No Longer An Option

In 1992 I quit a good job that I had for ten years to make a career move.  I got a little more money and a lot more responsibility and fabulous work experience I would never have had if I had stayed in my old job.  This experience served me well and without it I probably would not be where I am today in my career.

You better believe I was scared! It's awfully hard to give up a "sure thing".  As it turned out, the "sure thing" was not so sure after all because the large company I was with simply decided to fold up shop a few years later and I would have had to find a new job anyway.  At the time, I could not imagine that happening.

You know what helped?  This little Mary Engelbreit cartoon.  I looked at it every day and actually bought a wristwatch that had it on the watch face so I would see it often.  (I still have that watch.)  It reminded me that once you make a decision, for better or for worse, you have to move ahead. Perhaps the decision did not work out exactly in the way you expected it to but other unexpected good things came from it.

How did Robert Frost put it? Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Games

I used to play Zynga games like Cafe World and Petville and Farmville before I realized my mind was going and that playing with myself is not as much fun as it sounds.

I have always wanted to learn to play a card game.  My goal was to have a group of friends that I could play and socialize with.  The closest I ever came was playing a bit of Pinochle in college for awhile. 

A few years back my friend Jennifer decided a group of us ladies should get together and play Bridge.  A highly civilized game requiring thought and skill.  The ladies she picked were all like me, intelligent (theoretically) successful (debatable) professional women.  We hired a real live teacher (actually there were two of them), scheduled weekly get-togethers at each other's homes, bought books and practiced during the week.  Do you think any of us could master even basic Bridge?  Heck no!  After months of trying we gave it up.

I got a "kit" (chips, cards and an instruction pamphlet) a few years ago on Texas Hold-em Poker.  The entire world seems to know how to play this so really, how hard can it be??  I am trying to learn by practicing and observing in online games. 

Will keep you posted  ;-)

Wardrobe Malfunction

Back in the 80's I took the advice of John Molloy and seriously pursued "Dressing for Success".  The original 1977 "Woman's Dress for Success" handbook still rests on my bookshelf (there have since been many, many newer editions).  I didn't spend a whole lot of money and I bought at least half of my stuff "gently worn" at consignment shops.  But dressing well for work was a priority and I honestly believe it helped me move up in my career.  Or at least it helped me "fake it until I could make it".

About five years ago I decided that retirement might be in the near future and I stopped buying high heels, pantyhose and suits.  As a result my work wardrobe became sadly forlorn.  I let stuff deteriorate to the point where fallen hems were held by safety pins and magic-mend-it tape (and even staples!) and the heels on my shoes were so worn as to cause me to walk crooked. 

I've now shlepped the "best" of my stuff to the dry cleaner and have properly hemmed everything (something every short woman in America knows how to do).  Worthy leather high heels are at the shoe repair.  Stuff that is past-its-prime is in the trash.

Mr. Molloy, I hope I've done you proud!

Team Evelyn

It's Monday morning and here's my team ready again for another week of work.  I am fond of all of them and they probably deserve a better boss than me.

Of course they do drive me up a wall sometimes.  Like this morning when Alessandro said he thought I was just saying "wouldn't it be nice" to have his assignment done by Friday (last week).  I guess he thought Friday did not really mean Friday and instead meant "whenever".

The funny thing is that it was "almost" done and when I held my breath until I turned blue he produced a deliverable that far exceeded my expectations.  Go figure.

Working for me are two Colombians, an Italian, two generic white folks, a Russian, a Trinidadian and three African Americans.  A good cross section of our South Florida melting pot.

And incidentally, the best folks I've ever worked with.

:-)

Herman Cain

He's gone and I for one surely won't miss him.  Not because I disagreed with him entirely, more because I just knew he was way over his head in thinking he could function as President Of The United States (POTUS).  We really need someone who knows what they're doing.  Perhaps having a "Washington Insider" is not the worst thing that can happen.

That said, Herman Cain did provide something the country desperately needs - inspiration.  He had the power (personality) to catch people's attention and he provided what folks could latch onto as a "solution" (the 9-9-9 idea).  Much the same way "Hope and Change" caught on four years ago. 

This election I am truly Hoping for Inspiration.  And of course, Change too...

The Piano

I had forgotten all about the piano.  There were actually two pianos - the mahogany one in my grandparent's house and the blond Wurlitzer (bought used) in my parent's house.   There is a good reason that I had forgotten them.  I hated the piano!  Thinking about it again really sent me into a downer!

Mom loved to play the piano and of all the things we could have used money for when I was young, she insisted on piano lessons for me.  After about a year of me never practicing even the piano teacher, Miss Papadopoulos, agreed it was a lost cause.

In the last years of her life, Mom's one wish was to play the piano again.  I bought her a keyboard and she seemed to enjoy it although she was frustrated that her old skills did not return to her easily.

To this day I remain tone deaf and music is far down my list of pleasurable pursuits.

:-/

Presents

Since this is officially "the season of giving" I've been reflecting on some of the best presents I've ever received.

Most were not flowers or jewelry or things you could buy in a store (or online).  They were words, simply stated and from the heart.  Maybe written on a card or spoken out loud or even sent in an email.  My most precious possession has words engraved on a plaque.

My presents are stored in my heart where I can easily take them out when I need to use them. They never wear out and they mean more and more as time goes by.

Blog-versary

Wow! Today is December 3rd and that marks four months of blogging and 121 posts (counting today's). And that's with taking almost two weeks off to visit Israel.

I've printed out all my posts and they fill a loose leaf notebook.  There are several "table of contents" pages as well. 

I am actually quite proud of myself!  I think the entries are pretty good.  At the very least they are a nice record of my thoughts on a variety of things that flitted across my mind in the last four months. 

Who would have thought I had that much to say?

;-)

City Blues

Can a City actually be sad?  Apparently so.  Here's are the top ten saddest cities from a recent article in Men's Health magazine:

St. Petersburg, FL  (the saddest) (are you kidding??)
Detroit, MI 
Memphis, TN 
Tampa, FL
Louisville, KY 
St. Louis, MO 
Birmingham, AL 
Miami, FL  
Reno, NV  
Las Vegas, NV

Of course this is BS.  Some dude or dudette with a looming deadline and writer's block must have made this up.  It is physically impossible to feel too bad when the sun is shining and warm and the sky is blue and beautiful flowers and foliage abound and the air is fresh and breezes come off the ocean.  If I have to be poor, sick, old, unemployed and/or depressed, I think I would rather be poor, sick, old, unemployed and depressed in Florida.

So where are the so-called "happier" cities?  Honolulu is Number 1.  I guess I can understand that although I hear the cost of living there is in the stratosphere.  But come on! Don't tell me Jersey City is Number 18 !

;-)

HULU

I checked out HULU, the online TV service that promises to deliver 16,000 episodes right to your PC!

How did I ever miss such such masterpieces as Balls of Steel, The Prince of Tennis, Celebrity Deathmaster, Basketball Wives or Testees??

In all fairness, I do see some great oldies and series that never-got-a-fair-chance (that means stuff I liked).

There are also Japanese and Korean shows and other foreign offerings. It is a bit amusing to see what other cultures think are meaningful plot lines. I offer as an example Couple Fantasy - the story of "Anna Jo, a Korean-American and the daughter of big-time real estate mogul Richard Jo, who boards a plane for Korea after becoming annoyed by the weather in New York".

I am pretty sure that perusing the HULU gallery is equally as entertaining as actually watching most of the shows!

:-)