In my continuing efforts to escape the ravages of Cubicleism, I turned to my innate creativuty to magically create additional income while enjoying an artistic outlet. First, I naturally turned to eBay, where I still (barely) maintain a shop as Wolf Lodge Enterprises. Holy FeeCharger, BatGuy! As sales slowed to a, well, STOP, I find myself covering monthly charges out of pocket.
Last Fall I discovered http://www.etsy.com/, which provides an exquisitely affordable marketplace for handmade items only. With an ever-growing assortment of crafts & arts of varying styles & values, it quickly becomes addictive. You have GOT to check out the Time Machine!!!
My shop is at http://www.wolflodge.etsy.com/, where I offer Native American chokers built by my Ojibwe daughter-in-law as well as my own Tribal versions of hatbands, chokers, armbands, & boot chokers. A few of my oil paintings live there to color up the place.
The real value of Etsy is in the community of sellers who offer up their remarkable wares & a never-ending stream of information, guidancce, & assistance thru the Forums & Chat Rooms. For example, I read thru a 34-page (& counting) thread on identification of gemstones, manmade & natural. Information overload? You bet! And worth every word.
Some of my favorite Etsy sellers are linked at right. I admire their fresh, funny, & often irreverent views on the world as expressed thru their art. I can only hope that my art will move someone as well.
I also created my own website at http://www.wolflodgetx.com/ which is a work in progress as I learn & grow. My partner is my Beloved wife of 35 years, who shares with me a passion for Native American art & life, so our powwow visits are chronicled there as well. Please check out my favorite Etsyans, & let the cool waters of creativity buoy you up, & raise your spirits, bringing you closer to The Creator. (And while you're up there, could you put in a good word for the Ol' Wolf?)
Friday, June 22, 2007
One Year, One Tear
One year has gone since Wes, my beloved Brother of a Different Mother, passed home. It is terribly difficult to grab on to the fact that I have not hugged him in that long. He wanders around my heart & through my thoughts every single day, as if I just got back from hanging out with him in East Texas, digging up mischief & causing those Exasperated Eye Rolls we both loved. I can still hear his voice & see his face clearly. I thank God that he gave him to us to love, and that He ended his suffering.
We lost a treasured friend last November. Nick was the first person to accept us & befriend me when we moved here 20 years ago. He remained a tried & true friend to all my family until we lost touch with him a couple of years ago. Whenever we speak of Nick, it is with deep love, respect, & admiration at the kind of man whe was. He touched many people over the years, & even his few detractors had to admit he was one heck of a man. I had seen him in the depths of sorrow at the loss of his mother, joyfully doing his best James Brown shuffle, touching my wife's shoulder with the greatest of loving touches, & standing tall in a courtroom after being insulted by a shoplifter who did not know his character.
It is startling to realize the impact cancer has had on my life. These are the loved ones it has taken from me:
Sandra Hashim (bio-sister)
Wes Willis
Nick McDonald
Nick Flanjack (Cousin)
John Hritz (Stepfather)
I am sure that I missed some, & that the list will grow. My belove wife has survived it twice. My cubicle neighbor is a survivor as well. My son was horrendously misdiagnosed with leukemia as a small child. Cancer: it's like an evil mist that swirls around our lives. We cannot help but breathe in its' vapors: we can only pray that we breathe them out as well.
We lost a treasured friend last November. Nick was the first person to accept us & befriend me when we moved here 20 years ago. He remained a tried & true friend to all my family until we lost touch with him a couple of years ago. Whenever we speak of Nick, it is with deep love, respect, & admiration at the kind of man whe was. He touched many people over the years, & even his few detractors had to admit he was one heck of a man. I had seen him in the depths of sorrow at the loss of his mother, joyfully doing his best James Brown shuffle, touching my wife's shoulder with the greatest of loving touches, & standing tall in a courtroom after being insulted by a shoplifter who did not know his character.
It is startling to realize the impact cancer has had on my life. These are the loved ones it has taken from me:
Sandra Hashim (bio-sister)
Wes Willis
Nick McDonald
Nick Flanjack (Cousin)
John Hritz (Stepfather)
I am sure that I missed some, & that the list will grow. My belove wife has survived it twice. My cubicle neighbor is a survivor as well. My son was horrendously misdiagnosed with leukemia as a small child. Cancer: it's like an evil mist that swirls around our lives. We cannot help but breathe in its' vapors: we can only pray that we breathe them out as well.
Life Times at Best Buy
ROWE vs. Wade: as in wading thru life slogging thru the mire of a dead end career, thigh deep in dissatisfaction, depression, & dissillusionment. Every day to the pointless solitude of my corporate gray cube I go, hoping against hope to find another source of free Sudoku & crosswords to pass the time til the tide of commuting laps against the clock.
Tides & times have passed me by - I can dream only of that elusive & ephemeral dream job that would let me live my life in peace, close to my beloved wife of 30+ years, & oceans away from the increasingly deadly hour-plus commute of doom & the riptides of drowning opportunities.
Enter the tsunami of the ROWE program at Best Buy. The acronym stands for "Results Only Work Environment. This revolutionary outlook on the work-life balance (it is to laugh!) eliminates scheduled hours, cubicles, mandatory meetings, & face time. Employees can work from home, the park, the beach, or in some cases, a deer blind, as long as their work is done & their productivity is high. Gone are the long commutes, gone are the decisions between work & familial responsibilities & time conflicts. In the case of Best Buy, productivity is up, as is job satisfaction.
