I have 2 days until I retire.
I know I've confused everyone who knows my actual age, but what I mean is "retiring from the industry." I've been doing this for 3 years and now understand how someone could burn out so quickly and so easily.
I also came to understand that I'm just not good enough to have that unique area of specialty. It's an industry based on having the top people of their various creative/technical skill levels and while I'm competent in most of them, I'm not super-great at any of them.
How's that for a blow to the ego?
I'm done on May 1st. The project's done already and just waiting for that final approval. It's also expected to get top ratings, which means I can go out on top and for years to come look back at this project and show people where I put my mark on it. That's something.
I've also made lots of new friends. Lots of them! One enemy too, from the looks of it, but I don't care about that.
So, this is the end of the road... Unless something happens to entice me to stick it out just a little while longer!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
My Return
It's been close to 5 years since I saw my last boss at my old, old job... He was in charge of the department I returned to after escaping for the office From Hell.
Almost 5 years...
I don't mention it much, but my wife works for my last boss, T, and has now for nearly 4 years. I've been quietly nervous ever since I left (not on the greatest of terms, thanks to the office From Hell) that one day there'd be a special event that the family would all be invited to attend.
And that happened late last week.
My wife's department, as it now stands, invited us all up to a retreat. I was nervous. I'm friends with a few on Facebook, talked to a couple in person, but never have I seen them all together since October 2004. I was definitely nervous.
Would they even welcome me? Would people talk to me? Would this negatively affect my wife's job?
I was welcomed back into the fold. I gave my boss, and as many former colleagues as possible, hugs to show that *I*, at least had no ill-will towards any of them. And then we talked. And drank. And talked some more. And drank a whole lot more. My former boss & I split a bottle of Scotch and discussed "the good ol' days" as he introduced me to the new people in the department.
It couldn't have worked out better.
Almost 5 years...
I don't mention it much, but my wife works for my last boss, T, and has now for nearly 4 years. I've been quietly nervous ever since I left (not on the greatest of terms, thanks to the office From Hell) that one day there'd be a special event that the family would all be invited to attend.
And that happened late last week.
My wife's department, as it now stands, invited us all up to a retreat. I was nervous. I'm friends with a few on Facebook, talked to a couple in person, but never have I seen them all together since October 2004. I was definitely nervous.
Would they even welcome me? Would people talk to me? Would this negatively affect my wife's job?
I was welcomed back into the fold. I gave my boss, and as many former colleagues as possible, hugs to show that *I*, at least had no ill-will towards any of them. And then we talked. And drank. And talked some more. And drank a whole lot more. My former boss & I split a bottle of Scotch and discussed "the good ol' days" as he introduced me to the new people in the department.
It couldn't have worked out better.
Monday, March 23, 2009
My Shadow
I have a co-worker who I refer to as a friend, but it's a strained relationship. It's strained for numerous reasons and listing them out makes me question why I even talk to the freakin' guy!
1. He's my shadow.
If I'm heading downtown for lunch, it's 99.9% likely he'll want to tag along. I don't mind on occasion, but when it started happening everyday... ugh. If nothing else, it's been a good motivator to go to the gym as he avoids it like the plague. I do, however, still like going downtown, so I either have him hang out with me or sneak away while he's talking to someone at their desk. No, I haven't told him to stop following me around simply because he'll get all whiny. Really don't want that.
2. He's got to be mentally... slow
How to back this up.... One day he was telling me about his brother emailing him something about that Muslims are Satanic and listing out some idiotic proof --sorry, "proof" (good luck that, Skippy) of their worship of the big red horny guy. This guy was offended (rightly so) and replied to his brother to tell him off (good for you!) for his 'ignorism' (yeah! Wait, what?). 'Ignorism.' Look it up.
