Pondering the world

going, going... almost gone

I’ve previously written about the board we were on for a couple of years. And, for a couple of years, it was pretty darn good. Things were improving all the time, membership was at an all-time high, and people were saying, “this is the first time we’ve ever known what was going on.”

Then a few people with their own agenda came in and took over. They did it first by trying to discredit the current board members, saying we were “old farts” and we “never did anything.” (These are things that Steve and I say to each other now. "Hey, you old fart." And when we work behind the scenes and get something done for the good of the community, we say, “yeah. But we never do anything!”) They had all the “new blood” and “fresh ideas.” Let me give you a hint: when someone comes in and says that…. run! Then once they were on the board, they made the remaining board members so miserable that they all quit. 

Here’s where all of their new blood and fresh ideas have gotten them: the president closed her business and skipped out; one of the new board members will be closing his business and leaving any time now; the secretary secretly left her resignation letter on the table after the last board meeting (coward!); the festival in August that we all said was totally screwed up put the organization in the hole about $4,000; we discovered today someone working with that festival lied to the City about her relationship with the organization; and the map—the major marketing piece that the organization does each year—is four months late and is a piece of crap.

The organization is so far gone now, it’s pretty well irretrievable. The finances are a total mess, the treasurer hasn’t sent out invoices for dues for months so they’re not getting any money in, and we’re just waiting for everything to hit the fan. 

We plan to attend the October meeting and just watch what happens. It depends on how much heartburn I can stand. At the last meeting, I was accused of not “helping them with the transition.” Just as I was about to say, “Don’t even start with me about that!” the [new] president said, “we’re not going to talk about that here.” 

So as far as we can tell, the association is going, going… almost gone.

hobnobbing with the movers and shakers

For a while we weren’t socializing as much with the major players in Albuquerque. After we both finished our board terms in February, things were very quiet on the social front. We still go to business exchanges, innkeepers’ meetings, etc., but it seemed like we weren’t on the receiving end of invitations to parties, gallery openings, and all that as we had been for a time, especially for some of the more political stuff.

However, we’re back in the game now. We were invited to attend the mayor’s invitation-only annual State of the City address and reception, and we attended that on Tuesday evening. I have to tell you, it’s nice to be known enough by the department heads of the city to call them by name and talk to them about our issues. Steve even had a chance to speak to the Police Chief to ensure we’d have extra police presence in Old Town during the Balloon Fiesta and to the head of transportation to have the trolley (shuttle from downtown to Old Town) operate during a huge convention in the early spring when it doesn’t normally run. 

Other B&B owners think we’re a little crazy for serving on various boards and being active in a number of professional associations, but we’ve found it invaluable to be known by people who can actually get things done. Of course, we get in there and work like crazy before we ask for any favors. I call it “making deposits,” like a bank account—you have to make deposits before you can take out any money.

Tonight we attended the retirement party for the general manager of the Sheraton, and we knew a significant number of people there.   They find the differences between their business and ours interesting and amusing, yet they don't look down on us.  We really have a good time with these folks. 

Tomorrow morning we’re invited to attend the mayor’s press conference at the BioPark when he dedicates the new Sasebo Japanese Garden.

“Back in the saddle again…”

The back of my hand to ya!

Steve and I were in the kitchen making breakfast this morning.  I was washing dishes and he was making the omelets with his usual concentration. 

One of our guests was getting himself some more tea and saw Steve.  "You're really working on that, huh?" he asked.

Steve replied, "Omelets are serious business."

The guy said, "Men are generally better at that...  as with most things in the kitchen."

The sad thing is that I don't think he was teasing.  I gave him "the look," and he seemed surprised like he couldn't figure out he had just said something very insulting.  Just the latest in a series of inconsiderate or thoughtless remarks he's made in just the two days he's been here. 

Even sadder, if I were to smack him around a bit like I wanted to, I'd get hauled off to jail.  But at least I can say to myself, "Eh!  The back of my hand to ya!"

Where should I begin?

I had a long dry spell for blog posts as we were getting ready for Becky's wedding, the trip, the return, being busy, publishing our first newsletter, and generally just being out of the habit of posting an entry each day.  Now I'm back and find it hard to choose a topic.  If I do it daily, it's easier--whatever is at the top of my mind or my most recent interesting experience that day is always a good topic.  Now I have a bit of a backlog in my brain.

