Rachel has been our next gen early adopter of all shiny objects with buttons.  Here’s a four-minute jaunt through her technology graveyard.  Of course, she’s the one I took to the office at age 12 to help with a volunteer project -  mailing T-shirts.  At lunch she asked me, “Mom, have you ever heard of a typewriter?  It’s kind of like a printer but it’s just text.”

Lately, I’ve been reading about “nomophobia,” or the acute fear of being out of cell phone contact.  At first I thought, “That’s just one more twitch of the psyche for people without enough real problems.”   But Hannah’s question made me think, and I see that I, too, have succumbed to nomophobia. My AT&T iPhone is either in my purse, in my hand, on my desk or charging on the kitchen counter.  I’d be lost now without it – literally, and figuratively.

Last month, I represented AT&T at the Ft. Lauderdale  She Streams vlogging conference.  I shot this picture with my iPhone.  From a cab window!  In years past, I would have taken a camera with me.  Photobucket has a lovely app for direct upload.  You don’t lose your pixel quality like you do emailing and then uploading shots from a p.c.

My phone is my entertainment (Words with Friends).   Before I get to work in the morning, I’ve scanned my office and personal email using the WI-fi on the bus.  If I’m lost, I either use its GPS, or call Keith to direct me from his.  I use a credit card at Sam’s for the rebate, but don’t like the big bill at the end of the month.  Before I leave the store, I’ve logged into my bank account and sent a payment to cover the charged amount.  One of my older girls has an unexpected expenditure – I can move money to her account.  I don’t carry my bible to church any more – I use the app.  I text my “MyCokeRewards” now.  Heck, I text with my older girls all day.  Keith gave me directions within a building once using Facetime – I could show him where I was.  We’ve stopped printing Groupons, etc. – we use our phones.  The trip to Ft. Lauderdale was the first time I used an electronic boarding pass – swiped my phone, got on the plane.

I am not a fantasy book lover.  Hardly ever read the stuff.  But I did read Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series, and there was a recurrent phase that totally resonated with me:  “The world has moved on.”

Our world really has moved on.  I have noticed that those most folks contemptuous/suspicious/irritated  of or by wireless smart phone (smart phone + has an operating system, uses a data plan) usually live in a very well-defined niche.   That’s not saying a niche is “good” or “bad” – simply that “it is.”   When we lived in Houston, I was more “niche-y” than anyone I know now.  If you’re in a niche, you know that one place to stop and get directions.   Email is something you might check daily – or not.  You carry paper pictures tucked in crevices of a wallet still sporting a check book.  You don’t shop much – if ever – online because you go to the same stores which likely feature paper coupons.   Your friends may be in the same type of niche, which works well.   The rub, of course, is that tricky next generation, and the one after that, and the one after that.  Because the next generation never goes backward on connection methods, and they don’t wait.  The world keeps moving on.

Because the world keeps moving on, I’d watch for nomophobia to become more and more prevalent – in fact, I think it’ll be the norm.

You could call your doctor about it, of course.

Just don’t try to use a pay phone to do it.

Rachel, Lois and Hannah each got a special trip for their ninth birthdays.  I took Rachel to American Girl Place in Chicago.  Keith took Lois whale watching in Seattle, and Hannah to San Francisco.

Keith took my very favorite picture e-v-e-r of Hannah on her special trip.  He had a full day planned, but she saw the Pacific ocean and begged to stop.  That’s where they spent most of the day.  This pictures captures “her” – joy and abandon.

But for Julia’s ninth birthday – the trip just didn’t work out.  We had first-year college expenses for Rachel, plus we were saving vacation time and every dime for the family cruise in December.  Julia wasn’t home to hear about the trips of Rachel, Lois and Hannah so I’m not sure her being shorted was bothering her as much as it bothered me.

One day, Keith and I would like to take her back to Russia to visit.  Let her see the beauty of St. Petersburg.  But that is a few years away, sooooo….

