Still not hungry

In the past 36 hours, I have eaten:
* 3 marshmallow peeps (chocolate reindeer)
* 1 southern chicken sandwich from McDonald’s
* 4 holiday cookies

And that’s it. Work has been so hectic that I’ve barely had time to pee, much less eat…and then I had to run to class last night (hence managing to grab a sandwich from McD’s, which did make me a little late to class), which meant that by the time I got home, it was really too late to eat. This morning, I skipped breakfast because of a presentation that needed polishing ASAP…and spent the whole damn day working on that same presentation at the expense of everything else that needed to get done.

Oh, by the way, I still have work to do. I’m just taking a break while some things I need are being assembled. And I’ve ordered a pizza.

In other news, for those who don’t watch the twitter feed, my dear husband did it again. I guess we’re going to the Dominican Republic in Feb. Here’s where we’re staying: http://foxyurl.com/N3J

Taipei Trip

So, I’ll be leaving town this Friday evening to go to Taipei again. I’m looking forward to it. On the plus side, the timing is good in that I’m not in school yet (still on summer break that week). Also, the food is just so darn good over there. I could easily live off of that food, and, by and large, it’s better for me, too. On the minus side, I’m missing spending a week with my adorable nephew (AN1)…and I’m really heartbroken about that, more than I expected to be, but DH and I are thinking that I will go with them to deliver AN1 back home, thus giving me at least the fun of a long road trip with him. Also, if I can manage to not be too jet lagged, we can have some fun the day before he leaves.

That having been said, I already know that I will have 1-2 days of tourist time in Taipei. My flight arrives at 5am Taipei time on Sunday, and I need to make sure I stay awake that day to combat jet lag. So, for that day, I will definitely be doing some tourist things. I’m thinking about making a reservation for the hot springs in Beitou. I could almost go straight there from the airport and save my company some TWDs in the process (as even the most luxurious room in Beitou is 1000TWD less than my hotel in Taipei). But, I don’t know. I’ve heard mixed reviews of the hot springs, and, particularly during the summer, the hot water might not be as appealing. So, unless I just get a burr up my butt to take the MRT out there, I’ll probably stay near the hotel. The Hyatt hotel in Taipei is awesome, and I can spend that day doing nearby activities, like shopping and museums, or enjoying the hotel amenities (indoor pool, really nice gym overlooking the city).

I also don’t have any meetings scheduled on Monday, so that will probably end up being a light work day, leaving me time in the evening for activities or shopping.

Speaking of shopping, were there any souvenirs that anyone reading this blog wanted from Taipei that they didn’t get last time? Also, is there anyone who wants to be on my postcard list for this trip that isn’t normally on my list?

Potential Silence

I just wanted to generally give a heads’ up that we may go into a period of silence (or very rare posting) on the blog over the next few months. Twitter will probably get updated more often, just because I can update it from more places…and the micro-blogging lends itself to quick moments of news. Also, for anyone who also follows me under my RL name on Facebook, I am barely on there anymore. You’re better off here. There’s too many people on Facebook that I can’t share things with…namely folks from work.

Anyways, I’m working on a work project with huge visibility (I presented directly to our CEO today), and it is a ton of work. I’m also back to doing more sporadic daytrip-style travel. The project I’m on is cool, and I enjoy working on it, but it keeps me busy. I’m working beyond 50 hour weeks these days.

On top of that, the class that I’m in for school this term is very demanding. We have a large amount of reading every week, plus a paper and presentation due every week. Point being, I’m going to be swamped for the next 10 weeks (school term) at least. It’s very likely that I’ll be swamped until fall with work, too. So, if you are not seeing frequent updates here, I’m just bogged down. Check Twitter for the latest in mini-posting, and I’ll post longer things here as I’m able.

In other news, I got an A in my last class. The perfect 4.0 GPA continues! And, our sign arrived for the Pooh room…click for the picture!

Wow, I’m old…and unaccomplished :(

I just picked out my service award gift for 10 years of being with my company. I decided on a dress watch (runners up were necklaces…there were several non-jewelry items on the list, too, but nothing I really wanted).

