Snuggled

I wish I could be as warm and snuggly as Goldie looks!

Oops

It's not possible a week has gone by without a post!!

I have a bit of an excuse this week. On Tuesday morning I got a call from the higher ups asking me to fly down to Dallas that afternoon for a few days. Nothing like three hours notice before getting on a plane!

All great, though - I'm thrilled to be asked to come down here and be a part of some exciting stuff that's going on. And get some good work done, answers to questions I've been waiting on, discussing new ones, and all the things I generally miss while being up in DC and away from half the staff.

It's so great all the independence we get in the DC office, but I certainly miss all the water cooler talk because we aren't in one location.

Like setting up the big boss on Twitter yesterday morning. Oh, that was fun.

So I just wanted to say a quick "hi!" and thanks for putting up with me!

The elevators

I just received this postcard in the mail this afternoon. It's from the Villa, the retirement home my grandmom is in.

You remember, the one that we donated to in December, and then grandmom called to thank Mike?

Anyway, if you can believe this, it is the ongoing problem at the Villa that the elevators don't work. Which really isn't a big deal, because it's not like 95% of the population is in wheelchairs or anything.

So every time we go to the Villa, I'll opt to go right to the stairs instead of even trying the elevators. One is always down, so you wait for the only working one. Which takes about 45 seconds between each floor when it's moving, but is stopped for about 2 minutes on each floor because of slow-moving people going in and out.

And since you would consider me one of the 5% that doesn't need a wheelchair when I'm visiting, I take the stairs.

Still, the elevator thing bothers me, on principle.

When we (yes, WE) sent in the donation in December, we specified it to go to the elevator fund. The elevators are so bad, there is an elevator fund designation on their donation form.

Hence, the invitation that arrived today.

Can you read what it says?

Join us

Sunday, March 15, 2009

for the blessing of the Elevators

They are blessing the elevators.

And they capitalized Elevators. Because they are so precious and they are so happy to have working ones, the deserve capitalized treatment.

I don't know why, but this just cracked me up.

The negotiator

Monday night, Mike was the ultimate negotiator.



I had been mentioning that I really wanted to go to Raleigh this year to attend a charity gala with Terry and Sara in April. They go every year, and have invited us for the past few.

It seemed the timing never worked out for us. This year, though, I have a new dress to wear to the gala (see right!). And the dress is hanging in my closet just screaming to be let out again.

I e-mailed Mike on Monday after looking up flights and told him what we were looking at if we flew, or if just I went down, or we could drive.

So Monday night over dinner, Mike says, "Is this something you really want to go to?"

And I said, "yes!"

And he said, "You really want to go? Because it's not my first choice of how to spend a weekend. But if you really want to go, we can go."


(If the italics didn't do it there, he was very much acting like putting on a tux to stand next to THAT ... look at the picture one more time ... was a sacrifice.)

So I said, "Yes!" again.

He says, "Ok, we'll go."

Beat one, beat two, beat three...

"So, I was thinking about buying a share in season tickets to the Capitals next year, what do you think?"

I swear, it was a set-up.

Wine tasting

Met Jenelle this afternoon at Food Matters for a Bordeaux wine tasting.

We had been once before to a tasting at Food Matters, and said afterwards that we'd make ourselves regular - we'd do one at least once every other month. Seven months later, this is the first we've made it back!

I wanted to go in the hopes of finding one little tid-bit of information on Bordeaux's. I know nothing. I was hoping for the piece of advice David had given me a while back on Pinot's ("If you don't recognize anything on the menu, buy the one from Willamette Valley, Or.").

Food Matters is very generous with their tastings, particularly with the food served.

(This was my first plate. And not my last.)

They do suggest an item of food with each wine, but it's all served at once, so we really just dug into all of it.

We were set up to taste 4 wines:

One white Bordeaux, two reds, and a white desert. We dove right into the tasting. Here's me trying to decide if I like the wine:

Okay, that's not really what I was deciding. I was actually contemplating how many bottles to buy.

I ended up with four bottles - two of the white, one of one of the reds, and the desert. Jenelle bought one of each of the whites. Here's our booty:

Such a large booty put me in a bit of a pinch, since we had walked to the tasting, about 30 minutes from my house. I hadn't counted on having to carry bottles for the walk back!

So we hopped on the bus instead. A quick trip down Duke Street for me, but a bit longer for Jenelle! Thanks for making the long trip, Jenelle!

I require stuff when I fly

(Here’s a side note before I even start this post. I contemplated writing a second work post today, because I’m on a flight home from Dallas, and am still on the high of the day. But I promised I wouldn’t talk work, and I think it’s a little obnoxious for me to scream, “I loooove my job,” ever other post.)

(But, wait, it was a big day! I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you I was excited about it! We’re doing lots of new stuff and I was part of the two-person team that did a four-hour long presentation to the board on a lot of it. I think the presentation rocked, if I do say so myself. And the board seemed pretty into it! Even the social media stuff. Most had never heard of Twitter, but when I threw up there three … yes, THREE… awesome interactions with some of our 140 followers in the first two days of being on Twitter, they perked up! So, I’m still riding high from it all.)






