So, employment prospects are pretty bleak at the moment.... sucky time to graduate apparently. 2007 is supposed to be better... I put 2008 originally, then realized I'd missed a year.
I think something's wrong with my brain.
I'm updating my 'professional' website on a fairly regular basis, but realized today that I haven't bothered to LIST what's been updated if people were to check back on a regular basis. I'm an idiot too, apparently.
Oh well, not losing hope on future employment... not yet :)
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Fait Accompli
It's done. Over. Finished.
I've officially graduated with a 3.40 GPA and am now resting at home trying to recover from some intense final weeks. I think I've earned my rest, but others may disagree.
So, what's next? After resting?
The job hunt begins, because there's never a guarantee that a "sure thing" will actually come to anything. I have people helping me (yay!) but there's still work to be done.
I'm setting up some tasks to hel me improve my own work so that hopefully I can start submitting newer and more interesting items to different companies in the very near future.
But now, rest. I really need the rest.
I've officially graduated with a 3.40 GPA and am now resting at home trying to recover from some intense final weeks. I think I've earned my rest, but others may disagree.
So, what's next? After resting?
The job hunt begins, because there's never a guarantee that a "sure thing" will actually come to anything. I have people helping me (yay!) but there's still work to be done.
I'm setting up some tasks to hel me improve my own work so that hopefully I can start submitting newer and more interesting items to different companies in the very near future.
But now, rest. I really need the rest.
Monday, September 18, 2006
NEVER AGAIN
I've been printing things out for my "grad showcase" tomorrow and it's been one Hell of a frustrating night. I have business card templates, DVD cover templates & CD label templates from Avery, Fellowes/Neato.... everywhere.
They're all crap. So's my printer.
Never again am I going to try and print off my own stuff. I cannot believe how much paper I've wasted because the print is off by inches when it's transporting from Word to my HP printer.
Or PhotoShop to my printer...
Or the Neato Media software to my printer...
$30 for an ink cartridge and apparently the black and the tri-color cartridges I bought on Wednesday are both running low now.
And to think I've also paid nearly $200 for professional printing...
Never again.
They're all crap. So's my printer.
Never again am I going to try and print off my own stuff. I cannot believe how much paper I've wasted because the print is off by inches when it's transporting from Word to my HP printer.
Or PhotoShop to my printer...
Or the Neato Media software to my printer...
$30 for an ink cartridge and apparently the black and the tri-color cartridges I bought on Wednesday are both running low now.
And to think I've also paid nearly $200 for professional printing...
Never again.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Tired
You'd think, after reading my post title, that this is about sleep. It's not. Although I am physically beat, this is actually a post about...
Tires.
After getting my flat on Friday afternoon, the writing on the wall was officially flaming and crackling as opposed to just being an annoyance. The car dealership where I get servicing had threatened months ago to hold my car if I came in with bald tires again. So, yeah, I've been avoiding them because I had too many other concerns to worry about my tires.
But one 'pop' on Friday afternoon changed all that.
Honestly, I'd planned on getting down to the tire change later this week. I'm officially, officially done school 8pm Monday night, so Tuesday is like my "Day of Freedom" or something. So, yeah, time to spend money that I don't have!! Whoo-hoo!?
Anyway, the tire thing obviously needed to be pushed up to a closer date and today was the best day for it.
I worked late again last night, because there's still "stuff to do" in order to get ready for tomorrow's finale grad showcase. I"m almost ready but the Friday flat meant I missed the closing of the print shop for my DVD labels and other printed materials, so now I have to drive for an hour-plus on Monday morning to pick everything up, then finalize it all before heading into school for an 8-hour "celebration" (their words, trust me).
So, fortunately, dropping my car off today for Noon was no big deal, only I got held up at the last minute and was about 10 minutes late in arriving. I had to then wait for a couple deciding on servicing for their pick-up truck and they were asking stupid questions (and obviously had been for a while because the annoyed teenage clerk was quite abrupt with their next question: what's the difference between this service and that one? "Five dollars" he quipped.) I actually knew the couple. Years ago I wrote a piece on "convenient friends" (can't find it, otherwise I'd link to it), people who only call you for things like Tupperware and Avaon parties immediately after speaking to you in public for the first time in years. Needless to say, I avoided speaking to the couple and let them go on their merry way once they'd paid for their brand new tires.
I took care of everything I needed to and joined the family for lunch waaayyyy on the other side of the strip mall. It was abut a 10-minute walk, but the exercise is good. I was told it would be about an hour until my car was ready. So, lunch is just over an hour and I head back. I see my car is still up on the hoist, so I decided to look around in the various shops and head back in 15 minutes or so.
