Adore her...

Friday we had a staff meeting at work, then we left to have a "Pot-luck Back to School Party" at my director's house. (BTW, I love her house, I want one!) My one coworker is finishing her degree, my other is starting a post-master's certificate, and I'm starting grad school in two weeks - so the timeliness of the party was great.

I was talking to one of my new coworkers, Judy, and I really value her. She brings an insight and an experience to the table that not many could. She's very introspective, and now that I'm learning more about what OD is, I think she encapsulates the true theories.

We were looking at a magazine on the coffee table, one of the many sale books from the local stores, which was selling bed spreads. I saw a black/white one that was extremely classy. She asked me about the colors, and I mentioned that I did my ex's bedroom in those colors. She is going through a divorce, and asked me about "ex", and I explained that we weren't married, he's an ex-boyfriend. She asked me what happened, and I explained it to her, and she told me a little bit about why her marriage, after 30 years, is no longer.

She then said something very interesting, which caused me to reflect a lot this weekend. Judy said that she has a lot of friends/family who have relationships that don't work, and she wondered why some do. So she started studying her friends that had working relationships and she noticed a common theme: the man in the relationship truly adored the woman.

I guess I looked at her funny, and she went on to explain that it's more than love. The man puts her every need ahead of his own, which makes her happy, and in turn she is loving and nice to him, which makes him happy. But if the man doesn't adore her, care about her needs, or see value in their time together, it never works.

I was watching my director's boyfriend, Tom, who is an old-world gentleman, and I saw what she was saying. Her wish is his every command - but it's not as gross, annoying or stupid as many young people think that would be. He's not "whipped" as some people would say, he is just happy when she is happy. So that comes out as doing small things for her - for instance, before she gets out of bed in the morning, he brings her a class of juice. She never asked for that, she doesn't need it, and is perfectly capable of walking downstairs herself to get it, but he knows it would make her happy, so he does it. Sometimes he just looks at her with so much love in his eyes, as if he's a truly lucky man.

It's those little things that women are looking for, that more and more men don't seem to give them. Believe me, I'm a strong career woman, with a 5 year plan for success. Yet, I'm still woman enough to want to be adored too.

Agonizingly horrid

Work today was agonizingly stressful.

Apparently, I have to throw out 6 months of work, and in the 11th hour re-invent the wheel. Why wait so long to say something? I like how one circumvents those involved and makes unilateral decisions without knowing all the facts. Oh, and it's needed by the middle of the month... why do you think something that took us over 6 months to build and is just one webpage is going to be faster to complete when it's 8 pages and needs to be built within 3 weeks? Am I missing the logic?

Should I be surprised? No.

One more example to add to the books...

I'm too tired to even complain about it.

saga day 2

Well, it's day 2 of the bowling saga, and I am still walking around in a daze. Not that I am naive, but it's just something that doesn't seem to happen on a regular basis. It's almost an "April Fools" joke.

My friend Ryan went on the MD Judiciary website, and was able to determine that he's charged with 14 different counts of things. Considering that we have a copy of the warrant for his arrest, we have his personal information. The guy goes by the name Ken Lane, but his real name is William Kenneth Lane.

My mom is going to talk to one of the reporters at work, because talk about poor customer service. AMF basically washed their hands of the issue, but they lost about 100 customers in the process... plus all the people we'll tell. If I was in charge, I'd take the personal hit on my books at the bowling alley, and give the people their money. We came to the alley in good faith, and were basically abused. AMF got a cut of our money every week, so it wasn't like they were not getting financial gain from that. If anything, they should give us their cut back.

I feel bad for the bowlers on the league who are really good, and were counting on their sanctioning status to bowl in tournaments, which have some big money in them. They are DQ'd for all the upcoming ones, as they don't have their proper qualifications.

Today was an early one for me, as I had another intervention to facilitate with my problem client. This was the cream of the crop of the group, so the meeting was very short and to the point. They really didn't have an development areas for their relationship on the team. I wish they all could go that way!

Stolen from at Bowling!!

So, this seems to be the subject of a made for TV movie, but it happened to me!

We started bowling at Country Club Lanes 15 weeks ago for their summer league. We paid $20 to get "sanctioned" which means that we are recognized as official bowlers with the national bowling associated. Weekly we paid $16 to bowl, where the AMF took their cut, and the rest went to the pot for the payout at the end of the season.

Fast forward to tonight:

We were supposed to arrive and get our payout, as the league ended last week. I arrived with my fellow teammates by 5:30pm, and there was no sign of the President or Secretary of our league. The Secretary is usually the first one there, and it was odd not to see him.

