Monday, August 31, 2009

A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

But, how about skunk cabbage...

I love words. And, I love to write. I would rather write a letter or email than talk on the phone. Some people, like President Obama, are masters of the spoken word and quick to respond with a full grasp of the facts and the words that convey them. I'm not one of them; I like to have time to think through my response. I enjoy my friends and I like to talk to them, but for things of substance I like the written word.

But - as much as I love words and a well constructed letter, I sometimes completely miss the mindset and nuance that a reader might ascribe to them. I've been called to task twice in the last two weeks for my choice of words or the way they were delivered. It has made me acutely aware of the power and multiple meanings that some words carry and how they are strung together.

Marilynn took umbrage the other day when I blogged that "she works slowly and thoughtfully..." To her, the connotation was negative. "Slowly" was the objectionable word. When I said that I worked "quickly" it made her feel like she was being set up as a drudge. I deemed "thoughtfully" the operative word in the sentence, but she focused on "slowly". She wanted me to change it to "methodically." I said "Write your own blog if you don't it." Not a very thoughtful response probably. It was all lighthearted fun for us, although she still wanted me to change it.

The other instance of umbrage was not so lighthearted. I wrote a comment to a "friend" on Facebook that I intended as a joking rebuke for his long silence. I hadn't heard from him for a long time, so I told him that if he wanted me to support a cause he was involved in he needed to ask me directly i.e. call or email me and make the request. He did not like my "comment" and told me it was snide and unwelcome. I tried to apologize, but it was not accepted and I am now "hidden" on his Facebook page. Was it the choice of words or something smoldering between us? I don't know. I feel awful for the misunderstanding. I guess I'll have to work a little more slowly and thoughtfully in the future.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

My Grandmother was a Murphy

I first learned about the family's law, "Murphy's Law", when I was in flight training in Pensacola. It's a good one to keep in mind when you're traveling at 300 knots per hour 50' above the ground. Little things can cause big problems.

The law is also time sensitive. It always seems to kick in when time is of the essence, and it serves as a reminder that no matter how well we plan and prepare - shit happens. Marilynn and I are four days from lift-off to Vietnam. Not a lot of time to dally. She has work. I have work. We're leaving our condo and trying to anticipate all the things we need to do before we leave. We have to pack for an extended stay in Vietnam. Blah, blah, blah.

So, it was a little upsetting to discover my wallet missing when we arrived in Oakland on Wednesday. Drivers licence, 4 credit cards, and 2 health insurance cards - that's all. Nevermind that I didn't have picture ID for the trip back to Seattle on Thursday or a credit card to pay for the stay in the Bay Area. What I really didn't have was TIME to deal with it.

It was challenging. But, good karma kicked in. I called Alaska Airlines and reported the loss. I got a really nice young guy who empathized and who promised to call me back when he had some news. Surprise of surprises, he called back about an hour later to tell me they had found my wallet near the departure gate and it would be waiting for me when I got back in Thursday. It was a sketchy hour or two, but I was a happy camper when I got the news.

Everything worked out in the Bay Area. Marilynn paid for everything. We had one other moderately anxious moment when the wallet wasn't at Alaska's lost and found counter in Seattle. It had been sent to another off-airport facility and I had to wait until today to pick it up. Small price.

But, here's the kicker: Marilynn needed to do some quick shoe shopping for the trip, so we stopped downtown on our way home. Guess what? This morning she couldn't find her iPhone. You guessed it; gonzo. There are a lot of things to be said for good karma and a tech savvy assistant. Her assistant located the phone somehow, don't ask me how, within a 4 block area in the Nordstrom/Eileen Fisher grid. Then she sent a text message to the phone that would appear on the display when it was turned on. Amazing. I was on my way downtown when I got a call from the manager at Eileen Fisher telling me she had the phone. Incroyable!!

Karma vs. Murphy. Karma won this one.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Time Management

I think I'm a very organized person - lines in the rug from the vacuum, jackets and shirts evenly spaced in the closet (maybe even by color), car washed, bookcase and CD's by category, etc. You get the idea. But as organized as I think I am I realize now that I never really know the state of my personal and family affairs until I get ready to make a big move. I'm always surprised too; because although I think everything in my life is nice and tidy I really do have to make sure that my financial house is in order? I can't just walk out the door and know that everything is going to take care of itself. How am I going to pay the bills when I'm away for months at a time? Are those three or four bank accounts all necessary or can I streamline things with one or two? If I pay my bills automatically, will they all come at one time even if my paycheck comes twice a month? Can I see all of my obligations online? Try it, you'll see what I mean. The experience is a metaphor for all the loose ends we learn to live with.

