Where did the Spring and Summer go?

I thought for sure that I'd at least be able to update once a month.  I mistakenly believed I could go to school full time, take on two work projects and still have left over time.  My part time job at the University of Michigan Flint is also taxing!

May was a blur except for the Vegas Trip for Diana Green's bachelorette party.  I have a few pictures and some videos that won't be shown.

May through July, I spent every week for a couple of days on client.  I can barely remember those months . .

July I FINALLY completed my last elective for SCUBA.  I am now Master Scuba Certified.  WOOHOO! We started to prepare for our Galapagos trip at the beginning of September.  We should have started earlier.

1. Brian's dive computer had to be sent for repair.
2. Dorothy's dive computer 2 weeks prior to leaving suddenly says low battery
3. Dorothy's 8/7/6 mil suit ordered didn't fit at all.
4. Dorothy's 1.5 mil suit order was cancelled by the manufactor.

April showers bring May flowers

After three weeks on site with the client which included the first week of April, I prepared to fly to Atlanta for some training.  Not sure what to expect for the training, I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst.  Of course, right before I leave, the weekend before, Alice and Amos come to Ann Arbor.  This is the second time they are here for recruiting.  I wish I could have spent more time with them.  Just like last time, I saw them for only a short time and then I had to leave for work.  Brian was able to spend some more time with them.

As luck would have it, Stephanie, our cousin, showed up on Sunday.  She was able to see Alice, Amos, Brian and me for the day.  It was great to have a mini reunion.  Unfortunately, I had to leave early because I had to fly to Atlanta.  April 10th weekend was very packed.  I think I had a total of 5 hours of sleep that weekend.  This compounded my sleep deprivation from the prior three weeks as I tried to complete all my work for the new clients.  Key indicators for sleep deprivation . . . worsened dyslexia, spoonerism and broken train of thoughts.  Thank goodness for my tan.  This hid the dark circles underneath my eyes.


April 12 through 16 was a whirlwind in Atlanta.  I didn't get to see all my friends.  I did make a new friend. (Hey Adrienne!)  Sunday ended up later than anticipated as the group came together and drank.  No alcohol for me.  Monday was great seeing Michelle, Dong and Peier.  Wednesday was group dinner was okay.  Italian again which is fine, for those who aren't allergic to pasta.  The mussels were good.  Thursday night.  Oh boy.  I didn't think I'd survive Friday morning class I was so tired. 

Last but not least, I was able to see Jane on Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon.  I wish I was more awake and had  more time.  I was mostly out of it.  Maybe next time to Atlanta, I'll have more time to see friends and spend time with Jane.

March-ing through work

After returning home from a much needed vacation, work went something like this.  .  .  

Not sure how the Service team did it, but they completely destroyed our credibility with the California client.  Sigh.  Note to self, don't go on vacation until client has been transitioned to service!  Unfortunately, as things exploded, two other clients started up.

I was to be on site at two different continents at the same time.  That didn't work so well.  I really wanted to go to China.  Unfortunately, I was informed too late, had no visa and the cost of the ticket was only $5000 plus.  Maybe next time . . .

Three consecutive weeks were spent in bipolar Troy Michigan at the client site.  (Note to Steve, check the weather channel before coming to Michigan and pack appropriately for hot then freezing weather.)  Fortunately for me, I could drive there on Monday morning and then drive home Friday evenings.  The beginning phase is always a bit chaotic and tons of planning.  Late nights with a combo of a new school term was a recipe for disaster.  It was good to see Steve and Janell again.  It was good to meet Shirley too.  The team seems to be a decent one.  The three new additions will be fun with the storming.  I hope to be through to performing soon.

I have only 1 thought for Steve and Janell to roll their eyes.  Spring or Sparkling water?

What happen to rest of 2008 and 2009?

I started the new year and decided to work on my blog this year. It's already March 1 and this is my first blog. Sigh. So much for blogging every month. 2008 finished with a blur in Cincinnati OH. I changed to a new division within the company I work for which brought me into the Global side of the house. I ended up working in Houston for 7 months in the Energy corridor. I finished the rest of 2009 working remotely from home or flying to San Jose California for my new client.

In Fall 2008 I started school full time along with working full time. This has cut into my free time considerably. I am working on my MBA with two concentrations - International Business and Organizational Leadership. No surprise that I'm going to go for two and still graduate in 2010. Crazy me. So far school has been great. I have learned quite a bit and kept my grades acceptable at an A+ or A. At the writing of this blog, I have completed 12 classes, waived 1 and have 5 more classes to go. WOOHOO! This Spring 2010, I will have 1 class in Global Dimensions. It should be interesting. I hear Dr. White is a blast.

You don’t get respect, you earn it!

In 1978, Rodney Dangerfield burst onto the comedy scene claiming he “got no respect.” That theme earned him millions of laughs, and millions of dollars. The reason is the theme resonated with his audience, many of whom also got no respect. No respect from their employer, family members, or customers. Rodney was their champion, their anti-hero.

How respected are you?
How respectful are you?
How well do you believe you command the respect of others?

Respect is not defined in a dictionary. It’s intangible. It’s a feeling. And it’s an earned position. Contrary to popular belief, bosses do not command respect; they earn respect. And bosses who do not earn the respect of their people, have a high employee turnover rate and wonder why.

Respect is earned by words, and by actions. Things like keeping your promises or proactively providing service. Things like becoming more personally involved with the success of your customer, or taking responsibility when responsibility is not really yours.

