... and not for a good reason.
Tuesday, January 28th, was a somewhat dramatic day here. Weather forecasters had been predicting snow for a few days, but until Monday evening, the predictions had been that most of the snow and ice would be south and east of Atlanta. Early Tuesday morning (3:39 a.m.), the "winter storm advisory" changed to "winter storm warning" and Atlanta was said to be directly in the path of the snow storm. Temperatures were not expected to get above freezing at all that day (or the next) and therein lay the problem - that would cause ice to form on the roads, and people in the South, rarely experiencing snow or ice, do not have vehicles equipped to deal with icy roads.
I have to go into the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I was on the road by about 4:15 that morning, completely unaware of the change in the weather prediction as I hadn't switched on the TV or checked the weather report online. A few miles from my office, traffic slowed down suddenly. Only one of the four lanes was open - the rest were blocked off by polices cars, all with their lights flashing. It hadn't even started snowing and there was already a bad accident on the road. That would turn out to be a sign of things to come later in the day. Because it was so early in the morning, the lorries and cars on the road got past the accident quite quickly. Everyone was very nice, letting others in ahead of them as we all got into the one open lane to drive past the blockade. I got to the office without incident and started working.
Snow began falling at about 11:00 a.m. It was light at first - bits of fluff floating in the air and not settling on the ground. When I looked out the window about fifty minutes later, I was surprised by how much snow had fallen and settled on the ground in that short time. While I had been in my cubicle working, the snowfall had gotten heavier. Ally (the other person in my department) and I both finished working at 12:30 p.m. since we had started working early, so I decided to leave then and told her she should, as well. One of our friends in the office had been checking weather and traffic conditions for the previous hour and saw traffic congestion already on the highways he used to get home. It wasn't looking good and we all wanted to get home before conditions worsened, so we left even though the office hadn't officially closed yet. (I had been in the office long enough to have worked a full day already, so that didn't really concern me. An e-mail was sent about 25 minutes later, saying our office was closing at 1:00 p.m.) Bruce's office closed at noon but he was in a meeting with his boss at that time, so he also left at 12:30 p.m.
As soon as I left our office parking lot, I was stuck in traffic. The entrance ramp to the highway that I needed to get on in order to get home was about 3 k.m. away, so I'm usually on the highway in less than five minutes. Not that day. I needed to travel east on the highway but traffic in the opposite direction was already so bad that the road from my office, which feeds to both the east and west lanes, was filled with cars trying to get to the west lanes and thus blocking the exit to the east lanes, as well. We later learned that everyone had tried leaving offices and schools at about the same time, hence the awful crush on the roads. It took me over two hours to drive just a few kilometres. Before I made it onto the highway, I thought several times about turning around and trying to get home a different way (there are a couple of other options), but as I sat unmoving in the traffic jam, I saw several cars slipping and sliding in the icy lanes going in the opposite direction. So far, there was no ice on my side of the road, which made me think it would be safer to stay where I was. Once I finally made it onto the highway, traffic conditions improved. Most of the time, we were moving slowly but at least we kept moving. I got home about an hour later. The trip took about three hours in total, very different from the usual 25- to 30-minute commute I have in ordinary driving conditions.
Bruce got home a few minutes before I did, with traffic conditions also improving for him after a very slow start. We later found out that we had been extremely fortunate compared to a lot of other people. Some spent between 12 and 14 hours on roads before making it to their homes; others didn't make it home at all that night, choosing instead to abandon their cars and walking to the closest shelter they could find (stores, restaurants, petrol stations); still others spent almost 24 hours in their cars before finally getting to move. Several motels and hotels had to turn people away because they were filled with people needing a roof over their heads when they were unable to make it home. Lorry drivers, who are only allowed to be on the road a certain number of hours each day, had to pull off to the side of the road and stop driving. Some school buses were unable to get kids back to their houses and had to return to schools, where the children spent the night. I read about one father of a kindergartner who walked six miles to get to his daughter so that he could spend the night with her at her kindergarten. And several Atlantans started taking water and food to people stuck on roads in case they wanted to stay in their cars but had nothing to eat or drink with them.
