Yeah, me neither. And yet, here we are!

Click here to view the embedded video.

###

Just a reminder that I’m in the midst of the No New Groceries challenge. I expect to save about $1000 this month and have donated $100 to Lutheran World Hunger. I’ll donate another $1 for every $1 one of you donates to a hunger cause – local, national or international – up to another $100.

So far we’re up to $64. Anyone else?

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Actual Blogoversary 2008
3 Years Ago 2007
CPE group debacle 2006
Go Vote! 2006
Ha! I knew it! 2005
Reflection – October 2005
This guy is much calmer than I was on 11/3 2004
A beginning… 2004

I was all practiced up with his arrangement of “Sunny.”

I got done with the craziness of the work day, put my accordion in the car and headed out.

Only I couldn’t find the Eagles Club. I thought I knew where it was, but when I got there, it was the Local Pipefitters Union.

Maybe the early darkness had me all confused, but I went up and down Central Avenue a couple of times and then gave up and went to Target to get dog food.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh yeah. “The Full Monty” was delightful last night. The cast as a whole was strong but my favorite was the new (to the stage version) character of Jeanette Burmeister – the piano player. Hilariously written and the delivery last night – given the number of “character” accompanists I know – made the night for me. Yup. Outshone the full monty at the end!

###

Just a reminder that I’m in the midst of the No New Groceries challenge. I expect to save about $1000 this month and have donated $100 to Lutheran World Hunger. I’ll donate another $1 for every $1 one of you donates to a hunger cause – local, national or international – up to another $100.

So far we’re up to $64. Anyone else?

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Boxed in 2008
Be Thankful and Appreciate The Good in Life 2007
Sunny self-care Sunday 2006

Tomorrow, G and I will see this live at the McKnight Theater in St. Paul (Theatre Latte Da production. The same company that did the production of “La Boheme” in which I played accordion in the pit orchestra a couple of years ago)

I bought the tickets last week. I could have bought tickets to see a friend in “Othello.”

I made the less intellectual choice, but it now seems oh, so appropriate.

Click here to view the embedded video.

###

Just a reminder that I’m in the midst of the No New Groceries challenge. I expect to save about $1000 this month and have donated $100 to Lutheran World Hunger. I’ll donate another $1 for every $1 one of you donates to a hunger cause – local, national or international – up to another $100.

So far we’re up to $64. Anyone else?

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Please. Just Vote 2008
Sì. Mi Chiamano Mimì 2007
on-call with a full moon 2006

But the darned radio guy kept insisting that it was Tuesday!

To say the day was intense really doesn’t do it justice. And I really don’t know where to begin to describe it. I guess I’ll just say that today I was actually asked by my boss and the Sr VP of Field Operations if it would really be a bad thing to re-purpose copyrighted training material without permission or paying for materials.

“Not unless you get caught. And then the copyright owner comes asking Big Corporate Pockets for a lot of money. And frankly, copyright violation is not on my list of reasons I’d go to prison.”

They weren’t exactly pleased, but they didn’t say I had to do it, either.

Bottom line is that if they had come to me 6 months ago saying they wanted to facilitate this program I would have gotten on a plane within the hour to go out and get certified, accredited and licensed to do it. But now, with the sunset time set at about 6 months, why would they pay the $5,000  fee for me?

Not to mention the fact that Sr VP thinks that today, November 3rd is a perfect time to start talking about launching a manager curriculum – beginning December 2nd.

Not withstanding the product training, joint commission fixes and other big initiatives scheduled to go live by the end of the month and then by the end of the year. Oh and there’s the pesky problem of Holidays and needing to use up PTO.

It just made me want to crawl into the corner and eat my hair.

Or hit happy hour before heading over to church for a meeting.

I chose option 2, just so you know.

###

Just a reminder that I’m in the midst of the No New Groceries challenge. I expect to save about $1000 this month and have donated $100 to Lutheran World Hunger. I’ll donate another $1 for every $1 one of you donates to a hunger cause – local, national or international – up to another $100.

