Jimmy in Philly

The Trip - Part 2

We hopped the Acela Express from NYC to Philadelphia at 1pm. Train travel is just so dang civilized: You get to the station 10 minutes before departure. You climb on, find a seat. The train leaves with a minimum of fuss - no seat belts, no emergency exit declarations. Lots of legroom, a big space to open up the laptop (and with my 3G wireless card, I had network the whole trip too). 1 hour later, we pull into Pennsylvania 30th St Station, and were in our new hotel within 2 hours of having left our hotel in NYC. Compare to air travel, we would probably only be halfway there by the 2 hour mark! Why can't we have more better trains? It just makes sense.

The hotel in Philly was another Marriott, with a decent workout room that I took advantage of to help work off that second lunch entree (was it really the same day???) listening to Belgian Heartbreak Techno by Milk Inc: The ellipse machine kept yelling at me to reduce speed for heartrate, and I kept saying "But the beat is 135bpm and the drums are KICKING!!! Don't you tell me to slow down!!!)

A nap was also achieved.

We met in the hotel bar, where a nosy bartender had to butt in with his opinions about the Spitzer case, and we had amusing half-conversations with completely plastered conventioneers of some sort. Then we were off to dinner... at Morimoto's.

Pamela actually gets credit on this one: She heard that Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto had opened a restaurant in Philly, and said we should check it out. So we did, we got reservations, and we sat down for the tasting menu. 8 courses with paired alcohol, and every single bite was amazing - I can't recall them all, but there was Toro Tartare, shaved sweet scallop in hot oil, broiled lobsters, seared kobe beef medallions, nigiri sushi, all paired with amazing champagne, white, red, and sake. It was a good 3 hour event and we stumbled home completely satisfied.

I decided to go for a pay-per-view: The Golden Compass. Full disclosure, I loved the books, and felt there must have been some conspiracy that made the movie not do very well. Little did I know the conspiracy was actually inside the movie crew: It was a very stilted movie that barreled at breakneck speed, but did very little in the way of telling the story with any artfulness - it felt rushed and superficial. I did love Ian McKellan as Iorek Byrnson, but little else. I actually turned it off right before the end, because I just didn't see the point. Sigh.

The morning was an adventure: I had left the menu card outside my door for 7:30 breakfast delivery. At 745 I called down and they assured me the food was on the way up. At 8:05 I called and they said the knock should be at my door within a minute. At 8:10 they called ME and said that I had forgotten to put my room number on my menu card, and so they had NOT sent me my food, and did I still want it? I said no.

I headed out to the Reading St Market - a large indoor food mall (restaurants and grocery) inside of the old Reading Station, and 1 block from my hotel. I stopped into a diner in there, and had an omelet with grilled onions and peppers and bbq pork, with american fries and stewed apples. Got completely full for less than $10 and 20 minutes.

Our meeting this morning was with a physician practice affiliated with a large university: Honestly, we had very low expectations for the meeting, but they had visited the booth and seemed interested in talking, so here we were. The cab took us through a terrible neighborhood and we got quite a show as an angry bum in a wheelchair was crossing a 4 lane highway against the light, flipping people off, spinning his chair, and generally daring the universe to strike him down. He made it safely, and I swear he shook his fist to heaven.

At the meeting, we were pleased to discover an actual OPPORTUNITY almost of the level of our first NYC one: Major implementation starting early summer with our favorite software, we're giving good advice right before they go out to sign the paperwork, and we're at the top of their call list for followup. It was an amazing result. Mike put the credit on his "lucky tie" which he had not worn for almost a year, since the lucky tie drummed up some business in Texas (which is now 1/4 of our total business). I can't argue with that.

We had a little time before our flight out today, so we made the pilgrimage to Jim's Steaks - one of the ORIGINAL homes of the Philly Cheesesteak. And it was quite good... but... we both came to the realization that as a sandwich, the Cheesesteak is not quite on the level as a Chicago Dog, or an Italian Beef.... there just isn't as much flavor going on. Coming off of all of the amazing flavors we'd had in the past 2 days, the Cheesesteak was more than adequate, but not really in the same league.

That said, if you do like cheesesteak in general, Jim's is the best you will ever have.

Caught the 2:20 flight home and thanks to the way time flows across the globe, I walked into my house at 5pm. Bella loved her gifts, Isaac was thrilled to see daddo (and took some time to settle down), and Pamela was happy to have backup again! It was a great homecoming, and I'm happy to be home.

It seems crazy that it really was just 2.5 days and we fit so much in... but I missed so much of what NYC has to offer, and I'm looking forward to my re-visits in the months to come. I loved that dang town! (Philly - not quite so much. Still nice though).

Jimmy in NYC

Part 1 of 2

When I took the new job, they initially said "West Coast"... but as things have developed, we're being a lot more opportunistic in how we divvy things up. So when some potential work appeared on the East Coast, I gladly added it to my plate. This week was my first trip out East with my boss/pal Mike, and we lived well.

We flew in Tuesday AM, getting to town around noon. On the way to the cab stand, we were hijacked by an Argentinean who had an SUV and a flat rate to the city... It was a good ride, even while the guy opined at length about the Governor's Troubles, the relative stinkyness of most cab drivers, and why Kenyans keep winning Marathons. Just smile and nod....

We did NOT know that there are three "Courtyard by Marriott" hotels within a 2 mile radius, and got dropped off at the wrong one. Once we did get that sorted out (with another short cab ride), we decided to walk the 20 blocks to our first meeting at 2pm (from 54th and 3rd to 32nd and 1st). We stopped on the way for a slice of pizza, which was a great starter. We ALMOST did the Soup Nazi, but ducked last minute to Pizza. Along the way, we checked out Rockefeller plaza, and other landmarks.

Potential Client #1 is a large academic medical center which is mere days from inking a deal to install the software that is the bread and butter for our company - A good 100 person team will need to hit the ground running, of which hopefully we could provide a dozen or so for 2-3 years. As they were technically still pre-sale, we offered a lot of advice on how to finish the negotiations, which I think he appreciated. The guy was a mousy radiologist with the classic NYC abrupt manner, so the fact that we actually took the whole hour was pretty amazing.

We walked back up to 5th Ave, stopped in the beautiful Apple Store (and resisted buying anything), and looked for an "old school bar" to toast our success with. The Oak Room at the Plaza? Sorry - closed for renovations until May. The sky bar at the Peninsula? Sorry, closed until October. We settled on the paneled room at the back of the St Regis.

Alas, things didn't go well with the drinks: I asked for a smoky scotch (the Ardbeg Uggeidal), and got a apple-infused cognac instead (the name sounded similar, but the flavor was NOT in the same league). I got it straightened out (though needed to settle on a different scotch, as their list was out of date). We then made use of their Concierge to get reservations at a restaurant (Seems that you can use any hotel's concierge even if you're not a guest, but be nice and give them $20 for their trouble won't you?)

Dinner was in a small Northern Italian place off of Park Ave on 54th that was infested by possible mafioso, with a headwaiter with an indeciperhable Italian accent, a fleet of silent and efficient staff that let no crumb settle, beautiful fresco art on the walls, and amazing food to match. The loud f-bomb dropping tables around us showed that if you're a man and eating pasta, that tie goes OVER your shoulder.. so we followed suit. We even spiced up our conversation with some effenheimers, but it felt forced. Dessert was an embarassment of riches: Creme Brulee, Creme Caramel, and Panna Cotta were all on offer.

Having been up since 5 in the AM, when we finished dinner around 11pm, our only real option was to go to sleep...

The next morning, it was up into the 70s and 2nd for the second meeting. This one was more tactical, less strategic. We cabbed up there, full of quad espressos to restart our brains. This is a HUGE orthopedic surgery group who is rolling out digital imaging to their ORs - which is EXACTLY what I did back 3 years ago, so the meeting turned unexpectedly into an interview of my skills. Not that I'll be doing ALL of the work, but if we got it, I could oversee another person and have an excuse to be out there for a few more days...

With a few hours to kill late morning to afternoon, we went shopping: A brisk tour of Bergdorf Goodman's mens store brought us face to face with $5000 bathrobes, and the scary 1980s fashion revival: A pink pair of shorts paired with a blue/white seersucker jacket had us humming "Love Plus One". Izod/Lacoste is back in a BIG way. I threatened to move my entire wardrobe to Blanc du Chine (chairman mao-style), and apparently White so white it hurts your eyes is the new white, and window after window on 5th ave blared these hard-to-clean styles.

A detour into FAO Schwarz for the kiddies: Bella's first Steiff (a Pug), along with a Steiff Owl for Isaac and a tiny hand-made steiff hedgehog for Pamela. (I should note that all three have already been appropriated by Bella for "safekeeping"). A second "resist" at the Applestore

For lunch, we were torn between deli food and more pizza, and found a great place that did both ably - so a pastrami on rye with mustard matched with a pepperoni and sausage slice. We could barely move after that. Oooooof!!!!

Our adventure over, it was time to head to Penn Station for the second leg of our adventure.

A different sort of day

As I went to sleep last night, the day ahead looked predictable: Bella's birthfamily was due for an afternoon visit, so we'd get up early, clean the house, hit the grocery store, prepare some snacks, and strap in for a fun visit with Bella's birthcousins... The actual day did not go that way, however.

It started comically: Isaac had woken up with a devil in his car and was unusually fast and mischievous, escaping from every room we were in. So in a moment of craziness, I grabbed one of the old-fashioned keys and actually locked our bedroom door with us all in it. Now, these locks are quite old - we've never even tried them out. But in my mind, when that key turned, hey, they must work!

So after a giggle, I turned the key the other way to unlock... and it stuck. Nope, that deadbolt was NOT moving.

I spent the next 20 minutes trying to unlock the door again with the whole family laughing (at least we had formula, a phone, and a bathroom on OUR side of the door!). We left a few messages for people who have keys to the house, asking if they'd come try the lock from the other side... Fortunately, we had a set of tools in the laundry room and I was able to jimmy the lock with a screwdriver. It was a completely insane way to start the day.

Once downstairs, Bella wanted no food all morning, and was even paler than usual. Her energy level was in the sub-basement, with a slight fever. All she wanted to do was watch shows horizontally, not eat, and not have Isaac anywhere near her (tears were fast to come when the two were in the same room).

