform as it once did. More and more she is dependent upon others to help her.

We don’t talk about what she is losing; we talk about what she still has. She can no longer hold a pencil so she isn’t able to do crossword puzzles that once captivated her mind, she is having more and more trouble doing jigsaw puzzles unless the pieces are larger enough for her arthritic hands to hold. She enjoys watching Wheel of Fortune and usually solves each puzzle easily. And then there are the books.

I showed her the 25 books I got for her this weekend and it was only God that she hadn’t read any of them. She was so excited and all she said was, “at least I can read”, and then we went on with what we were doing.

Why So Important

As we have just completed the Hockey Season with the Red Wings wining it all and are the current Stanley Cup Champions I’m sure some of you are wondering what the big deal is. It is more than a game, it is more than a sport and if you have never lived where hockey is truly respected for the amount of skill involved you just wouldn’t understand.

Ice hockey is played on a large flat area of ice, using a three inch (76.2 mm) diameter vulcanized rubber disc called a puck. This puck is often frozen before high-level games to decrease the amount of bouncing and friction on the ice. The game is contested between two teams of skaters. The game is played all over North America, Europe and in many other countries around the world to varying extent.

The game of hockey is more like a tradition. I know for myself some of the earliest memories of my step dad are when I was about 10 and we sat in front of a TV in our living room and we watched the Red Wings Play on Hockey Night In Canada. Even though the picture was small grainy and black and white, it was the best time ever. Hockey is about the working stiff, the blue collar guy. Professional Hockey players are not in the news much even though they are very skilled and most of them are family men and take pride in that.

Today was the parade in the city of Detroit celebrating the team and their accomplishment this year and for spectator Corinne Gordon, the parade was bridge building. The Red Wings' six-game series win over the Penguins gave fans the chance to temporarily put aside the economic doldrums and the mayoral saga that have dominated the news for months. "There's been so much doom and gloom and separation between the city and suburbs because of what the mayor has done," Gordon said. "This brings people together."

Hockey is about family, tradition and hope for if only three 20 minutes periods.

Straight Rows

The other day on my way home from work I noticed a farmer out in the field plowing. It reminded me of the years I lived in Illinois and would drive through farm land at this time of the year and you would see perfectly straight rows. On many of the fields they would be so large that you couldn’t see where the field started and where it ended. So how do they keep the rows straight?

To keep the rows straight the farmer sets up markers on the edge of the field and points the front of the tractor at that mark and just makes sure that they don’t drift off of that mark. The farmer keeps going forward, never looking back or taking their eyes off of that point out in front of them. They have a target and if they take their eyes off that target they start to drift and the rows will not be straight. It is important that the rows are straight so that as the crop grows other equipment that is used in the field will not run over the plant and cause damage.

In life we need to set our eyes on the target and keep our focus or we drift. Our past is behind us and it has shaped us, but unless we look forward we cause problems that may not appear right away but later in our growth process we can get run over because we drifted from our target. Phil 3:13-14

A Sign for My Office

Over the years at a number of different companies I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. My desk seems to be where the executives in the company come when they just need someone to listen. Now it is not usually real heavy stuff and wouldn’t be considered insider trading – unless of course I told someone what I knew.

Just last Friday I had the President, one of the VPs and a Director all feel the need to either come into my office or call me out onto the sun deck to vent a few things that were troubling them.

At one of my jobs it used to freak out some of my co-workers when the CEO of the company would come to my desk that was located in the middle of a cubicle maze and sit and just chat for a few. My desk was on the way to nothing and was hard to find, he had to come looking for me, and he wasn’t just in the neighborhood.

Today I had some one call and as we were talking about some issues we were working on he asked how I could stay so calm. I told him I just prayed, “Jesus I know you are in charge here because I can’t do anything about any of this stuff.” He replied, “no really, unless you don’t want to tell me.” I said, “No really I just pray.”

So I guess that is what draws them in, the peace of God amidst all the chaos.

Kyle's Gift To Me

Have faith in yourself

Believe in the miracle of love

And keep alive the promise of hope.

A Ships Bell

The strength of a marriage bond is represented by the traditional gift of bronze on this our 8th anniversary. Our union is best represented by a Bronze Ships Bell.

A ships bell remains a powerful and tangible reminder of the history, heritage, and accomplishments of the naval service today. They serve to inspire and to remind our naval forces and personnel of their honor, courage, and commitment to the defense of our nation.

Our unique qualities are perfectly blended just as copper and tin are blended to make Bronze. Bell Bronze is the purest type of bronze, there is no contamination from other metals in the alloy. A bronze bell gives you such perfect tone and clarity, the weight and the mixture of the alloy used the most important factors that determine the “voice” of the bell.

As we keep our marriage free of contamination it will endure for a life time and ring true and clear for years to come.

Happy anniversary dear, I love you.

It’s only Short-Term

It all started six weeks ago, the company I work for let go a few folks and one of my peers was asked to step in and do their jobs “Short-Term”, about 60 days. No problem, there were three that were asked to pick up his previous responsibilities. Ok, I was busy, but I could manage the new things without too much extra effort. I would go into work at 7am instead of 7:30 and should be ok.

