End of Summer Thoughts

Dear Friends and Family,

Good morning. Back in the routine.

Still more to come on the Kauai trip. And, will bring everyone up to date on Labor Day weekend itself. But, those are longer posts and I don't know if I have the time to tackle it now.

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer and I can't help but look back. I had seriously toyed with taking the summer off. I wanted to take some time to enjoy myself, recover from the horrible work experiences of this past year and then move on. As you all know, I didn't. I ended up getting "talked into" staying. At the time, it was the right answer. Looking back, is it still the right answer? Do I regret not taking the time off?

Contrary to what my boss has discussed, work hasn't changed a ton. Granted I don't dread each and every day in the office, but that's a pretty low bar. I still don't find it fulfilling, challenging or rewarding. From a monetary perspective, it's not bad. For the soul, it's not great. Given all that, I do wish I had taken the time off. But, life happens in mysterious ways. So, I won't question it. And, I can't go back and change the past, so crying over spilt milk doesn't really move the plot forward, so to speak.

So, why not quit now? Frankly, there's not enough to do outdoors in the fall to make it worth my while. And, there's a stock grant looming in the next 60 days. It's enough to keep me motivated in the near term. And, last but not least, superstition. I almost quit a job 5 years ago today. And, it was the worst day ever. So, let's not rock the boat any now. We don't need any more 9/11's, thank you.

Speaking of which, it's hard not to look back on the day that changed each and every one of our lives and remember where we were that day and what we were doing when we heard and what happened in our lives. Growing up in New York and having a spouse in the airline industry, it hit me worse than others I live and work with.

I'm sure the media with saturate us with memorials, but the internal look is always the hardest. A lot has changed in my life in the past five years, but not really. 2001 and 2002 saw some big changes, but 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 (so far) have been life as usual. We'll see what the future brings. It promises to be different from anything we can predict.


Best wishes.
mouse