Moody

Had lunch with my dearest friend and had a few nice surprises.  He is looking great and feeling well...his current course of treatment over and seemingly he is thriving.  He has enthusiasm and humour, as always, and was pleased to share with me his news...his son engaged to me married next October, he bought a really nice boat to cruise the Lake on, and lastly, he bought a really cool new car.  The car photos are in my Mobile Uploads album on Facebook...it is a 2008 Chrysler Sebring convertible....such a beautiful and comfortable car....and although he indicated to me that it was not his first preference, he surely seemed to be enjoying driving it!

The rest of the day was \"interesting\"...stuff that I planned extensively for did not occur...stuff that came out of left field took some creativity to resolve...and the other stuff, all I can do is listen and wait....

The folks are calm, the work goes on....and I go home...

That\'s it for now...til later, much love to you....

 

v

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

\"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.\"

                                      - Frank Herbert

Success....

...is different things to different folks....here is my personal favourite quote regarding success...

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\"The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind. \"  

                                    - W. Somerset Maugham

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Today I have accomplished several things that have contributed to making me feel successful....I was able to assure that a remote employee was able to continue to work, even though her assigned computer, from all appearances is shot in the head....I was able to provide new mobile communication devices for several folks in the organization to assure that they have the most current equipment to help them effectively do their jobs....and a replacement device is headed out to a home office user, who desperately needed a quick problem resolution, because the spectre of travel without connectivity to email was looming large on her horizon. 

I know I am successful when the people who depend on me are taken care of...whether it be my friends, my kids or my users...most days, I feel pretty darned successful...over all, today was one of the good ones...

That\'s all for now...till later, much love to you....

 

v

 

Where did MY universe go....

...and where the heck did this messed up one I found myself in today come from, anyway?

Lots of weird, uncomfortable and just generally not regular experiences were had today...I will not enumerate them here, as there are several that caused me some significant discomfort...if you are interested, \"contact me off line\".....

I hope that this is not how the rest of the week is going to go, because to be totally honest, my patience on the whole thing is wearing mighty thin...but with every new day, there is fresh hope, right?....my zen, post-vacation state is totally blown for the moment, at least...went home with a headache....Talking Heads anyone?....\"same as it ever was....same as it ever was....\"

Some learning from the past kicking in, so I will leave you for now....much love to you till I return...

 

v

Things I missed last week....

1.  The second week of \"The Root Olympics\" (turquoise placed 3rd overall - yay!)


2. An \"in the moment\" recounting of the young one\'s day at Put-in-Bay (although the photos were absolutely awesome)


3. Server outages on Thursday


4. Lots of emails


5. Phone messages


6. ( this one made me very sad when I heard of it ) The death of Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose \"last lecture\" about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book.  The YouTube link included here is to this wonderful, moving lecture - it runs almost one hour and one half in length but is worth every second you invest in the watching. 

Back at work today, and catching up - with people, with emails, with resolutions to problems to all the stuff that backed up while I was away....I will admit that I approached return with a little bit of reluctance, but in a very few moments among the people who I consider both my customers and my friends, I was \"back\"....it was interesting to experience...to say it felt as though I was never gone would not be totally accurate...it felt more like reconnecting with friends I had been away from for awhile....it was a good positive vibe....

Oh well, I guess that\'s it for now....till later, much love to you....

 

v

Root Olympics - Day 3

The competition today will include \"Paper Airplane Race\" to take place out the windows of the Redwood Conference Room, to begin at 1130 AM EDT and \"Tube Spinning\" - which will occur (with much hilarity to ensue, no doubt)  in the grassy/pond area in the center of the World Headquarters parking lot at 100 PM EDT.

The individual participation events will continue throughout the day today with Wii Bowling, DIG mini-golf and Basketball.  In addition, keep your eyes peeled Rootsters, for your call on today\'s round of \"Speedy Thumbs\" - be SURE to consult your rules so your entry will be qualified!

Photo posting will occur as time permits...I will be in meeting throughout the day today, so I hope I will be able to snap a few in between times....

That\'s it for now...till later, much love to you...and have a great Friday!