Short Term: adjective
Intended, used, or present for a limited time: impermanent, interim, provisional, short-range, temporary.

About three weeks ago we were all called into the boss’s office and he informed us he was making some more adjustments and added a few more things to my list of responsibilities, “short term”. Wait, this time he wasn’t giving me just a few extras, he gave me a couple of major items and I told him there was no way I could do it all at this time. Too bad, it happened, but I did off load one minor time consuming task. I have been coming in before 7am and then working most evenings at home for at least an hour since that time and finally yesterday for the first time I thought I was making headway and getting things organized.

Short term gratification often rules in America. Corporations often meet their quarterly financial goals at the expense of the organization’s long term health. Fast food customers are aware of the long term implications of eating a steady diet of greasy food but are opting for short term gratification as well.

Then this morning, my boss walks into my office and closes the door behind him and informs me that they have terminated the employment of one of the guys and that “short term” we would have to take on more responsibility. In six weeks we have gone from a four person group to a two person group and of the two of us that are left I am the most senior with six months of employment with this company. I went from busy to swamped and now it will be crazy in the “short term”.

As managers, senior executives and CEOs all over have painfully discovered, if you don’t manage for the short term, you won’t be around for the long term. Companies who plan for their long-term goals will be along much longer than those who only think in short-term gratification.

The Brain Battles Between Short Term Emotions And Long Term Logic

Travel Made Interesting

This past weekend my husband and I traveled to the Phoenix area to visit our son and his family. I have traveled extensively for my jobs over the years and business travel is pretty mundane. When I travel with my husband it is a whole different story but I think this past weekend takes the cake.

My husband works for a meat whole seller and at one point our son worked for the same company. If you want to know anything about meats and the best cuts these two guys have a wealth of knowledge. My husband has been working with beef for over 35 years. As a gift to our son my husband bought him a Brandt Beef Boneless Rib Eye – not just one steak but the entire Rib Eye that weight about 12 pounds. To keep it fresh for the trip we froze it and then come Friday the day to travel it was wrapped in a towel and stuffed in a back pack as part of his carryon luggage. No this chunk of beef was cut into about 12 1”steaks when we got it to our son’s house for a BBQ on Saturday. Oh I wish I had been able to take a picture of the TSA agent that was looking at the x-ray when that backpack went through. He stopped looked and turned his head back and forth a couple of times and then called someone over and said I think we should do a bag check. He sat there looking at a huge chunk of raw meat in that x-ray image. “Bag Check”, “Whose bag is this?” and Kyle starts to explain that it is a rib eye roast. Sure enough they open the bag pull out this large piece of raw meat. Now the comments really start, “hey, what’s the address and what time is the BBQ?”, “maybe we should confiscate this,” said with a big smile. And the best one was the man running the x-ray, “I guess I need a piece of that to do a quality control check”. All the while this is going on we are actually running a little late and I’m trying not to miss our flight (it was my fault we were late).

So that was on the way down, on the way back he wore one of his PETA shirts. Now you might be asking yourself a guy in the meat industry wearing a PETA shirt, but let me explain. The front of the shirt say PETA in big bold letters, then below that is says, People Eating Tasty Animals. There were probably six different complete strangers that stopped him and told him they really liked the shirt or wanted to see what was on the back. He has two of these shirts the one he had on gave the definition of a vegetarian: someone who couldn’t ride, hunt or fish. It sure makes for some interesting looks whenever he wears one of them.

Travel can be mundane, but thank you dear for making this trip interesting.

Real Ingredients

Talk about a marketing ploy. I was sitting in front of the TV a few nights ago and a commercial came on for some salad dressing. The major tag line for the ad was “Real Ingredients”

So when they the advertisers say REAL what is it they are trying to tell us? That it isn’t made of ‘Fake’ stuff? What is really sad is that because it is advertised as Real many people will buy it.

So let’s look at a couple of definitions:
Real: true and actual; not imaginary, or alleged. Being no less than what is stated, genuine and authentic, not artificial.
Fake: not Real. One that is not authentic or genuine

We spend a life time trying to find what is real. Real happiness, real purpose, real love, but when we have to label something as Real, it makes we leery. The real needs no advertising and no marketing. When you experience the real, you will never be fooled again.

Cut-Throat Croquet

We just finished playing a fine game of croquet. We spent most of the game see how far out of bounds we could hit the person that was in the lead. The first game of the day was played with us all being nice but trying to win. Then the gloves came off so to speak. Once one of us got in the lead it was all about going after them to knock them back. We all laughed so hard and the game took a long time to finish since we really weren’t trying to go through the wickets any longer. There is just something about a friendly game that lets us go after each other.

My Lilac Bush: UPDATE

Here it is my little lilac bush in full bloom. It was about a year ago that I was given this bush by a very dear friend and I wrote about what it meant to me on my blog then.

