It's cold in the Arctic

It's also cold in Phoenix! Here I am at the lovely Crowne Plaza Phoenix, enjoying the free wireless in their lobby, and everyone is walking around complaining about the cold and wind. It was also quite wintery in California when I left yesterday (cold by LA standards, not Wyoming standards) - but the crystal blue skies and the hint of wood burning stoves (only a hint - LA is NOT known for its working fireplaces) and the nippy wind is all quite acceptable. Winter (okay, maybe it's more FALL) weather makes me nostalgic for childhood. 'Cause dammit, I had a nice childhood. Sledding is COOL. Snow angels ROCK. And frozen fingers wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate is HEAVEN (yes, I am an atheist and I know there is no heaven, but the concept of heaven - angels singing, perfect peace and acceptance, lovely floating on clouds... THAT'S HOT CHOCOLATE on a winter day). Oh man - dunking toast into hot chocolate! I haven't done that in years!!!!

Whew. Anyway, here I am in Phoenix. And it's cold.

Tonight we head for Tucson. I haven't been there since I was married to that guy. Erin's dad. Right, Dan. We visited his brother there. I really don't remember anything other than I liked the way she (brother's wife) had "pickled" her furniture with white paint. And that they had a swamp cooler that didn't seem to do much cooling.

They are talking to me about a different job at work (but they are also talking to other people - like Hank). Not sure how I feel about it. We have this thing that is the NNA's baby - it's called ENS - Electronic Notary Seal. Basically, we're trying to get the nation to move towards electronic notarizations. We are trying to position ourselves as the primary provider of both the seals and the national registry (real time proof of a notary's status)and even state registries. We've already established our presence in Pennsylvania - got them on board, conducted a massive test with four county recorders who were the first in the nation to accept publically recordable notarized documents via electronic means AND store them electronically. It is now statewide in PA and CA has begun it's tests in two counties. But there are hard days ahead for this strategy. We have to get states to alter, ammend, add to existing legislature and we have to get industries interested in functioning this way. Which means we have to prove convenience, security, need, ease, and technological readiness.

So far we haven't been excessively successful. We have about three people who try to cover THE NATION. It's just too much. So they approached me to see if I woulod be interested in talking to them further about taking on a business development/liaison type role. Still some travel - but not quite as burdensome. Money might be a bit less. And I would work under a guy I am NOT fond of... But it could turn into a hugely influential position. Like, nationally influential. Which is tempting to the old ego.

What do you think? I should point out that I am not 100% on board with ENS myself. The NNA has yet to prove TO ME that ENS is fully needed and currently viable. There are some very interesting quirks that still need to be worked out.

For those of you who are tut tutting me for blogging when I should be working, systems are down at the office so I can't log in to do the work I need to do - like updating my registration list for the afternoon session or responding to e-mail...

But I can do this for another 15 minutes before I have to head back to the seminar attendees!