I love bridges.
I know it's a little bit kookie and I admit it, but I love to drive over bridges. Especially if the weather is nice and the traffic is on the light side.
I happen to be blessed in living on an Island. Therefore, leaving it requires me to either cross a bridge, travel through a tunnel or get on a plane or boat.
I grew up on the South shore of this island. In order to get to the famed beaches, one had to take 1 to 2 bridges or a ferry. Or your own boat should you be in that tax bracket.
ON my end table there is a picture of the famed Robert Moses Bridge. I took this picture at night in the fog and really you see a shadowy outline with the lights on the bridge giving you the shape in the candle-like glow. It IS my favorite picture in the world. THough I no longer live there, and the house has since been leveled, I get a peaceful feeling when I look at that bridge.
I have been known to change my routes based on bridges. I LOVE Verizzano and the Tappan zee. I could cross that one all the time. I don't care for the Triborrough or the GW too much. I like the Throgs Neck.
My true fav is the Tappan Zee. it has the best approach and the best view by day.
When I am on these bridges I get this free feeling that comes over me. It washes the pain of anything that's bothering me away, It free's me from my troubles. I feel as if I am leaving the bad behind and going towards the good. It's almost a religious feeling.
Most of the time I am. When I am crossing these bridges it usually means I am going to see someone I love. These bridges mean I am going to see people like Lily, or Bernie ( by ext Lisa), My brother, or countless friends further North like MapleMama or Jax, or Poodle.
I watched a movie with a friend recently called Queens Logic. It's old it's from 1991. The central theme is about Queens borrough in NY more specifically the Queens side of the Hell's Gate Bridge ( another beauty but a freight bridge- not commercial). Halfway through the movie, it occurred to me that this bridge was going to be a pinnacle in this movie and I was right.
I also love the film "For love or Money" also from 1991, with Gabrielle Anwar and Michael J Fox. The movie is wonderful, but the final scenes are amongst my favs. They take place on the 59th street bridge. He is running toward her on one side and she on the other. As the music ( unbelievable orchestral score which I just bought - more on that later) swells you realize they are yelling key words for the film to each other - throwing away what seemed to be important for a time for the love that they realize they feel for each other in the moment.
It's sappy, very old fashioned MGM style love story - funny in spots. The music is what does it for me though.
I went to visit my youngest brother in NJ. He took us a different way than we normally go because of construction. This enabled me to go over the Verizzano Bridge and the outerbridge crossing.
I was in my glory because the day was perfect. It was sunny, warm but not too warm. The traffic was moving fairly well on the bridges themselves though not wonderfully well off them.
I had the soundtrack to For love or money on my CD player. The timing was ideal. Each time I was crossing a bridge, that scene would ironically be on my cd player at the moment.
I cry every time I hear it - since 1991. I am just sappy that way.
There's another song that I like to hear when I cross the Tz..... I Love you by the Climax Blues Band. I have no reason why - it just fits.
The Throgs Neck is NY state of mind by Billy Joel.
The Triborough is Adagio for Strings by Samual Barber. For those of you who do not know, I am related to Samual Barber. He is my Great Uncle. And I do not like this piece. UNLESS I am traveling over the Triborough Bridge. Alretnately Beethoven's 7th Symphony 2 movement. Or Chopin Intermezzo no 2 for Piano.
I love Bridges and the music that I associate with them is what helps make that special on each trip.
I have a trip coming up in 2 weeks. I am going to have pick the route and pick the tunes appropriately. We are going to Katonah ( where Martha Stewart Lives) for my birthday.
What better way to start and end it but by crossing bridges.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
On resignation
Resignation comes in so many forms.
The two I had to deal with tonight were of the paper kind.
My director/Vocal Coach turned in his resignation to the group that I sing with. He just completed out his Third year with a performance of the Faure Requiem and Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms.
I will tell you that it's a bad thing as far as I am concerned. Not because he's my vocal coach, he is. Not because he's a fantastic director - he is that too.
But this group has a reputation now. We chew through directors. All the people worth anything are leaving. And we can't pay the money that is needed to attract seasoned, talented music directors willing and wishing to perform Master Works.
It hurts me because my uncle and my dad founded this group. It was their baby. They nurtured it and help it grow until my Uncle retired and turned the baton over to my dad. My dad continued on until his health had declined to a point where he turned the baton over to the woman he had both hired at the school where they taught and mentored her as well. He continued to sing with us until he passed away. Shortly before he died, we were interviewing new directors as the woman declined to continue.
We came across a young man who was a dynamic conductor, he was young, fresh, excited to be a part of the group, wanted to do master works.
We opted out of his contract renewal 1 year later. He was wanting to make is into an A Cappela group and we weren't having that. Not exclusively. Occasionally it's fun - but not an entire program. He was very talented and there is little doubt in my mind that he would have left us to pursue bigger things eventually. Our board just got there first.
So we hire my vocal coach. He is a musical genious and extremely talented director. Why did our board stsart forcing him out? Seriously.... it's an embarassment to me that I belong to such an immature group of adults. They started talking behind his back, polling hte membership, all those childish things that I detest. The bottom line, they didn't like that he wasn't a good administrator.
Now I ask you. If you have a full compliment on the board of directors ( President, Past Pres, VP, treasurer, Secretary, Pormotions, financial committee, Music Library) Why on EARTH should the Music Director need to administer ANYTHING???? He has a board to that crap for him!!!!
Except wiht this board - only 2-3 positions ACTUALLY do any work. our Pres - excellent, even signed on to do another year ar his peril as it turns out. And the poor guy doesn't even know about the resignation yet. Secretary - wondeerful, lovely person, works like a dog gets very little thanks and had to be the sad recipient of the letter. And dlastly, our treasurer. She a different one. She works hard and is very effective, but she is one of the yipey yentas of our group.
So our half functioning board of directors is comprised of the people most willing to do work in a group fo 45 people who do nothing. The people that got voted in still wish to do nothing and find ways to do it.