I ran outside tonight when I got home from work and snapped this picture. I am planning on cutting all the flowers off on Friday morning and taking them to my mom. She loves fresh cut flowers and since I will be away this weekend and they would be wilted by the time I get back, I am going to let her enjoy them.

The Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup, notably the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes in North America, was donated in 1892 by Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston and son of the Earl of Derby. He purchased the trophy for 10 Guineas ($50.00 at that time) to be presented to "the championship hockey club of the Dominion of Canada." The first team ever awarded the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Amature Athletic Association in 1893.

Since 1910, when the National Hockey Association took possession of the Stanley Cup, the trophy has been symbolic of professional hockey supremacy. Beginning in 1926, only NHL teams have competed for this prized trophy.

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh

Game 1 — Saturday, May 24: Penguins at Red Wings, 8 p.m.

Game 2 — Monday, May 26: Penguins at Red Wings, 8 p.m.

Game 3 — Wednesday, May 28: Red Wings at Penguins, 8 p.m.

Game 4 — Saturday, May 31: Red Wings at Penguins, 8 p.m.

Game 5 — Monday, June 2: Penguins at Red Wings, 8 p.m., if necessary

Game 6 — Wednesday, June 4: Red Wings at Penguins, 8 p.m., if necessary

Game 7 — Saturday, June 7: Penguins at Red Wings, 8 p.m., if necessary

Designed to Perform

I had the opportunity to ride in a Jaguar for the first time last week. A Jaguar is one of the world best luxury cars. “The company’s vision is simple: to produce beautiful fast cars that are desired the world over.” I walk up to the car, put my brief case into the trunk and entered the door of this sleek black sedan. The seats are a soft leather and very comfortable. We buckle in and head off to our destination.

The ride was very uneventful and nothing worth really writing about because the ride was less than 5 miles long from one parking lot to the airport where I was dropped off curb side. No real opportunity to put the car through its paces, no opportunity to really ‘see what it was made for’. It did nothing more than any other car or even a minivan could do and with the same amount of fun and excitement.

As a manager of people that is one of the hardest things to do with the people that work for you is to put them in a position to do all that they were designed to do. To trust them with all that is within them and let them really put their skills through the paces. Sometimes until you turn someone loose you really don’t know what they are really capable of. Sometimes until you are put into a place where you are truly challenged you don’t know yourself what you are really capable of.

So don’t be a Jaguar that is only making airport runs, get out on the test track and see what you are made of. You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

What Makes Me Unique?

As I wrote a few days ago, I recently read “The Last Lecture”, by Randy Pausch, I have been chewing and chewing on what was in that book. As I have tried to talk about it, I’m not sure it makes sense to anyone else. Maybe that is what makes me unique.

When we can relate to a topic, book or teaching we are apt to remember it longer. I will probably remember this book for some time to come. “What makes me unique”, was the question that Randy answered to prepare for the lecture. He said Cancer does not make him unique there are thousands of people around the world with cancer.

He prepared for this lecture by going through all the pictures he had and put them in a PowerPoint presentation. It was at that point in the book that he had me. I do the very same thing. For every blog post I do I have to find a picture to go with it. When I write a paper or article for work, I create it in PowerPoint as a presentation first and then write the ‘script’ that goes with it, the words come after I see the pictures. I thought I was unique in that.

Then he writes about the day sitting in the doctor’s office when he gets the news that he has cancer. That is a moment that even though I was in shock, I remember the room. Not the words of the doctor, but the picture of a woman in a pink dress with black shoe and a black belt. I thought I was unique in that.

He is a man that has gotten into trouble because he takes things literally, when he talks you need to take it at face value and not read anything into it. He means what he says and only what he says. I have had to learn to be careful and vague. I am not unique in that.

That is what stuck me most about ready this book, how so much like him I am. And yet, I am very different and unique in other ways, but it truly was a blessing to know that I wasn’t weird.

The Last Lecture

I flew home from Costa Mesa this evening; I arrived at the airport and got through security about 20 minutes before the plane was to board. As usual I head to Hudson’s to check out the New Arrival and top selling books. I have a book with me that I am reading, but I always look to see what’s new. One caught my attention tonight, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, so I bought it.

As I stood by the gate waiting to board the plane I started to read. I finished it as we taxied to the gate at SeaTac. This small book, only 206 pages, holds so much wisdom and insight. I could relate to this author on so many levels, I just couldn’t put it down. I had heard about this guy but never really paid much attention.

The book is full of so many profound one liners I could probably list over a dozen of not here, but I will leave that for those of you that want to read the book, but this one is one that so good I just can’t resist; “Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”

I will be processing this book and possibly reading it again for the next few days but for tonight I will just say it is a must read.

Scanning the Abnormal

Today I had an MRI on my knee. I tweaked it a few weeks back and after the most frustrating experience ever with my new insurance company I am finally getting it looked at by a specialist. I met with the doctor last Friday and he wanted to have an MRI done to see if there was any damage.