1. He's my shadow.
If I'm heading downtown for lunch, it's 99.9% likely he'll want to tag along. I don't mind on occasion, but when it started happening everyday... ugh. If nothing else, it's been a good motivator to go to the gym as he avoids it like the plague. I do, however, still like going downtown, so I either have him hang out with me or sneak away while he's talking to someone at their desk. No, I haven't told him to stop following me around simply because he'll get all whiny. Really don't want that.
2. He's got to be mentally... slow
How to back this up.... One day he was telling me about his brother emailing him something about that Muslims are Satanic and listing out some idiotic proof --sorry, "proof" (good luck that, Skippy) of their worship of the big red horny guy. This guy was offended (rightly so) and replied to his brother to tell him off (good for you!) for his 'ignorism' (yeah! Wait, what?). 'Ignorism.' Look it up.
My Waiting Game
I think 10 weeks between posts is a record, but it's also indicative of my Blogging activity in that same timeframe. The blogs I used to read frequently, I've read twice ~maybe~ in 2009. Any bloggers reading this: I mean no offense by ignoring your blog. I've ignored mine too!
Let's see. January highlights....
The Ultimate Train Hottie returned! One morning, as I sat in my usual spot, she came in and sat across from me. She touched my knee(!) and smiled as she said, "I'm back!" It was great to have her back and she looked stunning with her new dark hair. Wow.
At work, I moved into a corner office. Sounds really cool, but it's not really. I share it with 2 others and with all the computers running, it's 87 degrees on a *good* day! A bad day? The worst was 91.... ugh.
Sadly, that was pretty much January. I worked a lot, enjoyed the company for an hour a day of the Train Hotties, and slept.
Ta-da.
Let's see. January highlights....
The Ultimate Train Hottie returned! One morning, as I sat in my usual spot, she came in and sat across from me. She touched my knee(!) and smiled as she said, "I'm back!" It was great to have her back and she looked stunning with her new dark hair. Wow.
At work, I moved into a corner office. Sounds really cool, but it's not really. I share it with 2 others and with all the computers running, it's 87 degrees on a *good* day! A bad day? The worst was 91.... ugh.
Sadly, that was pretty much January. I worked a lot, enjoyed the company for an hour a day of the Train Hotties, and slept.
Ta-da.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
My Holiday's End
Today is the last day of my 2-week vacation. It's snowing... again. I think this has to be the worst winter in recent memory. Even on the days we're supposed to get relief from the winter weather and return to our rainy West Coast climate we just end up getting more snow.
Snow kept me from a number of things yesterday, including writing a little something here on the blog.
As soon as I was standing up out of bed, I was getting dressed to go shovel snow off the driveway. My in-laws got rid of all my metal shovels, so I have a cheap plastic one that rides over top of any packed snow. In other words, I shovelled all the powdery snow on top, leaving nothing but a slippery mess underneath.
Enter Dreama for a visit and she gets stuck in the snow for a very frustrating hour. She had every right to be livid with the weather, even though she more used to it than I am. It's just that it's been following her everywhere. I feel for ya!
After that, I ended up shoveling more in the evening after my wife & I dumped kids off at various homes and escaped to the movies for a couple of hours. After that shoveling spree, I had a friend visit for about 15 minutes, then got the kids to bed and slumped on the couch to nurse my shoulder (sore from constant snow shoveling) and watch Titanic with my wife. I had no intention to watch that movie, but it was on and I wasn't up to moving --even to the computer 15 feet away.
And the snow continues to fall. I'm on my way back to work tomorrow and hopefully it's a better start to 2009 than the ending in 2008.
Snow kept me from a number of things yesterday, including writing a little something here on the blog.
As soon as I was standing up out of bed, I was getting dressed to go shovel snow off the driveway. My in-laws got rid of all my metal shovels, so I have a cheap plastic one that rides over top of any packed snow. In other words, I shovelled all the powdery snow on top, leaving nothing but a slippery mess underneath.
Enter Dreama for a visit and she gets stuck in the snow for a very frustrating hour. She had every right to be livid with the weather, even though she more used to it than I am. It's just that it's been following her everywhere. I feel for ya!
