I had a chance to clean up the lighting for some of the NY pics. I’ve reposted them here rather than updating the old blog entry… mostly out of laziness. <GRIN!>
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Finding Out That You Made A Good Decision
I found this news item in this week’s Portland Business Journal:
Planar Announces Sale of Remaining Interest in CoolSign Digital Signage Business
Planar Systems, Inc. announced that on December 26, 2008 it closed the sale, for cash, of its CoolSign Digital Signage business in fields of use outside of the gaming field to CS Software Holdings LLC. Planar previously announced that it had sold Planar’s CoolSign Digital Signage business for exclusive use within the gaming field to Bally Gaming, Inc. Further terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
As this was one option open to me for continuing my career at Clarity, then Planar, I can now say that I’m glad I followed my hunch, resisted the siren song of digital signage, and moved to Sunstone.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy
I really don’t want to get ahead of myself here, there’s a LOT still to go through, but we may have hosted the buyers for The Cottage during our open house today. The potential buyers already live in the neighborhood, and are looking to place grandma here…which would then put her a very short walk from her young grandsons.
Simultaneously, the SW house seems to have a one year lease about to be signed. If true, then we wouldn’t move back in until March 2010.
I wonder how cool a place we can find to rent short-term so as to make this all a short-term adventure? We could just pay the mortgage and let the rental income be our budget for our rental place….in theory.
Like I said, there’s a lot that still has to happen. But its nice to have some significant and measurable progress underway again!
Fed’s Prediction For The End of the Recession?
Seekingalpha.com, which bills itself as ”the premier financial website for actionable stock market opinion and analysis”, makes the following claim (excerpted):
Monday, the New York Fed released its latest "Probability of U.S. Recession Predicted by Treasury Spread," with data through January 2009 and its recession probability forecast through 2010
The Fed's data show that the recession probability peaked during the October 2007 to April 2008 period at around 35-40%, and has been declining since then to less than 10% for December 2008 and January 2009. Looking forward through 2009, the Fed's model shows a recession probability of only about 1% on average through the next 12 months, and below 1% by the end of the year (.82% by January 2010). The Treasury spread has been above 2% for the last 11 months, a pattern consistent with the economic recoveries after the 1990-1991 and 2001 recessions.
As the data and graph suggest, there is almost no possibility that the economy will be in recession by the middle of this year according to the Fed's model, which has accurately predicted the last 7 recessions, back to 1960.
The New York Fed's Treasury spread model predicts the end of the recession in 2009.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Post Op
Well, it’s been a pretty hazy week since Wednesday. Twenty-two 
Vicodins and an untold number of Ibuprofens later, I’m doing okay. Though it feels like a long recovery from my perspective, others tell me they’re surprised by how fast I’m returning to a semblance of normal. I went to work for about six hours both Thursday and today. I had to make sure I’d been off Vicodin for a good 24 hours before driving, so that helped ensure I weaned myself off the pain meds quickly.
I see the surgeon on Tuesday next week to take out the suture hardware. The next day? I fly to San Jose for a business trip.
No rest for me! There’s stuff to be done in the world! I’d much rather be busy and in demand right now, than considered extraneous and expendable. You will NOT hear me complaining about the demands on my time.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Medical Updates
Surgery today. The procedure went fast and was complication-free. The whole typhoon went 
to the hospital to see me off, and joined me in the prep room. They were still there when the anesthetist started the pre-op anasthetic. I dropped right off and awoke “an instant” later in the recovery room. The kids got to see just how graceful anesthetics can be when used well.
Recovery went quickly and I was discharged before noon. C brought me home with a fistful of Vicodins from the pharmacy. When we got home, I took one of Vicodin and slept off the residual anesthetic. C took the children to their normal Tuesday afternoon activities and I rested while catching up on work email. About 5 o’clock, though, I got out of bed and had surprise.
The topical anesthetic around the suture had worn off. Now, the surgery area is REALLY prone to sending out a stabbing pain signal if I stretch it at all. Even breathing causes a little twinge. The result was that, once out, I couldn’t get myself back into bed!
I was able to get myself settled on the couch, though. And that’s where I am now, with a full dose of painkillers two hours later….
I, uh….. I may just stay here on the couch overnight. 
