To Blog or to Facebook

I've been a bad bad blogger lately because I like to be-bop around on facebook in my free time nowadays.  And yet I find that there are still times when I want to write something longer than 100 characters, or whatever the max length of a status update is.

A lot, or a little, depending on how you look at it, has been going on in my world.  I've been working a lot...too much...an unhealthy amount.  But starting this week, it will all be well again, for the most part.  And I'll be back to working just a silly silly amount.

Like the fool that I am, I volunteered to coordinate the corps' efforts regarding our big fundraising venture for this year.  We are working concessions at a local minor league soccer stadium to raise money to run the corps.  There are 10 more events spread out between now and October, and it is my responsibility to gather all the information on who is volunteering for which dates and communicate everything to our contact with the concessions company.

I had a hell of a time getting enough people to work 8 days ago, and it took up a huge amount of my time, tracking folks down and trying to persuade them, so I've had several conversations with various people on the corps management team, and I am optimistic that a better system will be worked out shortly.  Basically, they need to get people to commit, and I am just the information gatherer...as it should be.

There was a drum corps party last night at an area bar, where we ate food, drank, and watched DVDs of various drum corps finals performances from throughout the years.  It may sound lame to the un-initiated, but it was a blast for all of us there.  People made requests for the shows they personally marched, and it was fun to watch the activity evolve from the 70s to today (though it's been around for decades and decades longer than that).

Guy was there last night, of course.  A lot of people now either know or have figured out that I am keen on him.  And according to Guy's brother, who likes to chat me up on Facebook, Guy knows, too.  So we chat sometimes online, have the occasional phone call that is completely corps-related, and see each other at corps functions and rehearsals.  He gives me a hug at the end of each one of these, but he hugs everyone else, too, so it's not like I'm getting special treatment.  And yet, there is something extra there, though I can't quite articulate it.

I now have a handful of people giving me advice on how to proceed, which I consider and then decide what I want to use, if any.  And so we'll see what happens.    

And now I must get ready for work. 

That's Scarlett with TWO 't's

I can't remember if I ever wrote about the first part of this story, so if I have, you can skip over this next paragraph.

A couple weeks before Thanksgiving this past year, my Dad told all of us at one Sunday dinner that my male cousin has taken to wearing women's clothing.  After the anticipated amount of giggling that one might expect, we calmed down.  Dad then explained how this cousin's brothers and sisters were shunning him for his choice.  THAT we had a problem with.  So when this cousin came to Thanksgiving dinner, dressed smartly in a skirt, blouse, pumps, and jewelry accessories, we were prepared for his looking different and therefore treated him as we always have (with fleeting interest and false concern since we none of us ever cared one way or the other about him before anyway).

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I called my sister to congratulate my nephew on his first chess tournament.  My brother-in-law was asked to relay the 'new and interesting' news on this cousin.  It so happens that this cousin, who sells jewelry at a very high end department store, had requested that he be able to dress as a woman at work.  To their credit, the department store said yes, and following a week of vacation, cousin returned to work in full ladies' regalia.  

All this is quite nice and accepting, and good for all involved.  And I thought to myself how lovely it is that people outside the book industry are being so accommodating and open about this.  My thoughts were all warm and fuzzy for cousin UNTIL....yes, UNTIL....I heard my BIL say one final thing:

Cousin now wishes to be called Scarlett.....with TWO 't's.  WTF?  Scarlett?  You want me to call a grown man Scarlett?  Come on....Scarlett?  Is he becoming a stripper or something? 

I'm still laughing at that one.  I was with the whole situation until I heard the name he is choosing.  Scarlett, good grief. 

I Hate Indiana

Sorry, Emma, but I must simply hate Indiana for the time being.

My drive up to Ann Arbor was 2/3 fine and 1/3 hell as I tried to navigate around the middle of the state, including the loop around Indianapolis.  Apparently, they don't believe in snow plows in that state, because the highways were covered in icy snow at 1 in the afternoon.

Then, I-69N was completely closed down due to wrecks, so I had to detour along with hundreds/thousands of other vehicles.  I went 2 miles in one hour and finally got to a state highway.  Then I called my Dad to have him look online to see if this particular highway would meet up again with I-69.  And so, two hours and about 20 miles after that, I finally got back on the interstate.  Good god.  

Northern Indiana had clear roads, so that's one good thing.

On Monday night I was ready to stop for the night but couldn't find a hotel room because they were all full of utility workers who were helping restore power to the ice storm area.  I had to drive another 2 1/2 hours beyond my first wanting to stop so that I could find a room.  Coming back today in the daylight it looks like a tornado hit all the trees and power lines.  But there wasn't any ice or snow below Missouri, so that's good.

It was negative 14 degrees in Ann Arbor yesterday morning.  Brrrr!  I'm glad I bought that coat!  I've never been in temps that cold before, so it was a new experience.

I have to get up in a few hours to go to rehearsal, so that's all for now.

Well, There Goes the Strip Club

I overheard a stoned young man say this to his buddy this evening as he was buying a DVD and paying for it all in $1 bills.  The cashier later told me that the guy asked to have two magazines, High Times and another one, taken off the transaction.

So, it's true what they say...you can support your local bookstore AND a local strip club.  You don't have to choose one over the other!  

Ain't life grand that way?

-------------------------------

I'm leaving for Michigan tomorrow and will be back late Friday night.  Wish me a safe journey, if you please.

Kentucky Bypass

I've been keeping careful watch of the power outage situation in Kentucky, and it doesn't look promising for those poor folks.

And since I'm a selfish person, it also doesn't look promising for me.  Fortunately, I have taken a variety of routes to Ann Arbor from Dallas before...I think this is my 5th time driving there...so it won't be too much of a hassle. 

Still, I enjoy the scenery of Tennessee and Kentucky and going up through Ohio rather than the bleak winter-weary plains of Illinois and Indiana.  Spring through Autumn the plains are gorgeous, but in winter they are depressing, and the wind is fierce since there is nothing to cut it.  It's sort of like it can be around here, since we are a relatively flat area and are actually the southern part of the Great Plains.

Last year when I got caught in that blizzard and wasn't fully prepared, I was mad at myself.  This year I have a proper coat, just had new windshield wipers put on my car, bought a long-handled ice scraper, and will pack my snow shoes, more warm clothes, food, and water in my car....just in case.  I did have some of this last year, but the proper coat and shoes would have been helpful when I had to dig out my car in Elizabethtown, Kentucky after stopping for the night.

I have been thankful for my 4-wheel drive so many times since I bought this car on January 19, 2006.  I'm glad I didn't let the car salesman talk me out of it, because I have made good use of it on many occasions and draw great comfort from knowing that it helps me both in everyday driving as well as these special extreme circumstances.  The reduction in gas mileage is worth the piece of mind, for certain.

Friday Night Lights

I have discovered hulu.com and have been watching episodes of Friday Night Lights.

I now have a mini-obsession with Kyle Chandler.  

I heard from several sources that this show was excellent, and it really is.  I think the kids drink too much and have too much sex to be realistic, but then again, I'm not sure of the exact amount of drinking and sex that high school kids have these days.

I can vouch that the bleakness and ugliness in the portrayal of a small west Texas town is spot on.  I think west Texas is bleak, ugly, dirty, and poor.  And it is definitely big football country.  Did I say big?  I meant BIG.  HUGE.  GINORMOUS.  Texas is big on high school football and band, with even the worst football programs receiving huge funding.  

