A week-end in NYC

Last week-end I left Boston for New York in the mother of the rain storms. Even though I have GPS, getting to my destination proved to be rather interesting since I took (I sneezed) an exit that I wasn't supposed to take onto the Williamsburg bridge into Manhattan (Brooklyn was my final destination) and then the Manhattan back to Brooklyn. Needless to say, I was so annoyed that I made one more fatal mistake and drove east on the BQE instead of west. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Once I got to Peebles's house I found out he was still part of the jury for a trial and that Friday I was on my own. There is something about being in NYC that I find very comforting; don't ask me why because I can't explain it. It is just fun. I knitted all day and just sat looking out the window. Around 3:00pm my host arrived from court and after a small relaxation time, it was time to hit the city.

We had decided already on Mexican food, but wanted to do a few stops for sangria tasting before arriving at our final dinner destination. I can assure you that Arriba Arriba has the best sangria, and their chorizo fried in garlic is outstanding. Next up, a Broadway show. The Little Dog Laughed was selected. Not knowing much about the show, I was not sure what to expect. It was very good, particularly the female lead. There is something about the technical aspect of any Broadway show that I find incredible; it is of the highest quality and flawless in it's execution.

Saturday was spent doing a lot of nothing, reading the NY Times and watching in horror and desperation as my host breezed thru the crossword puzzle. I truly despise his ability to do the puzzle so fast; I have never been able to do crossword puzzles in either spanish or english.

After some easy shopping and a Starbucks stop, dinner at a hip French restaurant. Peebles and I have a very easy friendship, what makes it interesting is the wonderful conversations we have, they go from the ridiculous to the sublime...

A great week-end!

Paul's Malabrigo Sunrise

As promised, here is a picture of what I am working on. It is going to be a simple crew neck sweater for Paul. Knitted on #8 needles it is very easy and works up very quick. Hope to have it finished by mid-december. Then it is a sweater for me!

What is an adult to do

A curious dilemma is occurring. How do you convey to an adolescent that the school decisions he makes in 8th grade will in a weird, six degrees of separation kind of way affect his future? Also, how do you convince a rebellious, testing the boundaries of authority kid, that his battle with a teacher will never be won, regardless of right or wrong, particularly over homework. Not having children and not being part of their day to day activities puts the objectivity at a disadvantage, however it is interesting to straddle the line between understanding and preaching when trying to impress upon said children to choose their battles wisely.

It has certainly taxed my brain to see how children in general view school as an annoyance, when many adults I know are now returning to school to re-immerse in the learning process. I had the privilege of going to a great high school and a great college. My academic life was always fun and interesting, but then again I am a geek at heart. My degree is in chemistry and biochemistry, do I use them in my current line of work, no. However, what school teaches us is how to learn and to be curious, it oils the cogs of the brain. At work, there is a parent with 4 kids, all of them failing at least one class, all of them having issues with a teacher. Incredibly, one is failing Jewelry, make the necklace and move on, I say. There are more important things to deal with.

I would like to take all these children and say to them; it is not what you learn, it is how you learn it and how you connect the dots of all this knowledge that is important.

Yikes.. enough preaching. Back to knitting

Decision Week

Finally the merger is done. The signs with the new company name are up, presentations are done and all in the corporate world rejoiced. Meanwhile back at the ranch, I was pleased with how well the presentation for the new cultural philosophy went. I thought that incredibly, I had actually bought into it. Long time ago, one of my former CEO's said to me; never lie to your employees, they can smell it miles away. Following that advice, I laid out my plan to survive yet another merger and I would say that 95% of the people are ready for the fight. Can't complain with those numbers.

My other half will be gone for a week to Florida for business, so this is the week-end to get knitting, take pictures of progress and start doing swatches for my Kaffe Fassett sweater.

By the way, anyone on the new blogger? Should I move forward with technology or is it just not worth it?

Mergers and acquisitions

Once again, my company is going through another merger. You need to realize that I have only worked for one company all my life. One interview, long.. long.. time ago. Seven M&A's later, I'm still in the same place. Next week-end, I will be implementing the newest merger. The corporate propaganda machine speaks and all we hear in our small neighborhood is blah blah, purchasing power, blah blah industry leader. However, all we know is that the end of the lease in our building is only 18 months away and that time line is like a noose to our necks.

A couple of month ago, we were going to be outsourced to the other side of the world. Then nothing happened. It is like a rollercoaster of emotions between we are safe, we are gone. Needless to say,the drama has gotten very old and tiring. That defeatist feeling doesn't help when I need to give the rah rah speech to the troops on the first day of the new company.

I don't want to look for a job yet, because I love what I do and enjoy very much the people I work with. This past week one of my right hand people gave his notice. I am thrilled for him, he craves stability and that is hardly the environment we are in right now.

So, I either make the decision to start looking for a job now, or I ride it out. The biggest problem is that I need to look inside my head and figure out what I want to do. I realize this is a long post, but I felt like writing it to see if by doing so, any clarity came to me.

The best vacation...

I just came back from 15 glorious days in Europe. I had never done the usual tourist sites in Europe having only gone there for business. Needless to say, it was incredible, every night I thought I was in a dream. Re-entry into the real world has been very rough, but who cares!

Favorite place: Venice
Best surprise: Santorini
Best food: anywhere in Italy
Retirement location: Ravelo or Positano Italy
Place where I said HOLY %&^@ the most: Amalfi Coast, Italy
Best tourist place: Pompeii and the Coliseum
Biggest disappointment: St. Peter's Basilica
Coolest natural attraction: Seeing Mt Edna's lava flow while crossing the straight of Messina
Best expression of creativity: Anything by Antoni Gaudi
Biggest joy: having Paul's nephew with us


There were so many highlights it is impossible to describe. You need to understand that we never take pictures. This time around 900 pictures in 15 days. If I figure out how to do a picture gallery link, I'll post the top 50 pics.

For the knitters, I am happy to say that all the high end stores in Rome, and Florence were showing chunky and bulky highly textured sweaters in earth tones. One that will need to be recreated stateside was a Dolce and Gabbana k2 p2 light brown sweater at about 2-3 stitches to the inch. It was incredible, any Lopi fans that knit loosely will be thrilled at how quickly it should knit.

On my knitting front, the socks are done, NEVER AGAIN! My hat goes off to all of you sock knitters, just don't have the patience for that. Currently started a Malabrigo yellow (sunshine) sweater for Paul and setting up colors and swatches for a blue/green Kaffe Sweater for me.