We figured out that she was not merely crabby but actually sick (a call confirmed that Jenny had the same symptoms!), and we canceled the visit - no point in passing along some strange illness to other kids! Bella took a few naps, watched a few movies... and by the end of the day had enough appetite to make time with a PBJ, and play one game of go-fish, before asking to go back to bed. I asked if she had a headache, and she said "Just a touch".

As I snuck out, believing her to be asleep, she stopped me and asked for a story when I was a little kid... "but just tell me anything because I'll be asleep while you're telling it". Sure enough, she was out cold by the end of my tale (about my hamsters Danielle and Cheryl) - she just wanted my voice to help her relax.

Isaac also took a HUGE nap today (4 hours!!!), but was ready for bed at the usual time too.

And I did something horrible to my lower back while reaching for something on the floor behind a chair... it just went "WINCE", and the tears started flowing. Which is just crazy: I work out 4-5 times a week, I'm in great health, and I reach for something just wrong, and I'm laid up? Who made THAT rule? Add to that my pink eye AND my sore knee (I lost my balance stepping over one of Bella's forts yesterday)

Since there was so much downtime today, I started work on The Rosetta Stone Swedish: I've heard so much about this program so I figured it was worth a go: Given what I already know, I cruised through the 10 lessons of Level 1 today, but there are 9 more levels to go, and they won't all be this fast. It's interesting: Whereas Pimsleur gets you started immediately on conversations (hello, I'm american, do you speak english?), Rosetta Stone is more about general sentence structures: This is a boy. The boy Jumps. The boy is under a table. The boy is on an airplane. The boy is in a car. The car is white.... You get the idea. You learn the grammatical rules through immersion.

There is no English anywhere - you pick up meanings through context clues in pictures. I'm not sure how this can build to advanced concepts, nor do I see how this can move to first and second person, since it's all about pictures (which are inherently third person!). But I'll keep an open mind: People really seem to like this program, so I'll stick it out!

A business trip this week to NYC and Philly should be fun (if my back behaves)... Carrie has sent me a lot of suggestions for things to do in "the City" - which I've never actually been to as far as I know (certainly not in my adult life!!!)

A Saturday

I woke up this AM with one eye sealed shut with gunk... and once I pried the lid open, I found an angry pink orb staring back. Yes, somehow pink eye came into my life. Having just seen Knocked Up with a hilarious Pink Eye reference, i immediately looked to see if anyone had farted on my pillow, but nobody fessed up to that.

I caught an immediate appointment at the Minute Clinic, who without hesitation prescribed the eyedrops, and I've been bathing my eyeballs with powerful antibiotics all day.

This morning was "Dads and Donuts" at the Family Center where Bella and Isaac to preschool (and pre-pre-preschool in the case of Isaac), which was basically open gym time for 90 minutes with donuts and coffee. It was wonderful, and the kids ran around like maniacs. Of course, four walls can't contain Isaac, so he spent a fair amount of time running OUT of the gym, up the hall and towards the parking lot... He also enjoyed two donut holes, so he was a bit jacked up.

After that, Bella went out with Jenny to get their "sister portraits" done - they've taken a formal portrait every year together. Isaac and I had a nap, then I cleaned up the joint a little.

Tonight we finally had that dinner with the Swedes, and it was wonderful: Bella played well with the girls, and Isaac was a complete maniac all evening, but still we had good conversation and lots of laughs. I pulled out a few bits of Swedish for them, and was horrified to learn that the version of Swedish I had been learning was a bit formal and staid, a bit grandmotherly. They had a good round of raised eyebrows and giggles when I asked for my coffee black as "en slät kopp koffe" instead of "en svart kopp koffe" - While slät is technically usable, it's practically in "23 skidoo" territory in terms of currency.

Anyway, it's good to know that the book I'm using is perhaps not the most current and excellent language... and perhaps I'll look for other sources!!! But hearing them chattering in Swedish to their kids was inspirational and made me want to keep learning... it's such a beautiful language. And yes, I did get a FEW of the things they were saying to eachother.... ;->

It's time to spring forward and lose that hour of sleep, so I imagine I'll be hitting that hay a bit earlier than usual, so good night!

Oh yeah

1) What happened to the language addict anyway? Really, when things went SOUTH with the old client, my available brainspace appears to have been voided. Add in the working-two-jobs thing, and the trying-to-maximize-family-time thing... And actually one more factor: It's been so dang cold that my primary language time is CAR time, and when I'm in the car right now, I just focus on warming up and getting there... and usually I'm AT the destination before I'm warm enough to think about another language!

I am cautiously optimistic that by getting down to one job AND the weather heating up a bit that I'll have more time and energy for my language pursuits! So keep an eye out for it!

In the meantime, I do have my conversational gambits ready for my dinner this weekend with real live Swedish people. Pamela stumbled across my DOC file and giggled about my crib notes. In a nice way.

2) Tonight we played go-fish with real cards... and Bella said it would be "no problem at all - it's got Jacks, Queens, and Kings right? Just like that other game. Checkers". I asked if she might mean CHESS, and she wasn't sure, but she and Casey definitely played checkers, and it had kings and queens, but no jacks. I asked how she did, and she said "I totally won: I got like TEN guys, and Casey only got ONE."

I am very curious as to what this game might have been.

And if you're wondering, it was a nail-biter right to the end, but she beat me fair and square. Her smile actually extended beyond the confines of her face somehow.

3) Ah my little boy. Tonight we went to The Burrito Store, just Dad and the Kids. And Isaac actually ate a few fingerfulls of Burrito (just cheese, rice, sour cream and beans - Bella style) - he seemed to really like it, however. So perhaps this will be a food that BOTH kids can agree upon! He even sat for the meal and didn't shriek. I was pinching myself.

4) Off to bed now... I do want to let you, my dedicated readership, know that I greatly appreciate you letting this serve as a primary communication vehicle in these busy times, and please don't take it poorly if I'm slow to respond to a call or email: As the posts may indicate, we're hanging on to life and sanity by the merest threads, and I am deeply grateful for your understanding.

Working on closure

So I have been at the new job for around 6 weeks now, during which time I've also been doing maintenance work for the old client (the Cardio department), biding my time until my replacement was found. Well she started this week, and I am absolutely thrilled: She's an older woman with grown kids who consults because she likes a challenge, not because she needs to. She did similar work at another hospital, knows the ways of Cardiologists, and knows many of the key software players.

We spent a few hours yesterday reviewing the project history, and I handed off a stack of documents. Today we got together and she had a page of questions, all of which indicated that she GOT the issues, and was looking for a deeper level of detail. I'm completely confident that she'll be able to run with this project as soon as next week without my direct involvement... though I suspect that as that "living history" of the project, I'll be tapped a fair amount.

Still, it's a good feeling when you are handing something off, and you are CONFIDENT that this person will not only do as good a job as you did, but maybe even be better at some of it.

In the new job, I made my first real sale last week, and now have 3 people working... and I'm headed out to New York and Philly next week to get number 4 placed... and to meet with some new possible strategic clients too. It's all really starting to move... I'm getting busy, and it's getting exciting. But not so busy that I couldn't take off a bit early today to take the family to Ikea!!!

Yep - we hit Ikea, had some dinner: Isaac snacked on fries, meatballs, chicken fingers, and chocolate milk... but not enough of each to truly call it a "meal". Bella was still full from her post-swimming Panera feast, so she poked at some mashed potatoes. Me... Meatballs tack så mycket! (thanks so much!). Then we shopped for desk accessories for my office - I need to liven it up: My team mates have decided to decorate FOR me since I haven't yet, so the gauntlet is thrown... we must decorate! Anyway, it was a great opportunity to have Isaac run around. I was chasing him everywhere, and by the time we got home, both kids were almost asleep before we got them upstairs. So we've had a bit of an evening to ourselves. Time for bills and blogging. ;->

Isaac's words are really getting clearer with each passing day: Upstairs, downstairs, bottle, bearbear... The other day, he looked to have mischief in mind, so I said "Isaac, come here." He stared with a smile, and stayed put. I repeated it. Still no move.

A third repeat, and he said "NO" (though it came out "DOE"). I said "Isaac, did you just tell me 'NO'?"
He grinned and said "Yeah!" and ran away. Hooo boy, he's the cutest little stinker.

The Recharge

I took most of Friday off and had an impromptu 3 day weekend... which was just divine. Lots of wrestling, cuddling, and laughing.

In fact it was a bit of a blur... naps were taken, playdates happened, food was eaten... most importantly, my feet were on the ground at home, and life felt good.

And that's the update.

A few quotes from the Girl

1) "Issac's like a box. He's brown, and people can carry him around."

2) Dad is holding both Isaac and Bella, lying on the ground.
"We're just like a burrito! Isaac's the beans, and I'm the rice! And you're the bowl. Mommy can be the cheese and sour cream"

3) Playing Go Fish (with animal cards - mommy and baby are the pair):

Dad: Do you have a mouse?

Bella: Which one do you have... the baby?

Dad: Yes, the baby.

Bella: Oh, I can just imagine that baby mouse, it's so cute.
(closes eyes and smiles)
I can imagine that mouse any time and it's right there in my mind....
You know who else I can imagine and they're right there in my mind?
You and Issac. Even when I'm playing with Jenny, I can imagine you, and it's like you're there with us.
(eyes remain closed)

Dad: So... do you have the mommy Mouse then?

Bella: (long pause)
I've completed my journey, and now I think I need to tell you.....
...
No. (eyes snap open with a grin)

4) Isaac Bonus: Not to be outdone by his sister, Issac has developed a "diabolical cackle" when he is officially "up to no good". We watched him dismantle the cushions on a chair that indicated he would be climbing up to attack one of the nearby decorations... and as he did so, he had a low satisfied chuckle that burbled up into prime villainous laughter. Pamela and I were in stitches.

Later, he had got ahold of my iPhone, but I was immediately alerted by his "Mwahahahaha!" worthy of Ming the Merciless. It's just amazing to watch him being bad, and KNOWING he's being bad. Good think we still love him.

