Our Musical Great Nephew, Jake

The Husband and I were privileged to attend this event last weekend.

Our great nephew, Jake, performed. He plays the euphonium and was selected as second chair at the state level.

Father Gary is very proud of him!

The Husband got his autograph on the program.

Jake needs to practice autographing items with a big flourish, for when he is famous. :-)

We are all terribly proud of Jake and look forward to seeing him perform in many more concerts in the future!

July 20, 1981

What did you do on that day in history?

I walked through the doors of an office building in downtown Tulsa, OK to begin my new job as an experienced secretary at a major US oil company.

I had no idea how much my life would change as a result.

I was a secretary for 5 years and then moved into an assistant role, where I was given ever increasing responsibilities. After a change in my personal circumstances, opportunities presented themselves to transfer to Calgary, Chicago and Houston, where I worked in a number of professional roles.

I have learned a lot, about a lot!

I have worked for and with many talented, smart, interesting women and men. People who took the time to mentor me. I will be forever grateful to them for helping me develop my job into a CAREER.

Who would have thought that the secretary of long ago would end up the manager of a global website? Certainly, not me.

So, here is a "shout out" to 28 years of corporate experience, enhanced by priceless mentoring.

It will be interesting to see what happens next...

Taking Credit For The Work of Others

There is a controversy in the blogosphere regarding plagiarism.

I read Suburban Turmoil every day. It is a well written, funny, blog (not "all mommy, all the time") and I enjoy the stories.

The author recently posted a story that is very disturbing. Click here to read it.

I worked once for someone who took credit for a couple of my ideas that were implemented with great success at the office. This really hurt my feelings, but at the time I was young and not as self confident as I am today and I did not speak up for myself.

A few years later, there was someone, who was supposed to be a "friend," who took something I had discovered and touted it as their own discovery to mutual friends. The mutual friends told me about it and credited the other person with the discovery, saying "Isn't that person clever to have found this?" Well, yes, someone was clever and it was ME! Would it have hurt for them to have given me credit? No. But, again, I didn't speak up.

I hate when people take credit for the work or ideas of others. This is why I "link" to so many other websites in my blog posts. I want to be clear about where I get information for my blog.

Here's a shout out to Lindsay Ferrier of Suburban Turmoil for standing up for herself. You.Go.Girl!

Mayfest

I love Mayfest.  We went Thursday night and had a great time.

• I bought a lovely red purse from Willow Brook Leather.
  
• I purchased a few pretty little beaded things from F. Highlander Designs.
  
• I coveted a big, beautiful Celtic brooch by Linton Ltd.
  
• I admired the jewelry by Charles Rice.*  (I've purchased a couple of pieces from him in past years.)
• I adored the art by Donna Doersam.*

* I'd love to link you to their websites, but it appears as if neither of them have one.  Which is unfortunate. 

Your Reservation Requires Special Handling

The Husband and I have been on vacation this past week. Here's how it started:

Continental Airlines phoned The Husband on Friday, March 13th, inquiring if we had any flexibility in our travel plans, since it was spring break week and all flights were full (code for overbooked).  They offered travel vouchers and a later flight, but those options did not work with our plans.

The Continental representative advised The Husband to be sure and login to Continental.com and check in for our flight as soon as possible AND to arrive at the airport early the next day.  The Husband phoned me and repeated the conversation, which we both began to think of as strange since the tickets were booked using my Continental account and points, so why didn't they phone me to have this conversation?

In any event, I obediently logged on that afternoon and the website would not allow me to check in.  It said something to the effect:  "Your reservation requires special handling.  Check in at an airport kiosk."  So, I phoned Continental and spoke to a nice person who advised she could see nothing wrong with our reservations and to try again.  I tried a few times and it did not work.

We ultimately decided to drive to the airport to check in early, as we most certainly did not want to miss our flight on Saturday.  The ticket counter and kiosks were closed.  A Continental employee spoke to us and advised they were closed and that we could check in on-line.  We explained the situation and she immediately went to the counter to help us, even though she could have sent us on our way.

She immediately logged into the system and started doing all the mysterious things airline employees do to check in travelers.  I was a bit worried when she pulled out several pages of instructions that were covered in a multitude of hand written notes. She kept pecking away at the terminal and eventually asked for our ids.  She looked at them, pecked at the terminal and eventually the boarding passes started printing.  She looked up at The Husband and said, "There was a problem because your name is on the federal No Fly list.  Someone's looking for you!"

Of course, no one is really looking for MY husband, just someone who has the same name.  We were both so glad we took the time to drive to the airport and that she was willing to help us after the counter closed.  

Here's a "shout out" to Crystal at the Continental Airlines ticket counter in the Tulsa International Airport for great customer service.  Thanks, Crystal!

Addendum to this post:

So, it's Friday, March 20th and we return home on Saturday, the 21st.  Again, Continental phoned The Husband, but he missed the call.  We logged onto their website and tried to check in on-line.  Again we were told, "Your reservation requires special handling.  Please check in at an airport kiosk."  He phoned Continental and spoke to two very nice women who assured us our reservations were fine, but perhaps he was on the federal No Fly List, since their system would allow me to check in, but not him.  

If this is how it is going to be every time we travel, this is not good.  It totally is not convenient to wait until we get to the airport to check in and get our boarding passes, since the majority of the time we do not check bags. Frustrating!  I guess we will do some research about the federal No Fly List to understand how a name appears on the list and then disappears from the list.  

Second addendum to this post:

Check in on Saturday, the 21st, went smoothly after The Husband showed his id.  The Continental employees were great.

Coconut Nests

These are some of my favorite candies.  They are only available around Easter time.

 

Here's a "shout out" to my friend DeAnn for introducing these to me a few years back.

Good Things Still Happen

Last week we met a neighbor couple for Mardi Gras cocktails. We walked to The Empire and enjoyed an hour or so of conversation and libations.

We left separately.  Next day "the woman" phoned and asked if we remembered seeing her purse/backpack. Unfortunately, we did not.  She phoned The Empire and left a message asking if her purse had been turned in.

We ran into "the man" at the grocery store on Saturday.  He told us her purse was turned in and most contents (including money, credit cards and cell phone) were intact. The only item missing was her cigarettes.   We decided it was a sign she should quit smoking!

Here's a "shout out" to whoever turned in her purse.  Good people exist in the world still.  

Why Did I Name this Blog Cindy's Clipboard?

Many years ago, in a previous work assignment, I occasionally carried a clipboard to keep track of various papers that contained important information.  Also, many years ago, The Husband and I were asked to host our oldest niece's wedding at our house.   Of course, I had to keep various important papers together for that event. On the day of the wedding, my clipboard caused great amusement to a cousin-in-law.  From that event until today, she has never let me forget it.  And, to tell you the truth, even though I would be considered an early adopter of new technology, I still firmly believe nothing does the trick better than my good, old, trusty clipboard for some jobs.  Check back before Thanksgiving, 2009 and I'll tell you about the annual trip to the grocery store.

So, here's a "shout out" to Cousin Char for helping me (even though she doesn't know it yet) name my blog.