Saturday, February 9, 2008

Haricorts Vert and Hookah Smokin Swingers...


I pulled a fortune out of those twenty five machines that has a dummy who lights a crystal ball and moves her head in a cheap mechanical fashion, and spits out these preprinted cards with your fortune on them - the one that fell out was quite a surprise - I have seen these three monkeys a large amount lately, but was not expecting them from a dime store fortune teller. It was a shock that actually the dark haired thing came up - the reason this blog is now officially by invite only is that there was a co-worker complaint that this was not appropriate - I find that terribly funny - out of the 30,000,000 blogs out there - how in the hell did one person single this out and make a determination that this blog should not be posted - well, that's another story, none the less, I was a good boy, hugged my livelihood, kissed my pride goodby, and proudly fell deeper into the frame of a yes man, and locked this to all other guests (except those that have been lucky enough to receive their golden ticket to read my crap) It's times like these, I really think about how far a company can go? I mean 92% is a large amount of travel, but get real, this is pushing it when you are not told, rather, politely asked in a parental sort of way to remove something that has no bearing on the party asking to remove it. Hey, I guess that is capitalism, and if I want to sell out, then I need to sell out 100%.

I was in Texas this week, between Dallas Fort Worth and Austin, doing those things that I do so well - meeting with people, listening to their concerns, making lists of action items, and fulfilling my responsibilities to the organization - but the great thing was that this was by far the best week I have had at my company - the mornings were wonderful - runs by fields of horses, cold breezes and flocks of magpies, and cheap wine and one pan italian food filled the schedule of things to do outside of the office. The comedy was great - it started with a Texan explaining to me how the lord blessed her office because the secretary lost her baby but the passing of souls went right to her nineteen year old daughter who they figured (this is a unique Texas word - it is like cipherin, but they are always figurin on fixin to do something) - now it is horrible that the secretary lost her child - but how do you temper that pain with something as selfish as "Then my 19 year old got pregnant" - I certainly heard my share of complaints and issues, but the funny thing about all of it - is that not a single person (with the exception of one) really ever presented a solution - just more questions to be researched and reveiwed, then researched again, and finally researched in triplicate. Effienciency is not a civil engineering strong point, and I get the feeling those guys like to talk about a lot of stuff - and I mean alot of stuff, and most of it is self absorbed bullshit that rings over and over again of their own self importance.

Austin is a magical place. The 4th Street music on a Thursday night is a little more rockabilly and alternative than the techno babble swill they are pumping down on sixth street, and the bands seem to love the rock and the crowds more than the somewhat numb and inebriated crowds love the music. I was somewhere in between a lost Muddy Waters t-shirt and rickshaw ride - but all of it was paradise - simple paradise of roses and colored fish sprinkled on the floor, and a musical world of live music and hookah bars. I must have been the clumsiest dancer, or poorest drunk on the street that night - the bruises that I have are in places I never knew I had -
Well I guess finally to the green beans - I learned an amazing french word this week - and when it is said - it sounds like "Hairy Core Bear" - and means simply, green beans. My son was having green beans with his blackened tilapia today, and that word rolled off of my tongue, and somehow I felt better, and enjoyed his smile as I ate a few bites of his haricorts vert - it is such a nice word to hear...I love haricorts vert...

Until next time -

G

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