Yes, I believe. That's what I sometime tell myself when I think about all the things that have transpired. Sometimes I just don't want to think. I sit here listening to some old music that I recorded, and thank God for everything. I know it's time to stop beating myself up, time to take charge and not listen to the people around me...telling me that I can't do this. I want to scream at times.
Here is this week's installment of Tara's story....taken from my own experiences.
"Keep your eyes open and your mouth closed, Tara. Keep me posted," her boss wrote in an e-mail. It was good advice. Tara knew that things would be rocky after year's end when the multi-national corporation officially took over and absorbed the company she'd been contracted out to perform services. She now noticed the anxious looks the company employees showed as they went about their daily tasks. The serenity she'd known before the news hit evaporated. Her company contact paid her a visit a week before Thanksgiving with his own anxieties about his position now that his company had been acquired by the multi-national corporation. She tried to reassure him, by telling him what happened to the company she worked for. His reaction didn't surprise her, for she sensed that this acquisition would go a lot rougher than the one her company went through a year and half ago.
After Thanksgiving, Tara, Tony and Ken had their hands full dealing with the sheer volume of work that flowed in their direction. Tara understood what this meant, and wept inwardly for the death of a company that had grown so much over the past twenty five years. Tamin issued directives that had everyone upset and angry. Despite promises that no one would lose their jobs, pink slips were sent out in the crassest way possible---via e-mail. Those that were sent the pink slips would automatically be escorted out of the building, unable to even pack their personal belongings. Tara mourned with those that were left behind. It seemed as if overnight offices became empty shells.
Christmas was a solemn holiday. Instead of the usual joy and good will, Tara noticed a sense of dread and despair. More bad news came daily. Ken reported that he was barraged with questions from upset employees.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Crisis Mode
Watching the changing autumn landscape out her window, Tara couldn't help but think about how everything was dying. She felt bereft and weepy. Her two subordinates, Tony and Ken, noticed her melancholy mood. Tara knew that she had to be strong for them and do the research required to confirm her fears. So she did.
Tamin Hamid was the president of the multi-national corporation that bought out the company she was currently contracted out to perform services. His friendly face belied the cold hard facts stated on the website, and gave her a sick feeling down deep in the pit of her stomach. Why wasn't anyone reining in this corporation? Their acquisitions astounded her. They meant to have a "corner" in every aspect of data management!
Tara didn't know how much of this information was out there for public perusal and how much had been kept from prying eyes. She wanted to forget the images that flooded her mind when she perused the web pages. The evidence, however, was right in front of her. Bertha didn't want to believe her. Tara couldn't blame her for that. She didn't want to believe it either. Again, like the dutiful employee, she informed her boss about what she discovered. He confirmed to her that their company was also somehow controlled by that multi-national corporation. This made Tara's skin crawl. How much of her personal information was out there for them to manipulate? What could they do to her if she decided to present this evidence? Tara shuddered to think of the power Tamin Hamid welded.
More next week....
Tamin Hamid was the president of the multi-national corporation that bought out the company she was currently contracted out to perform services. His friendly face belied the cold hard facts stated on the website, and gave her a sick feeling down deep in the pit of her stomach. Why wasn't anyone reining in this corporation? Their acquisitions astounded her. They meant to have a "corner" in every aspect of data management!
Tara didn't know how much of this information was out there for public perusal and how much had been kept from prying eyes. She wanted to forget the images that flooded her mind when she perused the web pages. The evidence, however, was right in front of her. Bertha didn't want to believe her. Tara couldn't blame her for that. She didn't want to believe it either. Again, like the dutiful employee, she informed her boss about what she discovered. He confirmed to her that their company was also somehow controlled by that multi-national corporation. This made Tara's skin crawl. How much of her personal information was out there for them to manipulate? What could they do to her if she decided to present this evidence? Tara shuddered to think of the power Tamin Hamid welded.
More next week....
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
More Random thoughts and story ideas
I decided to start posting story ideas on this blog. Every Tuesday you can come here and I'll write something about the stories I'm currently working on.
Today's blog starts with:
Tara's story....