I have Returned

Well, after that teambuilding, it was really quite a rough morning for old Jimbo. Let's just say that I shall be detoxifying for a while. Nothing like my epic wipeouts of my earlier days, but I was a bit.... fuzzy.... By noon, I was back on track following two "new Starbucks" espressos and a bowl of Maggiano's spaghetti and meat balls. It worked wonders. The booth was a complete grind - all of our key contacts had come and gone, and it was just a bunch of vendors looking at other vendors, with the odd grad student or "independent businessman" dropping by to completely waste our time.

The last day of the conference was deemed optional for most of us, and I was lucky enough to have caught a late flight home Wednesday night... An exit seat in the 40th row, but at least I had legroom... even if I had to wait for 20 minutes to deplane.

The cab got me home and I was in bed by midnight. And Isaac got me up at 5:30... the look on his face when I walked in was priceless - he held me in a long hug, and kept breaking out of it to look up at me with a smile, then back into a hug, while singing "da da da da da!" Well, it wasn't going to be possible to get him back asleep after that, so I guess we were up!

Bella joined us around 7, and Pamela was up by 8, having the well deserved rest of a champion - she made it through my (almost) 6 day absence. Bella was elated to see me, and curled into a loooong hug - for minutes. I showered with the kids, helped get them dressed, and took them to school with Pamela... and then we got to go have breakfast together, which was just so nice!

No rest for the wicked... I had to go to the old client: Remember how we had that big meeting and everything was looking better? Well, in the past 30 days, they've missed every milestone they committed to, moved others out by months, and flat out decided they can't do a few. So I was called into an emergency meeting with the CIO and VPs to decide on action: Do we have another meeting? Do we throw the book at them?

We're going for the kill this time: We did diplomacy, they didn't live up to their end in any way. My favorite doctor ran into me in the hall - and he berated me for tempering his commentary in my official writeup. ("You did not quote me correctly - I said they were LIARS and that their product was INFERIOR") I reminded him that the gist of the story was intact and that the breadth of the audience meant I NEEDED to temper it... which he grudgingly agreed to. But upon hearing of the new situation, he pounced: IS THIS STRIKE THREE, JIM? TELL ME THIS IS STRIKE THREE.

Then to the new office to get my expenses for the week submitted. Ooooof. I am amazed at a simple bit of math: You go to a hotel that costs $130/night and you will usually get a king bed, free internet, a workout room, business center with printers, and a decent breakfast buffet (hot food for $10) Courtyard by Marriott are great examples. In Orlando I stayed at a "higher end" hotel very near the convention center, paid twice that much per night, and had incidental fees for internet, workout facilities, and business center use, and breakfast was always twice as expensive. So not only is the base rate higher, but they nickel and dime you... amazing.

The one saving grace was that the hotel bar stocked Lagavulin 16. Hmmm, the Chicago Courtyard had Lag too, so that's no advantage. Well, another saving grace is that I didn't actually have to pay for it, the company did (which is obviously how that hotel stays in business...)

I got to put the kids to bed tonight and it was full of cuddles. Bella and I only had time for one game of go fish, and I won by a large margin... so I thanked her profusely for ALLOWING me to win as a welcome home present, and resolved to return to sneakier ways for tomorrow's game... At least until Bella grows comfortable with the tyrannies of chance games (which Go Fish really is...)

There were a lot of great quotes from Bella today, and I'll put them in the next post.

It's great to be home.

We Built This City

I'm up and alive after the team building.

Yes, I was pushed up on the stage, and yes, I did a full interpretive dance to "we built this city" by Starship in front of several hundred patrons.

I think we can leave it at that, ok?

Tales of the Conference

The limo rides ended... one of my co-VPs had a comment that resonated about the experience of doing limo rides all day treating people to Dom Perignon: "I have champagne evenly distributed through all parts of my digestive tract right now, and it does not feel good". I will agree with that.

The Oceanaire party was an absolute blast... it was all networking with key clients, but very fun. Afterward, I had every intention of going out, but accidentally fell asleep. Which was a good thing.

The BOOTH started up Monday and continued today: We've got a massive area (at least 30x40) with several sitting areas, 3 different kiosks, 2 giant projectors... it's the business. Our goals are twofold: 1) recruit people, and 2) touch base with the potential clients who may not have made it to either the limo rides or the Oceanaire party. Secret Objective 3 is to avoid at all costs the OTHER VENDORS at the conference who wander around looking for "strategic partnerships", which never ever works.

We had an incentive for people to come to the booth: Over 150 people were sent coupons for a free bottle of Dom Perignon... and when they do, we swoop. And there actually were a few very good leads generated through this.

In general, each of us VPs is hoped to get 3-5 total people we could call back on from the whole conference. And we're hoped to get 3-4 good recruits for hiring. So far, we're definitely on track to double that, which is wonderful.

After the conference (6 hours of standing, yes.) we sponsored THE big party for Monday - the big party for the industry's most scandalous "anonymous blogger" Mister HISTALK. Over 400 people showed up, and it was a killer schmoozefest. After all that, I again ALMOST went out with the gang for team building activity, but again fell prey to the SLEEPING.

Today was another long booth day (another 6 hours of foot time), and things got livened up when we ran a 2 hour "free champagne and chocolate covered strawberries" event. No the champagne was NOT dom in this case. But it drew a LOT of foot traffic - and even a lot of competitors, who we welcomed in with a friendly face.

More receptions followed in the evening - two next to eachother, one was hopping, one was pretty sparse - so I did my time in the sparse one, where I was warmly greeted by the sponsors. They're a publisher, and had their latest issue on the tables - and the "cover star" was also in attendance. So naturally I RAN over to that guy with the magazine and forced someone to take our picture, and to get his autograph. In the small gathering, this created a bit of a stir...

I was all set to capitalize on the attention when a presentation started... and after 10 minutes of this man speaking (the speech was about how he came to be in his current job - and at 10 minutes, we were at age 8), I had to escape somehow.... out the loudest doors ever made.

More "Team Building" tonight, this time to a dueling piano bar (I think) - the gals on the team are real suckers for opportunities to sing at the top of their drunken lungs, and who am I to stand in their way... even if I do have a meeting to attend at 7am?

So the general update: This is a good conference, I'm having fun, but I also need to mention the following:

1) My feet hurt.
2) I'm exhausted.
3) I miss my family
4) I cannot wait to be home.

I've talked a few times each day to home, and fortunately Pamela has had Bam there until tonight, to help cover... but for the next 48 hours, she's on her own. I will owe her big time, and will totally take full nights for a few... My work here is hard, but I know she's keeping it all going at home, which means we're BOTH burning the candle at both ends. Wish us luck!

Tales from the Limo

I'm in Orlando at the big conference... And it's been pretty much nonstop craziness. The flight was smooth, and I was struck silent by an incredible view of the sunset over a mountainscape of clouds: If I had a camera, it would have been award winning... instead I'll have those images with me forever. It was truly an amazing vista.

5 of us got in on the same flight, rented a car, and got to the hotel by 9, where we were met by 3 others, who gave us Leis to welcome us in. We then trouped over to Oceanaire for a late snack, (if you can call a huge rare AHI filet and a half dozen oysters a "snack") and hit the hay at 1am.

Saturday I got up, alive, and worked out: I was trying to do BodyPump but didn't have the exact right music, so I had to improvise... but I think I got most of it done. Then a good hearty breakfast to form a solid base for what would come...

One of our excellent marketing ideas is to establish goodwill right away when people come to town: So we offer up limo rides to key clients and prospects, with Dom Perignon champagne to share on the 30 minute ride to the hotel. And naturally, you learn a bit about the clients... but it's not a hard sell by any means - the target is for them to have a favorable impression of the company.

When I saw the limos, I actually broke down in laughter: A stretch Hummer. A stretch Escalade. These giant black monsters could seat 10 comfortably, they had crazy neon effects and plush leather seats....

I did three runs (each run took over 90 minutes) - the first was two nice women from Naperville, who just loved the ride and didn't need any champagne thank you. The second run was a grueller - 5 different drop-offs! Weather had created a bottleneck and a bunch of people got in at once. That was a two bottle run, and over 2 hours. By the time I got back I was thinking about bailing and letting my third run (just one guy, getting in after 8) take a sedan by himself... but I decided to stick it out.

It was of course the best ride of the day: He was chatty, a young guy with great experience and eager to talk about the work of their company. By the end, he had actually given me a shopping list of what they're looking for!

But the resonant image for me remains the trips BACK to the airport: sitting alone in the back of a stretch hummer with empty bottles of Dom Perignon at my feet, feeling like it's the final scene of a very strange movie.

After the last of the rides, the whole gang hit Universal Citywalk, and a late steak at Emeril's (which was good, but not earth shaking - high cuisine put on an assembly line for mass consumption)

It's another day of limo rides, and we finish up at a reception at Oceanaire again. We leave in 5 minutes, so here's where I sign off, and I'll have more interesting stories from the trade show!

Muchly Better

1) Isaac is back on Green protocol: His cold has cleared up and his lungs are clear - we're back down to preventative corticosteroids now. That was a BRUTAL couple of weeks there.

2) Bella is battling the cold now, but refuses to give in to it... she's got a duffy doze and lips so dry they're creating a red ring around her mouth, but she's still jumping around like a maniac. And insisting on Go Fish every night - 2-3 games. Last night was terrible: Despite my best efforts (asking repeatedly for cards I knew she didn't have, mostly), I still wound up winning 3 times in a row. So tonight I took a new strategy - I actually stacked the deck against me: The game has 26 letter pairs, not 13 4-tuples, so all I needed to do was put one "A" card on the bottom of the deck, and deal myself the second one from the top of the deck. That way, no matter WHAT happened in the game, there was NO way I could actually win.

And while I felt terrible about cheating, if I hadn't done this, I would have skunked her again. Please don't tell her what I did - she was SO happy to have finally won. And Bella, if you ever read this in the future, don't think ill of me for what I did.

Since I'm going out of town Friday for a week, I've been putting her to bed and having extra cuddles for the past 5 nights and counting. It has been wonderful.

3) A Kindle Note: I finished Cryptonomicon, and appreciated the book SO much more than the first time through. I credit the "Kindle Weight Loss Plan" in which several pounds of the original tome were shaved off, allowing me to savor the words without the pain of a large weight on my chest (literally).

