Thanks, rkessler. I seem to share this day with a few people in my extended family–couple of cousins and an uncle (now deceased).
That picture looked very familiar. You can never quite catch a beautiful sunrise or sunset, in this case. That apple tree lost the branch that is bending over on this side. It is the one that turned the outside faucet on when it came down and also damaged the rain gutter on the house. We are on a list to have the latter replaced. I would have had it done long ago if it were all my decision.
It may have been a good thing it was not all my decision, since another pine came down recently and took out a few feet of the gutter on that side of the house. Procrastination pays again, I suppose. Another pine came down on the fence in the back. So, that fence is mostly now fallen over and under a pine tree.
I was grateful to have a son-in-law here just before Christmas who cut up enough of the pine tree that fell last so that I could get around the house to see if there was damage to the roof. The snow is too deep to walk out there much. He could only cut part of the tree anyway as the branches are holding it up so high yet.
Our other SIL helped with cutting up the apple branch and lopping off some other branches. We are thankful for the help, although it is hard for my husband to admit he needs the help.
You would see a whole lot more snow on the apple tree and the pines, if you looked back there now. Plus, there is a whole lot of debris, that has blown from the trees, all over the snow.
The straight pole is from a t-shaped pole that is one side of a clothesline that my dad made me not too long after we moved into our house. I got a lot of use out of that clothesline. Things like that remind me of my dad, who passed away a few years ago tomorrow. He is often on my mind, in truth.
Good Morning and Happy Birthday Kathaleena! Your photo on the header is most lovely! Don’t you just love the shadows on the new fallen snow?!
We have at least a foot of that new fallen snow this morning. No plows to be seen yet and we are just now seeing those dark skies lighten. It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful out there! So thankful we can stay home today.
I so agree about the new fallen snow, Nancy Jill. The snow can be, oh so, beautiful, whether it pristine, windswept or wearing a zillion diamonds. I would miss it if I had to live where it does not fall. Interesting that something that can be so beautiful can also be so deadly. There is a spiritual lesson in that, I believe.
Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, Kathaleena! May the day feel sweet and “Just Right” as Goldilocks would say. I love the photo and all the background you wrote about it. Interesting how your Father died right after your birthday. Both of my parents died during the month (Dec.) of my birth, too.
Treatment went well this a.m. I have had my first twinge of a skin itch. They advise to use a cortison cream under the other cream for itch if needed. Radiation acts like a sunburn on the skin and can leave the skin permanently discolored. I hope for no blistering.
Good morning, all. Aother beautiful day here. My dad is in his chair, watching videos of Moscow Mountain from youtube. They are not very good and I really do not like the biking ones but I am glad to see a lot of people go to the mountain. We kind of grew up with it, got our Christmas trees there, camped, hiked, picnicked. Fun times. My dad owns forty acres there but the rights to access were by gentlemen’s agreement and the old man’s granddaughter chooses not to honor that so we don’t get there often anymore. We could press it and ninety nine percent sure we would win in a court of law.
I have 4 stories on my working list, three of which need to get done today and tomorrow, the 4th can be bumped to next week.
We’re getting heavy surf along the coast which is drawing many surfers out, despite the usual county warnings about “bacteria, chemicals, debris, trash an other hazards from city streets and mountain areas” are likely contaminating the ocean with the storm drain/creek/river runoff that’s typical during and after rainfall.
It was so good to get up this morning and be able to turn on the heater.
Making salmon patties with garlic and lime for lunch which Wes seemed to really like. He is practicing guitar, and at times doing planning for next semester. Teaching has the advantage of longer breaks than regular type employment. Thankful.
My arm and shoulder have been stiffening today so I realize the need to be diligent in exercising to keep mobility up. That is why I was told PT may be prescribed. It’s hard to consider adding in another place to go.
Thanks for the idea, Janice. Salmon patties for my dad today. Well, salmon patty.. He will probably only eat part of a golf ball size serving. But he enjoyed salmon patties in the past.