With conditions so bad, you'd think that we must have had several feet of snow fall that day. No, it was about five to seven millimetres in total. That was enough to cripple the city and parts of the state. This was shocking to states further north, used to dealing with actual snow storms that can bury whole cars, but it was the ice that caused such havoc. Cars here don't have snow tyres or chains, so when the roads were slick with snow, people began sliding and crashing into each other. Apparently, there were over 1,500 accidents that day.
The mayor of Atlanta and the governor of Georgia were heavily criticized for not handling things better (there weren't enough snow plows and sand/salt trucks on the road to remove the ice; the closing of schools and offices should have been staggered so that not everyone was on the roads at the same time; schools should have been closed that day when it became clear early that morning Atlanta was in the path of the snow storm ...). All the major newspapers and national news broadcasts discussed how the city had come to a standstill. Even our favourite comedy news show made fun of Atlanta.
Thankfully, schools and offices closed on Wednesday so people stayed off the roads. Temperatures were below freezing most of Wednesday but the sun and a couple of hours of above-freezing temperatures started the melting of some of the snow and ice. On Thursday, some offices (including mine) opened late but I telecommute on Thursdays and Bruce's office was closed again, so we both worked from home that day. (We worked on Wednesday, too, even though our offices were closed - we are such hardworking, dedicated employees!) A lot of the ice melted on Thursday, which meant those who had abandoned their cars on Tuesday could go collect them. The police and national guard were on hand to give people rides to their cars and to help them jumpstart engines that had died or fill empty tanks with some petrol so the drivers could get going. By Friday, things were almost back to normal.
Today, there is very little snow to be seen and the drama seems like something that was on TV, not something we experienced in real life. But I think if there is another "snow event" heading this way anytime soon, most people are going to stay home and will refuse to go to school/work. It was a traumatic event for many people.
After a couple of sunny days, today is a foggy one. It reminds me of early mornings in Cameron Highlands, when everything was misty and cool, and is bringing back many happy memories.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Oh, deer!
Today began on a somewhat surreal note. I woke up at about 2:45 a.m. and noticed that the spotlight in the backyard, which is activated by a motion sensor, was on. That usually means we've had a nocturnal visitor, like a raccoon, or that a cat is skulking around, in which case I would have to be sure it was gone before letting Beau out.
I looked out the window to see if I could spot a critter and was startled to see a deer in the backyard! A deer! That was a first! It wasn't very big and looked a little ghostly as it daintily walked around the undergrowth. That was such an unexpected sight that I had to wake Bruce up, even though it was so early in the morning, so that he could see the deer, as well. Also, if I hadn't, he would have spent the rest of the day, and probably the week, telling me I had imagined it.
I went into the backyard to see if there was any chance the deer would stay where it was, but it saw me and immediately jumped into the bushes. I had a shower, fed the dogs and then went into the backyard again. The deer was no longer in the rough area in which I had last seen it, so I thought it had disappeared and I let the dogs out. I soon heard the deer crashing through bushes at the opposite end of the backyard, far in the right corner. I called the dogs and Belle came to me immediately, but Beau must have smelled the deer and was hot on its trail. Next thing I knew, the deer was sprinting past me, just a couple of feet away (boy, was it fast!), with Beau not far behind (and not nearly as fast) and Belle standing near me, looking bemused. Beau stopped as soon as I called to him while the deer dashed away and jumped over the fence to safety. The dogs were very excited and spent a lot of time sniffing various spots around the backyard, but unfortunately for Beau the deer was nowhere in sight.
Such an adventure!
I looked out the window to see if I could spot a critter and was startled to see a deer in the backyard! A deer! That was a first! It wasn't very big and looked a little ghostly as it daintily walked around the undergrowth. That was such an unexpected sight that I had to wake Bruce up, even though it was so early in the morning, so that he could see the deer, as well. Also, if I hadn't, he would have spent the rest of the day, and probably the week, telling me I had imagined it.
