"Get some sleep and take a fresh look in the morning"

"Tomorrow is another day"

It's amazing how a good night's sleep can give you a fresh outlook on things. How things just don't seem to be as bad as the night before. Even when things weren't so bad the night before.

I always liked doing what I do for a living. I also enjoy(ed) my job. Recently I was made an offer I couldn't refuse, so I am at a new job. I now work for an international firm that is a major defense contractor and almost a household word. I never cared about the name of any firm I have ever worked for. But now that I am working for a prestige filled firm, I have to admit it does add to the good feelings. It also adds some professionalism to my own job and title.

I am having a good day. I have had about a week of good days in the past week. In fact, with one exception, I have had over two weeks of them. I like what I do more than I did a month ago. I am a lucky guy.

My family is not having any crisis's right now, another good thing. I feel that working full time has lessened my stress, as I no longer am available to handle the day to day calamities from my mother or daughters. In fact, I can't bring my cell phone to work because it has a camera in it, and I work in a D.o.D. secure facility.

Now for the one bad day I had. Last Saturday was my mom's birthday, and she wanted us to celebrate it at her place. Us means my family and my brother's family. Aside from her being a little older and not as strong emotionally as she used to be, she is suffering from my working full time. I am not available for her to call mid-day to calm her down over some trivial item that upset her. Good for me, not so good for her.

We all met there for dinner. It was Passover and my sister-in-law brought her own meal with her for her family. My family and my Mom ordered in and we went to pick it up. Somehow Anita, my sister-in-law was unable to heat the food in the microwave within the allotted 45 minutes. She moves slow, is passive aggressive, and selfish about everyone needing to conform to her schedule.

We picked up the takeout and sat down to eat while Anita continued to take her time in heating the food. Any one else would have had the food done way before the take out was brought back or even ready for pick up. But she has her own way of doing things which take an enormous amount of time. And, as I said, she moves very very slowly.

She was actually upset that we didn't wait for her to eat. She would have preferred to let our food get cold, because she couldn't get out of her own way long enough to heat up a couple of dishes in the microwave. As far as I am concerned, she was acting selfishly by not even attempting to heat the food in time to be ready. After all, she knew it would take a half hour before the take out was ready. No, she wanted to control the timing of things and that means slow. She wanted us to wait until she was good and ready to move along, even if that means cold food for our family.

She was not nice the entire evening. This is a person who still hasn't painted her house since moving in 15 years ago. It needed paint when they moved in, so you can imagine the condition. They had construction work done five years ago, and the spackle is still showing. Her son was coughing up flem all night, obviously sick. She claims to be very careful about cleanliness and hygiene. But it only shows with her concern about other people outside her own family. With her son coughing away, she had the nerve to scold my mother for not washing her hands after throwing something out in the garbage. Nothing dirty or greasy, it was a wrapper of some sort.

She also asked in an abrupt manner for my daughter to not use the ketchup she brought (it was kosher ketchup) when my daughter picked up the bottle to read the ingredients. She said that my daughter was handling other food. Even if it (the ketchup) was going to be used, nothing was being put into the ketchup. The ketchup would have been coming out. A nut!!!

Needless to say it was a stressful evening. That was my bad day. Not so bad. I have had worse. Remember the name Anita. I have lots to say about her. I'm sure her name will come up in future blogs.

Well, time for sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another great day. I almost can't wait to go to work.

There's an expression that goes "90% of life is just showing up". There's another that goes "you make your own luck". I don't know if I believe either one, but I will say that being responsible and consistent seems to work for me. By being at work daily, keeping in touch, being responsible and such consistently, I find I am available to be contacted by someone who may need me for my talents or training. I also try not to burn bridges, but to take the high road. It never hurts to say goodbye with a smile, even if you don't like the person. That doesn't mean that you should permit someone to take advantage. It's just as important to stand up for yourself, but to pick your fights.
Last week I was contacted by a recruiter who calls me from time to time. This time he had a wonderful opportunity. More money than I thought I could earn. More Importantly, it is for a challenging job where I could use my best talents. My resume is a job description for the position they have. And, it's for a huge corporation. This is a rare opportunity.
Change is difficult. It is also scary. It took several days of speaking with friends and family to make a decision to leave my current job. It was nice of them to offer me an opportunity to return anytime. When I was younger and dumber, some of the jobs I left were so happy I quit, that it saved them from having to fire me. The difference from today is consistency. That, and a bit of maturity.
Speaking with my wife was helpful in other ways. Valuing her opinion and listening to what she had to say made me feel like we were a team. I haven't felt like this in a long time. She felt connected to me again which is also good. I even involved the kids in the decision. Risky, but it is nice that it is a unanimous decision.
So, I am off to a high profile position with mucho responsibility. Also at the edges of my ability (I think). I am pretty quick to pick things up, so even if it is a bit beyond, I think I can learn what I need.
Things are good, but I am nervous. I think that means I am normal. At least in this regard. Big difference in attitude from my last post. Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