Why I didn't go in and see how much longer it would be, I don't know.
It turns out, when I did finally return, that the couple ahead of me bought 2 tires that were supposed to be set aside for me. So, one of their service people had to drive 30 minutes away to their next shop and pick up some... spares. So, instead of 1 hours, it was actually almost 3 hours.
I wasn't mad, though. I'm too tired right now to actually get mad about something like that. I think, in some ways, it's leading me to 2 paths:
Still tired, though.
Tires.
After getting my flat on Friday afternoon, the writing on the wall was officially flaming and crackling as opposed to just being an annoyance. The car dealership where I get servicing had threatened months ago to hold my car if I came in with bald tires again. So, yeah, I've been avoiding them because I had too many other concerns to worry about my tires.
But one 'pop' on Friday afternoon changed all that.
Honestly, I'd planned on getting down to the tire change later this week. I'm officially, officially done school 8pm Monday night, so Tuesday is like my "Day of Freedom" or something. So, yeah, time to spend money that I don't have!! Whoo-hoo!?
Anyway, the tire thing obviously needed to be pushed up to a closer date and today was the best day for it.
I worked late again last night, because there's still "stuff to do" in order to get ready for tomorrow's finale grad showcase. I"m almost ready but the Friday flat meant I missed the closing of the print shop for my DVD labels and other printed materials, so now I have to drive for an hour-plus on Monday morning to pick everything up, then finalize it all before heading into school for an 8-hour "celebration" (their words, trust me).
So, fortunately, dropping my car off today for Noon was no big deal, only I got held up at the last minute and was about 10 minutes late in arriving. I had to then wait for a couple deciding on servicing for their pick-up truck and they were asking stupid questions (and obviously had been for a while because the annoyed teenage clerk was quite abrupt with their next question: what's the difference between this service and that one? "Five dollars" he quipped.) I actually knew the couple. Years ago I wrote a piece on "convenient friends" (can't find it, otherwise I'd link to it), people who only call you for things like Tupperware and Avaon parties immediately after speaking to you in public for the first time in years. Needless to say, I avoided speaking to the couple and let them go on their merry way once they'd paid for their brand new tires.
I took care of everything I needed to and joined the family for lunch waaayyyy on the other side of the strip mall. It was abut a 10-minute walk, but the exercise is good. I was told it would be about an hour until my car was ready. So, lunch is just over an hour and I head back. I see my car is still up on the hoist, so I decided to look around in the various shops and head back in 15 minutes or so.
Why I didn't go in and see how much longer it would be, I don't know.
It turns out, when I did finally return, that the couple ahead of me bought 2 tires that were supposed to be set aside for me. So, one of their service people had to drive 30 minutes away to their next shop and pick up some... spares. So, instead of 1 hours, it was actually almost 3 hours.
I wasn't mad, though. I'm too tired right now to actually get mad about something like that. I think, in some ways, it's leading me to 2 paths:
- I'm so frigging used to things going wrong instead of right, that the news didn't even faze me.
- I'm a complete and total pushover now.
Still tired, though.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Commuter Hell
So, yesterday class finished at 12:30, but there was a company coming out to meet with people and 'recruit' for their expanding offices right afterward. I got in to see them and discussed a few things (but don't expect me to announce a move to Montreal anytime soon!) with the HR guy.
I then bolted from the scene at 1pm, knowing I had to pick up my daughter at school at 2:30. I basically gave myself just enough time to get to her school to pick her up. At 2pm, I had to call the school and tell them either I'd be very late picking her up ~or~ one of her grandparents would be by to get her before 3pm. Since I'd been on the road for an hour and hadn't made it to the halfway point yet, I wasn't expecting to make it the rest of the way in 30 minutes.
Yep, 1pm on Thursday afternoon and traffic stopped, then crawled. It was raining for the first time in weeks, so the roads were slick, but as I found out later in the evening, it was a single car in the ditch at the 3/4 mark of my commute that had backed traffic up for a long, long way.
My parents, fortunately, were available to pick up my daughter, even though they had to drive a fair bit to get her. They were also on hand to pick up my son at 3 when I finally hit that 3/4 mark (although by that point I'd switched to a side road and was making better progress).
3 hours to get home. When I finally did get home there was an email message waiting for me. My 2 final papers were due at 5pm today instead of the original time given of 1pm Friday. My instructor emailed me 5 minutes after I'd logged out at school.
I should've stayed to write the papers.
But wait! There's more!
That was Thursday's nightmare and today's Friday! If traffic was that bad on a Thursday...
