I am sorry for not writing last night; but, we were celebrating two birthdays in the family – mine which was last Monday and Callum who will turn 4 this Wednesday. I left the house at 3 in the afternoon and didn’t get home until after 8 in the evening after having spent a morning of doing my Zumba class, running to the cleaners, the bank, Toys R Us for wrapping paper and a gift bag and to the bakery to pick up a specially ordered cake with a “Mike the Knight” stencil on it. Hopefully you can understand my reason for not writing.
The week has been hectic and focused on various projects at work. Many things have been creeping up to do which have been totally unexpected. I was very happy to have completed instructions with pictures on how to use the SmartBoard in our conference room; only to find out that our VP would now like instructions on how to connect a MAC Notebook to the SmartBoard and what are the settings. WHOA!! I don’t even own a MAC Notebook – and I know I need a dongle to connect the MAC to the VGA cables. I spent a good deal of my Thursday morning tracking down the lone departmental notebook and finding who might have a dongle that I could borrow so that I could connect to the SmartBoard and detail the instructions for our End Users.
If that wasn’t enough this same VP has decided that we should go out to RFP (Request for Proposal) on the current video equipment that we purchase. I spent several hours on Thursday and Friday putting together a spreadsheet with all the devices that we order for each of our conference rooms – I was never so happy as to get that off my plate.
Then Thursday I was trying to help one of our Dentists put together his Web Ex account so that they can start their lecture series this week. I was able to set up his account and show his team how to use it – the kicker is that he will not be there for the lecture series and I will need to be a “host” on his account to support the meeting this coming week. I received the instructions on how to do that – now I need to set up a meeting to show his team how this function works and on Thursday I will be at his offices at 7AM to set up the first lecture. What is wonderful is how well everyone has embraced the technology and can see its value in their everyday business lives.
On a personal note a lot is changing. For the first time one half of the family will no longer be in New York. Both my cousin, Gerry and his daughter (Siobhan) and her husband will be moving to Delaware. I am happy for both of them as it will bring to them a better life style at a much lesser cost than New York. The difference will be that they are no longer 40 minutes away – no longer can I use their house as a “potty break” on my way home from work and I will now join the many individuals who travel to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with their families.
What I love is that Delaware is the state that I would like to retire to – I know the type of house I would like to buy and the community I would like to live in. The weather is temperate; but, not with the terrible winters we can experience in New York. But, I am not looking to retire for another 10 years so in the meantime I will get a taste of life there through them.
Oh, I do have to tell you about my Saturday. I met a friend who I have known for more than 25 years for lunch in New York City. May and I used to work together for Citicorp’s Remittance Services (Official Checks and Money Order division) back in the early 1980’s – I had not seen her since my 50th birthday party seven years ago. We chose to meet at the clock in Grand Central and we went to Chelsea Market hoping to find a place to have lunch. The Market was crowded with people just touring, having lunch and there really was no place to sit and enjoy a leisurely lunch. We decided to walk on 9th Avenue for a couple of blocks until we came across Serafina’s and since it was getting hot out we decided to eat inside the restaurant. We had brunch and caught up on the past 7 years of our lives: who had married, graduated from colleges and dispersed throughout the US. The various jobs we had during that time period, etc.
After our meal we walked the Highline. For those of you not familiar with New York – the Highline is between 9th and 10th Avenues and was built alongside subway tracks where the subway no longer exists. It runs from the teens to 30th Street and along the way there are plants, shrubs, lounging chairs and even a sidewalk waterfall that people dipped their toes in. I felt great that I walked over 10,000 steps and over 4 miles on Saturday since I didn’t go to my aqua aerobics class. It was amazing to see the various buildings on the West Side and how eclectic, modern/contemporary they are. I would recommend anyone who has an afternoon to do this.
May and I are looking to get together in the early fall and this time we will either see a play or go to one of the various museums that I happen to be a member of. It is always great to connect with friends and to be able to pick up the relationship where it last ended.
Well these are the dog days of summer and it is slowly coming to a close – I hope that each of you have enjoyed this wonderful season and are able to squeeze some lasting fun and memories before fall makes her debut.
Each season has a reason; love it for what it offers.
No comments:
Post a Comment