To celebrate her recent (12th) birthday, I took Julia to Space Center Houston to have lunch with an astronaut.  Rachel and Hannah couldn’t afford to miss work, school, Girl Scouts, etc. but Lois – grinning wickedly about “senior spring” – tagged along.

Julia’s fifth grade teacher  has their room decorated in “Early NASA.”   They’ve held several video conferences with NASA’s educational staff, and next week – they’re studying the moon.  Great timing for this trip, no?

When we lived in Houston, we visited often.  Lois (center) was only five years old in 1998 when “Space Family Woodworth” shot their Christmas card photo on site.

The three-story playground – a huge hit.   I, however, preferred the stairs to return to the ground level.

The older girls tease Julia about having a “six pack of abs,” but those weren’t much help lifting a planetary-adjusted weight.

While Julia spun around 360 degrees in this capsule….

…Lois and I could watch her on this exterior screen.  Omigosh!  Good that we did this before lunch.

Before enjoying lunch with astronaut Ken Cameron, we heard him speak for 30 minutes in the Blast Off Theater.  He spent a year training in Russia with cosmonauts.  My favorite Russian had a million questions for him – until he sat down at our table.  Then it was all “nodding of the head” and “chewing of the chicken strips.”

One small girl; one giant Saturn V rocket – part of the tram tour.  You may be asking, “Where are all the other people?”  Answer:  We went on a rainy Friday.  We had the place virtually to ourselves.  We never waited in line,  or had to elbow someone at a display.  It was awesome.  The perfect time to go!

The Saturn V building made great use of QR codes.  Lois and I got a huge kick out of scanning the codes for more info like…..

….a photo of and links to more info on the third stage.  Don’t have the AT&T scanner?  Well, heck - get it now!

The magic of a green screen!

We ended the day (5 p.m.) where we began (10 a.m.) – in the play area.  Julia absolutely loved building motorized “lunar rovers.”   This is my favorite picture of the day because it captures her fascination and concentration.

Next year, Julia will be a teenager and we’ll start those delightful adolescent experiences.

But for this year – I’m glad to still have a child to enjoy an out-of-this-world birthday.

That’s me represented in the reclining chair.  My child stick needles in my gums and run a drill in my head?  Ummm….I’m thinking not.

At age 11, I had no real idea what profession I wanted to follow.  History teacher?  Attorney?  Nurse?  I still ask myself from time to time what I want to be when I grow up, since many days, I don’t feel as much “mature” as just “older.”  I never pictured myself squeezing into panty hose, lugging a laptop downtown and managing various responsibilities for AT&T.  I think – over time – I’ve become what is essentially a “professional manager,” applying skills and knowledge acquired in one position into the next.  I’ve been very fortunate to have some great jobs the last several years, but still – I never pictured myself doing this.  In fact, I never pictured myself in most of the specifics of my life.  That’s not to say I’m unhappy with them.  I love my God, husband and kids; good books, gospel music and the neighborhood pool thrill me; I don’t envy much and I wouldn’t trade places with anyone.  But I can’t pretend my life is the result of a brilliant master plan that I’ve followed, or even that I’ve made all the choices God wanted me to make.

Hannah came to the office with me one summer day in 2004.  My good AT&T friend Vicki- always Hannah’s favorite – called her at my desk.  “My mom doesn’t really work,” Hannah told Vicki.  “She just types and talks on the phone.”

One of the events of my life I could never have foretold and had the most trouble dealing with was the death of my younger brother David in 2004.  You expect – at least intellectually – to lose your parents, aunts, uncles, etc.  That is the natural order.  To lose someone dear younger than yourself is not the natural order, and that upset adds an additional acrid layer of complexity to grief.  I’ve not been able to see his children Josh and Miriam too frequently, as they’ve moved about internationally.  But they are in Texas visiting family now, and we drove to see them yesterday.

(Clockwise from left) Lois, 17; Julia, 11; Josh, 16; Miriam, 14; Hannah, 15.  Wish Rachel had been with us, but she’s with friends from camp in Alpine this weekend.

