Friday, January 29, 2010

Climate Control

It’s circling around 15 degrees outside today. It’s darn cold. So why is my building blasting the air conditioning? And why was the gym freezing this morning?

Can someone please explain this insanity?? In the summer when it’s hot outside, my office building is an arctic icebox. When it’s freezing outside, either the heat is worse than a sauna or it’s an arctic icebox. Why is it so difficult to just have temperate weather?

What Doesn’t Kill You…

Makes you stronger….

We’ve all heard this saying and frankly, I think it’s a horrible thing to go around saying. I mean, I know it’s supposed to provide some comfort but it doesn’t. Why should things get so bad to the point where you say something like this? How about nothing getting this bad!! How about that?

I know it’s naïve and idealistic but why does everything have to be so hard!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Field Trip

When I was younger I always looked forward to a couple of word pairings that made my heart sing. Some examples are:

Snow Day
Milk and Cookies
Half Day
Field Trip

I’ll have to talk about the rest some other time but right now let me focus on the field trip pairing. It was very exciting from the outset. The teacher would mention that we were going on a field trip soon and already the anticipation started to brew. As we got closer to the date, we would have to get permissions slips signed by our parents. On some occasion it would be a chaperone slip, if one of the kid’s parents would be accompanying us.

I remember always rushing home the day the permission slips were given begging my mom to sign it immediately. On a couple of occasions my mom would check the box saying she would like to be a ‘grown up’ joining us on the trip. I almost couldn’t sleep that night out of anxiety that some awful thing would happen to my permission slip while I was sleeping (even though I didn’t have a dog at the time, I worried that some random dog would eat my permission slip).

Finally the day would arrive and we would be out and about. Getting yelled at to stay in lines or cross the street quickly or stay together. I didn’t mind the yelling. It was kind of exciting – the danger of being out in the open, unprotected without our safe chalkboard.

Honestly I don’t remember too much of what we saw when we went on those field trips. I know we went to the Museum of Natural History and I loved the big whale. I’m also certain we went to the top of the Statue of Liberty and that we had to climb a lot of stairs. But other than that, I don’t remember much else.

I began to think about field trip day recently when I saw a school group at a museum. The museum guide, teacher and chaperones had a group sit in front of a painting. While they settled down, one child was picking his nose. Another child was taunting a girl and she slapped him. While watching them, I wondered what they were really getting out this visit. Is it just the excitement of being out of the classroom that they were enjoying? The energy emanating off those kids was contagious. Or was it just a potential for an adventure?

Regardless, it was awfully cute to see those kids not paying attention to this wonderful art around them. It would be nice to have a field trip every so often at work too. Just a chance to get out and experience school or work in a different way.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

P.D.A.'s

The idea of people showing their emotions and feelings in public has always seemed uncivilized to me. Whenever I've seen a couple kissing in the street, I've always thought "get a hotel room!" Basically thinking they should be decent, discrete and keep their passions in check.

Now that I see it so frequently, it doesn't bother me as much. There is certainly something romantic about a man who can't control the love he feels for a woman (and this is true for any gender really, I'm just using the more common visions that I have seen) to the point where he needs to kiss her - no matter who sees it. It truly is a testament to the love he feels for her and it is passionate and sweet. Sometimes I think the reason people get so annoyed by this behavior is due to jealousy. They are jealous because no one feels that way about them.

Think about it for a moment, there's nothing sweeter than a child who runs up to their mom or dad and gives them a big hug or kiss. For me there is nothing more adorable than when my dogs run to see me at the door and give me their hugs and kisses. So, it's not so bad to show people how you feel about them. Actually it's very good and after all, actions do speak louder than words.

The Perfect Gift

On one of my walks today I was absolutely captivated by something that sparkled in a shop window. I briefly stopped to look but moved on. A few seconds later, I had to go back and really look at the window.

And there it truly was!

When I finally saw it, I knew it would be the perfect gift for someone. It fits their style and personality so well. It's as if the item knew this and it tried to get my attention as I walked by.

Oh how these things happen sometimes. Something deep inside us projects onto an object and it reflects back telling us we are correct. Truly fascinating, don't you think?

Friday, January 15, 2010

Sorry Doesn’t Mean Squat

I’m really tired of people who say sorry and think that whatever they did should just get brushed off the face of the earth because they said sorry. Just saying sorry doesn’t count. If you keep doing something over and over and it annoys someone, then maybe you should try not to do that thing over and over. Because saying sorry doesn’t negate that you did and that you will continue to do it.

A couple of examples if you will amuse me:

1) A person I know consistently communicates their objectives poorly, which results in a lot of stupid, inefficient and unnecessary work. When they are caught on it, they say ‘Sorry’. But this doesn’t help me because a) It’s not sincere b) They continually do this without making any changes to their behavior.
2) Another person commits the same error over and over. And it’s very frustrating and hurtful to me. So when I tell them specifically why it bothers me, they say “Sorry”. It’s very warm and fuzzy but if they do it again and again after I’ve told them that it’s hurtful, then sorry doesn’t mean anything to me.

The problem with ‘sorry’ and a lot of words that we use on a daily basis is that they’ve lost their meaning. Sorry should be used in a heartfelt and sincere manner. And that means that whatever an incident has transpired where a sorry is needed, a little reflection needs to happen as well. Why did this event merit a sorry? Could something be different in the future so that sorry doesn’t have to be said?

