Stinks on a plane

I'm safely back on the surface of the sun after 10 mostly rainy but otherwise quality days with the family in New York.

The 3 and a half hour journey from JFK to DFW was an interesting one.

I could go on at length about the fact that i had a screaming toddler directly behind me who wouldn't settle, who spent about 3 hours and 29 minutes of the flight attempting to detatch the tray table from the back of my seat.

I could talk about the fact that the aformentioned toddler's parents kept doing the tag team thing to try and tame the beast and their other seat (in the 4 across plane) was the window seat next to my aisle seat and i had to keep getting up as they high-fived and dove in the ring for another round with little satan. But let's leave them alone because we've all been there and suffered the glowers of 200 other people, while our kid decided to have the meltdown of their lives and there was absolutely nothing short of killing them we could do about it.

I'm not going to mention the fact that it was 8000 degrees on the plane and the the "personal fan" was constructed to cool the brows of those 5'5" and under and couldn't be adjusted to the correct angle to cool my 6'4" noggin.

No we're going to talk about odor. Stink. People's stink.

It was a muggy day in New York the day we departed. I had worked up a bit of a sweat a few hours before we left playing in the band in my Dad's church. Aware of the fact that I was to be sitting in close proximity to other humans in a relatively small (and as it turned out, hot) metal tube, I took a shower.

Unfortunatley it would seem that i was sitting in the section of the plane where many of the other passengers opted to skip attempts at personal hygiene that day and just smell the way God intended them to which in some case was a cross between dirty diapers and wet dog. Yum yum yum delish.

But those are not atop my worst offened list by any means. No. That hallowed spot is reserved for the people who knowing full well they are sitting in close proximity to other humans and its 8000 degrees and we already have a potpurri of man stink going on, decided that they need to share their ass stink with the world too. That's right gas. Farts. Farting on a plane. A metal tube with no real source of ventilation. A metal tube with other human beings literally touching you. Awesome.

Now it was a 7:30 flight and i'm sure that for a great many people this was just a natural reaction to their bodies digesting whatever they'd eaten for dinner but for the love of all things holy exercise some sphincter control or go squish yourself into the pokey little bathroom located only 6 rows back and have a gassy fiesta.

I actually got to the point where all i had left to wish for was that the flatulence would make the screaming, tray table killing, flailing devil child behind me succumb to the fumes and pass out.

Interesting flight.

New York, New York

Having a great time being with the family here in New York although the weather is n't exactly summer-like particularly compared to the temperature in the great state of Texas pushing 100 degrees on an almost daily basis.

Drove to New Jersey last night for the wedding of an old friend Jen who i worked with in my previous company. Took 2 hours to get there after a picturesque little bumper-to-bumper jaunt in torrential rain through the quaint little neighborhood known as the Bronx.

Wedding was beautifil. Bride was beautiful. I realized the new shape of my life when following the bride and groom's first dance they called everyone to join them on the dance floor. My table emptied and i sat there alone.

Boo hoo.

Before you feel too sorry for me i did have an opportunity to have a guest at the wedding it just didn't work out. I do however have every intention of bringing her next time!

Words to Live by

I consider myself to be quite forgetful. I tend to forget things mere moments after i've read them or heard them which can be incredibly frustrating at times. That being said i've developed systems including calendar reminders, sending emails back and forth to myself and occasionally the old faithful post-it notes.

There are 2 phrases however, spoken by 2 men who've been very influential in my life, which have embedded themselves in my brain and stayed there for the good part of 20 years.

In 1991 I graduated from high school and had planned to spend a year in New York then return to Scotland to go to art school. During that summer we realized that if I'd lived outside of the UK for a year I wouldn't be eligible for the government grant which would pay for my 4 years of college. Panic set in and my parents and I frantically set about working out the details of my return to Scotland that fall. 

One of the biggest issues was that I had no place to live so as a typical teenager would I left it to my dad to figure out the issue.

The lucky recipients of my presence were Doug and Fiona McIntyre, friends of my parents, who live in the same town as my college.

I was a pain in the ass. Plain and simple. Although probably not a great deal different to many other 17/18 year olds. Irresponsible, confused and pretty scared about being a "grown up".

Doug really took me under his wing without any obligation to do so.

I remember driving in his car one night, me probably spouting off about how tough it is to be me, and how confused I am, and how hard I have it. Me me me.

Doug with all the patience in the world turned to me and said...

"You need to remember that most of the time your biggest weakness is also your biggest strength"

Wow. Deep. But incredibly useful and something which has stayed with me to this point in life.

It's easy at times for us to sit and create long lists about how useless we are but when you flip it around its amazing what you can do with your shortcomings and failures. It's all about perception.