These kids from successful teams are treated like home town gods.  The only drawback is that for many, this is the pinnacle of their existence.  They may go on to marry, have a family and a career, and yet their 'best time of my life' experience would be playing varsity football.  I think it's a bit twisted that football could be a better thing in one's life than getting married or the birth of a child.  Imagine reaching the height of your greatness at the age of 17.  How sad that it might be all downhill from there.

Anyway, I was a complete slug today (woke up at 11am) and didn't go post any flyers, so I feel like I'm letting down the recruiting coordinator, whom I adore.  So, I've drawn out a plan to hit about 30 places tomorrow.  This means it'll be a long day of driving around, but at least I won't feel unproductive.  I always feel unproductive if I don't accomplish anything worthwhile in a day...even if I truly need the day for resting and relaxing.

I am a bit concerned about my drive to Michigan on Mon/Tues.  I hope all the power is back on along the route I'm taking and that I have good weather on the drive there and back. 

Aggravation!

I told the corps recruiting coordinator that I would help this week with posting flyers around town and also with posting free online classifieds for percussionists.  The hornline and the guard positions are filling up quickly, but we still need pit and battery to round out the drumline.

Translation of pit and battery:  pit is the vibes, xylophone, marimbas, timpani, etc. that are on the front sidelines...they are also called the front ensemble.  The battery consists of snare drums, tenor drums, bass drums, and sometimes cymbals...these folks march on the field.

Since I'm on vacation this week I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to drive around and post the flyers in some of the southern suburbs to hopefully pique some interest.  Because of the nasty weather the past few days, I've not gotten very far on that front, though that is my plan for Thursday.

And tonight I have spent a couple of hours trying to get a very simple ad placed on several free online classifieds/online advertising websites.  And I have to say I am really aggravated.  I have to go through the entire process of registering on each site, waiting for the confirmation email, clicking through on that, then navigate my way through each website's ad posting process.  I don't have the patience for it, I tell ya.  It seriously took me 2 hours to do 6 of these.  And one big failed attempt with Facebook, which I inherently detest, though not as much as Myspace.

I really really really really hate Myspace.  

Anyway, these ads had better yield something substantial.  In all likelihood they won't, because they're just one ad among thousands and thousands.  Still, I shall choose to believe the ads will work, and I got to help out the recruiting coordinator who is a lovely gentleman, so that's nice.

Amazing Rehearsal

I played really well today for the most part, which makes me happy.  I also nailed the mellophone solo in the opener every single time, and that feels damn good.  I had so many people come up to me throughout the day and at the restaurant afterwards and compliment me on my playing, so I am one very pleased person.  I wanted very much to perform well today.

The running block killed me, so I need to work on that.  

And I'm so exhausted that I'm now going to bed; and I'm going to bed happy, which is a wonderful thing.

I'm On Vacation!

And tomorrow I have drum corps rehearsal.  I'm very excited.  There is a particular gentleman there whom I enjoy talking to very much, wink wink, so we'll see how/if that progresses.  He is quite reserved, so it mightn't go anywhere anytime soon.

I get to see my family on Sunday, and then I don't really have any engagements for the rest of the week after that.  It's going to be one heckuva year at work, so I plan on resting up for it.

I go to Michigan the week after next....brrrr.  I bought a coat from Lands End...a pretty pink-tinted one, because I was ill prepared for the blizzard I encountered last year.  Hopefully there will be no blizzard this year.

And great news:  my grocery store started carrying Rising Sun Farms Key Lime Torte.  Sweet toasted Jesus, that thing is tasty!  And the ones I bought weren't even moldy!  Remember my fiasco last time?

It was in the 70s here today, but tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 42.  I haven't felt the cold front whirl in yet, but I'm sure I'll wake up tonight when it does.  It's a good thing our rehearsal is indoors tomorrow, even the visual block where we're learning the first drill(shapes on the field that we march to) of the season.

And with that, I should get ready for sleepytime.

Goodnight.

THIS is drum corps

This is the Madison Scouts in 1988, playing Malaguena.

There are some differences between this and what I'll be doing.  Madison Scouts is a DCI (Drum Corps International) corps, which means that their members are 21 and under (or 22 if they turn 22 after June 1st of the marching year), while Frontier is a DCA (Drum Corps Associates) aka all-age corps.  And, Madison Scouts is an all male corps whereas Frontier is co-ed.  

In 1988, a corps could march 128 people, which the Scouts have in this clip.  This year, Frontier is going to march around 60+.  The other big difference is that DCI corps practice all day long in the summer and go on an extended tour of 30-40+ cities and shows.  Since many of us in DCA are adults and have careers, we rehearse a couple Saturdays a month, maybe a couple of hornline rehearsals a month, a few weekends in the summer, and travel to 5 or 6 different cities for shows.

All that being said, you can just watch and listen and see how exhilirating it is to be a performer or an audience member.  

There is absolutely nothing in the world like the high you get when the crowd cheers.  I was reading something earlier today that I think is rather true.....The purpose of drum corps is to make the audience stand and scream.

My God how great that feels!

Vacation Next Week

I'm using a week of vacation next week.  Our PTO (Paid time off) year ends the 31st of January, so it's 'use it or lose it' time.  I don't really have any plans other than sleep (a lot), practice my mellophone, do some chores around home, and work up to running at 180 bpm (beats per minute) for 10 minutes.  This last one is to get into good shape for corps, as the show is a maximum of 12 minutes at multiple tempos, but the visual caption head (ie marching instructor) told us that we're going to build up to 180 bpm for 10 minutes during stretching/conditioning at each camp, and if we can achieve that, we'll each be in good shape to march the whole show.

I don't want to go anywhere out of state, but I might take a few day trips to various undetermined places.

What do you think I should do on my vacation?

What Age Is Too Old?

This is a question for the ladies, with an alternate question for the gentlemen.

In your opinion, and based on whatever criteria you wish to use, what is the oldest age at which a woman should have a baby?  And I thought of another one...what is the ideal age range during which a woman should have a baby?  Basically, how old is too old to become a mother for the first time, and what is the best time?

And for the men...how old is too old to become a father for the first time, followed by what is the ideal age range?

I don't know if I'm going through a very early midlife crisis, or if I'm just feeling liberated to be all I can be since I have branched out to things other than just work.  I don't currently want kids, but I'm also not currently involved in a serious relationship, and I know the baby part could change with time in the relationship part, if I were to be so lucky at some point in the future to have one that I would classify as 'serious'.

Answers, thoughts, advice?  

Hornline Rehearsal

I have just returned from hornline rehearsal.  We rehearsed at the very lovely Park Cities Baptist Church and had 27 horns present, plus a few from the guard, and the percussion caption head along with a couple of relatives of the younger kids.

I've been practicing every day and improving as I go, so I played fairly well.  Another mellophone and I traded off playing the solo in the opener.  It is such a sweet, kickin' solo.  

I'm getting to learn many of the peoples' names, and I try best I can to greet the high school-age kids to help make them feel included and special in an room half full of adults who are 2 or 3 times their age.  

What's funny/interesting is that I'm actually using my skills as a GM and a Trainer with these folks as well.  I am not in charge and I have no seniority whatsoever, but I think it makes people happy to know that I notice when they do a nice job at something or are obviously trying very hard to play something right and I make a little comment to that effect.

Several of us went for a quick bite to eat at a mexican restaurant after rehearsal, and I got to spend time talking with a couple people I hadn't talked to before.  I'm getting to really like some of these folks.

I'm going to be tired for work tomorrow...have to be up in 6 1/2 hours.

