Friday, March 06, 2009
So Much To Do
I feel like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland -- rush here, rush there, finish nothing, worry about it all -- no time to say Hello, Goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!
1. Two weeks ago I flew to Tulsa for the day to do a presentation at a refinery. As a friend of mine often puts it, I hit a home run. The man in charge was not prepared to like me, and we could all see the stages he went through as he warmed up to me. Now we're best buds.
2. The day after Tulsa, I drove to Corpus Christi to do a different presentation at a professional group. I had prepared it just for this group, so I ran through it one last time in my room, then went downstairs and had a drink with the group. The guy with the projector arrived and I went in the room to plug my computer into it. (Yes, I know I should have had the presentation on a memory stick. I had a memory stick at home. Yoda. Enough said.) When I turned my computer on, a message flashed up that said my profile had been corrupted, and every.single.file disappeared. I called IT; they said it would take several hours to fix. So I stood there contemplating my two options: run out and buy a whiteboard and some markers and talk about as much as I could remember -- or go drink lots more and dance on the tables. I really could not think of a third option. Fortunately, Projector Guy also turned out to be Super Nerd, and he recovered my presentation for me. You know how actors say they do a better performance when they have an edge? -- well, believe me, I had a terrific edge! It actually did go very well, and I was happy in the end.
3. At the beginning of this week, I flew to Kentucky for a sales meeting. Today I have to take care of a number of business things, make a sales call at a place more than an hour away, and prepare for our trip, leaving tomorrow morning, to Costa Rica. I am taking D-Man and his girlfriend. Originally this trip was going to be for D-Man and Skater Dude, but Skater Dude would not get his passport and finally told me he wasn't that interested in the trip.
4. The Professor has been gone for most of the last month. The thermostat is not working, so heat and air are iffy, at best. The big tv in the den is also not working. If I had any time to watch tv, I would have to do it in the game room.
5. Yesterday Yoda had two surgeries, one to neuter him and one for the bump on his nose, which turned out to be essentially ingrown hair follicles. There are three possible diagnoses of what caused it, only one of which might come back and might metastisize. I am going with the 66% chance that it was benign and it's gone for good. I can just picture the people who abandoned him in the first place tossing him out the car window, and Yoda hitting his nose as he fell.
6. My plan for the coming week was to take Chula to my mother's, an arrangement they both enjoy, and Yoda to Guppy's. Guppy's dog Gizmo hurt his back and is on bed rest and they are afraid that Yoda would be too distracting. So now I don't know what to do. I could board Yoda at the vet's, but he would be in a cage all week and he is much too active for that. I could leave Yoda and Chula in the house and get the neighbor to feed them -- this is assuming that I can find her, I've been trying since Wednesday to pay her for feeding them at the beginning of the week. This doesn't give them much human companionship. I can't take Yoda to my mother's, he is too active for her. There is an outside chance that Crabgirl will take him. She has several cats, and Yoda would probably enjoy having someone to play with. This is really weighing on me.
7. I wasn't even able to look at hotel reservations until last Sunday. One hotel, on the beach at Tamarindo, was no problem -- reservations were a piece of cake. The other, at Arenal Volcano, insisted that I had to fax a credit card verification to them. I no longer have a fax, so I called them about it. They said I could scan and email the form, which I did. I have received an email that said they have availability but are waiting for the credit card verification. Of course, leaving the house at 4:30 AM on Monday gave me no opportunity to do anything about it. So straightening that out has to be added to my long list of Things To Do Today.
8. My small hot-pink camera has disappeared. I have a vague recollection of having it at the restaurant for my mother's 89th birthday celebration, and having someone run after me because I was leaving it behind. I was carrying my mother's presents to the car, which I was going to drive to the front door of the restaurant to get her, so I thought perhaps I tossed the camera in one of the bags -- or was there just one bag? -- you see, too much has gone on and I just don't remember. I do still have my bigger camera, so I guess I will just take it and not worry about getting pictures from zip lines.
And that is what I have to remember all day: do the things I absolutely have to do and don't worry about the rest.
