Thursday, March 26, 2009

It is a Marvelous Nite


Well, its a marvelous night for a moondanceWith the stars up above in your eyesA fantabulous night to make romanceneath the cover of october skiesAnd all the leaves on the trees are fallingTo the sound of the breezes that blowAnd Im trying to please to the callingOf your heart-strings that play soft and lowAnd all the nights magic seems to whisper and hushAnd all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush



MMMMM . . . . doesn't this just resonate at the most basic level of your being? I wish I could attach the music but the words do so much more.


It is foggy and rainy and I am awake. No one can sleep here. There must be a full moon due to the diffused and scattered light outside. Yet, a rainy cloud came in and spoiled everything! Or, maybe it redeemed itself.
I love you for reading my blog. I miss you because I have receded into myself. I will try harder.




Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Listen to your Mom


My mom writes letters. Sometimes, I type up an email, print it off, and mail it to her. She doesn't do email. And my Dad, who is a computer geek, is obnoxious (ok, that is a bit strong) about it. He will only let her look at it over his shoulder on his laptop. That is just not comfortable for an elderly person! Sometimes I will insist: Please print this out for Mom. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.

I was brought up in a family that wrote letters. My Aunt Judy, who was a teacher, was my first pen pal! I had many others, some whom I never met, through the Girl Scouts of America. OK, if you don't think I'm geeky enough already. . . . Well, then again, you are still reading!

You can only imagine how excited I was when email came around! Actually, I worked for IBM starting in the 80s, and they had their own version of email. It was called PROFS (for Professional Office System - yeah!). Frankly, it had all the same problems/advantages as email.

If you screwed up and copied the world, you had an embarrassing situation to fix. You could go crazy on the "profs notes" . . . all of us who were in sales training were in contact in the fastest, cheapest way imaginable. Ah, those were the days . . .

But I digress. Here is what my very astute mother observed: She sent me a clip from the Sarasota Herald Tribune, dated 3/6/09. "Quiet layoffs escape notice, but still sting." She noted in writing that IBM, my husbands employer, was one of these companies. I had already told her that we were waiting to hear about Steve's job. I am sure that worries a parent, considering we are all getting older, and we are the sandwich generation, taking care of children as well as parents.

In her note, she also wrote:
"It doesn't make me very happy - sounds cruel to me. Fingers crossed."

Part of the article talks about how IBM made "strong quarterly profits in January", followed by Sam Palmisano, CEO, issuing a letter stating that "while other companies were cutting back, his would not."

On the other hand, J. Randall MacDonald, IBM's senior vice president for HR, said it was "routine for the company to lay off some employees while hiring elsewhere."

I get that. I believe that. Do you know what is crazy?

I'm an IBM fan. After all these years. I still think someone there is following the dream of Herman Hollowith and the punch card, and the Watsons. Let's support big biz during this downturn in the economy. If Steve loses his job, well, that's what the big gal upstairs wanted anyway. We have other options. He is brilliant.

One more thing that my Mom said, and take note, because she is so right on this: This is regarding another sad, frustrating situation that I am in, not related to IBM whatsoever:

"Maybe you should have inspirational speakers for the employees (note to self: I have one in particular in mind). How to get along in the business world. Everyone doesn't have to be your friend, but there are ways to treat people, and ways to not treat people. These are manners, and do unto others, and turn the other cheek, and smile!"

Well, doesn't mother know best?

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Pat's Day!


Hello, friends. My mother was wondering whether I was writing on my blog. Frankly, I stopped. No one was reading. But it dawned on me - this was - always- for me! Occasionally, some outraged person (and I will not name you) would comment. But . . . what is this outrage for? Life is short. Well, actually, only one person became outraged because this was an experimental blog. And no one read it. Ha!

What I did learn: blogs are way more powerful than websites. We are found at the top of searches, whether we are read or not. That is pretty spectacular. What a well kept secret!

On the other hand . . . if I wanted to promote my/your business . . . I would have to stop posting my kids pics . . . all the funny things I think of. Bad language. Inappropriate content. I just can't do that.

Today, I noticed the pear tree petal snow . . . falling on cars, roads, and walkways . . . I love spring! Allergies . . .and soon to have that pea green gunk, again, on our cars, all over our decks, and tracked into the homes via our pets. Well, welcome to Atlanta. It could be worse.

The day today was perfect. I came home and just viewed the sky in my hammock. We all need this once in a while.

A friend of mine came to the conclusion today that she could go forward. That is huge! We were just having the hardest time imagining how things could be, and now it is resolved. I like how that happens.

May you be blessed with health, work, and an income. It's a different world.