It is getting better

My week in the imperial suite was pretty good for the nerves: Baths have a way of completely draining my energy to the point that I require a full 8 hours to recharge. So naturally I used the Jacuzzi two of the three nights to make sure I was well rested. Work actually went pretty well this week - a couple of minor things which had been nagging at me got resolved and by the end of the week, we (the team) were feeling pretty good about things. Well, pretty good only in that we now know that we're on target and even a little ahead of the game, but are now concerned that the other teams are behind and will begin impacting us.

It's beautiful.

In a relaxed state, I decided to check out the Oscar Winner: The Hurt Locker. Two hours later, I realized my life really isn't that bad. The scene where a character realizes that he loves the action more than his wife and son was just heartbreaking... and after a nanosecond's reflection, I confirmed that I do indeed love my family a lot more than I love my work in Cleveland. Not even CLOSE on that one. ;->

Friday work-from-home was chockablock with activity - conference calls, trainer appointments, haircut. My man Warren went and ordered his iPad at 7:30am. Me? I'm actually waiting a little - not for "rev 2" necessarily, but just "wave 2" of the current crop: I can live without this thing until June, and by then Warren will be telling me all of the things I can do with it that Apple says you can't do... he's sort of a rainman with hacking devices... he had a ring of neighbors sharing satellite TV, he's the first to find the pirated movies and TV shows, he uses his iPhone to get his laptop connected to the internet (which isn't officially supported), and goes on GPS treasure hunts... and yet he cuts hair for a living.

Friday night was the Highlands School Carnival: This year we got a sitter for Isaac and stayed late. Pamela helped organize a bit, and it was a fun affair - mostly games rooms, some crafts/makeup rooms. I had some kids wrap me with gauze and paint on blood in the "Shark Attack" room: I believe I was the only adult to submit to this treatment. And yes, for the third year in a row, Bella did win something in the raffle: Not a big basket this time, but the opportunity to make a ceramic bowl with the art teacher in a one-on-one session.

So now a "going way back" thing: In the past on this blog (and my old Language one) I made some somewhat disparaging statements about Rosetta Stone. Well, I've revisited the program, and I must say that in the past 2 years, their new V3 release changed the game: Its a much better product now. Same method, same slow pace, but the tools and class pacing are much better. In a couple of weeks I'll be starting at level zero with Arabic, a language I haven't done ANY work in in any way, to see how the Rosetta method works when you've got nothing - not even an alphabet - to start with.

I had a dream last night that was disturbingly work-relevant: I was meeting with a contact at the Washington Mall, and was passed the intel that "two major hospitals are ditching Cerner (EMR software) and going to Epic at the same time - it'll be a death blow to Cerner... the project is called 'BLUE HAMMER'." It was just a dream, but... "Blue Hammer?"

Last word: As I was driving Bella to the Carnival last night, she noticed a big crowd of cars at a Holiday station.
B: "Dad, why are all those people at Holiday?"
Me: "Probably they need gas in their cars."
B: "Well, THAT'S not the most important thing in life."

Me: "Bella, what IS the most important thing in life?"
B: "Well, being ALIVE, for one."
Me: "What else?"
B: "You know, air, food, water, space".
Me: "What about love?"
B: "Pfffft."