I make flat salmon patties, Mumsee. Do you make them shaped into balls? Art likes them pressed thin so when fried they do have a good oily ( I use light tasting olive oil) coat to give appeal to those who like fried food. They would be well received by Art with a side of hash brown potatoes anx onions. Like Fish and Chips southern style! Does Dad like hash browns?
Yes, we make salmon balls as well as patties. My dad cannot chew or swallow much so we have to be careful. Lunch will be a hard boiled egg and squash. He will eat the egg and ignore the squash.
He and Chas, hold the onions. Nothing can be tainted with onion. He likes hash browns but has not eaten them the last few times they were offered.
He did go outside onto the deck in the sunshine today. That was a positive. He is supposed to be getting in shape for a backpack trip with my brothers this summer.
No different, Janice. Every year I feel no difference on my birthday, yet I age.
🙂 I remember when my dad died because it is one of my daughter’s birthdays. When I called to tell her, she assumed I was just calling to say happy birthday. Another daughter’s longtime boyfriend died on my youngest daughter’s birthdays.
I so enjoyed watching our grandson play basketball in his tournament. The team did much better than I was led to believe. In addition, my grandson also played on the jr. varsity team, so there were four games altogether. We missed the first jr. varsity game because he told his mom he probably would not be played at all. He had a few baskets, so that was extra fun to watch. He keeps saying he may not play next year.
We were able to have 2/3’s of our family together for a Christmas. I was glad we could get together with all our girls and their families even if the actual plan fell through because of weather issues. So blessed.
(I used to fly the all the time, but about 5 years ago, things seemed to change—including they got a lot more expensive).
From FB:
What happened to Southwest Airlines?
I’ve been a pilot for Southwest Airlines for over 35 years. I’ve given my heart and soul to Southwest Airlines during those years. And quite honestly Southwest Airlines has given its heart and soul to me and my family.
Many of you have asked what caused this epic meltdown. Unfortunately, the frontline employees have been watching this meltdown coming like a slow motion train wreck for sometime. And we’ve been begging our leadership to make much needed changes in order to avoid it. What happened yesterday started two decades ago.
Herb Kelleher was the brilliant CEO of SWA until 2004. He was a very operationally oriented leader. Herb spent lots of time on the front line. He always had his pulse on the day to day operation and the people who ran it. That philosophy flowed down through the ranks of leadership to the front line managers. We were a tight operation from top to bottom. We had tools, leadership and employee buy in. Everything that was needed to run a first class operation. When Herb retired in 2004 Gary Kelly became the new CEO.
Gary was an accountant by education and his style leading Southwest Airlines became more focused on finances and less on operations. He did not spend much time on the front lines. He didn’t engage front line employees much. When the CEO doesn’t get out in the trenches the neither do the lower levels of leadership.
Gary named another accountant to be Chief Operating Officer (the person responsible for day to day operations). The new COO had little or no operational background. This trickled down through the lower levels of leadership, as well.
They all disengaged the operation, disengaged the employees and focused more on Return on Investment, stock buybacks and Wall Street. This approach worked for Gary’s first 8 years because we were still riding the strong wave that Herb had built.
But as time went on the operation began to deteriorate. There was little investment in upgrading technology (after all, how do you measure the return on investing in infrastructure?) or the tools we needed to operate efficiently and consistently. As the frontline employees began to see the deterioration in our operation we began to warn our leadership. We educated them, we informed them and we made suggestions to them. But to no avail. The focus was on finances not operations. As we saw more and more deterioration in our operation our asks turned to pleas. Our pleas turned to dire warnings. But they went unheeded. After all, the stock price was up so what could be wrong?
We were a motivated, willing and proud employee group wanting to serve our customers and uphold the tradition of our beloved airline, the airline we built and the airline that the traveling public grew to cheer for and luv. But we were watching in frustration and disbelief as our once amazing airline was becoming a house of cards.
