Highlander and the R in It

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Happy New Year Peeps of the Earth!  Ready to share a bit of fun immersed in reality.

After 5 consecutive hours working on a fiction project I decided to do some music time.

For what it’s worth I tend to watch my favorite music on YouTube because due to the compression rate iTunes just doesn’t cut it.  Hoping they get their act together soon.

I was “listening to” Who Wants to Live Forever from Highlander.

Queen.

New Boss Same as the Old Boss

In 1992 I went to a Detroit Area Harmony House to get the soundtrack for the movie. I learned two very important details for my music lover life:

  • There is the orchestral soundtrack and there’s the QUEEN Soundtrack
  • Tariffs and other BS meant all Brit musicians (Queen, David Bowie, Rolling Stones) were no longer allowed to sell in the US

As I learned from a Harmony House manager who took pity on me and pulled a cassette from the back room – they’d been instructed to put all material from British musicians in some closet or other and were forbidden to sell to customers.

He puled a cassette of Queen’s It’s a Kind of Magic – likely because he saw I was on the verge of tears – and sold it to me.

What’s that saying about business? It’s about the people?

In watching the video something caught my eye.

To Give Context

I grew up a 30-minute drive from Canada. I grew up listening to French Canadian radio, watching French Canadian TV.  When it came time to choose a language to study in high school – French made more sense for me than Spanish.

The Easy Way isn’t ALWAYS the Easy Way

Most of my classmates took Spanish. When I asked them why – given we lived closer to French Canada than Mexico they told me- consistently – “Because it’s easy.”

Thanks to a benefactor I had the good fortune to do a working trip to Europe with a group of some 63 souls all of whom – with the exception of me – took Spanish in high school.

I also took Latin – won Magna Cum Laude in the National exam.

As It Happened

We were in Paris and something about the food tasted off to me.

I’d had a recent run-in with food poisoning thanks to a trip with my divorced dad to Tijuana Mexico.

Facing ridicule I nonetheless went to a Burger King for dinner.

Long story short I translated for the Parisian doctor called in to treat over 50 people for severe food poisoning.

One of whom had to be flown to New York to be admitted to a hospital.

Ginsu Knife

But wait!  There’s More!

When we were in the French Swiss Alps?  Everyone starving?  None of the people making sandwiches spoke English and I was the only one who spoke French.

Bad as my American accent was.

“What is JAM bon?”

“JambOn ? Ham.”

I translated for over 50 people so they could get lunch.

Translation

As it happens I was fortunate to have a French II teacher who was born and raised in Paris.  One of the skills she tried to translate was the role of the roll – pun intended – of the tongue in producing the R sound in French.

I got it though I’m more “hear it – translate it” type of language student.

Back to Front.

Pun intended.

I am a passionate Highlander fan.  So much so I read about Christopher Lambert – a Frenchman – having to learn to speak English for the role.  Just now?  Watching this video?  When he calls out “Heather!” ???

You can see the back of his tongue hitting the roof of his mouth for the R sound – normal to his native language – even as he’s calling out in English.

Classic.  

Like him and the movie.

I hope 2026 brings joy laughter love and much more to my readers.

Elizabeth

Career – Making Your Way

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Listening to Woman by John Lennon and thinking of one of those transformational moments in life.

Career life.

A total neophyte I was part of a district that supported Automotive OEMs and their supply chains. 

After years of experience and education I became an international supply chain expert.

 Regarding the OEM I was part of what became known as the GM C4 program.

This was back in the day of beepers.

As part of the effort to prove my mettle I was handed my very first beeper on a Friday afternoon and told there was a good chance it would go off in the middle of the night after which

I had to call the number

I probably had to follow instructions lest millions of dollars per hour would be lost – by our customer.

Oh – and if I had to go on-site?  Bad part of town.

Leroy Brown anyone?

The irony – unlike my colleagues who tended to be 15 – 25 years older – I’d spent a good deal of my childhood in the “bad part of town.”