I went into the backyard to see if there was any chance the deer would stay where it was, but it saw me and immediately jumped into the bushes. I had a shower, fed the dogs and then went into the backyard again. The deer was no longer in the rough area in which I had last seen it, so I thought it had disappeared and I let the dogs out. I soon heard the deer crashing through bushes at the opposite end of the backyard, far in the right corner. I called the dogs and Belle came to me immediately, but Beau must have smelled the deer and was hot on its trail. Next thing I knew, the deer was sprinting past me, just a couple of feet away (boy, was it fast!), with Beau not far behind (and not nearly as fast) and Belle standing near me, looking bemused. Beau stopped as soon as I called to him while the deer dashed away and jumped over the fence to safety. The dogs were very excited and spent a lot of time sniffing various spots around the backyard, but unfortunately for Beau the deer was nowhere in sight.
Such an adventure!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Squirrel Tales
There must be some new, young squirrels roaming our backyard and scampering over the roof these days, because a couple of them have had misadventures in the last few months. It could be just one really silly squirrel, but I prefer to think they were two different ones. One couldn't possibly get into the same sort of trouble twice.
Some time in January, on one of the days when I was working from home, I heard quite a racket coming from outside. It was such a clatter bang that I opened the door to investigate. I couldn't identify the source of the noise at first but then figured it out when I heard some scratching - a squirrel had been on the roof, perhaps running in or near the gutter, and somehow fell into the drainpipe at one edge of the patio. There is a black, flexible piece of plastic tubing that connects the drainpipe to the ground, so that water drains underground instead of splashing on the patio and creating a pool. Unfortunately, the bottom half of that tubing is now under cement, courtesy of the patio. Therefore, the squirrel could not just slide out at the bottom end of the drainpipe. Also, because the sides of the drainpipe are so smooth, the squirrel was unable to clamber up and get back to the opening through which it had fallen.
I was hoping the squirrel would be able to follow the tubing out to wherever the water empties into the yard or street, but a day later, I went to check and could still hear the squirrel scratching inside the drainpipe. I occasionally look out the at the backyard through the glass in the French doors to give my eyes a break from the computer screen, and during one of those breaks, as I watched a squirrel swinging from branch to branch in the trees, scrambling up and down the trunks as another squirrel chased it, I noticed a long piece of a tree branch, that had fallen some months ago, leaning against the back fence. It suddenly occurred to me that if it was thin enough to fit into the drainpipe, the squirrel could use it to climb up and get out that way. After I'd finished work, I got the branch, propped up the ladder, climbed onto the roof and then began pushing the wood into the drainpipe. It wasn't a straight branch, of course, but surprisingly it fit into the drainpipe. I got back on the ladder and climbed down to the patio, and almost immediately heard the squirrel racing up the drainpipe by using the wood. I thought it was quite smart of it to have figured out the plan so quickly. Since it had been trapped for at least a couple of days, it was very hungry and just sat near the bird feeder looking at me. I put out a few nuts for it and those were quickly gobbled up.
A few weeks later, Beau and Belle were out in the backyard one evening and I went outside to check on them, as I occasionally do to be sure they haven't found some way to get through the fence and run off to have an adventure. Beau was standing next to the drainpipe at the other end of the house, looking at it in a puzzled way and sniffing. I thought to myself, "Another squirrel can't possibly have fallen in a drainpipe!" I was wrong.
