Freaky Olympics Closing Photo

Kudos to the photographer who caught this image for Sports Illustrated at the closing ceremonies at the Olympics - on the other hand, it is just a little freaky. Here is the story it reminds me of - The Steadfast Tin Soldier

SnowDog Zelda and the Snowicane of 2010

7 AM – Snowdog Zelda wakes up from a dream about finally catching a squirrel. Her snowdoggy senses are tingling. She cocks an ear and lifts her nose. Yes, she is almost sure of it. She steps on her sleeping mistress’s chest in an attempt to rouse her.

9:30 AM Snowdog Zelda has been assessing the situation. Through the closed back door she can feel it. Not to mention what she feels in her bladder. She begins sighing and groaning in her mistress’s face. Finally she stirs! Snowdog Zelda jumps back on the bed, pawing at her mistress with joy.

9:45 AM – Snowdog Zelda bursts through the door, straining at her collar. When she hears the click of her chain and her mistress steps back, she bounds into the snow drifts, leaping them like a kid jumping waves at the beach. She races to the tree and looks up – could there be a squirrel there? Hard to tell with the snowdoggy senses on full alert. She hops across the yard to check under the shed – any cats hanging around? But she is distracted by the snowflakes that are falling on her and she chases them to the ground.

9:55 AM – Snowdog Zelda is in stealth mode, sitting very close to the deck, watching the yard. Suddenly, a bird flies across the yard and she is off like a bullet, barking and leaping into the air. At the end of her chain, her paws churn in the snow and she forgets about the bird and chases the snowballs she has kicked up.

10 AM – The mistress has had enough of the sound of barking. Zelda feels a tug on her chain and immediately runs full speed through the deepest snow drift, covering herself with snow. Finally, she heads for the door. Inside she stands impatiently while huge globs of snow are removed from her specially engineered snowdog feet. Then, she gallops off to the living room and settles into her bed, breathing in the lovely aroma of wet dog.

10:05 AM – Snowdog Zelda’s snowdoggy senses are again tingling. Could it be there is still snow outside? Or is she sensing something else? Something very basic, but very urgent? Snowdog Zelda realizes her bladder is still full. She finds her mistress in the kitchen still mopping up and starts the “take me out” dance all over again. The mistress rolls her eyes. But Snowdog Zelda’s powers are strong. Once more she bounds out the door into the snowdrifts. She remembers there was something important she was supposed to do, but, look at this, squirrel tracks in the snow! Snowdog Zelda launches into full snowdog tracking mode, burying her face in the snow and then emerges, barking furiously.

Her mistress sighs. It’s going to be a long, snowy day.

Transition Time

As I get ready to hit the double nickel, I realize that it represents, at least in an artificial way, a transitional time of life. It is the now or never moment, time to make that one great surge toward the finish line.

As I contemplate this, I do what I usually do in times of deep thought — I rearrange things, redecorate, clear away the cobwebs and dance as fast as I can.

Which reminds me, it IS 2010 (which I prefer to call Two Thousand Ten, thank you very much) and I need to head to the gym for continuation of that old "get more exercise" New Year's resolution. 

Happy Thanksgiving - 2009

This year, much of what I am thankful for is made up of things I have had for a long time — loving and successful children and their significant others with whom I have wonderful relationships, an extended family that is warm, generous and understanding, and steadfast friends who stand by me no matter what.

There are new things to be thankful for also. The job layoff that at first appeared disastrous but actually gave me the chance to get my financial house in order, the new job that has brought fulfillment and joy back into my professional life, and a newfound resiliency that helps me feel calm and centered.

As I’ve said before, life may not be perfect, but it is so much better. This Thanksgiving, my wish for everyone is to find their inner strength to buoy them over hard times and to rediscover the joy and happiness that can only come from finding contentment and peace.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

What I learned from losing my job

Being laid off at age 54 is a traumatic experience, even when the economy is good shape. Being laid off at age 54 in the current climate is cause for instant panic. Suddenly, the world becomes a cold, unfriendly place, full of unsympathetic creditors, unresponsive companies who claim to be hiring people right in your field of expertise, computer glitches that hold up unemployment checks and the frightening countdown to the day when health insurance runs out.