Our accompanist said it succinctly today. This is like a little club. everyone wants the club to run according to their individual needs and when that fails - they modify and adapt the rules so they can the director out the door.
I'm angry but in a strange position. A friend of mine may apply and I will have to support her if she decides to go for it and of course if she gets it. But as I may have mentioned, she will be fully and duly warned. I will make sure of it.
I'm angry and sad. This group has been around for most of my life. If this board keeps doing this, we will end up with no group. The motivations are that they want to have the original director back and force each subsequent one to succumb to it or have the job threatened. The VP wants full musical control so she can pick the rep and makes sure there are solos for her in there. I really think that if my friend doesn't get the job, I may just be done with this group. My dad would absolutely defend my decisions on this.
So knowing that the resignation was turned in was tough.
Then I turned in mine. It's not as much a resignation so much as decline of offered position. I sent out the decline for the presidency today. I included no reasons or details. I just thanked the committee for considering me a worthwhile choice but I would have to decline. I am not going to cite my step mom as a reason, or my insanely crazy life that I can't manage right now at all or anything like that. I have no intentions on elaborating and I am officially not taking the calls from this committee for a few days and I am certainly not going to my meeting this week.
Someday I may want to be president of some group - but Kiwanis? No. THe choral group? Never.
My poor dad. I'm glad he's gone so as not to put him through this. My uncle is alive though and I pray that he doesn't get wind of this.
I do not know how the whole thing will shape up to be honest. Our secretary is has the resignation letter. I advised her not to announce it at the diner after the performance. I advised and suggested to her that she might be better off waiting for the president to return from his trip on Monday and speak to him first and let him handle it. The president and the director are 20_+ year friends. Perhaps something can be corrected or adjusted. I don't know.
I just don't know.
In the grand scheme of what is happening in my world, I am disgusted by the childish behaviour of a group whose average age is 67 years old. Having not been elected the board a second year in a row ( mercifully I was smart enough not to run again) at my own decision, I don't have to deal with the inner workings. I thank GOD for that. I will demand that I be on the search committee for a new director. that's a sub committee that the director gets to create.
If I remain.
Time will tell.
The two I had to deal with tonight were of the paper kind.
My director/Vocal Coach turned in his resignation to the group that I sing with. He just completed out his Third year with a performance of the Faure Requiem and Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms.
I will tell you that it's a bad thing as far as I am concerned. Not because he's my vocal coach, he is. Not because he's a fantastic director - he is that too.
But this group has a reputation now. We chew through directors. All the people worth anything are leaving. And we can't pay the money that is needed to attract seasoned, talented music directors willing and wishing to perform Master Works.
It hurts me because my uncle and my dad founded this group. It was their baby. They nurtured it and help it grow until my Uncle retired and turned the baton over to my dad. My dad continued on until his health had declined to a point where he turned the baton over to the woman he had both hired at the school where they taught and mentored her as well. He continued to sing with us until he passed away. Shortly before he died, we were interviewing new directors as the woman declined to continue.
We came across a young man who was a dynamic conductor, he was young, fresh, excited to be a part of the group, wanted to do master works.
We opted out of his contract renewal 1 year later. He was wanting to make is into an A Cappela group and we weren't having that. Not exclusively. Occasionally it's fun - but not an entire program. He was very talented and there is little doubt in my mind that he would have left us to pursue bigger things eventually. Our board just got there first.
So we hire my vocal coach. He is a musical genious and extremely talented director. Why did our board stsart forcing him out? Seriously.... it's an embarassment to me that I belong to such an immature group of adults. They started talking behind his back, polling hte membership, all those childish things that I detest. The bottom line, they didn't like that he wasn't a good administrator.
Now I ask you. If you have a full compliment on the board of directors ( President, Past Pres, VP, treasurer, Secretary, Pormotions, financial committee, Music Library) Why on EARTH should the Music Director need to administer ANYTHING???? He has a board to that crap for him!!!!
Except wiht this board - only 2-3 positions ACTUALLY do any work. our Pres - excellent, even signed on to do another year ar his peril as it turns out. And the poor guy doesn't even know about the resignation yet. Secretary - wondeerful, lovely person, works like a dog gets very little thanks and had to be the sad recipient of the letter. And dlastly, our treasurer. She a different one. She works hard and is very effective, but she is one of the yipey yentas of our group.
So our half functioning board of directors is comprised of the people most willing to do work in a group fo 45 people who do nothing. The people that got voted in still wish to do nothing and find ways to do it.
Our accompanist said it succinctly today. This is like a little club. everyone wants the club to run according to their individual needs and when that fails - they modify and adapt the rules so they can the director out the door.
I'm angry but in a strange position. A friend of mine may apply and I will have to support her if she decides to go for it and of course if she gets it. But as I may have mentioned, she will be fully and duly warned. I will make sure of it.
I'm angry and sad. This group has been around for most of my life. If this board keeps doing this, we will end up with no group. The motivations are that they want to have the original director back and force each subsequent one to succumb to it or have the job threatened. The VP wants full musical control so she can pick the rep and makes sure there are solos for her in there. I really think that if my friend doesn't get the job, I may just be done with this group. My dad would absolutely defend my decisions on this.
So knowing that the resignation was turned in was tough.
Then I turned in mine. It's not as much a resignation so much as decline of offered position. I sent out the decline for the presidency today. I included no reasons or details. I just thanked the committee for considering me a worthwhile choice but I would have to decline. I am not going to cite my step mom as a reason, or my insanely crazy life that I can't manage right now at all or anything like that. I have no intentions on elaborating and I am officially not taking the calls from this committee for a few days and I am certainly not going to my meeting this week.
Someday I may want to be president of some group - but Kiwanis? No. THe choral group? Never.
My poor dad. I'm glad he's gone so as not to put him through this. My uncle is alive though and I pray that he doesn't get wind of this.