I’m not the only one healing, it seems. Dad broke his leg about week ago. The break, as I understand it, is down near the ankle. Very similar to Mom’s leg break about 16 months ago. He’s in a boot; it aches; he’s doing okay.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Trip Pics for the Kids #3
These photos are from the dinner the press tour team enjoyed Friday night, at a restaurant called Eleven Madison, in New York City.
I had had played the showman for so long my face has perma-grin. Everybody else is showing their fatigue, too. Except A, our PR person. She lives in New York, so she felt refreshed to be home. After this particular meal, I slept until 3PM the next day ... exhausted physically (on two levels: travel and discomfort) and emotionally.
I had had played the showman for so long my face has perma-grin. Everybody else is showing their fatigue, too. Except A, our PR person. She lives in New York, so she felt refreshed to be home. After this particular meal, I slept until 3PM the next day ... exhausted physically (on two levels: travel and discomfort) and emotionally.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Quick Tour of Times Square
Today was a bit of a difficult day for me. The exhausting schedule of the previous week meant that I really needed some sleep. It's hard enough to pull off a whirlwind tour, but to try doing so while protecting an injury until I can have surgery next week is something else entirely. I tried to get up and around this morning. I made it as far as the Starbuck's across the street, then thought better of it and headed back to the room. I was pretty high on the discomfort scale once I got to walking around. But, once I got into a reclining position again, I felt better. The result? I ended up sleeping again, from 10am to almost 3pm. Sleep much needed, I might add.
When I woke up, I felt a lot better. Overall, it does feel good to move about when the hernia isn't acting up. So, later, as dusk was settling over the city, I bundled up and took a stroll around Times Square. This time, I made it beyond the Starbuck's, and captured some images for R and M to enjoy.
So, without further ado, here they are:
Here's the view right out the front door of the W Hotel, where I'm staying:
And here's where, in Times Square, my hotel is. This shot looks south:
And a couple videos of the same area:
Times Square. You can see the New Year's Ball on the top of the building. In this photo, the ball is blue:
You can sometimes find some of New York's most famous celebrities in Times Square:
And, since Broadway runs through the center of Times Square, you can find many of the major Broadway theaters here. See if you can recognize what show is playing HERE, kids:
From the south end of Times Square, under the ball at One Times Square, looking back toward my hotel:
So there's the tour. What I'm capable of tomorrow remains to be seen. I've got plenty of work related things to do anyway. If I don't get out of the hotel, I'll still be well occupied.
When I woke up, I felt a lot better. Overall, it does feel good to move about when the hernia isn't acting up. So, later, as dusk was settling over the city, I bundled up and took a stroll around Times Square. This time, I made it beyond the Starbuck's, and captured some images for R and M to enjoy.
So, without further ado, here they are:
Here's the view right out the front door of the W Hotel, where I'm staying:
And here's where, in Times Square, my hotel is. This shot looks south:
And a couple videos of the same area:
Times Square. You can see the New Year's Ball on the top of the building. In this photo, the ball is blue:
You can sometimes find some of New York's most famous celebrities in Times Square:
And, since Broadway runs through the center of Times Square, you can find many of the major Broadway theaters here. See if you can recognize what show is playing HERE, kids:
From the south end of Times Square, under the ball at One Times Square, looking back toward my hotel:
So there's the tour. What I'm capable of tomorrow remains to be seen. I've got plenty of work related things to do anyway. If I don't get out of the hotel, I'll still be well occupied.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Life on the Road
It seems glamorous to many people, the idea of a multi-day road trip for business, and I can understand. Afterall, I'm doing a whirlwind tour of the east coast, including New York City and Times Square. Its fun, right?
Well...yes. It's also a lot of work and effort and exhaustion too. Isn't it interesting how travellers often tend to share the fun part of their travels? Their cool photos and 'you'll never believe what happened on my trip' moments. In part because that's what the people who didn't go on the trip want to hear about. They don't want to hear about:
Did I mention it's 22 degrees in New York today? Walking is darned cold.
We get to a very crowded restaurant for our meeting and find that the person we're meeting is stuck on a late train coming from Philadelphia. He'll be there, but late. When he gets there, we have lunch, then demo our tools in the restaurant. Remember, this is New York, half a block from the theater district on Broadway: the restaurant is full like a rock festival - people jostling everywhere. Its in this mayhem that I must keep my composure and deliver a complex demo of new technology while still communicating my points crisply and with impact. Three hours later, when this meeting is completed, we head straight to the next meeting.
