Unstuffed

There's a book coming out in April 2016 called Unstuffed by Ruth Soukup. 

The description reads: "Feeling weighed down by a home, schedule, and life that feel out-of-control and completely overstuffed? Through an inspiring combination of very personal stories and very practical action plans, Unstuffed will equip and inspire you to finally discover what it means to be unstuffed, and to declutter not just your home, but your mind and soul as well." 

The description of the book is so fitting to where I'm at. Weighed down. Out of control. Overstuffed. Yep. Too much stuff. Not enough organization. I'm not sure that I'll ever actually read the book because that requires spending money I don't have right now. However, I came across a to-do list from a sample of the new book. 

It's intriguing. Except for #9. How in try world do you get your inbox to zero?!?! Only in my dreams. Partly because I use my inbox at work to track what still needs to be done/replied to. If I moved those messages....well "out of sight, out of mind" really is a true saying. But the other 9 things on this list sound like good ideas. Maybe I need to put them on a whiteboard that I can check off each day and get a gold star when I'm done. Hahaha!!!

I would really like to be more organized and less cluttered. Especially on my desk. The piles are driving me bonkers but I stare at them and don't know where to start so they just keep sitting there driving me bonkers. It's a vicious circle. I have some vacation time coming up - perhaps part of it should be used for organizing. But how? Ideas are welcome! 

Diversity

There is diversity in my work. Diversity of people. Diversity of tasks. Today for instance, I spent the day with district security managers from Australia (but he lives in Thailand), Northern Ireland, Scotland, Mexico and Florida. I loved hearing the variety of accents and hearing stories from each of their regions. I spent nearly all day with them from 9am-8pm, minus about 2 hours in there. It was a blast. 

Tomorrow will be more task based as I begin to plan 3 conferences in Thailand, Norther Ireland and the great city of Peoria IL. 

I love the variety. The challenges. How every day is different. 

How's the.....

There is a popular topic of conversation. It seems like everyone has something to say about it. I rarely initiate conversation about this topic and generally only participate in the chatter if I’m asked a direct question. The rest of the time I alternate between chuckling and rolling my eyes.

What is this topic?

The weather.

Today I break my silence to write 500+ words on the subject.

I live in central Illinois and it is January. So you might guess that we have cold temperatures and some snow. And you would be correct. So why does it seem like most people are surprised by the cold and the snow? Sure, we’ve had some extra cold days….something about a polar vortex? But mostly it’s just January in central Illinois.

Just today, I was sitting in the break room eating my fabulously delicious tomato rotini soup when two coworkers pop in. He comes over by the windows where I was sitting and exclaims, “It’s …. snowing!?” I will let you fill in the appropriate four letter word. Now the windows span the entire length of the break room and I was sitting about 2 feet from them but I hadn’t even noticed it was snowing, even though I had been staring out the window for some time. Then my coworkers spend the next five minutes talking to each other about how ridiculous the weather is and comparing travel stories from the previous days’ commute. These are 40-50 year old men who have spent their entire lives in central Illinois. Why would today’s flurries be cause for such an uproar? I’m not sure that I’ll ever understand. Most days I just chuckle and let the conversation swirl around me, kinda like those flurries. Today I’m super tired so I confess that I might have rolled my eyes a little bit because I just don’t get it.

It’s not that I don’t care about the weather but it just doesn’t enthrall me like it does for others. Take for instance, my mom. (Side note: my mom is a loyal reader of this blog so I must preface this by saying that I love my mom dearly and this is in no way meant to be disrespectful. It’s just an example.)

Every time I call my mom, I get a detailed weather report for Hackensack, MN. She loves paying attention to the weather. She’ll stay up late even when she’s tired so she can catch the weather report on the news. I have joked with her that she should have become a meteorologist because she’s so fascinated by it. I don’t think she wanted to be wrong so much of the time so she chose a different line of work.

Me on the other hand….I don’t even look outside when I’m deciding how to dress. It’s winter so I dress in layers. If it happens to be a warmer day, I’ll just shed a layer. It works for me.

But probably the hardest thing for me to ignore is the comments about the snow. Whenever it starts snowing (Sunday night, for instance), my Facebook news feed blows up with people upset about the snow and wanting winter to be over already. This is when I get some serious eye rolling going. And occasionally, I slip in a comment about how I love the snow or how beautiful it is. Because I do. And it is.

And now to be honest, I have been diligently checking this weekend’s weather for the past week. I’m traveling south for work and am paranoid about driving in snow. It might be beautiful and I might love it but I DO NOT love to drive in it.