I have begun The Quicksilver - the first (or second, if you count cryptonomicon) in Stephenson's ambitious trilogy (or quadrilogy as before). This I had previously given 200 pages before throwing it down in disgust.

As of now, I've read it for 3 nights, and a) I honestly do not remember having read this ever before, and b) I am really enjoying it. So I'm not sure exactly what to make of that. I mean, literally NO words were even vaguely familiar from my earlier reading... or "reading" as I'm tempted to refer to it.

4) The big article I was interviewed for came out today, and I was front and center on the page... I'm famous I guess! I love my press appearances. I spent the day at an all day cross-team meeting for the new company (the larger entity, not just our company), and made some good connections... and actually brought some good ideas to the process, which surprised me, because these big 150 person strategy sessions are by their very definition supposed to be completely useless... and this one WASN'T. Again, my beliefs are rocked to the core.

5) Things are gearing up for the big trade show, and one of the promotions we do is to invite key clients (or people who we WANT to be our clients) to take a free limo ride from the airport to their hotel... with the caveat that one of us VPs will be in the backseat with them - TALKING OK? JUST TALKING.

So far since I'm the new guy, I only have 5 limo rides set up on Sat and Sun... the other two have dozens... I imagine I'll have a few stories from the trade show floor... don't you think?

6) Pamela's illness was a one-day knockout and she's back on her feet... but she's gone and lost her voice today! She's so cute when she's all whispery.

Deep in the fear...

Pamela definitely got hit with something: She was unwakeable through the night (and Isaac and Bella were VERY wakeable - two resettles for each, which is unheard of... and also very sleepymaking for me). When Isaac awoke, the best thing I could describe is that his head is FILLED with mucus and it's coming out wherever it finds a path: his EYES were gummy, his nose, his mouth... luckily not his ears. Bella was a bit grumpy, but we made a trip to Chipotle to get protein into her to help the mood, and she got a couple of hours of play in with Jenny too.

As the day progressed, Pamela grew more and more horizontal, until by the end of it, we were all in the basement watching episodes of the most frustrating season of Storm Chasers ever: I mean, for 3 episodes, they have absolutely NO luck running into a tornado, and they're all sniping at eachother about it. But there are some cool tornado pictures, so that makes it all ok. But in all it felt a bit like a limbo day. I was taking Airborne, drinking Emergen-C, and doing Netty Pots (nasal irrigation) all day to make sure I don't get this ick!!!

Come bedtime, Bella was crazily ramped up and took some soothing to relax... and then she puked (not sure what that's about - food disagreement? She insisted "It didn't come up from my stomach! It only came out my mouth!!!"). And the commotion woke Isaac up again... and it was a 3 alarm fire drill for a while up there. But in the end everyone's back asleep, I'm blogging just before bed as usual, but this time I'm hoping that blogging AFTER feeding Isaac I won't be called away mid-paragraph as before.

Our Yellow Alert protocol is working pretty well for the little man: His chest sounds clear for now. If the night goes well, we'll revert to the GREEN protocol (corticosteroids for a while to reduce his general inflammation). This whole asthma thing is bringing up memories of being an asthmaboy... though I don't recall it coming on THIS early for me - I think it was around 1st grade when I started with the puffers... but other people would know more than I.

A busy week ahead as we prepare at work for the big trade show that is one of the two "hail mary" plays we make: This is a huge networking and recruiting event in Orlando, and I'm going out Friday to Thursday. My days are scheduled from 8-8 daily. Ah the glamorous life.

I'm still finding my "legs" with this gig: I've been given even more clients, now on the EAST COAST (New York, Boston, Philly), but lest you think this is a lot of territory to cover, remember this:
- I'm not selling a product, I'm selling services.
- The people who need these services know exactly what they're looking for
- Once I'm known to them, it's really a case of when they need something, I've got to find it for them.
- But we're working a bench of 4 people right now, so we're all scrambling to find the requested people for our ESTABLISHED clients...

So until the recruiting really takes off AND a few people roll off of their existing gigs, there's very little advantage to having 15 clients calling me up asking for people, when in fact we don't have them. Fortunately, my base is more than enough to get through a ramp period, so this constraint is not hurting me just yet. I'm helping with the interviewing of new candidates, which is actually quite fun... I've got pretty good at "telling" when a person will work out. We'll see.

In the meantime, I was interviewed for the (large, new owner) corporate newsletter, and got headshots done for my byline... and I did some pro-bono work for an Arizona public data initiative, giving them some relatively bad news about the ease with which they will be able to do something they thought would be a "no brainer". Oh well! I did give them the steps they'd need to take to make it right, however.

Finally, in the geek world I must say I'm happy I hedged my bets and got both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, considering that HD-DVD appears to be the loser in the Hi Def wars... and this got resolved a LOT faster than anyone was expecting - this was supposed to be an epic slog for another 2 years! I have a dozen HD-DVD disks, and they'll still keep on working. No problem! I'm mad at HD-DVD anyway - they totally blew off my rebate submission and never sent my 5 free disks months ago. The blu-ray guys were RIGHT on it, and sent it out fast. At that time I knew they were ones to watch. No regrets on the HD disks I do have - The Bourne Trilogy is incredible.

Allright - off to bed... on MY terms this time!

WheezeyFace

Ah, optimism. My last update was from Wednesday. On Thursday AM, we got called from Isaac's school - his cough was sounding pretty bad to them. So Pamela got him and ran him over to the doctor, and we learned that we're the proud parents of a full blown asthmatic. We're now giving him 6 nebulizers a day - 4 albuterol, 2 cortisone. Once he clears up, we'll go down to just 1 a day, but we're in "yellow mode" now.

How I passed on my little lung issue to non-biological offspring is a great mystery to me.

But he's a little trouper: He's figured out that the nebulizer (cleverly disguised as a penguin actually) is his friend, and he points to it and asks for "MORE" when it's time for his next dose. So we're on day 3 of Yellow Protocol and it does sound like things are getting better... slowly...

Last night Bella spent the night with Jenny, so we had a quiet evening at home, and actually WATCHED A MOVIE. We're the last people on earth to have finally seen "Knocked Up", but it was worth the wait - in-tears funny. It was just the sort of decompress we needed after the week.

Today we got Bella back at noon, then spirited her off to a birthday party with the Swedes... I got to drop a little Swedish on them, telling them "Idag, hon är lite trött" (today, she's a little tired!) We're having dinner with them in 2 weeks, and I'll be working on my conversational gambits non-stop until then!

Pamela's been fading all day, from a strong start in the am, to listless on the couch by dinner, and in bed by 7... I suppose that having Isaac cough in our faces non-stop for 2 weeks has maybe just maybe spread some germs to us...? And with that I hear him stirring (must every blog post end with me zooming off with a warm bottle?)

It always takes time

One lesson I seem to never actually learn: GOOD blueberry pie is a rare thing indeed, and the pleasures of a good slice are so far outweighed by the sheer horribleness of a blah slice that the risk/reward ratio dictates I should never order it, much less buy an entire PIE of it.

But still, I sometimes buy that pie. And I am usually disappointed. As I was tonight. OH WRETCHED PIE!!!!! You make my stomach queasy and my teeth feel like they're fitting to fall clear out.

Ok, Pie Rant Over.

Isaac's chest cold persists, but you can hear him getting better and better... it's a slow journey, however. We've had to give him nebulizers daily to help with the baseline wheeze, but the rattle and rumble of loose phlegm makes him sound vaguely like a truck with a metal floor driving up a bumpy road with a load of unsecured bowling balls inside. Then one fruity "productive cough", and he's fine. I'm considering hanging him upside down to let it all run out... but I think that's perhaps some medieval barber-style thinking. I'll bring out the leeches next, I suppose.

But lest anyone be too worried: His spirits are high, he is as active as EVER, and this cough doesn't seem to be slowing him down, and he seems to be on the upside of the mend.

As if that wasn't enough, he's had 3 molars cut through and the 4th is swollen, red, and ready to pop through... But does he complain? No. Not so much. Unless when he's saying "DIS!!! DIIIIISSSS!!!!!" he means something other than we take it to mean.

Pamela has been cooking delicious meals every night, and it's making my belly very happy. There's a "make, take and bake" place called Sociale up the road, and every dish has been great. Unlike the one we tried before (Let's Dish) the portions are smaller (2-3 people), and the flavors a bit more adventurous. So we open up a "kit" and cook up the pre-measured and pre-marinaded items... and it's pretty reasonable - $4-6 per person per entree.

We have figured out that when we DO cook a recipe, it tends to cost us well over $15/person because the recipe invariably calls for some spice (Cordimander?) we don't own, and we overbuy on the ingredients.... So this will help train us on what is actually needed for a meal.

A quick Bella Funny: As you know, she has a tendency to attach to a random animal. This morning at 6:45, she had Pamela and I up to help her find her "Bulldog", a stuffed animal I could not remember in any way. We tore apart her room as she was in sleepy girl tears... Until she finally remembered where it was: Zipped into a mini suitcase stuffed under the treadmill in our room. Of COURSE.

No cause for concern

Thank you for the cards, letters, and bouquets, but Isaac is doing just fine: He settled down last night shortly after the wake-up that interrupted my last blog, and actually slept the night (!!!!). Today he was a bit runny nosed, but nowhere near as mucus-ey as the previous days. He's settling down now for the night, and he does still have a rumble in his chest, but he's coughing it out as needed.

He was in good enough health to hit the road today: We went to Eden Prairie Center to the kid's play area that Bella has dubbed "Plastic Land" ("because it's all made of plastic, right?"), and a haircut for Bella.

In Plasticland, it's a 20x50 walled area with one 5-foot gap in one wall for entry and exit. Last time we went, Isaac really figured out the play area and had a blast. Today, we put him on the structure... and he climbed off, ran STRAIGHT through the gap and made a beeline for the escalators 50 feet away. He almost made it. 5 times. Eventually we were able to redirect his efforts away from Steve McQueen-like escape maneuvers and entice him with the thrill of climbing up and doing the slides. Which he did like, when he wasn't pestering ALL of the adults for their cellphones.

So far from any relaxation for mom and dad here, managing Isaac in this space wound up being as much work as managing him inside of, say, a fine china shop. Good thing he's so darn cute.