I loved visiting with them about their school plans, and their career aspirations.  As I sat there, I thought a lot about my grandmother from the hills of Kentucky.  Barely literate.  Never flew on an plane.  And then my mom, a self-described “misplaced Hoosier” reluctantly dragged to Texas.  Voracious reader, and one of the first women to work for TWA.  She saw Charles Lindberg in the Indianapolis airport.  And now these kids – one born in Russia, two living in South America, all have traveled internationally, all with wider experiences than I had at twice their ages.

What will they be when they grow up?   Will Julia really be a dentist?  I don’t know.

What I do know is that life will deal these kids – as it does everyone else – some wild cards.  Circumstances, conditions and events none could not have foretold, and would not have chosen.  And like my grandmother losing her oldest son while rescuing her youngest from drowning, and my mother navigating the uncharted waters of rearing a disabled child – they’ll have to figure out who and what they are time and again.  Year after year.  Decade after decade.

Because no matter your profession or age, the ability handle the unplanned and unexpected is what really makes you a grown-up.

It’s been a few years since I’ve posted any, so, I thought I’d do so again.  And again, I must credit Sharon Durham with many of them.  Sharon and I spent many chuckling afternoons in the original SBC e-channel “tricking shopping carts.”  I still remember her talking about a $50 credit she finangled in the early days of Shutterfly and how she “ate off it a long time.”  My hero!

Here goes….feel free to add your own in the Comments…..I’d love to give ‘em a try!

Online Bottom-Feeding

Turn Me Loose – I Hear e-Shopping Music!  (Part Deux)

Join Online Loyalty Programs

Online loyalty programs reward you for clicking through from their site to an e-commerce site. The rewards accumulate, and the programs are free – so why not?! My personal favorites:

www.upromise.com – Perhaps the most famous. Started by the guy who birthed the American Express program. SBC was a member 2004 – 2006. Grab your wallet and spend about 15 minutes to register all your credit and debit cards. When you click through from Upromise to a member site, a timed mechanical feed updates your account with $x% of the amount you spent. Many restaurants and some B&M (bricks and mortar) stores rebate, too, so, when in doubt – pay with plastic. Be sure to get the Upromise credit card, not because you need another, but because they offer great promos, especially on Exxon gas. The marketing hook is “money for college,” but that’s bogus. It’s your money – for anything – and you can withdraw it any time. You sure don’t have to invest it in any of their college savings plans, but they’ll keep pushing them.

www.mypoints.com – Really growing the last few years. U-verse has had offers in its permission marketing emails. Points are awarded – each point is worth roughly $.008 (not quite a penny.) Redeem points for gift cards. Get points by (1) clicking thru from their one-time, daily emails – you get usually get 5 points just for clicking – don’t have to buy anything (2) clicking thru from their daily or weekly e-mail summaries of the day’s or week’s best deals (some are quite good!) or (3) going to their site and clicking thru to an e-tailer. Be sure to enroll in their daily and weekly email programs.

I always check both Upromise and MyPoints to see who’s offer the better incentive. 4% on Upromise = 5 points per dollar on My Points.

Lots of other loyalty programs, of course like www.shoprunner.com

 ALWAYS Look for a Promo Code

Even if you click-thru from a loyalty site – check for a promo code! Favorites (of scores):

www.retailmenot.com www.naughtycodes.com

No luck? Google for one. Surprising what you’ll find.

Daily Deals – They’re a “Must”

Register at these sites for their daily emails. Also, you can “like” many on Facebook and get their deals in your feeds.

www.woot.com One deal, one day – unless it’s a “woot-off.” In a woot-off, the one item changes as soon as the inventory is depleted. $5 shipping. Deal changes at 12M CST. Worth checking if you’re up anyway – don’t wait for the email!

www.dailydeals.target.com – Not fabulous but truly good and all have free shipping

Amazon  - The Big Kahuna

Groupon – Watch the expiration dates. They’re getting kind of snarky.

