I should be packing, but instead I'm sitting in front of my computer, having just re-read an item about a diversity festival in Huntsville, Texas not long ago. I've been wandering through the Internet, drifting from topic to topic, allowing myself to get engaged in thought about funny ideas, tragedies, wonderfully happy things, ways individuals can have big positive impacts on the environment, dogs, and endless other things. It's time for me to pack my bags, because I'm heading south tomorrow. Not far enough, but south. I'm off to a client conference in The Woodlands, Texas. The association is an allied healthcare group. To date, registration is 725, including one-day registrants, exhibitors, students, interns, etc. But that's not chicken feed...most of our events are smaller. This meeting is not particularly complex, in most respects, and does not incorporate nearly the level of social networking that most groups we manage plan for their events. So, it's not a challenge...again, not in most respects. If a computer breaks down, or boxes don't arrive as scheduled from Fed-Ex, etc., things can get dicey. But generally, this client's meeting is pretty straightforward. I hope this meeting follows suit.
I will bid my adieus from the meeting as close to noon Saturday as I can and will retreat north to Falba, for barbeque and booze and conversation with a brother who lives "in the rurals" about 15 miles north of Huntsville. Then, early Sunday morning I head north.
I need, really need, to have a weekend that I can dedicate to my house and yard. I need a weekend when I won't feel compelled to go to lunch with my wife or go shopping with her. If I could get such a weekend, and had a bit of help, I could get a lot done in my yard that desperately needs doing. I might even get back in the habit of doing yardwork. I've hired it out for what seems like an eternity and have almost lost all interest in doing it, but much prefer the way my yard looks when I do the work than to the way it looks when done by hired hands who don't give a shit.
My wine is getting warm...a nice, light sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. So, I'll have to drink it down, refresh the glass, and start packing.
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Monday, April 3, 2006
Travel in Mexico
I didn't hear this piece on NPR, but found it on the NPR website. If you're interested in Mexico, this might be right up your alley:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5317783
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5317783
Long Day, A Lot Done
Oh, MAN, today was a long one! I woke up earlier than normal, though not by much, because I needed to do some last-minute preparation for a visit by two leaders of a new client association, a statewide professional society. I had to do some work for other clients before they arrived, so I was going at it at 120% from the moment I walked into my office. Once they got there, we reviewed some questions they had about the management contract I had presented to them, got those resolved, and immediately went into discussions of what needs to be done when...their annual conference is taking place in Austin in just about three weeks and my staff and I will have to go at hot and heavy to meet some deadlines. But we can't start yet, as I have another client association meeting in The Woodlands, starting on Wednesday. And there's plenty yet to do for that meeting.
Anyway, we reviewed information about the association for about three and a half hours, reviewed files on diskettes they brought, and talked about how to implement the transition. Then, lunch at my favorite little Mexican restaurant near the office...a hole in the wall...cheap and good. Then, they left. And I switched gears to focus on some other association clients, do more clean-up, create a web page for the new client (promoting its exhibitors), and do all sorts of other stuff. The day sped by.
Before I knew it, it was almost 6:00 pm, time for yet another association's board to meet in our building conference room. I've been sending messages to the president, telling him that the 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm monthly meetings have been starting late, running long, and generally pissing me off. He promised to have the meetings start on time and end on time...and to cut the idle chatter. They rotate who leads their meetings, but the message found its way to the guy doing tonight's meeting...he started the meeting on time, made a point of saying it would end on time, and he actually ended it 15 minutes early. It was early enough that I was able to rush home after the meeting and miss only a minute or two of 24, my favorite television program (the only one I watch with any degree of regularity). Tonight, we learned that the bumbling, do-nothing president who took office only after the assassination of his predecessor, the first Black president, was involved in his predecessor's assassination. It's an incredibly fast-moving program, so utterly implausible, but so very entertaining!
Anyway, after all that, I'm beat. I probably will give blogging a rest for the next few days, but it may be a habit I can't easily break.