I do not know how the whole thing will shape up to be honest. Our secretary is has the resignation letter. I advised her not to announce it at the diner after the performance. I advised and suggested to her that she might be better off waiting for the president to return from his trip on Monday and speak to him first and let him handle it. The president and the director are 20_+ year friends. Perhaps something can be corrected or adjusted. I don't know.
I just don't know.
In the grand scheme of what is happening in my world, I am disgusted by the childish behaviour of a group whose average age is 67 years old. Having not been elected the board a second year in a row ( mercifully I was smart enough not to run again) at my own decision, I don't have to deal with the inner workings. I thank GOD for that. I will demand that I be on the search committee for a new director. that's a sub committee that the director gets to create.
If I remain.
Time will tell.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
a little stir crazy
I believe that, in bad weather, if you don' t have to go out -don't. Certainly not if it's 18 degrees out and icy conditions.
Such has been the weather here the past two days. So I didn't go out. At all.
I stayed in, nested, and basically just rested and relaxed. I worked, cleaned out my humidifier and changed the filters on all of them, cooked, napped and tended to my plants. I even managed to notice that my African Violets have started to bloom again for the first time since the forced re-potting a few months ago. Wolfi knocked down the original pot and broke out so....
But after 2 days of this, I needed to get out.
MISTAKE. I should have waited for Spring. I'm the ground hog and would happily have stayed in if I knew how frozen my car would be. I realized how bad it was ahead of time and found the de-icing spray that I have had for just such an emergency.
Thats some amazing stuff actually. The ice encasing my car was 1-2 inches thick in places, but this stuff cut rght through it. I even sprayed it on the tires and the ground around it to make the traction better.
I was so surprised how fast that i was able to de-ice the car with that. I need to always have that Prestone De-icer with the built in icec scraper on the end.
But I ventured out and taught some kids. Came home and had.... PIZZA yay!!!!
Not a bad way to end a stir crazy day....
Such has been the weather here the past two days. So I didn't go out. At all.
I stayed in, nested, and basically just rested and relaxed. I worked, cleaned out my humidifier and changed the filters on all of them, cooked, napped and tended to my plants. I even managed to notice that my African Violets have started to bloom again for the first time since the forced re-potting a few months ago. Wolfi knocked down the original pot and broke out so....
But after 2 days of this, I needed to get out.
MISTAKE. I should have waited for Spring. I'm the ground hog and would happily have stayed in if I knew how frozen my car would be. I realized how bad it was ahead of time and found the de-icing spray that I have had for just such an emergency.
Thats some amazing stuff actually. The ice encasing my car was 1-2 inches thick in places, but this stuff cut rght through it. I even sprayed it on the tires and the ground around it to make the traction better.
I was so surprised how fast that i was able to de-ice the car with that. I need to always have that Prestone De-icer with the built in icec scraper on the end.
But I ventured out and taught some kids. Came home and had.... PIZZA yay!!!!
Not a bad way to end a stir crazy day....
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
It's warmer in NY
Bet you didn't think that was coming did you?
Ok here's the trip....
Sunday Night -
I leave my rehearsal at 9:30 and go with the gang out to eat at the local Diner. It was snowing. After we eat and have a LOT of fun, I go home only to find that my parking lot is full. Given that I am getting up at 4AM for this trip, I refuse to park on the street. So I did what I do best, I created a parking spot where there was none. I figured it was safe given that I will probably be the first one to leave the building.
Monday -
I get up on time, miracle of miracles and get myself ready to leave. I get the biggest coffee that 7-11 makes and started for LaGuardia International Airport. Woohoo.
It occurs to me on the ridiculously speedy drive that I am going to have to be social once I get there and I have only had one cup of coffee..... interesting, for the guys at any rate.
I park my car and get on the shuttle. They get me to the terminal at 6:30, I check in and literally fly through security. I see my sales guys and my old boss and Poodle sitting right in front of the security gate drinking what turns out to be REALLY BAD coffee. I threw it away - not worth it.
Our Flight has been called. We board the plane. We are all sitting one row in front of the other through out the plane. Poodle is in front of me and turns to the woman next to him and says " would it be alright if you switched seats with the lady behind me? She's only going to hit me the entire way down...." The woman laughed looked at me ( I nodded) and switched seats.
I immediately pull out my book and my ipod and get settled in. We take off uneventfully.
Once we land we all collect our luggage and head out for the courtesy van. It arrives and I am sitting on my side between Poodle and my old boss and the poor sales guys were sitting on each others laps. It was pretty funny - but I was wayyyyyyyyy too close to my own boss.
I check into my room, which is down the hall from the gym and pool that I will never have time to use ( bummer), change and clean up and head down to lobby so we can go to the meeting.
The meeting starts and there are 35 of us in the room. There are 6 rows of training style tables with two 4 pack on the floor each with 2 data and 2 phone jacks. For each 4 pack, only 1 data jack was working at any given time. So that made keeping in touch with the world challenging.
We all go around the room with intro's and a "fun Fact". Very typical intro. we had enough musicians to start a jazz combo in the piano bar downstairs ( and we did later that night), we had a lot of folks who had brushes with fame and some military guys , a couple of folks who were "in the family" and one guy who caused an Israeli border dispute. One woman was married twice with both husbands having the same name, another woman was on the team for many many years and had had so many husbands most people weren't sure what her last name was anymore. very entertaining.
We broke into departmental presentations and I may have mentioned that my boss wrote ours ( because we refused to) and it was, in effect, inappropriate.
It generated a good deal of Q&A from other depts on legal ramifications to our managements latest policy decisions in addition to some other interesting discussion points.
I figured out that my boss is insecure and has low self esteem at this point. I still didn't feel sorry for him though because he's also stubborn. When we told him what he needed to change he refused.
Yes that sounds callous and cruel. There are days I feel sorry for him in this particular area. Largely because when there is a self esteem and security issue personally in people I know, I feel compelled to help. That's MY insecurity and self esteem issues at work. My problem here is, you can't help someone who doesn't want it. So my compulsion usually fades fast.
