Take A Step

Inspiration has been stifled lately. I have things I want to do, more writing and such, but I haven't been able to take action and move forward. My brain is stuck in neutral and I'm plagued by a nagging sense that if I just had an inspiring place to write, more ideas, more passion and a belief that what I have to say even matters, things would begin to move. Uh ya, these things are all excuses. They make sense in my head and that is why they hold me captive. 

I used to wish for more time to write. Then, I needed a new computer. Both of those things have been remedied and still I find myself stuck. I feel chained to limitations of my own making. Repeatedly, I have heard it said that in order to start, I must simply get going. One foot in front of the other, one word and then the next; but why is it that beginning is the hardest part?? Why do I get stuck on the emptiness of a blank page?? 

So, today I'm starting again because while I've been waiting for the stars to align, I've been missing the constellations that are already in place.  

Emotional Constipation

Sometimes that is how I feel. 

Service Accountability

My washer broke AGAIN. 

I bought a brand new washer in June of '07. I paid premium price for the little devil because it was the only model that would fit in the space allotted for it in my house. The washer has been the biggest homeowner headache I've had in the past 2 years, hands down.

When it was delivered fresh out of the box, it didn't work. After waiting another week, I received a replacement. That one worked fine for several months and then it broke, just one week after the warranty expired. I purchased the extended warranty and dealt with the inconvenience for 2+ weeks until it was repaired. Now, another 8 months later, it has crapped out AGAIN. I'm a single person. I don't have Octomom's laundry load. 

Thankfully, the extended warranty is still effective and the process of getting a technician into my home was promptly executed without hassle . The technician apprised me of the situation and gave me an estimated time frame for the parts to come in of one week. He informed me that he would order the parts on that day and would call to schedule the repair when they arrived. That's a typical service call, nothing crazy. 

2 weeks go by and there was no word. I made a call to the repair company to get the status. I was told that they have been waiting for an additional authorization from the manufacturer and that the parts have NOT EVEN BEEN ORDERED. No one had let me know that there was a hold up. Upon further questioning, they had sent a couple of emails to the manufacturer but hadn't received a response so they were "just waiting to hear back". It took me .01 second to go from curious-information-seeking to give-me-the-manager-ready-to-call-the-BBB-rage. 

WHY HASN'T ANYONE PICKED UP THE PHONE AND CALLED THE MANUFACTURER FOR THE AUTHORIZATION??? 

At the very least, why hasn't anyone called me to give me a head's up??

I have worked in customer service a time or two in my working days. It's not fun. The mistakes of the whole company fall on the shoulders of the customer service rep. When an upset customer wants answers, the CS rep is trained to be nice and just repeat company policy or apologies like a mantra as if saying the same thing a million times is going to calm the customer down. Absurd. The company policy chant that I kept getting was one of the lamest I've ever heard. Are you ready?? Here it is: "We are not allowed to make outgoing calls to manufacturers". Are you serious?? That's your final answer?? 

As you can imagine, I launched into a high spirited monologue demanding answers. I spoke with 2 CS reps, 1 supervisor, 1 parts guy and ended up facilitating a 3-way call between the parts guy and the manufacturer so that the two entities could communicate and get the authorization because they couldn't seem to do it on their own. I wanted to ensure that the parts were ordered that day. I'm so irritated that I've had to go to the laundromat for 2+ weeks already. This culmination of my frustration happened yesterday. 

First thing this morning, I called back to make sure that the authorization had been received and that the parts had in fact been ordered. I was assured that it had been done but that it would be another 7-10 business days before the parts would come in. My blood pressure began to boil yet again. That means, I will be going to the laundromat for ANOTHER 2 weeks. I took a deep breath and accepted it since I had already bitched a blue streak. 

This afternoon, there has been a turn of events. 

I received a call. The parts have arrived (magically, in just one day) and the technician is scheduled to repair my washer tomorrow. 

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!

The moral of the story: If I wouldn't have called for a status update, my work order would have sat indefinitely without follow up. With accountability, things get done.

Dancing With The Home Video Super Star

Tonight is the start of a new season of Dancing with the Stars. I like the show but over the years, I've been an on and off kind of fan. Tonight I'm watching. We will see how long it keeps my attention. 

My sister Kari has been working on a big project over the past few months. She is taking our family VHS home videos and putting them on DVD. If you've ever done this, it is freakin' time consuming. We have numerous VHS tapes filled with all manner of footage. Mostly, footage NO ONE wants to see again. 

We started documenting family life on film when Abi was about 4 years old. She loved being on camera as a little one. She is without a doubt the star! 

Here is a sampling of her 5 year old dance moves during Christmas...

Unexpected Surprise #2

20 Feb 2009

I’m on an eastward trajectory in First Class at 39,004 feet over Prescott, Arizona.  I need to decompress and digest the week behind me.  A big decision lies ahead of me. One I never thought I would ever consider. It’s strange how, when the right circumstances pop up, things inside begin to shift and ‘never’ becomes ‘maybe’ and then ‘maybe’ becomes ‘I could do that’ and the softening of a tight grip allows room for change. What I said I would NEVER do, where I said I’d NEVER live, and the desires I NEVER had may be changing slowly but steadily. It’s bizarre how that works.