She heard the news on Wednesday. At first, she thought it was only a rumor that would quickly pass. She discounted it, telling herself that it wasn't true. Then she saw confirmation on the company's website the following day. Tara wanted to cry.
Bertha was optimistic. Dave and Sondra assured everyone that no one would lose their jobs. Tara watched and listened for the various updates. Her heart sank with each new one. Bertha wanted to shrug off the dire warnings that came with these updates. Tara couldn't. She feared that her services would no longer be needed with the "new" corporation. She told her boss, Fred, about what was happening. He seemed non chalant about the whole situation. His advice to her was to "hang on."
More to come next week...
Today's blog starts with:
Tara's story....
She heard the news on Wednesday. At first, she thought it was only a rumor that would quickly pass. She discounted it, telling herself that it wasn't true. Then she saw confirmation on the company's website the following day. Tara wanted to cry.
Bertha was optimistic. Dave and Sondra assured everyone that no one would lose their jobs. Tara watched and listened for the various updates. Her heart sank with each new one. Bertha wanted to shrug off the dire warnings that came with these updates. Tara couldn't. She feared that her services would no longer be needed with the "new" corporation. She told her boss, Fred, about what was happening. He seemed non chalant about the whole situation. His advice to her was to "hang on."
More to come next week...
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A New Year
It seems the older you get, the more time seems to speed by you. One minute you're in your twenties, the next in your thirties and the minute after that you're in your forties. Not that I'm complaining, mind you...I find that whatever decade I'm in...it's the perfect decade for me.
When I first started this blog on December 8th, my main purpose was actually to get my thoughts on time in one place. I've always been fascinated by time. My favorite movies deal with time in one way or another. As you can probably tell, this is a very informal blog. There is no pattern....yet in some ways there is.
I do believe that there are patterns or "strings" attached to each time line. I guess that's due to my own experiences. I still can recall the first time I felt like I was "out of time" when I mentioned something about not experiencing Apollo 13...actually not even knowing about it until the movie came out. I do recall, however, reading that NASA had decided not to name any of the vessels...13....or to skip that number due to suspicions about it. It's not so far fetched as it may seem. A lot of older building used to skip that number when they named their floors.
When I first started this blog on December 8th, my main purpose was actually to get my thoughts on time in one place. I've always been fascinated by time. My favorite movies deal with time in one way or another. As you can probably tell, this is a very informal blog. There is no pattern....yet in some ways there is.
I do believe that there are patterns or "strings" attached to each time line. I guess that's due to my own experiences. I still can recall the first time I felt like I was "out of time" when I mentioned something about not experiencing Apollo 13...actually not even knowing about it until the movie came out. I do recall, however, reading that NASA had decided not to name any of the vessels...13....or to skip that number due to suspicions about it. It's not so far fetched as it may seem. A lot of older building used to skip that number when they named their floors.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Answers to Christmas Quiz & thoughts for New Year
As promised, here are the answers to last week's quiz:
1. Pilgrims. The puritans joined forces with Oliver Cromwell to rid England of decadence, so cancelled Christmas. They believed that there was no basis to celebrate what was clearly a pagan holiday, since no one really knew what time of year Christ was born.
2. c.
3. a
4. c
5. His was a virgin birth, as was foretold by the prophet Micah. He was foretold in the book of Genesis to become the sacrifice for mankind.
6. c
7. An orange decorated with ribbon, a candle, four sticks, fruit and nuts...meant to represent Christ's Light.
8. Christ was born to die for our sins. He became one of us to show us his great love.
9. b
10. b
Bonus question: The wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In some of the scriptures it mentions a house when they left from meeting Herold. Herold ordered all boy babies two years and younger killed in that area. So it could have been any time from the time Christ was born and when they received the sign to go back a different route.
I have enjoyed writing this quiz as I learned so much that I didn't know before. I do think that I will continue to work on these blogs....and do more with my writing. I get excited when I think about all the possibilities there are to be had. I have definitely grown in the past year with all that I learned. I'm hoping to set up a website soon, and maybe finally get something published besides this blog...:-)
1. Pilgrims. The puritans joined forces with Oliver Cromwell to rid England of decadence, so cancelled Christmas. They believed that there was no basis to celebrate what was clearly a pagan holiday, since no one really knew what time of year Christ was born.