Living Social - As good as Groupon but not as well known.

http://deals.mamapedia.com – Mostly baby/toddler stuff

www.kgbdeals.com – Heavier on services than on products

www.midnightbox.com – Heavy on electronics

www.grouppigg.com – Heavy on services

http://www.dealofthedaysa.com/ – Lots of restaurants

www.urbandealight.com – Heavy on personal services like spas

www.dealster.com – All over the board

www.midnightbox.com – Heavy on electronics

www.angieslist.com – (“The Big Deal”) Major home services

During the holidays, www.samsclub.com has a daily deal which is excellent w/free shipping

MyPoints, Upromise & Daily Deals – An Sweet Marriage

Daily deals are sweet, but they can be even sweeter if either (1) the deal site itself is a standing member of MyPoints and/or Upromise or (2) the daily deal is being given MyPoints or Upromise credit. So don’t just “rush” buying a daily deal. Look at Upromise and MyPoints first to see if the deal site itself is a member and if so – click through to buy. If the deal site itself isn’t participating as an entity in MyPoints or Upromise – and you’re a MyPoints member – wait until the daily email arrives just to see if it’s got a one-day point assignment.

Just this week, there was a Groupon for Quiznos. Great! My family likes Quiznos. But by waiting a few hours for the MyPoints daily email, I also got 8 points per dollar by clicking through from it to buy the Groupon for Quiznos. Like that better!

Show Me The (Saved) Money

These sites all feature a variety of deals.

www.slickdeals.net This is my home page. I check it several times a day. It’s a bulletin board site for every kind of deal. The most-clicked deals float to the top, but you can search, too. Fabulous during the holidays. You know the lame “My Coke Rewards” redemptions? Well, sometimes Coke has good ones, like Home Depot cards – but you won’t find them poking around the Coke Site. You’ll often find that someone has posted the URLs in slickdeals.net, however. I <3 slickdeals.net.

www.theblackfriday.com Don’t stand in all those lines!

http://www.dealsofamerica.com/indexc.php Less user-friendly than slickdeals, but still good.

Favorite e-tailers? Register for Their Permission Marketing

Might as well get their coupons, etc. and if you’ve not bought in awhile, they might send you a tasty offer. Remember that your email address is almost always your Account ID. So if there is some great offer out there and you want multiples – you need a few throw-down email addresses handy to establish multiple accounts and take advantage of the offer multiple times. You can have 9 active subaccounts with a Yahoo! Primary account…just saying…..

Buy Gift Cards?

http://www.plasticjungle.com/ – They don’t always have what you want in stock but when they do – nice! You can also sell unwanted gift cards here.

The Best-Kept Secret in Online Shopping

www.auctions.samsclub.com – If I never set foot in a Sam’s warehouse, I’d keep a membership just for the auction site. Their prices are good anyway but add an auction layer – wow! Powered by eBay, but run by Sam’s. Terrific in the weeks after the gift-giving holidays. You pay $1 over the next lowest bid for what you purchase. (So if I bid $100, and Barbara bids $75 – I get the item for $76.) Their shipping charges are very reasonable. My strategy:

• First check http://www.google.com/prdhp and/or http://thisfind.com to find the going price.
• If I’m mildly interested, I’ll bid 1/4 – 1/3 of that price just to see what happens.
• If I am very interested, I’ll bid half.
• If I really want it – I’ll bid 2/3. And I’ll make sure I check my email frequently, because Sam’s will tell me when I’m being outbid.

 Now you do know that any price in a Sam’sstore ending in “1” is below their cost? Right? So be sure to cherry-pick through the store as well as sniffing around that dark back corner.

