IDK

There are a few questions I dread. The longest lasting and most recurring one is: "What's for dinner?" I used to joke with my family that I was the sun and they were each planets orbiting me on a 24 hour cycle. Each of them compelled to ask that question once per day. A little bit of a complicated analogy but it works for me. My answer "I don't know, whatever I feel like cooking when I get home from work."

Things have changed. Most of the time it's just me and my husband, with the youngest off at school and the oldest technically at home but spending a lot of her evenings with her boyfriend. To be fair to her, our daughter usually cooks one night a week. I am sure it is only because she can be assured of getting a good vegetarian meal that way. But who am I to complain, so long as I don't have to cook it. Truth be told, she has a few tasty recipes up her sleeve.

My husband and I have kind of a game going on. Whoever asks the other one first "What's for dinner?" wins. Even if the person asked doesn't end up cooking there is an advantage to be gained for the next day. That's the triple bonus, double whammy. Asking the other one "What's for dinner?", end up being the one cooking it and then asking again the next day "What's for dinner?". There ain't no way you're cooking then. Best case scenario, we go out!

Another question I hate is "What do you want for Christmas?" Hell, I don't know. Something you think I'd like. In my younger days I could come up with a whole list of things. But I pretty much have reached a point where I have all that I need. Whatever you get me is fine by me. I'm not picky. A gift certificate to Borders so I can feed my insatiable appetite for books, a scarf, some perfume, anything you like. How about you cook dinner for a whole month straight?

Visitor

This beautiful creature was in our cherry tree this morning. I caused quite a bit of commotion going back into the house to get the camera and she very kindly stayed put. We recently cut down quite a few trees in the yard and I think it stirred up the local rodent population. That's like an Old Country Buffet for red tail hawks.



On a totally different topic.... Today my husband twisted my arm to stop in at WalMart because he heard some of their grocery prices were really good. I hate WalMart. Not for any high and noble reason like their questionable business practices. Not because of the alleged unfair treatment of their employees. Not because most of their goods come from third world countries. WalMart like any big company has it's fair share of skeletons in the closet but I believe a lot of the negative media they get was initiated by and is fueled by their competition.

I simply hate WalMart because it is aesthetically unpleasant. Their signs are too big. Their stores are too crowded and the atmosphere feels..... I don't know ..... crazed. After all, it was a WalMart where the shoppers trampled a worker to death trying to get to the bargains. (Part, if not most, of the blame lies in WalMart's lap for not maintaining some sort of control over the crazed shoppers.) Now, I love a bargain as much as the next person. But c'mon. Can we maintain a little common courtesy and human decency while pursuing that unbelievably low price?

I will shop at KMart occasionally. I mostly go for nostalgic reasons. I have a lot of memories of going there as a kid with my Mom. Back in the day some of them were called S.S. Kresge's and they had soda fountains. It was the 60's and my Mom had go-go boots and a bad-ass beehive. If I was good she'd get me something, if I was really good I might even get a hot fudge sundae. However, I view K'Marts as only a step or two above WalMart and consider them to be a Target wanna'be.

Now Target on the other hand is the BEST store in the world. They are marketing geniuses in my opinion. I invariably spend more than I intended. Quite a bit of it on "Dollar Spot" junk that I really have no use for but can't resist because it's only a buck. Their stores are clean. Their displays are appealing and it just feels better than WalMart. So, anyway, gotta sign off now because I am headed to Target right now with my daughter. Christmas shopping awaits. I wonder what stocking stuffers they have at the "Dollar Spot".

Where be the treasure?

The word pirate has several meanings. One of them, according to Dictionary.com is:

a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea.

This is, technically, the appropriate word to use for the people who have been terrorizing ships sailing in waters near Somalia. Though I have to admit, for me anyway, Disney and Johnny Depp have successfully rendered this word unusable in any serious context. Every time I hear one of these stories about “pirates” I picture Jack Sparrow sailing up along side an unsuspecting ship and charming his way aboard. That is NOT what is happening.

In the last year there have been nearly 100 attacks on ships sailing the waters near Somalia. 40 of those attacks were successful, resulting in the ships being boarded and hijacked and the passengers and crew members being held hostage for ransom. The most recent attack was on a luxury cruise ship that fortunately was able to outrun their attackers.

Somalia is a country on the eastern tip of the African continent. The people of Somalia are starving and desperate. They have been caught in the crossfire of tribal feuding and all out civil war since the early 90’s. There is no central government in Somalia. Different regions of the country are ruled by opposing factions. The piracy trade has flourished there because it offers the destitute citizens a chance to make some money to feed their families. The pirate kingpins get rich and the local officials get their share of the booty. All other legitimate trade in the region is at a virtual standstill because of the danger associated with travel to that country, especially by ship. It’s like a vicious circle with no end in sight.

May I suggest we come up with a new word and permanently relegate the word “pirate” to the world of fantasy and make-believe. Let’s call them “sea marauders” or “sea bandits” instead. But, I guess even those words sound whimsical. Maybe there is no good alternative and I will just have to quit thinking about the Pirates of the Caribbean every time I hear or read one of these stories.

Debits = Credits

There was a big change at work today. Up until today I was responsible for managing HR and Administration. I have managed both of these functions for my entire career but until this current job I had also always managed the accounting function. When I accepted this job a little over a year ago I knew I would be giving up accounting. At the time I was excited to have the chance to focus all my attention on one thing for a change. I am a jack-of-all-trades kind of person and wanted to see if I could finally “master” one of them. I was also happy to get away from the monthly grind of producing financial statements.