Around the same spot where I'd stopped and began the 'crawler commute' on Thursday, we heard a bang by the car. Not sure what it was, we joked about how sucky it would be to get a flat tire during the Friday commute. As we crawled along for another hour, I noticed the car was feeling like it was drifting to the left a bit. As we eventually made it to my side road offramp, we squaeled around the ramp at a very low speed. So, off I pulled into the gas station.
I have a big *^#$ing screw sticking out of my tire.
So, tomorrow I'm now buying the new tires I'd planned on purchasing on Tuesday.
Oh, and with the lameass spare on, we had to drive slower on the way home.
2 days and 6 hours of commuting. Enough already!!
I then bolted from the scene at 1pm, knowing I had to pick up my daughter at school at 2:30. I basically gave myself just enough time to get to her school to pick her up. At 2pm, I had to call the school and tell them either I'd be very late picking her up ~or~ one of her grandparents would be by to get her before 3pm. Since I'd been on the road for an hour and hadn't made it to the halfway point yet, I wasn't expecting to make it the rest of the way in 30 minutes.
Yep, 1pm on Thursday afternoon and traffic stopped, then crawled. It was raining for the first time in weeks, so the roads were slick, but as I found out later in the evening, it was a single car in the ditch at the 3/4 mark of my commute that had backed traffic up for a long, long way.
My parents, fortunately, were available to pick up my daughter, even though they had to drive a fair bit to get her. They were also on hand to pick up my son at 3 when I finally hit that 3/4 mark (although by that point I'd switched to a side road and was making better progress).
3 hours to get home. When I finally did get home there was an email message waiting for me. My 2 final papers were due at 5pm today instead of the original time given of 1pm Friday. My instructor emailed me 5 minutes after I'd logged out at school.
I should've stayed to write the papers.
But wait! There's more!
That was Thursday's nightmare and today's Friday! If traffic was that bad on a Thursday...
Around the same spot where I'd stopped and began the 'crawler commute' on Thursday, we heard a bang by the car. Not sure what it was, we joked about how sucky it would be to get a flat tire during the Friday commute. As we crawled along for another hour, I noticed the car was feeling like it was drifting to the left a bit. As we eventually made it to my side road offramp, we squaeled around the ramp at a very low speed. So, off I pulled into the gas station.
I have a big *^#$ing screw sticking out of my tire.
So, tomorrow I'm now buying the new tires I'd planned on purchasing on Tuesday.
Oh, and with the lameass spare on, we had to drive slower on the way home.
2 days and 6 hours of commuting. Enough already!!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
12,953
Twelve thousand nine hundred and fifty-three points. That's how many points I have in the new promotional campaign on my favorite radio station. I'm 47 points away from 13,000 points and when I hit that number there's a special 'bargain bin' item I'm planning on purchasing --for 13,000 points.
As the website states:
Seriously, I figure I've put on around 30 pounds since I started this program 18 months ago. I haven't been eating healthy and over half my liquid consumption has been Coca Cola and Energy Drinks (and I don't need that much sugar! Ever!). So, a quick talk with my wife and she's excited to see that I can participate in something (an almost $300 something!) and not have to pay for it!
Essentially you receive points for listening to the radio and hearing special codes that you then enter on the site. Codes can be worth anywhere from 1 point to 1000 points... and with a special Dessert of the Day code, I just leaped over the 13,000 point mark!
Boot Camp here I come!!
As the website states:
Cardio-Core Bootcamp!
Get your butt in gear!
Cardio-Core Boot Camp will get you in shape. You'll get a gift certificate worth $265! That's good for a 4-week, 5 sessions per week program!!
Seriously, I figure I've put on around 30 pounds since I started this program 18 months ago. I haven't been eating healthy and over half my liquid consumption has been Coca Cola and Energy Drinks (and I don't need that much sugar! Ever!). So, a quick talk with my wife and she's excited to see that I can participate in something (an almost $300 something!) and not have to pay for it!
Essentially you receive points for listening to the radio and hearing special codes that you then enter on the site. Codes can be worth anywhere from 1 point to 1000 points... and with a special Dessert of the Day code, I just leaped over the 13,000 point mark!
Boot Camp here I come!!
Post-Fight
Yes, I had to fight a little. 3 of 4 people were satisfied with where I was (recognizing the workload for our production, which apparently counts for squat for graduation) and one, the one who made the ultimate decision, who wasn't. I did threaten to cancel our presentation for Friday (yep, tomorrow) if the decision was I hadn't done enough. Bull. I'd done more than my share.
Anyway, long-ish story short: I'm done with a presentation for our production tomorrow and the grad showcase on Monday.
Then I don't have to come back. Ever.