I have no idea how long that squirrel had been in there but it must have been at least a couple of days if not longer, because there were several tiny puncture holes near the bottom of the drainpipe. The poor creature had apparently been using its sharp nails (or perhaps even teeth) to make holes in the drainpipe to try and get out. This one has the same black plastic pipe at the bottom, buried in the earth, so there was no easy exit. When I tapped on the drainpipe, the trapped squirrel made the usual squirrel-type sounds but also began mewing like a cat, which made me think it was young. I sighed, then went to get the ladder and the long piece of stick (which I had kept propped up against the drainpipe from the first mishap just in case the same thing happened again). I got onto the roof and began pushing the stick down the drainpipe. I left it in and climbed back down the ladder, waiting expectantly for the squirrel to clamber up the stick, like the other one had done. Nothing happened. I shook the drainpipe a little and the squirrel made the same sort of noises as before but stayed at the bottom of the drainpipe. That's what made me think it couldn't be the same squirrel as before, because that one figured out really quickly how to use the stick to climb out.
I got back on the roof and pushed the stick further down, in case it wasn't close enough to the squirrel, but that still didn't work. As there didn't seem to be any other option, I began cutting the top of the black plastic pipe to try and get it away from the drainpipe, in order to let the squirrel get out that way. After some cutting, I finally managed to slip it off the bottom of the drainpipe. The plastic pipe was now next to the drainpipe rather than around it, and there was an opening at the end of the drainpipe. You'd think the squirrel would just slide out, wouldn't you? Of course not. That would have been too easy. Every time that silly creature got tired and its bottom began sliding out, it would get terrified because it thought it was about to fall through a hole into nothing (the bottom end of the drainpipe was about six to eight inches / 15 to 20 centimetres off the ground) and would push itself back into the drainpipe. Unbelievable!
I saw a couple of thick stones nearby and propped them up below the opening at the end of the drainpipe so that if the squirrel's bottom began falling out of the drainpipe again, it would feel some sort of a surface and would realise it wasn't going to fall. I then went back to cooking dinner. At some point while I was cooking, the squirrel finally managed to get itself out. When I went to check on it about ten minutes later, I could no longer see its tail at the end of the drainpipe or its claws through the holes it had made, and when I tapped on the drainpipe, there was no response like there had been earlier. The drama was finally at an end.
I eased the black plastic pipe back around the drainpipe (otherwise we'd have a lake at that end of the yard every time it rains) and went back to cooking. Haven't had any more trapped squirrels since then (that I know of, at least), so I'm hoping that means they both learned their lessons. It's a good thing for them they are so cute ...
Some time in January, on one of the days when I was working from home, I heard quite a racket coming from outside. It was such a clatter bang that I opened the door to investigate. I couldn't identify the source of the noise at first but then figured it out when I heard some scratching - a squirrel had been on the roof, perhaps running in or near the gutter, and somehow fell into the drainpipe at one edge of the patio. There is a black, flexible piece of plastic tubing that connects the drainpipe to the ground, so that water drains underground instead of splashing on the patio and creating a pool. Unfortunately, the bottom half of that tubing is now under cement, courtesy of the patio. Therefore, the squirrel could not just slide out at the bottom end of the drainpipe. Also, because the sides of the drainpipe are so smooth, the squirrel was unable to clamber up and get back to the opening through which it had fallen.
I was hoping the squirrel would be able to follow the tubing out to wherever the water empties into the yard or street, but a day later, I went to check and could still hear the squirrel scratching inside the drainpipe. I occasionally look out the at the backyard through the glass in the French doors to give my eyes a break from the computer screen, and during one of those breaks, as I watched a squirrel swinging from branch to branch in the trees, scrambling up and down the trunks as another squirrel chased it, I noticed a long piece of a tree branch, that had fallen some months ago, leaning against the back fence. It suddenly occurred to me that if it was thin enough to fit into the drainpipe, the squirrel could use it to climb up and get out that way. After I'd finished work, I got the branch, propped up the ladder, climbed onto the roof and then began pushing the wood into the drainpipe. It wasn't a straight branch, of course, but surprisingly it fit into the drainpipe. I got back on the ladder and climbed down to the patio, and almost immediately heard the squirrel racing up the drainpipe by using the wood. I thought it was quite smart of it to have figured out the plan so quickly. Since it had been trapped for at least a couple of days, it was very hungry and just sat near the bird feeder looking at me. I put out a few nuts for it and those were quickly gobbled up.
