life getting complicated, again

I have been traveling so much I am quite tired of it. Last week I was in Chicago for work; calling on a couple channel partners. Great meetings, but it was 14 degrees. Ye Gods! You may know how I feel about the cold ;-)

The week before I went, on Thursday, got an email from my brother Greg, saying they had found Dad on the floor of his room in assisted living. The nurse there called an ambulance, got him to the hospital. They hydrated him, and he was being checked out for a reason for his weakness. They did a CT scan of his spine, and we were told it was severely degenerated. DUHHHHHHHH, he looks like a 'C' from the side. WHY has it degenerated/ bone, disk, both??? I talked with them that evening, and Greg said that Dad was looking much better and would probably be discharged the next day.

But on Friday, Dad couldn't walk. ! So he was put in a Therapy Care Unit. This is where people go typically after knee or hip surgery. Since he was admitted on a Friday, the weekend shift came in, no one knew who he was or why he was there. Andrea kept orienting the staff, telling them that on Thursday he was walking and now he isn't. This apparently impresses then and they start paying attention.

They started do some physical therapy and occupational therapy at the beginning of the week, to teach Dad how to safely move. He's got to transfer from the wheelchair to the toilet, or he can't go back to assisted living. On Tuesday I left California for Chicago, with extra stuff packed to go to Rochester at the end of the trip if it looks like I should.

Wednesday, I hear that all looks well, Dad's eating, walking again with a walker. And asking to get out of the hospital. Good! I continue my plans to finish the meetings and go back to California. Thursday I do just that. Get off the plane at SFO, turn on my phone and there's a message from Andrea. (that's not good) They found Dad face down in his dinner. He was asleep. Took 10 minutes to wake him. Friday he went for a sonogram of his carotid artery. They saw nothing unusual. But said he should stay there for more diagnosis. And now, again it's Friday, shift is changing, and nothing will happen until Monday. So Greg busted Dad out. Got Dad to ask to be discharged, called his doctor and said he wanted discharged and out they went.

As they found nothing to cause either this fall or his apnea episode, the insurance won't pay for his room and board at the hospital. $500 a day.

It's Saturday night, I have not heard anything today, which is good. All along, the director and nurse at Crimson Ridge, where Dad lives, have been working with Andrea and the hospital to get Dad back. They're installing another grab bar in the bathroom, changing out his bed to make it easier to get in and out, etc. They have been great. Andrea said they were all very happy to see him back there, when she dropped him off on Friday evening. All his guy pals were glad to see him back at the dinner table.

I had been planning to stay in California over the Christmas break, took a couple days off and wanted to just hang out at home and relax. But with all this happening, I'm going back to Rochester for a few days. It will be good to see everyone again, and I will help start clearing the extra stuff out of Dad's apartment. We're planning that when he can no longer stay at Crimson, he'll go to Greg and Andrea's place. We won't out him in a skilled nursing facility, that was just such a horror show when Mom was there for a couple months that we decided to skip that step.

I am hoping for warmish weather while I'm in Rochester. And perhaps I can have a lovely quiet, spiritual, fun Christmas break next year.

My house has become a wasp hospice

I am not sure how they're getting in - down the chimney? But every few days, there's one crawling around the living room. Once they dry out I vacuum up their little bodies. Have not seen a nest, but the neighbor behind me reports he gets them too.

In the summer, I'd catch them in a glass and toss them outside, or smush 'em. With the cold weather, I'm more tender hearted. Weird!

It's confirmed

Yup. Las Vegas is still my least favorite city to visit. Been here a couple days for work; my nose is itching and I'm sure all my clothes stink like smoke. Have to walk through the casino to get anywhere in a hotel. I prefer going to Harrisburg!

Been there recently too, for work. I am still loving the travel but wish I was going over the Atlantic. I keep seeing reminders of Munich - pictures, or mentions. I don't exactly know why I miss it so much. Did have great friends to hang out with, and the travel was amazing. Perhaps I'll get over in 2010.

Meanwhile, I am still working on the California house, finishing touches. Found some great lined, silk drapes at Home Depot, of all places! I need to get a couple more panels and the rods, and they will grace the living and dining rooms. I had help last weekend, cleaning the gutters and replacing the bathtub caulking. My bathroom looks so much better now that the caulking is neat and clean. A small thing, but what a difference!