I can't wait until Saturday when we have a full corps rehearsal and begin learning the drill for the opener.  Our show is called "Pastime" and is baseball-related music.  The opener is "It Don't Mean a Thing (If You Ain't Got that Swing)"...get it?....swing?  hah!  I love it.  It is a super-terrific arrangement and is really amazing.  Once we get it all down and record it and post it to our website, I'll provide a link here.

Goodnight.

I'm Either Very Smart or Very Stupid

Let's put it to a vote.

Today I passed on the opportunity to be promoted to district manager at work.  To be accurate, I passed on the invitation to go through the interview process.  I didn't even apply for this position because I thought someone else was going to get it due to some shifting and realigning.  But I learned I was their primary person of interest, and I know I would have gotten the job because I'm qualified and ready and can prove how I would be successful in it.  

And you're probably wondering why on earth I would pass on this.  Drum corps.  Yep, it's true.  Taking the position would require me to move several states away, and I wouldn't be able to march drum corps because I'd be too busy learning my new role and learning a new city/state.  

So I gave up a career opportunity to be able to pursue another passion.  I let it pass by so that I can create a better work/life balance here and now.  This is very unlike me.  I am always the one to grab every opportunity at work.  I knew this position was open, and I honestly kind of thought I'd be asked to go for it.  And as I was thinking about this last night, I almost cried alone to myself because I didn't want to give up my drum corps just yet to take that position...not when I've just found my music and marching passion again.

I feel ok about my decision, but am wondering if I'll regret it later.  On the flip side, I know I'd have VERY bittersweet feelings if I had said yes.

What would you have done?  What are your thoughts?  Was this a smart decision or no? 

Drum Corps Rehearsal, Take 2

I just had THE best time at rehearsal today.  God, I had such a great time.  Even when I was sweaty and out of breath, I was never too sweaty or out of breath.  The people are fun, the music is great, the esprit de corps is strong.  I didn't want rehearsal to end.  I wasn't too tired to keep going.  Many of us went out for pizza afterwards and had a great time.  

It is so wonderful to be developing this new peer group of lively, intelligent, fun people.  

We have a brass only rehearsal on the 19th, and another full corps rehearsal in 2 weeks. 

I can't wait!

My Travels in 2008

I could get all sentimental and philosophic about mental, emotional, and spiritual travels in 2008, but how dull is that?  Instead, I'll recap the physical traveling I did last year...if I can remember all of it.  And yes, I drove all this.

Detroit, Michigan--I think this was early March.  Each year I have my field trainer conference in either Ann Arbor or Michigan.  I specifically remember this trip for the hellacious time I had driving back in the blizzard that hit the mid-west.  It was a terrifying and tense trip home.  And I got a speeding ticket about 90 miles from Dallas.  States covered include Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan.

Orlando, Florida--This would be the first of two trips to Orlando and occurred the week after my trip to Detroit.    I was facilitating a training session for Managers.  It was a good drive there and back, and the hotel was nice, though we didn't get to see any of the actual city.  States covered include Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Orlando, Florida--Back again a few weeks later, at the end of April, for the company spring GM conference.  Again, we didn't get to see the city, but we stayed in the Peabody and it was lovely.

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida--Just two weeks after that I drove to Ft. Lauderdale to hop on a cruise ship.  I had just been diagnosed with pneumonia 3 days before leaving and was in bad shape, but I'll be damned if I was going to miss that cruise.  After all, it was a completely free trip...a company sales contest prize.  

Key West, Florida

Cozumel, Mexico

Belize--These were the ports of call on the cruise.  I sunbathed and swam and snorkeled, in order, at these locations.

Bar Harbor, Maine--Six weeks later, I traveled through Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee,Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine during a trip to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

St. Louis--The first week of November I traveled to St. Louis to facilitate another training session.  States covered include Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

All together, I believe that is 21 states, 3 countries, one ocean, and one gulf traveled this year.  I have no idea how many miles that is...certainly not as many as someone who travels for work each week, but more than I've ever traveled before in one year.

I'm sure there are lessons I learned along the way, and wisdom I gained through the travels, but really, no one wants to read about that, do they?

Where did your travels take you in 2008?

Allergic to My Watch

I have suddenly and inexplicably developed an allergic reaction to my stainless steel Fossil watch.  I know, it is ridiculous sounding, isn't it?  In fact, it's the stupidest allergy I've ever heard of.  

When I went to the doctor on Saturday (after being sick since the first week of November), I also showed her the bright red patches on my wrist under my watch.  Contact dermatitis, she said...I'm allergic to my watch.  

I like my watch.  I have to have a watch.  At work I monitor things in 10 minute increments and hour increments.  I must have a watch.  And what kind of a person becomes allergic to stainless steel?  Is that even possible?  

When the rash first started to appear a month ago, I thought I had gotten something on the watch, so I scrubbed it and cleaned it and put it in hydrogen peroxide and later bleached it and thoroughly cleaned it.  It didn't work.

So along with a host of other drugs that have me feeling much better (I can breathe and sleep and am not sneezing every 2 minutes and am getting over an infected head), I also have some cream stuff that I apply twice a day.  It seems to be helping, but I still wear my watch...I wrap my wrist in rolled gauze first, of course.  

So I'll need to buy a new watch, one that does not have stainless steel on it.

Any ideas?

In Loving Memory of Jimmy the Turtle

Yesterday I learned that Jimmy the Turtle died on Christmas Day.  

You may recall I turtle-sat Jimmy over Thanksgiving weekend while his Mom was visiting relatives out of town.  I have to admit I shed some tears when I found out because I know what it's like to lose a loved pet.  Jimmy's Mom was also still very upset when she told me.  I told her I had taken some pictures of Jimmy when he stayed with me, and I have just returned home from Walgreen's where I had this one and another made into 8x10s and a few smaller pics as well.   I think I'll find a nice frame for this one tomorrow and give them all to her on Monday.  Jimmy's Mom has a little boy of 2 1/2 who was surely devastated upon hearing the news.

Rest in Peace, Jimmy.  You were a good turtle boy.

My Christmas

I woke up too early yesterday, fully congested as usual, so I got up and tried to remedy that.  Sleep evaded me for a while, but I was finally able to fall to slumber again, thankfully.  At 10:45 I had to get up, shower, and make ready for driving to my parents' house.  

I thought I might not make it down the stairs with my bag, two bags of gifts, a vegetable tray, and my horn, but I did.  My legs and knees and feet are so sore from these past few weeks of running around the store that I did not want to have to climb up to the third floor again.

Traffic wasn't too bad, and I didn't see any cops, so I was able to drive swiftly.  We ate lunch at 1pm, and I realized I wasn't hungry.  I haven't really been hungry for a while, which is very unusual for me...too busy, I suppose.  I had some ham and a couple rolls and bypassed all the veggies and cranberry sauce and the cold mashed potatoes.  

I noticed my mother had gotten her hair highlighted, but didn't say anything, because that would detract from her melodramatic performance later in the meal about how no one notices her and how we all pick on her.  Hmmm, we each of us have our roles to play, I suppose.  When she started talking...again...about how she was so mistreated as a kid and how she's still scarred by it (no kidding), she completely does not see that she did the same to my sisters and me.  No, of course she doesn't.  So I pointed out her behavior and told her to stop it...again.

After the food was put away and the china washed, we all met in the living room to open presents.  There were 10 of us total.  Eight of us had decided last year that we would draw one name and only have to buy a gift for that one person plus my nephew.  The arbitrary spending limit was $50.  I had picked up some neat puzzles and games at my store when they went to $1 earlier this year, so his gifts were $5, and I made some of my Umm-Art for my sister, so all of Christmas cost me about $35.

