T minus 1

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Mike

Wow.

I think that sums it all up for me.  Just wow.

From the 2.5 months of hanging on, waiting for this job that was given to me to finally be unblocked after being put on hold at the last minute, to flying to San Francisco on a day’s notice (after finally and formally signing the contracts) to being blown away by what I saw at Emeryville (and even jumping right into the discussions and giving examples on the boards during my first meetings) to getting to fly back home that same week and arriving at midnight as the clock struck and announced my birthday…

…through the week of prep and the angst at leaving my family, followed by meeting my team and us all flying back to San Francisco together, getting our TN Visas, and getting settled into the hotel that changed its name 3 times while we were here, to the many months, weeks, days, and hours of working, living, laughing, and growing together…

To going back home. For good.

So many moments, so many experiences, so much of everything… and we kept on going through it all because we believed in the project so much, and because my family was strong enough to survive this very difficult separation, and that thankfully my wife was able to ensure our children were never lacking.

And now it all comes down to this. 4 suitcases, stuffed as stuffed can be without breaking open, 9 months of “living” packed away and ready to be tossed into a plane’s cargo hold… my hotel room, so much a part of my daily life already packed away in my mind, and me sitting at my desk, on this laptop, watching the clock tick away as it counts the minutes and hours before it’s time to get up tomorrow morning, for the last time, and head out to the airport.

to. go. home.  HOME.

wow.

I’m going to miss being here, but I’ll be back every now and again. But my heart will finally be whole again as I’ll be physically reunited with my family. We survived.  Wow.

It probably won’t feel “real” until Monday morning when I get up to get ready to head out… only to realize I won’t be flying back! Phew.

Home… just a few short hours away…

 

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#canadawrites … and I giggle…

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Mike

So, CBC Books was holding a “Break-up” contest on Twitter and they had Tabatha Southey (@TabathaSouthey) a Writer and Globe and Mail columnist as a judge.  For 12 hours (10am-10pm EST) folks were invited to basically tweet “dear john” letters.  The prize? an iPad. But, as cool as that could be, the fact is… just like the “day without wikipedia” it became something I started on a lark and then couldn’t stop 🙂 And now, just like that day, I wanted to capture my tweets here in my blog. So, without further ‘adieu’…

#canadawrites

  • This is the end, beautiful friend…
  • Remember when I said I loved you? You can forget it now.
  • You had the key to my heart. Now it unlocks the cellar.
  • How can I miss you if you won’t go away?
  • You will find your things next to my heart. On the sidewalk.
  • If you’re still reading this, then I have to adjust my security settings.  (* I actually got an RT on this one from the judge 😉 )
  • You are a treasure. I want to bury you in my back yard.
  • I’d say you are my Valentine, but that is *SO* last year.
  • I got the message and the message is clear. Now, it’s your turn. Get. Out. Clear?
  • Started my new diet. Lost 150lbs of ugly. You.
  • See you at the airport! If I`m not there, make sure you get on the plane!
  • Let me get to the point: it’s over.
  • What do these words have in common? Finished. Over. You. End. Done. Give up?
  • I will always cherish you. From afar. Far, far, afar.
  • I keep thinking of where I found you, and if I can lose you the same way.
  • I finally understand why a Preying Mantis eats its mate.
  • Once Upon a Time, there was us… Now there is ME.
  • Hershey’s gave me Kisses, you gave me Herpes.
  • Ding Dong the Witch is Dead! Yeah, that would be you…
  • I wrote your name… on this Restraining Order…
  • The tree with our initials carved on it was struck by lightning.
  • Couldn’t tell you to your face, so I’m Tweeting it instead… Buh-Bye!
  • I’m not a Quitter, so consider yourself Fired.
  • I hope you get this note. It’s the last I’ll ever send you.
  • I’m right. You’re wrong. I’m here. You’re gone.
  • Love is on the Menu tonight. I’m ordering out. What about you?
  • Even the Superbowl takes a commercial break for entertainment. And you’re no Superbowl.
  • Remember when I said I’d love you forever? I exaggerated. #canadawrites
  • When I tell you I’m in the mood for love, your reaction should not be to ask why.
  • Letting you go was like winning the Lottery. Suddenly, life was beautiful!
  • In the PrimeTime of our relationship, I regret to inform you that notice of Cancellation has officially been given.
  • Wait, you didn’t really think I was serious, right? Weren’t you joking, too?
  • I loved you like a hurricane… but now you’re just a blowhard.
  • It’s not that I don’t love you, I just love ME more.
  • Let me lie to you… I want to stay with you forever.
  • If the door doesn’t hit you on the way out, I’d be glad to do it.
  • Don’t you want somebody to love? Ditto. Know where I can find them?
  • Did I forget to tell you I was leaving the country? Today?
  • Wedding? I thought you said ‘Bedding’. Oops, my bad.
  • Without further Ado, I bid you Adieu…
  • This is the first tweet of the rest of my life… without you.
  • Thanks for playing along! There’s a nice parting gift waiting for you!