 

v

 

Individual Participation Results

Here are your standings for the individual participation events (Wii Bowling and DIG Mini- Golf)  as of end of day today:

DIG Mini - Golf

1st - Nick Woolaver - YELLOW - 20

2nd - Jim Haudan - ORANGE - 23

3rd - Rich Berens - PURPLE - 24

 

Wii Bowling - your current leader is:

Jason Cash - 245

 

Congratulations to all participants for a fun and active day!  Check out a few photos in the latest album on FB.

Till later, much love to you....

 

v

No major events today

...but the ongoing events of Mini DIG Golf, Wii Bowling and Basketball will be available for participation throughout the day....

Yesterday\'s events are documented in the newest album...kudos to the folks who decided they would pick up the gauntlet for their teams in the Pyramid game and get that extra point by participating with a remote user...big thumbs up to Michelle, Jay and Dave P for going the extra mile for their teams.  Congrats to Nancy and Veronica for being so totally in sync as to shut everyone down in the final round in just 15 seconds!!!  Those ladies were in the zone yesterday!

Pictionary was fantastic as well....the teams all chose talent from the creative pool to assure that they had quick minds and skilled hands to convey their words to the team...final winners were the yellow team with Shawn Camp as their artist, second was orange with artist Emily Obereder and third was my very own team, turquoise with the lovely AND talented Nicole Kosier as our artist.  Check out the photos of our sketches....how do you think you would have done under the crunch of a time limit?

 

Anyway....that\'s it for now...till later, much love to you...

 

v

Day Two - Event Summary

Today\'s main event, summarized by our Chicago Rootster, Elizabeth Kelsey

 

We are pleased to announce the introduction of a new game to the Root Olympics!  Yes, get excited!  It is the $100,000 Pyramid Trivia Game.  We need at least two teams of two people from each Root Olympic Team.  We are highly encouraging remote Rootsters to participate.  Please note extra participation points for remote-Rootsters!  Don’t let us down – show support for your Olympic team!

Here are the rules:

• There will be lists of 20 words


• Both members of the team each take a turn being the one to guess the words on the list


• The team member not guessing, will be trying to describe the word without using the actual word in the description


• Each member of a team will have 1 “pass” per round in case they get stuck on a word


• No gestures allowed, this is NOT charades!  


• The team to get the most number of points will proceed on to the next round
  

The $100K Pyramid Trivia Studio (aka the Birch Room) in front of a live studio audience (aka other Rootsters)
Wednesday, July 16th
11:30-12:30pm eastern
LIVE streaming from the Birch Room/Video Conference from Chicago

Team Events:
1st Place:  20 pts
2nd Place:  15 pts
3rd Place:  10 pts

Participant Points:
2 points for remote participants
1 point for all other (Sylvania-local) participants

Good luck!!

 

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Photos to follow

 

Day One - Root Olympics 2008

\"Breakfast of Champions\" was a huge success, with much food, comradarie and fun...the cooks (Rich, Robin, Gary and Jim) produced a veritable banquet to start the Root Olympians on their way through their first day of grueling physical and mental tests.

The schedule today:

Opening Ceremonies with William McWankerby - 12:45PM EDT

\"Plug and Chug\" - 1:00PM EDT

 

Also throughout out the day, teams will be participating in individual events:

\"DIG Miniature Golf\"

Basketball

\"Wii Bowling\"

and the ever popular Blackberry event

\"Speedy Thumbs\"

 

Keep an eye on the photo album for highlights from each day\'s events....will start posting later today, as time allows.

Stay tuned....should be a hoot!.....till later, much love to you....

 

v

 

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OLYMPIC UPDATE!!!

Plug and Chug - congratulations to all the brave participants!

FIRST PLACE - David Whitney - consuming Life Saver Mints and Lemonade

SECOND PLACE - Gary Magenta

THIRD PLACE - Dave Padgett

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Throughout the afternoon, basketball, mini-golf, Wii Bowling and keep an eye out for Speedy Thumbs (Remember to follow the rules!)

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Upcoming events...finals of

Over the weekend, the final rounds of the LPGA Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Sponsored by Kroger to take place at Highland Meadows Golf Club....the event to this point has progressed in typical \"Farr\" fashion....rain to moisten up the course a bit before the Pro-Am....rain at the end of day of first round of play....and now sun and warm temperatures to elevate the humidity and heat for the last rounds over the weekend....after yesterday\'s play, the leader was at 60, with next closest at 68....the weekend rounds will be very interesting, with the winner to be determined by Sunday afternoon...in the meantime, blimps circle the town and golf course, broadcast trailers abound on the country club grounds, and strangers wander about the streets and in the stores and restaurants....

