Uninspired

As I mentioned earlier, this vacation was actually supposed to start out as a work-related trip. The first week of my trip was going to be spent representing the company at a trade-show. However, after speaking up at work via email (I call this e-speaking) on Friday, I was informed on Sunday (the day before I was scheduled to leave for my trip) that I was not able to appropriately represent the company. Thus, the work part of my trip was cancelled.

Now, the question I pose to you, gentle reader, is whether or not I really was capable of appropriately representing the company. (more…)

Highlights from Epcot Center:

When we woke up Mom informed me that she didn’t bring any earrings on the trip. She had her lighthouse earrings on (given to her by, her lovely daughter (me)) when she first attempted to get here…but on her second attempt to catch a plane had forgotten earrings. That meant first stop – hotel gift shop. We found some really truly cute Mickey Mouse earrings. They are 3 circular rhinestones in the shape of Mickey’s head. They dangle just a little and are very subtle. As we zoomed away on the bus Mom joked, “I’m sure I’ll get lots of male attention because of these earrings.”

The first person we met was a nice-looking 40ish man who took our tickets. The first thing he said was, “What lovely earrings those are.” Needless to say, the poor guy was quite startled when Mom and I burst into hysterical laughter.

Our first stop was the Living Seas where we looked at a beautiful and huge aquarium (more stingrays!) Then we visited with Crush (from Finding Nemo) at this totally awesome interactive studio. Crush is trying to learn about humans and we are trying to learn about turtles, so we had a little Q&A session. One of the kids asked Crush if he surfed (like he totally surfs, dudes) and Crush asked the kid if he surfed. The kid, who was probably about 7 or 8 paused then sadly replied, “No, I live in the suburbs.”

We had a great day visiting Mexico, China, Morocco, Germany, Africa, Italy, France, Norway, England, Canada, and Japan.

My highlights were in Norway, Germany, and China. Disney has employed native folks from each country to work in that country’s area. A college age Norweigian man was working the counter where I bought a sweet pretzel. He just looked kind of sullen, like maybe he wasn’t enjoying his job, so I gave him the brightest of my bright smiles (plus, I’ve been using Crest whitening formula, so it is a very bright smile) and he actually lit up and smiled back. That made me feel good. Mom and I wanted to take him home with us, but we realized he wouldn’t fit in our bags.

In Germany I did a nice wine tasting of sweet white wines. (Hubby, you should have been here. Wine tastings abounded in Germany, Italy, and France!). In China I did some shopping. They really had nice stuff in the China and Japan shops.

I also put in a good effort at bolstering my mask collection. I purchased a mask in Mexico, China, and Venice!! A nice looking, sweetly accented Italian man sold me the Venetian mask. Even though he was smaller than the Norwegian man, he too would not fit in my luggage.

Mom and I decided that instead of having dinner we’d “snack around the world.” I think we’ve coined a fabulous new term “snacking around.”

Tomorrow we plan to do The Magic Kingdom with Friend and Baby. I’m sure Baby will be just terrified!! (More on the terror of Disney next post…)

AM: I decided to get up early and head to St. Petersburg to see the Dali museum. I felt that Dali would not fit into my uninspired theme, however, it seemed like to good an opportunity to pass up.

It turns out Dali is very uninspiring! His father didn’t approve of his wanting to be a painter, so in his early years he just copied the styles of famous painters – sometimes better than those painters themselves. The females he painted were always of his sister because she was pretty much the only female he knew. This museum is interesting because they have quite a few early Dali paintings. One he painted at age 10, of a nightscene of his home town, I found particularly beautiful. When he was older, Dali did enter an art school where they mainly taught realism. Even though he completed all of his classes, he didn’t graduate. This is because, at his final exams, he told the staff that they could not judge him since he knew way more about art than they did. When he was older he fell in love with a woman who appeared in of most of his paintings. While he deeply loved her, they believe that the relationship was never consumated. How uninspiring! I loved Dali’s paintings. They make me smile!

PM: I picked up a few cuban sandwiches to go and headed for Orlando to meet with Mom (I hope). Mom did indeed arrive and we made it to the resort without incident (minus 2 delicious cuban sandwiches.)

The next task was we needed to acquire our 5 day Disney World tickets, which Mom purchased from the Internet at a discount (cue ominous forshadowing music). (more…)

Today I hung out with a friend of mine from high-school. She is the first person I met when we moved to Reno and I started high-school. Her first and middle names are the same as mine and she lived exactly 1 block away from me. Clearly our friendship was meant to be a long-lasting one.

She had a baby almost a year ago, and I’ve never met him, so this trip is a great opportunity to catch up with her and her family.

She looks exactly like I remember her, and it felt like it hasn’t been 10 years since we last saw each other. We just eased right back into our friendship.

Her baby is crawling now, and he is a tank. Not in size – he is actually pretty small – but in sheer will power he channels a tank. If something gets in his way, he attempts to go through it. Not around, over, or under, but through. He is also very persistent. You’ll hear “bonk bonk bonk” and my friend will say…”Oh, Baby is ramming his head into the credenza. You’d think he’d learn by now that you can’t just go through solid objects.” Then she’ll leisurely stroll down the hall to grab him “bonk bonk bonk…”
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It is day 2 of my vacation. The plan is to leisurely bum around the I-drive area, then to meet Mom at the airport around 4. At the airport we’ll pick up a rental car and head for Tampa to visit an old friend.