When I leave my client meeting next Saturday afternoon, I'll head to Falba, Texas for a visit with one of my brothers. It's on the way home and I don't want to try to make it all the way back to Dallas after the meeting's over. But I'll have to leave early the next day to get back to Dallas in time to meet with a guy about a commercial kitchen concept...renting commercial kitchen space to budding chefs, caterers, and others who want or need lots of kitchen space, excellent commercial equipment, and a place to show off their talents. It may go nowhere...it may create a new business direction for me. Probably the former.
OK, I'm tired. Off to vegetate in front of the television and allow myself to be spoon-fed news that suits the political sensibilities of stations' management.
Anyway, we reviewed information about the association for about three and a half hours, reviewed files on diskettes they brought, and talked about how to implement the transition. Then, lunch at my favorite little Mexican restaurant near the office...a hole in the wall...cheap and good. Then, they left. And I switched gears to focus on some other association clients, do more clean-up, create a web page for the new client (promoting its exhibitors), and do all sorts of other stuff. The day sped by.
Before I knew it, it was almost 6:00 pm, time for yet another association's board to meet in our building conference room. I've been sending messages to the president, telling him that the 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm monthly meetings have been starting late, running long, and generally pissing me off. He promised to have the meetings start on time and end on time...and to cut the idle chatter. They rotate who leads their meetings, but the message found its way to the guy doing tonight's meeting...he started the meeting on time, made a point of saying it would end on time, and he actually ended it 15 minutes early. It was early enough that I was able to rush home after the meeting and miss only a minute or two of 24, my favorite television program (the only one I watch with any degree of regularity). Tonight, we learned that the bumbling, do-nothing president who took office only after the assassination of his predecessor, the first Black president, was involved in his predecessor's assassination. It's an incredibly fast-moving program, so utterly implausible, but so very entertaining!
Anyway, after all that, I'm beat. I probably will give blogging a rest for the next few days, but it may be a habit I can't easily break.
When I leave my client meeting next Saturday afternoon, I'll head to Falba, Texas for a visit with one of my brothers. It's on the way home and I don't want to try to make it all the way back to Dallas after the meeting's over. But I'll have to leave early the next day to get back to Dallas in time to meet with a guy about a commercial kitchen concept...renting commercial kitchen space to budding chefs, caterers, and others who want or need lots of kitchen space, excellent commercial equipment, and a place to show off their talents. It may go nowhere...it may create a new business direction for me. Probably the former.
OK, I'm tired. Off to vegetate in front of the television and allow myself to be spoon-fed news that suits the political sensibilities of stations' management.
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Courage?
You'll regret more what you did not do, than what you did.
I don't know to whom that quote...or that concept...should be attributed, but I know it sounds to me like wisdom in words. I want to move to Mexico. I want to visit Chile. I want to have a deck built in my back yard. I want to sell my home and travel the country in an RV. I want to devote every minute to making my wife happy.
I've not done any of these things. Some of them are contradictory. It doesn't matter. None of us should have regrets that we could have avoided. I can avoid having regrets; you reading this blog, whoever you are, can avoid having them, too. Taking action, not denying wishes, has legs. Walk. Do you have the courage? Do I? It's silly and stupid to take action based entirely on wishes, but it is just as silly and stupid not taking action based entirely on fear or, worse, inertia.
It's easier taking the safe path. I think it's more rewarding, though, taking the path of adventure and the unknown. I need to convince myself. I need to convince my wife. The idea of dying while I'm still involved with my company is horrific and embarrassing. Do I have the courage to change and risk dying forty years hence, satisfied?
I don't know to whom that quote...or that concept...should be attributed, but I know it sounds to me like wisdom in words. I want to move to Mexico. I want to visit Chile. I want to have a deck built in my back yard. I want to sell my home and travel the country in an RV. I want to devote every minute to making my wife happy.
I've not done any of these things. Some of them are contradictory. It doesn't matter. None of us should have regrets that we could have avoided. I can avoid having regrets; you reading this blog, whoever you are, can avoid having them, too. Taking action, not denying wishes, has legs. Walk. Do you have the courage? Do I? It's silly and stupid to take action based entirely on wishes, but it is just as silly and stupid not taking action based entirely on fear or, worse, inertia.