A few weeks later, Beau and Belle were out in the backyard one evening and I went outside to check on them, as I occasionally do to be sure they haven't found some way to get through the fence and run off to have an adventure. Beau was standing next to the drainpipe at the other end of the house, looking at it in a puzzled way and sniffing. I thought to myself, "Another squirrel can't possibly have fallen in a drainpipe!" I was wrong.
I have no idea how long that squirrel had been in there but it must have been at least a couple of days if not longer, because there were several tiny puncture holes near the bottom of the drainpipe. The poor creature had apparently been using its sharp nails (or perhaps even teeth) to make holes in the drainpipe to try and get out. This one has the same black plastic pipe at the bottom, buried in the earth, so there was no easy exit. When I tapped on the drainpipe, the trapped squirrel made the usual squirrel-type sounds but also began mewing like a cat, which made me think it was young. I sighed, then went to get the ladder and the long piece of stick (which I had kept propped up against the drainpipe from the first mishap just in case the same thing happened again). I got onto the roof and began pushing the stick down the drainpipe. I left it in and climbed back down the ladder, waiting expectantly for the squirrel to clamber up the stick, like the other one had done. Nothing happened. I shook the drainpipe a little and the squirrel made the same sort of noises as before but stayed at the bottom of the drainpipe. That's what made me think it couldn't be the same squirrel as before, because that one figured out really quickly how to use the stick to climb out.
I got back on the roof and pushed the stick further down, in case it wasn't close enough to the squirrel, but that still didn't work. As there didn't seem to be any other option, I began cutting the top of the black plastic pipe to try and get it away from the drainpipe, in order to let the squirrel get out that way. After some cutting, I finally managed to slip it off the bottom of the drainpipe. The plastic pipe was now next to the drainpipe rather than around it, and there was an opening at the end of the drainpipe. You'd think the squirrel would just slide out, wouldn't you? Of course not. That would have been too easy. Every time that silly creature got tired and its bottom began sliding out, it would get terrified because it thought it was about to fall through a hole into nothing (the bottom end of the drainpipe was about six to eight inches / 15 to 20 centimetres off the ground) and would push itself back into the drainpipe. Unbelievable!
I saw a couple of thick stones nearby and propped them up below the opening at the end of the drainpipe so that if the squirrel's bottom began falling out of the drainpipe again, it would feel some sort of a surface and would realise it wasn't going to fall. I then went back to cooking dinner. At some point while I was cooking, the squirrel finally managed to get itself out. When I went to check on it about ten minutes later, I could no longer see its tail at the end of the drainpipe or its claws through the holes it had made, and when I tapped on the drainpipe, there was no response like there had been earlier. The drama was finally at an end.
I eased the black plastic pipe back around the drainpipe (otherwise we'd have a lake at that end of the yard every time it rains) and went back to cooking. Haven't had any more trapped squirrels since then (that I know of, at least), so I'm hoping that means they both learned their lessons. It's a good thing for them they are so cute ...
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Spring planting
The weather last Sunday was perfect for gardening - sunny but cool and breezy - so after a lot of raking and digging up we planted flowers (annuals) to add to the existing perennials in our little flower garden. We bought marigolds (yellow and orange), petunias (red and purple) and lantana (the tiny red and yellow flowers towards the back of the photo below). It's going to take a few weeks for them to fill in so that we see more plants and less soil, but the colour and sheer prettiness of the flowers have already made such a difference to the front yard. The bright green leaves in the middle (left) of the photo belong to a hydrangea bush that Bruce and I were given as a gift for our 10th anniversary last year. It has flower buds sprouting, as do the three hydrangeas Bruce planted in the side yard a couple of years ago. However, there is a lot of work to do in the side yard before it looks as good as it did last year - a bunch of weeds and ivy have sprung up there, so I need to start digging. Unfortunately, we haven't had many April showers so I've had to do a lot of watering to ensure we have May flowers. We also bought a couple of bags of potting soil that I'll be adding to the existing soil in the garden in the hopes that will keep the flowers blooming for several months.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Moonlight Sonanade
That would be an odd title/subject line for anyone who was not at the American Classics concert Bruce and I went to last night, but I chose it because that was the highlight for me.