It's a mixed emotion time for me. There's a little regret in taking this program (although now that I've experienced it, I know what to expect in the future if I ever opt to do something like this again). There's a good dose of frustration with how negative some aspects of the program were handled. There's also a mixture of anger and sadness as I know of 3 classmates who ultimately failed. 2 of them were just plain lazy and although I'm sad that they've been with us for 18 months and now have to spend another 3 months here. The 3rd person, well she got into a situation with our production which killed her portfolio schedule. I asked her to take on more responsibility, which she did, and now I feel bad because she's failed her portfolio. She's super-talented and super-smart, but she didn't get it done in the end. She's made her decision not to come back and finish her diploma (yowch!) as she's had enough of this place. She'll probably get ajob faster than most of the rest of us.
So, that's where I am right now.
Anyway, long-ish story short: I'm done with a presentation for our production tomorrow and the grad showcase on Monday.
Then I don't have to come back. Ever.
It's a mixed emotion time for me. There's a little regret in taking this program (although now that I've experienced it, I know what to expect in the future if I ever opt to do something like this again). There's a good dose of frustration with how negative some aspects of the program were handled. There's also a mixture of anger and sadness as I know of 3 classmates who ultimately failed. 2 of them were just plain lazy and although I'm sad that they've been with us for 18 months and now have to spend another 3 months here. The 3rd person, well she got into a situation with our production which killed her portfolio schedule. I asked her to take on more responsibility, which she did, and now I feel bad because she's failed her portfolio. She's super-talented and super-smart, but she didn't get it done in the end. She's made her decision not to come back and finish her diploma (yowch!) as she's had enough of this place. She'll probably get ajob faster than most of the rest of us.
So, that's where I am right now.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Fight!
Today, technically, I should have all my work done for the semester --and the program.
I don't. Our big production commences until this Friday and it ate into my time late last week and over the weekend as well. Sick of it.
I am gearing up for a big fight today because my other work's slipped with the production getting in the way. I had two new tasks thrown at me last week for the production, which hampered even more "progress" on my graduation project. So, my concern today is I'm going to be informed I'm not graduating on Monday because I'm behind in my work.
I'm behind because they keep piling more work on me for extra projects: make up your mind which project you want me on! And, at this rate, if they decide I"m not graduating, then I walk away --today-- from everything. No more production: nothing. I'd be willing to give it up in a heartbeat.
During our production class last week, 5 of us were forced to continue working on the production while everyone else was permitted to work on their additional projects.
For 3 hours.
3 bloody hours that people essentially finished off any last-minute work they needed to do for today or tomorrow (depending on when they meet with the graduation advisor).
The 5 of us who had to work on the production? We're all behind the 8-ball on our graduation requirements. Life is so fair.
So, I'm ready for a fight. I have 45 minutes until I meet with the advisor.
I don't. Our big production commences until this Friday and it ate into my time late last week and over the weekend as well. Sick of it.
I am gearing up for a big fight today because my other work's slipped with the production getting in the way. I had two new tasks thrown at me last week for the production, which hampered even more "progress" on my graduation project. So, my concern today is I'm going to be informed I'm not graduating on Monday because I'm behind in my work.
I'm behind because they keep piling more work on me for extra projects: make up your mind which project you want me on! And, at this rate, if they decide I"m not graduating, then I walk away --today-- from everything. No more production: nothing. I'd be willing to give it up in a heartbeat.
During our production class last week, 5 of us were forced to continue working on the production while everyone else was permitted to work on their additional projects.
For 3 hours.
3 bloody hours that people essentially finished off any last-minute work they needed to do for today or tomorrow (depending on when they meet with the graduation advisor).
The 5 of us who had to work on the production? We're all behind the 8-ball on our graduation requirements. Life is so fair.
So, I'm ready for a fight. I have 45 minutes until I meet with the advisor.
Llama
I'm carpooling with a classmate right now. He lost his licence (long story) and he lives a few blocks off my regular commute. Besides, the $20 a week he chips in for gas (and my renewed ability to use the HOV lane) makes it worthwhile.
Driving to his place this morning, it was quite foggy. Every once in a while there was a break in the fog andin one of those instances, I was quite surprised to see a llama all alone in the middle of a field. Llamas are common on famrs in the area --our weather suits them, but I never noticed one there before and it's been on my regular commute for 18 months.
I wonder if he was lost.
Driving to his place this morning, it was quite foggy. Every once in a while there was a break in the fog andin one of those instances, I was quite surprised to see a llama all alone in the middle of a field. Llamas are common on famrs in the area --our weather suits them, but I never noticed one there before and it's been on my regular commute for 18 months.
