The Cost of Gas - What is it Really???

What should gas really cost?

Every few days as I pass the gas station the price posted is different – not a full week goes by that the gas price has remained stable.  I watch to see when it is over the $4.00 mark – and I start to get anxious.

As I drive down Route 202 I look to see what the prices are at the Shell and Hess stations – they tend to be anywhere from $0.05 to $0.10 more than on Route 6.  Driving on Route 6 I look at the Getty station as they tend to be the least expensive on that road.  Then next to the BP which is generally a cent or two more than Getty; but, they charge the same whether it is cash or credit.  Then to Valero which is usually always $0.05 to $0.07 more expensive; but, also the same price whether it is cash or credit and it is a full service station.  Lastly, the Shell station which takes the Stop ‘n Shop rewards points – where you can pay anywhere from $0.10 to $0.60 cents less per gallon.

I do my food shopping at Stop ‘n Shop and the gas rewards points has become very handy – I was psyched the day I had $0.60 off per gallon – I paid $3.39/gallon – I am not sure where in New York you can get gas at that price.

I am aware that other countries pay way more than we do for gas – all I am asking is that we do not have these huge swings in pricing every week.

Brand - Is This Important?

Do you have a brand?  Do you know what a brand is and why you may want to have one?

Many of you may be thinking of Coca-Cola or GE or any multitude of companies who have a brand and are known just by looking at them.  Who doesn’t know that the box with the smile is from Amazon or tag lines like “America runs on Dunkin’” – but what about YOU?

What is your brand?  How do people distinguish you and think of you?  I have been classified with two things – anytime I am wearing a business suit I have a pin on my lapel.  I have had people stop by to say “hello” just to see what pin I am wearing.  Yes, they are seasonal so throughout October I will wear Halloween pins, the winter will see many snowmen pins and throughout the summer there are many butterflies or Tinker Bell pins.

The other is that I look as if I took time to put myself together each morning.  I just recently had my Vice President comment on that.  Think about what lasting impression you want to leave with other individuals.  What does your brand say about you; are you detail oriented, caring, aware of your surroundings?

It is never too late to decide what that image will be.  Put together YOUR brand.

How Did I Do This???

I woke up yesterday morning with a pulled back muscle.  The dilemma was do I go to Zumba or not – I chose to go.

It didn’t make my muscle pain better; but, nor did it make it worse.  I am unsure how I got this – I was fine after aqua Zumba on Saturday, I was fine all day Saturday and I was fine when I went to bed last night.

Okay, in case you are wondering – I went to bed alone so that did not cause my muscle pain.  I will monitor it and if need be I will see the chiropractor during the week; lucky for me he is only 5 miles from my home.

What I really wish is to know how is how did I do this!!!

Need to go to Confession

There are times that I can be a bit of an impatient driver.

I get upset when people do not use their turning signals, do not seem to know where they are going or are not driving the speed limit.  I most often can show some signs of rage when I am on my way to work in the morning – but, most other times I just mutter to myself.

That happened yesterday morning as I was driving home from the gym.  I am one mile from my home and the car in front of me has their right turn signal on, doesn’t turn right now puts on their left turn signal, doesn’t turn left, right signal on again AND the entire time is still in front of me in the right lane.

We finally are coming to a light and the car puts on their turn signal and goes into the left lane, as I pull up next to the car am I chagrined as it is an elderly nun driving the car.

I felt awful – it was a wakeup call to take things slowly and show compassion.

Relaxing Weekend

The weekend is here!!!  And I know that it will be very different than last weekend.

This weekend I will be able to relax and enjoy doing my normal weekend routine, there will not be any email messages, conference calls or equipment testing.  Instead I will be off to the gym, reading the newspapers and even relaxing on my lounge chair on my patio.

I will read my new book and go on-line to pay bills – all things that may seem boring and routine; but, that is what I enjoy.

Time by myself, an easy routine and nice weather.  My type of weekend!!

