You Only Know It's Camelot When It Ends

Every so often you hit a sweet spot in your work life. You enjoy your work, your work space is comfy, your colleagues are your work family and your boss rocks. It can be difficult to get all four at the same time, but when you do it's Camelot: The legendary time and place filled with potential and promise of the future. I have had the fortune to stumble upon a professional Camelot four times in my career, and each time I was happy.

The first consisted of the great boss and enjoyable work, my workspace sucked and I didn't have colleagues I considered family. The awesome boss left and I was thrown into chaos for a few months. Then the Dolce Vita happened. I came to share a great office space, with two colleagues that became my work family.  We knew we made each other happy, and understood that there was some special chemistry among us and the space where we worked, but we never saw the end coming. And that is how you know it was Camelot. It is the end that brings the awareness of the specialness of the period. In the years since we've met, we have seen each other through two births, two weddings and the fall of our Camelot.

It would be years before I would find another magical work environment. The change came quickly. My old boss left. Her replacement was her opposite in almost every way. Losing her was not the worst thing, but her replacement didn't inspire any of us on the team. Most jumped shipped, and then there was just the two of us, me and him. It was an exercise in conflict and resolution. We came out on the other side in my third Camelot. This time I had a great office, loved the work, my boss had my back and he became my work family. He was well into his 60s. When we talked movies or books he had an original perspective. There was the time we had him over for dinner and we were discussing the highly intellectual topic of R.R. Tolkien. He told me he remembered reading The Hobbit on the plane to Vietnam. We made a great team, but as all Camelots do, it came to a sudden end.

That brings me to my fourth and current Camelot. This has been the best one yet. My office space is enviable if not highly decorated. I love the work and I am respected for my efforts. My closest colleagues are my work family. We have dinner together most Friday nights and text each other incessantly about both the mundane and the crucial. The very best part of all though is the boss. He is a leader, a mentor, a champion and warrior. He is funny, smart, loyal and curious about everything. He is a family man, a religious man, a fair man and my friend. And for reasons beyond all of our control Camelot is coming to an end. It is a sad time for us but, I hold on to the promise that a new Camelot is coming. It is never the same, but it always amazing.

I watched the entire season of Orange Is the New Black over the Weekend

I know, I should not be holed up in my apartment binge watching American TV shows on beautiful weekends like this one in Italy. I should be at the beach or in the square with friends having a prosecco or taking a stroll up the hill arm in with my beloved. The truth is it is too hot outside to do most of that, and the beaches this time of year are beyond crowded. I am not seeking sympathy for any of this, but felt it necessary to explain why I watched the complete season of an amazing new series called Orange Is the New Black in two days.

Yes, I watched the entire season of Orange Is the New Black (OITNB) over the weekend. I love female prison shows. Women's prisons make for very good drama. I was hooked on a British show called Bad girls a few years ago, but OITNB is American and it is based on true story.

I first heard about Piper Kernan on The Moth storytelling podcast. I was intrigued. Then I heard she wrote a book about her year in prison after she got mixed up in her ex-girlfriend's money laundering business. Before I could start to think about reading her book I heard Netflix created a "web series" based on the book. This was the second series Netflix ran. The first was House of Cards, another hit.

I thought I heard the last of Netflix in 2011 when they changed their name and business model and then changed back and sent apology letters to all of their customers for the shoddy service. I was not convinced they could recover. After watching them flounder for months and my DVDs taking weeks at a time to get here, I gave up and bought Apple TV.  I did not look back until OITNB. There was so much buzz and critical acclaim for the show about a bisexual, WASP, New Yorker, serving time in a Federal penitentiary.

The critics and my friends on FB were right! This show is awesome. I watched all 13 episodes in two days. I even managed to go out for a walk yesterday. I was supposed to meet a friend today, but had to cancel as I needed to get through the last two episodes.

Piper's fiance's parents are right. Prison is changing her. Oh and Alex is very manipulative. I loved this showed. Cannot wait for season two.

My visit with a two star general

MG Sienko and me!

The Army has all sorts of traditions. Being coined is one of them that Americans have borrowed from the British. When an individual or a team has impressed a Commander they shake their hand and insert a coin in their palm. You are supposed to walk around with your most prized coin, and if you are at a bar and you whip out yours and it's from a higher ranking officer than the other guy, he's buying. I only have five coins so far. I am not pulling out coins in bars too often, but I do admire my growing collection from time to time. It is also an awesome memento of a great day.

We have had a steady stream of high profile visits in the past few months. The Secretary of Defense, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, the Under Secretary of the Army, three members of Congress and the Surgeon General. It's been an exciting time and I have had the opportunity to engage all of them on the work I do.

Despite the family tragedy at the beginning of the year, 2013 is turning out to be a stellar year rich in love, accomplishment and happiness.