Travel Tuesday : Blogging Adventures, Vicarious travels

We scored an invitation a couple of years ago to the French Ambassador's residence for a reception hosted by Duke University. It was a fun evening.  

I love to travel, and often those adventures are the inspiration for my blog. I recently updated my daily reads list, adding Eye Candy by Andy in Canada who loves to take photos and shares one of his favorites each day, and Sophie's French Adventure and dog's eye view of life in a French Village narrated by a wise and worldly Scotsman. 

I travel vicariously through their daily postings. There is something these two have in common, they have a decidedly positive view of the world.  They spend time looking for beauty in the mundane.  I took off a couple of links, one to an inactive blog, and one that often didn't fit the family friendly mood that I am going for.  There are a few blogs not listed here, that I visit often, that I enjoy, or learn from, or find interesting. Some are simply to "adult" for me to feel comfortable linking to, but that does not keep me from the vicarious adventure of their lives.   

We are known by company we keep.  I am surprised by a few bloggers who keep links to people who never have an encouraging word for anyone.  I can generate all of the internal negativity I need, I don't need to go online for that.  We all have rough times, as those you who followed me through 2015-2018 can attest, I hope that even on my darkest days, I find some way for you to vicariously experience a little ray of sunshine, hope and beauty in your world.  

You Tube Monday: Gordon Goose: Promotion day!

Today is the start of my new role at work. A new title. 

Director 

No toasting with champagne, we have an alcohol and drug free workplace (one of my duties will be to certify that for some funding sources.) I have been working for over 50 years, (I filed my first tax return at 12!)  I have made it to the top of the field, in a strange little specialty area. I have high hopes for the next couple, maybe three years.  I am experiencing a modest case of imposter syndrome.   And a modest but rather nice increase in salary.   

The Sunday Five - Reading

1: Do you prefer Print or E-books? 

2: When was the last time you were in a physical book store? 

3: Are you running out of bookshelf space?

4: How many books are you reading right now? 

5: What book have you read the most times? 

My Answers

1: Do you prefer Print or E-books? E-books for most things

2: When was the last time you were in a physical book store? Today, there is a new independent local book store near me. 

3: Are you running out of bookshelf space? Yes, I have a donate pile

4: How many books are you reading right now? 3

5: What book have you read the most times? Walden 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post - Oh I Can't Say That

 On the YouTube Channel Foxes Afloat Shaun is forever telling Colin "you can't say that!"  They even sell T-shirts with that quote on them.  I was sitting here thinking of my Saturday chat and I had some great ideas, the challenges of neurodiverse professionals, the importance of seeing the negative side of well meaning interventions, issues that are related to my work and the simple answer is I can't say that.  If I talk directly about my work, my employer owns the content. And I don't want that to happen, so I talk around it.  

I suggested the other day that we take a position supporting a social service effort, and the reply was multiple reports of that effort either being ineffective or even leaving people worse off than if no one had done anything.  It is not that it isn't well intended, but that the execution is often a disaster.  A friend texted me (we trade snarky texts during meetings) concerned that I was frustrated by my idea being shot down.  And initially I was surprised by the opposition, and kinda wished after the first three or four, people would quit piling on with me toos.  But, I needed to hear, I needed to listen and pay attention to the concerns. My next article on that issue needs to be what does not work and what might be done to fix it.  

All too often we blindly support good intentions, without seeing, or listening to the negative.  I thanked the group for the input and described it that I needed to take the temperature of the advisors before stepping forward, and in this issue stepping into the middle of a mess.  All too often I hear advocates saying, but for most people this really works, when the real challenge is for those that it does not work.  

Without me saying what we were talking about, maybe there is a model here that will remind us to always listen before we leap.  

Fun Friday - Things People Sometimes Want to Say

I know this was done as a window display in a furniture specialty shop, but I wonder how many people have asked to buy this stack of books?  I was tempted. 

I have a couple of funny signs in my office.  

One says "Trust me I am a Lawyer." Yea, I know, I know, I have heard and met most the lawyer jokes.  

Another one says "I Can Explain It To You, But I Can't Understand It For You." On the limits of understanding, I always reach back the concept of a "reverse triangular merger."  I had to describe how those work in an exam once, but I couldn't tell you today.  When I ask a room (Zoom) full of lawyers if they can explain that concept, they understand, that not everyone understands the things that they think are simple and common knowledge.  Sometimes we have to remind people that not everyone sees the world as they do. 

Sometimes humor is a great way of triggering understanding. 

How do you think a reverse triangular merger works? 
 

Thursday Ramble - Two Years

 Two years ago this weekend, I had my hair cut. Trimmed up around my ears, scissors only, Jose knew how to make it look good.  A month later, as we were getting ready to go to Ireland I decided another haircut could wait a couple of weeks until after we returned, two years later, it has not been cut yet.  

Shortly after we returned home, the shops were closed for a while, and when the shops reopened, I questioned if being in hands on contact with a person who is hands on with lots of people every day was worth the risk.  I decided it was not.  

Most of the time I keep it pulled back and tied up, if I really work at it I can get a "top knot" to work.  But once in a while, especially on weekends I let my freak flag fly, and let my hair down.  When it is wet it hangs down between my shoulder blades in the back.  It has NEVER in my life been this long.  My hair is naturally wavy - curly - a mess.  I have often kept it cut shorter than I like to avoid the texture issue. The longer it gets the easier it is, the more it fluffs out.  There is not much left in front, and over the top. It is thin, really not much bulk to it.  I'd like to think I am carrying off the aging eccentric look, but it is probably more like the mad scientist look. 

The Way We Were Wednesday - Oh Deer

The area I grew up in Michigan, was pretty well hunted out of deer from the 1950's into the later 1980's.  The area was overhunted, the local farmers thought the deer destroyed crops, and there were diseases transmittable between deer a cows that the farmers wanted to avoid.  Hence there was probably some out of season population control.  I never saw deer on the 80 acres that was home, rarely saw them in the surrounding area.  

On rare occasions we visited northern Michigan, very rural area north of Saginaw Bay,  and there were always deer to be seen.  Sometimes only a few, sometimes large herds.  The area had more woodlands, and fewer farmers, and was far enough away from the population centers to have a much more dense deer population.  

Hunting declined in the late 80's early 90's and when I visited the farm I would often see one or two deer.  In some areas the population exploded to the point of being a nuisance.  

Where I live here in the DC suburbs, we are on a 35 acre hilltop with 4 high rise towers surrounded by heavily wooded ravines.  We have deer inside our fence most summers.  

Seeing Deer still makes me stop, and marvel.