He's a great guy, a nice man, family oriented, but seriously, his work ethic is different. Mostly not in a good way. Lord knows we are trying to fix that.
But I digress.... more than likely again.
We have lunch ( pizza) and after lunch we start up again with directors speaking and presentations being given. Somewhere around 2PM, our business analyst lets out a shriek of what we thought was laughter, her arms shoot out in front of her, wrists clubbed over a la carpal tunnel style, and continues to moan and shriek. One my people was sitting next to her, got her down on the floor safely. She was as rigid as a board. One of our techs called 911 and security for the building. Gen rolled her on her side and she must have bitten her tongue as she started foaming at the mouth. Her eyes were rolled back in her head.
We were all shaken up. She was on the plane with me form NY and when we landed she mentioned that she just "didn't feel right ". By the time 911 got there, she snapped out of it and was talking and making some sense. She has never been a diabetic or epileptic. They take her to the ER in Tampa. Two of my team went along with her (locals to Tampa).
We were out in the hall to give them room for her. We all went back and tried to resume the meeting. We all kept looking at her empty chair. I won't speak for anyone else, but the image stayed in my mind. I was really proud of Gen - she was fabulous with her. A real trooper. She just made sure she wouldn't do further damage to herself. Kept her warm. She really did great.
We break and head upstairs to change and get ready to go to our evening activity. Bowling. Did I mention I don't bowl?
I don't bowl.
We load up the cars and I end up in a car with Poodle, Phil, Craig and Joe. Craig lives in Tampa and had no idea where we were going. The rest of us are from the Northeast. So Joe starts "helping". I am now feeling queasy and headachy but its not due to the driving ( though that was interesting). Its due to over exhaustion. When I start getting like that I know its time to hydrate eat and have some aspirin. When we got there, I did exactly that. Two HUGE glasses of water and some food and I was ready to cheer on the bowlers ( I don't bowl). Teams were drawn and I got the job of watching them play.
It was interesting. The whole point of this social event was team building. No Clique-y stuff.
I noticed that mgmt was bowling on one team and the rest of us on another. Except for Jak, she bowled on our team. She's definitely the coolest. I just found it funny. At one point I noticed that our sales director started bowling with us and that was really great. We talked a lot, laughed a lot, took pictures, drank, ate and had a lot of fun.
At 10 PM K and D come strolling in from the Hospital. D looks like nothing happened and she confirmed that they have no idea what this was. She had half a glass of wine an some dinner and she said hasn't felt this good in a week! So she will be fully tested again once she gets home.
The night ended at the bar in the hotel and then up to bed on the worst bed in history. It had a hump in the middle and you could roll off either side if you weren't holding on or positioned right.
I was awakened at 4AM by stomach cramps. Dealt with that. Woke up at 8AM packed up, checked out and went to the meeting. this portion of the day was Boredom centrale. I felt crappy to start with and all I wanted to do was sleep. I kept nodding off. So bad....
We break at 2:30 and we socialized till we had to leave for the airport. The plan trip home was blessedly uneventful except for flying through snow that never made it to the ground and the fact that the tail wind got us to NY in 2 hours but we had an hour of circling the airport till we could land. The longest final descent in history.
I was home in my house at 10:30 and in bed by 11:30.
My personal opinion on this trip is, I would go a day ahead next time, but I am not sorry that I spent time with my team and wished I had a little bit more time with them. I miss them when they aren't around. We cover 6 states. Some of us are the only ones in our offices from this team. ( I know I am and I hate my office but not enough to commute to another).
It was sad to leave them all but I am so happy to be in my own bed with my boys.... I missed their little faces !
Oh and it was Freezing in Florida - 38 degrees and they forgot to turn off the A/C!!!!
Ok here's the trip....
Sunday Night -
I leave my rehearsal at 9:30 and go with the gang out to eat at the local Diner. It was snowing. After we eat and have a LOT of fun, I go home only to find that my parking lot is full. Given that I am getting up at 4AM for this trip, I refuse to park on the street. So I did what I do best, I created a parking spot where there was none. I figured it was safe given that I will probably be the first one to leave the building.
Monday -
I get up on time, miracle of miracles and get myself ready to leave. I get the biggest coffee that 7-11 makes and started for LaGuardia International Airport. Woohoo.
It occurs to me on the ridiculously speedy drive that I am going to have to be social once I get there and I have only had one cup of coffee..... interesting, for the guys at any rate.
I park my car and get on the shuttle. They get me to the terminal at 6:30, I check in and literally fly through security. I see my sales guys and my old boss and Poodle sitting right in front of the security gate drinking what turns out to be REALLY BAD coffee. I threw it away - not worth it.
Our Flight has been called. We board the plane. We are all sitting one row in front of the other through out the plane. Poodle is in front of me and turns to the woman next to him and says " would it be alright if you switched seats with the lady behind me? She's only going to hit me the entire way down...." The woman laughed looked at me ( I nodded) and switched seats.
I immediately pull out my book and my ipod and get settled in. We take off uneventfully.
Once we land we all collect our luggage and head out for the courtesy van. It arrives and I am sitting on my side between Poodle and my old boss and the poor sales guys were sitting on each others laps. It was pretty funny - but I was wayyyyyyyyy too close to my own boss.
I check into my room, which is down the hall from the gym and pool that I will never have time to use ( bummer), change and clean up and head down to lobby so we can go to the meeting.
The meeting starts and there are 35 of us in the room. There are 6 rows of training style tables with two 4 pack on the floor each with 2 data and 2 phone jacks. For each 4 pack, only 1 data jack was working at any given time. So that made keeping in touch with the world challenging.
We all go around the room with intro's and a "fun Fact". Very typical intro. we had enough musicians to start a jazz combo in the piano bar downstairs ( and we did later that night), we had a lot of folks who had brushes with fame and some military guys , a couple of folks who were "in the family" and one guy who caused an Israeli border dispute. One woman was married twice with both husbands having the same name, another woman was on the team for many many years and had had so many husbands most people weren't sure what her last name was anymore. very entertaining.