Bella was a super-duper helper, which meant she insisted on pushing Isaac's stroller EVERYWHERE, and would melt down if one of us tried to help. So we made EXCELLENT time in the mall. But whatchagonnado?

And now Isaac needs some cuddles, so off I go.

Yuck!

Today had the initial appearances of a day of doom: Isaac's cold keeps on lingering, and Bella was near tears from the get-go: She's in a growth spurt (physical and emotional), and has a VERY short fuse. All week, she's been grabbing pen and paper and starting art right away in the morning, and that was NOT cutting it for her today. So it was time for some Daddy one-on-one.

We went off to Edinborough Park for an hour of getting the ya-yas out (along with half of the kids in the 55435 zip code as well), then to Bachmans for a stroll in the greenhouse and a quiche lunch. She ate the whole quiche this time, meaning she's storing up for construction. She decided that since it was almost Valentine's Day, we should get something nice for Mommy: She picked out an insane pink bromiliad, but was talked into a less flashy orange one by the checkout lady (the pink one was almost dead, which explains the fullness of its bloom, I suppose). Bella's mood was quite light by this point and we were having a great time.

When we got home, no friends were available to play, so we took on some projects: Pamela got out her Valentines and got her to sign them all... then it was off to the basement to watch me ROCK OUT on Rock Band, and then we relaxed to the final hour of the Ekanuba Dog Show, which had Bella yelling out "I want THAT DOG... and THAT ONE TOO!!!"

So here's the fun story: We had baked curry chicken breasts stuffed with veggies for dinner. Bella was ADAMANT she wanted nothing to do with this food. So we gave her some rice, and a few cut up pieces of chicken on her plate, just in case she wanted to give the food a TRY.

(Full disclosure: While Bella has some unique things she loves - Tacos, Bean Burrito, Pad Thai, Spinach Quiche, Tortellini - she is very resistant to trying new things. So we are "incenting" (bribing) her: If she tries 10 new things, she'll get a new Webkin. Think what you want - it's working for us).

So we tell her just to try ONE bite of the chicken. She sits in a huff for a while, then grabs the smallest possible sub-fragment of chicken she can find, pops it into her mouth and yells "YUCK!!!!". We thanked her for at least trying - and hey, maybe the curry was a bit spicy.

A moment later, she grabs another tiny piece and says "I'm just going to try one more tiny piece". Pops it in. YUCK. Pamela and I exchange glances, and decide to let this pass without comment.

She spears a more normal sized piece with her fork and says "I'm going to see if this MEDIUM piece is the same". Pops it in, and says "EEEEYUCK!!!!" And proceeds to eat all of the rest of the chicken on her plate, while saying YUCK after each bite.

Emboldened, I take a piece and dip it into the mango chutney, which she grabs and says "Yuck... AND TOO SPICY". So I offer up a big piece without any chutney, "just to take away that spicy flavor". Again, "Yuck". By this point, Pamela and I are doing every thing we can do to keep from breaking out in laughter. She asks Pamela to cut her some more of that Chicken.

Now thinking about that Webkin (since she got Curry Chicken AND Mango Chutney added to the list), she decides to try chicken and rice ON THE SAME FORK AT THE SAME TIME. Perhaps sensing that the jig is up on Yuck, she decides she's full after another bite or 2. So in the end, she Yucked her way through a half of a chicken breast....

We then retired to the living room and played around 75 hands of Go Fish, with her beating me almost every time.

Yuck number 2 is that Isaac's cold has now moved to his chest, and he's been waking up all evening with a rasping cough that has him short of breath and scared. I've already done one nebulizer on him, but it's more flemmy than asthma. And he's up again, so here's where my post ends.

Adrift in Time and Space

A very short business trip this time, but oh so much packed in!!!

Tuesday AM, I got up at 4:30 because Bella wanted to join us in bed, but being such a wiggleworm she chased me out of the bed with her tossing and turning. A shower and I was off to my workout. Tuesdays are Step, and it's a new release (we get new music and steps every 3 months) - and there's some new stuff that I just LOVED.

I changed into my suit in the bathroom at Time Out, and headed off to the Airport. No first class upgrade this time: This flight started in Ohio and was headed to Portland and then to Hawaii. The plane was PACKED with people with some affiliation - perhaps a multi-level marketing scheme, perhaps a church? But people were standing in the aisles nattering for hours. The woman behind me was pontificating on everything... and got me good and mad with the old chestnut "I like Obama, but the south won't accept a Black Man - I'm sorry but that's just how it is..." Sure lady, take a look at who took Georgia!

In Portland, I was meeting with a client, making sure everything was going well. For some reason, she took me as a confidant immediately and I was subjected to a deep lesson in the politics and dysfunction of that particular institution. Information I will no doubt be able to use in some capacity... So I'll call that visit a success: No concrete sales built, but some amazing intel gathered that will benefit me in the area.

Meetings done, I had a flight up to Seattle for the night. The plan was meetings with some potential clients in the AM them home from there. Strangely, the Portland to Seattle to Minneapolis route was actually much cheaper than a simple round trip to Portland. Plus I had the potential for meeting Paul and Caesar up there!

The meeting ended at 4, my flight was at 6, but then I got some key information: Izumi, the near legendary Sushi restaurant where Caesar and Paul regularly enjoy "vast rafts of sushi" at the hands of a chef who loves them.... stops seating for dinner at 7:30. My options seemed clear: Get to the airport and try to get on an earlier flight... or just start driving. I got on the horn with the rental agency, cleared the one-way drive, and got going.

2.5 hours later, I had worked on some Japanese, some Dutch, and caught up on the early Super Tuesday results. I had time to check into my hotel, splash water on my face, and head up to Kirkland for an insane sushi feast. Caesar, Miho, and Paul all met me there, and we had a rollicking two hours of raw fish eating and fine sake drinking. I got back to my hotel at 9:30pm PST (which was 11:30PM CST, meaning I had been going full bore for 18 hours), and zonked out.

Today I woke up LATE (6:45 am PST, which is 8:45am CST, a time I have almost NEVER slept to, mostly due to the kiddies). I had a leisurely morning and switched my flight to an earlier one, so that I could get home in time to see the kiddies. The flight was uneventful (and coach again - no point in spoiling myself).

Time flew as I watched videos on my iPhone - Oh my GOD! Terminator - the Sarah Connor Chronicles is so AMAZING!!! They're breaking my mind!!! Also watched a few episodes of the Sarah Silverman show, which is so funny it should be illegal. It's so crude and horrible, I can't stop watching.

So now I'm back, and am dealing with the strange feeling that for 36 hours I was in a different time zone. Again, 7 hours of air travel, 3 hours of driving, 1 meeting, one lunch with a consultant, 1 fun sushi dinner, and now I'm home. It looks like home is where I'm staying for the next 2 weeks at least. The next "big thing" for me is the massive trade show I'm attending at the end of Feb - a full week away. Pamela's mom (or "Bam" as we call her) is coming up to help out for a few days in there... while I schmooze, schmooze, and then do some schmoozing.

Oh, and what of the old client? I got an email from my lieutenant over there who said that Dr B, the Passionate Syrian, has decided to take him on as a confidant... and has begun telling strange "parables" to him. When I read this, I started laughing uncontrollably.

Of Work and Other Things

As I've noted, while I've started my new life as "The Vee-Pee", I remain entangled with the old client as we figure out whether the Vendor has done a punishably bad thing, or just a sort of bad thing, and also to figure out who will replace me (with the adjunct of what they will be doing when they replace me, depending of whether we like or do not like this vendor anymore.)

So we had the big come-to-jesus meeting with the Vendor on the 31st, and I was very pleased. They brought the right attitude, the right people, and a commitment to do right by us. They walked us through the longer term vision, and made it clear that while they had radically shifted focus, they will get to the same end goal as we needed/expected, only one year later.

The down side was that the passionate Doctor B (who you'll recall referred to the entire project as a 'clusterf**k') showed up toward the end of the meeting: He sat quietly as I recounted the points of our discussion, and how I felt that we were getting back on track. He fixed me with a look and slid his gaze over to the vendors. He gestured at the whiteboard and said

"All of this, all you have discussed, it means nothing to me. My colleagues are surprised and disappointed at what has happened, but not me. I have known from the very beginning that you have an inferior product and that we would not be getting what we needed, and so when it was revealed that you had LIED TO US, it was not a surprise to me."

It went on like this for a good 20 minutes. He ranted about a wide variety of disappointments... only a few of which could truly be said to be a problem of the toolset as opposed to his own departmental workflow... but no matter, this was Vendor Beat-up time.

To their credit, the Vendor took their lumps - well the lumps that were theirs to take, didn't try to defend themselves, just deferred and promised to work on things. He stomped off, and we were all left in stunned silence. It was actually pretty embarassing, but we all were able to see the event for what it was - a diva rage.

Immediately afterward, we had a very promising interview with a lady who I think can take the reins of the project very ably, and she can start in 2 weeks, allowing me to escape!

Back to the "real job": I'm off to Portland and Seattle this week (just one night, but I'll be home late) - I get to visit Paul and Caesar this trip too! Good times!

And now, it's off to bed, my blogging done.

Most Bloggable

Friday Night:
Had the boys over for Scotch and a Movie: We did Bourne Identity (yes, AGAIN for me), Punch Pizza, and some delightful Glen-somethings. We were pushed to Bourne by a video from the Jimmy Kimmel show showing Sarah Silverman singing a song about... loving... Matt Damon. It's quite worth the view... but for mature ears only. Youtube has it.

As usual it was a fun evening of laughter, and a good tonic to end the week with (I'll update on work in a post to follow).

Saturday: THE DAY.
Part 1: The Disco.
From 9:30-11 we were at Bella and Isaac's school for their big winter party. The gym was all done up as a disco, teachers were being Dee-jays and singing along with YMCA, Who let the dogs out, I like to move it... the hits. Bella started by wearing one of my old shiny disco shirts, but somehow it moved to my body almost immediately, while she looks much more demure in black.

