I often look into the eyes of Seamus and Annie wondering what possibly could be going on in there. How do they regard me? Leader of the pack? Mommy? Perhaps a combination of a gentleman's gentleman and chauffeur? What makes their day a Saturday and a Monday?
This morning as I am lying in bed with Seamus occupying the spot left by my husband, Seamus is ready to go. Let's just say he is a "morning dog". Every morning, he greets the world with..
"Yippee, let's go, wow it is morning and I get to go outside, to go for a ride, eat, Whoopiee!, Come on mom get out of bed and play with me!" "Isn't life grand"
Annie on the other hand is more like me. I think she would drink coffee. She lays around in her bed. Watching Seamus jump all over the place and only gets up to go downstairs for two reasons:
1) Lunch is being made prior to work and oooh was that the pretzel bag I heard. (It is better than a whistle)
2) Time to go out for the morning constitutional walk.
They sit in my office most of the day. Total couch potatoes only to perk up when a squirrel comes up on the patio or other wildlife. We have had everything from landscaper to coyotes to bobcats and raccoons.
I think of my sliders as a big screen doggy tv.
So here is my definition of a good day (typically Saturday) for my furry kids.
Get up and go to the park prior to 7 Am for a 1-2 mile walk including off leash time. Perhaps meeting up with Ruger, Bosco, or Stella to play with, or for Annie, have a little kid pet her.
Come home to a wonderful breakfast with leftover steak chopped up with my dry food or some of that yummy canned food.
Be able to be the dog selected to go with mom for errands and be allowed to sit in the front seat.
Come home. Go for another quick walk around the neighborhood when we check for the mail and my pee mail.
Share lunch with mom and/ or dad. Chips, pretzels, cheese, etc.
Afternoon nap in a sunny spot. Only to be woken by a belly rub and a leash dangling in my face .. Back over to the park or a trail somewhere. Spot some deer and beg mom to let me chase them.
Home for the parental units to order in pizza and watch it in the family room where I am allowed to share the sofa... More food. A sneak out the back door for last call. Off to my beddie to chase squirrels or win the Crofts dog show in my dreams.
I hope that is a good day. We can always top that with a trip to Uncle Rob's and Aunt Jen's to play and splash in the pond. But all in all. I hope that is a good day in the life of any dog.. not just ours.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
New Wheels vs. New Appliances
We have been making improvements to the townhouse trying to keep the eye to the "flip" mentality in a couple of years when the real estate market comes back (and it will). Honestly, neither of us thinks that we are going to score the type of money that we have made in the past three transactions but, not losing any and making a fast sale is a key thing.
How do you set your townhouse apart from others in the community? (Back to that word community) You make improvements to the kitchens, bathrooms, fixtures, and in the case of a townhou
se storage. We have been making changes. Ripping out stuff that is less than five years old and putting in more social accepted and desired stuff. (The dining room fixture was formerly a shiny brass chandlier that was $40 at the Depot). Next on the hit parade, we are tackling the kitchen. The thought is to put in granite and stainless. We already have upgraded cabinets from others, tile floor, and new lighting fixtures (well they are still in the box as of this posting). Branny found a great deal on the web. This is an awesome deal for appliances!
His internal conflict is that it is going to be about the same cost as the new Cannondale bike he wants. For most people, spending close to 4K on a bicycle is stupid. Cough, choke and sputter. However, he puts thousands of miles on his bike a year. I think he actually rode more miles that I drove in the past six months. His LiteSpeed is now 6 years old. We haven't kept a car that long. (or a house but that is fully covered in other entries and rants) .
