Tuesday Morning

These are my toes, sitting poolside, just 8 short days ago.  It sure was pleasant.

Now I am back in Colorado, it is -4º, and I need to go out and shovel the driveway.  

Later today, I need to be sitting in a conference room for 3 hours, and for at least half of which I will be on the "hotseat" giving my quarterly report.  I am trying to remember that most of those folks are trying to impress each other.  When people are in a conference room trying to impress each other they frequently posture and do really stupid things.  Sometimes I am a "victim" of this posturing.  They find one little detail on my report to pick at and "drill down" (I HATE that term).  They sometimes make suggestions about how to do this report better.  Then the next month, I bring the report with the suggested changes and the person who suggested them isn't there, the others pick on whatever changes were made and suggest that I change it back or in another way.  

I have been doing this quarterly for 7 years now.  That makes 28 times I have done this.  I used to buy a new suit each time.  Then I just started recycling suits - wearing them twice!  Today I don't even know if I am going to wear a suit.  I am so unimpressed with the ever changing cast of characters that makes my audience.  My boss and I are the only ones who have done this for more than a couple of years.  When they suggest that I compile or analyze my statistics in this way or that way, I can smile and think back to someone 4 or 5 regimes ago who wanted the same thing - or hated the same thing.   This regime is the worst though, I must say.  They are younger and therefore more full of themselves.  

So all I have to do is get through this 3 hours.  And then I can move on to the next thing - I have different quarterly reports that need to be presented tomorrow - that I have not yet even written!  

And thank God for my sober experience which tells me that it is all OK.  A little bit of criticism never really hurt me.  Puffed up people say all kinds of things when they are trying to impress someone.  It has nothing to do with me.  But I have to add - before I conclude that something has nothing to do with me, I check it out.  It is far to easy to say "it's not about me" and then absolve yourself of any responsibility.  I make sure my report is good, by running it by my boss, then a committee, and then my boss again.  And then I can sit through criticism without feeling terrible.  

I hope all who have come by today have a peaceful day   :)