New Zealand here we come. Resurrecting my travel blog.

I started this blog a number of years ago when I was traveling a lot for work and some for pleasure as a way to keep track of my thoughts when I was traveling. Haven't used since 2010 since I've been on Facebook (way too much ). This time I am traveling for a long period of time and thought it was time to resurrect my blog. And some of my friends, work buddies, and family are not on face book. So here goes.

Today is Wednesday night and on Friday at this time Dana and I will be bound for New Zealand. Some people call it the once in a life time trip. But for those of us who love to travel we think every trip is special whether to Georgia to visit customers or Maine to see family or half way around the world. I plan on posting pictures and stories. Let's see how it goes. And mom this blog while I am gone is dedicated to you.

Rachel's Reflections

The following was part of our company (Karpen Steel) e-news letter that I thought I would share with everyone. I also used it for our company luncheon with a few ad-libs, edits and so forth. (FYI, last year my theme was traditions). 

2010 has been a year for reflecting and figuring out new ways to look at my daily life both at work and at home. A lot of these changes were based on outside influences, things I had no direct way of controlling. How I chose to deal with these changes has been through various means, some of which I have learned in my Yoga classes.

For instance, our instructors teach us to focus on the here and now and not worrying about what comes next. So, when we are doing a specific exercise, the idea is to work hard to master that exercise to the best of our own personal ability, not to compare ourselves to the person next to us, but to try our best and persevere. Perseverance is not about working ourselves so hard that we collapse unable to do the next exercise. It is working hard and stretching ourselves to continually improve. I have also learned perseverance through another exercise class, which is an intense workout. I have seen some people unable to finish the workout because they started out too hard too soon, without building up their stamina, instead of setting realistic goals for each session.

How does this apply to work? I have learned not to worry about the future (plan and persevere, yes), to work my hardest every single day, and to make sure that the company produces the best quality product every single day. I have also learned that when things get the best of me, to retreat to my office and take big deep "yoga breaths" or go outside and get some fresh air and regroup. I will be the first to admit that I don't always do this soon enough, but life and self-improvement is a journey.

Part of living in the moment is also pausing to reflect on my surroundings and to appreciate the people in my life, especially my husband. One day we stopped a class for a few moments to appreciate the sunset, which was beautiful, and which will never be the same again. Likewise, I am learning to take some time off, to travel, to take long walks building up to short hikes, to taste really good wine made in North Carolina and so forth.

Let this year's holidays create memories you will long cherish, and may 2011 allow you to improve your present abilities, to learn new skills and to relish the joys of everyday life.

President

Greetings of the Season

Rachel’s dog, Panda, wishes you all happy holidays on behalf of all of us at Team Karpen Steel.

Veterinarians

One of our dogs, Panda, needed to have some surgery today at the vets. She had her teeth cleaned and she had a growth on her ear removed. We scheduled both for the same day so that should would only have one traumatic day. But it was 2 different vets at the animal hospital that did the surgery.

What has always amazed and amused me about the Animal Hospital of North Asheville is how awesome they
are and how much they check up on you. I always wished that our pediatrician had been as in touch with us. First we had a check in appointment today where everything was thoroughly explained to me. Then when Panda was in surgery, we had phone calls from each of the doctors, and one after she went into recovery. And, they were very thorough with written instructions on how to care with her tonight besides verbally reviewing everything with us.

And, I know that during the next few days they will call us at least 2 more times to check in with Panda (or more). Based on past history with this group, you never feel neglected and they are always available to answer questions or concerns.

So, why when I need to talk to my regular physician is it so hard to get someone to return a call? Or to check up on us afterwards, or to see if we need more information. I think one big thing is that with animals who can't express themselves in words, they want to make sure we know what to expect. And customer service is paramount, when everything that is done for them is really "elective". We don't typically have insurance for dogs, and they want us to be satisfied and wanting to come back to their practice. In fact, one of the other vets stopped by to chat with me for a few minutes while I was in the waiting room and I got a chance to ask her about the med dosage for my other dog.

So, this is really a thank you to the awesome care that my dogs receive at the animal hospital, and to let everyone know that great customer service makes a difference in everything that all of us do!

Changes

What I hate being an owner of a small company, is trying to make changes. Not just the thought of what people will accept, but having to keep so much of the work "quiet" until it is time for an announcement. I guess that this is not true just about changes, but also about fun projects (like the T-shirts we did a couple of months ago), or the Holiday presents that just arrived and are stashed away.

I think it is the secrecy that is hard to deal with. So, my research, or my plans, or my thoughts can only be shared with 1 or at the most 2 other people. On small things, this is fairly easy, but on larger projects it gets harder. Whether the changes are big and awesome and good, or the changes are thing we wish didn't have to happen it takes its toll on me until it is implemented and rolling along.

I guess this is why outside management consultants manage to stay in business. They become a confidant outside of the organization. But, who can afford that luxury in these times? And, I can't talk with my husband about some of the things on my mind ( because he also works at the same company), and I can't talk with my immediate family members (like my mom or brother), so I talk to myself. The best thing is, I usually agree with myself.

One fun change that is now implemented is the fact that Dana and I are now taking a 1/2 day off every week for US. Not to do laundry or grocery shopping, but to explore, hike, walk, talk, eat out and have fun. This past week we went to downtown Asheville to Lexington Avenue Brewery. We both had a flight of 6 beers, really good food to eat, and then walked around down town for quite a while. Before heading out we stopped at a used book store where I had credit. We are planning on doing this at least through the spring.