At about 6:15pm, they called us into the meeting room, and we knew something was up. Apparently there is reasonable suspicion to believe that the Secretary ran away with our money. This is what they said:

Bill, the President, and Ken, the Secretary showed up on Friday to get the check from AMF. One of the workers told Bill that there was reason to be suspicious of Ken, but he could not go into details. He also said, "I wouldn't give him the money." Bill went with Ken anyway to the bank, cashed the check, counted the money, and gave it to Ken to hold until tonight. He thought the problem was just between Ken and the guy, and didn't think anything of it.

A woman showed up, named Sharon, to the bowling alley a few weeks ago to tell them that she is looking for Ken, as she has a warrant out for his arrest - he apparently took her for $3,000. She was there tonight, with copies of the warrant. They were trying to track Ken down tonight, and all information he has is disconnected. He's totally MIA.

My anger is directed toward Country Club Lanes. 1. If they knew a few weeks ago that this man had a warrant out for his arrest, why would they not call the police and have them come get him - he's there every Tuesday. 2. If they knew that there was reasonable doubt that he shouldn't be given money, why give it to him?

There is a police report being filed - but there is nothing that we can do right now. Especially because he never filed the paper work to get us sanctioned.

Of all the dumb luck!

36 weeks

Last night I started my new bowling league, and I have to tell you that I was surprised. We thought it was just 15 weeks, like the Summer League, but no, it's 36 weeks - which takes us through April. Not too shabby!

Although, I think this league is much better managed, and there seems to be more of a group atmosphere than my previous league. They do a weekly 50/50 raffle, and there's a Holiday Party thrown in as well. Well, they called it a Christmas Party, but Ryan was offended because he wants to celebrate Kwanzaa this year, so I renamed it in my head to Holiday Party. I'm going to start covert tactics where I call it 'Holiday Party' whenever I hear someone mention it, in hopes that the new terminology will catch on. It seems to work ... I have a whole population of people saying "Oh my!"

We bowled really well for our team. But I think we are clearly out maneuvered, as this league has been bowling together for a really long time. We are also the youngest group, so I feel like a bunch of whipper-snappers who can't hold their own against the big dogs. So, this time we aren't in it for the money, we're in it just for fun! hehe :) But we have 36 weeks to improve! My fingers are crossed!

My body is craving gym time. I wasn't able to make it this weekend, nor last night, so hopefully I can get there tonight. I have a meeting with my past league to collect the prize money, so hopefully we placed high enough to get something! Or at least break even. Paying almost $20 a week, plus buying all the equipment, I'd like to see some of it back.

Aside from taking a cruise next year for our 30th birthdays, I think Ryan and I are going to have an old fashioned bowling party. Party like we're 10! hehe :) All the friends and family are invited, so start planning for Bowl-O-Birthday 2009! Coming to an alley near you in April/May of that year.

html overload

I thought I retired from this line of work, but apparently not so.

I finished it - the webpage stuff that I was complaining about on Friday. I actually finished around 1pm, and then moved on to the "nice to have" pieces. I didn't mentioned the "nice to have" pieces to anyone, as then they become "must haves", which just stresses me out.

I'm very proud of myself, as I learned how to jimmie-rig the system. He told me that I can only have one webpage with links on it to static documents in a Lotus Notes database (ie PDF, Word, Excel, etc.). He failed to mention then a Notepad created HTML document can be uploaded as a static document, and in essence, becomes another webpage. Making the experience much more user friendly for the user, so they aren't stuck with a random Word document that opens.

Now that my side is working well, the database side with the query is down. I don't have control over that piece, so I can only hope that they are working on it, thus why it's down. I have a call in about that... let's keep the fingers crossed!

I got my new bowling ball over the weekend, and had it drilled. It's beautiful! Purple and white swrilies, and it glows in the dark! I even got a pretty bag, so now I'm bowling in style - watch out!

Let the saga continue....

on the edge...

So, I officially went over the deep-end at work today. Many months ago I blogged about my boss coming out of her office and sitting under my co-worker's desk... at about 2:30pm this afternoon, I went under my own desk. Actually stretched out, and laid there for 5 minutes.

I was pretty much done, and the last straw was poking me in the eyeball. We've been working on getting our website out (let me be honest, I've been working on getting our website up), and it keeps getting pushed back month after month. The last push was due because she wanted to wait until the new person was hired, so they could rework some of the learning map documents that we created to be put up there.

Now, please understand, I'm going where no other client in the history of my company has gone before. I want dynamically generated reports that I can update components of on the fly on our intranet site, which is Lotus Notes driven (need I say more to the techies in the room?). That's the only way to keep over 200 pieces of paper updated quickly, building out the components in a database. The normal solution is they make you upload 200 static documents that have to be pulled-down, fixed, and re-uploaded... which I don't have the time or patience to do, when I just have to add 2 words to a column.