After the gifts were open, my younger sister, who was sitting next to me, announced that she and her Um-er Allan got engaged the prior evening, on Chrismas Eve.  Awww, how sweet.  I must be an evil person because my first thought was, dear god, don't ask me to be a bridesmaid.  And it just now occurs to me that Charles' premonitory dream was right...through 2 degrees of separation, he knows someone who got engaged on Christmas Eve.  I've decided one thing.  I'm not wearing a dress.  Screw that.

I showed my family my bugle, and my two sisters played on it a bit.  Older sis played flute in band, and younger sis played flute then switched to horn after I made her.  I also held the horn so Nephew could try to play it.  He actually buzzed out a few notes and thought it was mighty keen.  Maybe he'll be interested in band some day.  He needs an activity like that to keep him focused and give him goals to work toward.

I gave the Pets with Tourette's to my younger sister, and it got passed around to everyone.  All but my Aunt thought it was hysterical.  I'd never seen my older sister laugh so much or my parents turn so red in the face!

I ran around the back yard with my nephew, and then we all decided to go home.

It was a nice day, all in all.  Today I work and need to go now to get ready for it.  Have a good day.

Two More Days

Yes, just two more days until Christmas, and I am glad for it.  The entire world decided to wait until Sunday to start their shopping, which means that sometimes my store is so crowded it's difficult to maneuver from place to place.  

My M.O. this time of year is to be friendly but quick.  I don't have the time to hear you talk about the 4 possible morning shows where you think you saw/heard/learned of a book that might have been written by a man or a woman on the topic of history.  You gotta give me something to go on.

There are 15 other people behind you that want help, too, and they might have come prepared, so don't make the world wait for you.  If you want a recommendation and ask for it, then take it graciously when I recommend it.  After all, you had no idea what to buy Aunt Sally anyway, and I just gave you a perfectly appropriate recommendation, so you're already better off than you were.  Just take it and wrap it and give it to her and be thankful I helped you out of a predicament.

And while you're at it, don't even think of giving my staff a hard time.  If I sense one bit of trouble coming out of you, we're going to have a chat, and you're not going to like the result.  There really is only so fast a person can ring on a register, there really are only so many phone calls a staff can field while also taking care of online reserves, not to mention all the people that are physically in the store.  Don't give my staff the evil eye when you see them walking to the bathrooms or the office area to take a break.  My store is over 30,000 square feet.  I'd like to see you run around that all day and not get tired.

And now...

Thank you if you were courteous and patient.  Thank you if you came prepared with a list.  Thank you for not getting mad when told we're sold out of something that all bookstores on earth are out of, and the publisher is out of as well.  Thank you for appreciating when I make a thoughtful and appropriate recommendation.  Thank you for donating a new book to the book drive for the children's home.  Thank you for trying to pick up after your kids, spouse, parents, friends.  Thank you for wiping off the toilet seat and the sink counter.  Thank you for complimenting my staff.  Thank you for shopping at my store and helping support the local economy.

Merry Christmas.   

I Did Not Do

Christmas cards this year.  I'm tired and I haven't felt right/good/healthy since October, so I didn't do them.

Sorry.

I Bought Me a Bugle

A pretty one.  When it arrives I'll post pics.  It's used, but a new one costs $1010, which is more than I'm willing to pay right now.

Hooray for me.

Pets with Tourette's

I found THIS book in my humor section on Saturday.  It has a parental advisory on it, so of course I opened it to see what the deal was.  I took a look and started laughing so hard that I brought all the copies to a table at the front of the store...I sold them all in 30 minutes.

It's so vile and inappropriate and dirty...and it's awesome!  Who can resist laughing at a photo of a cute bunny with a quotation bubble above his head housing naughty phrases?

Apparently, this is the American version of the book.  The authors are British, and there is the original British version with different naughty words and phrases in it...search the title on youtube for a short snippet on it.

Too damn funny, really.

All About It

I'm just about half dead from fatigue...perhaps I'm 3/5 dead...that's almost half, right?  So, this will either be incoherent, sleepily pleasant to read, or unfathomably insightful.  Let's try for something in the middle, eh?

I had trouble getting to sleep Friday night because I was so excited about going to drum corps rehearsal Saturday morning.  I finally got about 5 hours of sleep, then got up and ready (I even ate breakfast, holy cow!) and drove to UTA to try to find the Fine Arts building.  As luck would have it, multiple graduation ceremonies were going on that day, and it took me 15 minutes to find a parking spot, by which time I had no idea where the Fine Arts building was.  So I just started walking in my best-guess direction and came across a lady who pointed me in a more refined direction.  Then I saw a kid in a high school band jacket and knew I was getting close.  The kid directed me into a set of doors, and then I found my way.  

I registered and met Sarah, the mellophone section leader, with whom I had exchanged a couple emails.  She was bright and friendly and welcoming.  Then I learned that rehearsal was delayed a bit because of the parking situation and because the equipment truck wasn't there.  After piddling around and doing nothing useful for a while, they decided to get going.  We had a brief introductory meeting in the recital hall, then we all moved to the band hall for stretching and conditioning.  The stretching was good.  The conditioning was strenuous for me, but it didn't completely kick my ass, so this is a good thing.  I need to get on a cardio routine asap!  

I made it a point during stretching/conditioning to stay on the side of the room with the color guard.  A corps can be so cliquey, with very distinct groups of guard, percussion, and brass (and of course sub-groups within that), and I don't want to be cliquey.  No one knew me yet, or knew who/what I was, so it was a good opportunity to hang near the people I won't get as much time with later.  

If I could give some feedback to the caption heads and knew it would be well received (I don't know them yet, so I can't tell that yet) I would advise them to be more inclusive of new people.  Certainly no one was mean or rude, but neither were they exceptionally welcoming, aside from section leader Sarah.  Perhaps because I'm in the service industry, my perspective is different than it would be had I stayed in the music/marching realm.  Regardless, if a corps is trying to build a full hornline, they need to make newbies feel special.  And so, I'm going to make a point of being very welcoming and inquisitive and show interest in new people at future rehearsals.

After a short break, the guard left to do their thing, and brass and percussion worked on marching basics.  Oh my how I had forgotten how fundamentals kill the calves and feet.  It is MUCH more strenuous to stay standing in one place at full attention than it is walking around my store all day long.  My body is very different from when I last marched, and my balance is way off.  My brain remembers what it needs to do, for the most part...even 14 years later...but getting my muscles to execute that is a challenge.  I did fairly well when we were breaking down the forward march, but I'm going to need to practice the backwards march a whole heckuva lot. 

It's funny how familiar all this feels.  I can't say it's all comfortable...that only comes with hours and hours of practice.  I can say that the first time we hit the 'set' position, my brain and body recognized it as something familiar.  

Getting back into the practice of executing very specific instructions, such as "we're going 16 counts, vocalizing in 8s, each line leaving 8 counts after the prior line, remember to vocalize the push off and the close, and subdivide as well" while still trying to have good posture and march correctly...well, that was a blast from the past.

It was all those little things coming back into my mind again.  I had a lot of 'oh yeah, I remember that thing' moments.  It was very nostalgic for me.  My calves and feet still hurt, by the way!

We broke for lunch, and finally the instruments came.  There was a problem with the vehicle that was sent to tow the equipment truck, so several people had to go take their personal vehicles to fetch the equipment.  I had brought my white gloves and my melli mouthpiece, and I got to play a mellophone bugle for the first time in almost 19 years.  I can't believe it has been half a lifetime since I marched drum corps, and slightly less than that since I've played any instrument or marched at all.  Wow.