Worth Not Sleeping

Wednesday night I had just over 4 hours of sleep.  It was close to 11PM when I fell asleep and I was awake at 3:20 ready to get up and go.

There are certain days when you don’t mind being sleep deprived and yesterday was one of them.  Our operational broadcast at one of our hospitals to over 100 high school scholars who are looking to go into the medical field went very well.  They were well behaved, interested in the surgery and in our Chief of Urology.

After that off to see a client who was concerned that for 2 years their video system had not worked – we took a look at it and should have it up and running in 2 days and provided them with a quote for a wireless Polycom soundstation – that client said “thank YOU” when we left.

Lastly, the Executive Conference rooms have been behaving; and, last night was the last Executive Committee meeting until next month – although we had to alter the way we were going to deliver the audio because of the meeting requirements had changed and we needed to add video.

The stars are aligned, AND, finally in our favor!!!

Stop Calling!!!

Not a day goes by that my telephone does not ring at least 6 to 10 times a day with it being a Telemarketer at the end of the line.

I have registered all of my phone numbers with donotcall.gov and re-registered them, so how is it that these companies continue to call??  Also, no day or time is sacred with them.  By law they are not to call you after 9PM – that doesn’t mean that they do not try.  I have actually picked up the phone, given them a piece of my mind and cited the law to them.

I have now taken to just pressing the “off” button on my telephone and letting it ring, then watching them hang up when it goes to the answering machine.

If we have a law AND I signed up for it, then please honor my request.

I am TIRED

It is very rare that I am not a “get up and go” person.

However, this week my motus operandi is “TIRED”.  Too many late nights on a call trying to fix our Executive Conference rooms, an alarm clock that goes off at 5AM in the morning and the fact that I sleep less than 6 hours a night does not help.

Yesterday – and it was only Tuesday – I could feel the tiredness in my body, my muscles and my back.  Generally it is your eyes that are tired, not me my shoulders are slumping and I am struggling to keep my body erect and not just stoop over.

I know the rest of the week is not better given that we have Executive meetings to cover in the evening and on Thursday morning I have to be up at 3:30 to catch the first train into Manhattan.  Then Friday I am up early to get some lab tests done which have me fasting.

Cannot wait until Friday afternoon – lazy weekend planned – just taking my gym classes and relaxing.

My Weekly Vice

My one and only vice!!!

I am not a drinker – it is rare when I have a glass of wine or something stronger.  I have never smoked nor have I ever done drugs.  The only thing I am addicted to is getting a manicure once a week and a pedicure every three weeks.

To me there is nothing more attractive than a woman who takes care of her nails and hands – I don’t wear bright colors but something that is quite natural like “Sugar Daddy” or “Mademoiselle”.   And then to have my feet scrubbed and moisturized and my nails nicely filed and a demure color on them.

I have an aversion to seeing women with terrible calluses on their heels and feet during the summer time – if you are going to expose your feet then you should take care of them.

This is my one vice – it costs me $8 for my manicure; and, on those occasions when I also get my spa pedicure it is $37 – far less than a bottle of Patron.

Did We Have a Weekend?

This weekend – if I can call it a weekend did not turn out to be very relaxing.

As you know I was still speaking to a member of my team at 9:30 on Friday evening.  On Saturday morning just as I was getting ready to leave for the gym my phone rang and it was a team member of mine to discuss a message that had been sent.  It was important to respond to it right away and to have the vendor pull together resources to go in and fix our Executive conference rooms.

I did manage to get to the gym on Sunday and to run some errands; but, I was cognizant that I had to be home by 1PM since I had a conference call at 1:30 and then needed to be available to test throughout the day.  A conference call that began at 4:30 was still going on an hour later.

These rooms are going to be the death of me!!

Not the Umbrella

I have never seen this before and I was totally stupefied!!!

