How not to turn around a country - I mean Company

There's a large company that is in serious danger of falling apart. They aren't where they want to be and the economy has more than taken it's toll. They have one chance to turn things around or they may have to close the doors - affecting tens of thousands of people.

So - the CEO creates a team of 7 of his best division leaders. Highly respected by their peers within the company and without. They are tasked with creating a proposal for a bid, which, if won, will save the company, the jobs, the people...

They have one week to develop this plan and present it to the CEO for his approval and then to the customers to obtain the bid. Everything depends on this team and the CEO is confident that they can do it.

In order for the proposal to pass the first stage - at least FOUR of the seven committee members must approve it.

But.....

Andy is hoping for Division Leader of the year award and he won't vote on anything that doesn't highlight the skills and strengths of his division.

Bob secretly is hoping to be the next CEO. He's not sure if he wants to this proposal to succeed or not. If it does, then the current CEO will look good and Bob's chances are diminished.

Tina hates her job and could care less about the proposal.

John had a run-in with Andy last year and refuses go along with anything Andy likes.

Susan doesn't really understand what all the fuss is about and needs more time to get the 'real issues'.

Joe will vote with Bob - but only if Bob allows three of his best managers to relocate to Joe's division. Sorry but it's a deal-breaker.

Tom dated Susan last year and it ended badly. As a result he won't talk to her during the meetings and refuses to listen to any point she makes.

Seven Days Later...

The committee gets back to the CEO and informs him that they're sorry but they were unable to create the proposal he asked for in the time-frame he needed. Would the CEO be able to relax some of the requirements? Or perhaps he could give them each a raise to give them a little more incentive to work together.

The CEO does his best but now it's time to make a company-wide address to his people...

Just sayin.......

Hmm - I really DO like being able to see!

Most of us are fortunate to be able to take our eyesight for granted. This summer I got a wake-up call and learned once again how precious some things are. I'll make a very long story as short as possible.

Last June (2009) I started seeing 'spots', not floaters, but areas in my eye that didn't move that were 'spots'. I let it go, finally mentioned it to my husband who said "And you haven't seen a Dr. because...??"

So off I went. Sure enough there were spots - blind spots. Areas in my right eye where no light was coming thru and where I couldn't see. Close my left eye and presto - certain things in my vision just go away.

Forward ahead to major tests - the big one - an MRI. Turns out blind spots/eye troubles are a common early indicator of MS. Wow - wasn't expecting that one! That test came back fine - thank God!

Two more blind spots develop. Really having some trouble seeing with my right eye now. More tests and no diagnosis and I'm seriously beginning to feel that I may go 'blind' . This is - shall we say - Scary! No eyesight, even in just one eye - is major. What if is spreads to the other eye? What if, What if, What if? I'm REALLY good about worrying obsessively about things I have no control over.

Off to the specialists. Again MS is ruled out. But still not sure what's going on. Back home waiting for next appointment and welcome the 'Flashing strobe lights' symptom. Something new and annoying.

Finally a diagnosis - a relatively rare disease called MEWDS (go ahead, look it up!). Good news is - the prognosis is good. Normally affects women, normally goes away in a few weeks to a few months. 5 months from the onset I return to the doctor who confirms that yes - you do/did have MEWDS, but that is on it's last phase and some of your spots are gone or smaller.

But... There is still one spot. No idea what it is, no diagnosis, no prognosis (as of Nov. 2009). Still waiting - but becoming accustomed to having some permanent sight loss. Overall my sight is still very good! I see wavy lines when I look at anything with a straight edge and I don't cut so good any more. I have some trouble doing my beading, cross stitching etc - but I just do what I call "Go old lady slow" - who cares if things aren't as straight as they could be. I'm back to "Sure hope this doesn't get worse" and trying to not think about it. After all - life goes on and 'life' happens.

So what did I learn?

Life can be scary sometimes.
A loving, supportive husband is a wonderful thing to have.
Having world-class eye doctors 20 minutes from home is a blessing beyond belief.
Friends are pretty much as good as loving husbands.
The phrase "It could be worse" gets old after a while.
I really don't like having an MRI, even if it doesn't hurt.
Not knowing what to expect sucks (sorry - but it does)
Worrying does me no good at all (so says Jesus) - but I do it anyway.
I get very grouchy when I can't fix things and don't get answers (back to the supportive husband thing here!).
Eyesight is a blessing for which I am so grateful. I pray every day that I get to keep mine and I look out the window at my acrobatic squirrel, deer in my yard and blue sky and say "Thank you God!"

My Thoughts on 9/11

I can barely bring myself to even think about today. It was/is so overpoweringly sad and terrifying. Part of me shattered that day and will never be put back together.

If I dwell on it I am lost in sadness and lack of understanding. If I put it out of mind I feel guilty. I wonder how long it took for Americans to 'get past' Pearl Harbor?

Images, other than the planes, that I can't get out of my mind are the people in the Middle East dancing in celebration of our loss. I still work hard to forgive and forget that image.

The other is of President Bush sitting with school children and receiving the news. I remember thinking about the burden of the country that had just been placed on his shoulders.

I had never been more proud, or more scared to be an American.

Another image I will never forget is going out in my yard mid-afternoon. It was a beautiful, sunny day and there was not a single plane in the sky. I sat in the grass looking at the empty sky and cried while I waited for my daughter to get home from school so I could talk to her about what happened. We live just a few miles from the airport and can always see mulitiple trails of jets zig-zagging across the sky. I pray I will never see a sky empty of jets again.

I still don't know why people across the globe hate me and my child without ever having met us. It took me years before I was comfortable flying again, and I still get nervous.

But - I welcome the messages of peace and friendship that President Obama has sent out in his speeches when he goes abroad. It needed to happen and I'm proud of him for trying to send a new message to the world. I know in my heart that 9/11 was the act of insane extremists. I feel we'll change the minds of those who hate us through acts of love, acceptance and understanding and not acts of war (although I'm all for defending ourselves and catching the creeps who continue this).

I support President Bush's descisions to fight this war that was started by others and I am SO proud of the soldiers who protect me every day. I do hope they all can come home some day soon.

I hope we continue to build hospitals and schools etc. I also hope our military hospital ships continue to go around the world where they are needed. Somehow the world needs to see just how good Americans really are.

I wish we could stop this bickering and hatred going on amongst ourselves. We so need to show a different side to the world.