Vacation - Day 5

Yesterday was an easy day; we slept in and took our time having breakfast. Isn’t that the object of a vacation is to rest and take it easy? That is what we did.

On one of our previous days of touring we found a place that had free parking with unlimited time. Most of the free spots in DC are limited to 2 or 3 hours. The only downside is that it was by the Jefferson Memorial and so there was a little bit of a walk to get to The Mall.

We parked and walked up to The Mall where we jumped on to one of the Hop-on/ Hop-off tour busses. This bus went not only around The Mall but also to some of the outlying sites, like Georgetown, Union Station, and Ford Theater.

We hopped off at Ford Theater, the location where President Lincoln was shot. The theater its self was closed for renovations so we went in and saw the house where Lincoln was taken and later died. After that short visit we went to the Hard Rock Café for lunch. Here we had a really nice waitress who even laughed at Kyle’s jokes.

From there we hopped back onto the tour bus and headed out to Washington National Cathedral and Embassy Row. Finally ending up back in front of the Dept of Agriculture where we hopped off and headed back to the car and the end of day 5

White House Front Lawn

Vacation - Day 4

Today we started out early for a not the normal tourist event. We had the privilege of attending a full honors military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony was one of Honor and Respect all the way around. Air Force Lieutenant Coronel Carl Copemen died recently of from a heart attack after living a full life. He fought in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam as well as being one of the original members of the Test Pilot unit with Chuck Yeager. The Ceremony included a process ion through the cemetery by an Air Force Band, Brigade and a Caisson drawn by six white horses. It ended with a grave side service with taps and a 21 gun salute. This man chose to serve and did so with Honor and was remembered today with Honor. May we never forget.

We also visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and it was there that we witness the pride that one old man felt for his country. His finger out stretched as much as the arthritic knuckles would allow as he showed his companions the places and the battles he fought. The memories more vivid then his voice and yet the pride was there for all that he had done. May we never forget.

Our next stop was the Holocaust Museum. I have seen firsthand Auschwitz and Birkenau, but the images and impact of the slaughter of Jews during WWII are real and potent. May we never forget.

From there we rode the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument and looked out all four sides seeing the monuments and memorials that stand in remembrance and respect for the greatest democracy of the world. May we never forget.

Jefferson Memorial

Capital Building

White House from the top of the Washington Monument

Washington Monument

Lunar Module @ Air and Space Museum

Vacation - Day 3

Today was an easier day. We met up with my sister, brother-in-law and his mom for the day. We spent at least 30 minutes looking for a parking spot. That is one thing that is really hard to come by in DC is any place to park. When we did find one, it was right on the corner next to the Capital Building and it did not have a time limit (most spots in DC have a 2 hr limit).

Our 1st start was the Botanic Gardens where we checked out all the plants from around the world. We then spent a little time walking around in front of the Capital Building but we didn’t get there early enough for a tour inside. After that we walked along the mall to the National Museum of Natural History. It was here that we spent the rest of our touring day looking at dinosaur bones, gems and mineral including the Hope and Pearson diamonds, petrified wood and other natural items.

We have an early morning planned and we were all tired from the heat and sun so it will be a quiet night tonight.

Capital Building

Vacation – Day 2

Today was our first full day in DC, actually the DC area since our hotel is in Arlington, Virginia across the street from Ft Myers. At best estimate we walked 10 miles to day. Thanks P Lori and the RC Posse without all those hours at the Y on the treadmill and I wouldn’t have been able to make it.

Sites seen today:
Arlington National Cemetery
Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Arlington House (Home of Robert E Lee before the Civil War)
Iwo Jima Marine Corp Memorial (photo below)
The Washington Monument
The WW II Memorial
Vietnam Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Korean Memorial
Jefferson Memorial

A pretty full day if I do say so.

Reflection Pool

Iwa Jima Memorial

View of DC

Curve Ahead

A couple of months ago my sister was here visiting from the Midwest. We did various day trips visiting the sites and having fun. On one afternoon as we were on our way home for the night she asked, “Do you have any straight roads?” I thought of that this morning as I was cruising through the back country roads on my way to work. The roads wind around the hills and along the river so there are no straight portions.

Just like in life there really aren’t very many straight portions. We head off on a course but to get to our end goal we have twist and turns, climb and decent, and the ever painful switchbacks where it seems we are just repeating the steps we have taken before. Curves are put in the road to make our travels safer and simpler. It may not seem so at the time, but I know that some of the greatest moments in my travel have come when I round a curve and find the most splendid view imaginable.

It Arrived Today

I now have my new copy of the latest book by Nicholas Sparks: The Lucky One.

Making the Right Choice Isn’t Easy

Today I got a new boss. Some might say I’m just too much to try and handle, and no, my current boss didn’t get demoted, fired or quite. The President and COO chose to take a lesser role in the Company so that he can be a dad to his 14 year old daughter.

After he made the announcement to the rest of the executive team this morning, he sent out a companywide email. Here is an excerpt from that email:

“As many of you know, I’ve been living in California this year while my family has stayed in Washington. The plan was for my family to wrap up our affairs in Washington by the end of this summer and then join me in California. After a considerable amount of soul searching we decided that a move to California is not in the best interest of either my wife or my daughter. This left me with the difficult proposition of continuing to spend most of my time in Costa Mesa and commuting back to Seattle on the weekends. This is no way to live; I can’t be an active part of my daughter’s life separated by 1,000 miles.”

Shortly after that he came into my office and we talked a little about the decision. He said it was very hard for him since it had been his career goal to be President and someday CEO and had agonized over it for weeks. He said that once he made the decision he was at peace and knew it was the right one.

Life is about choices and choices are not always easy. In the long run he will be more fulfilled by keeping his family in the right priority. In the short run it could make life interesting for me as we get used to working more closely together and adapt to our new roles.

Paralyzed by Pressure

I have been so productive today I think I have gotten more done in the last 8.5 hours than I have in the last two weeks. So what changed? I guess it is because of the moves I made yesterday ( Too Much of a Good Thing). This morning after I had cranked through two of my top task I realized I wasn’t working under a ton of pressure. My creative and cognitive juices were flowing and I was clicking on all cylinders.

What changed, I had been paralyzed by the pressure. There was just so much to get done and I had allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all and was trying to do it all by myself.

So lesson learned, again: I can’t do it all.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Is there ever too much of a good thing? Yes. I have reached my point of saturation when it comes to my job. I have been working too many hours and not getting enough done. I just came from my boss’s office where I asked him to pick up a couple of my task for me. He had previously told me to let him know when it was too much and I did that.

This was not an easy task for me and I honestly thought I was over trying to do everything, but apparently not. I can remember back in the mid-80s I worked myself to the point of exhaustion where I was unable to work more than a few hours a day for a few weeks until I could recover from ‘burning the candle at both ends”. At that time I was working full time and basically doing full time ministry full time every evening. I had run at that pace for a couple of years and finally my body said enough.

Until I started this job in January I had a personal rule to not work at home at night. If I needed to work extra I would stay at the office late or go into the office on the weekends. This job being something that not only excites me and brings fulfillment has also given me an excuse to break my own rule. I could use the fact that I need to work with our development team in Russia and that happens after 8pm at night usually but that doesn’t explain why I am on the computer working at 6pm and then most nights not shutting it off until 11pm or later. I figure that I have not had a true day off in almost two months. A day where I did not look at email, answer a phone or work on a project.

So now what? All that I can say is that I made the first step this afternoon in correcting the situation by asking for help. I have a deadline that I need to finish up tonight and then it will be time to turn the computer off. Maybe I need to just start leaving the laptop at work, now that is a thought.