An MRI is basically a big Magnet and as the magnetic field is energized the atoms in the body react. A trained person can make out what is normal and what is abnormal by the images that are left. Normal tissue looks one way and abnormal tissue reflects the atoms in a different way. In my case they are trying to see if there is a tear in the tissue of the knee. I found it quite amusing today when the technician looked at the digital image of my knee and said, “There is a lot of inflammation in there”. I said, “I told you my knee was sore”. I have a really high pain thresh-hold so what I live with is more than most people can stand, but that is not the point of this post.

Normal verse Abnormal, both are made of atoms, both are in the same body, but they both react differently to the same situation. We our life as normal as possible, reacting to situations the way we are suppose to , but what happens when there is a slight abnormality in us and we react to common situations in abnormal ways? We over-react, we are too sensitive, or we fly off the handle during times that are normal. It is due to the slight tears in our character that can be caused by circumstances and pain. These tears are not visible and are not dealt with until we submit to a scan by a trained eye. It is only then when the tear is correctly diagnosed that we can receive the correct treatment and be made normal again. Allow your character to be scanned and you will be our running and jumping like a child again soon.

An Adventure Waiting to Happen

Sometimes I think my life is just an adventure waiting to happen. Tonight was just another example, a simple trip home from work turns into a 2 hour trip through the country side.

It starts when I get involved in what I am doing at work, I finally look up and it is 4:30pm, right in the middle of rush hour traffic. I usually leave at 3pm on Fridays because I drive up to my mom’s and pick up her laundry to do it for her. Anyways back to the adventure.

Next I am leaving the parking lot and my cell phone rings it is my sister, I am talking away to her, just distracted enough that I miss my exit to go to my mom’s and I am headed in the wrong direction for at least 20 miles before I realize it. Oh well I decided I will just get her laundry in the morning since I will be going to see her anyways.

Going along and I get to Novelty Hill where traffic is really backed up. I decide to make use of the time and call a friend to chit chat. I finally get to the bottom of the hill and the road that I need to go on is closed due to an accident. OH NO, I have no idea where I am going now. I am headed in the opposite direction I want to go and really don’t know how to get to where I want to be. I call my husband and after a discussion he figures out where I am and tells me how to get home.

Traffic is so back up that I’m out on a road that runs through the middle of a very large horse ranch. I’m sitting there enjoying the nice sunny day, the view of the horses out in the pastures and all of a sudden the dashboard starts pinging. Now what? I check all the gauges and sure enough the engine is overheating. No where to pull off, no where to go. OH No….. I turn on the fan full blast and nothing happens. I call Kyle and he says to turn the heater on full blast. And thank you Lord the temperature gauges starts to fall. Now granted it is about 85 degrees in the van with the windows open, but because we weren’t moving the air was not moving either. Finally I get to the main road and I am moving enough that the temperature gauge is back to normal, I can turn off the heat and enjoy the rest of the ride home.

Another day another adventure, maybe I should change the title of my blog?

What I Want to Hear I Cannot

Sitting here on the airplane returning from and I am watching the movie, The Bucket List. It is a movie that I was interested in but I didn’t see it in the theaters when it was playing so I was really looking forward to watching it. Too bad they are having issues with the sound and a part of the plane, the part I am sitting in, cannot get the audio portion of the movie. So I sit and watch the picture, picking up a few words via lip reading and wonder what is actually being said.

There are the normal back ground noises of the plane, the din of the engines, the voice of the lady a few rows up that has had one too many Bourbons and Coke, the rustle of an empty potato chip bag behind me but the movie is silent. What I want to hear I cannot. I watch as the two characters, men that are on the verge of death, try and do all the things on the list they had made. Without the sound the movie is just not as interesting.

Every day we are bombarded with sound, the sound of the wind in the trees, the sound of the cars on the freeway, the sound of our favorite music coming from our iPod, sounds of life. But are we really connected to the sound that really matters, are we able to hear what we truly want to hear. Do we hear that we are loved? Do we hear that we are doing what we truly enjoy; do we hear the laughter that is inside of each of us when we let the worries go? What I want to hear I cannot. What I long to hear is sometimes blocked by uncontrollable circumstances.

Just because I cannot hear it for now does not mean that the movie wasn’t playing, that the dialog wasn’t happening. The voice of God is always there, it is just whether or not we are hearing it.

Think a gallon of gas is expensive?

Evian water 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)

The Original Me

I made a comment on my Twitter tonight about Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. None of that Kraft Easy Mac for me, it just tastes funny, I want the original. Don’t even try the different shaped noodles either, one time Kyle brought home some Sponge Bob Mac and Cheese, I tried one box and ended up not eating it. The rest of the boxes went to the Girl Scouts food drive.

Kyle bought this beautiful watch in Mexico, it is his Rolexo, no that isn’t a typo; he bought a copy of a Rolex watch. It still runs real good but one of the things we have learned is that when we buy something in Mexico it isn’t a real bargain if it is a copy.

