I have really enjoyed facebook over the last six months. I must tell Paul thanks for getting me hooked up. Especially with the move, it is a great way to stay in touch. But most of all it has been amazing that friends I have wanted to find, but couldn't before facebook, have found me. Every time a friend request pops up it is so exciting to see who will be there.
However, it was not until yesterday that I had actually been deleted as a friend. I went to look for a friend to send a message, and the friend wasn't there. So I sent a friend request with a note that I thought we were already friends.
Her response, "We were friends, but you never write anything so I deleted you." I guess she keeps a tight group of friends on facebook. I have more of an open door policy. Sometimes I get a friend request and I can't recognize who they are at first. But after I look at their pictures and see who their friends are, I remember and usually a flood of fun childhood memories come back to me. And I smile.
Today when I signed into my blog, I expected it to be filled with virtual cobwebs and covered in techno dust. I have not abondoned JiggyIntel. I am just on a temporary leave of absence until the New Year.
I am swamped at work. And more work keeps pilling in everyday. Even working seven days a week, with twelve hour days, I am still falling behind. Its almost 7 pm, and I am about to start on number 1 on my priority list for today because responding to calls and e-mails has kept me busy all day. But in this economy, I can't complain. And Shelley has been super sweet, and not complained.
Remarkably, I do have a mental list of topics I would love to blog about. I just need some time.
Right now, if I am not working, I just need family time. I need to tease and be teased by my quick witted and beautiful teenage daughters. I need to listen to Jonathan talk about the hotel he is going to build or just toss a ball with him. And Ellie, well I need to squeeze her. Without family time, I can't recharge my batterys.
Blogging and working out have suffered the most. But I can honestly say that I am fat and happy.
So, of course, one of my New Year resolutions will be to be skinny and happy. And blog more.
Wow, what a ride! First, Shelley and I found out that our precinct had less than 250 registered voters and therefore we were mail-in-only voters.
How can that be? We live in the City of Walnut Creek. There are 200 homes on our street. Thankfully, Shelley and I had not thrown away the voter information packages we had received, or we may not have been able to vote at all.
We had to carefully fill out our ballots at home and take them to any voting station and drop them off. I HAD NO RIGHT TO ENTER A VOTING BOOTH AND MAKE A SELECTION. I read the instructions to my mail-in ballot very carefully, but I was very worried that there was going to be a hanging chad somewhere on it. I hope my vote was counted this year.
Shelley was able to drop off her ballot at her parents' community center.
Then there was the Proposition 8 issue. I work in San Francisco and so it seemed that everyone was against the Proposition. On Monday night, someone stole our "Yes on Prop 8" sign. I cannot believe the amount of vandalism and theft that occurred to property with signs supporting Prop 8.
Even after Obama was announced President Elect, I tried to stay up to see if Prop 8 would succeed, but I was too tired and finally went to bed. On the morning news, it was announced that Prop 8 had been successful. I was frankly stunned.
I hope this victory makes activist courts think twice before making up "fundamental rights" out of thin air. Most of the large political controversies today are created by overreaching court decisions. Courts are empowered to interpret the Constitution, not rewrite it.
I support legislation that helps couples, whether common-law, same-sex or other domestic relationships or "families" obtain means to support and care to for the people they love. I do not want to impose my moral and religious beliefs on them through governmental intervention, but I am glad that we are not forced to redefine traditional marriage, which is unarguably the most important institution for the advancement of human kind and the well-being of children. Marriage is not just about boy likes girl, it should be about a very special commitment between two people to sacrifice and work to bring a new generation of healthy and enlightened individuals into the world that will hopefully continue our progress to a better tomorrow.
P.S. -- While I have my doubts about Obama's proposals, I admit that I also have a hope that he really will be a different kind of President and bring productive changes to the United States of America. I prayed for him this morning and would love to see a President that can truely unify the country.
I recently spent a week in New Orleans to attend a conference for the National Association of Stock Planning Professionals, or just NASPP. Yes, I am a member, and it was actually a very interesting conference. Especially right now with all of Congress' new restrictions on executive pay, but I am not going to bore you with the details of what I learned. We also did some pretty cool stuff.
The most cool was a private concert with Jewel. Merrill Lynch set up a concert with Jewel at a museum in New Orleans. We had dinner first with traditional New Orleans food, like gumbo. About 80 people attended and it was a really good show. She is an amazing singer and she was very funny too. She played some old favorites, some of her new country stuff and even some songs that she has not released. It was very fun.
One night I went to the French Quarter with a guy I met at the conference to see a jazz band. It was a pretty big jazz band with about 10 players, a full grand piano and an absolutely crazy drummer, whose solos I really enjoyed. The French Quarter was pretty crazy. We were there on a Tuesday evening and Bourbon Street was still filled with people drinking and partying to cover bands -- kind of weird to see so much action on a Tuesday night. After the jazz band, we watched some karaoke at the Cats Meow and then headed back to the hotel.
Foodwise, my favorite was the charbroiled oysters at Drago's. I didn't really eat anything else that was amazing or worth mentioning.
Lastly, there was a booth set up at the conference to have our golf swings analyzed by a golf pro. She videoed me from the side and the back as I swung, and then showed me where I was loosing power. It appeared so obvious from the video what I was doing wrong. I can't wait to get to the driving range and see if I can get some extra distance out of my driver.
So that's it for New Orleans. The other nights I just ordered room service and did some work or watched a movie. Sometimes peace and quite is just what I need anyway.
We had a very fun Halloween! But I am sure Shelley will update you on that and put up some pics of our paint job yesterday of our living room. Shelley picked out a blue/grey, and I admit I was dubious about it. Of course, it looks great. Shelley has an excellent eye for color.
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