Tomorrow morning my wife and daughters are going away for a few days. It started with Nancy (my wife) asking me if she could go to Florida for a weekend. I said "sure, why not". She asked me several times, being shocked that I agreed so easily. Within a week, the weekend plans turned into almost a week away with the girls.

I will miss my daughters but I don't think I am going to miss my wife. Lately she is becoming a lot like her mom. Her mom lives in an apartment in my house because she is unable to earn a living and squandered all of her savings years ago. At one point in time Nancy co-signed a loan for her when she ran up credit card debt, against my wishes. Sure enough, Nancy's mom defaulted on the loan and the bank came after Nancy (and me) for the money. After a series of other dumb moves, she found herself on the brink of homelessness. I have enough compassion to realize that she had to somehow live with us in some fashion.

I have always been nice to Ruth (Nancy's mom). She has a real mean streak in her and is always nasty to me. I have a favorite expression that she could enrage the Pope. Nasty and not a nice person, even Nancy agrees. I mention all of this only because Nancy is slowly becoming a lot like her mom. Mean and cold, with a nasty streak becoming more evident every day. No, I don't think I will miss her.

Time away from each other may be good. Perhaps she needs to chill out a bit. I am looking at this trip as a kind of test. If I find myself much more at peace, I may think about making it a bit more permanent.

I don't even think she would mind giving up the kids. I know they would prefer me to her, as her nasty streak is evident to them also. This is not what I signed on for.

I find myself alone at night after everyone is asleep, to actually spend some quality time with myself. I am looking forward to quality time with Bambi, my pet house rabbit. I never knew rabbits could be such good pets.

More to follow after they leave.

Residential alarm systems are being installed today in record numbers. Unfortunately there is a trend towards cheap ineffective systems that rely on someone being in your house before the alarm is triggered. On a recent visit to one of my distributors, I found that the equipment I used to install is now a special order item. I haven't installed alarm systems in about 8 years now, being involved now with consulting and engineering.

Wire is too expensive. That's what I heard. Wireless systems that any trained monkey can install rather than hard wiring that (when installed and designed right) doesn't false alarm and really works. I used to install special systems that need hard wiring to work.

It is only because I am doing work on my home and needed to add to my system that I found out. I want the alarm to trigger while an intruder is still outside, not when he is already inside. Even with good PD response, an alarm that works only when someone is moving inside is useless. Of course when you are home and turn it on at night, only the doors are protected on the systems installed today.

That's great as long as you remember to put up the sign that reads "burglars please use the doors". A sad state of affairs.

False security is worse than no security. You let down your guard, leave things around, and don't take normal precautions.

I guess you get what you pay for. Free alarms are worth just that, nothing. If you are on a limited budget, get a good survey from an expert in physical security. Not a free quote from your local oil company. Your local PD will help. But, keep in mind that the officer that comes over is not an expert in physical security. He is schooled in various aspects of crime prevention, but can't tell you what works and what doesn't. A true consultant knows and has seen thousands of past burglaries just like your local police officer. But he also has special training in precisely how to protect your property.

Think twice, spend once.Don't lie to yourself.

More sensationalism on the ports deal with a foreign entity. Blah, blah, blah. The media needs to give us something new, instead of inciting panic.

How about the existing laws against exporting certain technology. Certainly a foreign firm is subject to these laws. In order to maintain the high level of security that we need (and don't always get) a good security system needs a certain amount of secrecy on the way it operates. If we show everyone how it works, someone can defeat it. That is the reason for confidentiality.

That is also the reason behind the non-export laws regarding technology. If an American firm were to run the operation, they would need to commit treason to help any foreign entity. Not so when we give them what they need.

Our Federal Government has put everyone in a situation of dammed if you do dammed if you don't. Give them the technology they need and we violate secrecy and federal laws. Don't and they can not do their job properly.

We live in frightening times. Live each day to the fullest. Hug your children and tell your family that you love them each day. We never know when it is our last.