Weekend in Coos Bay, North Bend, Charleston and Bandon Oregon

This winter I had the chance to visit the Coos Bay Area in Oregon.  Flying in was a true adventure on a 9 seat plane you swoop out over the ocean as you land at this very nice regional airport.

The folks on the flight and those working at the airport were so friendly and helpful I instantly knew that this was a great place.

Coos Bay is poorly represented on google and often overlooked when looking at the Oregon Coast.

Visiting during the winter the ocean and beaches were dramatic and powerful.

The 5 parks I visited during my 3 days in the bay area were relatively vacant.

  

I was fortunate to discover some Christmas magic at one parks botanical garden.

 The food scene in the bay area was surprisingly good.

 

Town had plenty of quaintness that could keep you entertained for several days

Elder Lake Park, Kilgore Tx

Saw what looked like a park entrance while driving home on 259 one day. A few weeks latter during a day off ventured down to check it out. What a wonderful surprise, I wish I had found this years ago

Elder lake is a small lake with well groomed walking trails around it totaling in just at about 2 miles if you do the outer loops.

I am not one for fishing but I do enjoy a good dock when I see one, it give you a dynamic look at the water from a vantage you cannot access on the shore.

The Why Of Work: Actions and Outcomes

"Leaders create a line of sight by crafting "if...then...." logic"

Our performance metrics are often based on then. My role is to identify for myself and my team what our if's are to ensure that we get there. Once I know this it becomes my responsibility to share these.

The last entry I did on this book I published my action item. A simple task of bringing up the idea of higher quality office furniture/ decor as a method to support a more positive work environment for our team. It took much longer than I anticipated for me to bring it up, and ultimately it came up during an e-mail discussion about recent employee engagement survey results.

Learning that I feel a sense of obligation to those random folks who read this, the action challenge that I am going to set for my self is going to be a team update call in December looking at the first 4 months of the Fiscal Year. Acknowledging that our metrics are based on Outcomes (Thens) and sharing what our actions (if's) need to be for us to find success.

Our actions define our outcome even when variables are beyond our control

Sulphur Springs

Camp Tonkewa Springs

Waterford ME

Ian and I just returned from our annual anniversary vacation, this year like the 2 years previous we headed north to escape the Texas heat and went on a mini road trip.

This year we did Boston up to Maine. Much of our trip was like many others but we made a side visit to Waterford ME. A lovely quaint town surrounded by more lovely quaint towns.

We spent about 1/2 of our time at Deerwood Farm Garden, owned by the parents of a dear friend of ours. There is something so relaxing about chilling out on a small family farm in central Maine, if you have an chance to do so someday I highly recommend it.

I am not an amazing photographer but here are the pictures from our time in Waterford.

The Why of Work: Physical Work Space

Its been several months since I made a post based on my readings of the Why of Work by Wendy and Dave Ulrich. I had several big events going on within my work that have needed my complete focus. As I am now returning to a more standard rhythm I picked up the book and flipped to the next dog eared and highlighted page to see what Dave and Wendy had written that almost a year ago caught my attention.

This section is on the attitude and value of physical space. As a change maker in your institution you can either let the physical space haphazardly evolve or make some strategic decisions that can generate long-term benefit for your institution.

The first argument that caught my attention was this statement "Investing in seating and work surfaces that fit the individual worker may be more costly than one size fits all office furniture but can pay for itself in workers' compensation alone (back pain leads to almost a quarter of workers' comp claims and a third of the dollars spent).

This is mind blowlingly clear that every leader when evaluating their budgets should be taking office furniture into consideration. But why than is this such a systemic challenge in the work place 1/4 of workers comp claims could be mitigated with better office furniture?!?!

Having just come out of our annual budget allocation and planning meeting I can attest first hand that these types of "luxury " expenses were not event on the radar. Often in organizations budgets things such as facilitates, and workers comp are held by individuals who are not directly linked to the workforce and their responsibility and scope would not enable them to make personalized office furniture decisions.