We had a lovely but busy day yesterday. A few days ago, Bruce read about an upcoming performance by a Chamber Music group in a town called Calhoun, which is about 1 hour and 40 minutes north of where we live. Since that seemed to be a little far to drive just for a concert, we decided to add a hike to the day's program and take the dogs with us. Bruce found information online for a hike to a waterfall that was about a half-hour drive from Calhoun, so we drove there after first going to Calhoun to find the Gem Theatre, where the performance would be that night.
Leaving Atlanta was a bit of an adventure in itself because of bad traffic conditions caused by roadwork and road closures, but we finally made it out of the city and were soon in the mountains and then at the park where the waterfall hike would take place. I was rather ill a couple of weeks ago (I think it was the 'flu) and am only just beginning to feel a little more energetic and less lifeless, and am finally having less difficulty breathing, so that hike was far more challenging for me than it would have normally been (a couple of steep sections and uphill all the way), but it was so nice to be outdoors in cool air again (we have had a very mild winter with far too many warm days for this time of year). There were thunderstorms and tornado warnings here on Friday night, so seeing the sun and feeling the cool air was refreshing. This was quite a deserted spot (we only saw four other people), so the dogs got to run off-leash, which they love. There was a stream running alongside the trail for much of the hike, which delighted Beau, so all in all it was a good hike. And the fact that it was downhill all the way back to the car made the second half of the hike much easier on my lungs. It was a good day to see the waterfall, because all the rain from the night before made it more powerful than it might have otherwise been. Apparently it can sometimes completely dry up in the summer if there is no rain, so our timing was good.
We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant (the food was really good) and then found a place to park a couple of blocks from the theatre. The dogs were fed and tired out from their run, so they settled down to sleep while we walked to the theatre. It's a small theatre (not surprising, since Calhoun isn't a very big town), and there weren't very many people there for the concert, which was a shame because the music was so good. The conductor, Dr. Sam Baltzer, who is also a composer and arranger, chose music by Aaron Copland and George Gershwin because he says they best embody American music. The first piece was Hoedown from 'Rodeo' by Copland, and then the musicians performed Appalachian Spring Suit, also by Copland, which is one of Bruce's favourite pieces of music. We learnt a couple of interesting facts - that the music was commissioned by Martha Graham for a ballet, and that she chose the name Appalachian Spring (except that she meant the source of water rather than the season).
Before intermission, the musicians played my favourite piece from that night - Moonlight Sonanade, which was an amazing, brilliant blending of two pieces of music - Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade. Dr. Baltzer did an excellent arrangement of the two pieces and I now want to find out if there is a recording of it available. I love it when people do unexpected things like that with music. As much as I enjoy listening to performances of well-known, well-loved music, a concert becomes far more interesting when something unexpected, like Moonlight Sonanade, takes place.
After the intermission, they performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (which the pianist jazzed up a little too much) and then performed the second surprising piece of the evening for their encore - a delightful blending of parts of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Irving Berlin's Putting on the Ritz. It was so good and a wonderful way to end the performance and what had been a fun day.
A couple of weeks ago, Ranee and Roshan came to visit us. Unfortunately, it was when I was feeling very ill so I wasn't a very good host and didn't feel up to doing very much, but at least we were able to entertain Roshan a little. Bruce took Roshan for a ride around the neighbourhood on his motorcycle, and Roshan enjoyed it a great deal (after a little trepidation at the beginning). On Saturday night (they got here on Friday evening), we went to the circus and I think Roshan enjoyed that as well. It certainly made it more fun for us to see it with him - children make a lot of things more exciting and interesting. The circus was in Atlanta and traffic as well as parking would have been chaotic, so we took the train and I think that ride added to the overall fun of the evening for Roshan.