Does get kind of hard to stop after a while… but I’m going to leave it at that – even with 20 minutes left to go. Let’s see if I can resist the temptation 😉

…aaand had to sneak in that one last “Thanks for playing along!” gag… 🙂  Ok, now I’m done.

 

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It’s starting to feel real…

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Mike

For the last few weeks now, pretty much since the holidays, the end-date of this first phase of my current project was set in that the return date was one of two days: the third or fourth week of February.  Even when it was confirmed last month that it would be Feb 16th, the reality of it hadn’t really sunk in.

After all, when you’re working what feels like round-the-clock, days all kind of blur together (let’s not even talk about hours). But that has always been okay since the whole reason we kicked off this Small-Canadian-Team-in-the-US phase was to get us all to live and breathe not only the lifestyle of our environments, but the company, processes, and project itself. On that count, it has been extremely successful as we have all been fully integrated into the daily goings-on and not just as participants, but as collaborators and “influencers”.

And now, this phase is coming to an end as we prep for The Voyage Home and setting up shop as an East-Coast and Northern expansion. Again, with all the work we’ve been doing, I haven’t had that feeling of “I’ll be home for good”. Until last night.

Finally, as I walked to the local Target in Emeryville and passed by the Bay Street Shopping Area on my way back, the streets and buildings I’ve been looking upon for the last 9 months suddenly looked… “different”. Always familiar, but with a tinge of “dusk” that hinted at an “unspoken” countdown clock. In that slow red haze, during an extremely comfortable 12 or so degrees, my vision of my surroundings started to gather some of that “nostalgia dust” which (I know) will cloud my future viewings with a sigh of “comfortable” feelings. Remembrances of so many walks and actions throughout this city, as well as all the good friends I made here.

It is nice to know that this “end” is really just another change and that there will still be a number of opportunities (and needs) to come back here from time to time, but the best part is that I know those future “visits” will be akin to visiting a childhood home.  Emeryville will never be just another “place” to me now.  It will be a fond reminder of Professional, Personal, and Family Growth.

I do look forward to future visits, and as much as they will be fun and enjoyable, there is still nothing that compares to the feeling that it WILL be a visit and that I will quickly turn around and go back HOME to my FAMILY 🙂  9 months away from my wife and children still feels like an eternity and it’s about time we all stop hurting at the pain of the separation 🙂

Why did we do it, you may ask? For the same reason I told one of the nurses who helped take care of my daughter during the open-heart surgery that saved her life over 4 years ago.  My wife and I wanted to do our part and give back to Canada, to HealthCare, and to the Montreal Children’s Hospital for everything they made possible in ensuring our baby girl would live.  Watching her medical folder grow and grow and grow and thinking about how easy that information could be lost, or how her Pediatrician was not always in the know of what happened to her (or what happened to my son during his asthma attacks)… it was and still is a little frustrating.

So, when the chance came to be part of a team that would help bring an Electronic Health Records solution to Canada, the sacrifice of 9 months seemed very minor in comparison to the years of my daughter’s life given back to us.  Americans have had access to the RelayHealth solution for almost 10 years now (http://www.relayhealth.com/) and very soon (for those who haven’t read all our press releases) it will be ready for Canada as well (http://www.relayhealth.ca/relayhealth-overview.html)

And that is a good thing 🙂

 

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Home, Sweet Home…

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Mike

I’m sitting here feeling a little dumbfounded, or perhaps more in a state of shock.

For months now, I’ve been sitting in my room here in Emeryville, trying to put to words all the gamut of emotions that I’ve been struggling with for over 8 months now.  I’ve been wanting, and failing, to share what it’s meant to be over 2000 miles away from my wife, my kids, my home, and work at one of the best (if not THE best) companies I’ve ever worked for in my life.