On Monday, July 14th, the 2008 Root Olympics begin at the Root World Headquarters in Sylvania. The events will be ushered in by the \"Breakfast of Champions\" and the opening ceremonies, which begins a two week period of events like \"Production Cart Races\", Two floor miniature golf, \"The Map Roll\", and this year, karaoke with \"Rock Band\" (a great team participation event)...our Olympic motto for this year -

\"TIMELESS. FEARLESS. TALENTLESS.\"

Watch for photos as the events occur....

And lastly, I will be leaving for a week\'s hard earned vacation on Friday July 18, thru Sunday July 27. The trip will be to a wonderfully secluded cabin on the shore of a lake in Canada, with no phone service and internet access only if you track it down. The closest civilization will be about an hour away, so posting of photos or blog items about the trip will be \"catch as catch can\"....I hope that a dedicated Rootster will pick up the gauntlet for the second week of the Olympics and keep the photos posting and updates flowing....we shall see...

That\'s it for now....much love to you till later....

v

Massive Amounts of Coolness

SO....cool and awesome stuff happening at my house yesterday....the firstborn and his Ann worked their little tushies off to get the back yard in a presentable state...apple tree is nothing but a stump and a bad memory....the tall grass is beaten into submission...and even a little edging was done to make things look a little more civilized....the next thing on the collective \"to do list is gutter cleaning...those hedges growing in there are looking pretty scraggly and have potential to be used a wind break here pretty soon ;)....should be able to address that, now that we don\'t have to go out shopping for goats to get the \"back forty\" in some semblance of order.

ALSO....in the mail yesterday, the result of the yucky process of filing the FAFSA online to disclose to the University of Toledo our level of possible financial responsibility for the young one\'s second year of college...after submitting the report in the completed queue, reapplying for the PIN to be able to digitally sign, waiting for the PIN to digitally sign...and finally getting the PIN and finalizing the submission, we entered waiting mode again....while the University determined by our information (and the young one\'s grades from this past academic year) what was what, money-wise....the news yesterday.....all scholarships renewed for the coming academic year...and enough other stuff for academics as well.....so....for sophomore year as a music ed major....LITTLE TO NO OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE!!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!!  Supernatural SUPERSERIOUS AWESOME!!!  Congrats to the young one on great work freshman year...humongously excited about Rocket football 2008...Marching Band....concerts...all of it...will be an awesome year...hard earned by the young one....and to be enjoyed to the fullest...

That\'s it for now....and a lot it is.....much love to you till later....

 

v

Very Exciting Doings in the Root World

Our beloved CEO, Jim Haudan has embarked on a venture of gargantuan proportions...to share his knowledge and vast experience in the arena of employee engagement with the world...his vehicle, a phenominal book to be released in August called \"The Art of Engagement\"

I hope you will take the opportunity to visit the website to learn more about Jim, the upcoming book, and what it is that makes this the one book you really need to read if you are looking for plain talk and practical knowledge about how to motivate, engage and get the most out of folks at all levels of your organization.

That\'s all that I am thinking about for right now....till later, much love to you....

 

v

Torrential Downpour

It is a rainy, wet day in Northwest Ohio, the result of a very wet and rainy night overnight. Ten Mile Creek is raging, overflowing its banks in Sylvania, leaving to the imagination the condition of the golf course through which it runs, a little way \'round the bend. In the center of the parking lot at the Root World Headquarters, an impromtu pond is forming, in which mallard ducks have been sighted, enjoying the calmer and more tranquil waters. Noone has made efforts to measure the depth of said pond, but my loose estimate would be at lease a foot deep, if not more, at its deepest point.

Roads are flooding throughout the area, and electricity is out in pockets, a result of the high winds that accompanied periodic heavy rains. The up side of all this....the temperatures have dropped to a very comfortable level...really nice for July.....the down side...it will be pretty soggy tonight for anyone who wanted to do the whole \"fireworks\" thing early...and very likely that it will be a little on the damp side as well on the Fourth....

Took photos on the walk in (yes, I did walk) and will post them in my Mobile Uploads folder on Facebook..enjoy!

With the creek up, I was wondering....anyone for rafting? :)

That\'s all for now....till later, much love to you...

 

v