10:00 AM – I arise and head to the coffee shop for a yogurt and some coffee.
11:00 AM – I check out, store my bags in the business area, arrange for a shuttle to pick me up at 3 and take me to the airport.
11:30 AM – I decide I’ll head to the other end of I-drive, find some lunch, do a little shopping. I’ll pick up a trolley pass.
11:45 – While waiting for the trolley I realize I haven’t turned on my phone yet. I’ll turn it on and see if anyone has called.
11:46 – 3 voice mails and 1 text message. Hmmmm….what is going on?
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Fry is an ex-coworker of mine. He survived the Celebration or Decapitation meeting, but has become a casualty of the re-org.

I’ve never quite figured out Fry. He works lots of extra hours. In fact, it has been reported that he worked a quarter of a ton of overtime hours on the last project. Yet, he always seems chipper. This may be because he takes long, exotic vacations. Since I’ve known him he has been to the far South of the globe, far East of the globe, and middle of nowhere islands. I’ve also heard rumors that he lives in a house designed by a famous architect and that it is furninshed with Stickley furniture (so jealous). After reporting this information to Hubby, I was banned from ever talking about Fry in the house again. Why would a man that can afford to do all these things need to work? I assure you that the company does not pay well enough to support this kind of lifestyle.

Right before the Decapitation meeting, Fry cleaned out his desk. He spotlessly and quietly removed every personal item. Only his work computer equipment remained. Rumor has it he heard them sharpening the guillotine late in the night one night, while he was putting in a 40 hour work day.

Fry survived the Decapitations, but as part of the re-org, his desk was moved to another department.

Now Fry has been marginalized by the company since the day I started. I don’t know how someone who works so many hours gets invisible so fast. Maybe it is just that his project doesn’t involve any “real” programmers, but is just that multimedia stuff that folks think is easy (cause it doesn’t involve any “real” coding) but actually isn’t easy at all? Maybe it is just part of Fry’s brilliant plan, which he has been years in the making? Anyway, the re-org marginalized him even more. In fact, I think he is well outside of the margins these days.

Well, Fry moved his desk. I went to visit him shortly after he moved and found just an empty, sparkling clean desk – no computer equipment, not even a pen or sticky note. Even Fry’s name plate was gone. The name plate holder was there, but someone had just written his name on it in magic marker.

I asked about the state of Fry’s cube and I was told that Fry is working from home this week. He needs to finish some things undistracted. But then, later that day, I heard that Fry was on a four week vacation.

You know what I think? Fry has pulled off the most brilliant plan ever. He saw all of this coming – from at least a 4 year distance. He started to facilitate his marginalization and work off-hours, so people would get used to not seeing him around. He also fostered a group of loyal co-workers who readily spread the news of his long hours, preparing people to accept a potentially “burned-out” Fry who needs a little TLC from the company. Now, so burned out from his quarter of a ton of extra hours, he has to work at home in order to focus, or is it that he has to go on vacation? And therein lies the brilliance. Fry isn’t working, nor is he on vacation. He has set it up so that he never has to set foot in the company again, but no-one will find that odd, and he’ll still keep getting his paycheck! In my mind’s eye, I imagine Fry having spent a lifetime of carrying out this plan at various companies. Why he may receive four or five company pachecks at this point, for his fine “work” from “home.”

I salute you Fry! No wonder you can afford Stickley furniture!

10:00 AM – I awake to sunshine. Bright, burning, yellow globe of flame, I salute you! (I am from an area of the country that sees little of this, so please forgive the sun salutation.)

During the night, I’ve decided to dedicate my day to the uninspirational.

I wander down the street from the hotel to find a coffee company I read about, Bad Ass Coffee Company. This sounds sort of uninspiring to me. I mean, who wants to be physically threatened while drinking coffee?

As I wander I notice a misplaced and upside-down building. Yes, I said upside-down. Oh, strange, upside-down building I know just how you feel.

Then I look to my left. What is this? A little inspirational moment hits me, like a ray of light admist a tumultuous storm. There it is, Richard Petty’s car #43, hanging above the door of a restaurant. It is the Race Rock Restaurant.
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Thursday, was my travel day. I arose at 3 AM. I’d been packed since Friday. By 3:45 we were on the road to the airport. Hubby drowsily kissed me good-bye and drove off into the sunrise. I boarded the plane without incident.

What was this?!? First Class!!! No wonder my ticket was so expensive! What? Why yes, attractive airline staff-person, I would enjoy a pre-flight beverage – no cream or sugar thanks. Ahhh….I think I’ll read the Better Homes and Gardens I packed for entertainment. What? Oh, hello attractive airline staff-person, why yes, a clean hot lemon scented towel would be just what I need. Thanks! Hmmm…what is that?…breakfast? Certainly, I’d enjoy eating a muffin, fresh fruit, kielbasa, scrambled eggs and orange juice. Hmmm…let me stretch out my feet here. I think I’ll read Oprah’s magazine now.