While We’re Chatting

www.restaurant.com has skyrocketed in popularity. Two things to remember about it:

• Never, ever buy a certificate without a coupon code. Register at their site for permission marketing, and/or check slickdeals.net. There’s almost always a 40 or 50% promo code floating around.
• They’ve gotten really restrictive the last few years. So check the restrictions carefully before you buy. The certificates are a good deal only if you use them.

 http://www.visitsanantonio.com/visitors/save/VisitSaveOnlineClub.aspx – If you host out of town company, you can save a few dollars with these coupons. They’re not great, but they’re better than nothing, especially when people show up without much notice. You need to register and start getting their permission marketing emails before you can get the discounts.

www.squaretrade.com – I totally swear by this company. Great warranty deals and their service is incredible. Yes, I’m raving. They deserve it. Be sure to “like them” on Facebook for exclusive offers. Also register for their permission marketing. They give a 90-day grace period on purchases, so, if you’re planning to buy expensive electronics, start watching for a coupon code, because they’re usually in the 20 – 30% range. After my first SquareTrade warranty purchase, they sent me a paper letter w/a code good for 50% off my next purchase. You do pay extra for breakage, but hey – AppleCare doesn’t cover that at all.

Happy e-$hopping!  And do post your favorite tips in “Comments,” okay?!

I do love playing Words with Friends on my iPhone.

My usual WWF spot – the chair at the end of the dining room table – near the kitchen, where my purse sits on the counter near the i-charger.  I hear my iPhone ping in my purse….ohhhh, is that “Words with Friends” beckoning to me?  If I’ve got just one or two games – I stand, play and replace the phone in my purse.  More?  I usually sit down.  I try to play in a minute or less after I pick up the phone.   My brain is over-full of “to do’s” most days and unable to strategize.  I don’t want to “think.”  I just want to “play.”

I’ve loved connecting with people on Words with Friends.  My favorite opponents are:  Two cousins in Ft. Wayne.  A fellow adoptive mom in Tyler.  A long-time friend of the family in Lubbock.  A couple of local church friends, and a smattering of AT&T (or former AT&T, or AT&T-related) scattered friends.

My highest score ever:  121 points for “Starved.”

So, yes, I love it.  And perhaps spend a wee bit more time on it than I should.

But surely I’m not quite as bad as Hannah-the-cartoonist (and snarky photographer)  portrays me?

Or am I really that bad?!

Oh, excuse me…..”something” just pinged in my purse….I’ll be right back….or not…..

In March – spurred by a new job in AT&T – I broke down and bought one.

And I’m in love.  iLove.  How did I survive those years with my now constant-companion?!

Bad weather in San Antonio today.  Students at Lois’ high school were herded to the gym, where the power went out.  Think she was hinting to be picked up early?!  I love the iPhone’s qwerty keyboard – so much easier to text back, though I’m fond of one-word response.  My screensaver shot is of Hannah holding the cake she raffled off at our church’s Spring Fling, raising $57 for the women’s ministry.  I uploaded that picture to Facebook immediately.  The kids text me all the time.  And my Facebook posts have increased dramatically with the iPhone.

Since Rachel has an iPhone, too, her texts can contain pictures – like of Julia, whom she took out for breakfast this morning.

When I get on the bus in the morning, I check Facebook first thing.  Well, not really first, because I absolutely must play…….

Words with Friends is the most awesome application ever!  It’s sort of Scrabble-light.  The first of two times Rachel beat me, she sent me this screen shot.  What a snot.   Love, love, love this game.  I play with friends in Chicago, Tyler, Dallas, etc.

You know the CalmCoolConnected blog to which I contribute?  I recently sent them a video – of which this is a still shot -  of my shopping for pajamas for Julia.  She’s terribly picky about her clothes, and she wasn’t with me.  So I was taking pictures of the pajamas and emailing them home to Keith, who would show them to her.  I grabbed a woman, introduced myself and asked her to shoot the video on the Flip I carry in my purse (so I could hold my iPhone – otherwise, my iPhone could have shot it.)  I’m sure she thought I was nuts.  But she did it.    Many would think the videos better if I were 30, blond, slim and perky.  But – as a friend of mine used to say – “Real life ain’t this way.”

I could ramble on and on about my iPhone.  The House app I got last week – Lois and I love that show.  The K-Love app I was so proud of getting until Rachel showed me iheartradio with its hundreds of stations – so I got that one, too.  The Scramble game that Julia races to play.    The Disney Cover Styler that Hannah used to edit pictures – and make me laugh.  And, of course, Weather and Maps,  to which Keith wishes I paid more attention.