All the stages of grief gallop through your mind at the same time. Anger, denial, bargaining with God – everything but acceptance. Because you know, by accepting the circumstances of your layoff, you are tempting fate to insure you never get another decent job.

Around me, all sorts of companies and organizations from banks to car manufacturers were getting rescued from their financial troubles even as they continued to bleed cash and jobs. A lot of noise was made about programs to help homeowners, yet, I still ended up living with the threat that after being booted from my job I would be booted from my home.

In the end, I gave myself my own bailout. I cashed in my retirement account, and paid off the majority of debt accumulated as 12 years as a single mom. I lost a good deal of money to fines and fees, and I dread filing my next tax return. But I am lucky. Three months after being laid off, I found a new job. It involved a small cut in pay, but came with a much shorter commute and full medical benefits. As others struggle to find work and the unemployment figures continue to rise, I know I’ve been truly blessed.

The surprising part is, that while the new job is, of course, a great blessing, I’ve come to see that it is the layoff itself that was the biggest blessing. Without demonizing my former employer it is fair to say that my job there had become, if not like hell, certainly like purgatory. I watched good work go unrecognized and unrewarded and witnessed political infighting become necessary for career advancement. Massaging egos became more important than the mission of the organization. It was heartbreaking, and yet, I hung on to the smallest glimmer of hope that things would change. So, the layoff was a shock, but not a surprise. The surprise has been discovering how battered I was, and how far back I had to come, just to have the courage to move on.

Today, I can look back and understand just how beaten down I had become. I see how methodically I was stripped of confidence to the point of no longer trusting my professional instincts. I went from leading to following to being left behind on the trail. I spent a lot of useless time trying to regain my foothold and prove my worth. But even the Dalai Lama, who preaches finding the happiness in whatever work you do, admits that there can come a breaking point, a time to move on.

I’m starting over in many respects, again a frightening thing at my age. I’ve got no financial safety net, but I have my home and food on the table. Best of all, I’ve peeled away the battered person I was and I’ve found ME. There is fulfillment and joy in my work again, which makes me a happier, more loving person to my family and friends. And that is what counts, at any age.

The Recession Hits Harvard

It has been a long time since I voiced an opinion or observation about the world in writing. Like many, I’ve been dealing with and reeling from the financial catastrophe brought about by the “financial crisis.” I’ve beat back the demons of foreclosure, teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, got laid off for the first time in my entire life, faced the specter of no health insurance and went without filling prescriptions. After trying every avenue I could think of for help, and getting none I cashed out my retirement plan early, paid a whopping penalty to both the plan holder and the IRS, found a new job and am slowly coming back to life.

Yes, it has been one long pity party in my house. I can’t imagine that I am the only one who has had these troubles, and plenty have had it worse than me and have ended up jobless, homeless and healthcareless and remain that way today. So, I consider myself lucky.

Especially today, the day the recession really hits home. The day we realize that no one is safe from this financial maelstrom. Yes, it is the day that Harvard announced that cookies will no longer be supplied to faculty meetings, hot breakfasts will no longer be served to students, and some athletes may be forced to supply their own sweat clothes. Oh the horror!

Of course, you might say, with the tuition charged to attend, a hot breakfast should not only be served, but delivered on a silver platter. After all, what kind of a country are we living in when the elite-est of the elite educational institutions have to cut back? And how mean-spirited am I to make light of the situation when their endowment is in serious trouble? For truly, is not one person’s loss of a hot breakfast just another person’s home foreclosure? Then again, I could say bravo to Harvard for cutting back, and providing an educational experience of how the rest of us live.

How I Saved My Job
It's a scary time as a tough economy is squeezing businesses, even those who usually don't have a problem.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/2189553/how_i_saved_my_job.html