What a year ...

     Training classes, staff meetings and conference calls have dominated my life this year. Two career moves (luckily within the company I have worked with for years) but still career moves. New things to learn, new things to do ... I've hardly had time to hear my own thoughts about anything besides work all year.

       

     Painting ... photography ... learning to play my guitar ... are all things that I've had to place on the back burner and reading and writing here in J-Land has become something I seldom have time to do.

           

     I am starting to get settled in now and I think the largest part of the learning curb is behind me now (at least the most stressful part anyway). I expect to start having more time to myself again within the next two or three weeks. I can't wait.

         

     I took these photos last weekend. My friend Karen (you know ... the clown) just bought a new camera so we went on a field trip so I could help her break it in.

         

     Plan on doing a lot more of that with her in the near future. It's great to be out and about alone camera in hand, but ... it's always more fun with a friend.

         

     Hope all is well here in J-Land, I have 325 unread alerts in my in box. I hate that.

                                          

Arizona

                        

   My Arizona trip was short and sweet, it was the perfect blend of business and pleasure considering time restraints. Not sure why my training was only 4 days as opposed to the usual 2 weeks that everyone else gets, but lucky for me Lisa was really detailed in her instruction.

     The Phoenix office was great, very organized and in compliance. They actually service both Phoenix and Las Vegas from there, it was a great environment to learn in.

     Also lucky for me ... Lisa's husband made himself quite available to us at lunch time and after work he made sure I got to at least see a cactus or two as well as a casino and dinner most nights.

     Every now and then along our journey, people cross our path and instantly we know that they are our friends, our people, you know ... those that become like family. That happened to me in Arizona.  Thanks Lisa and Robert, I look forward to sharing my beaches with you if ever you are in South Florida and ... I will make sure you get to see the alligators and iguanas!

     I got home on Friday night, would like to have stayed another week to finish training but with so much to do in our office, it is probably best that I'm there on Monday morning. Plus ... this way I didn't really have to adjust to the 3 hour time difference and the very, very dry weather at 102 + degrees in late September.

      BTW ... I did not get to take very many photos while I was away. The few that I did take, I was not all that pleased with so ... the graphic above is a watercolor I painted of a sunset I watched just out side of Phoenix on Wednesday. Pretty colors there!

                                                    

 

    

Changes ...

                

     I leave for phoenix tomorrow, part of the training process for the new position I'm taking with US. Remodelers I've worked for them for about 10 years now and have held quite a few different titles. So  ... here we go again.

     I am "officially" no longer on the sales team and I am now training to work with install. No longer on commission only, (Thank God) and for the first time in 10 years, I have weekends off. Yep... I'll be going from a 6 day work week to a 5 day work week. When you do the math that comes out to an extra 52 days off a year ... that's something like 7 extra weeks, right? Woo Hoo!

    More details when I get back next weekend!. Oh ... and about the iguanas, I did see two large ones when I stopped by last week, still not sure what's going on (maybe nothing) but obviously where there are two there will be many. They are prolific little things.

                                   *** Coy ***

A bit disturbing ...

     Yesterday I was in the area, near where the iguanas live. It was getting kind of late but I decided to stop by anyway, it's been weeks since I've paid them a visit. See them HERE and HERE.

     This was the first time I stopped by so late in the day and was more than a little surprised to find that there was not a single iguana to be found. NOT ONE!

    I've visited them at different times of day. Sometimes it seems that there are hundreds, sometimes only a dozen or so. But None???

     I decided to chalk it up to being there at the wrong time of day, that is until I got back in my car and noticed a new sign.

     It's big and it's red, don't know how I could have missed it to begin with.

                               

     I hope they didn't do what I think they could have done to my iguanas! I'm not going to let myself get upset "YET." Tomorrow I'll stop by during the day to check up on them, I'll let you know how it goes.

   BTW ... I know it's been a while since I've updated, so much going on with my job. Don't have the (well what ever it takes) to write about it right now, let's just say it has something to do with both "Visine, get the red out" and "I heard that some diamonds just fell into your lap." Sorry for being so vague, it's just like most people, my job is quite important to me and when all is not going as well as expected, it can really be stressful.

     More about it later, just know that everything is ok now but this has been a really looooong 2 weeks. Happy weekend all, I'll let you know about the iguanas.

                                                   

So much to do about nothing ...

    this time!  

   Obviously the biggest news in my little corner of the world over the past few days has been Ernesto. Although we expect these storms (they are common place here) we still have a little preparing to do when we know one is on it's way.

   Shutters up, gas tank full, ice and plenty of drinking water. Canned foods, flash light, candles, and a radio with batteries ... check, check, check, check, check!                                 

    One final grocery store run for extra toilet paper, paper plates, napkins and maybe some fun hurricane snacks. Then a plan to simply settle in and enjoy a relaxing hurricane day or two. This is sort of our way of making up for the snow days that we don't get here in South Florida.

                              

    There is never any real way to tell just how severe the storm will be when it finally gets here, this time we're just getting a lot of rain and some wind. Of course I am in no way disappointed that Ernesto did not turn into a hurricane, but this so much to do about nothing, is actually quite inconvenient.

                                                       

Today ...

     we start preparing for Ernesto. But yesterday was the most perfect, perfect, perfect day in paradise.

                    

     One day weekends ... sometimes they are enough. OK, so they never really will be enough but, sometimes that one single day can be so perfect that nothing else really matters.

     Story and more photos to come if I can find the time to post them. Have a good week ahead, and if you are in the projected path of this storm, be safe.

                                               

Happy Anniversary ...

     I was not able to make it last night to join in on all the anniversary festivities but I was thinking about all of you.

     I originally designed this hand made graphic for J-Lands First Anniversary Celebration. It won a contest for the cover of the Haiku Journal. You can see the original graphic and Ku HERE.

     This past year has been full of so many ups and downs because of the whole banner ads fiasco with AOL. It was devastating at best (at least for me) when so many of our friends and neighbors decided to leave this community but somehow we have managed to survive and even to thrive.

     Even though I am really busy these days and have less time than ever to read and write here, I am still very grateful to be part of this little community we still call J Land.  

     I also want to say how nice it was to have some of our old friends pay us a visit over the past few days like Vivian, Carly,  Steven  and Patrick to name a few. I hope they will always feel welcome here and who knows ... now that AOL will be offering their services for free, maybe we will start seeing some of our favorite writers return.