Freaky Friday

It's not really a freaky Friday, it's actually a very nice Friday, but I was at a loss for a title.

This has been a hectic but fun and fulfilling week. We've been having twice-a-week salsa band practices given our upcoming gig at the Blue Moon on February 20th (shameless self-promotion going on - we are playing at the Blue Moon Ballroom on Friday, Feburary 20th from 7:30pm-11:30pm!) This is the strongest band we've ever had - we've added two singers/auxiliary percussionists, and still have the full set of people we had last time - so we're really up to 9 people now! And it's been lots of fun to have more people involved! It's going to be a great show.

Jazz band has been equally fun, we're digging out a bunch of the older songs that haven't been played in awhile. Some of these are even older than the oldest people in the group - really cool stuff. I've decided Count Basie has really become my favorite now for songs and arrangements.

Last night was the third IBM/Mayo social/presentation for the EAGLE group which I am now the present of. We got to have it at the IBM Briefing Center, which is really fancy, and we had a great turnout and one of our members gave a great presentation about the history of diversity at IBM. I am always proud to work for a company with such a great history of diversity - IBM has really been ahead of the game since they started. They hired the first black and woman employees in 1899, the first woman VP in 1946 (yes 1946!), and all of their non-discrimination policies were added LONG before states had laws in place. Sexual orientation was added to the nondiscrimination policy in 1984 (in the midst of the AIDS crisis), and domestic partner benefits in 1996. The best part of it, as someone pointed out last night, is that these strides forward were all business decisions - which makes them nearly impossible to roll back, and hard to argue with. IBM attracts top talent in employees, improves its creativity and expands its target markets by supporting diversity with its employees and with its customers.

Tonight is finally a "free" night, where I get to watch the 4th of the final 10 episodes of Battlestar Galactica, and we're even going to attempt to grill with the heat wave we've bene having (high 30s!). My new PC is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and we also ordered the new sink/faucet for the kitchen that I've always wanted (thanks Jay!) and hopefully will be putting that in next week. PIctures to follow...