We practiced breathing, horns up, and played a few warm up exercises.  Then I had to leave to go to work.  I couldn't take the horn with me, and I missed their working on the ballad for the show, but I'll get all that on January 10th when I'm able to stay for the entire day.

It felt good, playing again, though I was just a few steps above total-suckage.  The horn felt good and right in my hands, and the whole experience made me smile.  I hated to leave.  

I've even found a horn on ebay and placed a bid.  Hopefully, I'll win it and can have my own horn to practice on before next camp.  I think if I practice even an hour a day, I'll be up to a decent level by January 10th.

Well, I think that's all for now.  I have to get to bed.   

Saturday--First Drum Corps Rehearsal

The rehearsal is set from 9-7, but since I work from 3-after midnight, I'll only be able to attend part of it.  

It's going to make for a really long day for me, but I'm super-excited.  

I told my staff today that I was going to march drum corps again, and they were very interested in it and what it involves and where they could see me perform.  

I found my old mellophone mouthpiece, polished all the tarnish off of it, and have been buzzing away for a few days on it.  I wonder how long it will take me to get my embouchure back in fighting form...weeks?  months?

As far as the physical part of marching...well, I'm anticipating a world of pain tomorrow.  I'm so out of shape, cardio-wise, that I'm going to be hating life for a while.

The advantage of marching this type of corps is that we're almost all adults, and the instructors will not be yelling at us like they did when I marched a DCI corps at the age of 19.  Yelling doesn't yield results in this case.

Well, I need to get to bed.

Wish me luck, and I'll write a post of how it went after I get home from work late late tomorrow night.

It's a Me Me Me Me World

Today at work some poor lady had a seizure and collapsed in my store.  We called 911 and an employee of mine and I stayed with the lady on the floor as we awaited the paramedics' arrival.  It turns out that this employee is a former field medic and EMT, which I did not know, and I have dealt with people having seizures in my various stores before, so we had the situation under control.  

And so this lady is on the floor, breathing but unresponsive, and this employee and I are on the ground with her, and a couple of looky-lous pass by and stare.  I don't really have a problem with that...people will stare at the unexpected.  But then this young lady, maybe late teens/early 20s, stops and says, "Are you helping someone feel better?", to which I responded, "Yes".  

But then...yes, then...

This young lady says to us, "Are those bookcases the only cooking books you have?  Because I'm looking for a book called the Vegan Lunch Box, and I couldn't find the Vegan Lunch Box, so can you help me find the Vegan Lunch Box?"  Oh, yes she did.  She did indeed basically ask us to get up off the floor, leave the seizing woman all alone, and help her find her book.  Yup.  She did.

I directed this young lady to the information desk, but then one of my sellers noticed what was happening and offered to help this young lady.  

We were shocked.  We were appalled.   But really, we were not surprised.  

What are your thoughts?

Blast From My Past

I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I think the time is right.

I've decided to do THIS.

Yup.

My chops are gone, I'm way out of shape, and it's gonna kick my ass, but I love it and I miss it.  So, I'm going to do it.

Go check out the website and let me know if you have any questions.

Some Day I'll...

Finish my "Hell at Sea" story.

Complete my adventures to the TX State Fair in October.

Be able to explain adequately why I really like Christmas carols.

Look at the word 'accommodation' and think it looks right.

Be happy with what I have rather than unhappy with what I don't.

and other stuff.

Friends

Last night one of my friends (a newly promoted GM) took me to dinner to ask me advice about a couple people on her staff.  She has just taken over the store I left 6 months ago, after the guy I 'swapped stores' with left the company (thank god for that).  We talked shop, had a nice Tex-Mex meal, and made fun of the OVERLY LOUD AND RACOUS guy sitting with a large birthday party.  Damn, he was loud.  It was freezing cold last night...easily -7876546 degrees, but the food and our lively conversation kept us warm (not to mention the enclosed patio with the heater right by our table).

Today in a bit I am going to another friend's house from where we will go see the movie Twilight.  This will be my once-a-year outing to a movie theatre.  Hopefully, since the kids are all in school, there won't be any annoying chatter or cell phone usage, and few people at all in the theatre.  Then we plan on making dinner...possibly pizza.  Other folks will hopefully join us for the dinner portion of the day, and we always have a good time.  

And off topic, I bought the cutest-ever unmentionables the other day.  If you don't know what unmentionables are, then you'll just have to figure it out.  It's a phrase I learned from one of my college roommates, and it just tickles me to use it.  One of my favorite stores what having a Thanksgiving weekend of BOGO on practically everything in the store, which was perfect timing, because I was down to a perilously low one item of unmentionables for the top part.  The items I bought are cute, cute, cute!  I have never been so excited about unmentionables before.  It's so silly, the things that excite me.

I must go now to get ready for my day.  I hope yours is groovy, too.

Beedle Bard & Other Thoughts

We stayed open past midnight tonight to sell Beedle Bard.  It's now 1:36am, and I have to be back at work at 7am.  We have a home office visitor at 9am.  

Regarding the Guy:

You're totally right about the "He's Just Not That Into You".  I read that book when it first came out, and so many people poo-poo'd it, but I thought it made some good obvious points.  Basically, if a Guy is really into you, nothing will stand in his way.  I can't really blame someone for not wanting to make 'big changes' to see me, but since I have a car and could just as easily drive to him, I think in the end it probably has less to do with that and more to do with he doesn't like me as much as he thought he did at first.  

Still, it's kinda crappy knowing that someone thinks I'm not worth the effort.

But I still have my family, my friends, and all you wonderful people who are so good to me.  Thanks be to all of you.

Jimmy the Turtle

Here's Jimmy the Turtle.  Isn't he adorable?  He's lounging on my chair at home in this picture.
And here he is checking out the floor in my office at work.  What a cutie pie.

Sail on Silver Bird

Well Black Friday is over, and it still doesn't feel like 'the holidays'...probably because the weather has yet to turn really cold, something for which I'm actually thankful.

Jimmy the turtle doesn't seem to be eating much, but then again I don't know how much a turtle eats.  He ate some cabbage the other day, but he won't eat lettuce, and he doesn't seem to be eating the turtle/reptile food I was given to feed him.  I suppose he'll eat when he gets hungry enough.

A big thunderstorm rolled in around 3am last night and woke me up, this just after I finally got back to sleep following my awakening at 1am by drunken neighbors shouting and singing in Spanish.  I tell ya, if there's a language to shout and sing in while drunk, Spanish is it...much more mournful than if it were in English.

We have these Twilight wall banners at the store, and I told one of my employees I'd buy them a beverage from the cafe if he wore it for an hour.  Well, he draped it around his back, and we spent the next hour calling him Captain Twilight.  I also told my staff that I would wear banners front and back plus reindeer antlers if they reached a particular book drive goal by 3pm.  I taunted, I teased, they reached the goal, and I donned two banners and the antlers and proceeded to prance about the store.  Then my boss arrived, and we gave them another goal which they reached, and I made my boss wear a banner and the antlers for a few minutes.  I specifically made her walk up to the cashwrap and show all my cashiers her outfit.  The customers thought it was hysterical, and one lady told me 'good job for delegating up!'.  

I need some more ideas of things I can do to keep the staff happy and engaged and motivated.  Obviously, I am not above personal humiliation, so give me all your best ideas.  I mostly need ideas that don't cost any money and are fairly simple to execute.

And in other news...nah, I really don't have other news.  I'm tired and going to sleep a really long time now.

Enjoyable Thanksgiving

I thoroughly enjoyed myself today at my parents' house for Thanksgiving.

