Friday, March 28, 2014

Timing is everything

The title suggests a combat application, which is valid. Timing is everything. You can have all the speed in the world, but if you don't launch at the right time, what good does it really do you? But my intent was not martial in context. A more universal approach is where I was going. Timing is everything. I'm taking a week of my day job to get stuff done. Burning a weeks holidays to make my life into less of a chaotic mess than it currently is. But timing is everything. The last 2 people who took a holiday in our office have left a pile of work (in a complete mess) on someone else's lap. One dumped their mess on my former team leader and myself, and the other person dumped it on my mom and her partner (yes I work in the same office as my mom - deal with it). Bottom line, in both cases it was a jerk move on their part. So now I'm gearing up for a week off, and I know somewhere in the depth of people's minds there is a doubt if I will make it a hat trick. For the record I didn't. In fact I've nearly killed myself this week getting all my poop in a group so that no one will even need to walk over to my desk for any reason. My account audits are up to date, in spite of getting them over a week late from the contractor. My Health & Safety Committee duties as Co-Chair are up to date, documented and emailed to all members, and physical action where needed has been taken. My duties on the OPPEC Committee are up to date, emailed and resolved where applicable. And my duties on the new hire team are also done... my assigned new hires have been contacted, assigned office and parking spaces, and given alternate contacts should they need anything while I'm away. Whoopty frickin doo for me right? Seriously, it's my job, and the expectation that I am doing it is completely reasonable. It's not my point lament how busy I am and have been, but it does help paint the picture. Again, timing is everything. Back to the reason for this particular tirade. The personal life, or at least what masquerades as one. I'm up to my eyes, and the water is still pouring in. No, I'm not going to go into details because lets face it, it's none of anyone's business...no offense, but it's really not. What I will say, however, is that the largest contributing factor of said chaos comes with a time limit. A very sensitive time limit. It's something that has been consuming years of preparation and planning. I can't remember where I heard the expression, but it goes the best laid are only functional until you engage in battle, then they are useless. So I had my battle plan, I had my battle field, and I had created my opportunity. And it all went to pot. The timing was wrong, and timing is everything. So now I regroup and wait.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Bet you thought I forgot to blog... well I didn't, I'm just stupid busy. So till next week.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Power of Motivation

My baby horse turned 2 on the 5th of March. Hard to believe it has been 2 years already, but yes she's not a baby anymore. It's always interesting to see their personalities develop and to see them come into their own. "Jinxy" as she is known, is an independent little stinker with a very strong mind of her own. My brother Gord and I are the schmucks who feed her, and occasionally get some attention for our troubles. My brother Jake however, is an entirely different matter. Jinx knows the sound of his truck. When he pulls in, she runs to the fence and calls to him. He in turn calls to her, which revs her up for pets and scratches. I remember once, I was riding the quad out in the field. Jinx chased me down, and when she realized I wasn't Jake, she got the most disgusted look on her face and stomped off with out so much as a backward glance. Bottom line, Jinx LOVES Jake. He is her person. And he can do pretty much anything with her. He talks to her like she's a person and she eats it up. Which brings us to the power of motivation. She wants to please him. To that end, she has learned many things more or less by accident one would assume improbable. Case in point, the other day a couple of yearling calves got out of the fence they were supposed to be in. Jake was at the farm with my dad. My dad is 74 yrs old, so his days of running across an icy field chasing cows have reached their twilight (if only he would admit it). So it fell to Jake to get the calves back where they were supposed to be on his own with the help of the dog. Not impossible, but can be tricky. Or so he thought. Keeping in mind that horses love to be the boss over cattle, and that Jinx loves Jake, she had them cornered in another part of the paddock. When Jake told her (as a joke mostly) to move them to another place... lo and behold she did. If that wasn't enough, when he got the gate he needed open he told her to bring them up. You guessed it, she did. And since he didn't want her in the corral they were in, he said "Wait there". Believe it or not, she waited at the thresh hold for him to close the gate, all the while keeping a guarded eye on the offending calves should they try to make a second break for it. Upon completion of her hard work, she was rewarded with the much coveted attention. Scratches, hugs, and a horsey cookie. She has proven that if you want something, hard work and have a willingness to overcome communication limitations, you will get you what you want. If an animal can use empathy, motivation, and a willingness to learn to develop very useful skills, what is stopping the rest of us.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Things Undone

I'm one of those people who like to do many things... Apparently I get bored easily. Vast diversity of interests, or just enthralled by shiny objects. Only the Shadow knows.... mwahahaha. Okay maybe someone should keep me from blogging when I have a migraine. My point, and yes there is one, is that I've always wanted to write. I enjoy writing short stories, poetry, pretty much anything. I'm so stupidly busy however, that I have to be very decisive as to what my priorities are for allotting time. This particular interest has resurrected itself thanks to some of my co workers/friends. Well former co workers as they are now stationed out of the tower, and I'm still by the airport. Anyway, one of my friends wants to be a professional author. She works tirelessly on her book and is always researching how to get published, listening to seminars on getting into the industry, and making contacts with other authors and agents. Couple that with (in my opinion) her talent, and I have no doubts that one day I'll be buying her work. The other is less focused on becoming a professional author, but he is still very committed to his creative process. All told, being around them has reignited my interest. Last month they both entered a contest on the internet from a publishing house. I don't have the details of the contest, but what I do know is that they had to create a short story with a maximum of 750 words and it had to begin with a certain phrase. Sounds easy enough right? Let me assure you, it is far more challenging than it sounds. They both worked hard on their stories, and had me do a proof read for them (which I thought was fun) and sent them off. The other day, I was cleaning out my email and came across their stories. I thought to myself... Self, that could be fun. So I took a bash at it. Sure enough it was fun. I sent my story to them and they both enjoyed the read. I sent it to my sister, and she texted me to tell me I made her cry. She then sent it to her husband and he said more or less the same thing. (It was a happy story, but with a sad ending). My sister and brother in law both encouraged me to keep writing. Please filter that with the fact that they actually like me. Many years ago, I started a novel... but who hasn't right? And due to it not being a high enough priority, it stagnated. I've been thinking about it a lot, and of the dedication that my friends have displayed. They practice mastery in their chosen venue. I am proud of them, but more importantly I am inspired by them. Maybe it's finally time to start revisiting this interest. Something to think about.