I wonder if he was lost.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Counting on Fingers
It's September 8th... Almost the 9th.
My official last day of school is September 18. That means I can count the days on my fingers now. 10 days... Almost 9.
I'm incredibly sick of the place and can't wait. This is my final marathon weekend and hopefully I'll have everything completed before my final Monday morning class on the 11th. Yes, I'm behind and I've let everyone know it too.
Next Friday is the "do or die" presentation and up until a few weeks ago, I truly had all my hopes hinging on it. I'm almost completely over the anxiety of speaking in front of so many potential employers and am leaning more and more towards the "screw it, just get it over with" attitude.
A part of me really wanted to push myself and make this a huge deal, but as I saw others slack off around me and more work piled onto a few of us while they got to move onto other pressing items (those of us still working on the big production have let everything else slip horribly), I knew I could think of this as me stepping back and letting failure take over. I just have a different attitude now. If this goes well, it was meant to go well. If it bombs, it bombs.
Life goes on. And I have the fingers to prove it.
My official last day of school is September 18. That means I can count the days on my fingers now. 10 days... Almost 9.
I'm incredibly sick of the place and can't wait. This is my final marathon weekend and hopefully I'll have everything completed before my final Monday morning class on the 11th. Yes, I'm behind and I've let everyone know it too.
Next Friday is the "do or die" presentation and up until a few weeks ago, I truly had all my hopes hinging on it. I'm almost completely over the anxiety of speaking in front of so many potential employers and am leaning more and more towards the "screw it, just get it over with" attitude.
A part of me really wanted to push myself and make this a huge deal, but as I saw others slack off around me and more work piled onto a few of us while they got to move onto other pressing items (those of us still working on the big production have let everything else slip horribly), I knew I could think of this as me stepping back and letting failure take over. I just have a different attitude now. If this goes well, it was meant to go well. If it bombs, it bombs.
Life goes on. And I have the fingers to prove it.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Crikey!
[This is my 3rd attempt at writing this and all my attempts not to sound "wrong" just haven't worked, so bear with me...]
I was relieved when I heard how The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, died. [Told you it would sound wrong.]
Someone like Irwin, constantly surrounded by deadly animals. Crocodiles usually kill with one snap of their jaws. Usually. What does happen is their prey is dragged below water where if it isn't dead already, it will eventually drown even as it bleeds out from some of the most horrible wounds imaginable.
To hear Steve Irwin is dead, the image that immediately popped into my mind is one of the crocs finally caught up to him and all I could think was that his death was grisly. So, needless to say I was relieved to hear his death was quick with his heart pierced by a stingray.
Steve Irwin had a passion for animals, deadly animals sure, but a passion for their conservation and he had an uncanny ability to teach people how to be safe around such creatures. I watched him in documentaries where he saved crocs from environments that were harmful to their health and as concerned as he was for his crew, he was equally concerned with the welfare of the animals. This man had a passion and he lived that passion daily. We should all be so lucky.
Steve Irwin died the way he lived. He was in his element and faced with danger when he left this world. He saw his passion through right to the end of his 44 years. 44 years where he lived his dream. I'm sure he's done more in 44 years than most people could dream of. He's left a legacy for his family and his country and has made the world aware of the importance of every creature, no matter how deadly, in our planet's ecosystem.
I can only hope I can live --and die-- with the same passion he had.
I was relieved when I heard how The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, died. [Told you it would sound wrong.]
Someone like Irwin, constantly surrounded by deadly animals. Crocodiles usually kill with one snap of their jaws. Usually. What does happen is their prey is dragged below water where if it isn't dead already, it will eventually drown even as it bleeds out from some of the most horrible wounds imaginable.
To hear Steve Irwin is dead, the image that immediately popped into my mind is one of the crocs finally caught up to him and all I could think was that his death was grisly. So, needless to say I was relieved to hear his death was quick with his heart pierced by a stingray.
Steve Irwin had a passion for animals, deadly animals sure, but a passion for their conservation and he had an uncanny ability to teach people how to be safe around such creatures. I watched him in documentaries where he saved crocs from environments that were harmful to their health and as concerned as he was for his crew, he was equally concerned with the welfare of the animals. This man had a passion and he lived that passion daily. We should all be so lucky.
Steve Irwin died the way he lived. He was in his element and faced with danger when he left this world. He saw his passion through right to the end of his 44 years. 44 years where he lived his dream. I'm sure he's done more in 44 years than most people could dream of. He's left a legacy for his family and his country and has made the world aware of the importance of every creature, no matter how deadly, in our planet's ecosystem.