And I’m done. That’s more than enough words on a subject that usually renders me speechless.

(634 words)

"My" Spot

I have been parking in the same spot at work for over a year. Maybe even close to 18 months. I always journey to the highest level in the parking garage so that I can walk 5 flights of stairs to my work. I picked this parking spot the first day we moved to this new building and I have been parking there ever since. There are over a dozen parking spots in the area but almost no one else parks there. I suppose most people want to park as close to the door as possible. I prefer to be as far from the door and my office as possible. More exercise. 

Most days there is only one other car in the vicinity and they always pick the same parking spot as well.

Until this week.

Then it happened. 

The other car took my spot.

The audacity of some people!

My initial reaction was first surprise, then slight annoyance. After all, didn’t that person know this is my spot? I’ve parked here for over a year. That person has parked in their same spot for about the same length of time. What in the world possessed them to take my spot this week?!?! That reaction didn’t last long as I quickly realized what I was thinking and I rolled my eyes at myself and even chuckled a little. It’s not “my” spot. There are no parking assignments. There is no sign with my name on it that designates this spot as mine. I’m just a creature of habit who happens to park in the same spot every day.

And that gets me to thinking. In what other areas am I a creature of habit? Where have I gotten used to doing something in the same way every time? Now, habits are not inherently bad. I think it’s normal and even okay to have daily routines and habits throughout your day. But when those habits become so ingrained that you are not open to change….well, that might be an issue – such as with the example of my parking experience. So perhaps I need to ask myself some questions. Is this habit worth holding on to? Do I need to be open to change in this area? Perhaps there is more than one way of doing a task. Perhaps there is more than one place I can park in the morning. Perhaps I can be open to trying something in a new way.

Another thought this situation brings up is related to the idea of entitlement. Entitlement is an interesting thing. My initial reaction indicated a hidden sense of entitlement that I didn’t even realize that I was holding on to. I felt entitled to that spot simply because I had been parking there for so long. A daily choice had turned into feeling like I owned that spot. But I don’t. So now I must turn this reflection to other areas of my life. What do I feel entitled to? What do I feel that I deserve? This is a reflection to be continued…..

In the meantime, I need to say thank you to the owner of the gray Pontiac Vibe who parked in "my" spot. Thank you for causing me to think about entitlement.  Thank you for shaking me out of my habit. Thank you for breaking routine. 

(558 words)

Boxes and labels

Why do we put people in boxes?

Why do we label people without even knowing them?

Why do we rush to judgments before giving someone a chance?

Why do we make assumptions when we don't know the whole story?

These questions ran through my mind this morning while working with law enforcement on some identification training. You might think after 4.5 years and hundreds of officers trained that I would be used to the comments and the expression of surprise, but it never ceases to amaze and amuse me.

Generally, I get one of four responses, though the actual words may differ slightly....

"You look young, you sound even younger and you're a girl...what could you possibly know about heavy equipment?"

"No one as pretty and sweet as you should be in this line of work."

"You are a woman in a man's world. You must just be the secretary. Move over and let me talk to your boss."

"Are you married?"

These labels are applied when someone first calls for help and are shocked to hear a woman's voice. Or I hear these comments when I'm out delivering training. My reaction is always amusement. I actually enjoy shocking these people. I feel comfortable with my job and while I don't know everything about backhoes and bulldozers, I do know enough to do my job well. And I know who to ask when my knowledge fails me. I take pleasure in shocking them because I want them to reconsider their labels and perhaps next time they won't be so quick to label someone. At least that's my hope.

But today I was struck with a little sadness about the way we label people when we don't even know them. Perhaps we use a tiny bit of information to form a judgment that often ends up inaccurate. It's especially dangerous if our labels close us off from truly getting to know someone or allowing them out of the box that we put them in. Maybe labels are a way for our brains to process. Maybe we need boxes to help us make sense of life and the overwhelming amount of information that floods us. Maybe. But we still need to hold those labels and boxes loosely and allow people to be who they really are, not who our labels say they should be.

Let me challenge us today to not get stuck on labels. Don't focus on the box. Just give people permission to be themselves.