With less than a week until we leave for Saigon we are learning the importance of time management and civility. There is only so much time and there are X number of things to get done. It would be easier if there weren't two people involved. M and I work very differently. I work quickly and throw away everything I don't use regularly. She works slowly and thoughtfully and saves everything she thinks she might need sometime in the future even if she hasn't used or looked at in five years. My method seems impulsive and capricious to her and her method seems sluggish and inefficient to me. What we have learned from all of our travels and travails is that tolerance and civility will get us through to the end.

We'll see how it goes in exactly one week.

Friday, August 21, 2009

So Many Good People

Years ago a friend of mine told me there are really only 600 important people in the world and if I live long enough I will discover that I know them all. It was hyperbole, of course, but I'm beginning to believe it's true. I've lived long enough to discover that my network of friends overlaps with other networks to an amazing degree and these networks are full of amazing and world changing people.

This morning I met with Jerilyn Brusseau, the founder of PeaceTrees Vietnam. Jerilyn's brother, Daniel Cheney, died when his helicopter was shot down in the Vietnam war. In 1995 Jerilyn founded PeaceTrees as a gesture of reconciliation between the people of America and the people of Vietnam. The organization has concentrated on the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordinance in Quang Tri province and the planting of trees on the cleared land.

Jerilyn and I are about the same age and our lives and friendships intersect in many ways. She's one of the 600 important people I'm supposed to know, and even though we don't know each other well we are clearly on the same path. In our relatively short meeting today we shared names and resources that will help us support each other's work on behalf of the people of Vietnam. PeaceTrees' Executive Director, Blair Burroughs, pitched in as well and I think we're well on our way to a new partnership and a collaborative sharing of human and other resources.

There are so many good people doing so many good things in the world. Sometimes it's hard to remember this simple truth.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Get Out of Town and Live in the Moment

Every summer, until this one, Marilynn and I have spent most weekends riding our bikes and camping in the San Juan Islands. It's a relatively short drive to Anacortes where we park the car and walk our bikes on the ferry. Our favorite island is Lopez. It's rural. There's very little traffic and the drivers always wave as they pass by. The "village" is folksy, not trendy, and there's a great bakery, Holly B's, and a terrific espresso place called Isabel's.

This year our jobs have kept us on a short tether, but after working two weeks straight we managed to clear our schedules yesterday so that we could hook up with some friends from Portland who are camping on the island. We couldn't quite do an overnight but we made a long day trip out of it. It's amazing what effect a day away in a beautiful place can have.

The weather was perfect. The ferry ride was relaxing and riding up the hill from the ferry landing it felt like we had entered the Magic Kingdom. It was sensational to get away and ride through farmland and then along the water's edge. Freshly mown hay and saltwater smells. We met up with our friends in the village and caught up on each other's lives over some delicious sandwiches from Vita's Deli.

After lunch we rode around the island. Marilynn hates the big hill leading up past Woodmen Hall, the old Grange building, but we did it and then rode past the little island church and cemetery. It was all relaxation - except for the hill.

On the way back to the 5:45 ferry we stopped at Isabel's to tank up and we ran into two other friends who live on the island. By 9pm we were home, but it felt like we had been away for a week. Take a break every once in awhile and smell the flowers or the tideflats. It worked for us.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Countdown

It's only two weeks until we leave for our new gig in Saigon. Right now it's all about priorities and trying to get ready for a whole set of unknowns. I've moved before, and I've lived overseas before. But Southeast Asia is really different. I don't even know how to think about the language. I'm OK with most European languages (at least I can make myself understood), but the tonal languages of the Far East are a real challenge to my ear and tongue. Then there's the weather - hot and humid. What clothes are right for business? Probably not shorts and flip flops, but certainly not coats and ties. What should I pack? Then - I know I'm not going on vacation, but I love to play tennis and the guitar so I'm taking my tennis racket and guitar and feeling a little funny about showing up for a new job with all my toys. Anyway, the countdown is on, and in between now and then we have one more trip to Oakland to attend an East Meets West function. Life's a little jammy at the moment, but it's better than sitting around clipping coupons.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Do You Feel Safer?

Travel memory is very selective, at least mine is. I tend to let the stress and aggravations settle to the bottom and let the street scenes, people’s faces, and interesting landscapes rise to the top like heavy cream. That’s the way it should be; those are the main reasons we travel – at least when travel is elective. But traveling on business is another animal entirely. We do it because our jobs require it and it adds another level of stress. While the recreational traveler can get upset at a cancelled flight or making a wrong turn on the way to the airport it is more of an inconvenience than a serious problem. For the business traveler it usually means disrupted relationships, meeting cancellations, and stress on both ends.