We broke into departmental presentations and I may have mentioned that my boss wrote ours ( because we refused to) and it was, in effect, inappropriate.
It generated a good deal of Q&A from other depts on legal ramifications to our managements latest policy decisions in addition to some other interesting discussion points.
I figured out that my boss is insecure and has low self esteem at this point. I still didn't feel sorry for him though because he's also stubborn. When we told him what he needed to change he refused.
Yes that sounds callous and cruel. There are days I feel sorry for him in this particular area. Largely because when there is a self esteem and security issue personally in people I know, I feel compelled to help. That's MY insecurity and self esteem issues at work. My problem here is, you can't help someone who doesn't want it. So my compulsion usually fades fast.
He's a great guy, a nice man, family oriented, but seriously, his work ethic is different. Mostly not in a good way. Lord knows we are trying to fix that.
But I digress.... more than likely again.
We have lunch ( pizza) and after lunch we start up again with directors speaking and presentations being given. Somewhere around 2PM, our business analyst lets out a shriek of what we thought was laughter, her arms shoot out in front of her, wrists clubbed over a la carpal tunnel style, and continues to moan and shriek. One my people was sitting next to her, got her down on the floor safely. She was as rigid as a board. One of our techs called 911 and security for the building. Gen rolled her on her side and she must have bitten her tongue as she started foaming at the mouth. Her eyes were rolled back in her head.
We were all shaken up. She was on the plane with me form NY and when we landed she mentioned that she just "didn't feel right ". By the time 911 got there, she snapped out of it and was talking and making some sense. She has never been a diabetic or epileptic. They take her to the ER in Tampa. Two of my team went along with her (locals to Tampa).
We were out in the hall to give them room for her. We all went back and tried to resume the meeting. We all kept looking at her empty chair. I won't speak for anyone else, but the image stayed in my mind. I was really proud of Gen - she was fabulous with her. A real trooper. She just made sure she wouldn't do further damage to herself. Kept her warm. She really did great.
We break and head upstairs to change and get ready to go to our evening activity. Bowling. Did I mention I don't bowl?
I don't bowl.
We load up the cars and I end up in a car with Poodle, Phil, Craig and Joe. Craig lives in Tampa and had no idea where we were going. The rest of us are from the Northeast. So Joe starts "helping". I am now feeling queasy and headachy but its not due to the driving ( though that was interesting). Its due to over exhaustion. When I start getting like that I know its time to hydrate eat and have some aspirin. When we got there, I did exactly that. Two HUGE glasses of water and some food and I was ready to cheer on the bowlers ( I don't bowl). Teams were drawn and I got the job of watching them play.
It was interesting. The whole point of this social event was team building. No Clique-y stuff.
I noticed that mgmt was bowling on one team and the rest of us on another. Except for Jak, she bowled on our team. She's definitely the coolest. I just found it funny. At one point I noticed that our sales director started bowling with us and that was really great. We talked a lot, laughed a lot, took pictures, drank, ate and had a lot of fun.
At 10 PM K and D come strolling in from the Hospital. D looks like nothing happened and she confirmed that they have no idea what this was. She had half a glass of wine an some dinner and she said hasn't felt this good in a week! So she will be fully tested again once she gets home.
The night ended at the bar in the hotel and then up to bed on the worst bed in history. It had a hump in the middle and you could roll off either side if you weren't holding on or positioned right.
I was awakened at 4AM by stomach cramps. Dealt with that. Woke up at 8AM packed up, checked out and went to the meeting. this portion of the day was Boredom centrale. I felt crappy to start with and all I wanted to do was sleep. I kept nodding off. So bad....
We break at 2:30 and we socialized till we had to leave for the airport. The plan trip home was blessedly uneventful except for flying through snow that never made it to the ground and the fact that the tail wind got us to NY in 2 hours but we had an hour of circling the airport till we could land. The longest final descent in history.
I was home in my house at 10:30 and in bed by 11:30.
My personal opinion on this trip is, I would go a day ahead next time, but I am not sorry that I spent time with my team and wished I had a little bit more time with them. I miss them when they aren't around. We cover 6 states. Some of us are the only ones in our offices from this team. ( I know I am and I hate my office but not enough to commute to another).
It was sad to leave them all but I am so happy to be in my own bed with my boys.... I missed their little faces !
Oh and it was Freezing in Florida - 38 degrees and they forgot to turn off the A/C!!!!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Oh NO - I AM high maintenance!
To some degree we all have varying degree's of low maintenance or high maintenance. I think it depends on the topic.
For example, where my ordering in a restaurant is concerned, I am decidedly low maintenance. I normally don't need things on the side, I may ask for something specific in the way it's prepared ( meat well done or rare, fries overdone - that kind of thing) but nothing out of the ordinary. I have an acquaintance that I eat with once a week in a group setting who has so many rules and restrictions on what is on her plate, what needs to be on a separate plate, what needs to be on the side, how it's prepared.... etc - that I know based on that I am the other extreme.
When it comes to my person however, I have the ability to be either low maintenance or high. It depends on the status of my skin really. If I am having a bad season with it, you won't believe how high maintenance I can actually be. Everything from how I bathe, to what products I use, to timing and frequency. It's ridiculous. If I got paid for this as a job I would be a multi millionaire.
I realized in packing for this trip that I am a bit high maintenance in the packing department. I have a tendency to want a choice always. I also have a tendency to want to travel elegantly. even in HS and middle school my parents will tell you that I NEVER got on a plane in jeans. It just wasn't done. I travel in an outfit that will enable me to arrive at the first event dressed properly yet comfortably in the event of a delay.
Having said that, this trip has posed some challenges. It's business casual which is fine. My plane arrives at 10:30 and my first event is at noon. They are predicting snow showers here until 10. My flight leaves at 7:30. The weather in Tampa is unseasonably cold for them. They have put the heat on down there. It is high of 60 and low of 37 for this entire week.
