here we go again?

here we go again?

I got boosted for COVID on 11/8/21. Add 14-days to that. Right now, I should be walking around with all sorts of protection against the virus. Come to find out… I’m still vulnerable to the new strain? Maybe? They say they’ll know more about Omicron in about 2 weeks. That’s about the time I get home after being exposed to a bajillion people at Disney. More people I know personally — KNEW personally — are dead.

I know this sounds selfish, but just as meetings are coming back and I’m actually making money again… we have another scare. How dare science mess with my livelihood!! Right? But it’s not just me. The Dow was down 1,000 points — the biggest dip in a year. Zoom (more virtual meetings!!) and Peloton (exercise at home) are the two winners closing more than 5% up.

I predict… and I REALLY hate to even THINK this… but I’d bet calls for events not already confirmed will dry up until at least mid-January. Likely even longer if the variant shakes out more bad news. And if that’s not bad enough, Covid-19’s latest side effect is “restless anal syndrome” per the NY Post. Don’t know about you, but I sure don’t want a bad case of that!

I think my FedEx driver — the one that delivered a box to me weighing about 75 pounds or so — has that anal syndrome. Rather than deliver my box in front of the garage or at the door, they simply kicked it out in the middle of the driveway.

FedEx driver with anal syndrome

The only good thing going on right now is the sun is still shining. It’s motivating me to do housework I need to finish and do a little more Christmas decorating. Sure hope we don’t have another Zoom Christmas this year!

sun is shining in my living room

I haven’t told the Peskies yet, but I will probably stay away from them for 7-10 days after I get home. Still plenty of time to be ‘all clear’ before Christmas.

some days are a sh*t show

some days are a sh*t show

My day went downhill from the moment my feet hit the floor this morning. Bet y’all can relate. We all have days where we feel like all we do is run as fast as we can but get nowhere. Mine started with a 6:30 AM text from a client about a 11:45 AM event. It was outlining changes they were required to make. Note this is 3:30 AM my brother’s time so it’s not like I can reach him to dump it.

Next, Merida decided to bring in a huge clod of grass after her early morning pee break. Where did it come from? Who knows! Where it ended up was a chewed up mess on the carpet. Yay! After picking up and sweeping up and scrubbing up (grass stain), I looked in the mirror to see my late-night haircut could’ve been a bit better, so…

grumpy hat

And then, I check email to find a request from a client that’s booked a 1-hour virtual event wanting to schedule 2, 1-hour calls to discuss. In almost 20-years of doing this, I’ve never had a request for 2-hours worth of pre-event calls. Apple did their 3-hour live event pre-call in 20 minutes. So… I’m typing this before responding hoping to bring my BP down a notch.

And finally, a cadaver dog has been called to the Carlton Reserve in the search for Brian Laundrie. I want DOG TBH to find the dude alive. Hoping he’s not found dead but not wanting to miss it if they do, I have so many feeds up on Twitter I can’t get them all in without scrolling — on a 27″ monitor.

twitter feeds

AND… I have the live video rocking from Eagle 8 of the current ground search for Brian Laundrie on another monitor while Dharma is grunting to go back outside for the 100th time.

Yes, some days are a sh*t show… and it’s barely noon here. Can’t wait to see what shakes out from here. 🙂

i can’t remember a time i’ve been as stressed…

i can’t remember a time i’ve been as stressed…

If it’s true that stress causes all sorts of health problems, I’ll be lucky to be alive by Sunday afternoon.

Today was the first day of a 3-day live, virtual event with my favorite brother as the host. I won’t go into all the things I have to manage, but I will tell you a couple things I’ve learned…

There are abstract people and there are detail people.

  • Abstract people have big ideas and most times listen (and take advice from) other abstract people. They are unorganized and often procrastinate — and they delegate projects to detail people (sometimes with unrealistic deadlines).
  • Detail people are the ones that do everything they can to make those abstract visions reality. They typically know what it takes ‘behind the scenes’ to make abstract things work — and it’s always more involved than the abstracts think.

I’m no expert and I have no clue if someone before me made up these “people types.” Basically, it’s just BS because of the way I feel right this second. But I can tell you this FO SHO — I’m a detail person.

This, my friends, is the time I’ve spent on “live chat” talking to people — while doing a bajillion other things and trying to keep 2 big dogs in check:

time flies when you're having fun

Again, if I’m alive after this 3 day event, I’ll count it all as successful.

The dogs were so happy to hear Perry pull in the drive tonight they were waiting and whining at the garage door. As you can tell by this photo — I was waiting right there too. (I might’ve even whined a little bit myself — I knew he had McDonalds.)

gimme mcd's!

TIL (Today I Learned): Horses identify photographs of their current keepers, and even of former keepers whom they had not seen in six months, at a rate much better than chance. Horses correctly identified their current keeper and ignored the stranger’s face about 75 percent of the time. Read more about this cool fact…

Daily new COVID-19 cases (7 day moving average):
Indiana-23.6 (tiny bit down); Jackson Co – 32.3 (up…OUCH); Florida 12.6 (up); Nevada – 18.2 (up)

Dr. Eric Fish, president and chief executive officer of Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, said the hospital has seen a “three to four times increase” in the number of patients with COVID-19.

understanding what you’re paying for

understanding what you’re paying for

Someone on Facebook shared a post from an HVAC group that said:

If I do a job in 30 minutes it’s because I spent 10 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not for the minutes.

That doesn’t just apply to heating and air professionals. It’s consistent across the board.

You might be ok with a PA if you have a cold, but you wouldn’t want them performing brain surgery. As a meeting planner for a large corporate event — with your reputation on the line (and your company’s money) — why would you consider hiring a speaker without references of previous top-rated performances? You wouldn’t (or shouldn’t).

It makes me crazy when I read claims that by taking this one course you can learn all the secrets that will make you a hit onstage… for a fee of course. It’s nothing but BS, you guys — fake advertising for something no one can truly deliver.

With any course taken — whether it’s one that applies to a college degree or an online certificate — you’ll likely learn new things, but you won’t gain ‘real world’ experience. That comes from actually putting into action what it is you’ve learned.

I realize everyone has to start somewhere — and that’s exactly why you owe for the years, not the minutes.

2 things that can destroy an agenda when you work from home

2 things that can destroy an agenda when you work from home

There are two major things that can totally destroy my work plans…

  1. The weather.
    When you look at the forecast and see today is the only day without rain for a week you know you’d better mow the grass. Put that little job off and given that it’s spring… you’ll need a hay baler next time.
  2. My boss traveling to a place with a different time zone.
    Work calls after you’ve already put in a 10-hour day can be annoying AND change your plans quickly and dramatically. It also doesn’t help when your number is the one that gets butt-dialed at all hours. Seriously… 2 calls on Saturday morning around 4:30 AM ET and another on Sunday morning before 6:00 AM ET.
My boss at "work."

As an aside, the photo above is what “work” looks like for my favorite brother this week. The photo below is what “work” looks like for me:

better mow today before rain