I built what I wanted in Access, to give the intranet team an idea of what I wanted the database to do. I didn't want to confuse them with building it in sql, as that would just be over the top. Then I had to coordinate with marketing on the look and feel of the html based user interface. They are actually a joy to work with... whereas with a certain IS team, their response to me was, "I'll give you the basics, and if you can prove to me that you have high traffic, then we'll build you something else." Somehow that seems counter productive. People aren't going to repeat visit a piece of crap. But I got my basic database, however ugly and clunky it displays.

Do you know how many fake "go lives" I've had with this thing? Let's see, I started working on it before Thanksgiving last year, so that puts us at about 5. She finally agreed on a date... I knew exactly what I was supposed to do, and I was precisely going to have it done for Sept 2.

Yeah... then the world got involved. Suddenly this is more high-profile than she ever mentioned, and how many times I've said that they only gave us one page, we can't put the world on it, seems to fall on deaf ears. So what's that mean? It means I'm stuck trying to make the thing jump on it's head and spin, while still making it visually pleasing and not gaudy.

Then she felt "out of the loop", so suddenly, I now have to spend all of my time writing elaborate plans, and meet just to meet so that everyone can understand the plans. All the while the clock is still ticking down to Sept 2.

I finally talked them off the ledge, as my coworker finished writing the maps ahead of schedule, and I was imputing them at a rapid rate... I actually finished all of them today. We also had a HUGE discussion on what I've been calling Phase 2 - and how we can put more bells and whistles in that.

But - this morning, for some reason, SOMEONE couldn't recall having that HUGE discussion about putting certain things in Phase 2, even when 2 of her team members said the opposite. Finally I said, "LOOK, it's 9:30am, I have a 2 hour meeting beginning at 10am, then an interview from 3-4:30 with a new applicant. We have user testing on Tuesday, I need to finish uploading my main priority in the 2 hours I have to work on it this afternoon, when I'm not attending your meetings. If you can get it to me by noon, I can begin prepping for all the work I need to do on it on Monday - if not, it doesn't go in." I never saw them move so fast.... one was so stressed she scheduled a massage for this evening.

So what's the problem, why is this taking so much time? Well, using Lotus Notes databases to upload content and display it in an html fashion is time consuming. Here's my process:

There is one document that lists 22 leadership competencies. Each competency has it's own behavior assessment - 22 behavior assessments. But, there's 5 levels of leadership, so multiply that by 5. As lotus notes databases work, I have to upload each behavior assessment individually, creating an entry into the database. I then have to go to the web, access the generated webpage, and find the specific URL for that document, it's not displayed when the entry is created. I then have to go back to the one document listing the 22 competencies, and link the assessment field to the uploaded behavior assessment. This is so that the user can access the main webpage, see the list of competencies and click on the assessment links for each one and have them displayed to be printed. Plus, there are random changes that need to be made to the main user page, and now they want all of these additional features, including a document library.

What put me over the edge, is that when I was moving around the leadership assessment, which is in Word, the lines on the table would not line up. I had to add a column, but there were header rows. To add the column without messing up the header rows, I had to delete them. When I went to put the 3 rows back in, they would not line up with the rest of the table. It was less then a pixel difference, yet I know that it would be the first thing my boss noticed.

See, she doesn't understand technology, so she doesn't get the process I just described or how much work that is, all she cares about is if it's pretty. So, that would be the first thing she noticed. To fix it, I would pretty much have to delete the entire table, and recreate it from scratch with the additional column already on it. Here I am, doing more work than necessary, because SOMEONE didn't remember that this whole stupid assessment thing was supposed to be PHASE 2.

Don't even get me started about usability. Maybe because it's generational, but some things on the web are just obvious to me. Like when there is a red asterisk next to a field, and down below a red asterisk next to the word "Required". Somehow I get that you are supposed to enter data into that field.... but no, they want a long narrative explaining it. So I wrote the long narrative to explain it in the directions at the top of the page... but now they claim that people don't read directions, so now they want the words right next to the field, along with the long narrative at the top, and the continued red asterisk thing... sigh...

Crossroads update

So, I decided what I was going to do... which was not compromise on my ideal. Oh well, the fantasy lives on!

crossroads for today

I'm at a crossroad, and I'm not sure how to proceed.

Due to the nature of the content of this crossroad, and the possibility of my private business being displayed more in depth than it already is, I'm going to be deliberately vague describing what it is. Feel free to use your imagination .