So far we’re up to $30. Anyone else?

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Music Monday 2008
NaBloPoMo #3 2007
it’s all around me 2006

The invitation to the “mandatory all employee” meeting came only about 90 minutes before the meeting was to start. AP lied played stupid about not knowing what was happening. I’m really not sure which.

The new CEO/President stood on the stairs and tried to talk loudly enough for everyone to hear him while the Sr VP of HR didn’t even really try that hard to be heard. (IMHO). The big news? All positions at the corporate office in Minneapolis will be eliminated by July 2010. All functions will be transferred to Evil Corporate Empire Headquarters in Woundsocket, RI. And if that gives you enough information to know where I work, so be it. We were assured repeatedly that “this has nothing to do with the quality of work you’ve done.” In other (more cynical) words: “You have done everything. You could not have done more. And it still wouldn’t have been enough to save your jobs.”

Some heard, but some didn’t that we are “invited” to post for any jobs within the larger organization and that many of the functions will be moved to RI and we could keep our jobs if we applied for them, got them and were willing to relocate.

After the formal large group announcement we met by department groups. JB kept insisting that “communication would continue to be clear and transparent.” I almost puked on his shoes. In fact, if I hear one more time that they think they’ve been clearly communicating or being transparent, I might puke on their shoes! Just because. He also kept saying that we need to keep open lines of communication and to ask whatever questions you have to your manager. When he opened it up for questions there were a few others and then I piped up: “I can’t speak for all the managers in the room but when you keep asserting and recommending that people go to their managers for answers to their questions, that makes me anxious, because I don’t have any answers. I want to be perfectly clear that I know exactly the same amount of information as what everyone in the room knows except for you three guys in the front. So, if you want me to support my people, I need information.”

AP was in my face not 2 seconds after the departmental meeting asking if I’d be willing to move to Rhode Island (where the Evil Corporate Empire is based.) I refused to give her an answer today, brushing it aside and encouraging her to ask JH. At least AP is smart enough to know that without us she’d be up a creek without a paddle.

Next we were grouped by level in the organization for discussion on the particulars of the severance package. Again, personally, I think this is a more than fair package. As a manager I’ll get a minimum of 13 weeks severance – assuming I stay until they’ve sucked everything out of my brain they want, worked me nights and weekends until I drop and don’t complain. Or remain an employee in good standing until my last day. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

And I have to manage my team through this transition period, which means keeping them motivated and engaged… at least until they find a job or until our last day of service.

The severance sounds pretty generous. Sounds like it will include health benefits of a COBRA-type variety but we only have to pay our regular contribution through the severance period. That’s different since the last time I got laid off. Of course, the last two times neither has included a severance package. And there is outplacement help that kicks in the day after your last day (wouldn’t want you to distract you from giving the corporation your blood sweat and tears by job-hunting before your last day. whatever.)

Another shining example of thinking at the end of last week “Well, I made it through. It couldn’t possibly be any more challenging next week” and being proved just how wrong I can be.

You know I’m not sad to say good-bye to this place. In fact, if I could pick a time line this wouldn’t  be a bad one. I don’t think we’d be the first wave, but maybe the next to last or even last wave – so May/June time frame. Then 13 weeks severance (a.k.a. summer vacation) and then start a nice church job next September.

Could it really work that perfectly? Yeah. I’m not holding my breath.

###

Just a reminder that I’m in the midst of the No New Groceries challenge. I expect to save about $1000 this month and have donated $100 to Lutheran World Hunger. I’ll donate another $1 for every $1 one of you donates to a hunger cause – local, national or international – up to another $100.

So far we’re up to $10. Anyone else?

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Grateful #21 2008
It’s the little things 2007

The choir sang this text by medieval poet Thomas Campion (12 February 1567 – 1 March 1620).

Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore.
Never tired pilgrim’s limbs affected slumber more,
Than my wearied sprite now longs to fly out of my troubled breast:
O come quickly, sweetest Lord, and take my soul to rest.

