MTAS Mustard for weeks ended 6-19, 6-26 and 7-3-20

 

Happy 4^th of July MTAS,
 
Okay, for those of you who said – wait, isn’t today the 6^th? – you’re right. I’m a couple of days behind on the holiday well wishes. Nonetheless, I hope that you had a fantastic, long, Independence Day weekend. I took advantage of the extra day off myself and spent a few days vacating last week. I’m back now, refreshed and ready to go.
 
It’s been a couple of weeks since the last Mustard, so I have some celebrations to catch up on. Happy Birthdays go out to Sarah who celebrated on June 13^th, Dennis on the 14^th and Gary on the 21^st. I  know that celebrating in the midst of a pandemic is certainly different; yet I hope the three of you were still able to feel special on your big day, and that the year ahead of you has great things in store for you.
 
Here are a couple of reminders: the annual enrollment for the sick leave bank ends August 31; and there is a poll out right now to gather your feedback about Canto: https://ipscanto2020.questionpro.com/. It’s estimated that the survey will take less than five minutes. It took me far less than that, and that was with my written comments. Canto is the platform for our new branding materials and digital asset management. Your feedback matters, so please take the time to give your input, even if your input is that you haven’t used the system.
 
Your MTAS leadership team (Rick, Sharon, Wes, Angie, Abb and me) met in person, while keeping physical distance, at the end of June and discussed: the MTAS strategic plan, project reporting, the itinerary database, codification systems, the Baldrige framework, additional fiscal resources, the book Say Yes, And!, the MTAS retreat/IPS annual conference substitute, and we spent some time on team building. I am pleased to report that your team is a highly functional group that represents you well on every issue we discussed. I am looking forward to seeing some of our ideas put into action for the benefit of our customers, and us.
 
I’ll end this week with a quote from the movie “It’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” based on a true story of a journalist’s interview with Mr. Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers, played wonderfully by Tom Hanks, said in the movie: “Anything human is mentionable, and anything mentionable is manageable.” I was glad I was watching a recording so that I could rewind and make sure I got this quote right. The words really spoke to me, and I hope they have a similar effect on you. If you have a weekend with some spare time, I recommend the movie.  Just for fun, here are the lyrics to the theme song:
 
It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood
A neighborly day for a beauty
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you
So, let's make the most of this beautiful day
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?
You help to make each day a special day
By just your being yourself
There’s nobody else in the whole world who’s exactly like you
And people can like you exactly as you are.
 
Have a great week, neighbor!
Margaret