Yes I'm a woman who knows heavy equipment and even enjoys talking about machines.
Yes I get excited when I see big machines at work doing cool stuff and I don't mind slowing down for road construction because it gives me a chance to watch.
Yes I can tell you how to identify machines and where to find components.
Yes I am young and sound even younger on the phone but you might want to add a decade when you guess my age.
But I'm also a woman who loves working with kids and will cry when I see them loving Jesus with such innocent faith. I enjoy public speaking and teaching but also want to know an individual's story. I will watch the occasional chick flick but prefer a good sports movie. I'm more comfortable discussing theology and the Bible than corporate politics and wish I had more Bible/faith conversations. I love to write...anything from stories to poems to devotionals and Bible studies but sometimes struggle to find the right words during important conversations. I'd rather throw a frisbee or take a walk than go shopping. Actually there's a long list of things I'd choose to do rather than have to go shopping.
My point is that I'm a mix of interests and hobbies and skills and even some drama. :)

If you find a label for that, let me know. The most common one I hear is "weird" and I'm okay with that because I'm okay with being me. Let's be okay with letting people be themselves. It'll save us all a lot of headaches.

In the meantime I'm going to keep breaking the mold and creating shock among police officers.

Travels with Holly around America

Hahaha...so the post title was inspired by John Steinbeck and his book called "Travels with Charley In Search of America."  Good book by the way.  In three days I begin 2 weeks of traveling.  First I head to Nashville for a business trip - gotta update some business partners who are new to the program I run.  Then I'll go to Indiana for my brother's wedding.  I am so excited to be a part of his wedding party and to celebrate with him. After the wedding, I'll head home for 36 hours....just enough time to unpack, do laundry, and repack.  From there, it's off to Chicago I go for another business trip - this time to give a presentation to 350 people.  Call me crazy but I'm so stoked about it....definitely the largest crowd I've ever spoken to!! Next stop, Wisconsin to see my little brother, sister-in-law and 2 adorable nieces...obviously I'm looking forward to that. Then I'll continue to north into Minnesota to see my parents for a few days, back to my brother's in Wisconsin and then home....just in time to lead VBS at my church.

Whew....anyone else tired yet? Don't worry, after VBS, I'll stay home for 15 days before embarking on my next adventure. :)  Did I mention that I love to travel?!  I'm looking forward to meeting new people, hearing people's stories and being the light of Christ wherever I go.  And I'm definitely praying that I get to share my faith with people along the way.

Can't wait to see what adventures lie ahead....

Life is a vapor

On Tuesday, my company boss died from a heart attack. Totally unexpected. I had just talked with him on Monday. I was getting ready to email him when I got the news. Such a shock. So much sadness. He was a good man. He really cared about people and sought to listen to them. He wanted to know how you were doing and what he could do to make you more successful. He will be missed.

I've been trying to process how I'm feeling, trying to be honest and express my sorrow to God. Last night I finally picked up a pen and wrote. Sometimes it helps me to put pen to paper and simply let some words flow. About two years ago, I penned some words for a friend after her mom died. Just trying to comprehend....

Life is a Vapor
Death sneaks up on us
Snatching away those we love
A void is left in our lives
A hole ripped on our hearts

Grief hangs like a cloud
An overwhelming burden
Tears stream down many faces
Why does it hurt so much?

Crying out in confusion
Wondering - why now? Why him?

Life is just a vapor, a mist
Time, a precious gift to savor
Tomorrow is not a promise
Today is all we've been given

The grave is not the end, rather
The beginning of a new & glorious life
For those whose hope is in the Lord

Resting in the arms of Jesus
Clinging to hope even in the pain

Creative and fun ways to annoy your coworkers

Another installment of "How to be annoying":

*Whisper loudly

*Come to work sick

*Answer your mobile during meetings

*Stand over someone while they are on the phone

*Sneak up behind someone

*Leave unusual print outs on the printer

*Juggle office supplies

*Chew gum while talking on the phone

*Regularly update everyone on the current weather

*Read your emails aloud
*Leave fingerprints on the copier glass

*Whistle all day long

*Wear too much cologne/perfume

*Type loudly

*Wear bright colored clothes

*Give everyone a nickname from a TV show

*Do the sneaky walk around the office

*Peer over the cube and wait for a co-worker to look up and notice

*Type emails in uppercase and excessive punctuation

*Refer to your garbage can as your in-box

*Stick pencils to the ceiling in other people’s offices

*Throw a bouncy ball in your office

*Tell the same story over and over

*Talk to your monitor as if it was a person

*Schedule meetings at 4:00pm

*Talk loudly with your earphones on when someone comes to talk to you

Random call of encouragement

I got a call at work from a guy who was checking on a subscription that I maintain for my job.  We got to chatting about life and discovered that we're both believers.  After a few minutes of banter, he begins speaking words of encouragement and insight to me.  I was speechless.  A couple things he said are not even public knowledge so I knew Jesus was using this guy to encourage me and speak truth into my life.  And then he prayed for me.  Wow. Jesus is amazing....to think that He loves me enough to arrange this random phone call today when I so desperately needed truth spoken over me.