A couple of weeks ago I was making breakfast and looked out the French doors to the patio and my outdoor furniture – as my eyes trailed up to the umbrella I noticed that the umbrella covering was slowly ripping apart from the pole.  How can this be???

Well of course we had had several days of rain in June and 15 inches of rain and the weight of the wetness had pulled the covering from the pole.  Like I said I was stupefied – when does this ever happen??  Well in speaking with my girlfriend, Pat on Friday she let me know that it had happened to her too – okay I feel better.

Yesterday I took the old umbrella out of the stand (not an easy feat) the pole is 7 ft and I am barely 5 and the diameter of the umbrella stand hole is 2 inches; but, out it came and in went the new umbrella.

I hope this one lasts a few years – I do not leave it up in the winter time – down it comes and in its cover.

Too Connected

I was on the telephone yesterday for work for over 8 hours!!!

The sad thing is that I actually went from one meeting to another with barely enough time to go to the bathroom.  While I was on one call my handset started buzzing letting me know that it no longer was charged, still on the call I went charging up the stairs – clicked the second handset and put the other one in the cradle.

I have to say that my ear actually hurt by the time I finished with all my calls.  Also, there were times when I was on my land line and making or receiving calls on my cell phone.  I can tell you that my ear actually hurt by the time it was 7PM.

I am looking forward to this weekend where I have little reason to be on the telephone!!!

Cooking in the Heat Wave

Today was another scorcher of a day with the temperature reaching 100!!!

I don’t cook for myself on any given night; but, I will cook when others are going to be coming over and that is what I did last night.  My boyfriend was coming over and I offered to cook him dinner – it has been awhile since I had done so and I knew he would enjoy it.  His one recommendation was make it something light.

My goal was to find something light, easy and did not take a lot of time.  I came upon it – a salad of corn, tomatoes, green onions and avocado with a lime and olive oil dressing on a bed of arugula and chicken with mushrooms, thyme and wine.  I also picked up Artisan bread that already had olive oil and some salt.

The salad took no time at all – and the chicken was only a 15 minute dish.  The meal was delicious, filling and yet not a lot of calories.

A nice meal doesn’t have to take hours – and it is better to eat a light meal in all this heat!!

Balance

What a wonderful day!!

There is work and despite still having to deal with the audio issues at our Executive Conference rooms at our Long Island offices we are making progress on some other projects.  I am also getting closer to posting three positions – I am hoping that once posted I will fill them in less than a month.  We can use the extra resources to support everything that we are doing.  So if you are interested let me know!!!

As you all know I am a Broadway aficionado and yesterday I was able to see “Pippin” with an office colleague.  I remember seeing it originally with Ben Vereen, I am always in awe of the dancing and music; but, in this show they bring in circus acts and I am more amazed at these individuals.

We ended our day with a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant in New York – something light to eat given how hot it is.

Balance – work and play.

Best Sleep - Overslept

As you know I leave my house between 5:45 and 6AM to go to work each morning – NOT TODAY!!!!

Every morning my alarm goes off at 4:40AM and I generally stay in bed until 5:00 or 5:10 – the news is going on in the background and I can hear them give the time.  This morning when the alarm went off I did my usual, reached over and turned it off and said okay another 20 minutes.

Well those 20 minutes became just shy of an hour!!  I woke up at 5:38 and jumped out of bed saying HOLY CRAP.  Despite all that I still made my bed and followed my normal routine – making it out the door by 6:20.

I arrive at my office, having made my Starbuck’s run by 7:30 – I was lucky because it is the summer so there are no school buses on the road and fewer cars because people are taking vacation.  I would not have been as lucky if this was in the fall or winter.

But I have to tell you I had my deepest sleep between 4:40 and 5:38!!!

Heat Wave

Today we began a week long heat wave.

It is a little disconcerting that when I left the house at 6AM the temperature was already 80 and the prediction was that it would be 95 by 2PM.  Literally every time I stepped out I realized that it felt just a bit hotter.

