Carol H Tucker Passionate about knowledge management and organizational development, expert in loan servicing, virtual world denizen and community facilitator, and a DISNEY fan
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beladona Memorial Be warned:in this very rich environment where you can immerse yourself so completely, your emotions will become engaged -- and not everyone is cognizant of that. Among the many excellent features of SL, there is no auto-return on hearts, so be wary of where your's wanders...
For years just another work day, usually with me being officer on deck since lots and lots of folks would take off.... Now? I am enjoying having the day after Thanksgiving off! And how do I celebrate? By getting up early and heading out to the Maryland Christmas Show and enjoying all the crafts, then depending on how late it is? Then heading up to the Hagerstown outlets to see if the crowds have thinned. And usually rounding off the day with dinner at Cracker Barrel.
The weather hereabouts is going to be very cooperative, it is a gorgeous fall day both sunny and mild. But there is a storm of shopping and protests and crowds and it is Black Friday.....
Everything that I might say today is overshadowed by one very basic, very important imperative for those living in the United States ....
The hoary saying that "blood is thicker than water" is often used to explain why we make the statement that even though we don't like a person, they are family and we very dutifully love them, fulfilling the obligations and roles that we were born into. Blood types are something that we pretty much only worry about when there is a medical procedure pending, neh? It used to be that if you were RH- that you would run into problems, especially a woman at childbirth if her child was RH+, but medical advances have been made that have resolved that issue and for the most part, the blood in our veins is rather taken for granted.
But that very statement shows just how Western-centric my thinking is, neh? Blood types are apparently very important in some cultures, tracked and shared as avidly as we look at the astrological sun signs -- and have been since before WWII! It is a publishing franchise, has been used to group students and workers and yes, even to discriminate against some people. In all the classes I took about different cultures, in all the discussions I have heard and the reading that I have done, how did this phenomena so completely escape my notice until now?
OTOH: I have definitely found a movie series that is a good candidate for Mom's Stupid Movie Collection! Starting out with a little gem called Sharktopus, the sequel is being promted now. Behold....
Although the title of this blog appears to be political, it actually has little or nothing to do with being "liberal" or "conservative" or even the fact that I am borderline apathetic at times. You can read about the origin of the name and tagline HERE
I have voted already -- for me the choices that needed to be made were obvious and I wanted to take advantage of the early voting in Maryland to avoid possible complications with crowds and/or the new storm that is forecast to hit the East Coast. If you haven't voted yet, all I can do is add my voice to the grounswell of people stating that it is important to do so. The news media is trying to whip up the feeling of urgency by insisting the race is neck-to-neck, and it very may well be.
Vote on the local issues. In Maryland we have questions about marriage and gambling. In Montgomery County we have questions about schools and the police. You live here, you have a right to have a say, neh?
I have heard rather frightening stories of companies calling their employees together and telling them that while they are not telling anyone how to vote, they are informing them that if the current President is re-elected, the company will 1] drop all health care coverage because paying the fine for not providing coverage is cheaper and 2] will start laying people off. Ham-fisted and heavy-handed does not adequately describe this kind of manipulation! And no, it was not some sort of questionable story circulated on the internet, it was a first-hand account from a person who was sitting in such a meeting.
The only way that an individual can counter despotism and manipulation is to refuse to be silenced. Voting was my statement that I cannot be silenced or ignored. Please let it be yours as well.
The wind was very loud during the storm, twenty stories up the gusts seemed to actually be shaking the building. My balcony railings and door were creaking at the height of the storm....
We came through without losing power. The only thing that seems to have happened is that the wind forced water down the ventilation pipes for the bathroom and a wet, dank smell is permeating the apartment from the bathrooms. Trying to spray Lysol and burn candles to combat it.
When I got into work, it was apparent that the office did not fare as well.
The rugs were all wet -- the water had come in from the ceiling and from the seals around the windows and the AC unitls. The cubicle by the window was the worst
My office and Byron's just had very wet carpets. As the day wore on, the guy worked on the dry wall and the ceiling tiles with industrial strength fans blowing on the carpets, making noise, dust blowing all over the place and the smell of mildew strong in the air. Not a just wrinkle up your nose smell, but the kind that makes your eyes water and you start to cough....
They had it looking pretty good by the end of the day!
Don't even get me started about the problems with the server.....
If you thought that flying has become a bit more miserable than it used to be -- aside from all the aggravations of TSA -- you are not alone. Turns out that the airline industry has really been changing things, and not to the benefit of the traveler.