But I have to admit I have missed accounting a little bit. The majority of issues that HR deals with are “gray”. Whenever some policy or employee issue is open for debate, discussion or interpretation it invariably ends up in HR’s lap. We are the fog lifters, the cheerleaders, the explainers and the comforters. It’s very challenging and rewarding.

Accounting on the other hand is a very black and white kind of thing. There is usually only one answer. The left side needs to balance to the right side. It always provided a nice balance to the HR side of things. After a tough day of dealing with people issues I could bury my head in numbers.

I work for a Japanese automobile manufacturer. Japanese companies are different than American companies in a lot of ways. That is a whole blog post in and of itself that I will save for another time. But I will say that one of the key attributes for success is the ability to wear many hats. There is a standard phrase put on job descriptions that goes something like “and other duties as assigned by manager.” This phrase really gets a workout in a Japanese organization.

So, after one year here and increasingly difficult times for the automotive industry I find myself in the position of taking on the management of the accounting department in addition to my current responsibilities. I am happy about this change and also glad that being a jack-of-all-trades gives me at least a little bit of job security in these tough times.

Thankful

You know, it's the simple things in life we are usually most thankful for. Not the things that we spend most of our time thinking about during the rest of the year.

Mario is thankful for his ball. Really, anything he can get you to throw for him. Border Collies are smart like they say but they can get a little obsessive. He especially loves visitors. They may as well have "Sucker" tattooed on their foreheads. He collects every throwable object in the house and lays it at their feet. They laugh and throw his toys for him over and over. They inevitably give up long before he tires out.
Chance is thankful to sit next to me, wherever I am. He is also thankful he can tuck his back legs safely behind him. He's very weird like that. I think it's because my husband snatches at his back legs when he rough-houses with him.

I am thankful that my son is home for Thanksgiving. He's been away for his first year of college. He doesn't call nearly as much as his sister. OK, he never calls. I have reconciled myself to the fact that boys are very different than girls. They don't let their homesickness show but he couldn't hide the fact that he was excited to be home.

This one is a little tougher. My daughter did not spend Thanksgiving with us this year. Her first one away from the family. She went to Texas to spend it with her boyfriend's family. I am thankful she has a whole new family to get to know and I am thankful that they welcomed her with such open arms. But then again, what's not to love.

Finally, the whole family was thankful for a wonderful meal, the chance to be together because that's what Thanksgiving is really about. And of course, pumpkin pie!

Where have you been all my life?

There is a whole host of things I wish I had tried or discovered earlier in my life. Most, but not all, are food related.

FOODS: You wouldn’t know it to look at me now, but I was a picky eater as a kid. Following are some of my favorites that I didn't try until adulthood.

Scrambled eggs – after my daughter was born the first meal I had in the hospital was scrambled eggs and toast. It’s been a favorite ever since.

Sour cream – there was just something about the name that always bothered me. Milk based products should not be sour.

Cream cheese – spreadable cheese seemed unnatural to me.

Artichokes – it looked like cactus to me.

Tomatoes – can’t explain why I didn’t like them – the gelatinous seeds maybe.

ITEMS:

Sleep Mask – This one could have saved me a lot of grief over the years. I am an avid reader and I fall asleep every night by reading. My husband is not a night time reader and the light really bothers him. I have tried a lot of things to reach a compromise, low watt bulbs (25 watt bulbs don’t give off much light), booklights (a pain in the ass), a towel over the lampshade (tacky and a fire hazard). I happened to get him a sleeping mask a few years back. Oh my God! Why had I never tried this before? He looks a little dorky when he wears it but it’s a small price to pay.

Wire Whisk – I always just thought a fork was good enough. My cousins thought this was hilarious so one of them bought me an assortment of wire whisks. I am now a convert.

IKEA – Where was this store when I was young and broke?

Podcasts – Doesn’t quite fit because they are relatively new, but I haven’t listened to the radio on my way to work since I discovered them.

I guess my grandmother was right all along, “You never know until you try it.”

Uncle!

I’m starting to get angry and also a little bit scared about the future. I have no particular love for the Detroit 3 (they had to relinquish the Big 3 title once Toyota turned into a big player that was regularly beating one or more of them in monthly sales.) The auto execs are arrogant, overpaid, short-sighted and got themselves into this mess all by themselves. Instead of developing new technologies and innovative long term strategies they have focused on the bottom line of the next quarter. Their strategy has been to bombard us with low financing deals for the past five years. Couldn’t they foresee a day when Americans would have to tighten their belts and hold off on that new car purchase?

On the same note, duplicity and insincerity from the Washington crew doesn’t surprise me. How many of them have uttered the words “Buy American” in one of their campaign speeches? Yet now they stand on the brink of letting the largest manufacturers of consumer durable goods in the US go under. I understand if you don’t like them. There is not much to like. But have they thought about the impact of letting even one of them go bankrupt? Our economy is like a car teetering on the edge of a cliff. One good stiff breeze could cause us to plummet to the bottom. That will be one big fiery explosion.

They seriously can’t be thinking about letting the two biggest American automakers go belly up. Not after they doled out all that cash to the financial industry. I don’t remember any of them having to endure the endless interrogatories about their spending habits and recovery plans.

I think it’s time Congress quits posturing and grandstanding. The auto execs have been abused and slapped around enough by Congress. Give them the bailout already. The economy can’t withstand such a major jolt and hundreds of thousands of hard working Americans will find themselves without jobs.

FOOTNOTE: "Assume the position" takes on a whole new meaning for Obama's Treasury Secretary. He's screwed.