I experienced a little of that yesterday. Like everyone I hate going to the airport these days. For a two hour flight to Oakland I had to be at the airport two hours before departure. And now that security precautions are so draconian there are almost always long, long lines at check-in and long, long lines to clear security. Business travelers have the drill down better than their vacationing counterparts – no checked bags, no liquids in their carry-on, no scissors or pocket knives, etc. So, we go directly to the head of the line and check in with our e-tickets. I don't like much about post-9/11 travel but this is one thing I do like. I don’t have to deal with an overworked, snarky agent who had a fight with her kids before work or who doesn’t like the look of my carry-on stuff. I just tap the screen, put in the confirmation code, print the boarding pass and Whammo I’m off to security. I probably saved myself 40 minutes and untold anxiety yesterday by being able to cut the line at check-in.

But, security is another matter. I’m as patriotic as the next guy, an ex-Marine whose son fought Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. But, I don’t get it. The climate of fear that provoked this mind-numbing cluster of “security” procedures is preventing us from either catching the bad guys or developing an efficient system of airline security. Anyone who has traveled to Europe or the Far East since 9/11 knows that check-in, passport control, and customs procedures are simple, thoughtful, efficient and effective. Does anyone think that rifling through my shaving kit is doing anything more than wasting two peoples' time? Do my shoes or anyone else’s really pose a threat to national security? Does treating every person entering the US (citizen or foreign visitor) like a criminal really make us safer? I don’t think so. I think it says a lot about the fact that even though we live in a global society a very vocal minority of Americans (including a sizeable number of legislators and bureaucrats) are still provincial rubes who think owning a gun is more important to their survival than extending a hand in friendship. "Homeland Security" at airports is a time consuming waste of resources and time. We can do it better. Let’s get on it. Be careful, be vigilant, be aware but get real. Our culture, productivity, standard of living and life expectancy are not what they used to be. In many ways we’re living on our laurels. We need to be better world citizens and stop putting the wagons in a circle to fend off the redskins. The airport travel mess is a symptom of the greater disease.

Yes, this is a rant, but it's only a rant about a broken part of the system. A German friend chided me about being so negative about America. She loves America and the way Americans have welcomed and treated her. But, my gripe isn't about Americans it's about this airport security mess and the way it is painting us all with a bad brush. It makes it look like all of America is stupid and paranoid, and I don't think that's right. Is every decision maker scared to upset the lunatic right-wingers who think that if we build a fence it will keep out illegal immigrants? Check in with the guys who built the Berlin Wall. There are ways to make ourselves safer, but going through my shaving kit is not one of them.

Oh, by the way, on the way to my 10 o’clock appointment I got on the wrong BART train and went to San Francisco instead of downtown Oakland. Sometimes the pain of modern travel is self inflicted. It’s not always the other guy’s fault when things don’t go as planned.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Don't Miss What's Right in Front of You

Yesterday Marilynn and I went down to King County Public Health to get some shots for Vietnam. Do we need shots? I don't really know, but exotic places have exotic bugs so we got shot up - Hepatitis A and B, Thyphoid boosters, and Japanese Encephalitis - as recommended by the public health folks. $800+ when it was all done. You could go broke and drive yourself crazy trying to stay safe.

I've always liked to live close the ground when I travel - on foot or bike, eating street food or in small local places, and asking locals for recommendations. Still, I don't want to be crazy or do something stupid. You don't eat salad or unpeeled fruit and vegetables in Mexico, and the same holds true for the more exotic places. Sanitation in the Third World is never what it is at home, and your stomach probably isn't going to adapt on a vacation. It makes sense to control what you can control, but some things like mosquito and insect bites are more difficult to control. Just be sensible - lots of bug juice and mosquito netting when you're in the zone.

But we're not in the zone now, so after visiting King County Public Health we walked over to Monorail Espresso for a hit of caffeine. Monorail is the quintissential espresso stop in Seattle. It's a street side window in the architecturally unique Coliseum Theater building (now Banana Republic) on Pike Street. The neon sign above the window simply says "Caffeine," and you'd guess from the scene in front that the entire clientele was made up of tattoo covered bike messengers. But, it's not. Monorail's owner, Chuck Beek, knows almost everyone who stops by and "almost everyone" does stop by - at least the cognescenti. The Monorail space is tiny, just room for the friendly and attractive barista (sometimes two), the macchina, and a sink in back. Except for the open window, the rest of the window area is covered with pictures of customers, pictures of Chuck with custormers, Obama posters, and last year's countdown calendar to the end of W's term in the White House. Chuck gave up regular work after a brief stint as a flight attendant for Continental. So did his wife Susie, and in 1988 he opened one of Seattle's first espresso carts under the monorail built for the 1962 World's Fair. It prospered, and today it's still thriving in the permanent space on Pike.