I settled in Connecticut over 3 years ago. I can’t believe it has been that long ago. I thought I had finally found the place that I would live for many years to come. I had high hopes for building a life and maybe even a family there. I love the area. I love the proximity to New York. I love the way of life and the aura of New England. The landscape is lovely and gives the feel of being rural while never too far out of the way. For me, it’s a perfect mix of city and country life. Connecticut felt like home from the start. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t looking around for the next place to go. I had no desire to continue the lifestyle of a nomad. After buying my home, I felt like I was on a path to moving forward in my life from the place of having roots. I had never felt like that before. For so many years, I was buzzing around from state to state, searching for a place to put down the landing gear and when I moved to Connecticut, I found the spot that fit just right.

I wasn’t looking for a change in location.

THEN an email showed up in my inbox, UNEXPECTEDLY. It was from the owner of the consulting company that I have worked for over the past 2 years. Having a vision for change within his own organization, he laid out a new opportunity for me. (Thanks to corporate budget cuts and an economy that has taken a nosedive, my position as a consultant for a health insurance corporation, was eliminated about a month ago.) Management experience, college paid for, growth for me and growth for the company oh and by the way, a move to California.

When I read the email, I immediately got excited. Something in me was shockingly open to this. I’ve always maintained a disdain for California beyond a short-term vacation. It’s the one state that I never wanted to live in, never had a desire at all. In fact, in the past, the boss-man had mentioned a few times, moving to California to work for him but I blew him off, never even considering it. I have no idea why this time was different. Maybe it was having a tangible position outlined in writing or maybe God has been slowly working in me without me even realizing it.

After thinking through all the pros and cons at a very high level, I began to talk myself out of it. Being the pessimist that I am, I found satisfaction in shooting down my own optimism. I went to California one week ago looking for more reasons to slam on the brakes. As much as I embrace the new and exciting, I also love routine, habit and comfort. I consciously made an effort to be open and willing. It’s safer and less vulnerable to stick with the predictable versus stepping out into the unknown.

After spending a week on location, poking around and getting a feel for what the job is all about, what the company is all about, who the personnel are, and seeing the area, I found that it’s not as scary as I had originally thought. California is still not my favorite place but it’s also just a place. Similarly, as great as Connecticut is to me, it's just a place as well. I have taken a 180 degree turn. I could see myself making this move. It would be hard, it would take everything that I am but it would cause growth and change and probably other unexpected surprises. So many things would need to fall into place for this to become my reality. Some that seem impossible right now. It's not a done deal yet, I'm just moving forward one step at a time with an open heart to see what happens.

I had no idea that when I began the year with a theme of unexpected surprises that something so major would show up on the radar just a few weeks into the new year.

All I know is that right now my flight path is bound for the east coast and whether I’m going home for good or only for a transitional window of time, I don’t know; but the view is far beyond what I could have imagined. 

Sealed With A Kiss

The sunset on the Pacific Ocean, is the goodnight kiss for America. 

All time zones are now tucked in until day breaks in the east. 

For more than 3 years I have greeted the morning, but this week I have been exploring what it might be like to put the nation to bed each day. 

Could I change my way of life and swing from one coast to the other??

Only time will tell...

**********************

Goodnight New Haven!

Goodnight New York!

Goodnight Nashville!

Goodnight Cedar Rapids!

Goodnight Cedaredge!

Goodnight Grand Junction!

Goodnight San Diego!

Goodnight Huntington Beach!!!

No Longer A Fraud

I grew up at the foot of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. 

Even so, I have endured colder winters and more snow while living in Iowa and Connecticut than I ever did in Colorado. 

Strange but true. 

When my sisters and I were driving my parents crazy during the winter months, they would take us sledding or cross country skiing. Sledding was usually a fun event but cross country skiing, not so much. Even though "suicide hill" took all one's strength to climb

 with a sled in tow, the ride down was always worth the effort. Cross country skiing was all effort and no pay off. Any small hill to coast down meant frustration trying to ascend it on the return. Downhill skiing, the winter sport that most outdoorsy types anticipate with joy, was too expensive for our family of 6. As a result, I never went downhill skiing in the 10 years that I lived in Colorado. How can that be? That's like someone who lives in Florida and has never visited Disney World. Weird.

Last week, I went downhill skiing. 

My sister, Kari outfitted me with the gear and took me on the moving carpet up to the top of the baby hill. She is the most fantastic teacher. The slopes of CT are no where close to the same caliber as CO but never the less, they were still tricky for this novice. I tumbled more than a few times and bent both of the ski poles I had rented. Ooops!  Once I got the hang of it though, I started to think that I might like winter. Ok, that's a bit of a stretch. 

Alas, I am no longer a fraud.