Weatherman are traditionally wrong so I have to plan around that too. Plus I need to look good. It's not just a vanity thing. but I am meeting my customer for the first time, some of my team mates for the first time in person and a few who I haven't seen in 5-10 years. So this is important to me.
Sleepwear is also important as I have a tendency to not sleep well in hotels. and I have to be up ridiculously early starting tomorrow.
I know its early in the day, but I started packaging my travel sized shampoo and that sort of thing. I created my baggies for my checked suitcase. To my credit I really really really really tried to use one quart sized baggie and I am now up to 7 so I think we all realize that checking the bag on the non stop flight is our only option. I really hate that rule. I get it, but I don't like it.
I reviewed my costume choices and went with all black with olive green accents. Good colors for me, and mix and match. I am wearing a pair of boots and bringing one pair of shoes in addition ( this is a HUGE step for me by the way. ) I am not bringing a purse but using my new pretty cold water creek laptop bag was a briefcase/purse. I packed coordinating makeup already and skin care in travel size bottles.
All of this and it's 1PM. I am starting to get panicky that I won't be ready. Yikes that's high maintenance. I am always worried that I won't be able to amuse myself. I had to mentally unpack the volume of books and magazines because there really isn't room.
Seriously this is OVERNIGHT. I really have to thank my poodle because he keeps saying over and over again.... It's only OVERNIGHT!!!!
Geez, Contessa you really are High Maintenance for traveling.
It's only overnight.
For example, where my ordering in a restaurant is concerned, I am decidedly low maintenance. I normally don't need things on the side, I may ask for something specific in the way it's prepared ( meat well done or rare, fries overdone - that kind of thing) but nothing out of the ordinary. I have an acquaintance that I eat with once a week in a group setting who has so many rules and restrictions on what is on her plate, what needs to be on a separate plate, what needs to be on the side, how it's prepared.... etc - that I know based on that I am the other extreme.
When it comes to my person however, I have the ability to be either low maintenance or high. It depends on the status of my skin really. If I am having a bad season with it, you won't believe how high maintenance I can actually be. Everything from how I bathe, to what products I use, to timing and frequency. It's ridiculous. If I got paid for this as a job I would be a multi millionaire.
I realized in packing for this trip that I am a bit high maintenance in the packing department. I have a tendency to want a choice always. I also have a tendency to want to travel elegantly. even in HS and middle school my parents will tell you that I NEVER got on a plane in jeans. It just wasn't done. I travel in an outfit that will enable me to arrive at the first event dressed properly yet comfortably in the event of a delay.
Having said that, this trip has posed some challenges. It's business casual which is fine. My plane arrives at 10:30 and my first event is at noon. They are predicting snow showers here until 10. My flight leaves at 7:30. The weather in Tampa is unseasonably cold for them. They have put the heat on down there. It is high of 60 and low of 37 for this entire week.
Weatherman are traditionally wrong so I have to plan around that too. Plus I need to look good. It's not just a vanity thing. but I am meeting my customer for the first time, some of my team mates for the first time in person and a few who I haven't seen in 5-10 years. So this is important to me.
Sleepwear is also important as I have a tendency to not sleep well in hotels. and I have to be up ridiculously early starting tomorrow.
I know its early in the day, but I started packaging my travel sized shampoo and that sort of thing. I created my baggies for my checked suitcase. To my credit I really really really really tried to use one quart sized baggie and I am now up to 7 so I think we all realize that checking the bag on the non stop flight is our only option. I really hate that rule. I get it, but I don't like it.
I reviewed my costume choices and went with all black with olive green accents. Good colors for me, and mix and match. I am wearing a pair of boots and bringing one pair of shoes in addition ( this is a HUGE step for me by the way. ) I am not bringing a purse but using my new pretty cold water creek laptop bag was a briefcase/purse. I packed coordinating makeup already and skin care in travel size bottles.
All of this and it's 1PM. I am starting to get panicky that I won't be ready. Yikes that's high maintenance. I am always worried that I won't be able to amuse myself. I had to mentally unpack the volume of books and magazines because there really isn't room.
Seriously this is OVERNIGHT. I really have to thank my poodle because he keeps saying over and over again.... It's only OVERNIGHT!!!!
Geez, Contessa you really are High Maintenance for traveling.
It's only overnight.
Friday, January 26, 2007
And now I have a cold
This is great. Just great.
This trip is jinxed. I swear it. I went to bed last night with a head cold. I took some sinus and cold meds but ever since they took pseudo ephedrine out of them I have been pretty upset about their usefulness.
I found Advil Cold and Sinus didn't however and I am now on the quest to locate that behind the pharmacist counter. That is tomorrow's number one job.
In the meantime I am doing a sinus wash every hour which helps. Hot showers help, hot compresses hot tea and tons of water. It's pressing on my upper jaw which is making eating difficult. And I WISH I could sneeze and release the pressure.
So much so that I went on line to see how one couuld induce a sneeze. Sad. I discovered that one in three people are photic sneezers. that means that sunlight or bright light can induce a sneeze. I am one of the OTHER two people.
Someone suggested pepper - nope. Tweeze hair from brows or nose, nope and nope. Tickle the inside of your nose with a q-tip - no.
What's pissing me off is that I can FEEL one in there. This is frustrating. It would release so much sinus pressure and I would feel so much better.
Anyway, I still have so much to do here before I leave on my trip. I have all my documentation in place already, I have laundry and cleaning to do. And all I want to do is sleep.
I really get so worked up about traveling because I really do hate it. Until I get there. Then I relax until I get home.
I keep telling myself that I have traveled further and more often in my life than most so this shouldn't be a big deal.
Overall I just resent the upheaval of life. And I will worry about my cats. they are after all my babies.
This trip is jinxed. I swear it. I went to bed last night with a head cold. I took some sinus and cold meds but ever since they took pseudo ephedrine out of them I have been pretty upset about their usefulness.