Mid level management who might be best positioned to make these types of decisions are often given limited budgeting authority and their discretionary funds are so limited that they would be faced with the choice of a few new chairs or funding  holiday socials and recognition events. In the non for profit world this becomes even a larger challenge as its extremely hard to fundraiser so that your staff can have the most advanced office furniture. While in the long run it will make your organization more successful at mission delivery the donor is typically not  interested in giving to office chairs.

I try to take this information and turn it into action. First thing I did was find what I think is my dream desk chair: The Herman Miller Embody -  http://myergonomicchair.com/ergonomic-chairs/herman-miller-embody-chair-review/

And while this is not going to come into my life this year, I hope that with my next promotion I can have this chair.

The second thing to do is a bit more complicated and that's determining how I can influence better office furniture within my organization. I think the first step might be a conversation with my direct manager during our next monthly review to see her thoughts on this information; and I will need to do a bit more research in the mean time.

Update:

Links to supporting documentation on better office furniture - 

http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/hwce/office-ergonomics/supporting-literature-for-office-ergonomics/ 

http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/Innovative_Workplaces-508_R2OD26_0Z5RDZ-i34K-pR.pdf 

Happiness is not a finish line

6 months ago while my youngest brother was living in Antarctica I watched a TED talk from a man who went on an epic ice journey. His whole talk was fascinating and engaging but one line that he said has stuck in my head and caused me to reflect on it fairly consistently for the past 6 months. He said:

Happiness is not a finish line

In a society that is goal drive. Where we are taught that our value is based on our achievements this is against the grain but resounds as truth. How do we value and express the journey, which might be more important than the destination. How to express and share the content of our journey. I had dinner with some good friends the other day and they asked me if I felt like I was an adult. Without hesitation I said no. They both expressed their desire to feel like adults and the moments in the past 5 years that they feel were critical for them to achieve this feeling of adulthood. They both than shared that while they feel like adults they continue to look at those who are older than they are and have feelings similar to when they were a child watching adults and wishing they would hurry up and grow up.

As we progressed through dinner I  begun to wonder how we as individuals and society as a whole can achieve this perfect balance where we strive to improve, have goals and work towards achievements whilst ensuring that we find value, satisfaction and happiness whit where we are.

Somewhere in my teenage years I begun working in non profits and have continued down that path, while striving to learn new things and progress professionally I also came up with a mission of my own, that I would positively impact the lives of 100,000 people is a way that was traceable and tangible based on my actions. As I near the completion of this goal I am unsure what the next move should be. The past 15 years have been a journey that is uniquely mine but as I cross this self created finish line I am starting to look for the next accomplishment and I wonder if I should instead be looking for the journey most suited to personal happiness and ultimately where that perfect balance can be achieved.












The TED talk that got my mind spinning

https://www.facebook.com/TED/photos/a.10152228735380652.917907.29092950651/10153907682320652/

Chiangmai Thai

One of the great things about living in longview is the every changing array of restaurants. New ones open every month and others close about as often. Not all are fantastic but many are worth a try... I mean hey what else are you going to do tonight?

About 6 months ago with no fan fair Chiangmai Thai opened in a strip mall behind the AT&T store. I was luck to spot is and have visited several occasions.

The food is variable based on how busy, the day or the week and who is cooking. The prices are reasonable and the food is fairly fast.

Their wait staff is unique, all brand new servers who have no experience in food service and who know nothing about Thai food. A true experience every time, but one that I honestly enjoy.

Two negatives that I would feel remiss not mentioning: If its a dish that comes with rice you will need an additional side as the rice potion is too small. Secondly last week when we went in a cockroach was spotted scurrying across the wall in the dining area.

http://www.longviewthaifood.com

Lake Houston Campground

One of the great things about Texas is its never too cold to camp, there is however a 4 month time frame when its quite hot and camping is less than desirable.

From the Longview/ Kilgore area you are about 4 hours from downtown Houston, however you can reach the City park of Lake Houston in about 3hours. This park is located on the northern most part of Houston and is a great stop on your way to the Houston Airport that is also situated in the norther part of the Houston.

Unlike many city parks this one has overnight camping including a full bath house.

They also have family style bunk cabins for rent, along with indoor and outdoor pavilions.

I did not venture too far onto the trails but the whole area has that back woods bayou meets pines feel that is unique to this part of the county.