A half dozen small scale meltdowns occurred during the mid to late 2010’s. With each mini meltdown Leadership continued to ignore the pleas and warnings of the employees in the trenches. We were still operating with 1990’s technology. We didn’t have the tools we needed on the line to operate the sophisticated and large airline we had become. We could see that the wheels were about ready to fall off the bus. But no one in leadership would heed our pleas.
When COVID happened SWA scaled back considerably (as did all of the airlines) for about two years. This helped conceal the serious problems in technology, infrastructure and staffing that were occurring and being ignored. But as we ramped back up the lack of attention to the operation was waiting to show its ugly head.
Gary Kelly retired as CEO in early 2022. Bob Jordan was named CEO. He was a more operationally oriented leader. He replaced our Chief Operating Officer with a very smart man and they announced their priority would be to upgrade our airline’s technology and provide the frontline employees the operational tools we needed to care for our customers and employees. Finally, someone acknowledged the elephant in the room.
But two decades of neglect takes several years to overcome. And, unfortunately to our horror, our house of cards came tumbling down this week as a routine winter storm broke our 1990’s operating system.
The frontline employees were ready and on station. We were properly staffed. We were at the airports. Hell, we were ON the airplanes. But our antiquated software systems failed coupled with a decades old system of having to manage 20,000 frontline employees by phone calls. No automation had been developed to run this sophisticated machine.
We had a routine winter storm across the Midwest last Thursday. A larger than normal number flights were cancelled as a result. But what should have been one minor inconvenient day of travel turned into this nightmare. After all, American, United, Delta and the other airlines operated with only minor flight disruptions.
The two decades of neglect by SWA leadership caused the airline to lose track of all its crews. ALL of us. We were there. With our customers. At the jet. Ready to go. But there was no way to assign us. To confirm us. To release us to fly the flight. And we watched as our customers got stranded without their luggage missing their Christmas holiday.
I believe that our new CEO Bob Jordan inherited a MESS. This meltdown was not his failure but the failure of those before him. I believe he has the right priorities. But it will take time to right this ship. A few years at a minimum. Old leaders need to be replaced. Operationally oriented managers need to be brought in. I hope and pray Bob can execute on his promises to fix our once proud airline. Time will tell.
It’s been a punch in the gut for us frontline employees. We care for the traveling public. We have spent our entire careers serving you. Safely. Efficiently. With luv and pride. We are horrified. We are sorry. We are sorry for the chaos, inconvenience and frustration our airline caused you. We are angry. We are embarrassed. We are sad. Like you, the traveling public, we have been let down by our own leaders.
Herb once said the the biggest threat to Southwest Airlines will come from within. Not from other airlines. What a visionary he was. I miss Herb now more than ever.
Long day, wrote two stories then swung by the little family-run waterfront restaurant going out of business and spent 2 hours there talking and listening to folks as they looked over the piles of memorabilia from the walls, much of it longshore and all of it waterfront related.
Owners were very gracious to me considering this is a very hard week for them. Not their choice to close up shop.
Then it was trash night and I had some extra bags, including dog waste for the first time in quite a while.
But I’m all done, will have to write the restaurant story tomorrow but it shouldn’t be too difficult, one of those things that “writes itself,” as they say.
Here we are, still up, three hours after bedtime. Grandpa is wide awake but not lucid. Still determined to get out of bed but not able to. Still working out carpentry details, planning how to knock holes in my walls. Still wanting the cows moved.
Wandering Views 
Happy birthday, Kathleena! You share this day with my baby brother, Johnny.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks, rkessler. I seem to share this day with a few people in my extended family–couple of cousins and an uncle (now deceased).
That picture looked very familiar. You can never quite catch a beautiful sunrise or sunset, in this case. That apple tree lost the branch that is bending over on this side. It is the one that turned the outside faucet on when it came down and also damaged the rain gutter on the house. We are on a list to have the latter replaced. I would have had it done long ago if it were all my decision.