It's easier taking the safe path. I think it's more rewarding, though, taking the path of adventure and the unknown. I need to convince myself. I need to convince my wife. The idea of dying while I'm still involved with my company is horrific and embarrassing. Do I have the courage to change and risk dying forty years hence, satisfied?
If I Could Control Temperatures...etc.
Summer arrived early in Dallas. Today's high, if indeed it gets no hotter, reached 92 degrees. It's April 2. Temperatures reached 92. This is a bad sign. I can tolerate 92, but it portends a miserable summer ahead, with temperatures climbing into the triple digits and, quite possibly, staying there for weeks and weeks. In 1997 or 1998, I think there were 45 consecutive days when the temperature reached over 100. When temperatures go over 100 degrees, the north Texas climate reminds us all that no one should have ever settled here.
If I could, I would exercise some control over the temperatures in north Texas. I would start by setting an upper limit, a point beyond which temperatures simply would not be permitted to go. That limit would probably be 87. I'd set a limit on the number of days that limit could be reached each year...five days. I'd also establish an average annual daytime high temperature...probably about 72 degrees. My control over evening temperatures would make living in Dallas much more appealing. Nighttime temperatures during most of the year would bottom out at about 50 degrees, maybe a bit higher. But if I had to permit temperatures to fall lower to control insects (mosquitoes and flies, mostly), I would be willing to do it. One of my objectives in controlling temperatures would be to eliminate the need for air conditioning...we could leave the windows open year-round, if I were in charge of meteorological phenomena. No bugs, nice temperatures. Living in Texas would be tolerable.
Well, I'd have to figure out a way to control politics and religion to really make it tolerable. I'm not sure how I'll do it by controlling temperatures. Maybe I need some additional powers...yeah, that's what I need. It might take some time to achieve the desired outcome (a socially progressive state in which private religious beliefs are tolerated, but not encouraged, and certainly frowned upon when included in public debate), but I'd probably start with the schools. Any teacher who does not possess adequate communication skills (I'll be the judge) will be terminated.
Administrators will be rewarded not for children achieving specific scores on tests but for children being able to demonstrate critical thought processes and knowledge about subjects that matter (to me and a few others).
Religious people will be allowed to speak publicly of their religious beliefs and their religions only if certify that they share Bill Moyers' sense of the role of religion in politics.
I've only just begun to think about how life in north Texas would change if only I could control the weather. Isn't it interesting that such control could begat additional powers? And isn't it stunning to think of the possibilities those powers could offer? Frankly, it might be easier, and far more attainable, to leave this godforsaken hell-on-earth for more friendly political, social, and meteorological climes.
Mexico? Chile? Wisconsin? (Summers...just summers.)
Damn! I'm missing The West Wing! Gotta go!
If I could, I would exercise some control over the temperatures in north Texas. I would start by setting an upper limit, a point beyond which temperatures simply would not be permitted to go. That limit would probably be 87. I'd set a limit on the number of days that limit could be reached each year...five days. I'd also establish an average annual daytime high temperature...probably about 72 degrees. My control over evening temperatures would make living in Dallas much more appealing. Nighttime temperatures during most of the year would bottom out at about 50 degrees, maybe a bit higher. But if I had to permit temperatures to fall lower to control insects (mosquitoes and flies, mostly), I would be willing to do it. One of my objectives in controlling temperatures would be to eliminate the need for air conditioning...we could leave the windows open year-round, if I were in charge of meteorological phenomena. No bugs, nice temperatures. Living in Texas would be tolerable.
Well, I'd have to figure out a way to control politics and religion to really make it tolerable. I'm not sure how I'll do it by controlling temperatures. Maybe I need some additional powers...yeah, that's what I need. It might take some time to achieve the desired outcome (a socially progressive state in which private religious beliefs are tolerated, but not encouraged, and certainly frowned upon when included in public debate), but I'd probably start with the schools. Any teacher who does not possess adequate communication skills (I'll be the judge) will be terminated.
Administrators will be rewarded not for children achieving specific scores on tests but for children being able to demonstrate critical thought processes and knowledge about subjects that matter (to me and a few others).
Religious people will be allowed to speak publicly of their religious beliefs and their religions only if certify that they share Bill Moyers' sense of the role of religion in politics.
