testing 123

The new MOMENTO Boxes and Thermostats are IN!!!!

On multi-tasking, my week, my body.

Phew! Just finished off a week of being sick with the flu, including two full days of basically doing nothing at all but sleep and hurt, sleep and hurt. I feel better now, and can use the weekend to relax, and get back into things.

Every time I have a period of inactivity like that, it feels as if my world is breaking down, and my moral totally breaks down. It's true, I'm often happier the more I'm busy. Which is what makes my current job exciting, since i get to be a jack-of-all-trades, once again, something I cherish. I think this differentiates me a bit from many people who would rather have specific jobs and more regularity and less stress, If I am right to presume that. Where I see that is when i tell people, say, what i am doing over the weekend--usually involves quite a bit--and people look at me with big eyes, and think I'm crazy and look forward to their own idea of a good weekend, a one, maybe two event weekend. (of course, for more than half of L.A.'s active population, they'd totally disagree and totally would rather pack as much into their weeks and weekends...but we are a special breed, methinks).

So, having said that I am going to try and set some goals for this weekend:
1. Visit a second maple syrup-making house--this time our friend Martin's, who produces in great quantity with top-of-the-line equipment....for those of you whom I spent picture of the first "Cabane a Sucre" i sent, you saw the rather simple set up you can use...
2. Do homework, quiz for Marketing course....always important.
3. Get 100% HEALTHY!! (These are in no particular order, because otherwise this one might be tops, but, then again, I could still accomplish most of these things quite fine and still be sick by the time Monday hits)
4. Read read read....The War of the Bushes.
5. Meditate and chant.
6. Work out? Only if my body tells me its ok. Which it will. Light, 1hr 15 total.
7. Mandated by Mom: Finish Season Six of "24". Send last DVDs.
8. Set To Do list for Beg. Work Week.
9. Do Client Map research---this is the idea of creating a map--in this case of Quebec, that shows the various tile and Kitchen + Bath stores and their relations to each other---partners, owners, distributors, so that I can later apply that to L.A.
10. Go to the movies! See something fun. Laugh.

Hmmm Did i tell you I could be busy? ;)


4.

I saw and hugged some baby seals!!

Click on the picture...

Click Here to see the pictures!!!

I have no shame!

I have no shame for several reasons: 1 is because I have not written again on this Blog for much too long; 2 because I can go see adorable little furry baby seals on a glacier, and then eat an adult one the next night.

Anyways. So I apoligies for the Blog, but I realized something about blogging: it feels like I am writing to no one, which doesn't motivate me because I like to write for others, I like to share experiences. Which is funny because that is exactly why this blog was created, right? So please, be kind, and leave as many comments as you want, or simply reply with "Hey, keep writing, please.." (And I want to thank those who have in fact asked me for updates). It will be a motivating factor for me.

But let's get to it, then! Last weekend I spent in the Magdalene Islands (For the French, the "Iles de la Madeleine"), which is where the St Laurent river which flows in front of my window currently, in Quebec, opens up to the Atlantic. It's also above Nova Scotia ("Nouvelle Ecosse") and to the left of Newfoundland. It's also as far East as I have ever been on the American coast--and about as far east as you can go in North America anyways.

Gifts for Baby Niece Alair...

I kinda fell for the skirt...it's cute, right?

..and the wee little one.

I owe an update..BIG update!

Hi everyone! This update won't be the big update I mentioned, simply because I need to get some sleep and leave home by 6:30am tomorrow, and the next day and the day after that as well.

Yup, I'm actually spending a week at the office. First time in two months I've been here, lol.