I am flying back Home West tonight, and hear that there is supposed to be a terrific rainstorm there tomorrow. Wonder if I can work from home? Love doing that on a rainy day. I do have the best commute ever possible, so can't really justify not traveling the 1.2 miles from home to work ... but I can't show up at work in my bathrobe. A couple coworkers have gotten the dread swine flu, maybe I'll show up tomorrow and the place will be quarantined.

And I'm back on the soup, yogurt and scrambled eggs diet. I had the last of the hardware installed on Monday. So, I missed the good food in Vegas - the restaurants are quite good, I'm sorry to not have been able to enjoy that. This is not the best picture of me, but you get the idea:

O yeah - go see "Whip It"!

Ellen Page can never be in an unreal movie....

Recently overheard

"You had me at Bacon"

"Flat is the new Growth"

:-) I get around :-)

OMG! Who Lives Here?

One hundred freakin' sixteen degrees in Palm Springs yesterday, 110 today. The trade show organizers had an arranged for lunch out by the pool. So unpleasant! I have finally given up my dream of going to Burning Man. I just can't take the heat.

Busy fall tradeshow season is upon us

Oh my, 6 events in 3 weeks! Fortunately I only have to go to 4 of them. Did one last week, 2 this week and one next week.

It got a bit crazy trying to provision all of them and make sure the right materials got shipped on time to the right place. All the while doing my day jobs...

Why is it that when new execs join a company, the work load doubles? Shouldn't more people on board reduce the work? ((Hah!)

Tomorrow I'm off to Palm Springs; then on to Detroit Tuesday. No time to enjoy either place. Next week, I'll have an evening in Greenvile, SC. Our distributor is having their annual partner summit and I'm going to that. Looking forward to BBQ!

But, I had new hardware installed on Monday - bands on my back molars. The top ones are really messing with my cheeks. Been living on yougurt smoothies and soup for a few days, and am healing slowly. I miss eating. So I'm hoping I can manage some famous South Carolina pulled pork next week. last time I when there, in the spring, my inbound flight was so late I didn't get dinner, and was out the next afternoon. So this time, I have 2 days there and should manage one BBQ dinner.

Time to go tend the laundry and pack. The annoying washer is beeping ... why do we let our products make such awful noises?

STOP THE PRESSES!!

Headline at Yahoo today:

"A new study finds that the average gamer is overweight, shy, and mentally depressed." .... YA THINK????

The summer is flying by

I dropped out for a while due to business. Working to get back in a schedule again. I've gotten to visit Rochester once in June and July; visited my aunt & uncle in Ft Myers, wrote a chapter for a book, decided to keep the house in Rochester, went to the memorial service of a friend, had a birthday, invited a guest into the spare bedroom for a few weeks, made friends with the next door neighbor, rode my bike in several new places near Home West, walked the Stanford Dish, joined a health club and now, have braces on my teeth. Ooof! What a summer.

humbled, awed, thankful

My life is extraordinary. Take today, for example. My big project was to work on unpackimg. I started after a workout, stop at the bank. And a few chores. It took hours to unpack just 8 boxes. And it's been a huge week at work so I am tired (and a night out on Thursday, up to midnight) so today the hard thing is to stay at the unpacking and finding places to put everything.

Then Dan texted, and we evolved a plan for him to drop over. I was scrambling to do a final tidy and Renee called. She and Barry were outside to reclaim her truck that I'd been borrowing. Its battery took exception to sitting unused for a week.so they came over to jump it and go.

While we were in process, Renee mentioned that she'd been helping someone pack today. I said I should have offered boxes.as I have so many. Barry lit up and said "Boxes? I'll take em!" And he did! They loaded the extra carpet - removed from the office room, she'll use it in her garage - and then the boxes. Oh my god, it was such a gift and delight! Now I have room in the second garage to get to the rest of my stuff and gradually unpack.

I had no idea how I was going to get rid of them. And friends showed up and poof! Boxes gone!

Then Dan showed up with wine. We sat out on my upstairs deck in the beautiful warm evening. Just before he left he offered me a choice from the DVDs he had. "Charlie Wilsons War" is currently playing.

I am looking around at the walls wrapped in the paint that Kristem helped me pick. While I was gone, Peri supervised the painters. Theo installed a new showerhead; he and Holly and Renee and Barry moved me out of my storage unit.

I've unpacked the quilt that Maggie made me, the rug I bought in Jordan while on tour with the Ladies International Association of Munich, the photos of family ... Love everywhere.

