Long Night At The Lodge

Simply put, yesterday was a marathon. 26 hours without sleep isn’t very good for the system but it is great for getting things done. What began with my night job quickly transitioned to my new day job. After that I was able to spend a couple hours with my wife before staggering back out the door and off to my stated lodge meeting.

I was already tired by the time I got into the car and the driving did not help the situation. However, as soon as I pulled into the parking lot my eye lids seemed to lift and the weight was removed from my sluggish legs. By the time I got out of the car I was ready to go for the rest of the night and it’s a good thing because it was a long night.

The crowd seemed a little light and everyone looked like it had already been a long week but we all took advantage of the opportunity to catch up with our brothers. It was also a great time to chat with the District Deputy Grand Master (DDGM) who was there in an unofficial capacity and so it was a much more laid back affair. Dinner always goes quickly and soon enough we all began making our way up stairs for the meeting.  The one problem… where was the Secretary?

I knew that the Assistant Secretary was out of town but I was expecting to see all the officers there for the meeting. If he didn’t show up it would have been my turn to sit in the chair and I had very limited experience and really nothing to work with as I don’t have access to the locked office. This had the potential to be very interesting.

With ten minutes to spare, all officers were present and getting ready to go. Our meeting got underway on time and we made a quick night of the agenda to leave ample time for the Shriners presentation to follow. With the meeting over and the presentation concluded it was time to finish up a few things in the office and head across the street for a quick beer.

A small group of brothers gathered around an upstairs table talking about the goals for the following year. It really isn’t too early for such conversations. There are a few great ideas and shifts in mentality that I am looking forward to being a part of when I take office in December. It really is shaping up to be a great start to what I hope will be a longstanding tenure at the lodge.

We all made our way back to the parking lot while still continuing the free flow from our earlier conversation until the only two people we left were me and the DDGM. Unfortunately for him, I can talk. By the time I got back in the car it was about 11:00 PM, dead tired, and excited for both the following day at the office and the following year in office. It was a long day but a great one!

Schedule Shift

This week I missed my Rotary meeting for the first time in months. There have been a few close calls from time to time but I outright missed it yesterday. If you read my post from yesterday you can understand why.

This is not a unique problem. Many Rotarians have to adjust their schedules to find the time to attend a meeting. It is the commitment we made when we joined Rotary. Sometimes things work out and you can find a way to attend your home club meeting. But that is not always the case.

Given my new daily routine, I am going to have to find a number of clubs to fit into my calendar. I will do my best to occasionally attend meetings at my home club in Bala Cynwyd but, at this point, I can’t guarantee anything. It will continue to be my home club but most of my meetings will have to be beyond the confines of Aldar Bistro.

What does that mean for some of the projects I have undertaken? Nothing, I am still going to work as hard as I have been on them. This schedule shift may even be to my benefit as it will give my club, our projects, and our raffle greater exposure.

What I will miss are the people. These people are not just my fellow Rotarians or club members; they are my friends who have been there for me during much of this recent rough patch. They will always be dear friends and I will continue to talk to and coordinate with them regarding the goings on in the club and what they happen to be doing beyond the Rotary world.

You may not see as many posts regarding the speakers at my club, which should have been obvious by now. But I will write about all the events, conferences, training programs and visitations to other clubs that I experience moving forward. In fact, you will be (or maybe you won’t if you tend to skip over these posts) reading about a Rotary event that I will be attending on Saturday when I finally finish up with Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI).

So, some things are definitely going to change in my own Rotary world but many things are going to stay the same. Change is good most of the time and in this instance it has the potential to be great. Stay tuned for a different Rotary perspective.

Well Hello Career, How Have You Been?

I’ve had an old Aerosmith song running in a loop in my head all day. “I’m back in the saddle again…” In case you haven’t heard, I accepted a position at a PR firm yesterday and today was my first day in the office. It was an amazing feeling returning to the profession which I love. Needless to say, it was a great day!

I can’t remember the last time that I looked forward to going to the office and working. Despite a lack of sleep from the day and night before, I was wide awake driving down the highway this morning and had to restrain my foot from pressing too hard on the accelerator. I couldn’t get to my new job fast enough.

I have had an inkling of this feeling in the past few years but never a fully fueled nervous excitement as I experienced today. Previously, that small kernel of an emotion was quashed as soon as I walked through the doors and was cast as an outsider. Today I was welcomed warmly and immediately felt like I was part of the team… like, as the cliché states, we had all known one another for years.

I quickly settled into my office and at my desk and within the first few moments came to the realization of how much I missed the industry. I always knew it was something I wanted to come back to but I really didn’t know how much I missed it. Learning, strategizing (not strategery), and corporate writing are all things that have been missing from my daily life for too long.

Of course, there was also a sense of relief as I was sitting in the car during the morning commute. Not only was I getting my career back in gear but I was once again joining the workforce of the waking hours. Knowing that the hours of darkness would soon come to an end lifted a great weight off my mind, my eyelids, and my marriage. Finally, we could see daylight at the end of the tunnel.

So what does this mean for this blog? Hopefully it doesn’t mean a thing. This is my free writing (mentally, creatively, and financially) and I will continue to write and post on a daily basis. The timing may vary (like it hasn’t already) but I will put forth the effort to keep things going. So, stay tuned, there should be some interesting posts getting put up in the near future. Actually, interesting for some and probably annoying for others. 

Oh, and if you know of any technology centric companies looking for PR have them reach out to me (come on, you can’t blame me for trying).