Spelling, On a Projector

The vendor is typing notes that appear on the wall via projector.

He types “custermer.”  The group exchanges looks, trying to decide who tells him.

And when my boss does, I find one more reason to love her.

Practice Run

I’m in Singapore after a lovely time in Australia.

Today is my prep day, as I make sure I am prepared to teach the four classes I have over the next two days.  Channeling my grandmother, I went out today to “practice” my route to the office for tomorrow.

Side story: Grandma McCarthy, when she used to drive more, would do a practice drive before she had to go somewhere.  Most famously (in my family, at least) she once drove from Grand Rapids, MI to Kalamazoo, MI (about 60 miles) to make sure that she knew the route.  She had to be there the following week for a lunch.  So she picked a day the previous week and drove from GR to K-Zoo.  And then turned around and drove home, just to make sure she knew the route the following week.   Just to make sure she knew the route.  (It warranted repeating.)

So keeping my wise Grandma McCarthy in mind, I went out today to find my office.  I’d booked my hotel because it was supposed to be right next to the office.  Oh, and did I mention that the office is on Orchard Road, famous for shopping?  No?  Hmmm, yeah, it has some shopping.  Of course, Singapore has shopping.  Loads and loads of shopping.  I used to think that Singapore had as many shopping malls as West Michigan has churches, but now I realize that Singapore has FAR more shopping malls that West Michigan has churches.  I think shopping is the national sport.

So leaving the hotel to go out to Orchard Road wasn’t a hardship.  Oh, except for the heat.  And humidity.  And steam coming off of me after walking a block.  I’m not straightening my hair here, because really– why bother?  So I left the hotel with slightly damp hair.  I returned to the hotel with wet hair.

Anyway, I had the address of the office written down, and headed out to find it.  Of course, shopping malls rarely have addresses listed on the front, so after a few blocks, I had no idea if I was going in the right direction.  I saw an office lobby and stopped in to ask the address.  The guy working the desk said some words I didn’t understand.  “Um, I’m looking for 91A Orchard Road.  Do you know where that is?”  It was his turn to stare back at me.

“Do you know what it’s called?  What’s the building called?  I know what all of the buildings are called.”  Wasn’t it just called 91A Orchard Road?  No?

So I ask, “What is the number of this building?”  He has no idea.  He looks in some papers.  He calls someone.  Finally he learns it is 435 Orchard Road.  My hotel is 333 Orchard Road.  I’m going the wrong way. I thank him and move along, back in the other direction.

I’ll spare you the pain that was the rest of this excursion.  The other way wasn’t right either.  There was no 91 to be found, let alone 91 A.  Oh, and in Singapore, the odds and evens go in opposite directions.  So while on my side it went 435, 333, and so on, on the other side of the street, the numbers went 280, 320, 440, 520.  Causing more confusion.

I finally returned to the hotel and looked up the address on our intranet.  91A.  What. The.  Hell.  I turned to Yahoo! Singapore.  I searched for the name of my company.  I found a listing!  The address of our office is actually 391 Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City Tower A.  That little digit “3″ is super important, it turns out.

No Wukkas!

I’m in Sydney on a business trip.

I love my job.  I just got to say that I’m in Sydney on a business trip.  And today I did the most challenging part of the trip and it went great.  The rest of the week only gets better.  Plus, FilmChris shows up tomorrow, and at the weekend we go stay with dear friends in Newcastle.

Next week I teach four courses in Singapore.

Did I mention I love my job?

I also love Australia, even though I know that is ridiculous to say because I’ve only been here 12 hours.  But hey!  It’s the second best country to live in.

Spell Check, Folks. It’s Not New.

I had a vendor who wants to create on-line courses for me misspell “occasionally” as “occassionally.”  Listen, if you can’t be bothered to use spell check, I can’t be bothered to pay for your services.

Time to Read

I have a new job!  I work in San Francisco now, which is a 45-60 minute train ride away, depending on which train I catch.  If I time it right and catch the “Baby Bullet,” there are only four stops between me and the city.  (I love the Baby Bullet.) 

Two trains a day = at least 90 minutes on the train each day.  That’s 450 minutes of reading each week.  That’s right: I just added 7.5 hours of reading time to my week.

Of course, I hadn’t worked full time since February, and last week (my first week of an additional 7.5 hours of reading time) I was dog meat most days on the train.  Friday I think I slept on the way there and back.  I tried to pick through some Stephen Covey, but that was way too much work for my tired little head. 

Last night in the bath, I finally started Dear and Glorious Physician.  I’m only a short way in, but I already knew this fundamental truth: always trust book recommendations from Dad.

I’m open to other suggestions, as well.  I’ve got some time to fill.

Insult to Injury: Defined

When I was laid off, my company said they would ship the contents of my desk to me.  The boxes just arrived today.

A picture frame, hand-made candy dish and light bulb (random object, I realize, but there’s an uninteresting explanation) had all broken in the box, leaving everything else covered in tiny shards of glass.  And as I was unpacking the box, I cut  my hand and bled on some of my personal effects.

Injury to insult, actually.

Laid Up, Then Laid Off

Hello, readers!  I’m back from my convalescence.  Surgery went well, and the pain that has been plaguing me for the past five months should be behind me now.  I’m feeling better, we have a treatment plan, and I’m already full of more energy than I’ve had all year.

So then yesterday my employer laid me off.  Ouch.  I got a nice severance package, though, and I’m taking a few days of R & R before starting the job search in earnest on Tuesday.  (Monday is FilmChris’ birthday, so that day will be spent doing things that make him happy, like watching movies and playing video games.  You know, normal 12-year-old boy stuff.)

I’m making big plans for the next few weeks, to take advantage of time off and good health.  I plan to finish editing the book, writing more blog posts, and reading more great books.  But right now, I need to finish unpacking boxes from this move before the boxes from my desk show up.

What Did The Moon Do With the Money?

The CEO of the company I work for said today that our Brazil division “recently sponsored the lunar eclipse.” 

This has to be a first for the moon, selling out like that to a corporation.  I understand that lunar upkeep is costly, but is this really the depths to which the moon-owners need to stoop?

08/08/08: Not What I Expected

Today’s calendar date is supposed to be something special.  But this is what I’ve seen:

A headline that shouldn’t even have to be a headline: “Clinton Says She Wants Obama to Win the White House”

John Edwards had an affair.  John Edwards had an affair while my good friend Elizabeth was battling cancer.

Georgia and Russia are at war, but the Edwards news is somehow more important.

Another great Yahoo! resigned.  We’ll miss you, Lisandro. 

But at least I can wish my friend Matt a happy birthday.  Happy Birthday, Matt!  You deserve a great day.

My Day at the Newspaper

My 12-year-old self might have been sad today.   I spent the day at the San Francisco Chronicle*, in an all-day meeting for the Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium.  The meeting was productive, I worked with smart and talented people, and we ended ahead of schedule.  All in all, that’s a successful meeting day.