Someone recently offered me something that I always wanted to try, and something that I find very intriguing. My natural instinct is to yell "gimme!" and start waving my hands for it.

The issue is that I will probably become attached to the provider of said offer; because I suck at compartmentalizing my feelings... I just am who I am. I don't operate in relationships with providers by appointment only, I like a more comprehensive service plan.

So what do I do? Risk potential heartache to get what I always wanted? Or try really really hard to compartmentalize and get what I always wanted? Or not indulge myself at all?

nunsense, it's habit forming

That's a play on words from a line in the musical Nunsense - really great show if anyone wants to laugh. But anyway....

Nonsense seems to be around me. I feel like it's been "opposite day" all week, and it's just Wednesday. Last night at bowling I totally kicked butt (for me, kicking butt is breaking 100). It took me 15 weeks to figure it out, but during the first 2 games everything was just gellin' for me. I tried a new approach, and was consistently picking up the spare. My first ball always goes array, it's almost as if I need to test out the waters before sending in the mission critical ball, but my second nailed it! I was so excited that I even ordered my own bowling ball. That's right, the Amy not only has awesome bowling shoes, but she now has an awesome bowling ball! Watch out, who's bad? (Just shake your head and walk away, it's much safer that way.)

I also had the weirdest conversation online last night with a guy I met from OKC. We wanted to see our WTF report (yes, it stands for what you think it stands for), which explains where the discrepancies are in our match percentage, and what could be potential hazards. He and I only match in the mid-60s, and we have an enemy rating of 28% to each other. After reviewing the report, we decided to talk about it, to fully understand the intent about why we answered questions a certain way, and what our fundamental driving beliefs are.

Do you know that I had a more in depth and profound conversation about my beliefs and what I'm willing to bend on with a virtual stranger, than I had with men that I was supposed to be falling in love with? Shouldn't that be the other way around? We're going to try out friendship and see how that works.

Then, this morning, to complete opposite week so far, I facilitated the intervention between the Orange Station team members. This was the group that I had to be prepared for, as ugliness flies in every direction there. It actually went well! They were entirely civil, participative, and came out with some great expectations for each other. The one physician was not there, and she seems to be about 60% of the problem, as she diagnosis through sticky notes - with no ID on which patient the sticky note belongs to. Then the MAs get yelled out for not being able to match up the sticky notes and take care of the patients as the physician intended. Some people just don't make logical sense.

It was my friend Brian's birthday yesterday - BIG BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUTS TO HIM! I'm excited as there is talk that he may be coming into town to visit me! Yay! If it works out, I'm planning a surprise for him.... my fingers are crossed that the plan is coming together.

Art of Manliness

I was reading my favorite website this morning, mentalfloss, when I came upon their usual "morning cup of links" - which are a bunch of interesting links to random websites that are worth reading.

One that caught my eye was an article for men on how to be a modern knight for their woman. After following the link, I stumbled upon a very interesting blog called The Art of Manliness. Apparently one man and his wife are trying to resurrect the world of gentleman and give guys tips on everything from leadership to the hidden meaning of flowers given to a woman.

I'm a huge supporter of this. I've always been attracted to men who are gentleman, and know how to behave in social situations, and treat me with the utmost gentleness and respect. I'm an independent woman, but I like to feel special and important to the man I'm with. I extend the same courtesy to them, so I expect it in return.

More men should read this...

ethics in OD

Yesterday at the gym I took my text book with me to read while riding the bike. And the chapter I read was about ethical issues in OD, which I had blogged earlier last week about not really knowing how I'll fit into the picture.

Well, now I have a true understanding of what they meant by it, and I'm going to have some problems. There are 4-5 ethical dilemmas that are mentioned in the text, but the main one that I can pinpoint now that my department is violating is Coercion.

OD fundamentally operates on the plane that everything is self-directed and internal. What I mean by that is that a change cannot happen unless people are willing and free to participate in that change. People have a choice.

However, currently, my department is not supporting that choice. An easy "for instance": we'll develop a new workshop/skill-set on a leadership competency. We'll go meet with a VP and share our work with them, just explaining what it is, and how it would be impacting to their organization. They turn around and make it mandatory that all 120 leaders in their organization are required to take the course - i.e. mandatory training. Which in turn, forfeits the employee's right of choice in participating in the change. Thus, violating an OD ethical code. Yet, we show up, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, and don't mention this to the VP. Actually, we consider it a "win" and that the importance of our work is getting out there, and people are finally seeing the value.

I'm interested in seeing how my professors will talk through this scenario, as this is common practice in the work place to make education mandatory. I could argue that the employee has a choice, they can comply with the decree or find a new job... but I don't think that's really what they are talking about in this instance, nor is that a fair assessment.