2. c.
3. a
4. c
5. His was a virgin birth, as was foretold by the prophet Micah. He was foretold in the book of Genesis to become the sacrifice for mankind.
6. c
7. An orange decorated with ribbon, a candle, four sticks, fruit and nuts...meant to represent Christ's Light.
8. Christ was born to die for our sins. He became one of us to show us his great love.
9. b
10. b
Bonus question: The wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In some of the scriptures it mentions a house when they left from meeting Herold. Herold ordered all boy babies two years and younger killed in that area. So it could have been any time from the time Christ was born and when they received the sign to go back a different route.
I have enjoyed writing this quiz as I learned so much that I didn't know before. I do think that I will continue to work on these blogs....and do more with my writing. I get excited when I think about all the possibilities there are to be had. I have definitely grown in the past year with all that I learned. I'm hoping to set up a website soon, and maybe finally get something published besides this blog...:-)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Annual Christmas Quiz
Christmas Quiz 3
1) Christmas was outlawed in 1645 when Oliver Cromwell came into power in England. Why? What is the connection between Oliver Cromwell and the ______who celebrated the first Thanksgiving?
2) When was Christmas declared a federal holiday?
a) December 25, 1789
b) January 2, 1824
c) June 26, 1870
3) St. Nicholas entered the consciousness of American culture in the late 1700's, when Dutch families celebrated his birth. To them he was called _____________, which then evolved into the name we now know as____________.
a) Sint Nikolaas, Santa Claus
b) Kris Kringle, Saint Nick
c) Saint Lucia, Louie
4) What Roman holiday predates Christmas?
a) Ra
b) Neptunia
c) Saturnalia
5) Jesus' birth was special in what way?
6) When Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby in her womb leaped for ______. Elizabeth asked the following question:
a) fear. Why are you here?
b) Coins. Do you have any money?
c) Joy. Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
7) What are christingles?
8) What is the connection between Christmas and Easter?
9) There was a Christmas truce in which war?
a) WWII
b) WWI
c) American Revolution
10) In 2005, I self-published a book called:
a) Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
b) Hark, the Harold Angels Sing
c) Love Lessons
Bonus:
The wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus of ________, ________, and _________. Where did they bring them and how soon after the birth?
Answers revealed with next post....Have a Merry Christmas!
1) Christmas was outlawed in 1645 when Oliver Cromwell came into power in England. Why? What is the connection between Oliver Cromwell and the ______who celebrated the first Thanksgiving?
2) When was Christmas declared a federal holiday?
a) December 25, 1789
b) January 2, 1824
c) June 26, 1870
3) St. Nicholas entered the consciousness of American culture in the late 1700's, when Dutch families celebrated his birth. To them he was called _____________, which then evolved into the name we now know as____________.
a) Sint Nikolaas, Santa Claus
b) Kris Kringle, Saint Nick
c) Saint Lucia, Louie
4) What Roman holiday predates Christmas?
a) Ra
b) Neptunia
c) Saturnalia
5) Jesus' birth was special in what way?
6) When Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby in her womb leaped for ______. Elizabeth asked the following question:
a) fear. Why are you here?
b) Coins. Do you have any money?
c) Joy. Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
7) What are christingles?
8) What is the connection between Christmas and Easter?
9) There was a Christmas truce in which war?
a) WWII
b) WWI
c) American Revolution
10) In 2005, I self-published a book called:
a) Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
b) Hark, the Harold Angels Sing
c) Love Lessons
Bonus:
The wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus of ________, ________, and _________. Where did they bring them and how soon after the birth?
Answers revealed with next post....Have a Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Christmas time
December 15th....
I've been thinking about time again today. 30 years ago my little brother was born. It seems like only yesterday I held him in my arms. Now he's a married man with a baby of his own. Where has time flown? Some times I feel time is slipping by me. I look around and feel as if I've been left standing still while the world speeds past me.
I've been thinking about time again today. 30 years ago my little brother was born. It seems like only yesterday I held him in my arms. Now he's a married man with a baby of his own. Where has time flown? Some times I feel time is slipping by me. I look around and feel as if I've been left standing still while the world speeds past me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)