Ever blooming are the joys of Heaven’s high Paradise.
Cold age deafs not there our ears nor vapour dims our eyes:
Glory there the sun outshines whose beams the blessed only see:
O come quickly, glorious Lord, and raise my sprite to thee!

Campion studied law, was a doctor, author and poet. Incarcerated briefly for murder, he was soon exonerated. He died of the plague at age 52.

I gotta get to work on my medieval  resume!

The setting was by Charles Wood (June 15, 1866 – July 12, 1926)

Click here to view the embedded video.

###

Just a reminder that I’m in the midst of the No New Groceries challenge. I expect to save about $1000 this month and have donated $100 to Lutheran World Hunger. I’ll donate another $1 for every $1 one of you donates to a hunger cause – local, national or international – up to another $100.

So far we’re up to $10. Anyone else?

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Always we begin again – NaBloPoMo 2008 2008
Moved again 2007
Entering a new phase 2007
so. tired. can’t. think. 2006
Would X actually take the children? 2005
Methodist Court Removes Openly Lesbian Minister – New York Times 2005
He thought it happened a long time ago 2005

I have to stop thinking “Wow! this is the most absurd/infuriating/frustrating/fill-in-the-blank thing that could ever happen!” because without fail the next day tops it.

It is likely we will hear this coming week about the closing of the Minneapolis corporate headquarters. JH is trying to get me to “hang on for the severance” package but 1) I’m not sure I can hang on that long and 2) there’s no guarantee of a severance package.

In the meantime, the No New Groceries project is going well. I’ve been presented with a lot of information about hunger issues and food waste and all sorts of interesting things that, if I were organized I would have posted or mused about here. But between working hard (still) for ECJ and cooking from scratch most evenings that I’m home, and chasing the nights I’m not cooking – I haven’t much time or energy to contemplate and/or write.

Of course, I’m getting sort of tired of the numbers of times I write that here.

Tomorrow starts NaBloPoMo. I’ve completed this project two years in a row now (see those badges over there?) so I think I’ll give it a whirl again this year. Just post SOMETHING every day as an attempt to end the weakness.

Tonight, G and I were going to a party but the hostess has come down with the flu. So, I think we’ll be watching movies instead. With the lights out and the shades drawn so hopefully the Trick-or-Treaters will pass us by. Or maybe I’ll have him help me change batteries in the smoke alarms.

In any case, my Big Saturday Project is the Kitchen. Maybe tomorrow I’ll post a couple before/after pics. And you can all both wonder how the Health Department has never been involved here before…
— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Weird Dreams #3 2008
I’m probably not doing it right 2007
Good space 2006
A final whine before bed 2005
Step 1 finished: He’s got the papers 2005
Still Emotionally Absent 2005
wasting time on Monday 2005

It seems like just yesterday I was finishing my last post. But I blinked.
(If you look it was last week!!)

I spent a couple of hours cleaning out my inbox, and I blinked and there were 634 messages in it!

How did it get to be the end of October?? I think I blinked. Wasn’t it just DS2’s birthday?

It seems like so much of my life is flashing past at the speed of light!

I’m not sure what my point is here, except that I started this no new groceries challenge and already a week has past. As I look at my pantry and freezer I’m getting the feeling that I could last even longer than a month. The biggest reason for this is that I’m not home very much!   

Last weekend G and I took a whirlwind (that’s 28 hour) trip to Fargo to deliver furniture to his son, J and DIL, M. They’ve moved in to a new (to them) townhome with three bedrooms and so G took the opportunity to empty his son’s old room of the twin bed, dresser and a several boxes worth of stuff.

M’s parents did the same thing – at least as far as the boxes of stuff go. Including a tote bag of bride magazines and spiral-bound wedding planner book. (They’re just celebrating their first anniversary this week.)

I guess I think that when I get to that point, I’ll actually recycle that kind of crap rather than send it 250 miles for someone else to recycle.