Those are the highlights of the year so far. Bruce's younger son, Jonathan, is getting married to Claire in June, so there is that to look forward to, among other things. My company finally gave us the go-ahead to hire Allyson, my department's intern for the last two-and-a-half-years, as a full-time employee, which will hopefully make it easier for me to take time off from work in the future. I would say I hope that will lighten my workload a little, but that's doubtful - our department seems to be taking on more projects (to justify hiring a second person, which is rather ironic because there used to be three people in the department doing the same amount of work we currently do, but that seems to be the way things are in this economy). One very nice thing that happened recently was a complete surprise to me - the president of my company writes what he calls the President's Post every once in a while, and in his most recent edition, there was an entry about me. It was a little embarrasing but also very nice to read, especially because work has been so crazy recently.
This is what he wrote:
Prema Jesuthasan, Kellen’s Unsung Hero
Everyone knows that we live in a 24-hour news cycle. From broadcast television to newspapers to millions of websites, blogs and social media outlets, there can be a hurricane of news and information activity around any topic. But, when a topic reaches crisis level the outpouring of news coverage and analysis can be nothing short of monumental.
Kellen’s IRC Department, led by Prema Jesuthasan, tackles that every day. Specifically, Prema has developed expert skills in combing through incredible amounts of information to keep Kellen’s clients informed, often times in real time as news is breaking. For those who may not work with Prema, her efforts seem to occur at all times of the day, often long before the sun comes up, as she anticipates coverage from around the world. Given the technical and scientific specifics of many Kellen clients, her breadth of keyword understanding and identifying truly relevant information benefits the staff teams, client leadership and the entire industries they represent. It is a truly remarkable effort.
From food safety to building and construction, there is a lot written, broadcast and posted on the Internet. We appreciate all the efforts of Prema and the IRC Department to keep us informed and up to speed in these times of intense activity and throughout the year.
I liked it mostly because it explains a lot of what I do and reminds me that there are people who know how hard I work.
We had a lovely but busy day yesterday. A few days ago, Bruce read about an upcoming performance by a Chamber Music group in a town called Calhoun, which is about 1 hour and 40 minutes north of where we live. Since that seemed to be a little far to drive just for a concert, we decided to add a hike to the day's program and take the dogs with us. Bruce found information online for a hike to a waterfall that was about a half-hour drive from Calhoun, so we drove there after first going to Calhoun to find the Gem Theatre, where the performance would be that night.
Leaving Atlanta was a bit of an adventure in itself because of bad traffic conditions caused by roadwork and road closures, but we finally made it out of the city and were soon in the mountains and then at the park where the waterfall hike would take place. I was rather ill a couple of weeks ago (I think it was the 'flu) and am only just beginning to feel a little more energetic and less lifeless, and am finally having less difficulty breathing, so that hike was far more challenging for me than it would have normally been (a couple of steep sections and uphill all the way), but it was so nice to be outdoors in cool air again (we have had a very mild winter with far too many warm days for this time of year). There were thunderstorms and tornado warnings here on Friday night, so seeing the sun and feeling the cool air was refreshing. This was quite a deserted spot (we only saw four other people), so the dogs got to run off-leash, which they love. There was a stream running alongside the trail for much of the hike, which delighted Beau, so all in all it was a good hike. And the fact that it was downhill all the way back to the car made the second half of the hike much easier on my lungs. It was a good day to see the waterfall, because all the rain from the night before made it more powerful than it might have otherwise been. Apparently it can sometimes completely dry up in the summer if there is no rain, so our timing was good.