Isaac was actually overwhelmed for the first 45 minutes - clinging to us and taking a real "wait and see" approach. Trepidation be damned, he did insist on reaching out and being held by many others - he just loves to make the rounds. Fortunately, he found his dancing feet and started to cut a rug like mad, doing a spinning dervish dance, then doing a sideways gallop (not unlike a lemur) across the floor, then planting for more spins.

He took a good nap once we got home... and Bella fueled up for lunch because we needed to be strong for....


Part 2: The Rally
Yes, we went downtown for the Barak Obama Rally at Target Center. We knew it would be big - over 20,000 people were expected, full capacity for the arena. We showed up right when doors opened at 1:30, which meant we were at the very end of a line that had formed at around 7 that morning.

We had a spot in a skyway around 4 blocks away from the entrance, at 8th street going over 1st Ave. It was very wide and bright, and Isaac decided it was time to run. We went up and down the full length of that skyway at least 20 times, and he showed no signs of tiring. He did press the emergency call buttons TWICE, and we had to explain to the operator it was NOT an emergency, sorry!

He also made a few friends in the line - a pair of African American women in line behind us, a young man with a very colorful emblem on his oversized pants (he kept running up and slapping his behind), a lutheran grandmother, a trio of hyper kids who were climbing up the walls, and many others. One of us held the line with the other monitored his progress. Bella sometimes ran with Isaac, sometimes stayed in the line and drew.

We finally got INTO the center by 3:30, and got some nosebleed seats up very very high. The rally got started by 4 and Obama came out and spoke at 4:30, going for almost an hour to the rapt crowd. Bella was pretty tired and bored of the proceedings, and Isaac spent most of the time in the laps of the same ladies we met in line earlier - he loved them, and they let him play with their cellphones - it was a match made in heaven.

And while the acoustics were TERRIBLE where we were sitting so his speech was borderline unintelligible to my ears, we were enraptured by his presence - the man has AMAZING charisma, and I couldn't help but feel I was in the midst of history in the making.

Since Bella was such a good sport (4 hours of boring grown-up stuff), we gave her a new Webkin - the frog covered in hearts. She's thinking of calling it "Scott".

Part 3: The Banquet
While Pamela and Kids settled in for the night, (we tried to get sitters, but we struck out on 6 different options, so took it as a sign), I was off to the 25th anniversary Save the Met Hot Stove League Banquet.

I may have blogged about this in the past: This was a benefit that was started 26 years ago to save Met Stadium, and when that failed, it became a benefit for some underprivileged little league teams, but mostly an excuse for true lovers of baseball to congregate, swap stories about the game, and eat ballpark food. Two things that must be clarified: Yes it's the 25th anniversary, because they accidentally had two 9th annual banquets. Second, yes, I've gone to either 24 or 25 of these things as a bonding thing with my Dad, despite the fact I have not ever truly taken to the sport in "that way".

But you don't really need to love the sport to appreciate a good story, and there were so many great stories being told over the years... that the banquet has become sort of a cultural touchpoint for me; I feel lucky to be invited to this much the same as one might feel honored to participate in a Japanese Green Tea ceremony, or visit a Latin Mass. It may not be your religion, but you can feel holiness.

Local News Legend Dave Moore was the original EmCee, until he passed, and the hat has passed a few times... The guests included players, umpires, coaches, owners, agents, writers, and poets. You were always going to get some interesting stories.

So after 25/26 years, they've decided to call it quits - this thing never makes money, and it's a labor of love for the founders, who really are too busy for this sort of thing. And it was an amazing lineup: Tony Oliva, Clark Griffith, Mike Veeck, Bill "Spaceman" Lee... The stories were just crazy, including Mike Veeck telling us ALL about his legendary "Disco Destruction at Comiskey Park" back in 1979, when he dynamited 18000 disco records and scorched the infield, forfeiting the game...

Or Tony O telling about how in Cuba, they learn Baseball in the womb, and how when he was recruited for the majors in the early 1960s how he didn't even know people played baseball in the US - he thought the apotheosis of baseball was to play in the Havana leagues... and how happy he is to have found a home in Minnesota, where he remains. Or Bill Lee talking about... you know what I can't even tell you what he was talking about because he was crazy all over the map. We were all laughing and gasping for air with disbelief at what was coming out of his mouth...

Sorry I can't be more specific, but look the man up online if you want to know about him. Wikipedia notes "In 1988, he ran for President of the United States on the Canadian Political Rhinoceros Party ticket, but failed to appear on the ballot in any state. His slogan for the election was "No guns. No butter. Both can kill.""

Sunday: The Brunch
Our former neighbors from across the street came by for a brunch at our house this morning: Bella had playmates all morning, and we had great conversation and a lot of bacon and pancakes. It was actually pretty low-key... But you can see how the weekend was a bit on the busy side. I probably could blog a few more pages of details on all of the events!

Out of Sync

I'm still adjusting to my new schedule and the new expectations of my work: This is not a punch the clock sort of position, but I'd still like to feel like I'm showing up... My CEO dropped by and laughed because he recognized the transition from billing consultant to sales can be a rough one and that I'd need time to find the new rhythm.

I submitted my expenses for the previous week's trip, somewhat sheepish about the costs (because of the last minute trip, my airfares were not the cheapest). Turns out my boss submitted almost twice as much for that week (he had one more leg of the journey), so no worries. I'm beginning to understand why the company needs to make a certain margin on consultants - something I had chafed at AS a consultant, but it has been illuminating to see this side. To BE this side, I should say.

LinkedIn is like a Facebook or myspace for professionals - it has been helpful for me to get hooked up with some previous co-workers. I've been on it for 6 months or so. But once you add "Vice President" to your profile name, you get a lot of interesting emails. Like I said, it's an adjustment.

One advantage to the new position is that I've been able to be home most mornings a little later (or more accurately, come home after my 6am workouts and hang out before work) and been able to get morning cuddle time with the kiddies, help get them dressed and fed, and give Pamela time for a shower.

Isaac has been borderline out of his mind with a combo of brainstorming AND 4 teeth coming in (two cut in the last day). He's been aggressive and precocious. Yesterday, he was running a circuit in the kitchen of "Things Mom Hates Me To Do", one after another: Turn on the dishwasher, hang on the oven door, swipe my hands over the tabletop to find anything up there, attack the printer, climb the couch and turn up the stereo - repeat as necessary. Pamela was picking up the phone to call me and Bella asked "Who are you calling, Mom? The Police?"

And yet, he is now saying please and thank you, and singing like a little bird: He has music in his bones. This morning I put on some Black Eyed Peas, and he was shaking his rump all across the kitchen. That kid is a born entertainer.

In the midst of it all, Pamela takes her house duties seriously: The house has officially changed over from post-Christmas Winter decorations to Valentines - Red roses and hearts are everywhere now. She amazes me every day with her creative touches.... I think that Isaac's boundless energy MUST be rubbing off on her!

Isaac versus the iPods

Not content to have destroyed two iPods with his suspicious "putting them in his mouth" maneuver, Sir Isaac the Destroyer of iPods has launched a two prong attack:

1) A renewed set of attacks against the new iPod Nano: It was found suspiciously wet and unresponsive... a careful washing seems to have brought back much of the functionality...

2) New attacks against the SPEAKERS by way of ripping the pod out after a rocking back and forth motion. Now our two iPod docks (JBL and Bose) and non-functional.

He is devious. I suspect a conspiracy with kickbacks from none other that Sir Jobs himself.

Safe and Sound

Well who'd a thunk it: My flight in from LA actually got in a half hour EARLY tonight, so I got home in time to put both Isaac AND Bella to bed. Bella was on me like a passport wallet on a European vacation, and it was wonderful to be showered with affection.

On little gripe on the Kindle (GASP) - as it is "electronic", the airlines want it off during takeoff and landing, which is a good 10-20 minutes each way of reading time... so I DO need some sort of deadtree media as I travel. Fortunately the swedish textbook fits the bill. On the Kindle I was rotating through three books and the Times this trip:

- Crucial Conversations - a good book about better communication skills during difficult situations: Very eye opening, and I've already learned a lot.
- Cryptonomicon: Another BIG Neal Stephenson book which I'm appreciating a lot more without the weight. I think that subconsciously I have a tendency to assess a book by how many pages I've gone through and how many remain, and in Kindleland, your sense of pages is completely off - it's easier to focus on the story.
- Colloquial Japanese: A japanese text to help me with writing and reading and the rules of grammar - taking it up from my simple verbal skills.

At the hotel this AM, I was sure to get up really early so I could pretend to be on Central time. I did exercise, and then rewarded myself with an omelet made by a Kyrgistani woman named Olga. Bolshaya Spaceba! Then a few hours of work writing up my results of the trip and sending followup messages to our clients... and off to the airport.

On the flight, I took advantage of the new iTunes Rentals and watched the Simpsons movie on the iPhone. It was just wonderful, and helped the time pass. I also worked on my japanese writing, and some swedish exercises as well... I really want these flights to be productive time for me.

Back at home, Isaac was thrilled to see me, and kept growling "Daaaaa Daaaaaa!" as he cuddled up. The love was only briefly upset by a burp gone horribly wrong soaking us both with some larger percentage of the 16 ounces of bottle he had greedily gulped down. Ah, kidpuke. It's good to be home.

Tomorrow I need to make my appearance with the Docs at the old client and try to figure out what my strategy will be next week when we meet with the "vendor who let us down". We shall see. But after those meetings, I'm calling it a week, and hopefully hitting the weekend a bit early! Huzzah!

No Cal

Not referring to whether it's fattening or not, no, I'm talking about Northern California. Yesterday I flew out to San Fran with my boss and pal Mike with the goal of two client visits, and two meals with consultants to get intel. Alas our flight out was delayed 2 hours, so the first consultant meal got missed... but all else has gone delightfully to plan!

The drive to Sacramento was quite beautiful - rolling green hills, occasionally dotted with cattle and goats, punctuated with unnervingly identical strip mall eruptions every 10 miles. The closer to Sacramento, the flatter it got, and the more rows of orchards... this is farm country.

On the way to Sacramento, I got very very hungry: I hadn't eaten for hours, and by my food clock, it was well past dinner. So I got Mike to stop at an In-n-Out Burger. This is a California chain (they've reached a little further, but it's intensely regional). The menu offers 4 items (burger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, fries), and freshness is their watchword: Everything made to order, potatoes are peeled and julienned as you watch. They pride themselves on politeness and cleanliness... it's maybe the best fast food place in the universe.