It may have been a good thing it was not all my decision, since another pine came down recently and took out a few feet of the gutter on that side of the house. Procrastination pays again, I suppose. Another pine came down on the fence in the back. So, that fence is mostly now fallen over and under a pine tree.
I was grateful to have a son-in-law here just before Christmas who cut up enough of the pine tree that fell last so that I could get around the house to see if there was damage to the roof. The snow is too deep to walk out there much. He could only cut part of the tree anyway as the branches are holding it up so high yet.
Our other SIL helped with cutting up the apple branch and lopping off some other branches. We are thankful for the help, although it is hard for my husband to admit he needs the help.
You would see a whole lot more snow on the apple tree and the pines, if you looked back there now. Plus, there is a whole lot of debris, that has blown from the trees, all over the snow.
The straight pole is from a t-shaped pole that is one side of a clothesline that my dad made me not too long after we moved into our house. I got a lot of use out of that clothesline. Things like that remind me of my dad, who passed away a few years ago tomorrow. He is often on my mind, in truth.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Good Morning and Happy Birthday Kathaleena! Your photo on the header is most lovely! Don’t you just love the shadows on the new fallen snow?!
We have at least a foot of that new fallen snow this morning. No plows to be seen yet and we are just now seeing those dark skies lighten. It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful out there! So thankful we can stay home today.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I so agree about the new fallen snow, Nancy Jill. The snow can be, oh so, beautiful, whether it pristine, windswept or wearing a zillion diamonds. I would miss it if I had to live where it does not fall. Interesting that something that can be so beautiful can also be so deadly. There is a spiritual lesson in that, I believe.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Happy Birthday, Kathaleena!
Lovely photo.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, Kathaleena! May the day feel sweet and “Just Right” as Goldilocks would say. I love the photo and all the background you wrote about it. Interesting how your Father died right after your birthday. Both of my parents died during the month (Dec.) of my birth, too.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Treatment went well this a.m. I have had my first twinge of a skin itch. They advise to use a cortison cream under the other cream for itch if needed. Radiation acts like a sunburn on the skin and can leave the skin permanently discolored. I hope for no blistering.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good morning, all. Aother beautiful day here. My dad is in his chair, watching videos of Moscow Mountain from youtube. They are not very good and I really do not like the biking ones but I am glad to see a lot of people go to the mountain. We kind of grew up with it, got our Christmas trees there, camped, hiked, picnicked. Fun times. My dad owns forty acres there but the rights to access were by gentlemen’s agreement and the old man’s granddaughter chooses not to honor that so we don’t get there often anymore. We could press it and ninety nine percent sure we would win in a court of law.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Morning, enjoying a gentle rain here. Oatmeal is cooking.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful photo!
And happy birthday, Kathaleena.
“Rainy” here, but presently not raining.
I have 4 stories on my working list, three of which need to get done today and tomorrow, the 4th can be bumped to next week.
We’re getting heavy surf along the coast which is drawing many surfers out, despite the usual county warnings about “bacteria, chemicals, debris, trash an other hazards from city streets and mountain areas” are likely contaminating the ocean with the storm drain/creek/river runoff that’s typical during and after rainfall.
It was so good to get up this morning and be able to turn on the heater.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Sunning here.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Making salmon patties with garlic and lime for lunch which Wes seemed to really like. He is practicing guitar, and at times doing planning for next semester. Teaching has the advantage of longer breaks than regular type employment. Thankful.
My arm and shoulder have been stiffening today so I realize the need to be diligent in exercising to keep mobility up. That is why I was told PT may be prescribed. It’s hard to consider adding in another place to go.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks for the idea, Janice. Salmon patties for my dad today. Well, salmon patty.. He will probably only eat part of a golf ball size serving. But he enjoyed salmon patties in the past.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I make flat salmon patties, Mumsee. Do you make them shaped into balls? Art likes them pressed thin so when fried they do have a good oily ( I use light tasting olive oil) coat to give appeal to those who like fried food. They would be well received by Art with a side of hash brown potatoes anx onions. Like Fish and Chips southern style! Does Dad like hash browns?