Wasn’t so bad “back then.”  Those days came after Colman Young chased everyone – including the job providing corporations – to the suburbs – which happened when I was 4 – 6 years old. A witness.

My Heart – Detroit

Unlike my colleagues I wasn’t afraid to go to Detroit.  Still – stupid to send me there at 2 – 3 in the morning to walk by myself to the parking lot GM reserved for “Vendors.”

Surprised they didn’t put us in the dumpster.

It was a 2 – 3 block walk in the dark.

In the “bad” part of town.

There’s a WRIF Drew and Mike go round about this that is insightful – about needing tennis shoes so you could run from your car to your office in a manner that gave you a chance to outrun the muggers.

Sure Enough

As the moon was dark.

My beeper went off at 2am.

I was 22.

I rolled from bed, called the number, confirmed the system was down.

They would lose – as I understood it – $100 million an hour for every hour they were down.

This is global supply chain.

I promised I would be on-site as soon as I got dressed – they knew I’d been asleep – confirmed with my colleague who would meet me at “the parking lot.”

Asphalt patch of space 2 – 3 blocks from GM HQ downtown Detroit.

It was raining.

Typical Michigan March.

The colleague who was to meet me beeped so I called – agreed to the location.  He was adamant I understood the exact location which meant at 2:35 am I had to explain why I knew downtown Detroit better than any of my older suburbian coworkers.

Including him – who lived in Milford and had just cleared a bunch of trees from his newly purchased lot to build his McMansion.

Made It

Though I brought my own umbrella – it was pouring – he showed up on the asphalt with an umbrella – escorted me to the GM building.

The Elevator

We shut our umbrellas – checked in with the guard who seemed antsy – about me.  When we got on the elevator my coworker instructed me to look up at the corner.  Apparently there was a camera.  He said, “It’s so if someone on the elevator assaults you…”

Oh just yay.

The Lab

He walks me to a chair – I’m … a mental confusion mess – asks if he can bring me coffee.

Coffee?  I don’t drink coffee.

Not until after I became a sleep deprived parent decades later.

I only started to feel human once I recognized the “stuff” on the VJ290.

That’s a computer monitor from the past for those of you just joining us.  Before WYZYWYG.

I don’t think the decision makers in terms of my career thought I had what it took before that night and they’ve moved on but I can be proud because I did good.

Look for the Bright Spots

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Getting ready to record the next podcast episode.  This one is different stylistically as it focuses more on the nurture side of things but the stories provide context and there’s plenty of information on how to integrate holistic health practices into everyday living.

Sharing the stories had me thinking of how throughout my life – a life filled with plenty of adversity – I always had some wonderful positive experience (or person) to offset or perhaps more apt – get me through that adversity.

To Give Context

I’m wearing a cool t-shirt with Tarpon Springs (FL) on the front.  While on my walk this morning I chatted with someone who thought she’d been there.

I walk 7 – 10 miles a day 7 days a week.

As we compared notes it became evident we were talking about the same cool place.  

Closing the Gap

The process of comparing notes had me describing the area in detail.  A big part of that was talking about the sponge docks where the boats in the harbor gather sponges from the sea floor, bring in shrimp, and a handful who do whaling.

It was when I described how they celebrate the Epiphany she knew we were talking about the same place.

It’s so cool.

As I was finishing my walk and just now sitting here I was thinking about why I knew so much about this place.  

That knowledge certainly didn’t come from going to school there for a handful of months.

A classmate I befriended invited me to her home.

A small sailboat she shared with her dad and older brother.

She walked me through the area and introduced me to a number of guys who made their living by the sea.

And who were fiercely protective of her and by extension – me.

I loved learning the whaling boat in the harbor that day had a kitty who loved to sail the seas.

What’s special about this? It’s one of many rays of sunshine that poked through clouds over my life.

My parents were on the verge of a divorce that plunged my mom brother and I into financial hardship as well as a host of other fun pieces to the separation puzzle.

It’s a reminder to look for the bright spots because they’re there even in the midst of chaos.

Be well.

