I Love Vermont - AGAIN

On my Jet Blue flight from NYC just now, I sat next to another person who grew up in Vermont and is coming back this weekend for a family reunion.

As we started to see the Green Mountains, we both were stretching our necks to absorb as much as possible of the scenery outside the window of the plane.

It happens slower when I am in a car as I cross over into Vermont in White River Junction, but looking down from the plane on the state that I spent half of my growing up years, warmed by heart and calmed my soul.

A lot of it is the history of family here, and the presence of current family that we visit when we come up for the weekend.  And some of it is the life style and the scenery.  I read an article in Vermont magazine about a man who commutes, but never dreads his commute because he is driving through beautiful part of Vermont.

I love Vermont, again, and again, and again.

Further California observations

Since I was on the red eye last night I had some time to waste so after finding a cute yarn shop in Los Altos I got on 280 instead of 101. I usually travel on 101 since it is the most convenient but 280 is amazingly beautiful and uncrowded at rush hour. In fact I am not sure why I would travel 101 again unless I am time bound. 280 travels among the hills and you see very little towns whereas on 101 you never leave a city from the SFO airport to Mountain View.

When I left 280 to go down to Burlingame I drove on some amazing curvy steep roads. The speed limit was 10 miles per hour in some places. California has had rain lately so there were some DPW signs covering grates that said FLOODED. Formal signs they put out when the road is less than perfect. How civil? We could have used those in the North East. There were also sand bag stations with huge piles of sand. Never seen this in the northeast.

Final observation, in Burlingame there is an ordinance that you cannot post a For Sale sign in a car. Huh? There has to be a story behind this one unless I read the sign wrong.

Traveling is such fun to see the differences and to question why they are different.

Not an observation but I finally had dinner at an In-and-Out Burger. Google it if you don't know about this chain. I was impressed by the kid cutting up potatoes for French fries or rather the machine he was using to cut them up and they were delicious and the hamburger was OK. Hamburger and fries cost me 3.82 so it was a good deal but I am not sure I would hurry back. This could be because of my tendency toward veggies lately.

OK final final observation. Restaurant in CA employees do not wear gloves while preparing food, not even the ones who collect money and then get your fries ready. Has Boston gotten hyper sensitive on this issue or are our health departments stricter?


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What are you afraid of? What are they afraid of?

At our HR off site, we had a box of questions and to get to know each other, we randomly pulled one out and answered it. Being the extrovert that I am, I wanted to answer every one, unlike the extreme introvert, who was visibly in pain at the thought of the question she/he might get. From MBTI experience for almost 20 years and without the actual data, this is a difference between Is and Es; how much they want to share their personal life with others. Obviously I want to share nearly everything with many people as evidenced by this blog.

So, I am afraid of being destitute. I am also afraid of snakes and fish that move quickly in the water, but my biggest fear, and the one that keeps me up at night, is of being destitute. Unless something rather extraordinary happens, there is no way this is going to happen, ever. Try telling that to my inner child, the one that is not as sheltered by rationale thoughts.

I was even in a conversation with someone last week where I contemplated and said out loud "It actually would be OK to be homeless in my later years, because you are on your way out anyway." I don't mean to be disrespectful of people who find themselves homeless by this comment, I honestly think I would be OK, if I were homeless as long as the climate I was in was not New England and in fact Florida or the South West is where we decided it might be OK.

Homlessness also came up this week in my prior blog, about how well San Francisco takes care of their homeless. It is an OK climate for homelessness, as long as you don't mind getting damp. At least you don't have 20 degree below weather to contend with in SF the way you do in VT.

So what are you afraid of, what is your biggest fear, the one that keeps you up at night? If we know this about each other, then working with them, and understanding them is a lot easier.

I often say to my leadership classes during a discussion of what triggers them, "If someone triggers you, ask yourself what they are afraid of. It will explain their behavior, and make is easier for you to understand and work with them." Some times I get a quizzical look when I say this, and sometimes I get a nod of the head. What can I say, this technique helps me cope when I remember to pause and ask the question, "What are they afraid of?"

Observations of San Francisco

I am here at an off site with my HR team and have some observations.

The weather here is worse than Boston right now. Rain and pretty cold weather, maybe 60 degrees. Folks are walking around in down parkas with fur lined hoods! These don't come out in Boston until it drops to 20 or 30 degrees. Most of today there was a light mist or drizzle. Every local has an umbrella. The visitors did not come prepared and there are umbrellas you can buy from your hotel room which cost $30. In NYC the vendors come out as soon as the rain starts and sell $5 umbrellas. I saw no vendors here today. As an aside, the office buildings have racks with long plastic bags to put your wet umbrella in. Again, how civil. I tried to take a picture of the rack but the guard stopped me. Really?

People wait until the lights say walk even when no traffic is coming. They don't seem in a hurry and are pretty civil as they pass on the street.

There are many homeless people and I suspect the climate is part of the reason. A local said that they take good care of their homeless. Another local said a homeless person set up a tent in front of their building. It sounded like normal stuff. One homeless man was in his sleeping bag with a miner's light while he read. I have never seen that in boston.

This is the second time I have been fooled by SF weather. I should have brought a fleece and left my sandals at home and packed my $5 umbrella from NYC.

