Musings at Altitude

I must admit, time and distance bring sanity!

Now that I got one good night’s sleep, I realize I have some serious kissing up to do.  So I’m on a quest.  I need that perfect gift…that special something that shows how much I love my wife even with all the heat inducing, polar ice cap melting, global warming causing changes occurring in her body.  [By the way, I was seriously tempted to do a satellite image of our home last night and see if it did indeed show up as the “brightest spot in the city”!]

So I need some  great ideas.  I need to know how big that diamond needs to be or how special that vacation needs to be!

Any suggestions?

5 Comments »

I give up.  Seriously.  I give up.

I flew all the way to Alaska yesterday, which must be 2,500 miles from my home in Colorado Springs.  As I watched from the plane and saw the final range of mountains flow out below me before landing in Anchorage, I smiled in knowing that for these few nights, so far away from home, the heat induced trauma of the body changing events in Denise would have no affect on me at all.

Boy was I wrong.

I woke up four times last night, sweating in my sleep.  Even without the heater on in the hotel room, I was roasting in bed.  When the alarm finally went off, I was grateful to get into a cold shower just to cool off.  Now I’m left wondering what the heck this means!

Several things come to mind:

(1) Denise called ahead and covertly worked with the hotel to put a high intensity bed warmer under the bed

(2) I’m being punished for what some believe is my insensitivity to these body changing events, and now I’m living them myself to “create in me a sympathetic heart”

(3) The asterisk (*) at the end of the the article about PERIMENOPAUSE actually says that it’s contagious, and those in close proximity for an extended period of time may indeed suffer perimenopausal like symptoms

(4) This is purely coincidence

Since I don’t believe in coincidence, I’m focused on (1) through (3). 

I’ll spend some time today looking for clues and doing additional research.  None of these three would surprise me.

2 Comments »

 I heard a story several weeks ago about the new war on illegal drug labs, where law enforcement officials are using infrared imaging to look for those “hot spots” and then marking those as potential prime areas for illegal activities.  So today, I quickly did a google search and I came up with this:

Thermal Imaging Turns Up the Heat

As I read the article, I became increasingly concerned that our home may indeed become a target of law enforcement officers.  It fits the biggest piece of the profile – an inordantly large heat profile coming from a particular room in the house.  If a law enforcement helicopter was hovering over our house at night, it would see a huge heat signature coming out of the southwest corner of the house.  The heat being radiated would be so great that any detective would immediately assume illicit activity was occurring within these premises.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I need to get proactive in putting up some kind of clear sign about what’s really happening in our house.  At the least, I think I need a huge banner on the roof, “PERIMENOPAUSAL WOMAN INSIDE”!  That would most certainly cover the heat sensors in the helicopters, but I need something else for the roaming cruisers.  And it would need to be something that the law enforcement folks would understand without creating too much concern from our neighbors.  Hmmm.  That’s a tough one.

1 Comment »

This weekend, we replaced a couple of aging kitchen counter appliances – our coffee pot (which just quit working) and our toaster oven (which should have quit working).  I noticed something very important as we were pulling the new stuff out of their boxes and putting them on the counter.

The toaster oven:

came with this:

And the coffee pot:

came with this:

As with most people in this world, we only use the instruction manual to figure out the buttons when we first plug it in and to get useless “self help” information if for any reason the appliance begins to act differently later in life than it did when it first came out of the box.

In many ways, my wife in her perimenopausal state is the same way.  We sort of had a manual that worked perfectly through those first two plus decades of life together.  We have certainly both changed over the years, but overall, I think we both worked as expected.   Then all of the sudden things started working differently and we rushed around looking for that “self help” manual that could give us answers to the changes that were (are) happening!  Unfortunately, there’s no manual to be found, and family and friends throw out awesome advice like, “don’t worry, it will be over soon” (did I tell you this lasts 4 YEARS!!!!) and “whatever you do, don’t anger it”.

I desperately need that instruction manual, and I need “self help” options that give me viable alternatives to the normal ones today like “make sure the walls are padded” and “ensure any throwable objects are soft and cushy”.

PS.  I must admit, that all my seeking for answers is somewhat tempered when I see Denise like this:

or like this:

I need to cut a deal with the kids and grandkids to keep her distracted a lot more often!

Comments Off on No Help At All (5)

I’ve watched Denise long enough now to know that I need to offer her some advice and even find her some remedies, so today I went to WebMD.  I figured I’d quit looking for a quick fix to such a sophisticated problem and go right to the experts.  When the sight came up under the category of “perimenopause”, I almost fell out of my chair when I read this:

Periminopause…begins several years before menopause…and lasts up until menopause…the average length of perimenopause is 4 years.

4 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It goes on to give some suggestions for things that could make those in this state feel better:

• Exercise
• Get more sleep
• Decrease the amount of alcohol you drink
• Take a multi-vitamin
• Drink 8 glasses of water a day

In other words, there really is no remedy for this condition.  I could have made their list as the remedy for just about any condition in life. 