How often do we try and ‘improve’ upon the original or to make a copy of an original. How often do we do that to ourselves? God created us in His own image. We were fearfully and wonderfully made and yet we spend hours and hours, a whole boat load of money and much gnashing of teeth to try and look or be like someone else. God made each one of us unique, each one of us is an original and that is what we need to celebrate our uniqueness in the Lord. We need to see ourselves as He sees us, The Original Me.

True Sportsmanship

I started to write this blog about how even in the face of a total blowout both the Detroit and the Colorado hockey teams played the game with intensity right up to the end. One of the broadcasters commented, “if this was a boxing match, it would have been called”.

But as I was searching for a headline grabber or something to go with the blog I came across this story on USA Today. This picture shows two players from one team carrying member of the opposing team. As you read the story you see that even though the one girl had hit a home run, she would only be credited with a single because she couldn’t run all the bases after being injured as she rounded 1st base. These other two girls proceeded to carry her around the bases to complete the home run.

Here are a few points that I find amazing:
1- That they thought to do it? I don’t know that if I had been on the field I would have even known enough to ask if it was legal.
2- They have been accused of not being team players because they gave the other team an advantage.

These girls stepped in and did what was right and that is what the most important point is. We need to celebrate all the things that are done right in this world and just quit complaining about what is wrong.

No Comparison

Last night as I left work I walked out with our Director of IT. I walked to the Mom Mobile and he walked over and climbed into his Corvette. As I pulled away I thought it must be nice to have a nice car and then I remembered how much we paid for the Mom Mobile. Wheelchair vans are not cheap. So I went home and looked on Vehix.com for a car that was about the same age and price. Here is what I could be driving:

But you know what, there is no comparison, hands down I would rather have the Mom Mobile for right now. Could you see me getting my mom and her wheelchair into a Vet?

So What Changed?

At work we are busy getting ready to launch an update to our software so we all have been working extra to work out all the details and to make sure what we deliver is going to meet expectations. This has involved a number 12+hour days due mostly to the fact that our development is partly in Rostov Russia and they are 11 hours ahead of us.

We even had a teleconference meeting this past Saturday because we had to review a list of open issues and determine if they needed to be fixed before we launched it. As a team we all interrupted our day on Saturday and slogged through the list, making a decision on each and every one. We ended up with a list of 20+ items that were labeled MAJOR issues and needed to be fixed before we launched the product.

I come into the office early on Monday morning and find an email from my boss asking if we could just defer all of those issues. SO WHAT CHANGED? I carved out time from my personal life to run through that list that was so critical. I sacrificed a good hour and a half of yard work out in the sunshine to work on the list of issues. SO WHAT CHANGED?

What changed was we heard back from the developers that it would delay the launch for at least a week, probably two. My boss asked me what I thought and here is what I replied to him in an email:

We went through the list and determined that things needed to be fixed, so what changed? I say we slip to the 12th. I feel we have too many issues to force a release on the 5th.

My boss comes into the office and has a conversation with his boss about the release and he tells the President of the company that Karen doesn’t think we should do it. SO WHAT CHANGED? On Saturday it was my boss and one of the other guys that were adamant that we had to fix a few of these issues before we launched. There was no grey area about it, they must be fixed. But now everyone is willing to fold and accept less. SO WHAT CHANGED?

So on the 3rd of May we will launch the new release and the reality is that no one will notice the issues. I wasn’t the one in the first place that felt they had to be fixed now.

SO WHAT CHANGED? The others didn’t have the conviction to stand up for what they believed to be important. If you believe in something are you willing to back it up or do you just take the easy way out? How much do you really believe in it?

Which Side?

I started reading a novel based on the Battle of Antetam, the bloodiest single day battle in American History. It starts out with a couple of the generals praying, praying for their own wants and desires, praying for what they believed to be the will of God, praying for God to answer them.

So which side did God choose? Did God choose?

Downed Lines of Communication

So apparently someone with a backhoe was out digging where they didn’t belong and they cut through the fiber optic cable that connects our main office with the internet. No problem except we are a ‘Software as a Service’ company which means we do all of our business including customer support via the internet. We have three locations the largest office being Cincinnati, OH and of course where the little mishap occurred. For the other offices in Costa Mesa California and Bellevue Washington the only problem was that our Outlook email server couldn’t connect so we had to use Web Mail. But for the Cincy office it was disaster plus including the fact that the phones are VoIP so they couldn’t even take a call. Disaster recovery plan: Send everyone home to work. You see it was only the connection from the office that was broken, they could get to the internet from their homes, the call were rerouted and we were back up and running in about 45 minutes, good thing the commute traffic in Cincy isn’t like it is in Bellevue.

It made me think about how we sometimes get our cables cut when we are communicating with God. We leave the local church because we are offended or we get too busy and we are no longer plugged in. To get back up and running again we need to “go home” to our local church and be accountable and involved. That is the only way to keep the lines of communication open.