We had 17 people, including 3 people I had not met before.  Two of the new ones are brothers of my younger sister's boyfriend, and the other one is the former roommate of my sister's boyfriend.

All 3 of these guys were fun and intelligent and appeared to be quite comfortable among so many strangers.

After we had all eaten (I was at the kids table, woohoo!, where the average age was probably 40) I suggested a game of Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit.  Trivial Pursuit won, and 6 of us broke into 3 teams to play the 20th century edition.  

At first I was a team of one, as I was waiting for my older sister and her husband to join the game, but they took too long playing another game in the dining room, so Eric from another team offered to join me, for which I am enormously grateful.  At one point, the 2 other teams had gotten pie pieces already, so I grabbed our pie and put a brown wedge piece in it.  I don't remember exactly what was going on, but other than Eric, no one ever noticed that I had done that.  Eric and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves laughing over it, and the others couldn't figure out why.

The game lasted 3 hours, and near the end, my sister and her boyfriend gave up, so I asked them for their half-ish full pie (ok, I took it), added our 2 pieces, then we only lacked one piece.  I thought it was hilarous.  Then Eric and I rallied and WON the game, off of stolen and confiscated pie pieces.  It was during the confiscation that we finally told the other players what I had done TWO hours prior!

Too funny indeed.

I also enjoyed it because in such situations, I'm not expected to have all the answers for everything and to be able to solve any problem.  I am expected to know such and do such all the time at work, and it is very refreshing to just be ok with not knowing the answer to some random baseball question and such.  And I got to spend hours talking and interacting with people who have absolutely nothing to do with my work.  I loved it.  Boy, I really need to get more friends outside my work, don't I?

Well, I'm exhausted, so I am going to take care of Jimmy the Turtle then head off to bed...gotta get up early tomorrow, though not too early.

Turtle Sitting

I am taking care of Jimmy, a pet turtle belonging to one of my Cafe Sellers who is out of town for several days.  He'll mostly be staying at the store, but tonight I brought him home because we're closed tomorrow...thank goodness!

I let Jimmy crawl around my office this evening before we left, and I let him crawl around my living room earlier.  He ate some cabbage from the salad I made for Thanksgiving, and he's now back in his temporary big-tub home, hopefully settling down for the night with some of his pet store turtle food in there, too.

I'll take some pics and post them tomorrow.  He's a big boy, probably 10 inches long, or so.

Nutty Jenny

We're having a bookdrive at work, all our stores are.  We are in the lead in the district overall, but a couple other stores beat us on Sunday and Monday, so we needed to turn up the heat on the effort today.  

At 4pm we were only 1/3 of our way to the daily goal I had set, and the staff was getting frustrated.  So, I decided to change things up a bit.  That hour I had a cashier at every register, half of them being new people who just started work yesterday and are doing wonderfully well.

I told the team that if they got a certain number of book drives items in one hour, from 4-5pm, I would sing a song to them...any song they wanted...on the salesfloor, right then.

By golly if they weren't keeping me updated every time they sold another book for the book drive (which is benefiting kids at a local foster care and family care facility, almost like an orphanage, though we don't have those in Texas).  We have walkie talkies that are incredibly useful, and I kept taunting them over the walkie that they'd better hurry up and meet their goal or they'd get no song from me!

But they rallied and they worked and they got the good people of Dallas to donate enough books that hour to meet their goal!  They told me they wanted me to sing Over the Rainbow with bookstore lyrics, so I quickly wrote some lyrics about the cashwrap and working as a cashier and such.  Everyone in the store wanted to see/hear me perform this song, my lyrics chicken scratched on the back of a piece of paper I was going to recycle.

Of course I couldn't have the entire store in one place at one time, so I waited for the right moment of few customers in the area and sang my song to the cashiers.  I then sang it again over the walkies.  Customers were giving me strange looks, but the staff loved it, and I received applause.  Yay!  I signed my lyric sheet and 2 staff members were discussing which of them should get it.

But wait!  The team was bound and determined to make me sing again!  They met the goal again that next hour, so I regaled them with a tune about Chaucer the holiday bear set to the tune of Climb Ev'ry Mountain and sung like Il Divo (the 4 classical crossover singers who wayyyy overuse vibrato--they have a new CD out and we're playing it overhead because it's selling really well).  I really got some strange looks with that one, because it's difficult to sing like Il Divo and be quiet about it.  I gave that signed lyrics sheet to a cafe seller.

The next hour they almost doubled the goal, but I told them I was through for the day.

Whew!  Nutty Jenny.  Now we'd better be back in first place.  I just worked really hard to get us there.

(And I think the part that tickles me most is that they wanted my signed lyrics sheet...so cute!)

Food, Actually

I went to the grocery store after work this evening to pick up what I need to bring to Thanksgiving.  It cost me way too much to get all the ingredients to make my Asian Salad and also to buy 4 kinds of cheese to cube and crackers to go with my tortas.  I'll be bringing tupperware-ish containers and ziplock baggies to bring home leftovers.  

Last night I popped Love, Actually into the DVD player and enjoyed it immensely, again.  I really need to buy the soundtrack.   I simply adore that movie.

I have a friend whose birthday is Friday, and another whose birthday is Sunday, and I don't have any bright ideas of what to get/do for them.  Any ideas?

Also, I keep coveting the heavenly fleece line of clothing at Land's End.  Me want.

 

I DID IT, plus COOKIES!

How's that for a blog title, my friends?

I got my hair cut today.  But before that I went to my old store and spent some time working with their Cafe Supervisor, their GM, and my DM on par worksheets, ordering, and the need for an auto-populated-restocking-report-fed order sheet.  My boss called our home office and left a message for our man-of-all-things-operational to see about getting this created.  It's all in who you know, isn't it?  Did any of that make sense?  

Anyway, after we went to ludinner, or dunch, hey it was 4pm so it was lunch + dinner...sushi and bento boxes and hot tea, yum...I went to the hair cutting establishment.  "I need a haircut," said I, as I was greeted by the friendly young lady who called me sweetheart.  I don't mind being called sweetheart...we're in Texas, and it's not uncommon.  It is, however, a bit odd when someone younger than I says it, and when this younger person is a lady.  But I just chalk that up to friendliness and go with the flow.  

The sweetheart-saying girl matched me up with Drew, a cutie pie young man who spent a fair amount of time feeling my hair and talking to me about what he could do to add texture and volume and style.  He was adorable, and I didn't mind one bit that he was touching my head.  It didn't feel freakish at all.  I even asked about getting highlights, and he talked to me about those options, too.  In the end I just got it cut.  Drew did a wonderful job.  He created many layers and took a fair amount of time to cut it from the inside out, in all dimensions, and from all angles.  He had interesting conversation to share as well.  I really like the result.  

And so, I did it...I got my hair cut.

And now on to cookies!

I bought 3 magazines with cookie recipes in them and have been thoroughly enjoying myself reading them.  My mother has a 1978 Southern Living Holiday Cookie recipe magazine, and it's the best I've ever seen in 30 years for cookie recipes, but these 3 magazines are fun as well.  One is a Land O' Lakes special issue, another is a Better Homes & Gardens special issue, and the third is a Martha Stewart Living special issue.  It is too early to say if I'll actually spent the time and money making holiday cookies, but I sure am having a good time perusing the magazines.

The wind is blowing a cold front in, and it's supposed to be 36 degrees tonight.  I'm looking forward to it.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is one week from today!  I'm responsible for making and bringing the Asian salad, cheese tortas, crackers and such, and something else I have written down somewhere.  Maybe I'll bring some wine for those of us who would like a glass.