The argument most women would make is that appliances are used daily. So is th
e bike. Furthermore, appliances can lead to weigh gain and biking the reverse. In the end of the day, it is a question of ROI. I think the appliances may win. Stay tuned for a photo finish! (Voting is acceptable, but as with National Presidential elections, the electorial college has the final say)
How do you set your townhouse apart from others in the community? (Back to that word community) You make improvements to the kitchens, bathrooms, fixtures, and in the case of a townhou
se storage. We have been making changes. Ripping out stuff that is less than five years old and putting in more social accepted and desired stuff. (The dining room fixture was formerly a shiny brass chandlier that was $40 at the Depot). Next on the hit parade, we are tackling the kitchen. The thought is to put in granite and stainless. We already have upgraded cabinets from others, tile floor, and new lighting fixtures (well they are still in the box as of this posting). Branny found a great deal on the web. This is an awesome deal for appliances!His internal conflict is that it is going to be about the same cost as the new Cannondale bike he wants. For most people, spending close to 4K on a bicycle is stupid. Cough, choke and sputter. However, he puts thousands of miles on his bike a year. I think he actually rode more miles that I drove in the past six months. His LiteSpeed is now 6 years old. We haven't kept a car that long. (or a house but that is fully covered in other entries and rants) .
The argument most women would make is that appliances are used daily. So is th
e bike. Furthermore, appliances can lead to weigh gain and biking the reverse. In the end of the day, it is a question of ROI. I think the appliances may win. Stay tuned for a photo finish! (Voting is acceptable, but as with National Presidential elections, the electorial college has the final say)
Monday, October 16, 2006
What does the World need from Graduating College Students!
Pauline, this is great -- thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response. I'm going to synopsize parts of this, and it will be printed in a "CLP 7" folder that I use to work with all students, freshmen through senior. In addition, I make take larger excerpts and put them in my annual "wake up and smell the coffee!" email to current seniors.
Thanks for all you do for us... this is very cool stuff... and I WILL refer recent grads and current seniors to the your career page.
Gene
-----Original Message-----Subject: RE: From NEC: Help Us Teach!
Gene -
This is a terrific undertaking by NEC! I am happy to share my thoughts on turning students into successful Alumni. I would prefer to speak about my own experiences both what I feel has contributed to my success and some of the short comings I see in the Generation Y employees I have hired and work with at clients.
One of the keys to success in my role in sales and marketing is communication. The ability to write, speak via the phone and in front of groups are important skills. Entry level business professionals need to be able to understand their audience quickly and adjust the message to fit. I need to find many different ways to communicate the same information regardless of the forum or audience. In the past 24 hours, I have sent an email blast to my current customers, conducted a WebEX demonstration for Oracle Corporation Marketing executives, sat in a frustrating internal weekly meeting, updated two different forecasting spreadsheets, continuing to train a new sales person, and completed a host of cold calls to new business opportunities(both in French and English). All of this was accomplished from my home office. However, communication is certainly a two way street. Listening and understanding the needs and desires of your customers whether they be patients, internal staff, or paying customers is essential as well.
I think another thing I have seen lacking in graduating students is the understanding they probably won't have a management position directly out of college. Their first position will involve a lot of clerical tasks. They need to be ready to ask how can I help at any time. To summarize, I feel is important is simple flexibility and common manners. Dr. Sayce had a large clip on his desk that read, "Rigid Flexibility". I have quoted that more times than I care to mention. I find it also very beneficial for the understanding of professionalism and manners. What "is and is not" appropriate behavior in a professional setting is a useful skill for new alumni.
It is also important to make sure each graduate has the ability to use the common software packages to office, adobe, etc. I also think that a standard understanding of accounting and entrepreneurship is important. Whether you are a freelance artist or biologist, most professionals must be able to put together a budget or work within one.
All this being said, Generation Y has an incredible grasp of cutting edge technology and will drive the future of business with bringing the Facebooks and Myspaces to the business community. On a separate topic that might be interesting to you, my company is working with the Wharton School of Business and MIT Sloan School on a project about the future of business education and how the knowledge and power of a community is greater. In some respects, you reaching out to Alumni about your own project is a perfect example of using a community of people and experience to learn from the shared knowledge. Check out http://www.wearesmarter.org/. Gene, you may want to share your findings of using the NEC Alumni community to help prepare graduates for the expectations of today's employers. This research project is a book wiki being written by the masses. Your findings would be an excellent case study and great publicity for the college!
If you have more questions, let me know. Best on your quest to prepare students to be my employees and fellow alumni!
Cheers!
Pauline '91
---------------------------------
From NEC: Help Us Teach!