I can only hope I can live --and die-- with the same passion he had.
Whore!
You'd never know it, reading some of my blog entries, but I do have an eye for details and can usually catch spelling mistakes and typoes in other people's work. Kind of like that killer paper I had to read and re-read over 2 dozen times last semester and I ripped it apart everytime.
Hottie was showing me some of her work for graduation (yep, she gets to go too!) and I noticed she had a typo in her email address. No more hotmail, but 'hormail.' It was a good laugh. She'd get hired right away, I'm sure ;)
Hottie was showing me some of her work for graduation (yep, she gets to go too!) and I noticed she had a typo in her email address. No more hotmail, but 'hormail.' It was a good laugh. She'd get hired right away, I'm sure ;)
Monday, September 04, 2006
4 Day Weekend suddenly becomes a 3 Day Weekend
I have to say, if anyone's really good at killing a day off, I have to hand it to my school. Tuesday's are my day off and have been all semester. It's great. It's the best day for me to sit down and work throughout the day in order to finish my work. It help cut down on extremely late nights (which, as I did 2 weeks ago, can be a hindrance to my health) and it means that anything that needs doing around the homefront has a day dedicated to it too.
Like, say, my daughter's first day of school.
But no, no! I have my school to think of as well and once again they've decided to hold a 1-hour meeting on Tuesday. Friggin' Tuesday!!
Nope, can't meet on Wednesday when we're all there... Nope, can't meet on Thursday when we're all there... Nope, can't meet on Friday when... well, you can figure it out.
Let's meet on Tuesday when half of us don't have classes. Some of us have to spend $10+ on gas to go in for a frickin' 1-hour (one single hour!!) meeting.
Why? To get the various departments to sign off on us in order to graduate. Yep, the registration office signs off stating we're good to go. Accounting signs off saying we're paid in full. The Library signs off because we're not holding onto any books (although ironically we can then go back to the library and sign one out).
Yeah, 2 weeks to go and I hate the place more and more each day.
Like, say, my daughter's first day of school.
But no, no! I have my school to think of as well and once again they've decided to hold a 1-hour meeting on Tuesday. Friggin' Tuesday!!
Nope, can't meet on Wednesday when we're all there... Nope, can't meet on Thursday when we're all there... Nope, can't meet on Friday when... well, you can figure it out.
Let's meet on Tuesday when half of us don't have classes. Some of us have to spend $10+ on gas to go in for a frickin' 1-hour (one single hour!!) meeting.
Why? To get the various departments to sign off on us in order to graduate. Yep, the registration office signs off stating we're good to go. Accounting signs off saying we're paid in full. The Library signs off because we're not holding onto any books (although ironically we can then go back to the library and sign one out).
Yeah, 2 weeks to go and I hate the place more and more each day.
Second Time Around
So, Friday afternoon I finally got my "do-over" for the presentation that bombed and nearly killed me the week before.
Yes, I was tired.
Yes, I lost about 10 pounds between presentations.
Yes, I needed lots of water to continue speaking.
And, fortunately, yes, the presentation went much, much better.
Now that this presentation is out of the way.... I have to rehearse for the final presentation on September 15th. My instructor's making me do it over and over again until I get it right (or he likes it anyway).
So, even moreso, I'm not looking forward to my final 2 weeks of school.
The presentation will be in front of 200+ people and I'm supposed to be enthusiastic, clear (duh), and really blow em all away. I can guarantee I'll be tired, clear (duh!) and if anyone annoys me... I'll probably be tempted to blow em away ;)
Yes, I was tired.
Yes, I lost about 10 pounds between presentations.
Yes, I needed lots of water to continue speaking.
And, fortunately, yes, the presentation went much, much better.
Now that this presentation is out of the way.... I have to rehearse for the final presentation on September 15th. My instructor's making me do it over and over again until I get it right (or he likes it anyway).
So, even moreso, I'm not looking forward to my final 2 weeks of school.
The presentation will be in front of 200+ people and I'm supposed to be enthusiastic, clear (duh), and really blow em all away. I can guarantee I'll be tired, clear (duh!) and if anyone annoys me... I'll probably be tempted to blow em away ;)
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Not.... NOW
Yeah, I knew it would happen... It was a good 5 months but last week's marathon leading to disaster pummeled me, health-wise. It feels like the same throat infection I had, coincidentally, 5 months ago.
I'm extremely tired, tried sleeping pretty much all day yesterday (although had I counted, I'm sure my kids managed to wake me up at least 100 times). My throat is killing me and I can't anything. In fact, I can barely drink because it hurts so much when I swallow.