I found Advil Cold and Sinus didn't however and I am now on the quest to locate that behind the pharmacist counter. That is tomorrow's number one job.
In the meantime I am doing a sinus wash every hour which helps. Hot showers help, hot compresses hot tea and tons of water. It's pressing on my upper jaw which is making eating difficult. And I WISH I could sneeze and release the pressure.
So much so that I went on line to see how one couuld induce a sneeze. Sad. I discovered that one in three people are photic sneezers. that means that sunlight or bright light can induce a sneeze. I am one of the OTHER two people.
Someone suggested pepper - nope. Tweeze hair from brows or nose, nope and nope. Tickle the inside of your nose with a q-tip - no.
What's pissing me off is that I can FEEL one in there. This is frustrating. It would release so much sinus pressure and I would feel so much better.
Anyway, I still have so much to do here before I leave on my trip. I have all my documentation in place already, I have laundry and cleaning to do. And all I want to do is sleep.
I really get so worked up about traveling because I really do hate it. Until I get there. Then I relax until I get home.
I keep telling myself that I have traveled further and more often in my life than most so this shouldn't be a big deal.
Overall I just resent the upheaval of life. And I will worry about my cats. they are after all my babies.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Airline Regulations
OK I have had ENOUGH of terrorism.
They have now managed to hose up my business trip and I haven't even packed a thing.
Honestly - a status of elevated????
I know that terrorism is serious business. I have some first hand experience with it. I was working in Manhattan on 9/11. I was walking to my mid-town office that day. I was in Bryant Park behind the fifth avenue branch of the library when a friend of mine in FL paged me to tell me that a plane hit the WTC.
Knowing that she was working from home and saw it on TV made it very real all of a sudden. I was just about at the point where I come out of Bryant Park onto fifth avenue when I stopped to read the page. I noticed a deadly silence - which in Manhattan is UNHEARD of. It really struck an odd chord. I kept thinking "what kind of idiot doesn't know the towers are there?"
As I exited the park I looked over my shoulder downtown and watched in horror ( while cabs where just missing me in the middle of the street) as a plane hit the tower.
The rest of the day is just horror after horror as I walked uptown to a friends building, realizing there was no way out of the city that day. I eventually got home but it was close to 10PM and was absolutely horrible.
So the fact that we are all these years later still dealing with this is frustrating. I lost people that day. It was unreal. And never to be equaled. It was the "where were you when Kennedy was shot" of our generation.
So now that I am traveling again, my quick hop to Tampa would oridinarily just require me to grab my trusty overnight suitcase ( regulation size) , not pack anything weapon-like in it and get on the plane right?
Wrong.
I am allowed to pack my toiletries in a quart sized zip lock baggie. Have you seen one of these? Are you kidding me? Then you can only pack toiletries in 3.4 oz bottles and no half used toothpaste tubes. Ok that baggie won't even cover my medications ( which are unlimited in carry-on but check in is STILL a headache). You are only allowed ONE such bag.
Now I can travel light. I am actually pretty good at it. But that's lighter than anyone - even a man - can travel.
I am going to try it. See how it goes. When it fails - the suitcase is getting checked. I do not have any patience for this crap. I cannot believe that we are relegated to carryon's like this. What is ONE baggie going to net them? Why not two? Why not a Gallon bag? I am the first one to say in this Elevated status, that precautions are necessary nee required. But couldn't they be a little bit more flexible to those of us who have business travel as part of our jobs ? Does this mean they will lose our luggage less? I sincerely hope so but have some major doubts.
So while I will follow the guidelines carefully and attempt to make this work as a carry on, but I am expecting to fail.
My oldest friend in world told me once that I won the prize for the most personal products in the world - and she's right. Sadly, not only do I have a lot, but they are all used too.
Circling back where we began, we are in an average state in the alertness of terror. It's elevated which means practicing vigilence, not just for airline employees but also for passengers . Homeland security and the travel industry have helped make security policy for airlines that overall is good. Or at least it's on the right path. I think under "elevated" we coul still be vigilant and let a gallon bag through. Or two.
They have now managed to hose up my business trip and I haven't even packed a thing.
Honestly - a status of elevated????
I know that terrorism is serious business. I have some first hand experience with it. I was working in Manhattan on 9/11. I was walking to my mid-town office that day. I was in Bryant Park behind the fifth avenue branch of the library when a friend of mine in FL paged me to tell me that a plane hit the WTC.
Knowing that she was working from home and saw it on TV made it very real all of a sudden. I was just about at the point where I come out of Bryant Park onto fifth avenue when I stopped to read the page. I noticed a deadly silence - which in Manhattan is UNHEARD of. It really struck an odd chord. I kept thinking "what kind of idiot doesn't know the towers are there?"
As I exited the park I looked over my shoulder downtown and watched in horror ( while cabs where just missing me in the middle of the street) as a plane hit the tower.
The rest of the day is just horror after horror as I walked uptown to a friends building, realizing there was no way out of the city that day. I eventually got home but it was close to 10PM and was absolutely horrible.
So the fact that we are all these years later still dealing with this is frustrating. I lost people that day. It was unreal. And never to be equaled. It was the "where were you when Kennedy was shot" of our generation.
So now that I am traveling again, my quick hop to Tampa would oridinarily just require me to grab my trusty overnight suitcase ( regulation size) , not pack anything weapon-like in it and get on the plane right?
Wrong.
I am allowed to pack my toiletries in a quart sized zip lock baggie. Have you seen one of these? Are you kidding me? Then you can only pack toiletries in 3.4 oz bottles and no half used toothpaste tubes. Ok that baggie won't even cover my medications ( which are unlimited in carry-on but check in is STILL a headache). You are only allowed ONE such bag.
Now I can travel light. I am actually pretty good at it. But that's lighter than anyone - even a man - can travel.