Dear NEC Alum and Career Advisory Network Member:
Greetings from NEC. You'd like it up here at this time of year... BRIGHT fall colors, crisp air. This is the time of the semester when people are suddenly realizing that the honeymoon is over and the work (classwork and our own full-time jobs) isn't going away, so there are some tired faces; but all is very well. And we all wish YOU well.
I'm writing with an interesting request. At the CLP office, we're getting much more focused and intentional about teaching students what skills they'll need in the workforce when they graduate. So rather than guessing, I've decided to ask YOU.
Can you email me back and tell me: what skills are essential for the kind of work you do? I mean, the absolutes? What people skills? What skills with information or numbers or computers? What kind of awareness? To help you out with this, I'm attaching two lists of skills that you can use (if you need it) to remember what is most essential to you in your job. But be brief -- could you give me three essentials?
So, if you can, I'd like a short email or simple list. I'll collect this information, and make sure EVERY STUDENT I TALK TO is aware of what they're going to need. Believe me, we're getting very systematic about this -- we want NEC grads and current students to be aware of their goals.
Thanks. Again, greetings from ALL of us at NEC.
Gene edurkee@nec.edu
Thanks for all you do for us... this is very cool stuff... and I WILL refer recent grads and current seniors to the your career page.
Gene
-----Original Message-----Subject: RE: From NEC: Help Us Teach!
Gene -
This is a terrific undertaking by NEC! I am happy to share my thoughts on turning students into successful Alumni. I would prefer to speak about my own experiences both what I feel has contributed to my success and some of the short comings I see in the Generation Y employees I have hired and work with at clients.
One of the keys to success in my role in sales and marketing is communication. The ability to write, speak via the phone and in front of groups are important skills. Entry level business professionals need to be able to understand their audience quickly and adjust the message to fit. I need to find many different ways to communicate the same information regardless of the forum or audience. In the past 24 hours, I have sent an email blast to my current customers, conducted a WebEX demonstration for Oracle Corporation Marketing executives, sat in a frustrating internal weekly meeting, updated two different forecasting spreadsheets, continuing to train a new sales person, and completed a host of cold calls to new business opportunities(both in French and English). All of this was accomplished from my home office. However, communication is certainly a two way street. Listening and understanding the needs and desires of your customers whether they be patients, internal staff, or paying customers is essential as well.
I think another thing I have seen lacking in graduating students is the understanding they probably won't have a management position directly out of college. Their first position will involve a lot of clerical tasks. They need to be ready to ask how can I help at any time. To summarize, I feel is important is simple flexibility and common manners. Dr. Sayce had a large clip on his desk that read, "Rigid Flexibility". I have quoted that more times than I care to mention. I find it also very beneficial for the understanding of professionalism and manners. What "is and is not" appropriate behavior in a professional setting is a useful skill for new alumni.
It is also important to make sure each graduate has the ability to use the common software packages to office, adobe, etc. I also think that a standard understanding of accounting and entrepreneurship is important. Whether you are a freelance artist or biologist, most professionals must be able to put together a budget or work within one.
All this being said, Generation Y has an incredible grasp of cutting edge technology and will drive the future of business with bringing the Facebooks and Myspaces to the business community. On a separate topic that might be interesting to you, my company is working with the Wharton School of Business and MIT Sloan School on a project about the future of business education and how the knowledge and power of a community is greater. In some respects, you reaching out to Alumni about your own project is a perfect example of using a community of people and experience to learn from the shared knowledge. Check out http://www.wearesmarter.org/. Gene, you may want to share your findings of using the NEC Alumni community to help prepare graduates for the expectations of today's employers. This research project is a book wiki being written by the masses. Your findings would be an excellent case study and great publicity for the college!
If you have more questions, let me know. Best on your quest to prepare students to be my employees and fellow alumni!
Cheers!
Pauline '91
---------------------------------
From NEC: Help Us Teach!
Dear NEC Alum and Career Advisory Network Member:
Greetings from NEC. You'd like it up here at this time of year... BRIGHT fall colors, crisp air. This is the time of the semester when people are suddenly realizing that the honeymoon is over and the work (classwork and our own full-time jobs) isn't going away, so there are some tired faces; but all is very well. And we all wish YOU well.