The real reason I love my iPhone is because of the people to whom it connects me.  Rachel.  Lois.  Hannah.  Julia.  Keith.  It helps me see them – their texts, their pictures, their attitudes, their strategies  – even when I’m not with them.   That virtual intimacy is worth way more than $30/month.

It’s iLove.

And it’s priceless.

So here goes – tuning to Channel Glad now…..

The sad news from a Sea World last week made me glad Shamu didn’t see us as bathtub toys in 1998.  Though maybe Rachel had a few doubts at the time.

I know many friends really enjoy the Olympics – more power to you.  But personally – I’m glad they’re soon to be over.  They’re preempting “The Office,”  and that’s a show the girls and I watch together.  The last time I watched the Olympics was the 1972 night the Russians stole the basketball game via repeated do-overs.  I vowed I’d never watch again – and forgiving soul that I am – I haven’t.   U-verse – btw – has had a terrific application for the Olympics.

My continuing rancor at that travesty of a game is kind of funny since my favorite basketball player now is Russian.

There is little that makes me more glad than to hear my girls sing.  Tonight was Hannah’s pre-UIL concert.  That’s her – top row, far left.

“Walking in Jerusalem” really made me smile.  I just finished the book of John in “Faith by Hearing” yesterday.  I wonder about John.  What made him so beloved?

About two years ago, Julia caught a snippet of “Ben Hur” on TV and has pestered me ever since about seeing the whole movie.  “Mom, when are we going to watch that Jesus movie?”  I really didn’t think she was ready for it until recently.  I bought it last week (if I’d just waited one more week, I could have recorded it for free on U-verse – sigh.)   She and I are watching 30 – 45 minutes every few days.  Well, we probably watch 30 minutes, and have 15 minutes of questions.  She’s gotten the concept down – Judah Ben-Hur was a man whose life intersected with Jesus’ at different times, but Judah didn’t know who Jesus really was in those early meetings.  Last night, she told me, “Mom, that’s like us.  Everybody knows Jesus’ name but they don’t know who he really is.”   I was very glad to hear her say that.

From sad and mad to glad. 

Thanks, Mom.  I’m feeling better already.

5’11″ no more….Hannah is taller than me now.  And as for 150….well, maybe in each thigh…..  Here’s what I look like now.

For my corporate anniversary gift, I chose diamond-crusted bling .

I love the big analog dial.  I can read it!

Very early in my career, I read three op-ed pieces in the Wall Street Journal that influenced me greatly.

First, I read a piece by Peter Drucker (the father of modern management, we learned at UH) that espoused co-workers had taken the place of neighbors.  He advocated human investment in the work place – to remember we were really people – neighbors, as it were.

The Ones to Call On:  Dennis – creator of the “Disbursement Family Feeling” – and long-suffering Vicki, who tolerated many  jokes and jolts in the 9051 Parkwest neighborhood.  I’m glad we’re all three still virtual neighbors.

Second, I read the results of a decades-long study that concluded children with two parents who worked outside the home were no more or less happy and productive than children with one parent working outside the home, providing a single critical condition was met:  Mom had to be happy at work.  If Mom wasn’t happy, nobody was happy.

Mom Lisa – who helped get blood donors at work for me and preemie Lois – has always been the best at finding something in which to rejoice.

Finally, I read an article that basically said, “You can’t do everything for or with your kids.  Find what is most important to them – do that – and don’t stress about the rest.”  Easy to say.  Hard to do.  But I’ve tried.

Early on, I noticed Mom-friends like Konen planning wonderful family beach vacations, baking for the school, etc.  Konen taught Vicki how to curse,  me how to be a gracious winner and everyone else how to quilt.   She claims no credit for imparting my mad fashion skills, like wearing vintage political campaign buttons (William Howard Taft with campaign ribbon shown here.)

The 1986 set of 40th birthday nails I painted in Konen’s honor bemused her.