Yeah, I oughta be fine for the presentation on Friday :(
I'm extremely tired, tried sleeping pretty much all day yesterday (although had I counted, I'm sure my kids managed to wake me up at least 100 times). My throat is killing me and I can't anything. In fact, I can barely drink because it hurts so much when I swallow.
Yeah, I oughta be fine for the presentation on Friday :(
Saturday, August 26, 2006
When Things go Wrong
Y'know.... "wrong" doesn't quite cut it. Horribly wrong is a bit better.
Friday was the big presentation day for our production. I was up with a few others, working on last minute things and, in my case, ensuring that the individuals who'd slacked off and delayed everything for weeks paid some penance. One didn't bother to show up until after 10pm and the other whined (seriously!) about having to be there after 10pm. I made him stay 'til 3 and the other slacked and watched movies more than anything and I ended up making the fixes myself... if you want it done right...
I was a little annoyed that out of the 20 people in our group, only 5 of us were working and 4 of them needed to be there. I could have been sleeping, but I knew I wouldn't sleep no knowing where our production would end up. I was up for over 24 hours and some of the others were probably awake for 36+. Except for the 2 slackers.
When presentation time hit everything fell apart. My presentation was only so-so (I was a nervous wreck and mentally, physically & emotionally exhausted) but the technical side of it completely blew and I mean that almost literally. The computer couldn't handle it and it died a horrible, horrible death.
With me standing there trying to present it.
I'm incredibly disheartened, completely disillusioned and extremely tempted to pack it in. I"m supposed to be working on my graduation portfolio and this B.S. ate into my time severely.
Can I throw away 17 months of work?
Friday was the big presentation day for our production. I was up with a few others, working on last minute things and, in my case, ensuring that the individuals who'd slacked off and delayed everything for weeks paid some penance. One didn't bother to show up until after 10pm and the other whined (seriously!) about having to be there after 10pm. I made him stay 'til 3 and the other slacked and watched movies more than anything and I ended up making the fixes myself... if you want it done right...
I was a little annoyed that out of the 20 people in our group, only 5 of us were working and 4 of them needed to be there. I could have been sleeping, but I knew I wouldn't sleep no knowing where our production would end up. I was up for over 24 hours and some of the others were probably awake for 36+. Except for the 2 slackers.
When presentation time hit everything fell apart. My presentation was only so-so (I was a nervous wreck and mentally, physically & emotionally exhausted) but the technical side of it completely blew and I mean that almost literally. The computer couldn't handle it and it died a horrible, horrible death.
With me standing there trying to present it.
I'm incredibly disheartened, completely disillusioned and extremely tempted to pack it in. I"m supposed to be working on my graduation portfolio and this B.S. ate into my time severely.
Can I throw away 17 months of work?
Monday, August 21, 2006
ENOUGH!!!!
Hmmm..... told some people the next time they hear about me & tihngs at school it'll probably be on the news...
As in, I've finally snapped and I'm taking people with me.
There's 2 people in this room at 7:45 in the morning. 34 computers. 1 faulty monitor. Guess where the other guy's sitting?
The monitor blinks and someone at some point decided the best way to handle the blinking was to smack your hand on the monitor.
2 people. 34 computers. WAH-BANG!
I'm about to snap.
As in, I've finally snapped and I'm taking people with me.
There's 2 people in this room at 7:45 in the morning. 34 computers. 1 faulty monitor. Guess where the other guy's sitting?
The monitor blinks and someone at some point decided the best way to handle the blinking was to smack your hand on the monitor.
2 people. 34 computers. WAH-BANG!
I'm about to snap.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
The Axe.... It does fall...
Ever have to turn on a friend for the sake of others? I mentioned in my previous post that we have 2 idiots on our production project for graduation who have cost us countless hours of prep work for a project due in 5 days.
5 days!
After confronting them with the information on Wednesday, one didn't even bother coming in on Friday to continue working. All his stuff is missing and when we finally heard from him almost 3 hours after he was to arrive, he said it should all be there. So, again, 3 more wasted hours.
Yeah, I considered this guy a friend, but he's cost the rest of us too much time and too much stress. To me, that's just as bad a stab in the back as anything else.
So, I've asked him to be "fired" from our team.
That means he doesn't graduate with the rest of us. It's a tough decision to make, but in making it I lost one friend and gained 16 others.
Gonna be an interesting week.
5 days!
After confronting them with the information on Wednesday, one didn't even bother coming in on Friday to continue working. All his stuff is missing and when we finally heard from him almost 3 hours after he was to arrive, he said it should all be there. So, again, 3 more wasted hours.
