Jane's blog

How many do you share with your friends? Needles to say that the higher the degree of contact, the closer your relationship with that person is.

Just bought this book “Managing Business Change for Dummies” by Evard/Gipple to freshen up my thoughts and mind on this subject. I found it a very practical book on how to handle in variety of different circumstances. I recognize many aspects in the book. I’ve always found this topic very interesting and challenging and I know I have feeling for it. Convincing people that your way of working is more effective all the way from idea to realization to more professional designing the new possible structures of organization departments and step by step trying to get commitment among management. Very important lesson learned of the years is that there is always a bridge or intermediator needed in the process of a change. Someone who can translate or guide the change for those who still stick to the old situation and show resistance. All those people need is security and understanding. Only time and patience can heal that. Not everyone has the ability to do that. Also, keep looking for the positive aspects and don’t stay in the negative atmosphere like “We will never manage to do that!”. If you don’t, it will simply evoke more resistance. The choice is up to you.

I think I might have RSI on my feet, especially on my right foot. The reason? I drive to work every day and although it is only 35 km from home to the office, it usually takes me over 1 hour to get there. It is just very inconvenient to feel such pressure on your ankles and makes you think why in the world you had not chosen for an automatic car in the first place. On lucky days like Fridays for example I arrive after only 40 minutes without any difficulty. It seems like almost nobody is hitting the road on this day. No part-time workers on this day, which almost makes you think that part-time workers are the main cause of the mess on the roads during the rest of the week. On unlucky days however, I am able to read the whole nu.nl application and my emails and even manage to answer some of them.
Don’t get me wrong, I am fond of driving. Just not this kind of driving. Last weekend I again drove about 480 km in just one day. Alright I have to admit I had misinterpreted the distance somewhat as usual. I thought it would have been shorter and of course I missed some exits which resulted in having to make some turnarounds. Anyways, those are the nice kind of trips with my super car I am still happily satisfied with. I will not demotivate myself not driving anymore because of the daily hectic I am in, but I have to be careful.

This week I will have my first photography class. Looking forward to that! Made that decision in only 5 minutes! Wowowow! I know I’m already able to take some great pics – I know I have a feeling for it – but right now it’s still just a matter of chance and I would like to increase it towards a more stable frequency. It will be fun to be able to learn from my teacher and co-students. See y’all in class!

Sigh, what a week! A friend that tells me she has been proposed by her guy. Lucky friend! Where can you find that someone that is totally hooked on you? Must be wonderful. A contrary message from a friend who’s going through difficult relationship issues now. An email with unexpected content of someone I didn’t expect it from. Another MSN message (or two/three) in the middle of the night from my oversees friends to chat with me. Another unexpected phone call from abroad. A dive in the lake that should have been a real dive in the lake. An offer to come over for partying in Miami. An escape from something that would have been a car accident. I must say, I have a pretty interesting life…

All I want is just to come home just for once and wish there would be a bunch of nice hot pancakes waiting for me ready to be eaten by me, preferably in good company who would also be willing to clean up and do dishes afterwards while I can just chill out. No worries, just simplicity and happiness…

Woke up early this morning, made some fresh orange juice and walked to my post box to empty it. Surprised to finding out that Postman Pat had delivered me a nice card From the date written on the card it had taken three weeks to reach to me. Wow, that’s a long long time. By the way if you read this, thanks for sending! You know I really love receiving mail.
I remember the mail exchange I had with my girlfriends when I was young. We used to reply each other directly after we had received a letter. Of course this could then easily take a week before you got a response back. Also since we didn’t have too much money, we tried to reuse the stamps by taping them so that we could easily remove the ink from the tape By doing this, we could use one stamp for maybe three letters before it really became visible that it had been reused. Good for us that in those good old days the post men were not that cautious on certain obscure practices The joy you get from finding a handwritten card or letter is so much greater than getting an email. I want to keep this post receiving and sending alive for the rest of my life!

I found this book in Taikang area in Shanghai, China. Amazing how such a simple object can inspire me. Another visit to China this year and another package of experiences I take home with me from all the things that crossed my eyes. Again I got inspired by the way people approach things from a different point of view and learn from the steps they had to take to get to this point in time. For some people money is all that matters, or at least the main important thing in their daily lives right now. I would call that a short term focus. To others it is less important; those people like to invest more into the long term. Like me. In the end, isn’t that what we all wish for?