Following Up

One--My bank is amazing.  By the time I got to my local branch on Saturday morning, the bank had already resolved all the fraudulent checks on my account.  Apparently their fraud department caught it, corrected it and then went home at 5 o'clock.  The data just hadn't hit the big computer system when I flipped my wig on Friday night.  And they hadn't called me to alert me because my profile was incomplete.  When I opened the account 17 years ago, I guess they weren't quite as tech savvy as they are now. 

When I was on my way, I decided I needed a little fortification so I stopped at my new favorite bakery.  The owner is so nice and welcoming that I had to completely dump my tale of woe at her feet.  After a cup of coffee (on the house--thank you very much) and a scrumptious lemon blueberry muffin, I was ready to go fight a battle that it turned out I had already won. 

I love my banker and I love my baker.

Two--The event that I went to Thursday night was really, really nice.  And it didn't feel weird at all.  I think a big part of it was that it was a very different type of event than the ones that I used to throw for them.  One of my colleagues presented the award to one of the honorees.  This guy is just fabulous--an amazing worker, a real leader and a hell of a guy.  He's an ex-felon who has completely turned his life around and he was an inspiration to everyone in the room. 

The honoree that he was presenting to founded B Corporations--a new corporate structure that takes into account more outcomes than just traditional profit--and Dion talked about the fact that he made some bad choices in his life but now he's making good ones.  Then, his speech linked it all together saying that B Corps allow business the option to make good choices too.  When he got to the part about knowing how hard this is but also how important it is, he choked up, I started crying, everyone else started crying and then the cheering began. 

I was so proud of him for having the courage to talk about his life so openly and for being so willing to share his emotions.  He's a rock star and a reminder of how lucky I am to do the work that I do.

The event was at X20 which is outstandingly beautiful.  Peter Kelly's food is top notch so we were all very spoiled and pampered by the end of the night.  And we had a truly amazing storm come down the Hudson (the restaurant is on the Yonkers City Pier) which was dramatic and exciting.

Three--I mentioned a new blog the other day, didn't I?  A little background is in order here.  I was a teenager in NY in the '80s which means that I listened to WNEW.  And if you listened to WNEW you knew for certain that Scott Munie was a god.  I know I've complained about the lack of good radio and maybe I am overly sensitive to it because I remember really, really good radio. 

I also have been known to having shockingly bad taste in music on occasion.   And, dammit, I refuse to apologize for it.  I love my cheesy songs and I have no problem letting my musical freak flag fly.

I was also raised Catholic and spent twelve years in Catholic school.  When I was in second grade, we had to take the sacrament of Penance.  Really?  I was seven years old.  What on earth could I have done that was so bad.  Confession was a scary, dark sacrament and I was terrified.  Things went from bad to worse when they decided to renovate the church.  This was long before they had "face to face" confession.  You were supposed to--very anonymously--go sit in a dark box and whisper your sins.  My class, on the other hand, had to sit in folding chairs in the school gym.   They promised that the priest wouldn't look at us but I didn't really believe them. 

Naturally, I ended up on the line for Monsignor Nolan who was probably a very nice man but when I was little he scared me to death.  And he had a big black Lab that went everywhere with him--including to my first confession.  So there I was, scared out of my ever loving mind, wearing my Brownie uniform (beanie and all) and trying to come up with something really good that I had done wrong so that Monsignor Nolan wouldn't get mad at me for not confessing anything good.

Yeah, right, that was a really positive experience for me.  And considering the fact that I remember what I was wearing, you can guess just how much it scarred me.

So in the spirit of confessing my occasionally horrible taste in music I give you my new blog.

Bless Me Scott Munie For I Have Sinned.

Be very careful.  You may find yourself singing along and then you'll have to go to confession too!