We also see this when a manager will complete a development plan for an employee and include workshops from our department on it. Depending on how successful a manager is in developing their employees and having open discussions with them, determines how the employee will show up to the workshop. We've had to contend with hostile educational environments that are created when employees don't want to be there, and they are being forced. Again, I can argue that because an employee is closed off to the change can make them, in essence, on the short list out the door... but if we are supposed to be creating an environment of choice as an OD professional, what should I ethically do?

I guess in my zeal for reading, I was trying to challenge myself physically, and increased the resistance on the bike. I didn't feel it at the time, but the back of my thighs now hurt so bad that I have trouble getting up from chairs. The bathroom is fun! I went back tonight to the gym, but didn't do nearly as long as a session. I wanted to work them out some more, as tomorrow is my weigh-in, but I'm still feeling the pain... my fingers are crossed! I will be sexy one day!

Moment of Zen for 2nd week of August

I forgot to leave you with a few words of thought, courtesy of Zen Master Ryan:

Chickens Sell Wheat to Gators That Need To Eat

looking forward to the weekend!

Sigh... the weekend is finally here. Coming back to work seems like the shortest, yet longest, week in history. I'm looking forward to getting together with some friends and hitting a few golf balls this weekend.

I've decided to take up golf. Not fully yet, I'm going to ease my way into it. I haven't been to the driving range in years, but it's something I enjoy doing... and something I know that will challenge me. And it's always fun to blow off steam by whacking a golf ball into oblivion!

We also decided to sign up for another season of bowling. This time I'm going to invest in my own ball, as I figured I can safely order a size that I can easily use. I started out using a 6lb ball (child size), but I've nicely grown into a 10, so I'll probably order that size and have it drilled to fit my hand. Now I have to pick out a style I want - so many pretty choices! hehe :) I'm open to suggestions if anyone would like to give their two cents on colors...

I read two chapters in my first homework book last night. I signed into the blackboard and saw all of my assignments:

For the first weekend of the class:

1. Read 10 chapters in 2 books.
2. Post my resume online.
3. Read about 6-7 articles online.
4. Write a 1 page article on what I think an upcoming challenge in my field that will need an OD intervention will be. With 22 copies for the class, and be prepared to do a 3-5 minute presentation on it the first day.
5. Design and post a tri-fold brochure of my consulting services currently, complete with a picture and contact information, due the Sunday of the first weekend.
6. Complete a survey on survey monkey.


Then for the second weekend of the class:

1. Read 10 more chapters in 2 books.
2. My first 3-5 page research paper is due.
3. Write a 1 page article on what I think will be an ethical dilemma for me, and be prepared to do a 3-5 minute presentation on the first day, complete with copies for everyone.
4. My final 8 page research paper is due by the end of the weekend.
5. I also have to complete one of the personality indicator surveys over the weekend to be turned in.


I've already posted my resume, and tried to do the survey - but I don't think they have a comment field set-up correctly, as it says that I'm entering invalid text. I think they have it set-up to only be numeric, not alphanumeric. I'm waiting to hear back about that... And I already have ideas for the brochure and my 1st 1-pager, I just have to write them.

Gotta get crackin'! :)

got my books!

I got my books in the mail yesterday for school. I had a moment of panic when I looked at the syllabus and said, "Holy Sh*t what did I get myself into?" Then I took a moment, began processing the work, and calmed myself down.

I have to get myself out of the mindset that this is a really big training workshop. Normally you go to one without pre-work, have some prep work before the next session, maybe a demonstration of the transfer of knowledge in some sort of presentation, and then it's all over. Now I have to start writing papers again, in the standard APA sytle.

But I can do it, the shock has worn off. I have about 5 chapters to read in both books, and a 5 minute presentation due on my first day on a challenge that I think is upcoming in my field, complete with a 1-page handout. I also have to post my resume on blackboard and do a few additional article readings on there.

What I'm worried about is one of the 2nd assignments due during the 2nd class meeting. It's another 5 minute presentation on what types of ethical situations that I think are going to challenge me to be ethical. I say this, because maybe I'm just not self-aware, but I don't think I have any.

I learned a long time ago that people in my family don't get a break. If it's raining in the neighborhood, it's hailing directly on my house. Murphy's Law follows us around like glue. I won't go into the whole bit about choosing our attitude and learning to have humor about it... but I have learned to always do the right thing, because if anyone would get caught not doing the right thing, it would be me.