Since the forecast hot, humid and in the high 90's was predicted last week my thoughts were; "how could I dress coolly for the week"?  I got it a dress - nothing shirt to jam into you pants, belt or jacket.  What could be easier than a dress and a pair of sandals.

Saturday night found me ironing 3 nice dresses for the days I have to be in the office.  They are each cool and refreshing - should I get chilly I have a nice pashmina I can wear on my shoulders.

Stay cool everyone.

Personal Computer Working - Check

I am now up and working on my personal computer.

After my workout today I stopped by Best Buy to pick up my new/exchanged Lenovo ideapad.  They had transferred all my files, placed them as icons on my screen and now just needed to install Microsoft office.  I signed on and then went walking around for 20 minutes while they downloaded the office suite.

Back 20 minutes later and one glitch was they needed to call Microsoft to let them know that they were installing the suite on exchanged laptop; 15 minutes later all done including a quick tutorial on how to work my new computer.

Back home and I have safely downloaded my fitbit and installed the drivers for my printer.  Successful day -  working personal laptop - I am a happy individual.  See it doesn't take much.

Home Repair - ME???

I am not good with home repairs – you are speaking to the women who would go ahead and hit a nail with her shoe heels instead of a hammer.  But, I finally had to do something about it.

In October I had a new thermostat installed which left a hold where the old one was; as well as, a blank area that was not the same color as the rest of the room.  For months (as you can see) I was hoping that my boyfriend would take care of it – he offered.  Or I was going to call a Honey Do Man.

As you can see it is mid-July, 9 months later and I had no clue how to fix this myself.  Well, I was watching HGTV’s Star show and one of the designers showed how to plug the hole, sand it and then just paint over it.

Yesterday on my way home from the gym I stopped by Home Depot picked up spackle, a putty stick and fine sandpaper.  An hour later, the hole is plugged, sanded and painted.  I will no longer have to look at the eyesore; AND, more importantly I did it myself.

Long Day at Work

Friday was an extremely long day and there were changes at every point of the day.

At 8PM I was still on a call with a vendor, my boss and one of my team members trying to get resources to fix our Executive Conference rooms.  That was how I ended my day.

It began with the Operating Room that was supposed to have a site survey at 10AM being unavailable and surgeries booked all day.  I had four different people heading out to that site – Oy Vey!!!.  Messages, phone calls and some wheedling and we were able to get a 2 minute look at the OR and determine what we needed for the July 25^th event.

I am hoping that when I get back on the call for 9PM that all will be resolved for the Executive Conference rooms.  If not it will be a VERY long weekend and an even worse Monday.

Not the Router

It is not the router.

Today one of the Geek Squadron came to my home to switch out my router.  This is a small community and it turned out that he was the individual who had installed the router in October 2011.

After 10 minutes of working with my new Lenovo ideapad he advised me that it was not my router; but, I had a faulty new laptop.  The very nice thing is that I bought it on July 4^th and with Best Buy you have 14 days to return the item.

Well laptop was returned to Best Buy, a new one is with them and they are configuring it, backing it up and doing everything they need to make it work for me.

Hopefully, I will be enjoying my new laptop and its full functionality tomorrow.

Hot & Humid in New York City

I had forgotten how sticky and uncomfortable a summer business day could be in New York City.

Generally, I am not bothered by the heat and humidity because I am going from my air conditioned home to my air conditioned car to my air conditioned office and I am in the heat maybe 5 minutes.  But, yesterday I was not driving to my Long Island office; but, taking the train to Manhattan for meetings in two different offices.

For over a week now the temperature at 6AM in the morning has been 80 degrees and yesterday was no exception.  And as we dress professionally for work there I was in the heat in a pants suit.  Well, waiting for a taxi and walking a few blocks through the city had me stripping my jacket off and glad that I had worn a sleeveless blouse.  Going home on the train even though it was air conditioned I had to take my jacket off because it could not battle the sun reflecting off the window and the Hudson River.

