Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is American Thanksgiving. Last year my daughter went with her new husband to have Thanksgiving with his parents. When she was little she was always up for a play date (though we didn't call them that) or a sleepover, so I never realized how important family events were to her until she agreed to go with Mark last year. She called during dinner, to talk with the family, and was sad that she wasn't in New York with the rest of us.

However, there were some things she liked about Mark's Thanksgiving :-). They eat dessert first. When part of the family likes to bake (and eat) dairy desserts, and the rest of the family is Sabbath observant Orthodox, you have to find a compromise so you can eat your Aunt's incredible pecan pie! Dessert first!

There was one thing that she didn't like. At some point during the day they took out a video camera, went around the table and asked each person what they were thankful for. My incredibly adorable, perfectly polite daughter responded that she was thankful "my family doesn't do this."

However, I am thankful for many things this year. I am thankful that my daughter has been married for a year and is happy with her husband, and for my new son-in-law. I am thankful that my mother and my in-laws remain in good health for another year. I am thankful that my son and daughter-in-law are managing to keep things together, despite difficulties. I am thankful that my husband will be shaving tomorrow for the first time in 37 years (well not necessarily the shaving, the reason). I am thankful that my youngest son hasn't smoked since the new year so that my husband has to shave tomorrow for the first time in 37 years. Last, but not least, I am thankful for my wonderful new grandson, born in August. I can't wait to see him tomorrow.

Does a blog need a theme?

What is the purpose for blogging? Is it an online diary, with no intention for readership, or is the goal to have others read and comment on your posts. Right now, I am all over the place. My first blogs have been about Harry Potter, football, and work. Amazingly, I have yet to blog about the topics closest to my heart, my husband, my children, my adorable grandbaby, my extended family, and my hobbies. Why is that? In the past, my blog posts were all over the place as well. Pick a topic that strikes the funny bone, or triggers outrage, or that excites me, and write. Now, I am trying to re-find my voice, and my posts lack a theme, except perhaps stream of conciousness.
My goal is five posts a week. An exercise in writing that may or may not be reasonable to achieve, but if each post is on a different topic, is there a theme that should continue throughout? What project I am working on? What book I am listening to? How many steps I walked? (He he ... NOT!)
Knitting the back of my sweater on the Metro, listening to Harlan Coben, The Final Detail, 6th in the Myron Bolitar series....

Personal space

Most people understand the concept of personal space, but how that actually translates into inches of separation differs between one person and another, between one culture and another. One person can be made uncomfortable if the person they are talking with steps within arms length, another still feels comfortable when the person is standing within inches.

However, most people are trained from a young age to understand that it is inappropriate for a stranger to be touching them intimately. Of course police "frisking" is different. If you are suspected of committing, or have actually committed a crime, then frisking is the order of the day, and that touching is likely to be very intimate indeed.

Perhaps this early training is why the pat downs performed by the TSA are making people so very uncomfortable. It isn't that a crime is involved, it is just that either you triggered a scan or you were randomly selected.

These days, personal space in the airport is a thing of the past...

Screaming at football on TV

When I was growing up, my momma was the sports fan in the house. I come by it honestly. She would watch any sport on TV, except roller derby and professional wrestling! I remember Hockey Night in Canada on Wednesday and Saturday nights. One game in English on the big TV, and the other game (sound off, who needed the play-by-play in French) on the small portable -- low tech picture-in-picture.

I grew up far from DC (Halifax, Nova Scotia does qualify as far) but I have been a Washington Redskins fan since I was 12 years old. I love to watch the Redskins play, but I have a small problem. I scream at the TV. I know they can't hear me. I even know that there may be a time delay (sometimes I pause the game for one reason or another), but still when the play gets exciting, I'll scream. It's mostly at the defense this year, why are they having so much trouble sometimes stopping the run, but I will cheer the offense as well. I haven't yet reached the point of screaming continuously when the opposing team is in the red zone, but I definitely come close.

I am not sure what it means, but I will continue to watch the Skins, and I will continue to yell at the TV. Color me a burgundy and gold fan!!

Re-branding?

Search for Erica's thoughts on Google, and you get Erica's Thoughts - and it isn't me! Maybe I need to think deeper thoughts? Maybe I need to re-brand? Of course the fact that I have no followers also means that I am spitting in the wind. So do I re-brand? I certainly don't want someone to think that my only comment about Harry Potter 7 Part 1 (HP 7.1 to quote a friend) is that it is "badass." Really, Erica's Thoughts, there has to be more descriptive language!

Patience? Once again I forgot to be a duck!

I used to think of myself as a patient person at work. I usually have no problems with answering questions, and I really used to believe that there were no stupid questions, but lately my faith in that belief has been challenged. I have several coworkers who seem to be unclear on the concepts.
If I give you an assignment, I don't mind explaining once, and when my explanation falls short, elaborating on that explanation or re-explaining. I certainly don't mind responding to questions requesting additional details, and I will be happy to look at interim products to let you know if you are on the right track (or the wrong one). But don't ignore my instructions, come back to me with the completely wrong deliverable, ignore my attempts at clarification, and blame technology when I point out your inconsistencies.
I asked for a report, identified very specific required fields, and stated the time period. I got a generic report, with fields I didn't need, missing half the fields I had requested, and an excuse that "the system is broken." My quick QA pointed out discrepancies. I was told, well I didn't track that. I understand you didn't track it, but now we need to know, so figure out how to recreate it!
In the end, I reran the system reports, went through them line-by-line, and created a new report, adding in the missing fields, records, and data. It took me a while, and there is still one more quality check that could be done, but it would have to be done in the staff member's email. When I asked her to confirm by checking her email she ... argued??!!!
I lost my patience! Oh probably I lost my patience before that, yesterday, when she ignored my instructions. This poor woman frustrates me.
Lesson to remember? "Be a duck!" - I will just have to try harder...

Geek? Dork? Fan!

If you start a blog and you abandon it, what does that say about you? If you then start again, do you start from the previous gap or do you just immediately pick up where you left off?
For me? No apologies. Here's what's on my mind today.

Am I a dork? a geek? pathetic? Does going to a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 at the age of fifty-something (OK, 54, but who's counting) make me totally weird? When my kids were little I used to think they were saying "breathe in, you're embarrassing me, breathe out, you're embarrassing me." Now I wonder only briefly, how badly am I going to embarrass them this evening? The answer? I don't know, and I don't care.

I have seen most of the other Harry Potter movies at midnight. It has become something of a tradition. Other folks have come and gone, but JT and ES have always been there. I can't imagine not seeing this movie with them this evening, and I can't imagine not being with them on July 14th when the last movie comes out... Call me whatever name you like, I'll just call myself a fan!