Still…I’m old. And I feel like only doubling my salary in ten years of work is not so great of an accomplishment. My life plan had me much farther along by now, and in all fairness, my progression has gotten screwed by 3 different things that were all out of my control (one manager leaving during a promotion cycle, the new manager being one I don’t mesh with and couldn’t get to budge, and then a re-org before I could really get going at my next job), which has left me in the same grade level for 4 years. Things as they are, though, I suppose I should be happy I haven’t managed to zero out my salary.

Time Travel

As many of you have noticed, the blog has gone back in time to catch up on posts from our (very awesome, wanna go back NOW) Disney trip. As such, I skipped over quite a few events that would normally warrant a blog post. I don’t want to spend another month re-capping, so below is a one paragraph, catch-all summary of the things that were, January 2009. As is fitting for anything dealing with time travel, I shall start with Lost…

Lost is back on! Desmond’s baby named Charlie, the others speak Latin, woohoo! B* made me a cake with a Dharma logo. It was delicious…disappeared very quickly, did Ben turn the wheel, shift cake through time? Obama officially president, yay! Didn’t care about inauguration until the day it was on, then was sad I couldn’t watch live and had to work instead. Re-org’d at work into new group but otherwise similar. Got one estimate for the pipe burst repairs from the guy(s) who did our basement, liked their work, but the painting estimate alone was higher than was to paint whole basement. Something smells funny in Denmark, yo. Business name is of the form, [name] the [job]er…which led to Joe-the-plumber, bob-the-builder joking between DH and I. DH has been working odd hours at his second job. Very stressful. Ran Survivor at Mensa AGOG. Had to scramble to get to the minimum ten to play, but once we got there, it was AWESOME. Everyone had bonzer good time. Yay. Knee has been hurting alot lately. Also, period has been irregular. (Not related.) WTF is up with me? Wish knee would stop hurting. But yet, I will be going skiing on Saturday, yay! And knee can just suck on that, thank you very much. Pancake continues to be adorable kitteh. Races me up the stairs. I almost won last night, but only because he let me have a 5 step head start. Thought L4D was an evil time suck, but then Mr. Moo introduced me to Braid, which now is on my bedroom xbox (not mytsukata gamertag). Damn you, Mr. Moo! Got special L4D achievement last night for blowing the witch’s head off, Cr0wnd! Sweet. So cold outside. But weather Saturday promises to be ski-awesome. Found giant and strange fruit at the store, called Pomelo, is huge and we could kill a small child with it, but we won’t. Instead, will eat. Also got some honey tangerines. Enjoying finding and trying out new fruits. Finished second term of class, am 12.5% done with MBA. Group project ended much better than it started. Next term, taking two classes: Effective Leadership *coughbullshitcough* and Negotiations & Conflict Management (win win win). Hoping negotiations will make me awesome at negotiation such that I can help Mensa with hotel negotiation stuff. Will speak quietly so they have to lean in, then will change meeting location suddenly without notice…then will threaten to kill their daughter. Oh and how did Frogurt’s shirt fit Sawyer? Nonsense.

First Lostie to catch the embedded (very subtle) clue in the style of Lost gets something nifty, though I’m not sure what. Adoration? That’s nifty, right?

Pet Peeve: The “Did you see the e-mail?” e-mail

I see no point to the “Did you see my/her/his e-mail?” e-mail, nor its close cousin, the “Please respond to my/his/her e-mail,” e-mail. It is particularly vexing when received less than 24 hours after the original mail, and it’s downright annoying when received less than 8 hours after the original mail.

If I *did* see the e-mail, presumably, I’m working on responding to it. Perhaps I’m trying to gather information. Perhaps I’m waiting to confirm a piece of data. Perhaps I just want to let my thoughts settle to make sure that you get a good response. Either way, the e-mail is in progress. Sending another e-mail just means that either I have to ignore the second e-mail or spend time replying to it that could have been spent on the original task.