We keep waiting for the thunderstorms that will ease the heat; but, right now it is only making it more humid as the steam comes up from the streets.

 

Me - Looking Good?!!!

I cannot believe how many compliments I received yesterday and how many people said I looked good yesterday.

I wore a mock wrap dress that has greens, browns and oranges as the pattern and it is a jersey material - not something I would normally wear; but, with the right undergarments there are no bumps.

I think part of it was that it wasn't something I would normally wear - it is rare for me to have a dress on in the office with a pair or wedged sandals.  I am more conservative and go for the pants suit.  But, it is the summer and a dress is infinitely more comfortable in the heat than a jacket, pants and a shirt.

Plus I need to give myself credit for continuing to workout, tone up and drop a few pounds here and there.

So what is the lesson learned here?  Accept the compliment graciously and be a little more adventurous.

Planning a Birthday Party

The next big event to plan for before vacation is Callum's 5th birthday party.

He has become obsessed with Thomas the Tank and his friends - so that will be the theme.  While at the Party Store on July 4th I saw that they had a Thomas the Tank pinata - I will purchase that for him although it will not be used like a traditional pinata.  Our concern is that if we start whacking it Callum would get very upset - so it will just be something for him to take home.

All the other decorations will also be Thomas and I have started to put the menu together - from the Food Network Bobby Flay has a cordon bleu grilled chicken that has brie, prosciutto and arugula, I also found a corn dish and a raspberry lemonade - all things that will be refreshing.  Of course that is the menu for the adults and the children will just get hot dogs.

I am looking forward to this milestone - then we will celebrate some more at Disney World. 

Nothing Like Zumba

I thought I would take my Zumba class this morning to sweat a little more and see if whatever cold is trying to come I could get rid of.

Sunday's is Pam's class and it is not overly strenuous; BUT, I didn't know that Pam was not going to be there and instead Bernadette was filling in for her.

There is nothing low-key about Bernadette and it began with the music which was so loud when it first came on that I had to cover my ears - eventually we got the music down to a respectable level.

Then it began - a very strenuous, jumping and lively Zumba session.  It was so intense that throughout the one hour class I drank 40 ounces of water - that is something I struggle to do on a daily basis.  No wonder I spent the rest of my day running to the bathroom.

All I can say is I needed that!!  Thank you Bernadette for a great, upbeat, kick my butt class!!!!

Feeling Under the Weather

I woke up on Friday night feeling a little under the weather.  At first it was just a bit of a sore throat; but, at one point I could feel a sheen of sweat on my body and I knew it wasn't from I was hoping that I would not have to hold on to the railings on the shower door.

This is so unusual for me as I normally do not get sick and I am ready to jump out of bed and face the day.  Since I wasn't feeling my usual self I made a decision to make it a slow day.

I didn't go to the gym - the most strenuous thing I did was laundry and I tried to make sure that I drank plenty of water in the event that the heat was affecting me.

There is nothing worse than not being able to enjoy a summer day because you are not feeling well; but, listen to your body and take it easy.

Geek Squad to the Rescue

I am back up and everything is running well again.

What I am glad to know is that everything was not my fault - YEAH!!!  As many of you know I am not a computer techie or geek and I can just do the things I really need to do on my computer.  Every now and then I surprise myself.

Well it took the Geek Squad two hours to get all my devices connecting to my router - what was very interesting is that it wasn't my router, it wasn't either of my computers; but, it was the frequency channel on my router.  It appears that a neighbor of mine has chosen the same frequency and for that reason my router either would connect; but, then couldn't stay connected.

They changed the frequency, tested the network connectivity, downloaded my printer to both my laptops and showed me where all my files had been transferred on my new computer.  I am ecstatic.

Now, all I need to do is get used to the new laptop?!?!!

Expensive 4th of July

The 4th of July became a more expensive day than I expected.