What a mixed blessing! To be constantly wishing to be with my family, and yet to be so engaged, motivated, and immersed in my work that no day EVER felt like I was going to “work”… on a professional front, who could wish for anything better?  On the personal front… ouch.

My wife put together a great summary yesterday about it all, broken down into how much has gone “on” while I’ve been away, and how much I’ve missed out physically if not virtually (thanks to the absolute joy and wonders of Skype). As difficult as this distance has been, we have been truly blessed by a number of things. When those really important moments came, I was there, in person. Kyle’s 6th birthday, Charlize’s 4th birthday, seeing Chantale’s grand father one last time prior to his passing, and then being able to make it to the funeral. Such important life moments and I never once felt like I was a burden on anyone at either company or department I was involved with.

I used to joke back in June 2011 about how great it was working here and that I could easily see myself taking over a role here but for the fact that: (a) my family, my home, were back in Canada and I would not move them out here, (b) what we’re trying to do for Canada is the reason I came down and I want to see it through to full completion/ implementation, and (c) my job/position/career back in Canada is going to keep me more than busy enough! 🙂

But it’s definitely a great feeling to be wanted 🙂  And I realized I deviated somewhat from the original intention of this post, so let me adjust.

I first came down to Emeryville the week of my birthday, back in 2011, for a few days. I actually made it back home ON my birthday that first trip which was an amazing gift on its own.  Afterwards, I flew back down with my team on May 23rd.  And from then on began an adventure I will never forget – even if I didn’t manage to capture it fully here in my journals. The point is, though, that at the forefront of my mind was how I was missing my wife, and missing watching my kids grow up. During my first few months, Kyle started Grade One and Charlize started PreSchool, while Melyssa started Secondary 3 and James his first year of college. Again, with good fortune, I was able to be there for Kyle’s first days, too. Unbelievable.

We got into a virtual routine with me spending a lot of time on Skype “living through” whatever events was going on back home – from the “mundane” mealtimes to just lounging on the couch watching tv together. That virtual presence at least kept me connected and kept me sane. But as the vacations came, and such wonderful times were spent back home, it became harder and harder to fly back to San Francisco. We always knew that, soon, but not always soon enough, that final flight home would come.

Well, tonight, for me, that time is finally scheduled. I booked my flight home and the flood of emotions that tore through me brought tears of joy and relief at knowing that I *will* be home for my Wife’s Leap Year Birthday, and that I will once again be physically part of my children’s everyday life. Call it sappy, call it what you will, but as much as I will miss the amazing friends and colleagues I have made here, nothing can replace the people I’ve devoted and committed my life to. That’s just truth of the facts 🙂

One Adventure is winding down, but another Adventure will begin the week after it as we continue with our plans for world (or at least Canadian) domination! 🙂

 

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Wandering through the Past

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Mike

I spent most if not all of tonight re-living about 7 years worth of memories. It was basically a high-level reading of over 1000 blog entries and I found the experience quite fascinating.  Why fascinating? Is my life that unbelievable that what I’ve lived through is so captivating? Well… yes, actually 🙂 But it’s not just that.

What really amazes me is that when the past is looked upon through the veil of time, age, and experience, what really bubbles to the surface is just how *much* stuff we’ve lived through! In everyday conversations it’s quite easy to lose the details of a lot of events. But when you’re reading through your personal history, and those specific memories are triggered, it’s like… wow.  How did we do it?! 🙂

The best/ quickest example is just taking the events of children. Charlize and her open-heart surgery; Kyle and his asthma and allergy attacks. Two “general” examples which summarize soooo many events.  Re-reading those events brings home the fact that if it weren’t for the need to see everything through to (and believing in) a healthy end, it would be extremely easy to fall apart and cease to function (as a parent, as a person).

All this, of course, doesn’t even bring up the memories/ stories/ events of the whole 9 months of going through the Pregnancy, Delivery, and bringing Baby Home phases! Those, as well, can sometimes feel like a lifetime on their own! 🙂

So I say, again, how grateful I am that my wife and I have kept a journal for so many years, simply because these memories might not matter much to those outside of ourselves, but they’ll matter to our children and our eventual grandchildren. After all, the same way I wish I knew my own Parents and Grandparents better than I do, it’s only natural that those “to come” will want to know about our lives, our trials and tribulations, and ultimately, our incredible joys.