I am going to try it. See how it goes. When it fails - the suitcase is getting checked. I do not have any patience for this crap. I cannot believe that we are relegated to carryon's like this. What is ONE baggie going to net them? Why not two? Why not a Gallon bag? I am the first one to say in this Elevated status, that precautions are necessary nee required. But couldn't they be a little bit more flexible to those of us who have business travel as part of our jobs ? Does this mean they will lose our luggage less? I sincerely hope so but have some major doubts.
So while I will follow the guidelines carefully and attempt to make this work as a carry on, but I am expecting to fail.
My oldest friend in world told me once that I won the prize for the most personal products in the world - and she's right. Sadly, not only do I have a lot, but they are all used too.
Circling back where we began, we are in an average state in the alertness of terror. It's elevated which means practicing vigilence, not just for airline employees but also for passengers . Homeland security and the travel industry have helped make security policy for airlines that overall is good. Or at least it's on the right path. I think under "elevated" we coul still be vigilant and let a gallon bag through. Or two.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A business trip in warm weather
This post needs no other heading.
I am dedicating this post to the up coming business trip that I have to take.
Yes. Have to.
I'm not wild about this. I really don't like traveling. I hate sleeping in hotels, I hate the disruption to my life. I worry about my home, my cats, my car - all the things that I can't keep watch over when I am not there. And I always get sick.
So while being in Tampa in 70 -80 degree weather when it supposed to be in 20's here should make me giddy, it doesn't.
I am going down with my entire team to meet up with the rest of the team that is already in residence down there. There will 35 people when we are all together. For the most part - that's going to be fun.
I am excited at the prospect of meeting some of them face to face for the first time. I am happy about the socialization aspect, but the idea of spending 2 days in close quarters with my boss is more than I ( or anyone on my team) can stomach.
He's a great guy. Very sweet and very good family values but his business tactics are highly suspect. We all know it - we don't discuss it often.
So I will be down there to see a presentation that is fictious and going to cause major upheaval at best, and at worst - well, lets just hope it doesn't get to that
So in trying to make the best of this situation - I am already planning. I am bringing my ipod with me so I can work on my recital pieces while I am down there. I will have my laptop and cell phone. I have my Walking DVD so I can exercize. I am only gone 2 days total. I have selected my wardrobe carefully. My planning is not done yet.... but the list is getting longer.
I have also made some tentative arrangements to meet a friend that I have spent a lot of time with over the years via phone, email, IM etc but never met. I am going to see if she can meet me at the airport bar while we wait for our plane. That is a meeting I am really looking forward to.
I am praying for safe trip and safe return. I am not afraid of flying or traveling. I just really hate the disruption in my life. THe older I get the more I realize that I really don't like to have my routine disrupted too much. Largely because I keep SUCH a busy schedule that distuption to it causes me havoc when I have to re-schedule things and I end up missing something or screwing something up. So messing with my schedule makes me nuts. Even with advanced notice.
I am trying to get over that. My best friend from HS lives in CT and she has recently invited me to come up and have a girls weekend. I can't really do that until after my recital - but you can bet I will. Wine a hot tub ???? I'm there. I can even bring my boys. So that would make me happy. ( shhh I"m bidding on soft carrier's on ebay for them even as we speak - very chic ones too!).
So I am trying to make room in my life for travel. I used to love it. But I honestly stopped doing it altogether when my dad got sick I was afraid to be too far away in case anything happened. Now that he's been gone for a few years it's time for me to get out again. I just got complacent with things comfy and cosy at home.
It's time for adventure and I'm going to make the most out of this trip despite the circumstances.
I am dedicating this post to the up coming business trip that I have to take.
Yes. Have to.
I'm not wild about this. I really don't like traveling. I hate sleeping in hotels, I hate the disruption to my life. I worry about my home, my cats, my car - all the things that I can't keep watch over when I am not there. And I always get sick.
So while being in Tampa in 70 -80 degree weather when it supposed to be in 20's here should make me giddy, it doesn't.
I am going down with my entire team to meet up with the rest of the team that is already in residence down there. There will 35 people when we are all together. For the most part - that's going to be fun.
I am excited at the prospect of meeting some of them face to face for the first time. I am happy about the socialization aspect, but the idea of spending 2 days in close quarters with my boss is more than I ( or anyone on my team) can stomach.
He's a great guy. Very sweet and very good family values but his business tactics are highly suspect. We all know it - we don't discuss it often.
So I will be down there to see a presentation that is fictious and going to cause major upheaval at best, and at worst - well, lets just hope it doesn't get to that
So in trying to make the best of this situation - I am already planning. I am bringing my ipod with me so I can work on my recital pieces while I am down there. I will have my laptop and cell phone. I have my Walking DVD so I can exercize. I am only gone 2 days total. I have selected my wardrobe carefully. My planning is not done yet.... but the list is getting longer.
I have also made some tentative arrangements to meet a friend that I have spent a lot of time with over the years via phone, email, IM etc but never met. I am going to see if she can meet me at the airport bar while we wait for our plane. That is a meeting I am really looking forward to.
I am praying for safe trip and safe return. I am not afraid of flying or traveling. I just really hate the disruption in my life. THe older I get the more I realize that I really don't like to have my routine disrupted too much. Largely because I keep SUCH a busy schedule that distuption to it causes me havoc when I have to re-schedule things and I end up missing something or screwing something up. So messing with my schedule makes me nuts. Even with advanced notice.
I am trying to get over that. My best friend from HS lives in CT and she has recently invited me to come up and have a girls weekend. I can't really do that until after my recital - but you can bet I will. Wine a hot tub ???? I'm there. I can even bring my boys. So that would make me happy. ( shhh I"m bidding on soft carrier's on ebay for them even as we speak - very chic ones too!).
So I am trying to make room in my life for travel. I used to love it. But I honestly stopped doing it altogether when my dad got sick I was afraid to be too far away in case anything happened. Now that he's been gone for a few years it's time for me to get out again. I just got complacent with things comfy and cosy at home.
It's time for adventure and I'm going to make the most out of this trip despite the circumstances.