Do you remember my mentioning how Callum was ill last week and needless to say his tummy was upset and it ended up on my floor and leather loveseat?  Well, I didn't tell you that some of it made it into my personal computer.

Yesterday, my personal computer revolted and my keys were not responding - I have to admit that my HP latptop was bought in August 2008 and has served me well for the past 5 years.  So off to Best Buy and a new Lenovo laptop with a touch screen.

Well, the day didn't end well as now it appears there is a problem with my router so I will be spending my aftenoon waiting for the Geek Squad to come by and fix it.  I have complete faith in them and know that when they leave everything will be in working order.

I will tell you that I have bought protection should Callum have another tummy incident my new Lenovo will be replaced.

Can't wait until 4PM when I will be one happy person with all my devices connected and working!!!  Yes, I know - a little geekie or techie - take your pick!!!

It's the Fourth

I began my 4th of July celebrations yesterday with my great-nephew, Ryan. 

We had a great day as we went into the city, had a dirty dog (that is a hot dog from a street cart), saw "Annie" and then had dinner at the Oyster Bar.  He loves salmon and this is a great place to have fish and it is right in Grand Central terminal.

Today we will have breakfast at IHOP (International House of Pancakes) so we are not underfoot while my cleaning lady is around - she still wanted to come on the holiday.  We then will go to buy him some clothes for our vacation at Disney World and then will head to the grocery store.

I will be attending a barbecue at his grandmother's home and will be making a tomato & corn salad and bringing an apple and cherry pie.

The rest of the weekend will be working out and getting back into a stringent routine.

Enjoy our holiday - the fundamentals of which our country was built on.  Be safe, enjoy the barbecues and fireworks.

Am I Making Him a Clothes Hog???

I was just told by my nephew to not buy Callum any more clothes.  Oh No!!!

It turns out that he has filled up his drawers with all the clothes that I have bought him AND that does not count that I have a draw full of summer clothes for him here at my home.

I have committed to purchase him clothing twice a year - he gets clothes in August as part of his birthday gifts and it is everything he needs to start school as a well dressed student.

I also purchase clothes in May and those are his summer shorts, shirts, bathing suit.  I do the same for Ryan as I like the boys to look nice whenever we go out.

It is a throwback to my youth - my Mother bought us clothes for school and the summer; I am just keeping up the tradition.

I Am Not a Prude, But. . .

I cannot believe that I went onto Linkedin and was shocked that someone who is from HR had used the "F" word in their blog.

I am not a prude; and, I have used that word myself - BUT - not in my writing or in anything that I post on my Facebook or Linkedin account.  The word has its time and place and I don't believe that social media is one of them.

It has become too easy for us to communicate through four letter words rather than expanding our vocabulary by finding other words that can communicate our discontent, anger, etc. just as well.  

In truth, besides words that can communicate our thoughts so is our body language.  Be more of an individual and use your vocabulary and body language - don't revert to four letters.

Vacation Bucket List

Although vacation isn't for another 7 weeks I am already thinking of places I haven't been to and want to visit.

I will always think of a place to take the boys - next year we can consider either Puerto Rico, Washington, DC or historic Pennsylvania.  But, I want to go to certain places in the world.

When I think of Europe I have not been to places like Denmark, Austria or any of the countries in Eastern Europe.  I am not interested in Russia; but, I would like to go to Prague and Hungary.

Although I have been to Sydney I would like to see other parts of Australia and to also visit New Zealand.

Then in South America I would like to go to Argentina and Brazil - I would be content just completing those few locations - although then I think of Fiji or Bora Bora.  I so love warm weather and islands.

As for the US - I want to do a nice trip to Massachusets that just doesn't include Boston, but, also Strubridge, Plymouth and the Cape.  I want to see the mansions in Newport, RI - and to spend some weekends away watching the various foliage in the North East.

I am a homebody at heart - but, I do enjoy seeing, exploring and being in other towns, states and countries.