Western Conference Semi-Finals

Detroit vs. Colorado

Thursday, April 24: Colorado at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 26: Colorado at Detroit, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, April 29: Detroit at Colorado, 10 p.m.
Thursday, May 1: Detroit at Colorado, 10 p.m.
Saturday, May 3: Colorado at Detroit, 1 p.m., if necessary
Monday, May 5: Detroit at Colorado, 10 p.m., if necessary
Wednesday, May 7: Colorado at Detroit, TBD, if necessary

Memory Lane Detour

So as I last posted about how I am on the ANTI-Clutter campaign and it starts with me I can be the worst offender. Last night I dug into a box of stuff that I hadn’t touched since we moved last which was 4 years ago. What an amazing find that was some of the stuff was from back in high school. Here’s a partial list:
- A news paper clipping where I was Honorable mention for the year in the High School Basketball
- One of my sports letters from High School
- My collage ID card with me in a full on Afro and Bib Overalls
- My High School and College Diplomas.
- The medals I won ski racing
- An article I had published in a College Text Book
- An article I had published in a magazine – totally forgot about that.
- The note from a friend that came with the Bible she me the day after I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior – didn’t remember it.
- Some pressed lilacs that were sent to my 18 years ago after I had moved to Washington

What a trip. It was fun to share some of that stuff with Kyle for the first time and just to reflect. I have many disappointments, failures and heartaches in my past, but it is the little things like these that I keep stored up that make it all worth living.

No More Clutter

Ok I have had it I have the need to get rid of all the clutter that has accumulated. It either needs to find a home, get stored away properly or get tossed. We all accumulate stuff through out the year especially over the winter. But come spring we are ready to do a thorough cleaning. Windows get washed, walls get a fresh coat of paint, carpets are scrubbed and the clutter must go.

With all the clutter we don’t get a chance to see all the good stuff that is still there and yet to be used. When things are out of place it just seems to be messy. When we hold on to stuff that is just plain trash, what does that bring us?

I realized that this is very similar to what the birds do. It is this time of the year that they clean out their nest preparing for new eggs to be laid and new chicks to be raised. Is that what we do, want to bring in new eggs to nurture? New thoughts, new goals and dreams making room for them is what it’s about.

Now back to sorting the clutter.

All a Twitter

So you may have noticed a slight change in my blog format, I now have a Twitter window. So what is Twitter? Twitter is social networking or micro-blogging service that allows users to post and receive messages to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group. Here's Twitter's self-description: "A global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing?" Like cell phones, email, and blackberries, Twitter is a tool that can either add value to your working life or become the perfect interruption machine.

Some of the uses for these micro-blogging sites are keeping up with the presidential candidates, getting media alerts from CNN, The New York Times, and the BBC. I’m sure if we search we would find one for ESPN and FoxSports. Who know soon we might be able to get WADOT updates via twitter.

As I observe the people that are using twitter, I have noticed that there are folks out there that just trying to see how many people they can be linked too. I have a few following me that are following over 30,000 different people. Now talk about obsessive. I see where the Snohomish paper is following me, possibly because of my name but probably just because I listed Monroe in my profile and they want me to subscribe to updates from them via twitter. CNN is in the top 10 of the most followers. Yes there is a site that tracks the top 100. What a distinction check out the Twitterholics .

As for my own experience, I am enjoying it but then again I enjoy communication and I am making new friends along the way. I have downloaded a neat application twhirl on to my desktop that is like an IM window that allows me to track everyone that I follow and easily create post. So checkout it out it just might be fun.

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves,

for they shall never cease to be amused.
- Anonymous

Last night I was on the phone with a friend and I was telling her about my new job and how well it is going. I told her how I had to make myself not work in the evenings when I go home and said, “you know I just might be a bit obsessive”, she busted out laughing and then backed tracked a little and said she wasn’t laughing at me, but with me. Of course she was laughing with me I was making a joke anyone that knows me knows that I am a lot obsessive that is why I said it, to be funny.

Later in the evening I was watching Biggest Loser and one of the contestants made a comment that when he was fat he always made fun of himself because he thought it better if he did it than to have someone else do it to him.

As I have been thinking about why we make fun of ourselves I know for me in context of last night I was just having fun, besides if I use myself as an example I am less likely to offend someone else. I also know about feeling so bad about who I am that I hide behind humor of mocking myself to mask the pain. Teasing and jesting can be fun for a while but I know that I can push it too far at times and need to be aware of the other people involved as well as the outside observers.

So for now I continue to be obsessive, dragging my knuckles on the ground because I have ‘gorilla’ arms and I say hockey funny so if you want we can share a laugh about that and enjoy the rest of the day.

To Logo or Not To Logo?

It’s all about the bag isn’t it, but what if the bag is only a cover? I know more than one small business owner that carries money to the bank in a brown lunch bag so as not to look obvious.

When you carry a bag with a logo on it, we all assume that you have something of value in it. I also know some women that carry their lunch in a Tiffany’s bag.

Is it the same thing with the logo’s on our cloths? Are we trying to make others think that there is something of value inside? Trust me if you hand a Gucci bag to someone that is hungry and hasn’t eaten in days they would prefer the sandwich.