Here's a little of what he said to me:

Stay faithful. This is a growing period for you and it's a tough time for you. I sense a loneliness about you but God is going to provide the "ram in the bush for you". You have wisdom, knowledge and understanding. People think you are soft and weak because of your voice but you're a Deborah and you will get through this. You've been seeking the Lord to direct your steps like it says in Psalm 37 and He will answer. There is more coming for you and a door is opening. Keep being faithful. You are a prayer warrior and filled with the Holy Spirit. Keep seeking Him.

Praise God for a willing servant who listened to the Spirit's prompting and spoke words of truth to a sister in Christ!!!!

Sometimes I'm left speechless

I get some really strange phone calls at work and sometimes they leave me speechless in how to respond.

----------------------
Caller: "The way I see it, I didn't know the machine was stolen when I bought it so I should get to keep it. Otherwise I'm out $20,000."
----------------------
Cop: "The guy told me that he's hiding the machine because he doesn't want to make anymore payments. It's not listed as stolen but he told me where it's at if that would be helpful for you to know."
----------------------

Creative ways to be a nuisance at work, part 2

* Stare deeply into your co-workers eyes when they talk to you

* Hit all the floor buttons when you leave the elevator

* Make hissing sounds into the phone and insist you have a bad connection

* Flip the left and right mouse button defaults

* Take out the ball in the mouse

* Tell a long story without a point

* Drag your feet when you walk down the halls

* Exclaim your co-worker didn’t wash his hands when leaving the restroom

* Eat stinky foods when you have lunch at your desk

* Practice drumming on your desk

* Use too many paper clips

* Set your mobile phone to an obnoxious ring tone

* Forward chain letters and other spam to co-workers

Creative ways to be a nuisance at work

* Walk around the office barefoot

* Misplace peoples pens

* Leave an open can of tuna in their desk - that's just nasty, I am not a fan of tun!

* Talk in a funny accent - apparently I already do this without meaning to :-)

* Use goofy event sounds for your programs

* Chant, “Yeay, I got mail!!” every time you get a new email

* Start your car remotely when someone walk by it

* Leave hole punches all over

* Leave your lunch garbage in other people’s cans

* After each sip give a refreshing, “Ahhh"

* Put salt on someone’s mouse pad

* Carry on a conversation with someone two cubes down

Another day, another recovery

February 17, 2011 - police raided a chop shop in Ellenwood, GA.  Dozens of armed officers descended on the suspected operation where they located a stolen Caterpillar track loader among other things.

My favorite part is the last two lines of this article....http://www.wsbtv.com/news/26907744/detail.html

This is too cool....

Note: A ROV is essentially a remote-controlled underwater robot

"On Friday September 3, 2010 the St. Louis County Minnesota Volunteer Rescue Squad was called in to assist the City of Virginia, Minnesota Police Department in locating a stolen Caterpillar D9 track-type bulldozer tractor.

The City of Virginia Police Department observed an oil slick on the water surface of a mine pit along with disturbed brush leading down to the water some 300 feet below ground level. Concerned that the driver may have been trapped in the equipment, they requested assistance from the St. Louis County Sheriff Volunteer Rescue Squad to investigate slick with their underwater experience and technology. This could have been done by divers except it would have been next to impossible to transport heavy dive gear down the steep cliff.

After arriving at the mine pit and evaluating the scene, SLC Volunteer Rescue Squad Captain Tom Crossmon called in his High Level Team to transport the ROV and its tether down the steep rocky face to the water surface. Because the ROV only weighs 10 pounds, team members were able to rig the VideoRay submersible and tether to their bodies while belaying down the face....
....Crossmon operated the....ROV from the squad's mobile command vehicle...., located the oil slick on the surface, submerged and then positively identified the Caterpillar D9 within minutes at a depth of 20 feet. The rescue squad performed a pattern search around the machine for any sign of the driver and did not find anything...."

For more information, see: http://www.rovworld.com/article4771.html

Actually, it's not unbelievable, it's an everyday occurance....

This theft report made me laugh....

It's hard to believe that nobody would have seen this go missing. A 2004 Caterpillar track type tractor was stolen from an area near Highway 43 and Range Road 101 sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday night. If you have seen this massive, bright yellow piece of equipment, you are encouraged to call the Beaverlodge RCMP detachment, or crimestoppers.

http://hqgrandeprairie.com/news/local/news/Local/09/08/21/CAT-Tractor-Stolen

O where, o where has my backhoe gone....?

