Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and mother-figures out there! 

But most of all, Happy Mother's Day to MY mother!  Love you Mom!

Mother, the ribbons of your love are woven around my heart.  
   
~Author Unknown

Destiny Cannot be Escaped

So, dictionary.com provides one of the definitions of "destiny" as "the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events".

Just keep that in the back of your minds while I tell my little story...

My favorite Star Trek character, ever since I was a little girl, is Spock.  He's so trustworthy and reliable and smart.  He knows everything and he won't yell at you about it, even if you do something really dumb, which we have to admit, Kirk did all the time.

I was introduced to science fiction by my Dad who grew up loving it.  I never became a super-duper die-hard science fiction fan, I admit, but I've read the important ones, the Foundation books, the Dune books, all of Ray Bradbury (oh man I love Bradbury).  And I love sci-fi movies.  It's very likely that one of the reasons I always had a soft spot for Spock is that I felt like he was like my Dad.  Even the pointed ears.  Ok, just kidding on that one.  But they were both tall, slim and had dark hair.  And both always knew the answer to every question and were very logical.  I never felt that I was like that - I'm neither tall, slim, or have dark hair.  I felt like I didn't know anything but had feelings about everything.  I was always a very feeling type person.  I have sympathy.  I have empathy.  More, really, than I wish I had. 

My poor Dad would try to tutor me for my math classes which for some reason, starting in high school, I never did well in.  I remember just not getting ANYTHING he was trying to tell me.  I excelled with the word stuff - english, writing, literature classes were my forte.  To this day I find math very frustrating.  I think one of the issues was that I was one of those people (still am actually) that makes a leap to the answer of something.  I was never someone who could show my work.  Even when writing, I didn't make notes, or create an outline of my paper.  When the deadline came, I sat down and just wrote it.  It sprung fully formed from my forehead as they say.  Sometimes, when we were required to turn in our outlines ahead of time before the actual paper was due, I'd write the paper and then just figure out an outline to turn in.  I just don't think in that one logical step at a time way.

Not feeling like a logical person, I ended up majoring in Psychology in college - it's hard to get more liberal in Liberal Arts than that, right?

One weird thing?  I had to take a statistics class.  I LOVED it.  Totally aced it.  The rest of my math classes were all remedial - only what I had to take in order to graduate and I struggled with them. A strange anomaly in my anti-math career.

Being unable to follow in my Dad's footsteps into Computer Science due to my broken math abilities, I ended up temping when I got out of college and fell accidentally into the Pharmaceutical field.  I worked many years in Regulatory - the department that works with Health Authorities to get drugs approved.

When I finally ended up leaving Pharma a few years back, I ended up at a firm that does consulting work for Pharma companies.  I found myself in the software department, Product Management to be exact.  There I've created requirements for software based on my years of experience in Regulatory.

And meantime, something was happening.  Something quiet and insidious.  I was accidentally absorbing programming concepts from the software developers around me.

It didn't really hit me until the other day.  I was having a conversation with my father about something going on at work.  He responded to me describing situations he's been in (he's been in the technical world for ever - starting with programming, eventually running a data center).

I suddenly realized as he was talking that I TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING HE WAS SAYING!

Was it the first time ever?  There is a strong possibility it was.

And I realized then that I had actually managed to follow in my father's footsteps even though I had done everything possible to go the opposite direction.  What could be more anti-Spock than a degree in touchy-feeling-tell-me-all-your-problems-and-I'll-help-you-Psychology!!!!  I know, right??????

And yet here I was.  And even crazier?  I love what I do.  How about that?

So beware out there.  Your destiny awaits.  :-)

A Tale of Two Rivers - Part II: Der Rhein

Recently I traveled internationally for work, and I posted about my trip to London here: A Tale of Two Rivers - Part I: The Thames.

Just a week after that trip, I flew again for work, going to Basel, Switzerland. The corner of Switzerland I went to is right where France, Germany and Switzerland meet. It is near the Alsace-Lorraine region which is near and dear to my heart due to my maternal DOMELLE surname. In the 18th century, many people from the Alsace-Lorraine region migrated south to what is modern day Romania (then it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire), so it is likely my DOMELLE ancestors came from near that region as they were german speakers living in Pre-WWI Hungary.

Anyway, back to Basel!

So where London was two weeks ahead in spring compared to my home, Basel was 2 weeks behind. Bulbs had come up, but the trees weren't really showing their buds yet. The weather was a bit dreary for most of my visit, not pouring rain, but that misting type of rain, although the sun did make some peeps.

Basel is ancient - they've found pre-Roman settlements and the old city is well-preserved with lots of winding little streets. It's a bit hilly where the old city is, but nothing crazy. I didn't have a lot of time for site-seeing so I made my way straight to the Basel Munster which is the cathedral right on the Rhine river.

I guess because it was a Monday and because the weather wasn't great, I was completely alone in the cathedral for about 20 minutes before any other tourists made their way in - very different from Westminster Abbey!

The cathedral was mainly built in the 1400s - there was one there earlier but it fell down during an earthquake in the 1300s!

There is a beautiful colored roof on the cathedral outside, as well as a little walled garden attached to the south of it. This picture is from behind the cathedral which faces right onto the Rhine river. There's a drop of a couple storys to the river.

This might be the first sandstone cathedral I've ever seen.

In the area next to the main cathedral and attached to it, there were some doorways to clergy offices and covered walkways around a small garden.


In that area, of all things, I heard a female opera singer singing, I could tell it was inside because I could here the echos, but I couldn't place where it was coming from. I am no opera student, but it didn't sound like Italian opera, it sounded like German opera.