I'm writing with an interesting request. At the CLP office, we're getting much more focused and intentional about teaching students what skills they'll need in the workforce when they graduate. So rather than guessing, I've decided to ask YOU.
Can you email me back and tell me: what skills are essential for the kind of work you do? I mean, the absolutes? What people skills? What skills with information or numbers or computers? What kind of awareness? To help you out with this, I'm attaching two lists of skills that you can use (if you need it) to remember what is most essential to you in your job. But be brief -- could you give me three essentials?
So, if you can, I'd like a short email or simple list. I'll collect this information, and make sure EVERY STUDENT I TALK TO is aware of what they're going to need. Believe me, we're getting very systematic about this -- we want NEC grads and current students to be aware of their goals.
Thanks. Again, greetings from ALL of us at NEC.
Gene edurkee@nec.edu
Cardinal Rule - Broken
The cardinal rule of blogging is "Thou Shall Update Often" even if it is garbage! It isn't that I haven't had a ton to say just that each of the 20 times I have come out to this site to write something... The phone has rung, my IM goes nuts or I just can't figure out how I can spend another minute staring at the lap top.
Work is very busy with the launch of our new Community 2.0 conference, the CMMC Council, and the We are Smarter than Me project with Sloan School at MIT and Wharton School of Business. The event is again going to be very different. Just when I get comfortable in my box of the format we have, I find myself standing in the box... kicking down the walls and trying to feel comfortable again.
I have been doing a lot of this in the past six years. Move to Massachusetts, find everything - mechanic, doctor, dentist, hair dresser, insurance guy... Then to Georgia. Find a job, bagel shop (not as easy as it sounds), nail salon, accent, house. Move back to Connecticut, place to walk the dogs, my sweaters, close toed shoes, dry cleaner, dog walker.... So I should be used to it. Change is what makes the world and life interesting.
So what has been going on in our lives? Since I last wrote, we went to Newport for our Anniversary - Great time!! Jim has organized the garage. Put up some new ceiling lights.. Organized the closets in the lower level so that the boxes are out of the middle of the floor.
We went to dinner with great friends in Westport. They have a new dog, Olive. We are looking forward to introducing our broods for a puppy play date. Anyone got dibs on how Seamus handles a 110 lb Mastiff puppy?
I am thinking about organizing a supper club. If you are interested, let me know. The rules are have the club to your house 3-4 times a year for dinner. Can either be a joint cook or a meal prepared by you.. Once a month, we go to another house. Goal is 3-4 couples. Pot luck is also acceptable. Bring the recipes.. Have an awesome time...
Work is very busy with the launch of our new Community 2.0 conference, the CMMC Council, and the We are Smarter than Me project with Sloan School at MIT and Wharton School of Business. The event is again going to be very different. Just when I get comfortable in my box of the format we have, I find myself standing in the box... kicking down the walls and trying to feel comfortable again.
I have been doing a lot of this in the past six years. Move to Massachusetts, find everything - mechanic, doctor, dentist, hair dresser, insurance guy... Then to Georgia. Find a job, bagel shop (not as easy as it sounds), nail salon, accent, house. Move back to Connecticut, place to walk the dogs, my sweaters, close toed shoes, dry cleaner, dog walker.... So I should be used to it. Change is what makes the world and life interesting.
So what has been going on in our lives? Since I last wrote, we went to Newport for our Anniversary - Great time!! Jim has organized the garage. Put up some new ceiling lights.. Organized the closets in the lower level so that the boxes are out of the middle of the floor.
We went to dinner with great friends in Westport. They have a new dog, Olive. We are looking forward to introducing our broods for a puppy play date. Anyone got dibs on how Seamus handles a 110 lb Mastiff puppy?
I am thinking about organizing a supper club. If you are interested, let me know. The rules are have the club to your house 3-4 times a year for dinner. Can either be a joint cook or a meal prepared by you.. Once a month, we go to another house. Goal is 3-4 couples. Pot luck is also acceptable. Bring the recipes.. Have an awesome time...
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