I got to know Chuck like most people do - at the window. We struck up a conversation when I discovered that he rides his bike to work every day from his home on Bainbridge Island. Then I discovered that he and Susie like to vacation in Europe on their bikes and that sealed the deal. We started comparing European bike routes and best places to tour. Then in 2005 we ran into Chuck and Susie in the Amsterdam airport. They were on their way home from a tour of Switzerland and we were coming back from two weeks in Provence. Small world.

Yesterday, Laura the barista drew us a couple of ristretto shots, steamed some milk, and executed a perfect onion-like drawing with exquisite foam at the top of our lattes. Then we joined the bike messengers at one of the small sidewalk tables and watched the parade. It wasn't long until Buddy Foley, the Ladybug Man, came along to join us. Buddy is a legend in Seattle. He's an artist, a musician, a collector, a street person, and a walking history of the offbeat downtown scene. He sells ladybugs (100 for $5), plays keyboards, makes art, talks compulsively, and knows everyone. Yesterday he was sporting a Christine Gregoire Staff badge and lanyard. Christine is Governor of the State of Washington. Was Buddy really serving at a Gregoire event? Don't doubt it. Sometimes he seems like an escapee from the state hospital, and then you learn that whatever he said that seemed outrageous is true.

Marilynn had never met Buddy and it was fun to introduce her to some of the characters that were part of my downtown life for the last 10 years. I'll miss downtown Seattle, but downtown Saigon will be crazy interesting I'm sure. And, it's not as if we're leaving forever. We'll be back and I'm sure we'll see Chuck and Buddy and the two homeless guys that panhandle on the two sides of the Eileen Fisher store across from Nordstrom. That's been an interesting part of the downtown experience for me too. All over the core area homeless people have staked their claim to a corner or a place near some building, and every day they man the space and hold their paper cup or a box cover out to panhandle for spare change. The two guys at the Eileen Fisher store have become friends of sorts. I passed them every day. We always greeted each other and every once in awhile I put a buck or five in their cups. They're both very friendly and often they're too busy talking to someone to say hello or hold the cup out. I'd like to know their stories. Why are they there? They are actually more reliable and predictable than some employees. And when they aren't at their spots I wonder if something has happened to them. But, sure as anything, they're back in place the next day. I used to feel sorry for them, but now I see them differently. They may not have had a lot of choices in life, but I think these are choices they've made for themselves and they seem to be making it just fine. Not my style but just fine.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Welcome to the Organization

I woke up this morning to find my Inbox full of very gracious welcome messages. Earlier, John Anner, the Executive Director of East Meets West, had sent an email to staff introducing me as the new Development Director for Vietnam and welcoming me as the newest member of the EMW team. Immediately, I had 10 new welcome messages from other staff. Next week I'll get to meet the people in the Oakland headquarters face to face.

On Monday I had a long telephone conversation with Bob Greenwood of The Greenwood Company. Bob is the CEO of a consulting firm in San Francisco and the author of a recently concluded study of EMW's fundraising history, strategy, and plans. I read the study last week, but it was interesting to talk to the author directly. Like most non-profits EMW has done some things well, very well in some cases, but there is always room for improvement. The incredible expansion and growth over the last 6 years has left the organization understaffed and with little time to develop a plan that comprehensively addresses current and future needs. Hiring me is a first step in addressing those needs.

Since most of the organization's work takes place in Vietnam (Cambodia, Laos, and East Timor are part of an expansion strategy) it makes sense to have boots on the ground in the country where the work takes place. My job will be to find financial support for EMW projects in Vietnam, mostly from local and international companies doing business there. There has been limited success there in the past few years, but it needs to be ramped up. There is a large ex-patriot community in Ho Chi Minh City, and they will be my primary target group.

One of the most interesting things that Mr. Greenwood told me was a story about meeting with a senior US Consulate diplomat in HCMC. The official told him about young staffers coming to work in Vietnam and their ignorance and indifference to the cultural protocols. Respect and courtesy are baseline behaviors in any culture, but they may be more important in some. When I was there on my first trip I was always surprised when a stranger asked my age. At first I didn't know how to respond. The question would be considered rude in America. But in Vietnam it's important because there are different forms of address and respect dictated by a person's age. The same is true in business or government. A higher ranking business associate or government official expects a higher degree of respect and deference. The diplomat related a story about some young staffers who failed to rise when a senior VN official entered the room for a meeting. It offended the official and derailed the meeting. Greenwood stressed the importance of being especially polite, courteous, and respectful in any encounter with Vietnamese counterparts. It doesn't seem like an onerous task, does it.