New Job - 43 Things I want to do

So I guess I can cross this one off my list. In January 08 I started my job. As I told my peers at the old company, now I get to be what I always wanted to be when I grow up. I am doing a job that I like, a job that is satisfies, a job that I look forward to each day. In fact I am enjoying my job so much I need to watch how many hours I am putting in.

I noticed on my Moral-o-Meter that since taking this job my moral is up, my caffeine consumption is down and in general I am much happier.

It was a long 13 months in the search but has been such a blessing.

See more progress on: Find a new employer

Total Saturation

Saturation-

• A condition in which a quantity no longer responds to some external influence
• The condition of being full to or beyond satisfaction
• The condition at which a component of a communication system has reached its maximum traffic-handling capacity.
  

I have achieved Total Technology SATURATION: 2 laptops, 3 cell phones, a house phone, twitter, twhirl, blogs, and separate simultaneous IM sessions with Russia, Costa Mesa and Cincinnati. This week of going in to the office early, coming home and working until 9pm or later each of the last 3 nights, WebEx sessions, conference calls, calls to customers, call from sales people, calls to support people; I’m done.

I long for a walk on a deserted beach, a hike in the mountains or a few round of golf with all the technology locked away for at least day. Would the world stop rotating? Would a Super Power collapse? Would someone die? I think not. I’m just not that important. So why do I do it to myself?

Nesting Osprey

As I twittered – is twittered a verb? – yesterday there is the LARGE nest on top of the light pole in the softball park here in Bellevue. I noticed this nest a couple of months ago when I started working here. I try and take a brisk 20 minute walk in the afternoons just to give myself a break and some fresh air. I finally saw a bird using the nest. After some research I figured out that it is an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Here are some osprey facts:

- The osprey is the most widespread raptor in the world. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Like most raptors, ospreys are migratory.

- Ospreys are particularly suited to catch fish, their primary food source. They possess a reversible fourth toe which allows them to grasp fish more securely by positioning two toes forward and two toes back. Also, the undersides of an osprey’s feet are covered in spiny spicules which prevent fish from wriggling free. They plunge feet first into the water to seize prey and may even submerge completely. A little known adaptation that facilitates these dives is the bird’s ability to close its nostrils.

- Ospreys are only slightly smaller than eagles. The female osprey is larger than the male and may be distinguished by her brown spotted necklace.

This large, long-winged bird of prey cuts a striking figure, its name is derived from the Latin word ossifragus, meaning “a bone breaker.” osprey may also be referred to as fish hawk, fish eagle or Seahawk. A fitting name for a football team indeed!

Playoff Time

Detroit vs. Nashville

Thursday, April 10: Nashville at Detroit. 7 p.m., VERSUS

Saturday, April 12: Nashville at Detroit, 2 p.m., NBC

Monday, April 14: Detroit at Nashville, TBD, VERSUS

Wednesday, April 16: Detroit at Nashville, TBD, VERSUS

Friday, April 18: Nashville at Detroit, 7:30 p.m., VERSUS, if necessary

Sunday, April 20: Detroit at Nashville, 3 p.m., NBC, if necessary

Tuesday, April 22: Nashville at Detroit, TBD, if necessary

A Unique One

As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago our youngest son moved back in with his 3 month old puppy and because of that we have “puppy papers” strategically placed around the house. The puppy gets locked behind a baby gate in the kitchen when we all leave for work in the morning and we had a puppy paper in the kitchen for him. On Saturday we found the puppy paper out in the dinning room next to the fireplace. None of the humans in the house know how it got there. It has been a mystery, until this afternoon. In the picture above notice what Bonita is napping on, yep, the puppy paper.

Bonita is the most unique cat I have ever had. Some of her most interesting characteristics are:
* She has one ear clipped.
* She is our clepto cat – I can’t leave any thing shinny lying around or she will take it. She is always trying to bite the diamond off of my engagement ring.
* She has a fascination with Pens or Pencils. I use to do the crossword puzzle in the paper and she would jump up on the couch next to me and try and take it out of my hand. I have seen this cat sit up on her back legs and hold a pen in her two paws like she was going to write.
* She has a crush on one of the interns that lives here and is jealous of his girlfriend.
* She loves to have her stomach rubbed and rubbed hard.
* She loves to be brushed, if you pick up the cat brush she comes running or she will bring it over to you.
* She loves to have a massage with the electric hand massager. I got Kyle one so I could massage his neck and if you turn it on the can flies over to it so you use it on her.
* She has conversations with Kyle. I sometimes wonder if she really doesn’t understand everything we are saying.

I know that if this cat had opposing thumbs we could be in trouble. Bonita is very Unique.

sacred cow slayer

I spent my day today slaying sacred cows. What is a sacred cow? TheFreeDictionary.com defines it as: a belief or system that is treated with much respect and is not usually criticized. As I have written about before the company I work for is made up of three companies that are having a little trouble letting go of the “old way” of doing things. As I told someone today we are suffering from “takeover-itis”. It is where people from an old company can’t let go and grasp the new way of doing things. Each person deep in their hearts believes that what they did for the old company is the only right way of doing things.

