Woo hoo! I’m now eligible for my second sabbatical! :-)
Settling In
My cube move is done. I’ve unpacked all my boxes, received my surge suppressor, and cleaned my white board.
My cube feels all shiny and new.
By the way, the picture shows a cube “decorated” for its owner’s return from sabbatical.By
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Disneyland Video
Here’s a video I recorded with my cell phone at Disneyland during my sabbatical. Not bad…
It perfectly captures the feeling of sabbatical at about 1:03. ;-)
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Ashley’s Flower Garden
We took a short break from our travels in the middle of my sabbatical. During that time, Ashley dug up the garden and planted flower seeds.
Now that Ashley’s gone on her mission trip, we have something beautiful to remind us of her.
Thanks, Ashley! Every time I see your garden, I think of you!
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Back to Work; Sabbatical is Over
Having cast off for sabbatical eight weeks ago, today was time to plug back into the docking station.
Alpha mail. Thankfully, only 500 e-mails were waiting in my inbox and most could be discarded without reading more than the subject line. After accepting a few meeting requests and placing a few phone calls to ensure the other e-mails had been handled in my absence, I was able to get my inbox down to less than ten e-mails by end of day. That’s the result of having great coverage. Thanks, guys!
Breaking rules. Waiting on my desk was a bookstore gift certificate in recognition of some work I did immediately before sabbatical. During lunch, I bought First, Break all the Rules. After all, work bought me the book; I thought I’d return the favor by getting something that just might improve my on-the-job performance. Coincidentally, this morning I completed an organizational health survey. Upon starting the book, I recognized the twelve core questions. Maybe I’m not the first to have read this book.
Wireless mouse. Going through my drawers, I discovered mouse droppings. Wait — that didn’t come out right. My top desk drawer contained shredded paper napkins and mouse poop. That’s not good; I didn’t even have food there. Not that I suspect my coworkers, but I locked my drawers before sabbatical. Fortunately, the drawer held nothing of value and now the trash can does. Welcome back! I’m tempted to try a trap.
Beat by the Street. I looked up my employer’s stock. Great — there’s a definite improvement that coincided with my departure. Don’t tell upper management…
Staying on sabbatical. As part of my sabbatical, I took a political fast. Normally a political junky, I abstained from talk radio, political blogs, and political commentary. Amazingly enough, the world continued to spin without me. I’m considering continuing the fast or at least maintaining a slim political diet. My heart will thank me, I’m sure. I’ll have more time to do the other things I enjoy. Speaking of which…
Going nowhere not so fast. After a full, fun day at work I exercised today. Just the treadmill tonight, but my board short tan’s going to look pretty funny when I swim laps again.
Yup, I’m back. Good to see you all again. :-)
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Waikiki View
The sabbatical continues, though not without excitement. Yesterday, we hiked up Diamond Head and a couple of us got a helicopter ride off. An ambulance ride and ER visit later, we’re all ready to go again.
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Dancing in the Rain
Blogging has been light as we’ve been enjoying my sabbatical. So far, we’ve toured parts of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South and North Carolina, and Tennessee.
The weather in Charlotte is a little extreme right now, but perfect for dancing in the rain.
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On sabbatical
Wow! Finally on sabbatical. I have handed almost everything at work and then I can relax.
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Sabbatical Plans
My sabbatical starts when today ends. Wow! I still have too much to do or delegate…
I read recently about the concept of e-mail bankruptcy (thanks Josh for helping me find that link). Although it sounds tempting, I will process my e-mail inbox before sabbatical starts. Do or delegate is the plan.
My family and I will be traveling quite a bit, visiting family, friends, and interesting (and relaxing) locations. I will be taking my computer. After all, the camera’s flash card will get full and need to be emptied.
I’m also taking some books. Timothy Ferris’, The 4-Hour Workweek, seems appropriate sabbatical reading. I’m also taking Ray Kurzweil’s, The Singularity Is Near. I have some other unfinished books, but I’m also taking a sabbatical from politics, so that will limit what I take. History’s not politics, so that gives me some wiggle room. I might finish (I’ll probably have to start over) Lawrence Wright’s, The Looming Tower. We’ll see.
Blogging will be different — no politics. Maybe some travel pictures and maps. I’ll have to remember to take my GPS and see what I can do with it.
It’s going to be fun! ;-)
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