Here’s what 30 years at AT&T has taught me.  Don’t expect to view this litany in the Wall Street Journal, as I did those three influential articles

1.  The 70′s divas were wrong.  You can not have it all.

When I graduated college, I  passionately embraced the feminist mantra of “You can have it all.”  I could birth or adopt brilliant children with naturally straight teeth, sprint the corporate ladder with book-smart ease, enjoy  leadership positions in a dozen community organizations, grow spiritually and support my church piously, whip up gourmet meals effortlessly every night – all while completing my MBA in my spare time.  Nothing could stop me.  Except,  of course, reality.

2.  It all has to balance, but family rules.

It is very, very tough to keep work life and home life balanced.  How late do you stay when your kids expect you to not only eat dinner with them but also to cook it?  And what’s more - you want to.

When Rachel was seven years old, she contracted a rare case of strep throat.   On the way home from the pedi, we had to pass the office….so I thought just a few minutes to check e-mail…..next thing I knew, it’d been a hour and Rachel was asleep on the floor of my cubby with give-away T-shirts cradling her feverish head.   I was disgusted with myself.  What was the matter with me?  I coded vacation, scooped her up and hurried home.  And never forgotten it.

You do your job.  You do it well.  But the job isn’t life.

3.  If you can’t be with the ones you love – love the ones you’re with.

I’ve often been uprooted from jobs, people – even a city – I really liked.  The strange thing:  There’s always been somebody good on the other side.    I would have missed meeting some really neat people if I hadn’t moved around – voluntarily or involuntarily.  My closest friends – the ones who have embraced me at my lowest – started out as work buddies.

4.  Have fun when you can.  Because you can’t always.

Look for the fun.  Take the fun.  Make the fun.  Be the fun.  While you can.

Looking for more bars in more places:  Dancin’ in the Dark with the Station 90.51 crew – Natalie, Me, Gaye, Tim & Linda

Reach Out and Touch Someone:  “Ghostbusters” debuted  while we were preparing for Divestiture.  My unit danced through the building in our hand-decorated T-shirts, jam-boxing the movie’s theme song and handing out candy on Halloween. For Christmas, we stuffed pantyhose with wadded paper, affixed a pair to each of our heads like reindeer antlers and shared candy canes.

Our units gathered for doughnuts when Natalie snipped my hot pink rat tail before I interviewed for the Rotary trip to India.   My rat tail matched my eye-scorching pink jellies and florescent pink tie – which my boss Vicki endured with raised eyebrows and a bitten tongue. That’s Margaret looking on fearfully, probably afraid I’d leave the dyed locks on her desk, like “someone” left (and photographed) the Baby Ruth in the women’s room to taunt that month’s beleaguered “Quality of Work Life” manager.

I had to be at the Astrodome for a promotion anyway….so why shouldn’t Rachel and Lois run the bases?!  Rachel also fondly remembers my pulling her out of school early for us to go “check the signage” at SBC’s “Race to the Red Planet” promotion at Space Center Houston in 1998.  She also flipped the symbolic light switch at Uptown Holiday Lighting in 1996.  And clapped for Byonce and Destiny’s Child at the Southwestern Bell African American Arts Festival.  Big fun!

5.  Do what you have to do when you have to do it.

There is never a convenient time to have or adopt a baby.  Or take vacation.  Or visit with extended family.  Or attend a funeral – as I failed to do for Judy’s  father-in-law on a Saturday afternoon when I thought SBC would crumble if I didn’t supervise cleaning up a payroll mess.  What an idiot.

6.  If you’ve not had your time in the barrel – you will.

Everyone has an “off” time at work.  If it’s not happened to you yet – it will.  Sales declines.  Monthly close bombs.  Grievances.  Outsourcing.  Health problems.  Significant issues at home.  Whatevah, baby.  It will happen.

7.  Even when things aren’t so great – take deep breaths – you don’t know what’s around the corner.

In 1984, I truly thought working on Outside Plant Divestiture would be the “biggest thing” in my career.

