A Roll in the Universe

New Year's Eve. The day when people are either scrambling to get food and champagne for the evening's festivities or are contemplating what resolutions to make for the coming year - or both. For me, 2011 is the start of the next half century of my life. I was 50 in December. It was actually a wonderful way to end the year. 2010 was turbulent at work and in my stomach. At work, the knowledge that our department and in-house printing was going to cease to exist by summer was something we all had in the back of our minds. We were, however, all so old (I was the youngest at 49) to get worked up about it. Instead, the strategy was to do our jobs and behave in such a way as to make management realize they had some great people working for them; we did not complain and we did not sic our union on anybody (though they were apprised of the situation). Our representative from HR was impressed by our good cheer. She said it motivated HR to do everything in their power to help us sta...

Probably a mistake to try to blog while tipsy, but I just got home (the photo was taken at 2:44 am!) from celebrating a co-worker's 25th anniversary at work. I had my own 2 years ago. I had hoped that my co-worker's anniversary party was as wonderful as mine, and since we all hung out until nearly 2 am (when the bar closed), it must have been. She certainly was happy, and that's the main thing. It's weird to watch the years suddenly go by. The inevitable happens. The impossible date arrives and, although expected, still catches you off-guard. At the party, I was talking to a recent hire, a man about my age who started in our company about 18 months ago, and I felt a bit strange being one of the old-timers. I don't feel old. I don't feel like 27+ years have passed. Certainly, they don't weigh on me. It's bizarre, really, to think that at this point, I have fewer years left to retirement than the years I have worked. I have no idea how or when that ...

It wasn't my night last night. The night belonged to two very nice co-workers who were both hired November 1 1984. 50 people enjoyed a lovely meal, speeches, entertainment, conversation, a bit of dancing and a lot of wine. But as their guest until about 2 am, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. And my outfit. I tried on clothes on Wednesday, only to discover that I'd "outgrown" my favorite party clothes, and wasn't terribly thrilled with the alternative left me. I spent Thursday looking for alternatives. With the exception of the V-necks and lovely purples, there is little about the current fashion that attracts or suits me - or fits me (skinny jeans really are for the skinny-legged). And a bum shoulder also meant I couldn't even get some garments one. I did buy silver-colored leggings (or tights, as they are literally called in Norway - often misspelled as thights which also makes sense); I figured if I didn't like them, I could still use them for yoga. ...

When I woke up this morning and heard Michael Jackson had died, my first thought was, "Now he won't suffer any more." I have never had the impression that he was a happy man, an impression supported by what I've heard about his childhood, his family, his plastic surgeries and the accusation of his molesting children. So my first thought was that he was now finally at peace. A genius with music, but not with living. I do not write about celebrities, but Michael Jackson has the odd distinction of being one of only two celebrities I have ever said hello to in Los Angeles. It may sound weird, but you can live for years in Los Angeles and not meet any show biz people. All you have to do is not move in their circles. But sometimes circles overlap, if only momentarily. It was the autumn of 1979. I was a computer temp, mainly working part time while I went to college in the morning. One job was for an accountant in Beverly Hills. We were four girls in one office, enterin...

Wordless Wednesday

I'm probably as baffled as you are, my dear reader, at the lack of activity on my blog. It's not that nothing's happening in my life. I got a lovely raise at work (broke through a personal glass ceiling doing so), am back to full time (no more one-Wednesday-a-month off), health is good (after a round of something flu-like before Christmas), the weather's great (depending on where you live and what day it is), I attended a co-worker's 40th anniversary party (and realized I'm only 15 years shy of such an event myself - eep!), I'm absolutely flabbergasted that 2009 has already eaten up an entire month (and it's Candlemas and Groundhog Day and daylight lasts all the way to 5 pm), I have finished three months' of physical therapy (and the shoulder is now feeling like its old self again - no pun intended), I hauled myself off to the movies to see "Quantum of Solace" and didn't realize until the next day that Bond hadn't had a Q or gadgets...

Wordless Wednesday UPDATE: In my department, we all get flowers on our birthdays. ;-)

It may be silly, but I like believing in "signs". Especially if they fit an already existing pattern. Last night I attended a sort of summer party with my department in spite of a bad weather forecast. We had some delicious seafood and wine and then went outdoors for a game of darts (for the first time in my life, every dart I threw hit the dart board but that's not the sign) when I noticed the rain had stopped. We were done and went back indoors just as the weather turned bad again for the rest of the games (ring toss). Later, we went back out to walk down to the shore and see our host's boat house (the summer party was in his cabin a mere 20 minutes from Bergen). Clouds and wind and sunshine and rain came and went in quick succession, but every time we ventured out on one of the rainiest days of the week, we had a break in the weather. As we returned from the boathouse, we saw a double rainbow. "Rain will start soon," said one of my co-workers since that...

This week has been a very good week at work for me. I've been doing something I love to do (the layout of a 48-page magazine all by myself), and the sun's been shining. My department is still waiting to hear the final outcome , but in the mean time, two co-workers went ahead and applied for other jobs in-house. That's when I realized that loyalty be damned - look out for number 1! So I applied for a job, too. I'm going to spend the weekend re-learning how to write a resumé, because it's been ages since I last had to, and I've forgotten how. But the very act of applying for a job did something: It proved to me that I could take action, it removed some inertia, and it created a desire to do even a job application well. Today, my company threw a summer party. Over 500 employees in the employee cafeteria, treated to a buffet dinner and free bar (wine and beer), and a big band to dance to. And in the midst of wondering if anyone cares and do I really want to ...

There was a party Friday night at work. In a world where all the workers who never get anything extra are expected to cut costs, er, in a world where we delight in helping our employer earn a bigger and bigger profit, the section my department belongs to managed to save NOK 6 million in 2007. And for that, we got an unscheduled (as in, not on the budget) party. I wasn't really in a party mood, being more in the mood for staying at home in comfy clothes front of the TV, but affirmed on my way to the party that I would be delightful. I knew that if others enjoyed my company, I would enjoy theirs. I was right. My boss commented on it. Said I was "holding up well". Dancing. Socializing. Staying. To my surprise, I was among the last to leave. I left at 1:20-ish AM, after assuming I'd be out of there by 10 PM-ish. Many of the people at the party were the same people who had been invited to my anniversary party. The RSVP date was Friday. I wondered if I should "se...