More interestingly, I was stunned to find these suggestions not on the list:

• Sleep with the windows open when it’s below freezing outside
• Keep very hard, easy to throw objects next to the bed that can be used as weapons when anybody makes a comment that might be considered anything but completely understanding and totally sympathetic to the cause
• Buy the hardest and most uncomfortable couch in the world as punishment for the husband who will eventually end up on it and most certainly won’t be allowed to come within a foot of the bed for those 4 YEARS of perimenopause

Did I mention they said 4 YEARS!  That’s an eternity!  In 4 years I typically change jobs at least twice.  I have historically swapped out cars in less than 4 years. My 14 year old will be completely through high school in those 4 years!!!

Good grief.  I wish I hadn’t sought out the experts.  I’d rather have gone to the “self help” sights that said play soothing music and take “natural remedies’ to ease the discomfort.

Lesson learned.

Comments Off on No Help At All (4)

I’ve received text messages, calls, and emails from all over the country asking things like:

Are you nuts?

Are you still alive?

Do you watch what you drink and eat at home now?

Is your life insurance up to date?

Do you have a will?

Are you trying to anger it?

And so many more!  Why is it that when I show my feelings and I share my pain, I’m the one in trouble?  I should be applauded for being open and honest in our relationship, and I should be encouraged to continue to share my feelings and not hold all this within me!

OK…maybe not…maybe I did take quite a risk by heading into those overly sacred and definitely protected areas of discussion centered on perimenopausal activities.  But the word had to get out. 

The world needs to know that we have alternative energy sources right here in our own homes.  We need to harness the heat coming from these bodies and use them to the benefit of this nation and our world.  We could be off petroleum within years!  I could heat my home, fuel my car, and share the excess energy with my neighbors, who maybe too young or too mature and not be blessed like I am to have such an attractive and readily available energy source right here in the bed next to me!

Wow!  We may be on to something!  Does anyone who reads this know anything about alternative energy?

PS.  We slept with the windows closed last night and all was bliss till 1:06 in the morning when I leaped out of bed because I thought something was flying around the bedroom and landing on the bed.  I turned the lights on and felt around, but found nothing.  I didn’t sleep well from then on, but when I went to the front door to let the dog out this morning, I was surprised to find this:

Coincidence?  Doubtful.

PSS.  Speaking of “no help at all”, our coffee pot has refused to brew for two days straight.  I believe it’s on strike because it did not like the vinegar cleaning Denise gave it a week or so ago.  It worked beautifully up until the time it was cleaned.  Now it’s decided to tease us with lights and gurgling sounds and then drop none of that much needed, caffeine infused elixir in the coffee pot.  So Denise pulled out the coffee pot manual (does anyone else really do things like that?) and went to the trouble shooting sector.  It gave her incredibly wise suggestions for the trouble category of “the coffee is not brewing”:

• “Plug unit in”
• “Wait for power to be restored”
• “Check the water windows”
• “Insert filter basket correctly”
• “Place decanter correctly on decanter plate”

These user’s manuals need to have two categories of troubleshooting, one for those who have made 20,000 pots of coffee in their lives, and the other for the 2 and 3 year olds that may be new to coffee.

2 Comments »

It’s in the mid 30’s this morning, but beautiful.  Spectacularly beautiful!

I can remember only a few mornings where I moved as fast as I did this morning from the comfort, warmth, and security of the fetal position to the warmth of the shower, and then the shivers and chills of the post shower towel off to the warmth and goose bump relief of being fully clothed. 

As I was sitting there pulling my world record pace of sheets to shirts, my wife sits up in bed and goes, “it’s chilly this morning”!

No duh!

The woman who can melt the polar ice caps at night has the courage (or audacity) to point out the body shaking obvious fact that it’s north of the Arctic circle cold in our bedroom in the morning!!!

Progress?  Doubtful.  Compassion?  Maybe.  Retaliation?  Certainly!

PS.  I feel better now that I’ve vented.

1 Comment »

Last night, it was 35 degrees here at our house and we slept with both windows next to the bed open.  My wife slept comfortably with only a sheet covering her feet, while I was in a tight fetal position under the comforter.  The sleeping isn’t so bad, but I can tell you first hand that there is absolutely no desire to leave the warmth of that bed to shut the windows in the morning when it’s freezing!  The 40 degree difference in our body temperatures is bearable in the coolness of the Rocky Mountain winter and spring, but I can’t possibly imagine what our room at night will be like during the heat of the summer when she’s driving the temperature of the ambient air around our bed up into a Phoenix, middle-of-the-day like 120 degrees!  I’ll need a window unit pointed straight at her and a freezer like chassis around the bed just for her to sleep.  At that time, I’ll probably be down at the Holiday Inn Express!