I worked every day from early August 1983 to mid-January 1984 with two days off – Thanksgiving and Christmas – thanks to Divestiture, Hurricane Alicia, late September flooding and a three-week labor stoppage.

Well, in 1987, I represented Southwestern Bell with Rotary in India for six weeks and even spoke to a crowd of 5,000.  “Well, that’s it.  That’s the big one.”  I thought.

Enterprise magazine featuring my favorite photo

In 1991, I politicked hard to be sent to do stories and a photo shoot on the combined Bell forces working Hurricane Andrew restoration.   Got it!  Multiple telcos ran my stories and photos.  “Wow, that’s it,” I thought.  “It’s all downhill from here.”  I could have stayed in Employee Information for many more years.  I loved it – my favorite job of all time -  but later came sports and events marketing, and I loved that, too.  And then launching up2speed in 2001 – my baby.  Plenty of jobs between all this stuff but finally -  U-verse.

U-verse has been the bomb.  It’s the culmination of everything I read more than 30 years ago, when I was slugging through books and magazines for the owner of Remco TV Rental.  Not every day is a picnic, and I don’t know what’s after U-verse – but I know the potential for something good is out there.

We may have been the only Comptrollers  Section Staff  in town, but we tried not to act like it.

The potential for something good has always been there.

This has been my 30 years – my career to date.  Delivered.

Texting By Email – Presented on CalmCoolConnected

(another virtual hang out)

Texting by email saves me a ton of time.  Rachel, Lois or Hannah often send me long, multi-part texts while I’m at work or home.  Strains my eyesight just to read the darned things.   Think I’m going to sit there and poke out letters to reply on my teensy cell phone keypad?   Faghetaboutit.  I email them back a text.

You know I live for comments.  Love comments.  Want to marry comments.  So please visit CalmCoolConnected – enjoy the short video – and….

But here’s something even I use (though Rachel’s the one who told me about it) -  Cha-Cha.  242-242, texted on your wireless phone to get answers to questions.  Last’s week’s CalmCoolConnected post about Cha-Cha generated numerous email questions to me, plus (at last count) 16 of the comments that I so desire.  I live for comments.  I love comments.  I want to marry comments.  So please – if you go watch this little video clip – click the “Comments” link, scroll to the bottom, and “Leave A Reply.”  They’re why I get up in the morning.

Here’s the clip:  Learn About Cha-Cha

And here are questions I’ve been asked:

What’s the catch?  They have to charge something.
They do.  But they charge their advertisers, not you (the textor.)

Is it really free?  Or, as Rachel say, “Free 99!?”
As long as you have a texting plan on your phone.

Will they start spamming me with all sorts of ads?
Not according to their privacy policy. We use cha-cha all the time and so far – no weirdness.

Who actually answers the questions?
I suspect folks in a call center far, far away.  I would not pursue “Cha-Cha Specialist” as a career choice.

Are their answers any good?
For us they have been.  I’ve not asked the meaning of life or anything like that.

Guess what?  I asked Cha-Cha what a penguin, boot, train, whale and piano have in common!
Me too.  And I got the same answer you did:  “Black and white.”  Which tells me the puzzle must be really old, because not all boots and trains are black now.  But at least – mystery solved.  Or as solved as it’s likely going to get.  Where’s Nancy Drew and Nero Wolfe when you need them?

Can you call Cha-Cha?
You can call 1-800-2-cha-cha but we don’t.  In fact, I’m not sure my kids would know how – you know, that whole “talking on the phone” thing they used to do.   I’m not sure Rachel, Lois or Hannah actually speak words now, other than, “I need….” and “She took….”

Is Cha-Cha 24 x 7?
They say they are but I can’t verify it because I’m not.

I don’t have AT&T Wireless.  Will Cha-Cha work with my service?
(sigh)  Yes.   But you should get AT&T Wireless.  And you should call or ping me so I can hook you up.  Do it now.  Operators are standing by.

I have another very handy texting trick that I’m saving for another day. You’re going to want to know it.  So…..