It's all good so far

Well I hesitated too long in resuming the last draft. That’s two that have been dropped because I did not follow up with the first paragraph. As I started this entry I realized that fortunately our routine had us back in the same location. What passes as Sugar Land cafe culture. I was even wearing black. We probably have become the wannabe but unhip euros. It’s especially unhip to be working on the blog in the husband exile chairs, watching a purse while she shops.

Spent some time checking an outdoor menu in the restaurant row outside the mall. Another good italian trattoria – haven’t seen their wine list yet but I can tell it will require more treadmill time; especially with the build your own risotto. I am hoping there is enough Tiger balm and glucosamine to keep the knees moving.

Had to get home to get cleaned up and commute out to Montgomery for an Eagle Ceremony. The fellow is one that I have watched grow up in the OA. He has made it to both National Service events and a NOAC. One more quiet servant leader being recognized.

The drive to the Eagle Ceremony was a new adventure.  There are times that the navigation system is just going to mess with you.  The location per Google Maps was a little over an hour away and used major roads.  What the map did not realize is that the road gets renumbered, twice.  Coming up from the south, I got to the mapped destination on time only to discover that there was no signage and no matching address.  Up & down the road.  Finally on the second time into a service station to work with the map, I opened a facebook entry and got a second set of directions.  Setting off again, I spent another 20 minutes looking up & down the north end of the road.  I then realized that the hosts were working even further north and made another correction.  Finally a sign, a dirt path, and a ceremony in sight.  It turned out that the ceremony was running late.  I was on time.

Nice ceremony and a chance to visit with some of my friends that I had not seen in a while.  Good to see how the younger ones were coming up.  Headed back home with only two u turns.

I thought I had a set morning routine. Get up, get through the morning prayers. Turn the computer on and fight with Itunes as I try to get my morning podcasts downloaded for the commute. Then check the email and Facebook, and then get into the time suck – and review RSS feeds in Google Reader.  Off to the bathroom, go through the physical therapy exercises, get through the shower, dress, cook breakfast and talk to the wife over the paper.

Thursday I started out of the house at 7:40. I hit gridlock turning on to the main road through our city. It took three light cycles to get onto West Airport then to 59, Chimney Rock and into the building. Total commute time 50 minutes.

I was not at peace when I got to the office at 8:30.  This should be a 20 minute trip.  I called his Honor the Mayor of Meadows Place. I wanted to let him know what one of the citizens was experiencing trying to leave the neighborhood to go out and earn new tax money for him.

He said that West Airport’s last renovation was designed for an anticipated daily traffic load of 18,000 vehicles. The current TXDOT estimate is that we are seeing 39,000 vehicles per day on the street. He did say that the next round of renovation would be starting soon. Construction would take about a year.  He suggested that I look for a different route.  New Route = Windmill that I won’t tilt.

The solution, get up earlier.  Learn about options for improving the podcast update fight with Apple Itunes (Hello Instacast).  I won’t give up the exercise,  nor will I quit morning prayer or a civil breakfast with the wife.  I will just have to deal with the Google Reader notification telling me that there are 126 RSS updates to look at.

Friday was an earlier wake up and get underway.  I have started paring out the RSS Feeds.  There is a lot of duplication with some feeds.  .  Instacast does work for the podcasts.  And I make it to work at 7;30.

We have a theoretically free weekend.  No major scout events, no major Church obligations outside of reading at the 2nd service.

Looking at the home office and seeing the work that needs to be done there.  As I have previously mentioned, my company is relocating is corporate offices and consolidating Houston operations into a new building.  This will be challenging  because the size of the new building  will require minimizing each employee’s personal space.

Less space = Less stuff in the smaller offices.  I have already been purging personal stuff from the office and it is beginning to look fairly austere.  However, those displaced possessions have come home.  A couple of boxes on the floor of my closet, and  a couple more into the home office.  I had been in the process of organizing the home office, reducing paper and getting rid of clutter.  It is getting time to reboot that effort.

No bookcase at the office until we move – so my business strategy  and reference texts are home.  “Thriving on Chaos” has been stuffed next to “On the Border with Mackenzie”; “Good to Great” next to “Five Years a Calvaryman”.  A lot of stuff that needs review and recycling.  But now I have been informed of errands to be run, so its off again and promises to get back to the reorganization.