Tired of Partisan BS

Update

It’s been a while since I have updated my blog so I thought I would give an update.

Work

I have turned down the position on Germany because it just isn’t a great time for me to move to Europe. My son is just too young and let’s say it was a big issue with family, friends and of course Bryan. Maybe I will move if Hillary gets elected. I have however decided to really look at getting back to southern CA. So that will be my focus. There are three of us at work that each run a division with the same boss. The other too “the woman who talks softly and always starts a sentence with “I have a thought” and it ends two hours later and the psycho who thinks everyone is out to get him, are in a power struggle. I stay out of it but wow it makes for some long days. Plus I just hired six people, which was painful. We used an interview panel, and some of the worst candidates I have ever seen came in to interview. It was grueling. I equate it to Seattle, because I have never experienced this. I was planning on leaving my company in the next couple years and either working in the family business, or working overseas. However I was looking at my retirement benefits and if I retire at 65 I will get 9000 per month (in then dollars) a month in pension! Plus 401K and SS. Seems hard to leave. I will not loose my pension if I leave, it will just be less. If I retire at 52 I can get 5K per month! That seems so far away, don’t know how I will make it……I am kind of tired of the corporate politics and BS, and executive management is really not all it is cracked up to be.

School

The PhD program I started is great; I am enjoying the course work and the different focus on the issues. I am enjoying it much more than I did either of my master’s programs. Currently I am taking two classes at a time and may move it up to three and see if I can handle it. I will be complete the course work in about 14 months and can speed that up. Then it is dissertation time. Anyone want to write a dissertation? I think I will focus on the age gap in corporate America or the inability of corporate America to attract diversity candidates in science and engineering fields, and look at what role corporate America should take in the education system.

Home

I am not home much these days, so I am going to get rid of a couple activities to give me some spare time. I have cut back on my hours at work and I think I will have to force myself to the gym more often and give up rugby and baseball. My TV time remains intact. I have 7 TV’s in my house (sounds bad) but several were there when I bought the house. Summer has been fantastic so far, lots of nice weather and sailing. My brother has been coming up one weekend a month, which has been awesome. He wants to make sure I don’t go work overseas. Bryan spends a lot of time on the road and that is tough.

Politics

I don’t discuss politics much because I am worn out, and I am tired of people that can’t be objective. But I am tired of this early campaigning….. I never vote on social issues, all that I care about is that a moderate with a strong business background is in office; Someone that can be innovative, build bridges, and not polarize out country any further. The candidates under whelm me except for Rudy Giuliani. I will never vote for Hilary I think she is a criminal and unethical and will continue to polarize out country. Romney seems to be moving on social issues, Obama is not experienced in business or politics, Edwards – a lawyer no thanks. Fred Thompson, maybe but not sure where he stands, I want religion, abortion, gay issues etc. removed from the political landscape. I want low taxes, small government, innovation to generate income (like legalization of marijuana), and either we are a super power, or we are isolationists. Either is fine with me. I would love to see the rest of the world attack the US if we became neutral. I may not vote for the first time.

4th of July Week

I had a great week at work with my boss out of town and the president of the division in Japan. I really took it easy and ordered all of my books for my upcoming PhD classes and did some on-line shopping. My orientation seminar begins tomorrow, and there are so many books for my first class I am in shock. I really cruised through my MBA because it was intuitive and there were a lot of case studies and papers to write. I didn’t read much of the required material. Looks like I will have to spend a lot more time on my PhD…..Happy Hour was a blast and I drank way too much, making Friday a long day. There was a lot of talk about my secret admirer at happy hour and I think I compared her to an ostrich….Wasn’t very nice of me. But the secret admirer thing seems to be over for now.

In two weeks I meet the President of my company’s German division and I expect an offer shortly after that, but I think I have decided to stay here for now. Seattle is growing on me now that the sun is out. The weather is almost perfect. Today I took my dog for a run in a park along the river and then I went sailing on lake Washington. Now I am on vacation for 4^th of July weekend and looking forward to a week of relaxation, drinking and maybe a few nights out. Bryan will also be off all week so we can hang out and catch up. We are going to a 4^th of July party on a huge boat and will watch the fireworks over Puget Sound.

TV has really sucked lately, I have tried to watch Meadowlands but it doesn't do anything for me, I am watching Entourage, and I am trying to watch John from Cincinnati and after three episodes it has marginally improved. I also watched the Princess Diana concert tonight. Weeds starts soon.....