Two posts in two days...how likely is that to happen anymore? Not very...not unless its the holiday season and I might actually be able to grab the time and have the brain power to fuel it.
Just a quick thought today:
What could you do to improve your life immediately in some way, with the stipulation that a) it can't cost anything to you personally and b) you would and could actually do it and stick with it?
And I mean actually improve your life, not just something warm and fuzzy and unimportant? I know nobody really reads this outside a small circle, but just in case, please, use the comments section.
Consider this a twist on the "If you could do anything..." question. It's more of a "What can you possibly, realistically, do?" type question.
And of course, part 2 is, if you CAN think of something, why aren't you doing it yet? How do I know you aren't doing it? Well, I don't, but if it took you more than 5 seconds to pop out the answer, you probably aren't doing it.
Here's mine, sort of. I'm losing weight, and/or keeping it off. Though my day to day life doesn't REALLY feel like it is improved as a result, and I am not actually actively doing anything to make it happen (its just a result of our lifestyle which did undergo some relatively major changes since we found out Felix was coming). So, I really need to come up with some other things.
One other thing I'm doing is going to the company well and getting out as much training, etc, as I can that they will cover. This does immediately improve my life because it actually does help me do my job better and prepares me for whatever my next steps are. It also, I hope, causes my company to value me more because they are investing in me and they should be interested in protecting their investment, getting the most out of it that they can. And self improvement is life improvement, right?
The challenge is to figure out as many of those things as you can and to do them.
Discuss.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
scratch
I just deleted the post I started writing yesterday. I had good intentions but somewhere around character 3 or four it all started to go pear shaped. Rants about sub-prime mortgages, mortgagee's, corporate bailouts, financial ruination, mental duress, etc etc etc...not a very happy xmas message.
So, starting again from scratch.
The only thing I will say of a negative nature, or somewhat negative nature, or hinting upon my/our/everyone's current negative nature is from "Oh, the Places You Will Go!" by Dr. Seuss. Paraphrased, of course.
Somewhere about seven pages in he talks about when you fall from your high heights and you are left in the lurch by your cohorts.
So, we're feeling the slump. Edging towards the waiting place. We're sort of in a slump/waiting place combo-hybrid.
So, nuff about that.
Merry Xmas happy holidays, hope everyone has had an enjoyable day off from regular work, if you had one, and perhaps a long weekend to come. These next two weeks are so borderline, especially what with the possibility of long and longer weekends depending on when the big days (25th, 1st) fall on. There should be some sort of quasi-leap yearish rule that says if xmas and new years are on a Thursday, everyone just automatically gets off from the 25th to the 2nd. I mean, really. But then again...if that happened, what the hell would we all do on the 26th through the 31st with houses full guests and no place to send them out to? It'd be like some sort of holiday vacation grudge match fo some. I know that for me, going to work is an important part of maintaining my sanity. Not that I'm a work-a-holic or that I don't like my family. Of course not. But I get grumpy and antsy and crabby and listless when I don't feel great about myself, and this time of year I'm generally feeling less great about myself than usual. Its a time of year when the great juggling acts I've been performing tend to wear thin, the punchlines are already old and worn out, the balls are greasy from handling and sweat. In general, it feels like an ending without a necessarily wonderful denoument and the trailers for the coming sequel don't look like lots of fun. We'll see. But in general, I tend to get less than wonderful to be around all the time right now. But I'm trying! We're all trying.
We had a nice little gathering for NYCXMAS II, or Xmas in the 3rd year of Felix (he's 2.5625 years old). Just Felix, mama, daddy, uncle Glen. I got a Flip Mino pocket digital camcorder (yay! Andrea's dad basically read my mind) which I used to film most of Felix's gift-opening shennanigans. Felix got books and toys and musical instruments (slide whistle, kazoo), and of course (yay!) clothes. Andrea got books of various shapes and sizes right from her wishlist, so she was very happy about those too. We all had a good, small, tidy xmas. Full of wonder and possibility.
If i get approval from the chief, I may see if i can post the Felix highlight reel or perhaps host it somewhere for them that should be given access.
Happy holidays. Merry Merry.
It's hot as hell in here because Glen is doing some kitchen magic. We all look forward to that!
So, starting again from scratch.
The only thing I will say of a negative nature, or somewhat negative nature, or hinting upon my/our/everyone's current negative nature is from "Oh, the Places You Will Go!" by Dr. Seuss. Paraphrased, of course.
Somewhere about seven pages in he talks about when you fall from your high heights and you are left in the lurch by your cohorts.