So what have I been up to in the last 20+ days? let's recap:

(from an email to my Dad:)

I was in Montreal for four and a half days last week, going out to visit tile & bath shops (We likely got our young company’s first order that isn’t coming through our mother co.—and it’s a VERY big company (+25 million in sales). BUT while all that was great and instructive, I was back at the hotel by 5:30 -6 with nothing to do for about SIX hours; my first night I went out to downtown and discovered the “ugly” Montreal (it was all strip clubs, bums and crappy restaurants---what was my friend thinking??!), in absolutely freezing conditions. I even had to go buy a scarf, and take the hottest shower once back “home”. I went out one more night only…so yea, I did my hotel-room time (hum, I believe next time I will be bringing DVDs), and read a good bit of The Pirate Coast [by Richard Zacks, a terrific and fascinating book by the way, about the barely twenty year's old United States sending out the first Marines on the country's first secret mission to the Barbary Coast.--And did I tell you it was fascinating?!).

--So that was last week, the same time I found out I can have my A.A. degree (Associate's) in Business by the end of the Fall session at Santa Monica College if I do four more courses after this semester. Finally!! It has taken since 2001, but the time in-between has been well-filled with great work experiences (as most of you know, running restaurant(s), being Marketing Director at an online company that rented audiobooks--Jiggerbug.com--and in-between producing several $100,000 real-estate seminars). The other neat thing, to give you another update fresh from last night, is that I was looking at my transcript and remarking how many humanities and social sciences type classes I've taken, and thought "Huh! What if...?" and lo and behold, I need two more classes after my AA in Biz and I can also have an Associate's in Liberal Arts!! Very exciting and hugely rewarding, especially.

What else, what else? --last weekend I had the utmost pleasure of shopping for birthday presents for my little soon-to-be two years old niece, Alair. Of course she's my twin brother's daughter, so that makes it very strange and very cool as well. I had a great time in The Children's Store picking among so many shades of pink in such small sizes (BTW, the recommended size for a 2 year-old is 3 Years. Who knew?), and I think she'll look just LOVELY in the little pink tutu outfit I picked for her, along with the boa imitation leather jacket (For after school..), and diamond earrings.

Kidding, of course, but I will post pictures above of my chosen little (literally, not just saying that) gifts.

Ok, much more to write, but I will leave that for tomorrow. I haven't been not posting for nothing, I promise.

Good night!

-Byron

View from my room--Capturing ships.

I don't know if it's because I miss sailing, or I just like these, but at home the mere sight of a tanker passing by will send me flying up the stairs to take a picture of it, or, worse, VIDEO footage. Am I crazy?

Am I going to the WINDY CITY soon?

Yesterday, I went to work at the office for the first time this week. Why? Had I not been working at all? Actually, the coolness of my job is that I still don't actually have to go to the office. I spent the better part of the week working from home, working on a PowerPoint presentation to replace a DVD we don't have yet (Those cost, humm, $35,000. My presentation costs, well, my time. Mostly.)--but we'll get there, at some point. So meanwhile I have been creating a PPT that's an Installation Guide as well as sales pitch of our product. It is in French and later in English too, with or without voice, but all animated. And it's only my second or third PowerPoint ever! Anyways, it is now done except that I have to replace the temp voice (my voice--gahhh..) with a professional, friendly Quebecois woman's. I will uploaded it when it's all done.

Ok, which brings me to today and my headline. I thought I was going to have to brave the minus-15 degrees we're currently enjoying by bus again this morning when I woke up at 6:30AM, but Philippe mentions I could instead, if I wanted to, go with him to visit his partners and present my PowerPoint guide--and if I mention that program again, Microsoft is going to owe me for advertising them so much! (Oh, did I mention it's the brand new 2007 version, with its patented "Ribbon" feature? ;) Ha ha...) . He also had to look at a big project that our competitors had and were losing, because, well, their system is so inefficient for large spaces, whereas ours is perfectly adaptable. So we came in and explained how it could be done, and then Philippe promised that I would have full floor plans with the installation descriptions drawn up for more than 5,575 square feet of offices and halls, by Monday. (Gulp.)

--So I said "Ok", and then he added, to drive the point home, that we would do the installation, with some help over there. "Over where", I asked, and he said "Chicago". We're probably going within the month, that's the time line! Of course it will not be for more than a few days--a marathon run, really--but I am SO very excited, especially given how much I've heard about Chicago in the past year, strangely enough.

The sunsets on the road home, Quebec City.