Finally I found this door and that's where it was loudest. So naturally I immediately decide it's like Phantom of the Opera and the little door must lead to steps down to and underground room that can be accessed by caves from the shores of the river.....










But then I realize the little door leads to steps that lead UP to this large chamber next to the cathedral and that's actually where the singing was coming from. :-) So much for my imagination! But it was beautiful and a little odd to hear live muffled opera like that while walking around empty cathedral walkways and gardens.







This is a picture from right out back of the cathedral looking to the right. So now I could say I saw the Thames and the Rhine rivers 2 weeks apart. :-)



Here's the view looking to the left. These houses here that are right next to the cathedral have been here in some cases since the 1400s - I saw the plaques on the houses.



Once on modern day streets, what I saw were banks, banks, banks. So I knew I was in Switzerland!! People were very friendly and nearly every one spoke English, which was good for me, since my tired brain kept trying to provide me with French phrases rather than the German one's I had looked up!

And finally, just a few more pictures from my brief visit!

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Wow, 4 years!!! I'm hardly ever that consistent with anything!! Must be all these nice people I've met over the years now while blogging - both other bloggers and newly discovered cousins!

And so, on to what I most enjoy about my blogiversary - let's take a look at some of the oddest search terms from the past year that somehow sent people to my blog:

1. Nose

Ok, I admit, I've talked about my nose in the past...but who just types in "nose" for a search?


2. skin falling off

Ok, again, I admit, I had an episode a couple years ago where I described a skin peel that, hmm, how shall I say....it didn't go well. Maybe I exaggerated a bit when describing it. Whoever you are, I sympathize.


3. undressed yoga

Now this one I am NOT taking credit for. I have never discussed this (although now I have I guess) - plus....um...EW! The only way this should be searched for is "solitary no one else watching ever in locked house undressed yoga".


4. absalom caterpillar tattoo

Got me. I have no idea.


5. cat math physics

If this is true, the human race is doomed.


6. eating lamprey

Dude, don't do it!!! Especially not a surfeit of them...at least that's what Englands Henry I would say...


7. i fell outside

I'm sorry about that. I fall inside all the time. I have a problem with stairs. Safe stair navigation has eluded me both during my childhood and adult life. :-)


8. is urban dictionary accurate?

Yes. Glad I could help.



Finally, a big THANK YOU to every one who stops by! :-)

A Tale of Two Rivers - Part I: The Thames

So a long while back in 2010 I had a posting of cool things I'd been lucky enough to do in my life (Already in the Bucket). I thought often of that posting in the last few weeks of traveling that I had to do for work.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to attend 2 meetings in Europe for work - one in London at the beginning of March, and one in Basel, Switzerland last week.

First off, before you think I'm cool or anything, I have to admit that traveling like that - spending a couple days overseas, flying home, having our stupid early time change here in the US, then flying out to Switzerland, staying for a couple days and coming home.......HOLY COW it did me in. Last Wednesday coming home from the airport, I just about made it home I was so freaking tired. How do people travel all the time? Am I just a huge wimp? Wow. I might have shaved a few years off my lifespan these past few weeks. But don't worry, I have a trip to Jamaica later this year where I'll add them back on. :-)

Anywho!

So while in London for the London meeting, I was able to spend a few hours sightseeing and was truly fortunate to be staying in a hotel right across the Thames from Big Ben. And when I say, right across, I mean, RIGHT ACROSS. Here's the view from my hotel's front door.

So I got to walk across the bridge and over the Thames river like Jessie and LeStat at the end of the Queen of the Damned movie (yes, sorry, I do enjoy that horrible horrible movie and how could I not think of it while crossing that bridge) and marched myself right over to Westminster Abbey with the Kidneythieves song from the movie ending playing in my head.




I'd been to Westminster Abbey once before while actually on vacation and had really enjoyed it, so I thought it would be wonderfully decadent not only to go again, but to listen to every single word of the tour and really just wallow in it. And I did! I spent a good 2 1/2 hours there just really soaking in it in, reading every plaque and listening to every option on the walking audio tour. They don't allow pictures inside, but I took many in the cloisters and outside areas.

One funny note, at least it was funny to me, is that they had Jeremy Irons doing the spoken audio tour. Now, I really like Jeremy Irons as an actor, but the last thing I'd seen him in is the Borgias series where he plays the not-so-holy Borgia Pope.

So hearing him speak so nicely about the Abbey and inviting me to stay for a service if I liked felt kind of ironic, but in a fun way. :-)



The sheer volume of famous people buried at Westminster is a bit hard to grasp. And when I say "famous", it's not just plain old famous, but more like legendary, at least to a student of English history like I am.

Below are a few of the pics I took where I was allowed to take pictures. I actually bought a big fat hard-back coffee table book as a treat to myself that has all the inside pictures (but much better of course) that I would have taken.






I also managed to squeeze in a visit to the National Portrait Gallery where I spent time mainly in the wing for 12th-15th centuries, and a visit over to the Temple Church (famously shown in the Da Vinci Code movie).

At the National Portrait gallery I bought my second huge coffee table book to lug back to the states - a big old book on ossuaries (places where the bones of the dead are stored). I can't help it, I just love really old churches/cathedrals and cemeteries/crypts!!!

And yes, I realize I could have gotten both these books on amazon or wherever, but it's much better to look at my bookcase and say, there's the book I lugged back from London, and over there's the book I bought while traveling through in the Trossachs and then of course there was that one time I was sailing past Majorca (just kidding on that last one... who gets the reference?)

So anyway, here are a few pics of the Temple Church and Trafalgar Square outside the National Portrait Gallery.










I'm so glad I had a few hours to walk around London on this trip!!! I feel very fortunate.

In Part 2, I'll talk about the trip to Switzerland!