You'll come down from the LurchThat's about it for me and us and etc. I am personally slumping, but only in regard to the mountain of hackenkracks looming up before me. We as a family are majorly slumping because, well, when you have big hard decisions you naturally get slumped. And of course, the whole country is in a horrible horrible slump, has been for a year or two, so that's that.
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
So, we're feeling the slump. Edging towards the waiting place. We're sort of in a slump/waiting place combo-hybrid.
So, nuff about that.
Merry Xmas happy holidays, hope everyone has had an enjoyable day off from regular work, if you had one, and perhaps a long weekend to come. These next two weeks are so borderline, especially what with the possibility of long and longer weekends depending on when the big days (25th, 1st) fall on. There should be some sort of quasi-leap yearish rule that says if xmas and new years are on a Thursday, everyone just automatically gets off from the 25th to the 2nd. I mean, really. But then again...if that happened, what the hell would we all do on the 26th through the 31st with houses full guests and no place to send them out to? It'd be like some sort of holiday vacation grudge match fo some. I know that for me, going to work is an important part of maintaining my sanity. Not that I'm a work-a-holic or that I don't like my family. Of course not. But I get grumpy and antsy and crabby and listless when I don't feel great about myself, and this time of year I'm generally feeling less great about myself than usual. Its a time of year when the great juggling acts I've been performing tend to wear thin, the punchlines are already old and worn out, the balls are greasy from handling and sweat. In general, it feels like an ending without a necessarily wonderful denoument and the trailers for the coming sequel don't look like lots of fun. We'll see. But in general, I tend to get less than wonderful to be around all the time right now. But I'm trying! We're all trying.
We had a nice little gathering for NYCXMAS II, or Xmas in the 3rd year of Felix (he's 2.5625 years old). Just Felix, mama, daddy, uncle Glen. I got a Flip Mino pocket digital camcorder (yay! Andrea's dad basically read my mind) which I used to film most of Felix's gift-opening shennanigans. Felix got books and toys and musical instruments (slide whistle, kazoo), and of course (yay!) clothes. Andrea got books of various shapes and sizes right from her wishlist, so she was very happy about those too. We all had a good, small, tidy xmas. Full of wonder and possibility.
If i get approval from the chief, I may see if i can post the Felix highlight reel or perhaps host it somewhere for them that should be given access.
Happy holidays. Merry Merry.
It's hot as hell in here because Glen is doing some kitchen magic. We all look forward to that!
Monday, December 01, 2008
It's Official
We're in a recession, have been since last December. Funny how you can't be in a recession until you log 4 quarters of decline, but once you are in recession, the past four qualifying months are retroactively designated as recession. It almost seems superstitious, like not having a 13th floor even though it is actually impossible to not have a 13th floor if you build a building with 13 floors. Sort of like, don't tell the kids and everything will be OK. Hell no it won't. We've all been watching as the economy circles the bowl for over a year. Who on earth thought, "No, just wait, its not a recession yet...just give it one more month..."
So, uh...what's happening, then...my paycheck will stay the same. It certainly shouldn't go down. Inflation is sort of a fairy tale right now. Maybe prices falling a little bit will be a good thing in the long run. Our electric bill went fro $100 to $35 between October and November and honestly, we didn't use THAT MUCH more in October. The energy prices have been falling because, you know, not so much demand for energy since all those factories and plants and offices everywhere are closing, not so many people are going to be buying utilities for their empty properties...demand goes down, prices go down. Those of us who still need it, or at least will be continuing to pay for it, will get a slight break.
We'll see. Once again, we go into the holding pattern: Have a job? Sit tight. I waited out the IT slump of the early 2000's and then took off my career development. Right now its not an IT slump yet, but we'll see. All you IT types, just focus on two things: Keep your job and make sure everyone realizes that they NEED YOU (and somehow you are saving the company money).
So, uh...what's happening, then...my paycheck will stay the same. It certainly shouldn't go down. Inflation is sort of a fairy tale right now. Maybe prices falling a little bit will be a good thing in the long run. Our electric bill went fro $100 to $35 between October and November and honestly, we didn't use THAT MUCH more in October. The energy prices have been falling because, you know, not so much demand for energy since all those factories and plants and offices everywhere are closing, not so many people are going to be buying utilities for their empty properties...demand goes down, prices go down. Those of us who still need it, or at least will be continuing to pay for it, will get a slight break.
We'll see. Once again, we go into the holding pattern: Have a job? Sit tight. I waited out the IT slump of the early 2000's and then took off my career development. Right now its not an IT slump yet, but we'll see. All you IT types, just focus on two things: Keep your job and make sure everyone realizes that they NEED YOU (and somehow you are saving the company money).
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