In Sacramento, our contact had recommended two hotels - one very close to the site, and one a bit further, but much nicer. We decided to go for the close one, since that's where our people stay... and while it wasn't bad for me, it was terrible for Mike: He got the "Ice Machine" room, and had people making noise outside his room at all hours - getting only 3 hours of sleep in total. Our consultant couldn't believe we had stayed there - and even though the job site is a mere 1.5 BLOCKS from the hotel, she said it was not safe to walk to! Me, I think it wasn't so bad...

Dinner out with our Consultant was good, though she's a vegetarian and didn't much like that I got the Cassoulet (with duck, pork, sausage, and white beans). But she ate maybe 4 leaves of butter lettuce in the course of the evening, so I suspect she's not so much against meat as much as against FOOD. But the conversation was very pleasant, and she's a GREAT consultant - I'm lucky to have her there. And the only fish dish they had was a scallops in cream sauce, so I wasn't TRYING to be "mister MEAT", but the circumstances dictated it.

Today we drove 3 hours from Sacramento down to Fresno. Yes, we stopped at another In-n-Out on the way, and this time got the burgers "Animal Style" - this is off the "secret menu" only available to those in the know - it adds grilled onions and the burger is fried with mustard... oooooohhhh it was good. Fortunately I had worked out, so I didn't feel TOO guilty, but I'll need to be sure to do it tomorrow too, or the pants will not fit.

Between the San Fran to Sacramento leg and the Sacremento to Fresno leg, it was over 5 hours of drive time with Mike... and I'm pleased to note that the time passed quickly and the conversation flowed without trouble. That is a good thing. The scenery on the Fresno leg was very flat, lots of orchards, punctuated with depressingly similar trailer parks every 20 miles... More than a few farms looked to be in complete disrepair - it'll be interesting to see what this corridor looks like in 10 years - will the cities (modesto, stockton, lodi, madera) between Sacramento and Fresno blur into one long strip-mall-o-plex? You can already see the tendrils extending north and south, and the older businesses starting to go to seed... Soon it will be all "Bed Bath and Beyond" wherever you go.

I was seized with a romantic notion to swoop in and buy one of these farms and really have a go at it. Then I remembered The Grapes of Wrath, and thought better of it.

In Fresno, the potential client seemed eager enough, but had a strange condition: Would it be ok if they didn't pay until late 2009? They made a mistake with their capital requisition, so the funds won't be available until then. That's usually the point at which you throw the smoke bombs down and disappear in a haze, but no, we smiled and said we could work something out. Despite the odd financing, it looks like a lot of potential. On the way out the door, with loaded arms and jackets on, the client decided to keep on chatting... more of a monologue really... and literally we had to fake another appointment to escape after 30 minutes.

At the Fresno airport, we got on a tiny little 30 seat prop plane for the jaunt down to LA. It was a bumpy ride, but quite pleasant. I amused myself by thinking it was 1957 and we're in a DC3 or a Constellation, with wood paneling, and we're wearing felt hats and smoking pipes...

When we landed at LAX, there was a beautiful moment - we were landing, while on a parallel runway a 747 from Virgin was just taking off - so we moved together for a time, us slowing, him speeding up... and in the darkness with the brilliant halogen/xenon lights, it had a science fiction feel. We then taxied all around the airport, and with our size, it felt like we were in a go kart speeding around. We almost scooted under a few much larger planes, which were like hulking whales. We felt nimble, agile... like a mouse running across the floorboards.

A quick meal at the hotel, and we're in for the night. A noon flight home for me (between flight time and time change, I won't see home until after 6). So I'll get some work done in the room in the AM.

So a relatively successful first business trip: No signed papers, but that wasn't expected. No, we made some good contacts, got some good leads on work that is coming up that we can position ourselves for, and most importantly had some fun.

But I'm SO looking forward to seeing Pamela and Bella and Isaac: I'm imagining their hugs right now, and I hope they feel my virtual hug in their dreams.

The semi-first day

Well you all know I sort of started the new job a few months back, but today was the day that I officially started. I showed up, went into my office, and as is the tradition in any job, spent the first few hours with tech support trying to figure out my logins and whatnot. But by lunch, I had working systems, a whiteboard on order, and email flowing.

Now, way back in 2000 when I started with this particular company, my boss sat in this very office, and there were all sorts of hijinks in rearranging his furniture, redecorating, making faces... and now 6 years later I am in that very office, while Mike is just next door (in a bigger office, still the boss). People who I worked with back in 2001-2003 when I was working out of that space are still there, and it's old home week. By 2003 I had started consulting at client sites again, so it wasn't a home for the past few years as much as a place to drop by.

Well, it's home again.

It kicked off right - Famous Daves pulled pork and ribs were catered in, so I had a solid feed of PORK on day one. And it was fabulous. Any gig that starts with pork has GOT to be ok. They even got some packets of the spicy stuff.

I'm off to northern California tomorrow morning for two nights - The stars aligned and we were able to get two critical client meetings, plus one meeting to get intel on two even bigger ones... so it'll be a good trip. I got bumped up to First both ways, so it'll be a relatively comfy trip too. (I shouldn't get used to that... but I see it as auspicious!) Hopefully the hotels will allow for the Videochat! I had trouble making it work in Chicago last weekend.

I even got home a bit early today to spend extra time with the kiddos: Bella and I poured toxic gooey stuff into molds in the hopes of making translucent dinosaurs with visible bones. We didn't have time to play Go Fish, which made a dramatic resurgence last night (No cheating and no dad-assist, Bella thoroughly creamed me last night TWICE). She fell asleep resting her head on mine in bed, and it was a wonderful feeling. And then she started snoring. Ah, she's her mother's daughter.

Bella has fallen prey to an "online trend" - oh the trials of parenting in this future world. She and her friends are interacting in "Webkinz" world: It's a virtual space where you pretend to be your stuffed animal. It's brilliant marketing, and every kid in the universe seems to be hooked: The dolls cost a little extra, but they are the key to the online world. For younger kids, there's just games and decorating... but as you get older, you chat with friends and there's a tamagotchi-like element to "Caring" for your webkin - when you "visit" online, you need to feed, walk, and play with them, or they get surly or dysentery or something. I don't want to know.

My good friend Paul S' kids love them, as do some of Bella's cousins from Texas, so I think they'll all be "remote friends". I also suspect this will jumpstart Bella's read/write skills so she can chat with friends. I'm sure of it!

Oh speaking of reading - I also have my first "required reading" at work: "Crucial Conversations" - a study of personality types and how to best relate to them, as well as how to avoid self defeating pitfalls when talking to difficult others. This was left on my desk (un-ironically) and is being read by the whole management team. Of course I got a copy for my Kindle - there's no reason to carry wood pulp around, is there?

The Great Escape

Yesterday was my last full day with the Cardiology project: When I accepted my new VP position, I did so knowing this day would come and not really be movable. I gave over 2 months of notice, and tried to leave things in a good state. But things rarely work out that way:

The careful reader will recall that the vendor took a ghastly detour, deciding to change their product focus, which threw the very nature of my project into question... for the past 3 weeks, I've been exploring legal options, reviewing RFPs and Contracts, and trying to put a positive spin on this for the physicians, who are not taking it particularly well...

That's not quite right: The passionate doc who referred to the whole mess as a "Cluster" a few weeks back. He's now walking around with a peaceful grin on his face. He has figured out his time for bluster is over - to truly emerge from this crisis on the top with what he wants, he is taking the peacemaker role - the "let bygones be bygones, let's work toward the future". It's amazing to watch...

Anyway, my date couldn't move, so I've tried to put things into as good of condition as possible, but things are truly no more decided than before, and won't be until a big meeting on the 31st. Which I'm coming back for of course!

But today, I spent a leisurely morning with the family, reading the funnies, building dinosaurs, and bench pressing the kids. Now I'm at the airport - a one night-er to Chicago for the annual party and planning meeting. It's at the Peninsula, but I'm staying 2 blocks over at a Courtyard - which is just fine.

Next week, it's a 3 day trip to Northern California, which already looks to be a pretty positive time - we have 3 big meetings set up, and they're bringing the right people, so it could be bidnesstime. I'll wear my power underwear just to make sure.

And the answer that you are all likely looking for: Nope - not getting the Macbook Air. Yes it's little and sexy. Yes it's beautiful. BUT it is not THAT much lighter than my current macbook, and it's certainly slower, and certainly has less disk space... So there's nothing pushing me in that direction. Yet.

Actually, my Macbook has a bunch of scratches and scuffs on it - I decided not to baby it - and it really feels like it's "mine". And having replaced its dang hard drive 3 times (restoring from scratch each time), I have some sweat equity in it too.

Oh - some kid stuff: Bella has been giving out tons of cuddles these days, so I'm loving that. The other night, she laid down along Uncle Ant's legs in the dining nook, an extended cuddle that sent the Ant to heaven. Isaac is getting better and better about eating, and about sleeping: He's down to one wakeup usually (knock wood). I think that this will get better and better the more nights I stay away: Pamela is a deeper sleeper than I am and Isaac needs to really REV UP for her to respond, whereas when I hear a snort or murmur I'm up heating water. Yes, I am probably the problem here.

And on a language front: I had a few email exchanges with Annika and Rickard, our Swedish friends, and I did my best to keep it in Swedish. And I understood what they were writing back, so the language junkie is on his way back!!!!

Well, time to get over to the gate and get on the plane I suppose.

Suddenly a week later

You guessed it, things got crazy again.

My paternal grandmother was something of a family anchor: Christmas Eve at her house was THE event that brought the far flung family together from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and points east. She passed away a while back (I think 8 years), and we began a new tradition. Every year around her birthday, we celebrate it by assembling in St Paul at the Lexington Restaurant - a mini reunion of sorts. The Lex was one of her favorite restaurants, and we always welcome her to the table by saving a seat and ordering a scotch and water for her.

The food is always great, the conversation lively, and by the end of the night, her drink has made its way around the table, with everyone taking a sip - a communion of sorts.