I'm literally the type who would walk 5 extra blocks with blisters on my feet because I don't have permission to cut through some one's yard, and they aren't home for me to ask. I stand in line and wait my turn, even though everyone else is cutting in line. I'll give someone the last cupcake, even though I haven't had any, and they had 4.

I don't mess with Karma - that is some nasty stuff! So I stay out of trouble with it by doing the right thing. I've gotten my hand figuratively burnt a few times when I was younger by doing something that everyone else told me would be okay, but it just so happened that on the day that I finally gave in to do it, I got caught.

I'm not perfect, but I don't see myself getting caught up in any of the ethical dramas that run crazy in the media. I'm not going to embezzle, discriminate, alienate, give bad press, or throw my coworkers under the bus for my own gain.

But the whole point of the program and why it's taught this way is in fully understanding yourself, and how you show up to consulting situations. There are people out in the world looking for a quick buck over the client, and I know some people who may seem like they have the best intentions in mind in the field, but would engage in unethical behavior. But these people won't necessarily share their hidden agenda out in the open like that either.

What exactly is she looking for in that assignment? Oh well, I guess it will unravel as I get more and more into it....

coming back

I'm having a really hard time adjusting to being back to work this week. Okay, that's a lie, I adjusted just fine, but I've never felt it like this before.

When I normally travel I never lose contact with my work life. I have my blackberry, internet access, and cell phone, and have been known to field calls on my days out of the office, even though I'm no longer in charge of the elearning operation at my organization.

But this time I let it all go. I didn't take my blackberry, and with international rates and billing prices for internet use, I didn't touch any technology. Everything that I know is normally stored in my head (I'm slowly making files)and can recall it at the tap of a finger, but with letting it all go, I didn't even think about work all week. So it's taking me a few minutes to actually recall conversations from before my vacation... when normally I can repeat them word for word.

It's interesting to lose control like that. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I guess that is what total relaxation is. I could get used to it! hehe:) But then I'd get bored and find myself back at work again! But vacation is needed, and I joyfully take my time off and use it - but it has just been an odd experience to be totally relaxed for an entire week.

I met with my problem-child client this morning. Actually the entire one station of the department. This was my first of the mandatory meetings that they are participating in as a team. I walked in loaded for bear. I had all the heavy ammo: the Ground Rules (adopted from the "Skilled Facilitator"), all the specific data of inappropriate behavior to call them on, the power of Corporate not tolerating said behavior behind me, and a flip chart. I even had a team of enforcers (administration) sitting to the side, waiting to back any of the judgements I'd make on performance and to hold them accountable. I had myself prepared if I had to escort a physician out into the hallway and give them a dressing-down on their behavior. I was ready!

I didn't need any of it.

They forgot to mention to me that they started me out with their best station that actually only has superficial process problems, and they all get along well! So, I had a pleasant hour and 1/2 meeting with them, where we talked about all that was going well, and some areas to improve around. One physician even promised to stop scheduling patients during the lunch hour, so the MAs could take their lunch. You would think that's common sense, but apparently not. But that was the most heinous of actions being committed.

Next week.... not so much. I go from one extreme to the complete opposite, and the offending physician in this group has already tried to wiggle out of the meeting. He knows what's coming, and he's not going to like it. But he's going to have to man-up and handle it. I'll have to get the ammo ready again; this time I'll need it.

I've mentioned the Skilled Facilitator a lot recently. I even recommended the book to a friend-of-a-friend who has a slight victim mentality, and isn't having productive conversations to get his needs met. The piece that I really enjoy is the first ground rule about testing assumptions and inferences and the fourth about sharing your reasoning and intent. When I had my break-up conversation with my ex, I went over to his place to talk the day after he broke up with me, I used all 9 of the ground rules. They are really helpful not only in the workplace, but in every interaction with other humans. But, we aren't brought up speaking in that way, so it almost feels unnatural at first. After practicing it becomes human nature, like most other things. Personally I think the formula should be used in relationship counseling, it really works wonders.

Acheron

What a tragic hero!

I've been reading the much awaited "Acheron" in the Dark Hunter series by Sherilynn Kenyon, and I love it. Actually, I read about 75% of the hard-back last night, and I was almost late for work while reading it this morning getting ready.

I started reading her books by accident, as something interesting I stumbled upon one day in the Romance section of my local B&N. Only a few were out in the series at the time, and I quickly devoured them to catch up.

Her books can be read independently, but to fully grasp the concept of the severity of everything happening in the plot line, it's best to read all of them. She, and Laurel K. Hamilton, in my humble opinion, hold the records for creating the best versions of alternate reality. The books are set in contemporary times with a lot of humor, smart-ass wit, and kick-ass action.