I've only just begun to think about how life in north Texas would change if only I could control the weather. Isn't it interesting that such control could begat additional powers? And isn't it stunning to think of the possibilities those powers could offer? Frankly, it might be easier, and far more attainable, to leave this godforsaken hell-on-earth for more friendly political, social, and meteorological climes.
Mexico? Chile? Wisconsin? (Summers...just summers.)
Damn! I'm missing The West Wing! Gotta go!
Saturday, April 1, 2006
Good Neighbors
I just watched the first episode of a very old (mid 1970s) British comedy series that I first saw when it was new. It's called Good Neighbors, though I believe it was called Country Matters when I first saw it when I lived in Houston many years ago. It was originally called The Good Life in England. I highly recommend it. If you can watch, do...you won't regret it!
The premise is simple, as described on BBC's website:
The show had an irresistible premise: a middle-class suburban couple, Tom (Richard Briers) and Barbara Good )Felicity Kendal), decide to go back to the land and turn their Surbiton home into a self-sufficient farm-cum-allotment, growing their own food, keeping animals and making their own tools and equipment. This creates friction with their neighbours, especially the Leadbetters, located next door, prime examples of the gin-and-tonic set. In addition to a wealth of good storylines, it was the interplay between the two couples that really gave the show its appeal. It would have been easy for the writers to use Margo's snobbery and domination of her husband to simply set up the Leadbetters in the role of villains, constantly at odds with their idealistic neighbours, but the authors were more clever than this and instead drew a real affection between the couples.
I really enjoyed the program when it ran back when I lived in Houston. Seeing the first episode again tonight made me fall in love with Felicity Kendal all over again...she's the ideal wife (absent the perfect wife I have now, of course) for a man who wants to do something crazy like drop out of the rat race.
The premise is simple, as described on BBC's website:
The show had an irresistible premise: a middle-class suburban couple, Tom (Richard Briers) and Barbara Good )Felicity Kendal), decide to go back to the land and turn their Surbiton home into a self-sufficient farm-cum-allotment, growing their own food, keeping animals and making their own tools and equipment. This creates friction with their neighbours, especially the Leadbetters, located next door, prime examples of the gin-and-tonic set. In addition to a wealth of good storylines, it was the interplay between the two couples that really gave the show its appeal. It would have been easy for the writers to use Margo's snobbery and domination of her husband to simply set up the Leadbetters in the role of villains, constantly at odds with their idealistic neighbours, but the authors were more clever than this and instead drew a real affection between the couples.
I really enjoyed the program when it ran back when I lived in Houston. Seeing the first episode again tonight made me fall in love with Felicity Kendal all over again...she's the ideal wife (absent the perfect wife I have now, of course) for a man who wants to do something crazy like drop out of the rat race.
Screaming Tomatoes
So, here's the plan. I go to the office this morning, focus entirely on preparing a database management package that will enable staff to simply click on buttons to register people for our upcoming event...and then press buttons to print badges, etc. If it weren't for the pressure of getting it right and doing it now, it might be fun. I've come to enjoy testing my Microsoft Access skills. But I prefer to just "play" at it, rather than have someone depend on my abilities. Oh, well, I have no control over that at the moment, so I'll just deal with it.
I've only had a fraction of my normal Saturday morning coffee and won't have much more. Gotta leave for the office. I am, though, broiling some tomatoes so I can have a quick breakfast before I got. Broiled tomatoes are wonderful...with the right spices.
After my database games, I have to prepare for my new client visit on Monday...making the office look more presentable. Too bad I can't have a new hire on board when they visit.
Hark! I hear tomatoes screaming...that means they are nearly ready to be consumed.
I've only had a fraction of my normal Saturday morning coffee and won't have much more. Gotta leave for the office. I am, though, broiling some tomatoes so I can have a quick breakfast before I got. Broiled tomatoes are wonderful...with the right spices.
After my database games, I have to prepare for my new client visit on Monday...making the office look more presentable. Too bad I can't have a new hire on board when they visit.
Hark! I hear tomatoes screaming...that means they are nearly ready to be consumed.