After that, I ended up shoveling more in the evening after my wife & I dumped kids off at various homes and escaped to the movies for a couple of hours. After that shoveling spree, I had a friend visit for about 15 minutes, then got the kids to bed and slumped on the couch to nurse my shoulder (sore from constant snow shoveling) and watch Titanic with my wife. I had no intention to watch that movie, but it was on and I wasn't up to moving --even to the computer 15 feet away.
And the snow continues to fall. I'm on my way back to work tomorrow and hopefully it's a better start to 2009 than the ending in 2008.
Friday, January 02, 2009
My Scene
2008 literally closed with a bang. And I do mean literally. A man was shot and killed just up the street from my house. That's pretty much all I know about it, but... yeesh.
I've mentioned before that we've gotten a lot of snow. In fact, I think we had a record snowfall for the month of December, but I haven't heard the official total yet. It was just shy of 90cm, which is about 3 feet of snow. Ugh. This much snow also meant the first White Christmas for my daughter. She's 8, so you know why I'm not big on the white stuff --not used to it.
Truth be told, I've probably spent a good portion of my 2-week "vacation" shovelling snow. For the most part, it was fine, but the latest dumps of snow have been wetter, denser snow. Wet snow means hard labor, as a good 5 inches of snow on the shovel can quickly weigh 20+ pounds! (or at least feel like it) The arms and shoulders burn after shovelling the driveway we have here.
Burning's good, though, it means I'm getting exercise, which has been sorely lacking over the holidays. I haven't hit the gym since December 18, so I'll take what I can get. And let's face it: Lots of snow means hiding in the house, not wanting to do much of anything.
I think I've ventured "out" (going further than my in-laws' house 5 blocks away) twice during my time off. I went shopping on the 27th of December and to my sister's on the 29th. Otherwise, I've stayed rooted in the house. My shopping day was for bargains and there were definite bargains to be had! After we'd bought a Wii for Christmas, I let the kids pick up a game for the system. They found one to agree on and it was a $10 purchase (it was $60 last year). At the same time, I picked up 2 games I wanted for under $10 each and then made the "big" purchase of a new DVD player. Our old one is 7 years old(!!) now and was a cheap model back then. It has trouble with some discs these days and trying to write out instructions to my parents on how to use the PlayStation2 as a DVD player took a long, long time. I bought a Sony DVD player for $50, which I think is a good deal.
I have a single weekend left before I head back to work on Monday. Right now I'm not sure how enthusiastic my walk to work will be Monday morning.... I'm tired.
I've mentioned before that we've gotten a lot of snow. In fact, I think we had a record snowfall for the month of December, but I haven't heard the official total yet. It was just shy of 90cm, which is about 3 feet of snow. Ugh. This much snow also meant the first White Christmas for my daughter. She's 8, so you know why I'm not big on the white stuff --not used to it.
Truth be told, I've probably spent a good portion of my 2-week "vacation" shovelling snow. For the most part, it was fine, but the latest dumps of snow have been wetter, denser snow. Wet snow means hard labor, as a good 5 inches of snow on the shovel can quickly weigh 20+ pounds! (or at least feel like it) The arms and shoulders burn after shovelling the driveway we have here.
Burning's good, though, it means I'm getting exercise, which has been sorely lacking over the holidays. I haven't hit the gym since December 18, so I'll take what I can get. And let's face it: Lots of snow means hiding in the house, not wanting to do much of anything.
I think I've ventured "out" (going further than my in-laws' house 5 blocks away) twice during my time off. I went shopping on the 27th of December and to my sister's on the 29th. Otherwise, I've stayed rooted in the house. My shopping day was for bargains and there were definite bargains to be had! After we'd bought a Wii for Christmas, I let the kids pick up a game for the system. They found one to agree on and it was a $10 purchase (it was $60 last year). At the same time, I picked up 2 games I wanted for under $10 each and then made the "big" purchase of a new DVD player. Our old one is 7 years old(!!) now and was a cheap model back then. It has trouble with some discs these days and trying to write out instructions to my parents on how to use the PlayStation2 as a DVD player took a long, long time. I bought a Sony DVD player for $50, which I think is a good deal.