The Dark Hunter series, which would take me forever to explain the ins-and-out of, is based on a set of immortal men who are sworn to protect humans, and no one knows who/what they are. The entire story stemmed from, which I learned in this book, the fear/jealousy of a set of triplets who happened to be the Fates. Their words set a path in motion for the most heart-wrenching story. Fear, jealousy, and love drive most of the characters, often with too much power to know any better. We learn in the series what happened to Atlantis, the stories of the Greek gods, and how love always wins - but sometimes with a price.

The tragic hero in all of this, Acheron, is my current fictional crush. If there is a man out there like him, please come find me! hehe :)

my knickers are in a twist!

It's not even 2pm yet, and people already have my stress level elevated.

I had over 120 emails to review, and one really irked my nerves. It was from my boss' boss, which turfed a question to me that the lady who sent the email wasn't even asking. The lady wanted to know what the mandatory online modules are, not who to get to assign them to their employees in the system! READ PEOPLE!

Then I ran into some victims...

My patience is thin for self proclaimed victims. Nothing irks me more than someone singing "whoa is me" and hosting their own pity party. Please, do you know what I had to overcome to be who I am today? Shall we get into my parents bad marriage, my family living pay-check to pay-check most of my life, my mother's codependency, my blue-collar redneck neighborhood, and my family's lack of regard for advanced education or that there is life outside of Middle River and Dundalk? How about my crazy skin that burns from walking outside, my need to wear glasses or I'm blind, and shall we talk about my weight problem? How about that I'm missing teeth? Yeah, I wasn't born with all of them, and I'll never have them!

Yet here I am, singing "who are the people in my neighborhood" with glee, as I cheerfully skip from project to project, life lesson to life lesson, trying to make the best out of every situation.

Grow a pair and get over yourself people! Don't wait for someone else to come along and do it - be YOUR OWN MAGIC WAND!

Lost pictures!

I was able to get the photo lab to fix my mixed-up CD that they burned for me, and have the rest of the pictures posted below. These are more of Horseshoe Bay, Tobacco Bay, and the Glass-Bottom Boat ride.

I've sweet talked my friend Ryan into planning a 30th birthday cruise for us next year - as our birthdays are only a few days apart. We'll be celebrating somewhere, and of course, we'll do it up big! That's just how we roll! If anyone is interested in going with us, let me know, and I'll include you in the planning.

I still feel a slight rocking left over from my week on the boat, it hits me at the oddest times. Hopefully I'll have my land-legs about me in time for bowling on Tuesday.

I don't even want to get on the scale on Tuesday for the weekly weigh-in. I was good the first 2 days at sea, with going to the gym every morning, and doing laps around the walking track... but I know that food killed me. I also got a lot of exercise walking around Bermuda as everything is up - but not my normal 16 mile daily bike rides. I'm used to eating small meals, not 3 courses at every sitting - hopefully the damage won't be too bad!

Back to work tomorrow.... blah!

Bermuda Album 3

Back from Bermuda!

We made it home! Although I wish I was still on the pink sand beaches of Bermuda!

This vacation was part of my mother's 60th birthday present from me, which was her choice for vacations. We procrastinated until about June and decided to go on a cruise to Bermuda. We set sail on Saturday, August 2, and returned home this morning.

I loved it! This is my second cruise, the first on Carnival, but it was nice to be on a smaller ship (NCL Majesty), and really be able to enjoy everything on board. I have a week's worth of stories to share, but here are some of the highlights:

Things I learned about Bermuda:

- It was formed by a volcano a really long time ago, and there are 2 other similar islands about 30 miles south that never broke the surface of the Atlantic.
- It has one of the healthiest coral reef systems, and they are transplanting it to other parts of the world to help local reefs.
- It is a British Colony, and was originally used as off-shore farm land for the American colonists... but because it's made completely of limestone, farming wouldn't work, so they became ship builders.
- They do not have any fresh-water sources on the island, so they rely on rain water to supply them. They collect the rain water through limestone roof systems which purify the water.
- The American dollar and Bermuda dollar are equivalent, so you can use American money interchangeably on the island.
- The cost of living on Bermuda is extremely high! A loaf of bread is literally $5.00, and you can't buy a house for under a million (even the one room shacks).
- The average salary is roughly $60,000, but when people can finally afford their homes, they live in an attached apartment and rent the rest of the house out to pay the mortgage.
- Stores close at 5pm and open when the owner gets there.
- They are very proper and British, and do not bombard travelers with local treasures as soon as they get off of the plane/boat. You actually have to go to their shops to find local goods.
- Their famous drinks are called "Dark and Stormy" and a "Rum Swizzle". I can attest that the Rum Swizzle is amazing! But I'm not sure if I would like the Dark and Stormy as it's made with Ginger Beer (which does not taste like Ginger Ale). I tasted it during a local festival, and it has a very strong ginger taste.
- Business men really do wear Bermuda shorts and matching knee-high socks with dress shoes.
- The Port of Hamilton is closed to cruise ships, and as both of the smaller NCL ships which travel to Bermuda are being decommissioned next year, this is the last year St. George's will accept cruise ships. The ships are entirely too large to enter the Towne Cut of St. George's, and will have to dock at the Naval Dock Yard.
- The buses are actually Pink - but you take your life in your hands when you ride one. The roads are extremely narrow and winding, which makes for interesting scrapes along the sides of trees and buildings. There aren't any sidewalks in St. George's, so say a little prayer before walking anywhere.
- They drive on the left, and unless used to that, it's highly advised not to rent a scooter.
- NCL is the only cruise line that travels to Bermuda, and everywhere one turns will find matching blue and white beach towels from the ship. There are normally 3 ships in port at one time, totaling over 4000 travelers during the week.
- For a foreigner to move to Bermuda, after buying the house, setting up the roofing system, taxes, and every other fee as a non-native, the cost is roughly 11 million.

In my humble opinion, the beach alone is worth the 11 million.

Highlights from the trip on Bermuda:

- We took a glass-bottom boat, and got to see a natural turtle habitat! They would surface for air as we cruised along, which I have some pictures of. We also saw the coral reef system, and I have some pictures of that.
- We went to Horseshoe Bay with one of NCL's trips, and had a great time. They have full facilities on the beach, with rentals, showers, etc. There is a "private" lagoon off to one side protected by rocks, and then the main beach with the waves. Most of the 4000 NCL travelers made it there that day! The water is clear, except for where the current stirs up the sand, but utterly beautiful.
- Tobacco Bay is in St. George's and within walking distance of the cruise ship port. This is a larger protected lagoon, with crystal clear water, and no waves. Actually, during low tide, the water only gets to about chest level all the way out by the rocks. However, this is the first beach that walkers come to, and the strip of sand is so small by mid-afternoon one is literally sitting next to other people on the towels. This is a great spot to snorkel and I saw a lot of fish by rocks.
- St. George's hosts a street festival every Tuesday night with local crafters and entertainment, with a DJ - for dancing in the streets! They re-enact an old tradition of dunking the town nag/gossip in the harbor, and have a show from the local tribal Gombey dancers.
- Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, hosts a Harbor Nights party on Wednesdays. Larger than St. George's party, there are lots of local vendors, and great restaurants to try. We tired an Irish Pub called Flanagan's, where I had a tasty Rum Swizzle!
- The people are amazingly friendly, with saying "Good Morning" and "Good Evening" to everyone they see. They are also great at giving directions... and since our ferry back to St. George's from Hamilton was canceled due to poor weather, one gentleman even walked us to the bus terminal and assisted with navigating the bus system. And you could tell that he was doing it out of the kindness of his heart, not for money.

Highlights from the NCL Majesty:

- The food! Every meal in the dinning room has courses with fine china. There are different selections each night, plus a few standards, so there is always something new to try. It's also included with the price of the cruise, so you can pretty much eat everything and anything you want. There's a 24 hour grill and buffet on the Aft of the ship, plus a buffet at various times on the upper deck. Made to order pasta, stir-fry, waffles, omelets, desserts.... you name it, you can find it! The only things not included are the alcoholic drinks and soda.
- The cruise director's staff plans a day's worth of activities, including: educational seminars, exercise classes, games, bingo, raffles, or you can just find a nice couch to take a nap between all of the eating! (I won once at Bingo, but had to split it 14 ways!)
- We met some really great people who were retired teachers from Massachusetts. They were a riot, and always up for a good laugh.
- There's always nightly entertainment, with a comedian or magician on board, plus production shows from their crew.

Without more ramblings... here's the first set of pictures taken with the digital camera. I didn't take the digital off of the ship, except for into the Tuesday night party at St. George's. But there are some videos and pictures of various happenings!

Bermuda Album 1

This is the 2nd photo album, taken with the disposable cameras. Hind-sight is 20/20, as the clarity of the water doesn't come through as clearly as it would with my digital! (And my photo processing people owe me another CD of photos, as they made two of the same pack... more pictures to come tomorrow!)

Bermuda Album 2

Off on my vacation!

I'm heading off on my cruise tomorrow - WOOO HOOOO!

I won't be posting until I get back, which is next Saturday, August 9th. I'll have lots of pictures and fun stories to share.

Have a great week everyone!