The plane landed in Atlanta where I had to switch flights. I had a 2 and 1/2 hour layover, so I decided to find a place to have a beverage and salad and rest my mind a bit. I thought I’d turn on my cell phone and adjust the time. Wait, I had a message! Oh, well, certainly I’m up for a job interview when I get back. I’ll call this person back and arrange that right now. I smiled to myself – don’t I just rock?!?!

Back on the plane and headed for Orlando, I decided to kick up my feet, read Yoga Journal magazine, and rest – only an hour until I’m there.

A few notes –

*The Fired Travel Day Reading List:

www.slowleadership.org – especially check out the article posted on March 22, 2006 about speaking out. I was fired on the 20th after speaking out. SO BIZARRE.

Yoga Journal: March 2006 issue had these timely articles -
-”asanas for anxiety”
-”Sophisticated Ego”

Better Homes and Gardens – April 2006 issue had this amazing article: “Recharge your life: Take a sabbatical from your job to volunteer, earn a degree, or rejuvenate your outlook. Find out how these people made it happen.”

*The Fired Travel Day Play List:
-Abigail Washburn – Song of the Traveling Daughter
-Flatt and Scruggs 1959-1963 V. 2
-Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters

What I haven’t told you yet, is I really am on vacation right now. You see, I was supposed to represent the company at a trade-show in Florida this week. My mom has asked me to go to Disney World many times, and I’ve always declined. I could never quite afford the trip. Since the company was paying for a plane ticket, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to arrange a mother/daughter vacation to Disney World in Orlando. Mom was very excited and immediately arranged a place for us to stay the week after the trade-show work was complete.

I was supposed to leave for the trade-show part of the trip on Monday, but instead I was fired on Monday and my trip was cancelled. Do you know how many things I have cancelled in the last 4 and 1/2 years because of this job? Lots! Hockey games, banjo lessons, Holiday celebrations – all to work extra hours on supposedly important projects. Well, I’ll be damned if they get their last final screw in by canceling my mother daughter vacation, so I scrambled to find a last minute plane ticket to Orlando. Since it is spring break, a popular destination, and last minute, I had to settle for whatever I could get. This meant that I would arrive 2 days earlier than Mom, so I also scrambled to find a hotel room. It all seemed to work out, though, and my vacation was still on!

Side Note: Hubby did not want to go on this vacation with me, because he has some unfounded weird feelings about Florida. Hubby, when will you learn that anywhere you go with me is a fun adventure?! Perhaps this blog will once and for all convince you of that!!

An alternate title for this post is: Research your Analogies.

Near the beginning of each year, the company I was fired from, announces its yearly goals in what I’ve come to call the “Celebration or Decapitation Meeting.”

This year it was Decapitation all the way. Layoffs were announced, the rest of the company was chastised for ineffciently working too hard in the wrong direction, and we were informed that a re-org would take place to get us on the right track and more efficient.

Then, an analogy was laid out for the re-org – right now we are a caterpillar, with many different legs, wiggling in many different directions — but by the end of the year we will be a beautiful butterfly. A grand metamorphosis that we all get to experience and benefit from.

I’ve always been a huge fan of caterpillars and butterflies. As a kid, I would gather caterpillars from the milkweed by the irrigation ditches by my house. I would put them in jars with holes poked in the lids and feed them fresh milkweed everyday. I also kept their jars spotlessly clean. Then, one day, I’d go to clean the jar, and low and behold a lime green cocoon would be attached to the lid. Days would pass until the cocoon would turn black, then slightly translucent. Once it was translucent, I knew it was close, so I’d hover over the jar waiting for the butterfly to emerge. Once the butterfly emerged, it would be kind of damp, so it would sit on my finger and dry its wings for a while, then finally fly off. A metamorphosis is an amazing thing, I’ll agree with that. But what does the butterfly do once it flies away?

Now, of course, the answer to this question depends on what kind of butterfly you are. I believe the butterflies of my childhood were probably Painted Lady butterflies who are known to live on nectar, the sweet substance of the gods fit for such a delicate and lovely creature. However, a few years ago a local rancher near Walla Walla, WA, was kind enough to allow me to hike on her land. It was a beautiful area that flowed from meadow to woods. It was the time of year when the calves were stumbling around getting their first glimpes of life, and of course pooping everywhere. Well, do you know what was all over that dung? I mean ALL OVER that dung? Butterflies! Bright yellow butterflies! I think they might have been the Green Comma butterfly.

Well, a little research revealed to me that the caterpillar feeds on plants like pussywillow, azaela, and gooseberry while the butterfly feeds on nectar, DUNG, and CARRION.

Now I ask you is it better to be a caterpillar or a butterfly?

This is the kind of stuff that I think about during company meetings. Is it just me, am I special in my brain patterns, or is everyone else in the room having similar stream of consciousness experiences? Does what I’m thinking about show on my face? Maybe this is why I got fired…