I know that’s asking for a lot from people. because this reflection that I’m asking for would actually necessitate some thinking on the offender’s behalf. From that thinking, behavior would need to be modified and we all know how hard it is to make a change to ourselves. But the most important thing is that it would actually mean the offender would need to see that they are wrong. They have done something bad and they need to change what they are doing. So, with all this said, I’m not holding my breath that these people will change or stop saying ‘Sorry’. I just don’t want to hear it anymore!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Lost in Translation

This past weekend I spent some time in my second home (a.k.a. a book store) and did the usual browsing up and down the aisles. I veered into the books in Spanish section and noticed a title by an author I had just read in English.

I wondered ‘What book is this?’ I didn’t recognize this title as one I had seen in English by this same author. So I looked at the plot summary in the back and realized that this was in fact the same book I had read by this author in English.

However, the translated title just wasn’t the same as the one I had known. Why did they do that??

The book in English is called ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. As far as titles go, it’s provocative and interesting. However, the title in Spanish was ‘The Man who Hated Women’. Ok so I hated this translated title for a couple of reasons.

1) Why would anyone want to read a book with the name ‘The Man who Hated Women”? I certainly wouldn’t even touch it.
2) The translated title actually gave away part of what the book is about.
3) The English title made you want to read it. The Spanish title made me want to vomit.

So I wondered if the translated title would be more interesting to a Spanish speaking audience. I didn’t conduct my usual sociological surveys but knowing Spanish and some Spanish speakers…as off-putting as a dragon tattoo might be, I would think they’d be more likely to read that than the story of a man who disliked women. Plus, Spanish speaking women are usually pretty pro-feminism even if they won’t admit it.

I guess all I can say is that sometimes things are lost in translation. Occasionally the nuances just don’t get across. In this case, it completely stinks!

Counting Sheep

Waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble getting back to sleep is horrible! It happens to me quite a lot and frankly, it’s annoying the heck out of me.

I have no trouble falling asleep but if for some reason I wake up , be it for a glass of water or a bathroom break, I can’t get back to sleep. So I spend at least an hour in bed thinking about stuff or playing with my dogs. (They can’t sleep if I’m asleep…If I’m awake, heck, it’s playtime!)

I tried really hard to not think of stressful things because that makes it harder for me to go back to sleep. But it’s impossible. (I can’t meditate either, in case you were wondering.)

So I begin to run down a list of things that I have to do at work = Very, very annoying.(Sheep #1)

I try to switch gears and envision myself in a future time doing something really cool = Super cool but then I get excited and start to think about how I can make this future time happen. (Sheep #2)

Onto the path of reflecting on things that have happened recently that I would redo/repeat/forget if possible = Usually makes me annoyed that I didn’t do what I should have the first time around. (Sheep #3)

I imagine some wonderfully romantic occasion where my husband (or Johnny Depp) pamper and indulge me with sweet nothings and other stuff = makes me wonder why my husband is sleeping and why Johnny Depp lives in France (Sheep #4)

Begin to listen to my dogs chewing on bones or breathing and zzzzzzzzz.

Something about their masticating, snoring and breathing really calms me down. So next time, I’ll make sure to just pay attention to them rather than the noises in my brain.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

People's Best Friend

Dogs are great. I know some people are not big fans but let me make a case for them.

Dogs enjoy seeing you. They often are right at the door when you arrive home from work or from running errands. Occasionally the excitement they feel when they see you leads them to jump and dance. There’s no mistaking their emotional connection to you.

Dogs enjoy being with you. They don’t care if you play with them or if you just let them sit or put their head on your lap, just being close to you is enough for them. They don’t care if you have to go shopping or if you have to go run errands, they want to come along and just be in your presence.

Dogs love you for who you are. They don’t care if you have cellulite, look great in a bikini, if you wax your eyebrows, get a haircut or have pearly, white teeth. You are wonderful in all your ‘youness’ to them. Dogs are very social and may be friendly with other humans but you certainly never feel like they are cheating on you.

Dogs always know when you need love and affection. If you are sick, they usually come by your side and keep you company. Or they lick the spot that hurts. Or they cuddle with you to keep you warm and to make you feel better.
Sometimes I tell people that dogs are better than humans. Every day I grow to believe it more. Dogs show you their emotions and feelings about you in their actions. Maybe it’s because they can’t necessarily put it in words. But dogs teach us the most important lesson there is “actions speak louder than words”. We could all follow their example and be better people.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Waiting Room

Waiting is just not my forte - at least not lately. Today alone I’ve spent at least 2 hours waiting for someone or something. It’s maddening really.

It bothers me to wait on people and things for 2 reasons:
1)I’m usually not late so I try to not make others wait for me
2)I’m pretty efficient and I try to get people a response as soon as I have one. And if it’s going to take a while, I give statuses. It’s just a considerate thing to do.

However, as I’ve grown older, being considerate seems to have fallen off the list of character traits for many people. So when I call a computer technician to come and fix my computer and he says “I’ll be right there!” Am I wrong to get mad that he’s not at my desk 30 minutes later? I don’t think so. The guy is only 2 floors away from me. What in goshes name happened? Did he get mugged at the elevator bank by a CEO? I doubt it.

And am I wrong to get annoyed that I’ve been waiting two months to get a memory upgrade on my computer? Certainly I don’t think so. Excuse me if in the last 2 months, the amount of time I’ve wasted waiting for my computer to load documents or reboot has made me a little impatient lately. I’m sure lots of people understand why I’m annoyed, right?