Now I am not immune to sacred cows. They just don’t seem to be in the area of work probably because I have worked for three different companies in the last four years. Now granted I was laid of from the first and I had been there for 11 years and I have only been at the current one for 2 months. For me my sacred cows come in other areas, like pizza; No Foo Foo Pizza.

We don’t recognize the sacred cows in our lives until we are confronted with them. It is never easy to slay a sacred cow and it is always messy, but usually there are many benefits; who doesn’t enjoy a good steak?

Bar Room or Board Room?

Last night a group of us were having a discussion about not judging people. We as Christians are supposed to love people and hat e the sin. We talked about the people that we deem unlovable, the prostitutes, the addicts, and the murderers. There was a discussion about if Jesus walked the earth today where would he hang out. Most in the room said the bars.

But what about the people in the Board Room, where do they fit? It is in the Board Room where many men and woman prostitute themselves from one company to another just to get a step higher on the corporate ladder. Or how about those that are addicted to money and power? And as for murder; there is so much back stabbing and under cutting that more than one man’s career was killed

Pastor Bill made a statement and I can’t remember now if it was his or something the Pastor Jeff said but here it is, we tend to judge horizontally and rank sin and sinners, but to Jesus it is a horizontal field and sin and sinners are all the same.

Being in the corporate world does not exclude us from the unlovable, they just wear nicer cloths.

Just 15 Pages A Day

Have you ever wanted to read the Bible though? Do you start out strong in January and by the end of February you have bogged down in Chronicles and end up falling away? It only takes Just 15 Pages A Day.

I have just finished reading the Bible through for the first time this year. Yes, I said the first time. In 2008 I expect to read the Bible through at least 4 times. Now before you quit reading let me finish. You too can read the Bible through more than once. I learned this method/technique/ system and if you take a large print Bible and read at least 15 pages a day you will read it through 3 times. If you read 20 pages you will it will equal 4 times.

Now why would you read it that many times? I didn’t say study, I said read it through. Read it for the sake of getting the big picture, read it with the intent of trying to grasp the fullness, not a specific topic. I have been reading the Bible this way for about 20 years and I still get something new out of it every single time.

I challenge you, get a large print Bible and set aside 20 minutes a day to start at page 1 and read just 15 pages a day. Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce the names, don’t worry about all the details, just read to get the feeling and the flow of the entire book. I recommend having a notepad and pen with you so that is something jumps out you can note it and then go back later and study that out, but continue reading until you see that in about 4 months you will not only have read the Bible through but you will have a whole new perspective.

Let me know what you think.

Passport Memories

I am sitting here looking at the pages of my old passport as it is time to put this one away becaue I just received my new one. This one has seen a lot of use and holds the stamps from many interesting trips. There is a stamp from my first trip to Puerto Vallarta Mexico in 1998 where I lost my heart to a nation and a people. I have been back to PV many times too bad the officials in Mexico don’t stamp your passport every time you enter.

There are the stamps from several trips to Taipei where my last trip in 2004 I was able to visit some of the historical sites with one of my peers who had been born in Taiwan and whose father was part of Taiwan’s succession from China and even to this day, he is considered an enemy of the country of China.

I have a couple of trips to Japan documented, one in 2001 where on my 1st wedding anniversary I walked along the shore of the Pacific Ocean picking up a small shell that looked just like the one that just one week prior I had picked up from along the Washington coast where my husband and I had walked the beach an ocean away.

In 2000 just a couple of weeks after I was married I took my passport with me where I spent almost two weeks in Hong Kong and China. It was really hard to give up my US Passport in Hong Kong so that I could get a Visa to go into China. I was really relieved the day I picked up my passport that still has my name in Chinese stuck to the front of it.

I even have a stamp from my trip into Calgary Canada in 2004. It was a trip to Lake Louise where my friend Denie and I spent 10 days hiking in the Canadian Rockies. It was the last trip the two of us have taken together. She lives in Illinois and I live out here in Washington and yet the distance is never an issue for our friendship. It was on one our hiking trips that I ended up breaking my foot and then hiking for 4 more days before I had it checked and put in a cast. I just couldn’t let her down.

2004 was another land mark trip with a friend. I had to go to Warsaw Poland for a business meeting and I took my friend Mary with me. Mary and I met on that 1st trip to PV in 1998. Today she and I are friends that are closer than sisters. On our trip to Poland we walked in places that some of the worst crimes against humanity happened in Auschwitz and Birkenau and we also walked in places of great beauty like the park dedicated to Mozart.

The last country stamp is from a trip to Dublin Ireland that Kyle and I took in 2005. Again I had to go for a few days of meetings and then we took time just to visit this country of my ancestors; a country that captured the heart of my husband and a trip full of delightful memories for us both.

On the very last page of this passport is where it was amended after I was married. With this passport being expired it is the last official document that bore my maiden name, Husband. Who knows maybe I need to write on what it was like to grow up being a Husband, but now that I’m a wife does it really matter?