Manifesting 101: Pursue Your Dream and the Universe Responds

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Though I’ve been passionate about walking for decades** I’d gotten away from it after a move left me in a place where it was it was a challenge.

Not to mention I was working on publishing the Metatron’s Army and Dragon Core series.

Life Intervenes

Thanks to Covid and biting off more than I could chew in terms of writing and consulting I hit a giant brick wall.

And wall thy name is Burnout.

When this hilarity landed me in the ER I knew I needed to get back to basics.

Live what I write about – a holistic healthy approach to life.

Those first steps out the door in the middle of a Pacific Northwest Rainy Season were tough.

I would come home soaked through.

Not a Choice

I knew from experience that walking is therapeutic on an incredible scale.

For body mind and spirit.

I also knew if I was going to recover I had to keep at it.

Regardless of the weather.

I’d done it before.

Walked in snow and freezing rain and sleet in Michigan while working in a high-stress industry.

Hold Your Head Up

2 miles turned into 6 turned into 8

Every day 7 days a week

I found myself feeling better.

Slowly but surely.

Um – Have You Noticed?

Not really no.  

Too  busy watching my feet as I put them one in front of the other.

I would come home from the morning walk and kick off shoes soaked through, peel off soaked socks and do what I could to warm up.

I was so sick at that point I couldn’t handle coffee.

When I pushed myself out the door for the midday walk those dry socks became wet as I put on shoes still damp from the earlier walk.

And head out in the rain with an umbrella woefully inadequate for the task of a PNW Rainy Season.

Turn Turn Turn

Eventually the seasons changed.

I made a vow that by the time PNW Rainy Season came back around the following year I would be prepared.**

I began to see the same faces day after day.

A number of them told me seeing me slog through the inclement weather inspired them to start walking.***

I introduced myself to them.

So we could do more than smile and say Good Morning/Afternoon

A Fun and Funny Thing Happened

Weeks of putting one foot in front of the other turned into months and Good Morning/Afternoon turned into small talk that evolved.

I came to see that I’d attracted like-minded souls because I’d pursued something incredibly important to me.

Health in mind body and spirit.

Not The First Time

While out walking recently considering how I’d attracted such wonderful souls into my life I realized it wasn’t the first time.  Decades earlier while working for a Fortune 500 company going down in flames I found myself hitting the pavement of Kensington and/or Maybury.

It started with random conversations with colleagues during which we would discuss our plans for after work – usually working on one proposal or another – and/or the weekend.

Conversations during which a number of us said we would be walking at one of the local parks.

Within a short time those of us of like-mindedness were agreeing to meet to walk together.

No Geek Fest

These were never b*tch sessions.  

We were all so done with the stress and chaos of a career that ever seemed like we were Wylie Coyote to the Discrete Manufacturing Road Runner life.

Start Slow and Go From There

Great philosophy for manifesting dreams.

It started where we would talk about what we were doing after we were done with the walk.

Some talked about going out with their spouse or going to a sports game of their kids.  Some of us talked about our hobbies.  Mine was writing – had a dream of doing it full-time – learned some of my colleagues were on the same path.  One colleague played in a band.  Another entered marathons.

As trust between us grew we began sharing life philosophies.

And talking about dreams we wanted to achieve.

We offered advice to help each other realize those dreams.

We Liked Each Other!

Yeah But

We may have come to trust and like each other but walking 8 miles and discussing the meaning of life was a far cry from spending 80 plus hours a week in a cubicle.

We went to the mat against each other if necessary but once we were one with Mother Nature?  The gloves came off.

The Take Away?

Ah yes – corporate speak.

When you pursue what you love you will attract like-minded souls who can help you on your path to manifesting your goals.

** I invested in waterproof shoes and other gear that will get me through this year.

Aaron gave me an aawesome new umbrella for Christmas.

*** I discovered walking as a wonderful way to strengthen after being paralyzed by a brain bleed when I was 10.

Nine months after the incident that caused it – falling off a diving board – I walked 26 miles to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy.

Walking story from Nashville…

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