I found myself siding with the kids on this one and told M that she didn’t need to let anything into her house that she really didn’t want. That if she didn’t want it not to even let it in the door – to put it right back into the rental van and we would take it to the Goodwill or Fargo equivalent. (Because apparently Fargo doesn’t have Goodwill Industries. Who knew?)

Apparently I’m all anti-clutter these days. Again. Who knew?

As for this food declutter, Renn makes the good point that no one wants to eat a two year old can of beets. And there are a few things that I’ve had to just toss because I’m embarassed by how past their expiration date they are. Somethings though – what’s the harm?  I made a quiche the other day with a home-made crust and used expired Crisco. It’s been in the refrigerator the whole time; can shortening really "go bad?"

The crust wasn’t that great but honestly I think that’s more about my crust making technique than the freshness of the ingredients.

At the same time, I didn’t use the eggs that were in the refrigerator with the expiration of August 15.  Good grief. I thought I just bought those! Must have blinked…

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— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

belated birthday celebrations 2008
Monday Musings 2007
walking 2006
Amy 2005

I’m not really going to talk about the challenge in this post, so I’ll understand if you skip it.

I’ve written a couple of different posts to try to recap today but they’re all too whiney and I just couldn’t bear to foist them on an unsuspecting blogosphere.

Suffice it to say, today was a day when my teenage son took a lot and gave nothing in return. In addition, his sloth has ruined another load of laundry. At least this time it was his stuff and not mine.

I’ve spent the evening feeling like shit that he has so little regard for me that he would not communicate about some simple stuff or put down the freaking X-box controller long enough to do a few simple things around here.

All this on a day when Evil Corporate Job was particularly evil and completely wore me out.

This has made me question the decisions I have made to keep the house which requires me to keep this corporate job that kills me a little more everyday so that I could keep things stable “for them” was a stupid decision. That going through this soul-sucking torture every day is a waste. Wouldn’t it have been better to give up the house, moved into a smaller, rented place where the landlord is responsible for the mowing and the maintenance and the monthly budget would have been lower and I could have finished this career shift years ago instead of being trapped in this situation for the duration of the recession – if not longer.

****

Dare me to up my contribution to hunger related non-profits.

Day 3 recap:

Breakfast –  coffee from coffee shop
Lunch – lunch with contractor colleague. She bought
Dinner – G bought at Manning’s for Church Administrator Day
— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Teen driver 2008
a long awaited email 2007
how can I be clearer about this? 2007
So there you go 2006

I’m pretty sure I’ll bore myself silly if all I blog about for the next month is this No New Groceries thing. On the other hand, it’s still fresh and new and I have a lot of “And another thing!” remarks to make. So here goes…

One question that begs to be asked and answered in all this is: “What are you going to do with what you save this month by not buying groceries?” What a great question! Are we talking money or time? Or both?

First, let’s figure out how much money we’re talking about. On a typical Saturday I have a standard 4-stop errand tour of my little corner of the world.

1. neighborhood coffee shop
2. Target – for dog food and maybe a few other items (ca. $15-50 depending on how many cases they have and whatever else I get.)
3. Cub Foods – for the bulk of the groceries (ca. $110-$140)
4. neighborhood butcher shop – for a dog bone and 1-2 (0r 3!!) dinners’ worth of meat (ca. $18-30)

On some weekends I’ll also add a trip to the nearby Giant Chain Drug Store where I use my Evil Corporate Job’s quarterly “benefit” of a $75 gift card on symbolic purchases of ibuprofen, toilet paper and trash bags. (No, I’m not kidding. And I loved it when I was down in Atlanta and could buy diapers and wipes for SrSW’s Itty Bitty with that card.) (No one thinks it is as funny as I do, but I crack myself up every time.)

The usual round takes about 2-3 hours.