Napoleon met with his first defeat long before the infamous Waterloo -- reams have been written about the French troops inability to comprehend the reality of the Russion winter. The decisive battle was 200 years ago, and this study talks about the impact of sub-zero temperatures on tin as a decisive factor.
Earthshots reminds us that while Curiosity explores Mars, there are places here on earth that look totally alien with this shot of the Badlands in New Mexico:
Have you noticed that education seems more and more about getting trained to get a job and less and less about being educated! of late? Article after article calls for education to be more relevant, which seems to have more to do with future employment than mind expansion. In defense of the humanities and a liberal arts education.... It is good to know that what is seen online often invokes the need to sit down and actually read a book, whether paper or electronic version.
Speaking about reading -- from a book I found on my shelves but have somehow have never read, the Riverrun Triology by SP Somtow:
"... Every man is an island. The universe splits off a million million times each millisecond and each of us carries a private universe around with him wherever he goes. Where the universes intersect, that's when we think we encounter other people and we think they are our friends and our parents and the people we love. But we never really know them because we never cross from our little bubble of reality into theirs. When we part company with a friend we can never know how alien the world he inhabits is from ours. We can never know.....
Precisely!
Disney, in common with other theme parks and attractions, has always had issues about how tickets are handled. At the root of the issue is what happens to any unused days that have been bought? E.G. if a family of four buys a seven-day park hopper pass and only uses four days, why shouldn't they sell the remaining three days or keep them to use for a future visit? But the corporate mindset is that passing those already purchased days to someone else is somehow robbing them and that saving them for a future visit is equally unfair [in the corporate lexion anything that impacts their revenue is "unfair"] so like so many others [don't get me started on the Williamsburg rant], Disney continues to take steps to keep ticket transfers from happening. Not content with making the ticket expire two weeks from the date of the first use, and checking fingerprints, now they want to issue broadcasting wristbands!
Speaking of corporate profitability and revenue streams, most folks are under the impression that credit card rates are capped by state usury laws. Nope -- they put their headquarters in a state like Delaware that do not have such restrictions and charge everything % that they can. And I can tell you from personal experience that if a card gets a whiff of a problem, even if you have never been late with a payment, they will arbitrarily boost your rate -- the right to do so is in all that legalese that you didn't read when you signed up. But globally? Credit cards are being marketed much differently....
The news broke on Tuesday that Harborplace has been sold to a NY company. I have mixed feelings about this centered mostly about having out-of-towners owning what is the centerpiece of the city.
I have often taken a perverse joy in announcing that there is no such thing as an historical fact when in discussions -- as soon as you pick and choose what it is that is recorded then you have filtered what is happening through your own perspective and are presenting an interpretation not a fact. At the same time? I have to agree that it would seem updating statuses every hour on the hour is self-indulgent and can be downright boring .... So how to react to this ability to record EVERYTHING?
Perceptions change -- what was fabulously expensive and golly-gee-wiz technology fifty years ago, is now just a curiosity sold for scrap. Reminds me of the hsitorical tour of the Kennedy Space Center when we were told that the fancy computer used to send the frist manned mission to the moon actually had the computing power of a Commodore 64K more or less.
This issue comes up with depressing regularity -- is it really necessary to declare that English is our official language? What does that accomplish? Well I guess it is English, even though the Brits claim what we speak here in the US isn't quite that language but some strange version that is at times unrecognizable.
The Dust Bowl is a matter of historical record and inspired the famous novel "The Grapes of Wrath". I was rather startled to find out that dust storms are still sweeping the countryside,. I have been following the Lance Armstrong story with some interest. On NPR this morning, a spokesman for the World Cycling organization claimed that Lance and his team had a highly organized and effective drugging system worked out. The only thing that Lance has done is consistently pointed to the 100s of drug tests that he took and passed. I am not sure what purpose it serves to take away winning titles that were awarded back in 1999 - 2005 and vilify the man on allegations that are basically unproven.
I actually think that this kind of meeting for employees is a very good thing -- it shows the commitment the company has for development internally. The question is: who is chosen to go and how?
Sunday was a busy day and we went to see the Government Inspector. Although the play was well staged and the actors did a good job, I can't say that I was all that amused by the antics, finding them predictable for the most part.
But it was a nice afternoon with good company and ended up with a good meal at the Cactus Catina.
Alas! today is Monday, although it dawns clear and fair
CEOExpress
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((don't think we'll be seeing that slave costume anytime soon))