This is why I have a job:

Heavy-equipment thefts that plague Poconos are awfully easy to pull off

By Chad Smith, Pocono Record Writer

Picture this: You're taking an afternoon stroll in a residential neighborhood where several houses are under construction and you see a person driving an earth-mover down a street.

Would you think that the person driving the earth-mover just stole it and was off to sell its parts on the black market?

If not, you're probably like most people. Which explains why the thieves who made off with two earth-moving tractors and a dump truck from construction sites and municipal lots in Monroe County recently haven't run into much resistance.
That such large pieces of machinery can just "disappear" seems implausible, but this equipment, worth big bucks, seems to be designed to make it more susceptible to theft.
"Who would ever think that these huge things would get stolen? But they do,".....

....According to a report released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau in 2009, there were about 13,450 nationwide reports of heavy equipment thefts. The state that saw the most such thefts was Texas. Only 18 percent of the stolen equipment was recovered. In contrast, 57 percent of motor vehicles reported stolen over the same period were recovered.
In September 2010, a Caterpillar excavator was stolen from the Glenbrook Golf Course in Stroudsburg. Police reports said several pedestrians saw someone driving the 8-ton excavator down the street but thought nothing of it.....
....New York City Police Department in 2009 broke up a crime ring in the Bronx responsible for stealing nearly 50 tractor-like vehicles and luxury cars from construction sites, public streets and garages.
The ring, the Attorney General's Office said at the time, specialized in stealing backhoes and excavators, which were eventually resold — to perhaps both witting and unwitting customers — in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and even the Dominican Republic.....
For the full article, click here.

Creative & Fun ways to annoy your coworkers

* Staple your reports in the wrong corner
* Put tape over the mouse optics
* Unplug a co-worker’s monitor
* Talk to sick employees while wearing a dust mask
* Burn popcorn in the microwave
* "Forget" to put your tuna sandwich in the fridge
* Turn up the beep volume of the copier
* Practice beat boxing
* Sing show tunes
* Slurp hot coffee during meetings

"I was going to return it, I promise!"

Scene of the crime: an eastern state after a major snowfall

Details (names/identifying details omitted to protect the....innocent?): A man wants to clear his driveway but does not have the proper equipment to handle the amount of snow they got, so he heads over to a nearby shopping center and "borrows" the 950H with a snow plow attachment.  He heads back to his house and clears his driveway.  As he was preparing to return the machine, he thought he would be a Good Samaritan and clear his whole neighborhood.  And he got busted before he could return the stolen equipment.

Another day, another crime solved....

Yes I did just say that.

Met a good looking man in the hall at work this morning and he stops me to chat. He mentions that he likes my zebra earrings and asked if I like animals. I say, "Yes, I mean, I'm not a tree hugger or anything, but I like animals...on a plate medium well." No, I didn't just think that, I actually said it....out loud.

Hey, that's me!

I got an email at work this morning containing the following news story:

Man Arrested for Selling Stolen Caterpillar

By Melissa Canone
A multi-agency investigation including the Vermillion Parish Sheriff's Office, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), and Louisiana State Police Detectives has resulted in the arrest of James Hurst, (W/M age 52) of New York, on charges of Felony Theft and Possession of Stolen Property.

The investigation began on August 19th, 2010 when Security personnel from Caterpillar Incorporated contacted NICB regarding a customer who purchased a 2008 Caterpillar skid steer model 279C. The identification number on the equipment was listed as stolen in Caterpillar's database. Upon interview with the customer, he explained that he had found the equipment for sale on E-Bay listed by James Hurst and provided Hurst with a $30,000 check for the transaction. After learning that the equipment was stolen, the customer filed a complaint with the Vermillion Parish Sheriff's Office.

Upon further investigation, detectives located Hurst at a residence in Ponchatoula where he was allegedly storing additional equipment. After obtaining a search warrant for the property, investigators discovered a Caterpillar Backhoe 416 and a John Deer 60 inch power brush. The total estimated value of the recovered equipment is $90,000.

Hurst was placed under arrest and booked at the Tangipahoa Parish Jail. The investigation is ongoing with more stolen property expected to be recovered. Anyone with further information or suspecting to have purchased any stolen property should contact Louisiana State Police Detectives at (225) 925-7282.

 "Security personnel from Caterpillar Incorporated" - that's ME!  So there's a little peek into what I do at work.