The next meeting requires that we walk through Times Square and locate an office building that no one in our party has ever been to. Meanwhile, take advantage of this space between meetings to call home and see how things are. And how are they? Not bad, but not great, either. I can hear the testiness in C's voice clearly. We find find the office, after some miscues, and arrive on time, but a little harried. Quick -- regain composure!
This press meeting takes place in a conference room. Better than the earlier demo; more relaxed and at-ease. But, by now, we've done the presentation six times in four days. We're starting to get a little rough around the edges, having said all the points so many times, are we repeating ourselves? Three hours later, after pouring out a passionate performance for the second time in one day, we're done.
Except we're not done. Next on the agenda is dinner with the editors to whom we just presented. Dinner is all about business opportunities to get our story portrayed in this particular publication. The food is great. Spirits are high. It's almost 9pm and we're still finishing dessert. Fourteen hours of high energy output and still not a quiet moment to think or even enjoy our surroundings.
We arrive back at the hotel at 10pm. Exhausted. Wishing to be done. Fifteen continuous high-energy hours has drained me. But now is the only chance I have to connect with my family at home. This is the part I live for. Except they're missing me and a bit upset I'm not there. Except they want to talk to me about problems they need me to fix. I want to tell them I love them. They have other things they want to talk about.
We business travellers try to put the challenges off to the side. We tend to just bring home the highlights. Once we've overcome the travel challenges, we wish not to dwell on them. Maybe that's why those who stay at home sometimes think the trips are more fun than they really are... because we the travellers don't talk about the hard parts.
Well...yes. It's also a lot of work and effort and exhaustion too. Isn't it interesting how travellers often tend to share the fun part of their travels? Their cool photos and 'you'll never believe what happened on my trip' moments. In part because that's what the people who didn't go on the trip want to hear about. They don't want to hear about:
- The work days that start at 7am, and finish at 11pm.
- Meetings that schedule up all available time.
- Meals that, while social, are essentially yet another meeting. Either its with a business contact, or it's a debrief session with the boss.
- Travel in unfamiliar territories.
Did I mention it's 22 degrees in New York today? Walking is darned cold.
We get to a very crowded restaurant for our meeting and find that the person we're meeting is stuck on a late train coming from Philadelphia. He'll be there, but late. When he gets there, we have lunch, then demo our tools in the restaurant. Remember, this is New York, half a block from the theater district on Broadway: the restaurant is full like a rock festival - people jostling everywhere. Its in this mayhem that I must keep my composure and deliver a complex demo of new technology while still communicating my points crisply and with impact. Three hours later, when this meeting is completed, we head straight to the next meeting.
The next meeting requires that we walk through Times Square and locate an office building that no one in our party has ever been to. Meanwhile, take advantage of this space between meetings to call home and see how things are. And how are they? Not bad, but not great, either. I can hear the testiness in C's voice clearly. We find find the office, after some miscues, and arrive on time, but a little harried. Quick -- regain composure!
This press meeting takes place in a conference room. Better than the earlier demo; more relaxed and at-ease. But, by now, we've done the presentation six times in four days. We're starting to get a little rough around the edges, having said all the points so many times, are we repeating ourselves? Three hours later, after pouring out a passionate performance for the second time in one day, we're done.
Except we're not done. Next on the agenda is dinner with the editors to whom we just presented. Dinner is all about business opportunities to get our story portrayed in this particular publication. The food is great. Spirits are high. It's almost 9pm and we're still finishing dessert. Fourteen hours of high energy output and still not a quiet moment to think or even enjoy our surroundings.
We arrive back at the hotel at 10pm. Exhausted. Wishing to be done. Fifteen continuous high-energy hours has drained me. But now is the only chance I have to connect with my family at home. This is the part I live for. Except they're missing me and a bit upset I'm not there. Except they want to talk to me about problems they need me to fix. I want to tell them I love them. They have other things they want to talk about.
We business travellers try to put the challenges off to the side. We tend to just bring home the highlights. Once we've overcome the travel challenges, we wish not to dwell on them. Maybe that's why those who stay at home sometimes think the trips are more fun than they really are... because we the travellers don't talk about the hard parts.