The economic situation has caused all of us to have changes at work and at home. Change is not all bad, it can be good and I plan on continuing to enjoy the challenges ahead.

New Computer

Computers are supposed to make our life easier -- right? Wrong!!

 I have an 8 year old desktop computer at home, and finally upgraded to a fairly high end laptop. So, unlike my $300 (which was actually free) laptop which I had decided to basically use for travel, I decided to load everything onto this one.

Problem number one -- trying to get my ipod to synch and move my songs to the new computer. I got so far and then got stuck -- didn't help that the instructions were written for both a mac and a windows computer -- interspersing the two. Finally got my dear husband to help me with it and he approached in a different manor, and finally done.

It was a little easier to move Quicken that I use for personal finances, I bought an upgraded copy and the move went fairly easy last week. The biggest problem was setting up a disk (formatting) to do the backups.

The hardest part, was moving my contacts. I am one of those few homeowners that was still using Outlook. So, first I went through and deleted about 100 contacts that were obsolete. And, I had created a gmail account that all my charter e-mail goes to. But, to actually move the contacts, also involved my dear husbands help. But, the good news -- I can now easily contact all my friends and relatives when I am traveling, as prior to this my only cloud e-mail account was my work account. Yeah, I have moved up in the world.

I have a couple of things left to do such as backing up photos and word docs and figuring out which if any saved e-mails I want to print, or move their "important" information into my new world.


You will be happy to know I did manage to set up my new wi-fi printer all by myself, although I haven't quite learned all the ins and outs. For instance, I can print to it from anywhere as it has its own e-mail address. Hmmmm. printer seems smarter than me.

So, I am happy, have started to clean up my disaster of an office, and I know how reasonably fast internet access from anywhere in my house!!

PS -- I am trying to figure out the concept of ecologically sound. For instance, the cords for the printer were packed in a nice reusable nylon case -- and they made a big point of it being reusable -- but the cords were still also packed in plastic bags. Ditto for the printer -- in a really nice nylon bag, but it was surrounded in the box with Styrofoam. Go figure!

Chicago

Growing up, the only business trips I remember my dad taking were to Chicago. Later learned that they were for visits to UL for fire testing of doors. Only recently however, I figured out that he never went to downtown Chicago, but to the outskirts in a different direction. (Which may be why my presents were always from the airport).


When I joined Karpen Steel in 1986, my first business trip was to Chicago for the annual Door and Hardware trade show, with my dad. It was Karpen Steel's first time exhibiting at the show. It was windy, rainy, and not a nice introduction to the city. Now, it turns out I go to Chicago 1 to 2 times a year for meetings and so forth, and I have grown to love the city. The city of today is so much nicer than it was 25 years ago. Great restaurants, friendly staffs, and so forth. So, now I present to you just a few pictures of my most recent trip to Chicago (and third time there for the door and hardware show).

This was taken from Navy Pier where the convention was held.

This was the original entrance into the Palmer House Hotel - no longer used.

 

 

If you know who these look a likes are, you watch professional football. And, if you don't, you won't care.

Making a presentation during one of the educational sessions.

Karpen Steel trade show booth. It plays off of our advertising. We like to keep it clean, and bright.

Putting Life in Perspective

It is October 2nd and I just came out of the swimming pool. Life is good. Hard to believe it was warm enough to swim, but I truly think this will be our last weekend of swimming. Can't remember the last time we swum in October. Just before that we were at Vino Vino for a Saturday wine tasting, and tonight we are going to a friends house for a party.

Last week I was in Chicago for an industry trade show. It sure was hard to keep my perspective as our first major speaker was on how bad the economy is (and the title of the session was Forum for the Future). We knew it was bad because our lunch was a little skimpy. But, I was bound and determined not to talk about the economy while working on drumming up business for my company.




People that are closer to my age (or older) at the show understood my comments about, OK, so work isn't as busy as it should be... so more time for my husband, for Yoga classes, for cooking, and travel. We have a long weekend planned to the wine country in NC, which has really come into its own in the past few years. And, the good news is, I very rarely work a Saturday anymore. And, next week we are taking a half day off to go to the Biltmore Estate (they have a new area with a tavern that we want to check out).

So, putting life in perspective has been a good thing for me. I am working on a jigsaw puzzle, and not feeling nearly so stressed about quantity of work to do in a day. Someday soon I would like to be so busy that we all have to work on a Saturday. But, for now, we celebrate life.

I wanted to post some Chicago photos -- I have some great pictures, but am in the progress of changing computers, and just haven't had time to download them etc. But the weather was awesome. One day we walked about 50 minutes to a place for deep dish pizza. Sure, we could have gotten a cab or a bus, but the only way I think to see a city in on foot - and we had time.

I also bought a second T-Shirt with the saying "Optimistic by Nature". Now, many of you may not believe that about me, but truly I am. I look at all the possibilities, but I don't fret and worry. I act, and I act on my optimism. I ordered T-Shirts recently for everyone at work that say "Proudly Made in Weaverville NC". A real pessimist would have not spent the money, but I know that employee morale needs to be kept up during these rough times, and everyone loves a new company t-shirt.

I just wish I could put some energy into cleaning up my home office. It is almost hopeless - I let it get really bad during the times I was swamped at work and with home stuff. Now I don't know where to begin. But, if it is a sunny day, I'd rather be swimming, and walking, or sitting outside on the deck with a book.

It may seem like I am rambling but it is where I am at right now. Calm, fairly cool, working to better my life in a fun way, and taking time to enjoy whatever life throws at me. And, keeping up with my friends, some of whom I really need to have lunch with again.