I have a tribe. Love you all!!!

.

OOOOO it's COLD!

In Rochester, packing up. Well, pre-packing. The professional packers come on Monday; so I am doing the sorting and organizing and throwing out that I managed to not do all last year while on my intense travel schedule.

Woke up to a beautiful looking day. Turned on the TV to catch the weather report. It's 23 degrees out!!!! So I won't plan on a morning walk but run up and down the stairs with boxes instead. And I'm very much looking forward to getting back Home West later in the week where the temperatures are humane.

The best thing that humankind invented

Libraries. And all they imply.

Sitting in the public library in Mt View, grateful for the connection. I moved into my place almost 2 weeks ago, have been camping there while deciding what to do about my stuff on the other side of the country, and getting some work done on the place and - oh yeah - working at a start-up that is getting more intense every week. And trade show season is upon us. Fellow marketeers will know what this means!

Tomorrow, I leave for FOSE, a big show we're doing in DC. I am the set up and tear down crew, booth captain plus I'll be working the booth too. What I've gotten done in the past 3 weeks for my day job is amazing (it's not trade shows! Not this year, thank god.) I am so tired and fried I'm surprised that my coworkers can't hear the crackle.

My plan today was to stop in at work, finish a couple things, print out my boarding passes and then get home to continue clearing out the closets as the painters come on Monday. To my dismay, nothing would print. (Yes, I cycled the power on the printers. Yes, I rebooted.) So I am at the local library, now with boarding pass in hand. Yay! And breathing in the smell of all these books. Kindle looks great and I will get one, soon. But for me, nothing beats the feeling of being in a room full of books.

My trip starts in DC, I'll get to see brother John & sis-in-law Amy over the weekend, then I go on to Harrisburg to meet with our US distributor. From there, I go to Rochester and spend a week. Meeting with a mover on the 18th, they'll estimate moving my goods and hopefully we'll schedule for the 23rd. Then back Home West.

I intend to keep the house in Rochester, now thinking of renting it out. I think this will get clear when I'm there.

And I am very much looking forward to my new place being painted, the new carpet in, and some furniture showing up so I can once again entertain.I'll post pics!

Land Speed record - from offer to close in 31 days

Whoo Hoo! Closed on my new townhome on Friday the 13th, my bestest day of the year.
Made the offer on January 12th. Process seemed to take AGES. I appear to be pretty impatient once I've made up my mind.

Am now working diligently to refloat the economy. Buying: bed, sofa, car, bedding, paint, carpet, lighting, services to spread the paint and lay the carpet, install the lighting. So much fun and fear rolled up all into one big ball of exhilaration.

Thought getting furniture I loved would be difficult. I'm particular about what I like. And it has been incredibly easy!! Was out a couple weekends ago with Kristen, in Capitola and I asked if there were any one off furniture stores there, had a vague memory of a cool store, so we pulled into Modern Life. Hah! over a decade ago, I got the sofa and chair that I loved there, after shopping on & off for several years. Walked in the store, and there's my next sofa. The next weekend, out with Peri in Redwood City, we started at the Macys Home store looking at beds. All of them too big. Asked the sales guy if there were other places, for modern furniture, he directed us to Ana just up El Camino. Walked in and Bingo! there's my bed.

Early last week, stopped in a carpet store near work, was looking through the reasonably priced samples when something gleamed at me from across the store. Zap! There's my carpet! Found paint colors I like at Home Depot yesterday, will check all of these in the place tomorrow because I've now got the keys, man. It's all coming together!

Next step is to find the service people to do the electrical and painting. I had wanted to have all this work done before I moved in, but life threw a bit of a curveball and I will likely move in next weekend. And I need a car, too. Have been using the Amazing Renee's truck while rooming at her place. I am so pleased that I have lived below my means and saved/invested...

Work is going well, I'm completing a bunch of projects and moving into a very interactice phase. I expect to be travelling again, soon.

Dating. Attempting to date. Really probably only getting fodder for wry commentary. This is an actual snippet from a guy's profile: "I do not like people who are selfish or self absorbed. I work out all the time." .... To quote Date Barry: "I am not making this up."

Trying to figure out what to do with my east coast home. I want to hang on to it, but don't like it vacant. Asking the Universe to send me a great caretaker for it, and soon.