What wines go well with Thanksgiving dinner and are not too expensive?

Haircut?

I admit it...I don't like getting my hair cut.  

It's not that I don't like neatly cut hair, it's that I find it freakish for a stranger to touch my head.  I've never liked it.  

But I think my squished eyeball is telling me that it's time to get my hair cut again, seeing as how the last time I cut it was in late Feb or early March.  I'm also toying with the idea of getting some highlights, but then I know I'd have to go get them retouched frequently which would require more money and more touching of my head.  

I don't see how guys do it...get their hair cut all the time.  Ick.

I get so hot at work that I usually pull my hair back, anyway.  

I'm off tomorrow, though I'm spending the day helping out at my old store (wait, so that means I'm not really off, right?), and there is a nice hair place across the drive, so maybe I'll go get it cut.

Then again, maybe I won't.  

O squished eyeball, what shall I do?

I squished my eyeball

I slept so hard that at some point last night I squished my left eyeball.  I can't see correctly out of it, though it was better than it was early early this morning.

I have no idea what I could have done.  This is not the first time I've squished my eyeball.

I need to go google 'squished eyeballs' and see what there is to do.

I'm such an idiot.

Four Pesties in My Kitchen

I returned home from work this evening about 8:30 or so with my sushi and a salad from Central Market in a paper grocery bag.  Several times today I had though about how lovely it is that my apartment was being nuked today.  

Still, I hesitantly entered my apartment, put down my things, then found the kitchen light.  Whew!  So far, so good...no obvious buggies in sight.

The I turned and noticed one perching on my Black & Decker electronic pest control device that is plugged into one of the outlets on the bar, near the sink.  There he stood, taunting me like several of his brethren had done recently...all of them perched on that worthless device (don't waste your money on these things).  So, I grabbed my yellow can of Raid and kilt him dead.  

Not a minute or two later, one of his friends comes scurrying out from behind that device, and I kilt him dead, too.  I am thinking there is some gap between the bar sides and the topper that is a harborage for these lil' devils.  I guess these bastards were seeking a 'safe' place since their former abode was sprayed.  

I had an apartment in Sherman, TX, for a few months when I got my first store.  I had a pest problem there, and after a few weeks I found that they were coming up and out a gap where the bar walls and the top met.  I remember one night I sprayed Raid or Bengal or something and dozens and dozens of small buggies came racing out.  It was thoroughly disgusting.

Anyway...I went to the dishwasher to get a clean glass out, and I found 2 buggies right inside the door.  They surely had scrambled once they smelled the killah spray.  I kilt them dead, too.

I just did some research online, and it takes a few days for the spray to kill them all, so I will not-so-patiently wait for this to occur.  

It can't happen too soon.  This morning, I smartly inspected the TP before I used it, which was a good call, because there was a lil' devil on the dangling end of the TP.  I kilt him dead.  I'll kill them all dead.

All my under-counter cabinets in the kitchen were open when I got home, so it seems like the exterminator probably sprayed them quite well...I hope.

Buggies

Apparently enough people in my apartment building have complained enough times that the entire building is going to be exterminated tomorrow.  Thank goodness!

There was an almost non-existent roach problem until the Skanks and Nasties moved in below me.  I've been here over 4 years now, but it wasn't until a few months after the S&Ns moved in that the problem began.  They were also the ones to leave trashbags on their balcony for days before finally taking them to the dumpster.  And I think they skipped out on their lease a couple of weeks ago, or perhaps they were evicted.  I kept seeing notices for unpaid water bills on their doorknob.

Regardless of where the problem started, I'm sick of it and am glad to have the entire building nuked tomorrow.  I hope they spray the fuck out of the place.  Then I'm going to have the apartment guys come and caulk around all the plumping fixtures and holes in walls...anything where a buggie could come through.

Oh, and I made chili tonight for dinner.  I'm about to go have some.

Toodles.

Superstars

The store visit with my boss and my boss' boss went very well on Friday.  Once again, my boss believed we were the best looking store.  Last time, they believed we were the best looking store, and that was when I was at my former store, so I guess you could say I'm consistent, wherever I go.

It is very important that double boss maintains his high opinion of me, as he would be the one to promote me to DM at some point in the future.  

My team worked smart, hard, fast, and long, and the results are spectacular.  One of the employees who has been in the store since it opened (12 years ago) said this is the best he's ever seen the store look....ever.  My boss said the same thing, and I think so, too.  Our service scores are excellent, our merchandising is impeccable, I have my team in place, and we are set for the holidays.  

The advances we have made in the not-quite-six-months that I've been in this store are astounding.  I have a team of Superstars.

Next challenge, please.

Moldy Cheese--Unable to Return

See below for my email complaint to Tom Thumb (Safeway).  Unfortunately, their website gives me an error message when I try to submit it, so I'm just going to post it here, then try to submit it again tomorrow.  I tried to be professional and not too nasty, but I am thoroughly irked.

Here it is:

Zicam is Bliss; Comfort Inns is Bust; Bigger Boss Visit

A few months ago I found this wonderful OTC item that works amazingly well for congested sinuses.  It is called Zicam Extreme Congestion.  It's a nasal spray.  This is what has made it able for me to function this week.  I love it!

And on an unrelated note...I have nothing good at all to say about the Comfort Inn where we stayed and held our training session this week.  This particular one is on Natural Bridge Rd in St. Louis, by the airport.  Hideous on almost all fronts, repeatedly, over 4 days, even after our giving them feedback on what to correct.  I will now personally do my best not to stay at any Comfort Inn hotels in the future.

We have another Big Boss visit on Friday.  This is my boss's boss, the one who could promote me at some point in the future.  It's a big deal.  We'll be great.  We're always great.  Anything less just simply won't happen.

I Am Come Home

I forget where I heard someone say this phrase...probably some Jane Austen movie adaptation.

I have returned from St. Louis, wielding a mighty sinus infection (my 3rd in the last 7 months, a lot for a person who 'never' gets sick), and being extremely tired.  

The training session went well, and my contributions were adequate, though I did not think I was stellar this time.  The participants were very engaged, and I certainly delivered all the key learning points through the facilitation, but I had to refer too much to my notes on the second day.  

Being sick really affected me.  I was my usual exuberant personality in front of the room, but I was so tired and feeling so poorly after hours that I had trouble focusing and therefore couldn't do my usual 3 or 4 quick run-thrus of my sessions the night before.

There's a point in my last session, which also happens to be the last session of the entire she-bang, when I got a little out of synch with the powerpoint because several of the slides look very similar.  It turned out ok, though, as I got it all sorted out while the participants were engaged in small group activities.

I really get a kick out of facilitating.  It's challenging, and I like challenges.  It's very different from presenting.  Doing a presentation usually involves a person speaking about a particular subject, usually with supporting powerpoint slides.  Perhaps there is a Q&A at the end.  It certainly requires skill, but it is a lot more straightforward in format and such.

Facilitation requires coordination of the entire group to reach particular points at particular times.  The ppt slides do contain vital information, but most of the learning happens through the guidance of the facilitator as they ask questions of the group.  The challenge is in knowing what point you need to hit, when you need to hit it, what information the group needs to have leading up to that point, if there is a particular workbook page or activity that builds upon it once you get there, and which questions to ask to make it the most effective.  

Because the group is offering answers, you have to manage that aspect while also being mindful of pace, available time left, the physicality of the situation, etc.  I plan out my main questions ahead of time...the ones that will help lead the group to the learning point, but there are always opportunities to dig deeper into the participants' answers, and that makes you have to be quite adaptable.  Fortunately, I am great at thinking on my feet.