Those are my first day observations!


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Travel log - jet blue vs. Virgin America - and stay away from UFood Grill

Frequent readers know I blog when I travel so here is the latest installment from Logan Terminal C this morning on my way to an offsite in San Francisco, not Mountain View but "the City".

I am flying this trip on Jet Blue only because Virgin America does not YET fly into Burlington VT. It is wishful thinking that they will ever fly there.

I got there early, wait, I always get there early for stress reduction reasons. Got my coffee from Dunkin' (last one for 4 days, Dunkin', not coffee), asked if they serve food on the flight, got NO for answer so went off in search of my lunch to eat 5 hours later.

The healthiest food is at UFood Grill so I ordered a sandwich wrap. They were under staffed and one of the employees said "I work with a bunch of losers and I am quitting today!". I thought and did NOT say out loud "seriously, you are really destroying the brand of UFood for me. I will think twice about my choice next time and since you are quitting anyway, why did you not just quit this morning or at least call in sick?". I hope the sandwich does not make ME sick!

I then camped out near the Jet Blue agent since the power outlet was there and complimented him a few times since obviously he was paying attention during his customer service training.

I asked him when Jet Blue is getting Wifi on their planes to which he sheepishly replied "a couple of months". From his reaction he knows that they really should have it to compete with Virgin America. When I was deciding which to fly the only positive for Jet Blue over Virgin is the Burlington Vt factor. JB has NO Wifi, no food beyond snacks and you have to flag down an attendant for water versus just ordering from your screen. I guess I am spoiled by VA but for the same cost, I have choices. Next time will probably be VA.


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A message to be patient once again

Yesterday I got to work super early because it is a very busy week. Pretty much everything I touched around technology broke. Mondays it seems are always slow for booting up. I could not search with IE8 and our help desk had me uninstall and install, etc. Of course I had to reboot several times. You guys know the drill.

If I believed in a god I would have said that she was trying to send me a message to slow down and be patient. Technology is not always more efficient as I once again affirmed yesterday.

Part way through the morning when it felt as if I had accomplished nothing yet, I sat back and laughed at myself. Some times the early bird gets the worm. Yesterday was not one of those days!
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Cruising to Bermuda

We stepped off the boat at about 8:30 am yesterday morning after a lovely 7 day cruise to Bermuda. For those who have not heard our story, we met there 25 years ago this month.

We are not your normal cruise attendees. That is for another post.

We did manage to explore and re-discover Bermuda and recreate memories from 25 years ago. We found the house that Murg rented on Brighton Hill Road. We found the beach where when snorkeling I thought those giant fish were nibbling at me.(3 inch long ones) We took the mail ferry around Hamilton Harbor, got off at Belmont and literally hiked over two hills to Warwick Long Bay Beach. We took a ferry from Dockyard to St George's and then buses back. We swam again at Church Bay; a wonderfully protected and beautiful non-tourist beach.

We were pretty proud of ourselves that this was all on a 3 day bus/ferry pass for $28.

The cruise was relaxing and peaceful and active all at the same time. Our daily exercise was 8 laps of deck 7 for 3.4 miles. We found our favorite restaurant was "Windows" and ate there most dinners toward the end of the cruise.

Back into the fray of the mainland I still feel as if the ground below me is moving and I need to make small adjustments to stay upright.

Our pictures and the pictures we took with our eyes will be what we have until we travel there again soon!

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Have people "around" you when you need them

In a group I belong to, S told us that she took us to a job interview with her. We were sitting on the couch while she answered the questions and we chimed in with compliments for S spoken to the hiring manager.

Today we had another big org announcement, second one in two weeks. My boss called me a couple of hours beforehand and asked how I was doing and let me know she was there with me. Taking a cue from S I pretended that my boss was in my office today rather than across the country. It made a highly charged day easier to survive and remain calm.

I hope I remember to take people with me when I need them rather than attempting to survive solo.

Location:Home

Gloucester museum and visiting Star friends

Yesterday, I drove up to Gloucester to visit with B and J. After swimming in their very warm pool, catching up on our lives, and eating a wonderful lunch by the pool, B and I drove over to the Cape Ann Museum of Art. B, who is becoming a docent at this museum, knows that I am a quilter and there is an exhibit right now of a quilter Clara Wainright. Here is a link to one she did names Gloucester Fisherman's Wives Quilt. She has also exhibited in a small museum in our backyard, Decordova.

Many of her quilts have a social action or political statement, like the Fisherman's wives one. Clara also is published in our UU World magazine for her work with quilting in communities in a collaborative way. If I did not have a need to be back home I would have spent the afternoon there. The exhibit closes on June 20th, so I am going to try to get back up there.

What I was left with yesterday is that in our own back yards are wonderful art treasures stored in small museums. This museum has a sea coast origin so there are ship models, and sea paintings. Gloucester and Rockport are known for their artists, so you can only imagine the talent encompassed in this place. I also thought a lot yesterday about how artists often make a political statement by expressing that statement through their art.

BTW, right next door to the museum, is a glass bead maker shop. Again, I could have dropped quite a bit of money in that shop if I had some time to shop. Another reason to go swim with B, and top if off with an afternoon at the Museum. I will go back!