Have iPod, Will Travel MARTA

I love my iPod! Thanks to my former employer’s stock bonus program, I was able to purchase an iPod mini with the options I had to exercise within four months of resignation. For those of you that know how much one of these pocket-sized contraptions costs, you’ll be able to figure out that I did not make very much money on those stock options!

At first I liked the iPod because I could tune out everyone and everything as I was using MARTA. As they say, "It's SMARTA". No more listening to other people’s phone calls and no more listening to the psychotic sock salesman talk to himself. Oh, and for some reason, the outstretched hand attached to “The Watchtower” never reaches toward me when I’m wearing my bright white headphones? If anyone knows why that is, please let me know.

Beyond MARTA though is the glorious time at my desk. I can listen to music while I work and can block out the Musak blaring from the overhead speaker. I once enjoyed many of the songs that I now hear, usually twice, every single day of the week on that overhead speaker. Songs that in the past had wonderful memories for me are now fading away into never never land. Like “That Old Devil Moon” that reminds me of going to see my brother in the play “Finian’s Rainbow”. Or “Unchained Melody” that reminds me of my sister’s wedding. Perhaps when I hear the non-Musak versions of these songs, I’ll snap out of it. Oh wait, I’m supposed to be practicing mindfulness and not allow these things to annoy me.

But the best part of the iPod is that you can either copy your own CD’s or you can download songs from iTunes. Yes, the songs cost $.99 cents each but you can copy just the songs you want vs. having to purchase an entire CD. On my iPod mini, I can shuffle randomly through almost 1000 songs or I can set up play lists of favorites. So if I just feel like listening to jazz today, it’s as simple as setting up a grouping of all of my favorite jazz artists. Stay tuned for my next blog entry to hear more about my favorites and why they get that status…

The Informationless Age

When I decided to leave corporate America for my dream job at SSA, part of the attraction was that I would once again be an individual contributor (a.k.a. peon). No longer would I be responsible for the work, or lack thereof, of others. No more supervision, no more escalated customer no-service complaints, and no more wearing out the carpet between my cubicle and human resources.

What I wasn’t expecting, but with which I am extremely happy, is the lack of telephone and e-mail interaction in my new job. The phones were apparently down yesterday for well over three hours and I wasn’t even aware of it. The one e-mail I received yesterday was to inform me that phone service had been restored.

I kid you not; I have gone days without a single phone call. I could go weeks if it weren’t for an occasional check-in call from Doc. B. I have to look up my phone password just to retrieve that rare voicemail message. At my previous jobs, the phone rang off the hook. And the e-mail was even worse. I think there was a subconscious competition between the leadership staff members to see who could respond to e-mails the fastest.

The office here is also less frenzied and less noisy. Yes, people talk on occasion but for the most part, all I hear is the movement of my own fingers on the computer keyboard and some really bad Muzak in the overhead speakers. This type of music is supposedly regarded as unobtrusive and bland (see Webster’s dictionary). I certainly find it bland but it is by no means unobtrusive when the same songs are played over and over again. I’ll discuss this in more depth when I complete my next web log entry – I know, you can’t wait and are holding your breath.

I have two former co-workers who say they would love to work with me at SSA. I think they see that I’m much more relaxed, a few pounds lighter and generally less stressed (which, by the way, is desserts spelled backwards). But I’ve told them there is no way they would survive here – it would be too subdued for them and their socializing natures. Or perhaps I’m just being selfish – I don’t want anything to ruin my peace and quiet.

Biloxi Mailbox...

I couldn’t resist asking permission to use this photo on my web log. It comes courtesy of Kathy, Doc. B.’s CFO at work. Kathy thinks the picture may have been taken by the insurance company as this mailbox is all that stands on her family’s property in Biloxi – thanks to hurricane Katrina. Where once stood a fantastic vacation home, right on the water, all that remains is a “blue” mailbox.

And speaking of hurricanes, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have the same name as a hurricane? I’ll have to see if Doc. B. will allow me to formally interview her for an official blog posting. And then I’ll have to check in with our neighbor, Rita, to get her take on it. I don’t know anyone named Wilma – does anyone really? Before hurricane Katrina hit, we were in Michigan for a late summer vacation. Doc. B. returned to work the day before the storm only to find her office door boarded up with plywood and her office windows criss-crossed with masking tape. We all laughed out loud at the creativity displayed by her co-workers! Little did any of us know what was to lie ahead for those in the path of hurricane Katrina, or any of the subsequent storms for that matter.

It will certainly be a year to remember. I’m just wondering what the memories will hold for those who were emotionally or physically harmed by the events of these past months? Hopefully they will be able to muster the strength to hold themselves together…