And you know what? That’s just something you’ll never be able to get through Facebook or Twitter.

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The Day The Lights Went Out…

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Mike

Not much more I can add to today’s blackout from so many online sources as a protest towards SOPA and PIPA but feel free to read Wikipedia’s thank you message: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CongressLookup?new=yes

For my part, I knew of today and understood the concern and could see how even Canada would eventually feel the impact. However, I had no thoughts towards doing anything about the day… until I read one of Dayton Ward’s (http://daytonward.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/without-wikipedia-were-left-to-our-own-devices/) first tweet on that special hashtag #factswithoutwikipedia.

I was quite amused and thus wrote up a couple. And then, slowly, became addicted, and the couple multiplied. Like the bunnies that china built the Great Wall to keep out. Even when I declared a self-imposed “stop” to my tweeting after bringing in some Canadian content,  I found that I could just…not…let…it…go! That time finally happened when Wikipedia came back online and I figured I’d spend the last few hours of my evening doing something else (like maybe reading comics or watching The Sarah Conner Chronicles 🙂 )

However, before I drop the subject completely, I did want to keep the tweets for posterity, here, in my blog. These are just the ones I wrote and none of the re-tweets I did (because there were quite a few jewels in those, too! 🙂 ). Without further a-do, and with the hashtag removed, I bring you my pearls of wisdom (although some will only be understood by those living in The Great White North):

  • BC was initially created as a unit of weight meaning “Before Calories”
  • Tumbleweed are sticky ashes brought together by the breath of medicinal weed users
  • The elbow is the funny bone because it is used to poke others in the ribs (aka ribbing)
  • The Grapefruit is neither a grape, nor a fruit
  • Luke was originally Vader’s daughter Lucille
  • The Secret Service James Bond used to provide Her Majesty was in the bedroom
  • The Moon is not made of cheese, it is made of Yogurt
  • A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far Far Away, Barney was the King of Dinosaurs
  • Badminton was initially created by a group of men trying to kill a bee
  • George Stroumboulopoulos (@strombo) is secretly the President of Canada
  • Rick Mercer (@rickmercer) wrote the Canadian Nationial Anthem
  • More Canadians take dog sleds to work than Snowmobiles
  • Every book Stephen King has written is based on a true story
  • Clark Kent is Batman
  • Peter Parker is Superman
  • Ringo Starr is the only Beatle to survive living Under the Sea. All the others drowned.
  • Canadians have no running water, but plenty of Tim Horton’s coffee
  • Petting a cat from tail to head builds enough static to stick them on a wall
  • In an emergency, coffee can be used for blood transfusions.
  • Gone with the Wind is about one woman’s struggle with flatulence.
  • Canada has 13 timezones, one for each of the 10 provinces and 3 territories.
  • Canadians are legally obliged to keep Moose or Beavers as pets.
  • Harry Houdini never died, he was just misplaced.
  • The Godfather is a book/movie about a man finding out that God is his father.
  • Dog is actually spelled C-A-T.
  • PONG was originally created as a counter-measure to LSD.
  • Orville and Wilbur Redenbacher flew the first airplane.
  • Betsy Ross starred on The Golden Girls.
  • Ice Cream is made with ice mined from Icebergs.
  • Smeagol was Frodo Baggins’ uncle, Bilbo, known to friends as Gollum.
  • Old McDonald had a Farm. He grew Pot.
  • Yoda was created when a Muppeteer accidentally dropped Grover in a pickle jar.
  • Natural Spring Water is collected by means of plastic pipes, not metal.
  • You can use Scott Towels to pick up Gas Leaks.
  • The Planet of the Apes is a documentary.

 

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Comic Dreams

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Mike

This weekend, as I was folding the laundry, I was struck by the number of Superhero t-shirts my little boy has. I smiled at the fact that (a) he loves superheroes as much as I did when I was growing up (and to a large extent still do), and (b) he’s lucky enough to actually be able to HAVE such great t-shirts! 🙂

Superman, Lego Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Iron Man, Spider-Man… I folded and folded and just got a kick out of all the designs, thinking back to how simple/ sterile the ones I grew up with looked in comparison.

