Dreaming of Island Living

I watched two epidsodes of House Hunters International. It's a show where people look to buy real estate in a foreign land.

I really yearned (yes, YEARNED) for one of these beach houses. I saw homes in Roatan (island off of Honduras) and Curacao (in Dutch Antilles).

It just confused me motivationally....

Do I run to the gym because I'm motivated to look good in a bikini?
Or do I eat fast food and work 16 hours a day to earn enough money to afford one of these beach homes?

I can't do both. There are only so many hours in a day!

The shows remind me of Toad Hall in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, where I was married. Gorgeous ocean views, trade winds, private 6 acre compound with open air living spaces, private swimming pool.

I want to live there.
Always.
Except, I'd miss the kids.... darn it.
http://www.toadhallvg.com/

Geese are dangerous

A US Airways flight crashed into the Hudson River today, after hitting a flock of geese. It appears all passengers are safe and unharmed. They surmise the geese got caught in the two engines, causing them to fail. I just heard a reporter equate the incident as "being similar to when you stuff too much into your garbage disposal and it stops working". Yuck! We're talking chopped up bird parts falling from the sky! This is more disgusting than the Palin turkey butchering video.

Meltdowns

At my age (43), you'd think I would have a better handle on total life balance. What I mean by "life balance" is the way one balances work, self, family, friends, and other obligations.

As a child, my family was usually faced with financial difficulties... so being self-sufficient and financially secure have been a big part of my adulthood. Maybe that's why I give WAY TOO MUCH of myself (time, stress, and mindshare) to my job.

Well, on to the story. ALL OF MY EMPLOYEES melted down on me on Friday. Every one of them literally lost it during individual conversations with me, and I had a couple of unhappy customers contact me. WOW. Yes, this is our busiest time of the year. Yes, we lost half of our staff in a corporate downsizing last month. I understand everyone is stressed and working well beyond what is normally expected of them. But really?? We need to spend 45 minutes to get you to understand I need a simple email listing of what you plan to sell this month? (YOU ARE IN SALES YOU KNOW!!!)

I let it get to me after a solid 12 hours of complaints and emotional meltdowns. Trying to be healthy, I went to the treadmill to work out my stress. Little did I know that my husband was home and able to hear me! I RAN, not walked. I shadow boxed the people I was angry with. I yelled at them too. (I had my IPod on, so I didn't hear myself.. :)

Anyway, when I came upstairs after my workout I found my husband looking at me tentatively. I was surprised to see him and asked if I was too loud. He responded with "Yes! I thought about video taping you, so that in case we ever got divorced I could show the judge that you are truly INSANE."

Well, all I can say in my defense is that a short RUN on the treadmill does wonders for your stress level. And, I am not letting the team's stress fall on me any more. They don't have to like me. As the boss, I just need to help them be successful even if it's painful.

Lazy? No!

I left the house at 6am for work and drove right over the 2 inches of snow that had accumulated in my driveway last night. I didn't get home from work until 7:30pm.

Should I have been a good citizen and shoveled the sidewalk? Probably. But it was DARN COLD - negative 15 below zero!!

I haven't cleaned my house since before Christmas. It's a pigsty in my opinion, (although others think differently). Instead of shoveling, I cleaned the house from 8pm until 11:45pm. Whew -I'm tired!! (It is very satisfying to see the direct result of my labor.)

Yes, I'll go outside tomorrow and shovel the white stuff. Just didn't want to do it in the dark and bitter cold. Somehow it seems warmer in the daylight, even if the thermometer proves differently. :)

Do I know how to make a good first impression, or what?

As some of you know, I have a new boss who works in a different state. I used my wonderful SpotMe gizmo to find him and introduce myself.

Found him with the gizmo. (Cool.)
Walked up confidently, extended my hand, and said Hello. (Ok so far...)
Then I proceeded to say Hello to another man standing beside my boss, and introduced myself to him as well. (Thought it was the right thing to do....)
Guy #2 says very warmly, "Why, Fern it's good to see you again!"
When he saw my confused look, he quickly said "It's John."
And then... I did it. I bent forward so I could see his name tag, and said "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you John."

And just who is John??
My senior vice president! Who I've met several times before. Heck, I even had dinner with him once. And, he just approved buying me a Blackberry Bold for Christmas.

Damn. I'm sooooo smooth and waaaay cool.

My internal Geek is showing

I'm at a three day sales meeting with 900 of my closest peers. When I checked in, they gave me the usual ID badge that I have to wear to access the meetings. (blah) Bad thing is they scan you when you enter the meetings, so you know they are taking attendance.

Then they took my picture and gave me a "SPOTME". This is AWESOME! You can text any of the attendees with it, view the agenda, presentations, access maps of the facility with it too.

But two things are extra cool....

1. You can point it at someone else's SpotMe and click - You now have their business card data on your device. Cool, but not inventive.

2. Better yet, it has a "stalking application" that lets you locate people. Very Cool. I select a person's name and have the device vibrate when the person is within close proximity of me. Then, I can follow the map to the person (like a GPS only with pictures) or set it to buzz me later when the person is around again. It's so cool when I want to find a person - like my new boss. But WAAAAY COOL tonight if I want to AVOID someone when I'm at the bar. :)

Bush's New Dallas Neighborhood Barred Non-Whites Until 2000

Posted on Huffington Post on December 8, 2008:

As was reported this week, George Bush has bought a new house in a wealthy part of Dallas, called Preston Hollow, to live in after he leaves office. Preston Hollow homeowners are used to having well-known neighbors; the area is already home to Dallas Mavericks' owner Marc Cuban and former presidential candidate Ross Perot.

While many of the Bushes' new neighbors seem perfectly happy and excited to welcome the former first couple, a few of them, reports the Wall Street Journal, have some significant reservations: "The impending presence of a former President is ratcheting up security fears. 'I am afraid with all the negative press the president has been getting, the whole neighborhood is going to be a target,' said a woman, who wouldn't give her name. She carried her King Charles spaniel Friday past the Bushes' new abode."

But Raw Story reports that the area had some issues long before Bush made it his new home. Until 2000, the neighborhood association's covenant said only white people were allowed to live there, though an exception was made for servants.

Enacted in 1956, part of the original document reads: "Said property shall be used and occupied by white persons except those shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of different race or nationality in the employ of a tenant." The entire covenant is available in PDF format via the Raw Story link.

When asked about his new home in an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Bush "played coy" in response to Tod Gillman's question. "Todd, why do you care?" Bush responded. "You live in Washington, D.C."