So this morning, I wanted to be a good husband and seek out some help and understanding on “perimenopausal”.  I need to take some form of intervention type action now to help her and to protect me.  I first went to dictionary.com to find out what these pre-menopausal symptoms mean.  Thank goodness it gave me a definition that even I could understand.  “Perimenopausal” means “relating to, being in, or occurring in menopause”.  Boy, I feel better now.  Nothing like knowing that perimenopausal means being in perimenopause.  Whew!  I thought it might mean something very different, like, “being in a constantly heated state and completely irritated with your husband.”  Or maybe, “desperately desiring to lower your heating bill and using your body temperature to warm up the entire house.” 

With the new wisdom I gained from dictionary.com, I did what I never do on these web sites.  I scanned over to the advertisement flags on the web site to seek out some hope and potentially some further incredible insight into this body heat producing problem.  [Editor’s Note:  Lots of things are being blamed for global warming, but I certainly haven’t yet seen the theory that our aging population is creating more women in the perimenopausal state at one time than ever in the history of the universe, thus raising the temperature of the earth by at least 30 degrees in their general vicinities, and making our planet more like a sun]

RightHealth.com promised to give me the answers I was looking for.  NaturalRelief.com promised to give me “fast relief from hot flashes, mood swings & more.”  That one really scared me, because I really don’t want to know the “& more”.  Hot flashes and mood swings are plenty!  And womentowomen.com lured me with “learn what to expect and how to get through perimenopause, naturally.”  I almost clicked on that one, but immediately thought of the song, “Alone Again, Naturally” by Gilbert O’Sullivan and wondered if I too would be alone again, naturally, if I pursued this line of thinking and this path to remedy and my wife found out.

So for this morning, I’m giving up this quest.  It’s obvious I need to spend a lot more time and focus my efforts on being a supportive and nurturing husband.  Maybe later I can find a web site, www.allyouneedtoknowaboutperimenopauseandwaystocooldownyourwifewithoutpissingheroff.com.

That would be cool.  Literally!

PS.  One final note.  The Microsoft Word Editor doesn’t even recognize “perimenopause” as a word.  It suggests, “per menopause” as an option.  For Microsoft, “perimenopause” is most certainly a word.  I get whacked every time I mention it!

2 Comments »

As companies struggle with the oppressive weight of the burdens in this economic downturn, many of them are losing what may be one of the most important catalysts for growth – curiosity.

Many have quit reacting to those curious opportunities that don’t have a completely clear path to revenue and income, and instead they are hunkered down and focusing only on absolutely sure things.

Curiosity drives creativity.  Creativity drives outside the box thinking.  Outside the box thinking drives revenue acceleration, even moreso in a down market.

Even in these toughest of times, we need to be looking in those drawers we never looked in before and pulling things out that seem most interesting.  Who knows what we’ll find!  Maybe that one thing that gets us back on our feet and back in the game!

Comments Off on Curiosity

I was very fortunate on Friday and Saturday to be part of a senior leadership meeting for a $70M firm that has faced a dramatic decline in revenue and personnel because of the collapse of the land development market in this country.  For those two days, we didn’t focus on the woes of the business, but instead, we focused on the following:

• validating the vision that they as a team had developed only 18 months prior
• confirming the organizational structure that they had morphed to in response to that vision
• affirming the culture that they had worked hard to embrace when they had developed the vision and then changed their structure
• reviving themselves as leaders in recognition of the tough decisions they have made and committing themselves to dream big even though the recovery is not yet in full swing

I smiled when I read the program, because I knew even before it started that something special was going to happen.  This company has suffered enormously these past two years.  They have said good-bye to long time team members, friends and family as part of an ongoing restructuring in response to the decline in revenues.  They have pared back expenses and shut down offices, conserving cash, minimizing losses and committing themselves to being great stewards of their owner’s money even when they have very explainable reasons for losses.  And they have survived as a 480 person, technically talented, deeply qualified business when many of their partners, clients and peers have gone under.

Why?  It’s simple.  The focus was not on survival, but on a credible, challenging and motivating vision of growth.  While others succumbed to the negative events of the market place, this company rallied around their strengths.  They shared the burdens of a collapsing customer base, and looked across their enterprise to anchor themselves on those areas where they could reach out and hold on and weather this devastating economic storm.  And they have!  Though smaller today than two years ago, they are leaner and stronger.  And though they may not know it just yet, from my observations, they are also more mobile and more agile as a company than they ever were before!

Amidst all the challenge, all the change, all the restructuring and downsizing, they have chosen to dream big.  As managers, they can take (and have taken) prudent steps in advance of (and response to) the market.  And they have done just that.  But as leaders, even more importantly, they can choose (and have chosen) to look beyond the wall of the storm at the recovery that is just over the horizon.

They are indeed dreaming big now!

PS.  When you dream big, great people who can help you achieve that dream want to join your team!  Be ready to be excited if you do dream big!

Comments Off on Dream Big