I have a single weekend left before I head back to work on Monday. Right now I'm not sure how enthusiastic my walk to work will be Monday morning.... I'm tired.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
My Final Year
This blog's been going downhill over the past few years as my time disappears quickly. I managed one post during the final half of December, the entire time I was "on vacation." I just don't have the time anymore.
This blog was originally my daily journal, to keep track of thoughts/ideas and problems I was having at work. I try not to talk about work anymore (it could get me in major trouble) and my thoughts and ideas come and go quickly and don't always get written down anymore. And let's face it: It was never a daily journal, since my best year of writing consisted of 280+ posts, not quite the 365 needed for a daily journal.
So, I think this is the final year.
Going full circle, I've opted to go back to the theme of "my year," although admittedly, last time it was all about being selfish and getting my way. It's been 5 years. I've grown a bit (wider and wiser) and think I can more clearly state that My Year in 2009 is more about growth. No, not physical, but mental and hopefully spiritual growth. I can challenge myself to write a daily journal and we'll see how long it takes me to break that promise. If I can do it, then sometime this summer I'll hit my 1,000th post on this blog and hitting that mark will be a milestone in and of itself.
So, the countdown begins. It's 2009, My Final Year for this blog, and hopefully a more interesting year than 2008.
This blog was originally my daily journal, to keep track of thoughts/ideas and problems I was having at work. I try not to talk about work anymore (it could get me in major trouble) and my thoughts and ideas come and go quickly and don't always get written down anymore. And let's face it: It was never a daily journal, since my best year of writing consisted of 280+ posts, not quite the 365 needed for a daily journal.
So, I think this is the final year.
Going full circle, I've opted to go back to the theme of "my year," although admittedly, last time it was all about being selfish and getting my way. It's been 5 years. I've grown a bit (wider and wiser) and think I can more clearly state that My Year in 2009 is more about growth. No, not physical, but mental and hopefully spiritual growth. I can challenge myself to write a daily journal and we'll see how long it takes me to break that promise. If I can do it, then sometime this summer I'll hit my 1,000th post on this blog and hitting that mark will be a milestone in and of itself.
So, the countdown begins. It's 2009, My Final Year for this blog, and hopefully a more interesting year than 2008.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Snowed
Dreama arrived with her kitty on Tuesday. The kitty stayed, but Dreama traveled on to pick up her daughter and make a break for a border or two.
And it's freakishly cold here. I put all the blame on you-know-who, freshly arrived from the Arctic!! She can deny it all she wants, but it's been a nasty "start" to winter. She arrives in Vancouver to the heaviest snowfall in the past decade. She arrives in Victoria, where snow in December usually amounts to 6 inches, but this year (so far) is over 2 and a half feet! Seattle? Snowed in. She's heading to Las Vegas... they got snow too! This woman's gonna make history by the time she reaches Mexico!
We're getting more snow before Christmas. The forecast is for close to 6 inches by Christmas Eve. This will be our first "White Christmas" in 10 years.
and it's all Dreama's fault. ;)
And it's freakishly cold here. I put all the blame on you-know-who, freshly arrived from the Arctic!! She can deny it all she wants, but it's been a nasty "start" to winter. She arrives in Vancouver to the heaviest snowfall in the past decade. She arrives in Victoria, where snow in December usually amounts to 6 inches, but this year (so far) is over 2 and a half feet! Seattle? Snowed in. She's heading to Las Vegas... they got snow too! This woman's gonna make history by the time she reaches Mexico!
We're getting more snow before Christmas. The forecast is for close to 6 inches by Christmas Eve. This will be our first "White Christmas" in 10 years.
and it's all Dreama's fault. ;)
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