Everyone knows there’s lots of money in marketing, and such products as these (along with toys, of course) are cash cows for the comic companies. But, I wonder if anyone also knows (or cares, really) that these products also give little boys and girls (and their parents in some cases!) a lot of joy 🙂  Probably not, but that’s okay, too 🙂

I’m just glad I can get to share in this love of superheroes with my kids (or, that they can share in my love of superheroes 🙂 ). It is a lot of fun and sure makes for some great memories 🙂

 

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Starting over…

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Mike

So this morning, in an effort to try to make commenting on this site (at least on the portal site) easier I tried to install a few authentication plug-ins. I tested the google, yahoo, and WordPress ones but couldn’t get the other protocols (like Facebook, twitter, and OpenId to work). As I went about trying out a few others, I suddenly hit a memory error I could not recover from. Repairing the site wasn’t working so I fell back to the immortal words of a friend of mine (Tommy, you know who you are) and took the Scrap-and-ReWrite route.

Luckily it was easy enough to do with me just losing some tag management. No biggie. Doubly-lucky that it didn’t take that long although I will spend some time tweaking again – later.

In the meantime, I activated the remote protocols which allows me to use an iPad app to post here :). This comes at a good time when -like now- I’m flying home and hanging about the lounge waiting to board. I know there’s a storm back home but it’s clear in Vancouver. Boarding should begin soon so I guess it’s time I make my way over 🙂

But I couldn’t leave without mentioning that the Maple Leaf Lounge here in YVR is as great as I expected it to be 🙂

 

-updated manually as the Remote protocol did not cross post this entry to LiveJournal

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A New Year

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Mike

Indeed, it’s a new year, and I still haven’t manage to figure out a way to make time to put my thoughts down :)

I wanted to speak of the holidays, and how wonderful it was to be home this year – how being so far from home for so long already just made BEING home for Xmas that much more special. How packed the time was and how much food was consumed! :)  Everything was just so special but busy! In fact the only downtime was after Jan 1st when we were able to just “veg” and unwind. By the time I got to that state of peaceful bliss, however, it was time to jump back on the plane and get back to the “real world”.

Thus, now, almost 2 weeks later, going on about those holidays is just not the same.

The ‘real world’ consists of spending 9-10hr days at work followed by anywhere from 1 to 3 hours of being on Skype to catch up on what’s been going on back home. Strangely enough my body is still (and seems to always be) on whacked-out time zones so there are quite a number of nights where I end up falling asleep between 8-9pm (usually while reading!). But, it won’t be long now when I can once again work in the same city where I actually live :)

In the meantime, I should try to take advantage of this new blog format to put some thoughts down. After all, even my status and tweets seem to mainly revolve around my flight plans (and the Travels of Bulbasaur ;) ). And although it feels like a lot of my time is definitely spent on air travel, there is more to what’s going on than that and I’d like to record it for posterity :)

So, not a New Year’s resolution, but more a Desire.

 

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I’ll be home… for Christmas…

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Mike

I leave work and start walking to my hotel.  It’s a cool but very nice and sunny day so my jacket is open and I’m strolling along, my eyes squinting from the sun, and I look at the people around me as I walk past palm trees… and it hits me (again).

I’m starting my Christmas Holidays! But… but… where’s the snow? How am I not wearing any boots? It *can’t* be Christmas!!

For a Canadian like me, where Christmas usually equals snow, ice, cold, heavy layers, and fireplaces, I suddenly feel like I’m on another planet!

So I take the time and try to think about it. What is it that I’m missing? It doesn’t take long for an answer to pop up: the ambiance! I can do without the ice (except in an outdoor ice rink at the local park!) and I can do without the massive snow (although I really do enjoy a light powder that helps make things “glow”) and the cold… well, the cold is really where it’s at, it seems. The need to get bundled up, the family huddled together on the couch with a nice fire going in the fireplace, the lights on the tree winking and giving off a warm glow as well, while sharing in some holiday movie…. moments like that are what I look for at Christmas time.

Not the mad dashing, not the nonstop shoveling, but the slow, leisurely pace of life in a much more relaxed state. Spending the day in pjs, or playing in the snow in the backyard and coming into the house for a hot cup of cocoa… mmm… I’m feeling happy and relaxed already just thinking about it! :)

And so, as I spend my last couple of hours looking outside my hotel room in Emeryville (balcony open so as to let in some cool air), I feel my body begin to relax and unwind as it starts the internal shift to being at home, with my family, snuggled away from the cold, enjoying our time together during these Festive days… and wishing Good Cheer and Happy Memories to one and all! :)

Be Excellent to each Other!  And… Party on, Dudes! :)

 

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