If I didn’t see the e-mail, there’s no guarantee that I’ll see this one. Thus, you’re better off just picking up the phone and giving me a call. This saves us both an e-mail.

The only reason I can see for this kind of e-mail is if the deadline for a needed response has been missed or has changed, or if the original e-mail wasn’t clear about who should respond (i.e., was sent to a large list, and the lead is now directing who should respond). (In the former case, I think a phone call may be warranted, just in case the original e-mail was missed or not received.)

Productive!

Stuff done today:

• Lots of work, including making peace with a guy who’d been bugging me…worked straight through lunch even and ended up eating “lunch” at 4pm
• DMV: Renewed driver’s license, renewed plates, finally changed name on title of car (2+ years post-marriage) and filed the release of lien paperwork from (blush) 3+ years ago
• Got halfway through Dewey while at the DMV (BTW, Amazon owes me commission. I’ve turned into quite the Kindle promoter while out and about!)
• Had dinner with B* at Panera and laughed often and heartily. Bought 30 cookies for tomorrow at work, as per the usual tradition. (Eat a cookie and make me younger!)
• Updated the ThirtyCon page with addresses and detailed info. Also created an AWESOME google map of ThirtyCon events with amusing (to me) icons for each item.
• While eating with B*, got briefly interrupted by a HOT law-knowing guy who chatted with me for a bit. Wish I wasn’t such a dork and could have flirted properly.
• Cajoled B* into going to Target with me (in the pouring rain). Got thoroughly wet trying to run into Target while wearing clogs. More laughing. Oh, and the purpose of going to Target was, in part, to buy some towels. Hee.
• Came home, unpacked car, and proceeded to the Kitten room. The Kitten room, for those who haven’t had the tour, is our smallest guest bedroom, so named because the previous owners’ daughter had that room and had it painted purple and adorned with a kitten border. The Kitten room also serves as my backup closet. I keep all my dresses in there (my closet in the bedroom doesn’t have anywhere to hang dresses), as well as seasonal gear (e.g., ski clothes) and out-of-season clothes.
• Cleaned the hell out of that room! Yeah! Bee-yotch! You just got served! Packed up stuff in boxes, hung up dresses, labelled crates, sorted through and organized the stuffed animals, moved the bed/cot combo to where it made sense, and started laundry for the sheets and linens. Also created 2 bags of donations and 2 giant boxes of trash.
• Danced to my iPod! Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie started it.

Woohoo!

Going back to work blues

I’m really not looking forward to going back to work “normally.” I’ve been working from home this past week, and my home office in our basement is *way* better than my work office. Because my old (from 1999) 19″ CRT died, I now have a spiffy 22″ widescreen LCD for my home office. I do like my work keyboard and mouse better than my (older) ones at home, but otherwise, home is better. I have a speakerphone on my desk, absolute privacy, and a quick walk to/from the bathroom and fridge. I don’t have to pay a ridiculous amount for soda, and I also have lots of other options (e.g., water, tea, grape juice). I have a warm and playful Pancake to keep me company, who lays next to me and purrs. I don’t have to commute or worry about traffic or gas or bringing lunch…it’s all right here.

Most of all, when I need a break or lunch, I just head upstairs, click on the Tivo or start up a show on my personal computer, and relax. I wear whatever I want, which, for this week, is loose PJ pants or dresses. I sleep in a bit, shower when I have a break (or take a bath so I can multitask), and I eat when I’m ready rather than when the parking lot madness allows.

I do like getting to see and interact with people at the office, but it’s so cozy here! Honestly, I’d use this week as a jumping point to ask my boss about becoming a remote worker part-time, but he fought so hard to get me my cube (and it’s a nice cube, much better than my old one) that I’d feel shabby giving it up so soon.

Unappreciated Awesome

I’m working on a presentation for work. It’s coming out so well, and making my product look so good, that it’s killing me that no one is around right now to appreciate my pure awesome. I wish I could share, but I can’t.

It’s so pretty!!

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