The other statement was around the same period of life. I had been dating a girl and was contemplating ending it for the prospect of bigger and better things. (girls...but not bigger, just better)

 I was talking it over with my dad, and he uttered the statement...

"Don't throw your life away for a dream"

The obvious irony here being that my father is one of the biggest dreamers/visionaries I know.

Again this one has stayed with me to this point in my life.

Now I don't think we're meant to mindlessly settle for the status quo but it's so easy at times to let our minds drift to what our lives could be and discard all of the good things God has allowed to come our way. Still working on this one.

I consider myself to be quite forgetful..........

Things I've learned from my kids this weekend

In no particular order, I've learned...

• That the trade-off for 5 awesome hours at the pool with the kids is tired and uncooperative little dears at bed time.

• That a nasty sunburn is a small price to pay for 5 awesome hours at the pool with the kids.

• That when you say you're going to bring Tootsie Rolls to the pool and forget, you might as well have killed their puppy.

• That children experience doubts, fears and questions not all that much different to us "grown-ups". They just know how to verbalize them and still sleep at night.

• That the simplest things like watching cookies bake, reading a story, eating spaghetti or a poolside water gun fight, with my kids, are magical and unforgettable experiences, yet cost nothing.

• That I never want to stop learning from my children.

• That nothing, NOTHING, in the universe compares to having my children in my arms.

• That I could memorize every book ever written and my vocabulary would still be lacking the words necessary to fully express how much I love these kids.

The Journey

I spent the evening yesterday in a funeral home in downtown Fort Worth. I was attending the visitation the grandmother of someone very close to me who had passed away at the weekend. Catherine's journey had lasted 80 years until cancer finally ended it.

It's fascinating and sobering all at the same time to stand there and look back at the entirety of someone's life. I saw her high school yearbook, her wedding album, pictures of family vacations, holidays and time spent with grandchildren. Then of course there's the true legacy, generations of people who's lives were conceived and impacted by hers; friends, sisters, sons, daughters and grandchildren.

I had met Catherine just once while she was still alive but even someone who had never met her could have easily figured out 3 things in that room last night...

She was loved. She had lived. She had left a lasting impression.

When my journey's over i'd be more than happy to settle for those three things.


Read these great quotes on my dad's blog today...

A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.
William Shedd

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.”
Erma Bombeck

Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.
Alan Sachs

Snot Funny

I'm still dealing with the after effects of the nasty cold my beloved children seemed to have left with me last weekend. I feel much better but still have a head full of mucus. This morning I took a little trip to my neighborhood Wally World and got some mucus fighting meds. I've taken 2 pills and still feel really congested.

Anyway the real point is that for days now i haven't been able to fully taste what i eat. To someone like me there can be few things that impact me to this extent of this particular predicament. I love food. I love the taste and the flavors of food. SO my first question is...

Why am i still eating?

Followed quickly by the question...

If i can't taste the food and yet am still sticking things in my piehole then do i get as much pleasure out of the act of putting food in my mouth as i do when tasting it?

I know. It's deep...

Picture says it all...

People Matter

So I spent the past 2 days sitting on my couch. Literally 2 days all day sitting there. My beloved offspring with their inability to contain coughs and sneezes left me with some mucus spewing demon up my nose. The question has to be asked, how come a 5 and 7 year old can be choc full o mucus and still run around like hyperactive squirrels and I get a wiff of this and it puts me on my rear end watching endless re-runs of CSI for 2 days? Weird.

Reluctantly I decided to come back to work today, mucus demon still hanging on. For some reason if you come back to work after one day out no one believes you were really sick, if you come back after 3 days out people think you were milking it so I opted to make my return today.

Now being the good (ex) Brit that I am I like to go to one of our awesome coffee "facilities" (that makes it sound more """corporate""") here at JCP and get a large tea in the mornings. That would be the hot kind with milk and sugar(splenda) and not the iced crap. I generally walk over there with one of my team depending on who's around and say good morning to the same friendly lady at the checkout.

Bear in mind there are 5000+ people working in this building.

So I get to her, tea in hand this morning and she says, "I hear you've been under the weather for a couple of days, good to see you."

Thats impressive and totally cheered me up.

Now she could be...

A) A stalker...No just seems like a nice old lady
B) "into" me...Did I mention the "old" part?
C) Doing her best to provide the best service she can even if it's at a cashier's post in a coffee shop.

I'm going to go for C. The world is about people. Business is about people. Relationships are about people. Being nice to people motivates people.

Genius I know but you'd be amazed how many people I encounter daily who "oversee" (intimidate) people and often drive German luxury cars and live in gated communities who still don't have a clue what it's all about!

People matter.