1. Two weeks ago I flew to Tulsa for the day to do a presentation at a refinery. As a friend of mine often puts it, I hit a home run. The man in charge was not prepared to like me, and we could all see the stages he went through as he warmed up to me. Now we're best buds.
2. The day after Tulsa, I drove to Corpus Christi to do a different presentation at a professional group. I had prepared it just for this group, so I ran through it one last time in my room, then went downstairs and had a drink with the group. The guy with the projector arrived and I went in the room to plug my computer into it. (Yes, I know I should have had the presentation on a memory stick. I had a memory stick at home. Yoda. Enough said.) When I turned my computer on, a message flashed up that said my profile had been corrupted, and every.single.file disappeared. I called IT; they said it would take several hours to fix. So I stood there contemplating my two options: run out and buy a whiteboard and some markers and talk about as much as I could remember -- or go drink lots more and dance on the tables. I really could not think of a third option. Fortunately, Projector Guy also turned out to be Super Nerd, and he recovered my presentation for me. You know how actors say they do a better performance when they have an edge? -- well, believe me, I had a terrific edge! It actually did go very well, and I was happy in the end.
3. At the beginning of this week, I flew to Kentucky for a sales meeting. Today I have to take care of a number of business things, make a sales call at a place more than an hour away, and prepare for our trip, leaving tomorrow morning, to Costa Rica. I am taking D-Man and his girlfriend. Originally this trip was going to be for D-Man and Skater Dude, but Skater Dude would not get his passport and finally told me he wasn't that interested in the trip.
4. The Professor has been gone for most of the last month. The thermostat is not working, so heat and air are iffy, at best. The big tv in the den is also not working. If I had any time to watch tv, I would have to do it in the game room.
5. Yesterday Yoda had two surgeries, one to neuter him and one for the bump on his nose, which turned out to be essentially ingrown hair follicles. There are three possible diagnoses of what caused it, only one of which might come back and might metastisize. I am going with the 66% chance that it was benign and it's gone for good. I can just picture the people who abandoned him in the first place tossing him out the car window, and Yoda hitting his nose as he fell.
6. My plan for the coming week was to take Chula to my mother's, an arrangement they both enjoy, and Yoda to Guppy's. Guppy's dog Gizmo hurt his back and is on bed rest and they are afraid that Yoda would be too distracting. So now I don't know what to do. I could board Yoda at the vet's, but he would be in a cage all week and he is much too active for that. I could leave Yoda and Chula in the house and get the neighbor to feed them -- this is assuming that I can find her, I've been trying since Wednesday to pay her for feeding them at the beginning of the week. This doesn't give them much human companionship. I can't take Yoda to my mother's, he is too active for her. There is an outside chance that Crabgirl will take him. She has several cats, and Yoda would probably enjoy having someone to play with. This is really weighing on me.
7. I wasn't even able to look at hotel reservations until last Sunday. One hotel, on the beach at Tamarindo, was no problem -- reservations were a piece of cake. The other, at Arenal Volcano, insisted that I had to fax a credit card verification to them. I no longer have a fax, so I called them about it. They said I could scan and email the form, which I did. I have received an email that said they have availability but are waiting for the credit card verification. Of course, leaving the house at 4:30 AM on Monday gave me no opportunity to do anything about it. So straightening that out has to be added to my long list of Things To Do Today.
8. My small hot-pink camera has disappeared. I have a vague recollection of having it at the restaurant for my mother's 89th birthday celebration, and having someone run after me because I was leaving it behind. I was carrying my mother's presents to the car, which I was going to drive to the front door of the restaurant to get her, so I thought perhaps I tossed the camera in one of the bags -- or was there just one bag? -- you see, too much has gone on and I just don't remember. I do still have my bigger camera, so I guess I will just take it and not worry about getting pictures from zip lines.
And that is what I have to remember all day: do the things I absolutely have to do and don't worry about the rest.
2 Comments:
First of all I am exhausted just reading about all of your activiuties. And if Skater Dude isn't p for Costa Rica, I am.:>)
And you found time to blog?
Take care!
Post a Comment
<< Home