The Slow Descent into the Oblivion of Forgetfulness

I have never been a person for whom the past is that meaningful. I have friends that can go on and on in incredible detail about this event in their youth and that event 20 years ago, etc, etc. I don't remember any of that stuff...and never have. My life is much more in the now.

But with the advent of age, my lack of recall of the past is getting even worse. When I was at Lady Di and Lord Esteban's a couple of weeks ago, I totally forgot that they had visited us 5 years ago during the balloon fiesta.

Yesterday, I was reminding Wife that she has a birthday coming up in April. I said "And you're going to be 60, right?"

"No dear", she gently said, "I'm going to be 61. Don't you remember the party and the trip last year?"

"Oh yeah, that was the big surprise party I organized with all the kids coming in from out-of-town and the New Zealand trip. I remember,"

So when ever I see or talk to you next, don't assume I remember anything that we've done or talked about. Just assume each time you contact me that you have to remind me who you are, what our relationship is, and any open items we have.

Drowning in a Sea of Car Repairs

Ye olde Durango (12 years - 140k miles) is going through a phase of multiple problems. It's now in for the third time in three weeks. First the brakes, then a ball joint. Now it's the rear differential. We're up to the mid 4 figures at a time I really didn't need this expense. Sigh. And this doesn't count the little incident with Wife's car which we can't speak about in public.

Wife Stuff

It has been many a year since Wife and I have been able to hike together. She hurt her foot almost 7 years ago and since then hiking has been off the activity list...until recently.

She started doing work on the foothills about five months ago and then, as I posted earlier, she announced that she wanted to go with me when AinA and FH went hiking last Wednesday.

We went again today. I'm really excited that this activity that we loved doing together will be back in our lives.

While we were out we were befriended by three very playful dogs

Unfortunately this was on a fairly steep slope so it was a bit nerve racking

Orchids - Wife has been trying for years to get orchids to grow with no success. Last fall she resorted to buying some cheap, on sale, looking like they were dead orchids from Lowes.

Lowe and behold (yuk, yuk). They bloomed!

Foreign Visitor Report

We've been graced with a visit from our wonderful daughter 3 of 3 (also know as AinA) and her future husband (FH) who are here from Amsterdam. We see them not nearly often enough. And they're in the midst of planning their wedding which will be in France in September.

They were really looking forward to New Mexico's nicer weather compared to the Dutch winter but unfortunately we've been getting a lot of storms ourselves. They've shopping like crazy taking advantage of the euro to dollar premium. And we've cooked and eaten a lot (I know that comes as a shocker!).

We did get a number of hikes in. We even got the beloved Yak-trax for everyone so we could hike when we knew a snowfall was coming.

Here is AinA, Wife and FH on the La Luz Trail

You can see we were the first up the trail. Ahead of us are no foot prints!

The La Luz is the most popular trail in the Sandias and is always crowded.
But I took this picture when we came back.
When we arrived there were no cars there. That has never happened to me before.

Then we decide to do a quick afternoon and overnight trip to Taos up north.

Here's the crew in Town looking at the Sangre de Cristo Mountains

The next morning we went to the Rio Grande River Gorge

View from the Gorge Bridge looking North

Looking South

A panorama of the Sangre de Cristo's

Wife taking pictures from the bridge

AinA and FH are going home tomorrow and we're going to miss them a lot.

On the Hunt

I was on the hunt in California this week for that endangered species - the elusive client. We had a moderately successful week (by New Economy standards) with three almost yes results. Normally business is pretty much business. Unless I'm traveling with Partner Frank (who has starred in such posts as Scenes from Iowa). Frank for some bizarre reason is willing to go along with almost any culinary escapade I suggest. (He tried sushi for the first time back in 2005 when we were in Columbia, S.C.).

So we had to drive together from So Cal to the Monterey/Salinas area, a five hour drive. We stopped in Paso Robles for lunch where I directed him to a hole in the wall Mexican place. I was not disappointed. They had a variety of classics and a ton of salsas. I ended up with a taco with ropas viejas (roasted poblano chiles) and a gordita with lengua (look it up)

A sample of the salsas - I couldn't begin to know what they all were but they were good.

My gordita

Partner Frank with burrito

Frank really likes motor sports. We were early arriving in the area and on our way to the hotel we passed Laguna Seca, a famous auto racing rack. We decided to see if we could get in. There was no one stopping us and it turned out there was some practice racing going on. Very cool. We were able to go to the famous Corkscrew Turns (see map).

Bad Pictures of Corkscrew Turn and Raceway

For dinner I had spied a Korean BBQ place in Marina last time we were there and I was hot to try it. It did not disappoint.

Partner Frank with Shoju (for more on Shoju read Motherrocker post)

As always, lots of kimchi and other salted, brined goodies

Our meat and chicken cooking away

Some of the meat in a lettuce leaf with some miso paste

After our business Friday morning, Frank dropped me off at good friends Mister Steve and Lady Di. Steve took the afternoon off and we went to a park along the Pacific and walked for a couple of hours. It is always great being with them.

Lady Di kicked butt for dinner as always. This night she made roasted shellfish (lobster, crab, prawns) with a mushroom risotto and a salad.

Ahhhh - Satisfaction
Steve wanted to get a shot of me with these classy white slippers.

How To Tell Things Are Moving Up in The New Economy

I wrote about my frustrations last time with the paralysis on decision making that is wreaking havoc in the advice business. With the simple and basic "Yes, we'd like you to start working for us" seeming to be lost, we need new measurements to keep our spirits up. So some of my colleagues and I have come up with new positive measurements for the new economic reality.

"Not No" - a "not no" is when the proposed client is not committing to go forward with you but has not told you to never darken their door again either. As in, " I talked to the Frebolt Electrical Widget Distribution Company and they're not really ready to do anything but they said I should call back next quarter." Good going team...a not no.

The "Almost Yes" - an "almost yes" is a yes with qualifiers that have to be met before it becomes a full yes. As in, "We've checked your references. We've gone to the budget committee. We're not sure what role you exactly play. Can you come in an talk to us again. And we thing we need you to adjust your payment schedule." An almost yes. Way to go team.

The "We Know We Owe You" - the "We Know We Owe You" is when your payments have suddenly stopped even though the client work is still going on and the client in all other ways seems happy. As in, "Oh we're so glad you're helping us. I don't think that we would have made it without you. Yes I know we haven't paid you for two months. We're having receivables issues ourselves. But we have forgotten you." At least we're not forgotten...go team!

Blah

Along with the new year some great power decided to completely de-energize the small business environment. After promising signs in the 4th quarter of last year, all decisions by owners on new projects (like the stuff I sell) have completely ceased.

This is the type of thing that can really eat into your self-confidence. Fortunately, in a sick sort of way, I have talked to many, many of my cohorts in various parts of the country and have confirmed that this is not just me but a national phenomena. And a lot of people are wondering when or if it will change. I have been through worse but it's never fun.