May the Force be with us?

So what's the saying....no good deeds ever go unpunished, or something like that? Maybe that's not the perfect analogy for my current situation, but it's close. For the last few years I've tried to do a good job with what the company has asked me to do, while also working to get my situation situated to be able to take a first retirement or extended leave of absence, or whatever taking a few years off from The Job might be called. And I was close. A few things left to tidy up and close out, a few months at the most to get to the point where I could leave with a clear conscience, and then comes a blue sky curve ball from the boss that has really left me wondering about what to do next. New assignment, more responsibility, a big raise, and a move to Ft. Lauderdale vs. packing some food into the boat and heading out to chase the horizon.

Of course, when the boss asked me to take on the assignment I said OK....that's kind of my nature, I guess, hard to say no when the boss asks for help.

The fact that the company has the confidence in my abilities to trust me with running an office is quite flattering, and the challenge of moving from managing projects to being in charge of the strategic direction of the office is actually pretty intriguing to me the more I think about it. This is the kind of thing people in my position work their entire career to have the opportunity to do, so conventional wisdom is I'd be Crazy to say no. Not that I know anything about Crazy.

Anyway, after hearing the news, one of the guys in the office told me the new organization of the office leadership reminded him of Star Wars......we have the young, energetic project exec that has the Luke Skywalker charm and raw potential, we have the intrepid business development manager with a Hans Solo kind of swagger, and we have me, the Obi-Wan Kenobi character who brings the wisdom and knowledge that will help the others realize their true potential and find their destinies.

So in other words, I'm the old guy.

That hurts.

Now, I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but there is a quote from one of the movies that I do remember very clearly, and that's when Obi-Wan says to Han Solo "Who's the more foolish, the fool, or the fool who follows him"

Guess we'll see how things play out, huh?

Exiting Port Canaveral......

Let's go Boating!

 

Alabama

A couple of pics from my trip to Alabama:

Where does the time go?

It's almost Thanksgiving already, kids, and I have no idea how this year has slipped past so quickly. Between finishing the hospital in Orlando, starting new projects in Lakeland and Ft. Myers and working on the boat to get it set up for next summer's sailing adventure every day since I got back from Paris in March has been action packed.

The work stuff has been satisfying but absolutely exhausting at the same time. It is time for a change of pace and I can't stop thinking about the day I'll be able to hoist the sails on Moon and go chase the horizon for a while.

I'm getting some canvas work done on the boat now - installing a new dodger and bimini - and got a sail in this afternoon after checking out their progress to date. What a gorgeous day....bright sunshine, temps in the mid 70s, and a 10-15 knot breeze out of the northeast. I spent a few hours tacking north on the Banana River, then had a great ten-mile running sleigh ride back to the marina with a pod of dolphins playing in the bow wave for a while.

Can't wait to see everyone in Asheville for T-day.......

Milestones

Oh hey hey hey gather 'round friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters and let me tell you what! Today, four years, two months and three days after starting the journey to build this place of hope and healing for children, we reached the point where the fine folks at the City considered the situation and conditions right and ready to issue a Certificate of Occupancy for the building!

Amen halleluja.

There's a lot of work left to be done, and it will be another several months before the first patient will walk through the door to see a doctor, but it really feels good to have this milestone behind us.

Think I'm gonna go have a cold beer and catch a nap.

Home stretch.....

I caught this shot of the building on the way home yesterday. We're getting close to being finished!

The Best Sailing Documentary Ever

I got up this morning with every intention of going to work, but as is my routine on Saturday mornings I took a few minutes to surf the net with my coffee before hopping in the shower to get tready to go, and after checking the news and weather I went to my favorite sailing discussion forum to see what I could learn. In and amongst the threads about freeing up frozen seacocks and why one anchor is better than another I ran across this video made by a group of adventurous kids that bought and fixed up a derelict old boat and set sail for the islands. Once I started watching I couldn't stop........it is inspiring, wise, scary, sad, sobering, and very funny in turns. Just likereal life.

Be warned that there is some adult language here that you might not want the kids to hear.

That being said, I highly recommend watching it, and suggest you get comfortable when it starts!



http://vimeo.com/15351476

Photos from the jobsite......

Here's a link to some photos I took at the job last night.....

Jobsite Photos May 2012

More Paris pics - stories to follow later

I'm still playing catch-up on getting pics from the Paris trip out of the camera and uploaded, but here's a link to a group on my flickr site where I have parked a few more of the shots:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigdogandy/sets/72157629299979478/

There are several hundred pictures still on the camera that I need to go through and cull, and I'm hoping to be able to write down some of the stories of the adventures that I had as well, but that will have to happen later. I'm still playing catch-up at work, and I'm nursing a broken foot-bone (Jones fracture of the 5th metatarsal sustained in a fit of klutziness early Friday morning....another adventure to try to capture with the pen sometime) and will be hobbling around on crutches for at least a few weeks. So, progress will be slow but steady. I hope.

Peace.