We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant (the food was really good) and then found a place to park a couple of blocks from the theatre. The dogs were fed and tired out from their run, so they settled down to sleep while we walked to the theatre. It's a small theatre (not surprising, since Calhoun isn't a very big town), and there weren't very many people there for the concert, which was a shame because the music was so good. The conductor, Dr. Sam Baltzer, who is also a composer and arranger, chose music by Aaron Copland and George Gershwin because he says they best embody American music. The first piece was Hoedown from 'Rodeo' by Copland, and then the musicians performed Appalachian Spring Suit, also by Copland, which is one of Bruce's favourite pieces of music. We learnt a couple of interesting facts - that the music was commissioned by Martha Graham for a ballet, and that she chose the name Appalachian Spring (except that she meant the source of water rather than the season).
Before intermission, the musicians played my favourite piece from that night - Moonlight Sonanade, which was an amazing, brilliant blending of two pieces of music - Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade. Dr. Baltzer did an excellent arrangement of the two pieces and I now want to find out if there is a recording of it available. I love it when people do unexpected things like that with music. As much as I enjoy listening to performances of well-known, well-loved music, a concert becomes far more interesting when something unexpected, like Moonlight Sonanade, takes place.
After the intermission, they performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (which the pianist jazzed up a little too much) and then performed the second surprising piece of the evening for their encore - a delightful blending of parts of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Irving Berlin's Putting on the Ritz. It was so good and a wonderful way to end the performance and what had been a fun day.
A couple of weeks ago, Ranee and Roshan came to visit us. Unfortunately, it was when I was feeling very ill so I wasn't a very good host and didn't feel up to doing very much, but at least we were able to entertain Roshan a little. Bruce took Roshan for a ride around the neighbourhood on his motorcycle, and Roshan enjoyed it a great deal (after a little trepidation at the beginning). On Saturday night (they got here on Friday evening), we went to the circus and I think Roshan enjoyed that as well. It certainly made it more fun for us to see it with him - children make a lot of things more exciting and interesting. The circus was in Atlanta and traffic as well as parking would have been chaotic, so we took the train and I think that ride added to the overall fun of the evening for Roshan.
Those are the highlights of the year so far. Bruce's younger son, Jonathan, is getting married to Claire in June, so there is that to look forward to, among other things. My company finally gave us the go-ahead to hire Allyson, my department's intern for the last two-and-a-half-years, as a full-time employee, which will hopefully make it easier for me to take time off from work in the future. I would say I hope that will lighten my workload a little, but that's doubtful - our department seems to be taking on more projects (to justify hiring a second person, which is rather ironic because there used to be three people in the department doing the same amount of work we currently do, but that seems to be the way things are in this economy). One very nice thing that happened recently was a complete surprise to me - the president of my company writes what he calls the President's Post every once in a while, and in his most recent edition, there was an entry about me. It was a little embarrasing but also very nice to read, especially because work has been so crazy recently.
This is what he wrote:
Prema Jesuthasan, Kellen’s Unsung Hero
Everyone knows that we live in a 24-hour news cycle. From broadcast television to newspapers to millions of websites, blogs and social media outlets, there can be a hurricane of news and information activity around any topic. But, when a topic reaches crisis level the outpouring of news coverage and analysis can be nothing short of monumental.
Kellen’s IRC Department, led by Prema Jesuthasan, tackles that every day. Specifically, Prema has developed expert skills in combing through incredible amounts of information to keep Kellen’s clients informed, often times in real time as news is breaking. For those who may not work with Prema, her efforts seem to occur at all times of the day, often long before the sun comes up, as she anticipates coverage from around the world. Given the technical and scientific specifics of many Kellen clients, her breadth of keyword understanding and identifying truly relevant information benefits the staff teams, client leadership and the entire industries they represent. It is a truly remarkable effort.
From food safety to building and construction, there is a lot written, broadcast and posted on the Internet. We appreciate all the efforts of Prema and the IRC Department to keep us informed and up to speed in these times of intense activity and throughout the year.
I liked it mostly because it explains a lot of what I do and reminds me that there are people who know how hard I work.
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