If my math and my estimates are right  I’ll be not spending between $130-170 per week for five weeks ($650-$850 total) AND if I actually meet the goal of bringing my lunch to work, I’ll be cutting out an additional $50 a week of spending. Now we’re talking $800-$1000!! Not really an amount to sneeze at!

As for the time “savings” that might be a moot point. This Saturday I’ll be with G taking furniture up to his son and daughter-in-law in Fargo. (Yes. Fargo, North Dakota. Jealous?) The following Saturday I’ll be in Baltimore at an Assembly planning meeting. So really, by not grocery shopping I’ll be saving myself from being crazy by having to cram it on to Sunday afternoon – when I should be napping.

But if I were to actually save an hour or two each Saturday, I could use that time to walk, or read a book, or clean the ever emptying pantries. In 8 hours I could knit two pair of mittens, or declutter the downstairs room by the fireplace so G and I could spend romantic cozy winter evenings there. Hmmm. Wonder what I should chose?

There are plenty of places the money could/should go. I have a bunch of unexpected medical bills and the big Patio Project of 2009 went on the credit card along with car repairs and expenses related to moving DS1 to college. And when you look at those numbers, even putting the whole $1000 toward either the medical bills or the credit card won’t make a huge dent. And I sure as heck don’t have six months of expenses saved! So this $1000 isn’t going to  suddenly cover either one of those financial goals. And since it won’t retire the debt, I feel like I should take at least part of this money and put it towards helping people who are hungry.

There are a lot of good and worthy direct service agencies that I could give a chunk of this money. When it comes to giving to food shelves and soup kitchens and the like, I favor Second Harvest Food Bank over buying food and donating to the local food shelves because they can get more food per dollar than I can at the retail grocery store.

If you know me even a little bit, you know that I’d rather spend my time fixing the problem than treating the symptoms. That doesn’t mean that the symptoms don’t need to be treated! People are hungry – they need to be fed. But we will always only ever have hungry people if no one advocates for changes to the system that cause so many people to be hungry. Those folks who are called to treat the symptoms – to fill the food banks and serve at the soup kitchens – should do it and do it with passion!

That frees a others of us up to try to fix the situation – to lobby for changes to the system, locally, nationally and globally.

Two advocacy programs that get high marks from me are the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) World Hunger organization and Bread for the World.

There’s also the “in between” organization of  Heifer International. By “in between” I mean it’s sort of direct service – they give people farm animals  – and sort of long-term solution, because the animals allow the families to feed themselves and their communities over time.

Here is where I get wrapped around the axle. I do need to use some of this money to pay down my debt. But the amount that I can use to make a difference for someone else is not a huge amount. And to split it between three or four organizations just doesn’t seem like it will do much.

Here’s what I’m going to do. I commit to sending $100 (10% of what I think I’m saving by not grocery shopping for these five weeks) to one of those organizations I mentioned up there. (Or I’ll split the $100 – I don’t know yet. I have to think more about it.)

I wonder if a few of you could help make this a bigger amount? Can you send 5 or 10 bucks to your favorite hunger related non-profit? More?

I’ll contribute another $1 for every $1 you contribute to a hunger related non-profit, up to another $100. Leave a comment telling me how much you’re pitching in and to which food related non-profit and I’ll send a matching donation.

You donate $5, I’ll donate $5. You donate $50? I’ll donate $50. Up to another $100. To feed the hungry somewhere. I don’t care if you choose a local non-profit or an international one. Just leave a comment with the name and amount you send. I’ll contact you by email if I need address information for the non-profit you choose. Even better, include the URL.

Surely even the few of us can do this?

****

Day 2 recap:
Breakfast – oatmeal and blueberries, coffee from coffee shop
Lunch – leftover lamb&rice hotdish and nectarine and more blueberries
Dinner – at church (I work Wednesday nights at church and there’s a dinner as part of the evening)

My apple tree on Oct. 12, 2009

From email… 2008
Restaurant Review: The Claddagh, Maple Grove 2007
done. ordered. is it here yet? 2007
a little space 2007
Enjoying the moment 2006