What deserves a post?  What would you NOT want to hear about?  What is thought-provoking?  What is merely a rant?

The success or less-than-success of our first newsletter would be good, but that could take a while to figure out.  Since most of the email addresses we collect from our guests are their personal ones, it could even be a while before they check their email box.  Our lovely newsletter may sit there for days until they decide to peruse the in-box over some weekend coffee.  And the statistics are interesting, but maybe only to me.

Our business association, about which I wrote earlier this year, continues in meltdown.  It gets worse, and now my opinions about which people are rats have been confirmed as they are quickly deserting the ship.  The ship isn't sinking--yet--but they sure did their best to drill some holes in the keel.  Desertion is especially rapid after last night's board meeting, and the truth is out--they made some really terrible business decisions and have financially crippled the association.

Last night's meeting has left both of us emotionally drained and in less than high spirits.  Not only was it sad to see the current state of affairs, but also 1) we were the subject of a couple of rude snipes (I considered the meeting a success--I didn't slap anyone; and 2) hearing some details about an 80-room hotel going in right across the street, right out our front door, did not improve our outlook.  It seems like every time we do something really great and things start moving ahead, we get slammed.  If God doesn't want us to be successful, I'd appreciate it if He'd just come out and say so.

At any rate, I'll probably work tonight on a few blog posts and save them in draft.  Some will no doubt turn into rants and some will make me go back to read them and say, "egad, I was depressed when I wrote that one." 

I try not to whine, really.  Whining is for losers.  Winners figure out the problem and then solve how to overcome it or go around it.

"But it feels so good to whine," you say.  (That's why so many people do it.)

"OK.  Give yourself two minutes to whine.  Then get over it!"

Rain at last (again)

It's been a dry summer.  Two storms in mid-July and that was pretty much it.  We have stopped having breakfast outside the last three mornings--two were cold and this morning was warmer but sprinkling.  It has been showery all day and finally broke with a good rain about 30 minutes ago.  Supposedly it will be this way through the weekend, which is fine by me.  This means I can go down and turn the sprinklers off, for tonight anyway, and play that day-by-day.  I also don't have to spend an hour every day doing the watering by hand--potted plants, those that need more than the sprinklers give them, etc.  Maybe those pesky brown spots in the yard will finally disappear.

It's destiny--we'll never visit the Georgia O'Keeffe museum

Three times now we've tried to visit the Georgia O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe.  The first time it was a day they were closed.  The second time they had taken all the paintings down and were repainting the museum.  Today it was closed because they're changing out exhibits.  Next time we visit the website and call and make sure the darn museum will be open when we go up.

We visited two Christmas shops, had a rather disappointing lunch at the French Pastry Shop in the La Fonda (have had a much better Croque Monsieur at Ken's Artisan Bakery in Portland), had to buy a new phone charger for our cell phone at Best Buy.  The best thing we did was manage to find Gelato Benissimo and get some gelato.  It was good, but the guy behind the counter was a complete dud.  No sense of humor, no interaction.  He was even wearing a t-shirt that said "slacker" on the front.  Very appropriate.

However, it was an afternoon out, the weather was perfect and the sunset was beautiful. 

and now back to our regularly scheduled program

After a move in July, our daughter's wedding in August (and all of the preceding getting-ready-for-wedding activities), and publishing our first email newsletter (successfully sent out today--hooray!), I'm now trying to get back to my blog.  It's funny how things get in the way and disrupt a routine.  I had been pretty good about doing a post every morning, but then we got busy in August... and I have to spend about an hour hand watering early every morning... and ...  It's sort of like taking my vitamins--I can be really good and take them every day for two weeks, but then something disrupts the routine, and the next thing I know, it's been three months since I took any.

I read an article in Reader's Digest about 20 years ago that talked about developing good habits, like flossing your teeth.  It said that in order to institute a good habit, you have to do it every single day for three weeks.  Stop even just one or two days short and you basically have to start over again.  Guess what?  They're right.

So now I'm back to square one, trying to be good again.