I always feel cheated that my school charges me $9 to park on campus. The rate actually goes down to $4 if you get a parking pass at 4pm or later (but not 3:59pm, as I've learned). So, I'm a little early for the 4pm price cut but I need to use the business school's wireless connection. The connection isn't strong enough to work in the parking lot, so I found a place on a ledge overlooking the driveway of the parking lot so I could see if the "meter maid" comes. I figured I would still have time to race into my car and drive off if that happened. But alas, the parking folks at the UW are even more sneaky than I am. They have their parking enforcement travel on foot! The guy must have entered from the other direction, because by the time I saw him prance into the adjacent parking lot, he had already left me this gift. I thought $9 was expensive...$35 is worse.  

Today I passed time at Magnusen Park on Lake Washington between lectures at school. (I saw a lecture at lunch about moral capitalism and then attended a marketing ROI panel/networking event at night.) John and I discovered Magnusen Park for the first time last weekend when we went to our friend Santu's 30th birthday party. Unfortunately the weather then wasn't as good as it was today, but I was happy to learn about the place, which isn't too far from school. Apparently a military base used to be here, because you drive past a boarded-up commissary building on the way in, and there's what looks like a bomb shelter not far from the beach. The place isn't kept up real well, but it is cool because (as you can see) there aren't many people there, even on a sunny day. I was able to get in work, reading, rays, and a run during this beautiful 75-degree afternoon. 

John's hot dog is so BIG that it won't even fit in the frame! 

A couple of our friends were also at the game, because they were given some comp tickets from a client. They aren't big sports fans, so we grabbed their seats when they left after the 5th inning. SWEET seats! 

Last Friday John and I had the pleasure of seeing a Mariners-Red Sox game at Safeco Field. (I think this is Ortiz up to bat.) Given that probably 1/3 of the fans at the park were Red Sox fans, we were happy to see the Mariners win 14-7. 

For someone graduating with an MBA in less than a month, Jeff sure doesn't SEEM to have senioritis... 

A few weeks ago I saw my first "cook & jam". Every month John volunteers his time playing drum set for a group of guitar students hoping to get an ensemble experience. He's joined by volunteers on bass, voice, etc. to complete the group, which performs after a few months of practice. Most of the students were definitely beginners, but it was cool to see John perform. (I hadn't seen him perform on drums before, other than being on the field with him in the Boston College Marching Band.) John is one of those drummers (somewhat rare, it seems) who is very cognisant of his volume and style in reference to the instruments being played around him.  

Fortunately, I was able to keep Madeline away from this stunned Rufous Hummingbird. Like every other bird, it attached our house; unlike the other birds, the house won in this case. It was actually kind of neat to see the bird this way, since glimpses of hummingbirds are always so quick. To give you an idea of how small the bird was, the wood pieces in the picture are the long, thin boards on our back deck.  

This time of year we get spring snow...Cottonwood seed snow, that is. It literally looks like a blizzard outside our house, and the resulting fluff accumulates faster than we can pick it up. (Which is tricky in and of itself, because any slight breeze will send all of the fuzz flying.) 

The System Doesn't Work

Since John still has my camera from taking it on his Santa Monica trip, this will be my second blog post ever without a picutre.

This weekend John and I went to the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery, which is about 2-3 miles from our house. The place was pretty hoppin' with people taking tours and just generally enjoying the peaceful, well-kept grounds of the winery. John and I took a tour with our friends Santu and Anup, ended with a little wine tasting, bought tickets for a couple of their outdoor concerts this summer, and then signed up for their wine club. We have been wanting to sign up for the wine club for quite a while, since it's a good deal, the wine is tasty (we'll be getting 4 bottles per quarter), and after being a member for ~1.5 years you get free tickets to the outdoor concert the winery puts on for its "Connoisseur Club". John and I had the privilege of attending one of these concerts a couple years ago, and it was great fun. Anup's friend Matt, who used to work with Anup in IT at ImageX, had his sister's four tickets since she and her husband were out of town. A couple of Matt's friends cancelled at the last minute, so Anup invited us to go and we had a great time. Great music, picnic in the grass, and free wine made for a good combination.

Now, as it turns out, Matt's sister is married to a guy named Brad, who used to work with me in Sales at ImageX. Brad was kind of a golden boy, because he got deals with a lot of big accounts. Nobody in ops liked him and some argued that the way he got the accounts was by giving away the farm, but he seemed like a nice enough guy to me. A couple weeks ago I had an interview for a consulting position at Accenture, and I learned that my interviewer went to business school with Brad. And as chance would have it, we ran into Brad and his family at the winery last weekend. (Small world, huh?) They were picking up their wine shipment for the quarter and doing the free tastings of the selections that are offered. Brad said that he's been doing really well at a start-up, where he earns purely a percentage of sales. Reportedly, sales went from nothing to $35 million while Brad was there, so he is doing quite well right now. Brad was invited to the opportunity by a guy named Denis, who used to be the director of sales at ImageX.

In the car on the way home I related this story to John, and I mentioned the fact that I have a bad taste in my mouth about Denis because he is the person who prevented me from getting an outside sales job at ImageX. To give you some background info, I had come from outside sales at a different company and taken an inside sales position at ImageX because my outside experience was in a different industry. The verbal agreement was that I would move to outside sales once I had proven myself in inside sales. Well, suffice to say that I had more than proven myself in inside sales, but when I sat down with Denis to explain why I was ready for the transition, he made up some BS about how all outside salespeople at ImageX now have to have 20 years of print experience. I was furious. Fortunately for me, Denis "resigned" shortly thereafter and my new manager, Bob, put me on the outside sales team. My first quarter as an account manager, I was vindicated as the only salesperson to make quota.

Anyway, the whole situation between Brad and Denis is great. I'm glad it has worked out for both of them. But in my mind, it also highlights one of the ways that women are at a disadvantage in the business world. No doubt, Brad and Denis formed a tight bond at ImageX, spending lots of time together and having fun doing it. But culturally, this could not happen between a woman and a man. If I told John that I was going out golfing on a consistent basis with another man, it would seem very suspicious. While men could schedule a standing Tuesday night dinner appointment to talk about work stuff, or even drinks at the bar every Friday night, a woman and a man could not schedule those types of "bonding times" without people thinking they were having an affair. And with most positions of power in companies being held by men, this system is perpetuated in such a way that men stay at the top. (Because as we all know, business (and promotion) gets done because of relationships.)

Here's Mom and me at their condo in FL. This Friday marks the date of the 4th annual Mother's Day Blood Drive that my mom has organized as a way to "give something back" and help others in memory of my brother requiring complete blood transfusions twice a day when he was in the hospital 7 years ago. The theme of the event is "A Gallon or so...For Joe". The event is being held at the Blood Center of Southeastern WI in Sheboygan. To participate remotely, just mention keyword "Feider Drive in Sheboygan".  

You'd think that a business school ranked among the top 20 in the country would have an MBA lounge nicer than some second-hand furniture on crappy linoleum floors. Supposedly there are plans for a new business school facility to replace this one...Let's hope they come to fruition. 

This is a flower I saw on the way up. Can anyone ID?