Friday, May 2, 2008
Growing Up Again
One of my life's persistent and periodic questions has been, "OK Sam, what'n ell are you going to do now that you're growing up again?" At this point in my life, I'm putting truth to power: I'm once again "failing competently at retirement."
About three weeks ago, I was offered and accepted a full time position as a program manager for a company which recruits, obtains subsidized training for and moves participants who are low income and over 55 years of age into unsubsidized employment for which they've recently been trained. Some of those folks are training in occupations they've always wanted to work in and some are merely upgrading and obtaining skills needed for occupations they've worked in at sometime in their past. I'm supervising five community-based offices and their staff on the eastern region of Vermont from Canada to the Massachusetts border.
Guess this "new" failure means one cannot "go back in time," but can go forward in time.
Feels good {;?)
About three weeks ago, I was offered and accepted a full time position as a program manager for a company which recruits, obtains subsidized training for and moves participants who are low income and over 55 years of age into unsubsidized employment for which they've recently been trained. Some of those folks are training in occupations they've always wanted to work in and some are merely upgrading and obtaining skills needed for occupations they've worked in at sometime in their past. I'm supervising five community-based offices and their staff on the eastern region of Vermont from Canada to the Massachusetts border.
Guess this "new" failure means one cannot "go back in time," but can go forward in time.
Feels good {;?)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thinking about Spring 2008
Well, its Springtime in Vermont and snow is predicted for the higher elevations and our Northeast Kingdom. Here, on the West Coast of New England, the ice has left Malletts Bay, and I've seen a couple of sailboats out plying the 40 degree waters of Lake Champlain.
Quetzal is still on her cradle at the boat yard, waiting for the docks, moorings and slips to be returned to the water. The batteries are on the charger in the garage. As time permits, I'm toting goods, resources and the usual items which a cruising sailboat needs for the summer - like sails, cushions, cooking and sleeping stuff and life jackets. Thinking of rigging the back stay as an amateur radio antenna, so I can operate while lying in one or another of the abundant coves during the overnight trips.
Saw a 36 foot craft for sail in Fort Lauderdale and, for a few minutes, fantasized about selling Quetzal (25 foot Catalina), flying to Florida, picking up what looks like a sweet, well kept S2, and bringing her to Lake Champlain via the inland waterway to NYC, up the Hudson River, through the Champlain Canal and into Lake Champlain. But then realized I have just begun another adventure working full time for a company that recruits, places for training, and facilitates job finding for +55year old folks wanting to return to the workplace or find a new occupation. Guess the board wouldn't appreciate my taking off to be frivolous.
May's adventures as alternatives to raking, etc., have been planned and committed to -a white-water rafting weekend on Maine's Kennebec, and a scuba diving venture on Memorial Day weekend at York, Maine and Nubble Point. Both ventures will involve some colder water than I usually enjoy, but its a time for me to move on and continue along this life's sometimes crooked and twisting paths. Looking forward to 2009, there's a February Bahamian catamaran live-aboard trip scheduled by the local dive shop that looks interesting.
The bicycles are tuned and have been rolling along this Spring. Bicycling and the health club continue to make the aches and pains remind me of the muscle mass losses experienced over the past couple of years. I've been told by grinning 20+ year old folks at the club that those aches and pains are "the good kind" which reminds me that our culture has changed somewhat with the concept of "good" having been re-defined.
I'm wondering if I'm the only person who is getting either bored or tired of the same-old, same-old politicking which has gone on far too long with more to come. Several months ago, it occurred to me that the talking heads on the "news" channels, are the folks who focus on trivia, thus fabricating what passes for worthy news, and continuing to justify their incessant chattering about minutia to keep their ratings alive. How many times and ways can Americans hear "change" and still not understand that the change theme, to be believable, needs substance to be included in what we hear from the candidates. They continue to refer critics to their web sites, and I wonder just how many citizens really care enough about the issues besetting the nation to actually "visit" candidate's web pages and wade through the contents. But, what seems overdone and boring today is leading us to experience a full-blown political convention like the ones of earlier times - and that is something that has been missing from the body politics for decades. I'm looking forward to the conventions in August, but believe the Republicans' will be relatively boring simply because their candidate was chosen months ago.
And now, its time to end this...the sun is beckoning ... and I've got to drive up to open up the St. Albans Bay camp for the summer. Sure hope the new tiles we laid on the kitchen and bathroom floors didn't buckle over the winter.
Think 70 degree temps
Quetzal is still on her cradle at the boat yard, waiting for the docks, moorings and slips to be returned to the water. The batteries are on the charger in the garage. As time permits, I'm toting goods, resources and the usual items which a cruising sailboat needs for the summer - like sails, cushions, cooking and sleeping stuff and life jackets. Thinking of rigging the back stay as an amateur radio antenna, so I can operate while lying in one or another of the abundant coves during the overnight trips.
Saw a 36 foot craft for sail in Fort Lauderdale and, for a few minutes, fantasized about selling Quetzal (25 foot Catalina), flying to Florida, picking up what looks like a sweet, well kept S2, and bringing her to Lake Champlain via the inland waterway to NYC, up the Hudson River, through the Champlain Canal and into Lake Champlain. But then realized I have just begun another adventure working full time for a company that recruits, places for training, and facilitates job finding for +55year old folks wanting to return to the workplace or find a new occupation. Guess the board wouldn't appreciate my taking off to be frivolous.
May's adventures as alternatives to raking, etc., have been planned and committed to -a white-water rafting weekend on Maine's Kennebec, and a scuba diving venture on Memorial Day weekend at York, Maine and Nubble Point. Both ventures will involve some colder water than I usually enjoy, but its a time for me to move on and continue along this life's sometimes crooked and twisting paths. Looking forward to 2009, there's a February Bahamian catamaran live-aboard trip scheduled by the local dive shop that looks interesting.
The bicycles are tuned and have been rolling along this Spring. Bicycling and the health club continue to make the aches and pains remind me of the muscle mass losses experienced over the past couple of years. I've been told by grinning 20+ year old folks at the club that those aches and pains are "the good kind" which reminds me that our culture has changed somewhat with the concept of "good" having been re-defined.
I'm wondering if I'm the only person who is getting either bored or tired of the same-old, same-old politicking which has gone on far too long with more to come. Several months ago, it occurred to me that the talking heads on the "news" channels, are the folks who focus on trivia, thus fabricating what passes for worthy news, and continuing to justify their incessant chattering about minutia to keep their ratings alive. How many times and ways can Americans hear "change" and still not understand that the change theme, to be believable, needs substance to be included in what we hear from the candidates. They continue to refer critics to their web sites, and I wonder just how many citizens really care enough about the issues besetting the nation to actually "visit" candidate's web pages and wade through the contents. But, what seems overdone and boring today is leading us to experience a full-blown political convention like the ones of earlier times - and that is something that has been missing from the body politics for decades. I'm looking forward to the conventions in August, but believe the Republicans' will be relatively boring simply because their candidate was chosen months ago.
And now, its time to end this...the sun is beckoning ... and I've got to drive up to open up the St. Albans Bay camp for the summer. Sure hope the new tiles we laid on the kitchen and bathroom floors didn't buckle over the winter.
Think 70 degree temps
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