I have often opined to my bosses that I am a prime candidate for telecommuting. However, my job is such that I cannot currently perform it remotely. Or can I? ROWE makes all things possible. Quite frankly, I have an increasingly difficult time leaving my darling wife each day. I am not a lazy person, I like to work hard, but I cannot shake the feeling that I am missing the biggest part of life by repeating my death drive every Monday thru Friday.
I know that my lack of higher education is coming back to haunt me, like a ghostly pirate stalking the holds of my career caravel. I hear his chains rattle, his cutlass straining to lift itself from its' scabbard of restraint. Unless there is a sea change, it's Davy Jones' locker for my working career. Pink slip at morning, sailor take warning. Oh, to ROWE, ROWE. ROWE my boat to Minnesota...
Tides & times have passed me by - I can dream only of that elusive & ephemeral dream job that would let me live my life in peace, close to my beloved wife of 30+ years, & oceans away from the increasingly deadly hour-plus commute of doom & the riptides of drowning opportunities.
Enter the tsunami of the ROWE program at Best Buy. The acronym stands for "Results Only Work Environment. This revolutionary outlook on the work-life balance (it is to laugh!) eliminates scheduled hours, cubicles, mandatory meetings, & face time. Employees can work from home, the park, the beach, or in some cases, a deer blind, as long as their work is done & their productivity is high. Gone are the long commutes, gone are the decisions between work & familial responsibilities & time conflicts. In the case of Best Buy, productivity is up, as is job satisfaction.
I have often opined to my bosses that I am a prime candidate for telecommuting. However, my job is such that I cannot currently perform it remotely. Or can I? ROWE makes all things possible. Quite frankly, I have an increasingly difficult time leaving my darling wife each day. I am not a lazy person, I like to work hard, but I cannot shake the feeling that I am missing the biggest part of life by repeating my death drive every Monday thru Friday.
I know that my lack of higher education is coming back to haunt me, like a ghostly pirate stalking the holds of my career caravel. I hear his chains rattle, his cutlass straining to lift itself from its' scabbard of restraint. Unless there is a sea change, it's Davy Jones' locker for my working career. Pink slip at morning, sailor take warning. Oh, to ROWE, ROWE. ROWE my boat to Minnesota...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
One More Earthtrip Around the Sun
The Big Blue Marble has spun completely thru its' orbit since I started this new work assignment last March. Just had my annual review ( only 2 weeks late this year - woo-hoo!!) & it was relatively painless compared to the chew-him-up & hit-the-spitoon session I had last year. My new boss is very kind to me & does a bang-up job despite it being her first command.
She was bothered by my inherent lack of positive outlook regarding my future. To sum it all up, my long term (10 years) goal is basically "Cremated & Forgotten". Don't get me wrong, I know I have family that will miss me: however the workplace will not. So what? Who cares if I'm "Tits-Up" instead of "Guns Up!?
My previous boss in this job was catastrophically inept. Shortly after I moved over by the windows here our product underwent a major header-to-footer remodel. Some of the changes were great - most were so badly mishandled that my Director plans to use the whole debacle as a case study on how NOT to go to market, when he retires soon to teach at the University level.
Within a few months of my move, all my major accounts were stripped away & given to co-workers who were already overloaded with business. Now a year later I still have not been told the real reason why, so I must conclude that it was performance-based. Despite winning a sales award my first month in position, I must characterize the last 14 months as a failure which I have been unable to overcome. I have faced great adversity in the workplace over the years & traditionally clawed my way back to the top. Not this time - my clawing days are over.
For several years I have tried my best to transition out of Sales, to no avail. Amazing what few opportunities there are for 50+'ers with no skills! That loud Baby BOOM was me hitting the bottom sans bounce! So, here I sit. Now we have a new compensation plan which is tied solely to percentage of goal attainment. Payout is zero unless you achieve 60% of goal: in October, that increases to 80%. Like I needed more stress, right?
MSN had a recent article relating to the decrease in life expectancy caused by chronic stress. Put 2 & 2 together, you get Bye-Bye!! So, I will spend the time I have trying to make my Beloved Darlin' of 35 years as happy as I can. A legacy would be too much to ask...
She was bothered by my inherent lack of positive outlook regarding my future. To sum it all up, my long term (10 years) goal is basically "Cremated & Forgotten". Don't get me wrong, I know I have family that will miss me: however the workplace will not. So what? Who cares if I'm "Tits-Up" instead of "Guns Up!?
My previous boss in this job was catastrophically inept. Shortly after I moved over by the windows here our product underwent a major header-to-footer remodel. Some of the changes were great - most were so badly mishandled that my Director plans to use the whole debacle as a case study on how NOT to go to market, when he retires soon to teach at the University level.
Within a few months of my move, all my major accounts were stripped away & given to co-workers who were already overloaded with business. Now a year later I still have not been told the real reason why, so I must conclude that it was performance-based. Despite winning a sales award my first month in position, I must characterize the last 14 months as a failure which I have been unable to overcome. I have faced great adversity in the workplace over the years & traditionally clawed my way back to the top. Not this time - my clawing days are over.
For several years I have tried my best to transition out of Sales, to no avail. Amazing what few opportunities there are for 50+'ers with no skills! That loud Baby BOOM was me hitting the bottom sans bounce! So, here I sit. Now we have a new compensation plan which is tied solely to percentage of goal attainment. Payout is zero unless you achieve 60% of goal: in October, that increases to 80%. Like I needed more stress, right?
MSN had a recent article relating to the decrease in life expectancy caused by chronic stress. Put 2 & 2 together, you get Bye-Bye!! So, I will spend the time I have trying to make my Beloved Darlin' of 35 years as happy as I can. A legacy would be too much to ask...
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