LikeLike
Yes, we make salmon balls as well as patties. My dad cannot chew or swallow much so we have to be careful. Lunch will be a hard boiled egg and squash. He will eat the egg and ignore the squash.
He and Chas, hold the onions. Nothing can be tainted with onion. He likes hash browns but has not eaten them the last few times they were offered.
He did go outside onto the deck in the sunshine today. That was a positive. He is supposed to be getting in shape for a backpack trip with my brothers this summer.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Miss Bosely is fascinated by my new movements. Arm exercises. What else can this human do that I knew nothing about for ten years?
LikeLiked by 2 people
How does a year older feel, Kathaleea?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy Birthday, Kathaleena!
LikeLiked by 2 people
No different, Janice. Every year I feel no difference on my birthday, yet I age.
🙂 I remember when my dad died because it is one of my daughter’s birthdays. When I called to tell her, she assumed I was just calling to say happy birthday. Another daughter’s longtime boyfriend died on my youngest daughter’s birthdays.
I so enjoyed watching our grandson play basketball in his tournament. The team did much better than I was led to believe. In addition, my grandson also played on the jr. varsity team, so there were four games altogether. We missed the first jr. varsity game because he told his mom he probably would not be played at all. He had a few baskets, so that was extra fun to watch. He keeps saying he may not play next year.
We were able to have 2/3’s of our family together for a Christmas. I was glad we could get together with all our girls and their families even if the actual plan fell through because of weather issues. So blessed.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Oh, dear, took a 36 hour trip there and back to see the grand sons and I missed the picture of Donna’s dog! I’m so disappointed.
Happy birthday, Kathaleena!
Janice, praying your treatments go well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
About Southwest—a sobering tale.
(I used to fly the all the time, but about 5 years ago, things seemed to change—including they got a lot more expensive).
From FB:
What happened to Southwest Airlines?
I’ve been a pilot for Southwest Airlines for over 35 years. I’ve given my heart and soul to Southwest Airlines during those years. And quite honestly Southwest Airlines has given its heart and soul to me and my family.
Many of you have asked what caused this epic meltdown. Unfortunately, the frontline employees have been watching this meltdown coming like a slow motion train wreck for sometime. And we’ve been begging our leadership to make much needed changes in order to avoid it. What happened yesterday started two decades ago.
Herb Kelleher was the brilliant CEO of SWA until 2004. He was a very operationally oriented leader. Herb spent lots of time on the front line. He always had his pulse on the day to day operation and the people who ran it. That philosophy flowed down through the ranks of leadership to the front line managers. We were a tight operation from top to bottom. We had tools, leadership and employee buy in. Everything that was needed to run a first class operation. When Herb retired in 2004 Gary Kelly became the new CEO.
Gary was an accountant by education and his style leading Southwest Airlines became more focused on finances and less on operations. He did not spend much time on the front lines. He didn’t engage front line employees much. When the CEO doesn’t get out in the trenches the neither do the lower levels of leadership.
Gary named another accountant to be Chief Operating Officer (the person responsible for day to day operations). The new COO had little or no operational background. This trickled down through the lower levels of leadership, as well.
They all disengaged the operation, disengaged the employees and focused more on Return on Investment, stock buybacks and Wall Street. This approach worked for Gary’s first 8 years because we were still riding the strong wave that Herb had built.
But as time went on the operation began to deteriorate. There was little investment in upgrading technology (after all, how do you measure the return on investing in infrastructure?) or the tools we needed to operate efficiently and consistently. As the frontline employees began to see the deterioration in our operation we began to warn our leadership. We educated them, we informed them and we made suggestions to them. But to no avail. The focus was on finances not operations. As we saw more and more deterioration in our operation our asks turned to pleas. Our pleas turned to dire warnings. But they went unheeded. After all, the stock price was up so what could be wrong?