Yeah, I considered this guy a friend, but he's cost the rest of us too much time and too much stress. To me, that's just as bad a stab in the back as anything else.
So, I've asked him to be "fired" from our team.
That means he doesn't graduate with the rest of us. It's a tough decision to make, but in making it I lost one friend and gained 16 others.
Gonna be an interesting week.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Call Me Grumpy
Reading another blog (hey brat) about complaining and not being able to do anything about it and had to share a story from yesterday's production class and how I got a little too 'shouty' with some of the people... who'd probably just end up fired if this were the real world.
We've been having a problem with the overall 'layout' of our production. The file is only available to one person at a time, and technically, we only have one person working on it. A few weks ago, we encountered a major problem and we needed to delete the majority of the contents of the file and re-import each piece with an extra piece of coding. Time-consuming, for sure, and the rest of this poor guy's tasks have taken a backseat while we fix this problem.
For my graduation portfolio, I'm using the same program and I discovered I can have more than one instance of the program open at the same time and work on one aspect in one window and somethign completely different in the other. As long as I save them under different file names, I can then copy and paste from one to the other later on. So, now we know that more than person can work on the file at one time. My immediate subordinates were ecstatic because it meant that we can effectively increase productivity by 500% at the least. I also did some research and found a quick fix to the problem we encountered before which meant I could fix the problem in 30 minutes instead of the 6 weeks it's taken this one guy.
Another guy is supposed to be helping him with the file and he's been slacking as normal (see, I said they'd be fired). Well, I sit down to talk to these two about the fixes we've found and how to best implement them and what they can expect to happen over the next week (our production is almost on schedule and is set to wrap on August 25).
They both knew about the fixes months ago. They just didn't think anyone would care.
I.
Could.
Kill.
6 weeks we've been waiting on a major fix that should have taken 30 minutes and they knew.
17 weeks we've been waiting for a major compilation of the file and they knew. The knew they could have several people work on it and they failed to tell anyone. Geez!
And people wonder why I was yelling at them.
We've been having a problem with the overall 'layout' of our production. The file is only available to one person at a time, and technically, we only have one person working on it. A few weks ago, we encountered a major problem and we needed to delete the majority of the contents of the file and re-import each piece with an extra piece of coding. Time-consuming, for sure, and the rest of this poor guy's tasks have taken a backseat while we fix this problem.
For my graduation portfolio, I'm using the same program and I discovered I can have more than one instance of the program open at the same time and work on one aspect in one window and somethign completely different in the other. As long as I save them under different file names, I can then copy and paste from one to the other later on. So, now we know that more than person can work on the file at one time. My immediate subordinates were ecstatic because it meant that we can effectively increase productivity by 500% at the least. I also did some research and found a quick fix to the problem we encountered before which meant I could fix the problem in 30 minutes instead of the 6 weeks it's taken this one guy.
Another guy is supposed to be helping him with the file and he's been slacking as normal (see, I said they'd be fired). Well, I sit down to talk to these two about the fixes we've found and how to best implement them and what they can expect to happen over the next week (our production is almost on schedule and is set to wrap on August 25).
They both knew about the fixes months ago. They just didn't think anyone would care.
I.
Could.
Kill.
6 weeks we've been waiting on a major fix that should have taken 30 minutes and they knew.
17 weeks we've been waiting for a major compilation of the file and they knew. The knew they could have several people work on it and they failed to tell anyone. Geez!
And people wonder why I was yelling at them.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
You call that an interview?
InterviewSo, I have my exit interview tomorrow as school is quickly coming to a close. Some of my classmates, knowing my lengthy work experience, asked me just what an exit interview was all about. So, I explained to them that it was basically a 'post-mortem' of someone's career: what was good, what was bad... how improvements can be made.
n 1: the questioning of a person (or a conversation in which information is elicited); often conducted by journalists; "my interviews with teen-agers revealed a weakening of religious bonds" 2: a conference (usually with someone important); "he had a consultation with the judge"; "he requested an audience with the king" [syn: consultation, audience] v 1: conduct an interview in television, newspaper, and radio reporting [syn: question] 2: discuss formally with (somebody) for the purpose of an evaluation; "We interviewed the job candidates" 3: go for an interview in the hope of being hired; "The job candidate interviewed everywhere"
The career counsellors at my school apparently don't know the definition of 'interview.' Some classmates had their 'interview' today, which consisted of 15 minutes of "facts" from the counsellors (including the large percentage of grads from June who are now employed... 2 of them as grocery clerks) and then 30 minutes of signing contracts, release forms, and such.
So much for questions and answers.... idiots.
I know one guy who's asked them not to bother helping him find a job.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)