It’s the extra effort. It’s the extra mile. It’s the extra measure of sincere effort that you put into your dialogue or your process. Others can sense that you care about them, and will respect that effort. Very few people will actually say, “I respect you.” Rather, they will do things that prove their respect without ever having to say the word. Things like placing an order, placing a second order, or giving you a referral. Even things like taking your phone call, or returning your phone call, show respect.

One of the keys to respect is the word personal. How personal are you in your actions? How personal are you in your communication? The more personal you are with others, the more respect you will earn.

But there is a secret to respect. If you master this secret you will be able to create respectful atmospheres in any environment you encounter. The secret is: In order to earn the respect of others, you must first respect yourself.

This means you have to have confidence in yourself. You have to like what you do. You have to be willing to serve. You have to like yourself. And you have to love yourself. Like and love are two separate issues. You may like yourself for how you look, or how you sell, or how you communicate, but you love yourself for who you are, what you believe in, and what or who you seek to become.

Loving yourself gives you the ultimate opportunity to respect yourself. I’m not saying that you have to be a goody two-shoes, I’m certainly not, and I have a TON of respect for myself. What it means is doing the right things for yourself, taking the right actions for yourself, and loving yourself enough that its evident when you enter a room, evident that your expressions come as much from your heart as they do from your mind, and the same with your actions.

I challenge you to spend one day in retrospect. Take a flip chart and begin to document all the good things that you’ve done for yourself, and all the good things that you’ve done for others. Be real enough with yourself to admit what you like about yourself, and what you love about yourself.

Then document what you need to change about yourself that will make you better and stronger. Maybe your self-respect suffers from the way you see yourself in the mirror, or some of the personal choices that you make. Maybe it’s your environment. But whatever it is, if you don’t acknowledge it, you will never be able to change it or enhance it. You’ll never be able to grow in earning respect from others until you grow in respecting yourself.

One of the most interesting parts of respect is there’s no measuring tool, there’s no “How much do you respect me?” Respect begins with an opportunity, and ends with reality. You can only get it by earning it, and it can only grow slowly over time.

The secret is easy. Do the right thing all the time and respect will be yours. Say the right words, take the right actions, and believe in your heart that you’re doing the best you can do -- for yourself first, and for others second.

Hellacious weekend

This weekend sucked. I spent the entire time auditing payroll files to ensure that deductions came out and to ensure my team was on top of auditing. I also spent hours on Microsoft project plans, looking at the predecessor and duration. Resource calendars...

There is only 1 thing I have to say after this weekend. Check out the Mp3 in my facebook. It is the Queen of the Crime Council.

Blind

Kathy, a person I work with told me a sad story about her experience w/ United this week. She is a Red Carpet member. Sunday was terrible with delays and cancellation. While she was waiting in the Red Carpet club, a blind man came in to ask if he could just sit in a chair out of the way. His flight had been cancelled.

The Red Carpet lady asked if he was a member. Because this was a members only club. He replied no. He just wanted to be out of the busy terminal. She said no, he had to leave. Kathy let the woman know that he could come in as a guest of her. That really pissed the woman off. She said that he still couldn't come in because the Club was designed to keep certain people out.

This begs the question, who are these people? The poor? (who can't afford plane tickets?) The rif raff who can't get through security anymore w/o a ticket. Or the disabled? Well, Kathy was very irritated and still insisted to let the blind man sit down and rest a bit. The woman finally relented when she noticed that the other customers looked appalled and disgusted with her.

The old man sat down and promptly fell asleep. The seeing eye dog curled up under his legs and proceeded to sleep.

While I understand that the worker was just doing her job, but it begs the question, during this holiday season, could she not have had a bit of heart?

Make up my mind!

First real snow fall in Ann Arbor this week. It was a trip. The snow looked great. We received at least 12 inches. I watched the Husky across the street enjoying the snow. She pranced and pounced and danced all over the front year. After she did her business, she returned back to the front door and basically barked, "Let me in! It's windy out here!"

I knew it was going to be a challenging travel week when the limo company called to say that they couldn't pick me up in the afternoon. Apparently, their limo drivers had totalled a couple of the cars and they didn't want to risk having any more drivers out on the road.

I checked the flights and noticed that the first 2 flights out were cancelled. Not a good sign. Eventually, mine was cancelled too. I was booked on the first flight out on Monday instead. Not a big deal. I couldn't get out of my driveway anyway. Another night w/ the mate, YAY!

Getting to the airport was easy Monday morning. I breezed through security. The plane loaded ahead of schedule. This wasn't going to bad after all. DOH! The captain came on and announced that he had good news and bad news. Being the person I am, I hoped for bad news first. I can't even remember what the good news was. The bad news was that the plane was fueled for a flight that is longer distance than where we were going. This meant that we were too heavy. Instead of kicking 9 people off the plane, they were going to switch us to a new plane.

Several passengers who were trying to make connections were not pleased. So we got off the plane and went to the next plane. I smiled at the flight attendant again and said, "Deja Vu!" She laughed and waved me to my seat.

We are all on, the luggage has been transferred. We wait for a bit as all the paperwork is filled out. The pilot comes on again to let us know that somehow, we were given a plane that maintenance grounded it. We were asked to deplane again. Sigh. The couple behind me were not pleased. They had been trying since the day before to reach Oklahoma from Appleton WI. As I left the plane, the flight attendant said, "Don't say Deja vu!". So I replied, "There is a glitch in the Matrix." She shooed me out the door.

We finally got to a 3rd plane. We left at a bit after 11 o'clock. The flight was supposed to leave at 7:15 AM. The 9 AM flight left and landed before we even left. Sigh. This does not forebode well for the upcoming winter travels.