Episode 71: July – September 2015
Highlights of the quarter:
- Summer vacation in
Douglas/Saugatuck, Michigan;
- Nascar, Rugby, and concerts;
- Tour DeTroit bike
riding;
- The Shorgs visit Istanbul;
- Deb accepts a new job!
The quarter began with our annual July 4 festivities, Michigan
style. This year was right in-line with
what we’ve come to expect: music, boats, lots of food, and great friends,
relaxing at multiple house parties on Sanford Lake. Immediately following the festivities, we
began our annual summer vacation with Stephanie and Luis in Saugatuck,
Michigan. The guys got in lots of cycling,
with Neal making good progress toward his 1,500-mile outdoor cycling goal. Steph and I discovered a great workout app
called ‘Swork It’, which helped us get our exercise in. We indulged in some great food, lots of card
games, and nice days at the beach. We even
took a sand dune buggy ride, which was loads of fun and quite educational as the
driver taught us some little-known facts about that part of the state. One afternoon, we ventured to the nearby city
of Grand Rapids, where we visited the Frederick Meijer sculpture garden – well worth
a visit for any outdoors and art enthusiast.
And while we were in the city, we picked someone up – my sister, Carol,
joined us for a few days of Michigan summer.
While Carol was in town we revisited a farm tour we did last year and
enjoyed dinner at what has become our favorite restaurant in the state – Salt of
the Earth.
The remainder of the summer was equally memorable. My job gave me the opportunity to visit several
states and meet some very interesting people.
In addition to business people and politicians (my highlight was Prime
Minister Abe from Japan), I got to tour a few of Dow’s sites and meet our customers. Neal joined me on a weekend in New York where
we spent time in Westchester County, instead of Manhattan, to see some of the greener
and less-crowded parts of the state.
One of my work commitments took us to an unusual sporting event – a Nascar
race in southern Michigan. Dow sponsors
one of the drivers – Austin Dillon – and so we were invited to view the race
along with some of our selected customers.
Before the race began, we were lucky enough to get to take a couple of
laps around the track with Austin in one of the pace cars, reaching a top speed
of about 140 miles per hour!
Another work event took us to Chicago, where Dow sponsored an
international friendly rugby match between the U.S. and Australia national
teams. The game was a World Cup warm-up
match that took place at Chicago’s iconic Soldier Field. Dow sponsored the evening reception and
fundraising dinner before the match, and I had a chance to give a short speech
to kick things off. We even met some of
the past and present Wallabies players.
In the end, and as expected, the Wallabies crushed the U.S. team.
We also fit in a few concerts this summer. Thanks to a connection I met through my job,
we were able to get tickets to a Lady Gaga/Tony Bennett show – which was fantastic
in its own right. But what took it over
the top is that we were also lucky enough to go backstage after the concert and
meet them in person. Shortly after that,
we made another trip to the Detroit area to see Kid Rock. He was back home for a two-week series of
concerts and did not disappoint his local fan base. While I don’t know too many Kid Rock songs,
the concert was better than anything I had imagined.
We also managed to get in plenty of bike riding – Neal much more than
me, given his summertime goal. One
particularly memorable ride was this quarter.
We joined our friends, Michelle, Ed, Rebecca, Ward, Stephanie, and Louis,
for a weekend in Detroit where we rode the annual Tour DeTroit. The Tour DeTroit is a 40-mile organized bike
ride through the streets of Detroit (similar to the New York ride we did
earlier in the summer). Unfortunately,
it was a cloudy, rainy day, but despite the weather, the ride, the weekend, and
the company were spectacular.
The final highlight of the quarter was a 5-day getaway to Istanbul,
Turkey. This was a trip we were supposed
to take last year, but we had to move it due to a work commitment that Neal
had. We were so happy to finally get to
this city that we’ve wanted to visit for a long time. And Istanbul did not disappoint. It is an amazing city with a very rich
history that we enjoyed learning about.
We visited all the major tourist sites in the old city, including the
Blue Mosque, Ayasofya, and Topkapi Palace – all of which boasted stunning
architecture. We were blown away by the colors,
smells, and sights in the Grand Bazaar where we could easily have spent a whole
day versus the few hours we were there. We
also fit in a scenic boat ride along the Bosphorus and visited the little town
of Balat.
One of the big highlights of the Istanbul trip was a food tour that we
had booked through a company called Culinary Backstreets. The tour was centered around visiting several
restaurants around the city, sampling small plates (mezze) and a traditional
liquor (Reki). After finding out tour
guide and introducing ourselves to the other seven people on the tour (six Americans
and an Australian) we set off on foot through the backstreets of the new city
where we were introduced to some fascinating history of the country and delicious
food in multiple little bars and spots around the city. The night finished with some belly dancing
and singing that we were happy to indulge in.
We met some lovely people on the tour, two of which we caught up with
each evening after the tour as they were staying the same hotel as us. We have kept in touch with them and will
continue to do so as they live in New York City.
Which brings us to the biggest news of all…I accepted a new job! Beginning November 1, I will be the Chief HR
Officer at Bunge, one of the largest agribusiness companies in the world. The change in job will see Neal and me moving
to New York City. So, there are plenty
of changes ahead for us. We’re excited
and looking forward to the adventure.
Here’s hoping the changes life is bringing you are welcome ones, too. Until next quarter, take care.