I'm convinced that part of the reason I'm really really good at facilitating is because I was in marching band for all those years.  I have to be able to make my way around the physical space, moving and talking at the same time sometimes, and not step in front of the ppt projector beam, not trip on the extension cords, not turn my back on the participants, not run into the table where the laptop sits, etc., while still ensuring that when I'm ready to move on, that I am close enough to the laptop to hit the right key, that I am close enough to a flip chart with a marker in hand when I need to be, and that I can get to my notes quickly if I need to.  And then there's the part about actually listening to the answers of the questions I ask!

It's like performing really, but in an environment where the players and the spoken words change.  I love it...I absolutely love it.  Unfortunately, I don't do it often enough to get amazingly, spectacularly, unerringly fabulous at it.

So, I am come home, and I am done rambling for now.

Meet me in St. Louis, Louis

I am off to St. Louis to train a group of managers.

I ended up working 5 hours at my store yesterday, then 3 hours at another store moving fixtures.  My knees and legs hurt!  I got 3 1/2 hours of sleep before going back to work this morning.  

I am tired, so I'm going to drive until I'm ready to stop for the night, then...I'll stop.  I only have to be in St. Louis by noon tomorrow, so there's no great rush.  The whole drive is just 10 hours total, and I can easily do half of that today before dark, if I get going.

Have fun while I'm gone.  I'll be back Friday!

Such a Range

This past week was all over the place.

On Sunday I returned from camping.  Monday I voted.  Tuesday I returned to work to learn of a situation that exploded while I was gone camping.  I trained a new GM Wed-Fri while trying to handle the explosion plus another issue.  We had a biggish-wig visit on Thursday morning.  I spent hours and hours preparing for my upcoming training session in St. Louis next week, I learned I get to reprise my trainer role again for next year, and we had a massive sale rung in on Friday.  

So I worked 7am to 11pm all those days, got little sleep, and am still alive.  I logged 85 hours of training time in October, and that is above and beyond the time it takes me to run my store, which can be anywhere from 45-80 hours a week, depending on time of year and situation.  Just running a store is too easy and too boring, so I love that I have the trainer piece to supplement that.  

Today I am off, but I have to go in for a few hours to finish up my training prep and show a couple people a few things, and have some more conversations, then I have to go to another store tonight and help them move fixtures around.  That pisses me off, but I do it anyway.

Tomorrow I work until noon, then drive to St. Louis.

How was your week?

More State Fair Pictures

Pretty Pumpkin Pictures

These photos were taken at the Texas State Fair.  Aren't they spectacular?  I'll try this type of pumpkin carving some day.

Vote

I early voted today.  I'm going to be out of town, training a group of managers in St. Louis, on election day, so I returned from camping a day early so that I could vote today.  

There was a line, but the whole thing only took me 25 minutes (after I found a parking spot).  If the voting place had more volunteers, it would have gone even faster, as there were plenty of empty voting 'booths'.  

We use a touch screen system here in Texas, and it was quite well-done, I think.  There was a lady sitting at the exit door, asking people what the flashing red light at the end of the process meant.  I guess that's their way of checking to make sure people actually submitted their vote.  (The flashing red light says 'VOTE', and you're supposed to press it after you've reviewed your choices and are ready to submit them.)  I just bypassed that lady and walked on.  I guess it's a good thing she's there to check, because people may actually miss that BIG  FLASHING RED LIGHT with the word VOTE on it.  I suppose the older generations may find the whole touch screen/computerized process quite foreign, so I'm sure it was helpful to some, though I didn't see anyone gasp and run back to their voting booth.

Have you voted yet?

More Camping Photos

Above:  My Element tent is wrinkly from being packed away for a long while.  I need to go camping more often.  The back seats fold flat, then up against the sides of the vehicle, making room for a nice twin size air mattress and all the bedding that a cold cold night requires.
Above:  My trusty Coleman tent that I've had for 7 or 8 years.  The friend that I went camping with is the same person I went to Maine with.  She's a dear lady, but she drives me nuts at times.  She's not a creative person or a problem-solver, so I had to show her step-by-step how to put up the tent (there are instructions on the tent bag), how to light the Coleman stove, how to set up the air mattress, how to heat water to use for cleaning the dishes after a meal, etc.  It's like I had to train her in the entire experience of camping.  We're not talking about starting a fire using a piece of bubble gum and a paper clip, we're talking about simpler things.  She obsessed...really, truly, obsessed with exactly how much and what kind of clothing and bedclothes she was going to put on the air mattress in the tent (and in what order).  I had told her to pack very warm clothes and plenty of blankets or quilts, because the night temps were going to be in the 40s.  She must have told me 20 times the day we got to the campsite what she was going to do and another 15 times the following day as to step by step how warm or cold she was at various times throughout the night and what she did with each blanket or quilt as a result.  I shouldn't be surprised.  She also is terribly obsessed with the price of gas, always has been.  And now I'll have to delete this rant very soon because it's really mean of me to type all this.
Above:  Our nice covered picnic table, partically set up.
Above:  Our own pile of firewood and charcoal.  Word of advice, do not buy the Safeway/Tom Thumb brand of charcoal.  It may be the cheapest, but it took forever to get the coals to the cooking stage.  I usually buy the individual small bags that you just light the bag and the whole thing burns.  I should have spent the extra money and bought those again.  The firewood was also from Tom Thumb and was no better than scrap.  It didn't burn for very long.  I should have bought the better quality stuff from another store and gotten some pinion wood as well.
Above:  These are the arms/paws/claws that were right next to the entrails.  So, raccoon or possum?

Tasty Tasty Camping Pictures

Above:  You are most likely wondering what this is.  I do know that it is animal innards and what could possibly be a baby of some kind.  I found this on a trek down to the lake.  It was still squishy, so was most likely killed the night before.  I also found blood in several places on the rocks in the surrounding areas, and two partially eaten arms with paws/claws intact.  My two guesses would be possum (which I saw plenty of at night) or raccoon (which I never did see, but heard trying to rummage through things at night).  Anyone know what this is?
Above:  Do you have any idea how impossibly difficult it is to take an in focus photo of a glowing pumping in almost pitch-black conditions?  Very difficult, apparently.  This was the best I could do without a tripod and in extreme low light.  I brought two pumpkins, and my friend and I both carved one.  My friend chose a ghost design on the packaging of the carving instruments.  I opted to create my own design.  I also toasted the pumpkin seeds when we were done scraping them out.  They were ok, but not my favorite.  When it got dark, we placed the pumpkins at the end of the drive to our campsite and set them aglow.  They looked incredible, and I'm rather proud that I was reasonably able to capture the shape of Texas.  It is very difficult to get it to the right proportions.
This is what my pumpkin looked like this morning.  We left them at the campsite for others to enjoy (or throw at each other).
Above:  This is an inlet at Lake Whitney.
Above:  And this was sunset on the first day.  Gorgeous.

A-Camping I Will Go

Hi ho the derry-o, a-camping I will go.

You simply cannot conceive how much stuff is packed in my car so that I might enjoy my camping experience to the extreme.

The weather is absolutely, positively, could not ask for more, PERFECT camping weather!

A cold front rolled in yesterday afternoon, and today is a big crisp, with the temps dropping to the 40s tonight.  I packed plenty of fleecy and blankety things to keep me warm at night.  

I'll try to remember to take plenty of pics of my campground setup.  I love love love to set up camp, don't ask me why.

And now, I must away...I'm meeting a friend at the grocery store where we're going to buy the gargantuan amount of food we plan on cooking and eating while camping.  Yummy!