Timer just rang, so it's time to go deal with Laundry. Am currently in the apartment, soooo looking forward to doing laundry inside my new home after I move in. This going outside and feeding quarters to industrial machines is, like, so college kid!

Variable time

So 10 days ago I was annoyed with myself because it seemed like I had been looking for a place FOREVER. Hah! I thought about it - started looking in December. Of 08. 6 weeks. But I had a couple trips - oh yeah, I actually started looking mid-December, cause I got back to CA on Nov 29th, then had a trip to Pennsylvania on the 7th and 8th and waited til I got back from that trip to start looking. So that makes it 4 weeks.

Aaaand, I put an offer in on a townhouse last Monday, it was accepted. A flurry of activity sped this past week by in a blur - ZIP! Spent a couple evenings this week reading through what seems like hundreds of pages of disclosures. Made a lot of notes. Most of yesterday was dedicated to the process - met with my realtor and reviewed our notes, then went to the place and went through it thoroughly. Then talked with the president of the HOA for an hour, about how they spend, their attitude, etc. I like it.

I am so excited. When I saw this place I thought it was the sexiest place I have ever seen. I still think so and cannot wait to get in and start furnishing it my way.

Here are a couple of pics, this is their furniture. Oh yeah - will be looking for furniture. My decorating theme is "Whimsically edgy". I am enlisting all of you for help - I do not like the stuff in the conventional stores. Need pointers to places for unusual furniture - I like clean lines. I like color. I like offbeat. I like natural fabrics and wood and stone. I do not like overstuffed, slipcovers, thick legs, 4 poster beds. Don't even point out anything that's a repro from any dead french kings or english queens. Bzzt!





Gorgeous gorgeous.



Looking out through the kitchen.



Master bedroom suite #1. The closets all have built ins - no need for dressers, yay!



TWO fireplaces!! One down, one in my bedroom.

The ultimate weapon

Time to unleash the real power in the world! Old fat naked women for peace!

Just keep walking ...

Been condo shopping. I have seen a couple that I like, and am still staggered at the prices. And they are down froma couple years ago! I mostly do want my own space, but also have very much been enjoying being Renees roomie. It's great to have someone to talk with and share chores with. Whoops, just remembered laundry in progress. better go attend that...

This seems like how I moved from Germany to Rochester, I stayed with Greg & Andrea for a few weeks before moving into my place. That worked out OK, so I am sure this will too. Time to fledge.

The weather here was insanely great this weekend. I talked with Beth HomeEast, and she was shovelling the driveway. Said it probably wouldn't get much past 20 degrees today. I am so happy to be in California. My life there is fading from memory, except every once in a while comes the jolt - holy crap! I have a house there!

So it feel like I don't know what I am doing. But I keep putting one foot in front of the other, hoping that I am making progress.

OMG January 2009

Well, I wrote down my goals for 2009. Ambitious as always. But not entirely me, if recent actions would prove. Turns out white wine is a really bad idea for me. One glass the other night had me in a fugue. Over a move at work. OK, it's been 4 months since I've had a spot of my own there, a coworker essentially moved into my office and kicked me out while I was on vacation in Israel and I have ben a nomad ever since - all the while coming to the realization that I need to put 150% behind my work there (hello? 100 days in Rochester in 08, 30 days on planes, 7 weeks on the road ... plus very hard work - think I'm dedicated???)

Sales meeting to kick off 2009 was this week; was having a grand time immersing myself in the team. But Tuesday night, made the mistake of having one glass of white wine at the sales team dinner, then reading email. The email was titled "good news and bad news" and the body was how I needed to move out of the space I was currently in, by the next evening. ... and that was it. No destination, just kicked out AGAIN. My reply was "And the good news would be, exactly what?" and my mood just spiraled down from there. Ended in tears. I went out of the dinner to compose myself, was gone for 25 mins, no one noticed. (that sure didn't help!!) And I told myself a pity story about no one noticing and things just got blacker from there. Why do I do this? ... I guess I must must need sad. Plan for 09, really to believe "let everything that happens be OK".

Woke up the next morning remembering a bad patch a few months ago. Have put a note in my calendar - "white wine BAD! makes you cry". Hope to avoid this in the future. Even one glass only had a big effect on me. Oof. Remembering a white wine and Frito dinner of Feb o6. Not good.

I am so disgusted at the seesaw I put myself on. But talking with others, it seems like the human condition. How the heck do we ever get anything done?