When it's this time of year, we always open the house to our cousins from Madison (technically Fort Atkinson... ok), and their three boys. Bella loves playing with Seeger (5), Liam (4) and Julian (2), and Isaac got right into the swing of it as well. It was a raucous, fun time. They stayed from Thursday to Monday.

When Seeger showed up, Bella marched right up, stood toe to toe and said "Hi. I'm Five". Seeger responded "I'm five and a half". Bella paused, then said "That's interesting. My grandma said you're six." and with the pleasantries out of the way, they disappeared into the fort made from sheets, chairs, beanbags, and the dining room table that served as home base for the kids.

Unfortunately, Isaac drew the short straw - we gave Julian his room and Isaac joined us in our room in a portacrib. It threw off his rhythms, and we had some good screamfests. Some of them might have been from gas too, however, since he's been experimenting with lots more foods in the last weeks... But hopefully he'll be back in shape tonight in his own crib.

Oh yes, the dad Harman is Dutch, so I endeavored to learn a few words in Nederlands for his benefit (yes, Pimsleur again). So when I walked in Thursday, I greeted him "Daag minheer!" (hello sir!), to which he looked wide eyed, and responded "Daag! Hoe gaat het met je?" (Hi! How are you doing?) Quick on my feet, I had to answer "Niet heel goed." (Not so good! Hey, I was just getting off of work!) We traded little Dutch phrases all weekend, and he was quite impressed with my pronounciation. Pimsleur rocks, as always.

While I did play hooky from the workouts (with bad sleeping, 6am workouts would be a recipe for disaster), work itself didn't give me many breaks, as the "situation" keeps getting more dicey... but my exit is imminent, and all I can do is try to put things in place to help them through this. In the "looking forward" category, I went to the annual party (Minneapolis office) on Friday night, and had a great time with the team: I'm REALLY looking forward to getting going with these people!

This Friday is a short trip to Chicago for a night for the Chicago annual party, then next week is my trip to California - I have appointments in San Fran (Stanford) and Fresno... and a possible jog to LA as well. There'll be a few miles on me in January.

Well, that gets us sort of caught up for the moment...

The REV

Short update: Just had dinner with one of our favorite couples... and they announced a date for their wedding. And they asked me to participate in the wedding. But get this:

They asked me to go get ordained online and officiate! They want ME to marry them!

This is flat out the coolest thing I've ever been asked to do. I am beyond honored, and SO excited...

Now, which church: First UFO-itarian? Church of the Recidivist? Our Most Holy Disapproval? SPACE CHURCH? The mind reels at the possibilities!!!

Ah the kids

We had a visit with my mom today - had some of her wonderful soup and some great chatting. Isaac was amazingly well behaved: The house is full to bursting with knick knacks (in a good way), and somehow he did not go into his default "what's this? What's this? What's THIS? GrabGrabGrabGrab" mode. He seemed happy to bounce on the couch, whack on drums, and have walkabout adventures... but there were few causes to jump up and redirect him (aside from his attention to the admittedly fascinating space heater).

Bella was in a shy mood, and had Pamela and me relate most of the information she wanted to share... though by the end Mom and Bella were doing an impressive rat hand-puppet duet of a Josh Groban song, so things had warmed up pretty well.

Afterward, we took them to Edinborough Park for them to run around... alas, Isaac's pants were a size too large, and I spent much of the play time racing across the gym floor pulling his pants up from around his ankles. He thought it was great fun. Bella was a bit reserved again, until she saw the new moonwalk: A giant doghouse. She pointed it out excitedly and ran into it for a good 15 minutes. She came out a bit bounced and sweaty and announced "THAT WAS AWESOME".

Once home, Isaac went right to bed, and Bella proved a bit brittle and overtired: We got an All Creatures and some pizza into her and then up to bed. While we were resting, she turned to me and asked:

"Dad, do you remember all the good times we've had together?"

Of course I rattled on for a good 10 minutes about all of the wonderful things I recall, and how I love being with her every minute of every day. She had her eyes closed with a sweet smile as I serenaded her with memories. When I stopped, she snapped her eyes open:

"Just one more question, Dad. How do they make corn?"

I told her that was a bit of an involved story and it was a bit late to get into it... She said "Well, I guess you could just tell me about that tomorrow.". She then rolled over and within a minute started snoring.

Can you stand another Kindle Post?

Just a couple of thoughts on my continued affair du Kindle.

1) It fell. A few weeks back, I was sitting on a high stool and it slipped out of my pocket: A good 4 foot fall onto hard tile. The back flew off, and it came apart a little, but a quick snap back into place and it's all fine. The only issue is a hairline crack on one of the buttons. This will sound crazy, but every day I notice that crack, I think "Hmmm, wonder why that hasn't healed yet?"

2) There's a specific sort of book that I like that has very little chance of being interesting to anyone else, and will be doomed to take up 1 inch of shelfspace for the rest of time. One such book was "DeLuxe - How Luxury Lost its Luster" - a detailed accounting of how the major Luxury brand conglomerates have pursued the middle market and how this cannibalism sows the seeds of their demise. Fun reading, but not essential, and probably not good enough for me to INSIST that someone else read.

So I ordered it and read it in the Kindle. I just finished it last night. Instead of a hunk of pulp, I just have a few bits and bytes of this book now, and the storage space is in no way onerous. Looking in my library room, there are dozens of books which I have enjoyed that I wish I could zap into ether in a similar manner.

3) 2-3 years back (not mentioned in the blog, I checked) I was trying to make my way through Neal Stephenson's ambitious trilogy which began with "The Quicksilver". These were 800-1000 page hardback tomes, which after 300 pages of the first one, I gave up in disgust: The author has a tendency toward circuitous writing, long cul-de-sacs of detail which can be a true delight... but in this particular case, I found myself desperately wishing he'd get TO THE POINT ALREADY.

In retrospect, I'm realizing that part of my annoyance was that these books were huge and heavy, and I was resenting the fact that not only was the story not moving quickly, but I was having trouble breathing while holding this gigantic brute of a book on my chest at night.

I have begun re-reading another Stephenson book in the Kindle (Interface - his techno thriller), and am delighting in each detour, each deeply imagined detail, and am inclined to turn a more sympathetic eye back to the trilogy... but only if I can download them into the Kindle: My svelte little reader will swallow those 30 pounds of ponderous book-age and serve it up one cheerful page at a time, never weighing more than its 8-10 ounces, never swelling the sides of my briefcase unnaturally.

Yes, I might finally read that series now that I have a technological means to do so that does not leave me literally breathless.

Back in time...

After a full day of more meetings and an easy flight home, I walked in the door just after 8 last night to find Bella still awake and waiting up for me. I read to her and had cuddles while Pamela bolted to the basement to watch "her sports" (aka - CNN) to find out about the Iowa caucuses. But before letting her go... something had changed in the house...

In my one night of absence, Pamela had managed to paint and redecorate our bedroom, which is now a cool blue with burnt orange curtains, new knobs on the furniture, and new accent pieces. I rubbed my eyes with disbelief - it was (is) gorgeous! The paint stink was still present, however, so we made use of the 3rd floor guest room... which is such a wonderful space!

The morning came way too soon (extra soon since I chose to work out!) but I came home between workout and work for some family fun. It was not too stressful today, though I did have one of the cardiologists sit me down and carefully explain why he thought this whole project was a "clusterf**k" and that while it wasn't my fault, he'd appreciate it if I documented the extent to the "CF-ness" for the next person so they truly understand the situation. I assured him I would. Oh, he was passionate about this. This is truly important stuff to him.

I made it home again to find the house in cacophonous chaos: Isaac has refound his scream mechanism, and Bella was being entirely too helpful. But we all settled down to dinner, and I mean ALL of us: Even "never sit still" Isaac was in his high chair enjoying hot dog and strawberries... until he got a whiff of the spicy penne pasta I was having, and insisted on having some. In the end, he must have eaten over a dozen noodles along with his other food! Pamela and I were amazed. Then an 8 ounce bottle and snoozeyland.

We watched an All Creatures Great and Small, Bella's new favorite cuddle show, and then off to bed with her... but not before a few more stories. As she asked for just ONE MORE I explained how I had told her so many already and that my throat was getting tired. She paused and said "well, I noticed that in telling me that, you used a lot of words, you could have just told another story". Ooooh, she's too clever by half.

A blissfully light weekend of commitments this weekend. I suspect my powerdrill will be used a fair amount to hang art in the new bedroom, and we're having a late Xmas/Solstice/New Years with my mom on Sunday, but otherwise, it's just family time. And maybe just maybe I might hit bed a bit early tonight. Say, around 9:30pm? Oh the luxury! Be still my heart!

The Bidnessman

So even though my start date for the new job is in 3 weeks, I'm in a hotel room in Chicago participating in the annual business development planning sessions for the new company. I'm not 100% sure why we're in Chicago, when 90% of the team is from Minneapolis, but I guess it's nice to get out and be in a foreign place away from distractions... or something.

The 2008 goals discussed are indeed aggressive, but completely achievable. I think the staff recruiters were the most worried - they're going to have to find, vet, and hire enough people to double the company in 12 months. They'll do fine.

Last night we had a team dinner out: No reservations necessary - apparently the 2nd of Jan is one of the slowest nights in the restaurant universe. After a very good meal, we headed next door to one of those "dueling piano" bars. It was pretty amusing to watch them REALLY trying to get the room activated with over half the tables empty. But we did get them to play most of the requests, including Rio, Hold Me Now, and Don't you want me baby (done as a breakneck ragtime stomp). There were four performers in rotation, sitting in on drums, bass, or the two pianos... let's just say that when we walked in, we had the "B" group on lead, but by the time we left, the "A" group was on fire.

The VP of Marketing has a 6month old girl, and this is her first trip away... so we both took off from the bar good and early and were back to the hotel by 11. The same thing was on both of our minds: A NIGHT OF UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP, PLEASE.

It didn't work: I must have heard Isaac through the ether, because at 2am I snapped awake for a half hour. DANG IT.

Breakfast in the hotel was unreasonably delicious - and wildly generous. At the end of it, there were STILL 3 pieces of crispy bacon left on the plate... I had tried my best, but they had given me so much... so much BACON. Ooooh. Delightful.

A full day of meetings again today, then off to the airport for an early evening return to life as usual.