We were a motivated, willing and proud employee group wanting to serve our customers and uphold the tradition of our beloved airline, the airline we built and the airline that the traveling public grew to cheer for and luv. But we were watching in frustration and disbelief as our once amazing airline was becoming a house of cards.
A half dozen small scale meltdowns occurred during the mid to late 2010’s. With each mini meltdown Leadership continued to ignore the pleas and warnings of the employees in the trenches. We were still operating with 1990’s technology. We didn’t have the tools we needed on the line to operate the sophisticated and large airline we had become. We could see that the wheels were about ready to fall off the bus. But no one in leadership would heed our pleas.
When COVID happened SWA scaled back considerably (as did all of the airlines) for about two years. This helped conceal the serious problems in technology, infrastructure and staffing that were occurring and being ignored. But as we ramped back up the lack of attention to the operation was waiting to show its ugly head.
Gary Kelly retired as CEO in early 2022. Bob Jordan was named CEO. He was a more operationally oriented leader. He replaced our Chief Operating Officer with a very smart man and they announced their priority would be to upgrade our airline’s technology and provide the frontline employees the operational tools we needed to care for our customers and employees. Finally, someone acknowledged the elephant in the room.
But two decades of neglect takes several years to overcome. And, unfortunately to our horror, our house of cards came tumbling down this week as a routine winter storm broke our 1990’s operating system.
The frontline employees were ready and on station. We were properly staffed. We were at the airports. Hell, we were ON the airplanes. But our antiquated software systems failed coupled with a decades old system of having to manage 20,000 frontline employees by phone calls. No automation had been developed to run this sophisticated machine.
We had a routine winter storm across the Midwest last Thursday. A larger than normal number flights were cancelled as a result. But what should have been one minor inconvenient day of travel turned into this nightmare. After all, American, United, Delta and the other airlines operated with only minor flight disruptions.
The two decades of neglect by SWA leadership caused the airline to lose track of all its crews. ALL of us. We were there. With our customers. At the jet. Ready to go. But there was no way to assign us. To confirm us. To release us to fly the flight. And we watched as our customers got stranded without their luggage missing their Christmas holiday.
I believe that our new CEO Bob Jordan inherited a MESS. This meltdown was not his failure but the failure of those before him. I believe he has the right priorities. But it will take time to right this ship. A few years at a minimum. Old leaders need to be replaced. Operationally oriented managers need to be brought in. I hope and pray Bob can execute on his promises to fix our once proud airline. Time will tell.
It’s been a punch in the gut for us frontline employees. We care for the traveling public. We have spent our entire careers serving you. Safely. Efficiently. With luv and pride. We are horrified. We are sorry. We are sorry for the chaos, inconvenience and frustration our airline caused you. We are angry. We are embarrassed. We are sad. Like you, the traveling public, we have been let down by our own leaders.
Herb once said the the biggest threat to Southwest Airlines will come from within. Not from other airlines. What a visionary he was. I miss Herb now more than ever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kare, sent the phot to you via Messenger
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Long day, wrote two stories then swung by the little family-run waterfront restaurant going out of business and spent 2 hours there talking and listening to folks as they looked over the piles of memorabilia from the walls, much of it longshore and all of it waterfront related.
Owners were very gracious to me considering this is a very hard week for them. Not their choice to close up shop.
Then it was trash night and I had some extra bags, including dog waste for the first time in quite a while.
But I’m all done, will have to write the restaurant story tomorrow but it shouldn’t be too difficult, one of those things that “writes itself,” as they say.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here we are, still up, three hours after bedtime. Grandpa is wide awake but not lucid. Still determined to get out of bed but not able to. Still working out carpentry details, planning how to knock holes in my walls. Still wanting the cows moved.
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😦
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