But I won’t post about work. Like, at all.

Instead, I’ll tell you about how much stuff I require when I fly. Because it’s a lot. I need to pare (pair?) it down a bit. Ok, a lot.

I have my Bose noise-canceling headphones. Totally frivolous and unnecessary (redundant), but really, really nice to have! Right now I’m listening to Coldplay and can’t hear a darn thing around me outside of Viva la Vida. The headphones aren’t really heavy, but they are rather bulky.

I have my laptop. And we all know it’s less than 3 pounds. But then the power cords add a bit. And while my work bag (which you all know I heart with a true passion) is oh-so-stylish, it doesn’t exactly have the most supportive straps.

So then I also need a magazine (rarely, with that other stuff, will a book fit in my bag also), my wallet, camera (I need to start pulling that sucker out a bit more, don’t I?), my Ziploc baggie of liquids, a bottle of water (even in first class I’m not that trusting of water on an airplane), and heaven forbid any work materials that are too important to the meeting I’m going to to risk checking, and it adds up!

I wonder if I didn’t travel as much as I do, if I’d require less stuff, or more. I mean, I know exactly what I need and what I don’t need now. I know I can get away with a particular length magazine, or that carrying snacks isn’t really necessary, or that I can’t do without a wrap for my shoulders (typed bitterly as I sit here, with an airline blanket around my shoulders, trying not to think so much about that, since I forgot one this trip).

But maybe if I didn’t travel as much I wouldn’t even own the headphones, or work wouldn’t have furnished me with a laptop (or two, whatev) to carry.

I just hope that I’m efficient with it all. It’s all got a place, and I still think, with having to take the laptop and liquids out of my bag at the security checkpoint, I’m faster than most.

But my shoulders and back do start to hurt from lugging it all around. So maybe I’ll cut back on some of the stuff for the next trip.

Or maybe I’ll just get a massage.

Work?

So I'm not really sure if this counts as a post about work.

It's kind of about work. But not really about the people at work.

Well, yeah, it's about the people at work. But it's not bad things about the people at work.

For example, it's not like I'm writing that I'm really mad because some new woman on our floor keeps peeing on the seat and not wiping it off. In an office building. (And for the record, I am really mad about that, because it's true. But it's not a colleague, so, again, not really about work.)

But, really, this is all about work.

I had planned to write about our new half-bath in the downstairs room. Also about watching the Superbowl over at David and Lauren's. And I need to fill you in on training for the American Odyssey Relay Race.

But as I sit down to update this blog, there's really something else on my mind, and it's work.

I kind of alluded to it last week. We're working on a social media project at work. It's a huge project, because, really, there's no end to social media. You have a Facebook profile, then a group, then friends, then networks... then you jump over to another social network and the process starts over.

We've been talking about doing this for what feels like ages. And talking and talking and planning and coming up with processes, and to-do's and ...

And now we're up. Today. February 3rd. It's, like, we're out there.

People are responding, which is good. Great, even. Fantastic! 61 followers on Twitter in 4 hours. I don't know for sure, but I think that's pretty good!

But there's that possibility that people might say something bad. Or comment in a negative way. We say we're prepared for that, with a plan of action, and a hierarchy of what comments can be dealt with by staff and which ones need to be forwarded up the chain of command.

Still. Someone's gonna say something bad. And that's going to really bother me!

So here I am, it's 10:12 p.m. on a night where I swore I'd be in bed super-early. Mike just walked in the bedroom (where I'm posting) and I shouted out, "61! We're up to 61!"

He responded, "Are you going to bed, or are you going to watch your Twitter followers like the stock market?"

I'm really sorry that I haven't done the posts I have been planning. But, this is what's on my mind, so this is what you get!

(And by the way, if you want to help a girl out! Follow NASEtweets or maureenpetron on Twitter, and join the NASE groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. And, by the way, when the blog is public, I'll ask you to add that to your reader, too! Thanks!)

My new laptop

I'm writing this from my new laptop.

Stop. You aren't reading an old post. This is my new, new lap top.

As opposed to the one I got in July after opening a virus (I just looked to link to a post on that, but I can't find it... I think I might have skipped over that story in embarrassment!).

Also as opposed to the new hard drive I got in December after, um, dropping my new one.

The laptop was never quite the same after being dropped. The wrong operating system was loaded on to it (Vista for home) so I couldn't sync my phone, and my printer wasn't compatible with Vista and the port where you'd put a wired connection only worked some of the time.

So I got a new, new laptop this week.

My only request was that it be small. Small, small, small.

The last one was small. It was a Lenovo x61s. It was small (12 inch display) and really light (about 3 pounds), and just so cute.

The new, new one is a Lenovo x200.

I have to admit, when I first saw it, I was a little disappointed. Sulky, even. It looked bigger (the screen is still 12 inches, but it's wide-screen, so it's really about an inch bigger). It's also an inch bigger because there's all this special durability features. It has: "a carbon-fiber/ glass-fiber top cover (similar to the bodies of the latest jet airplanes and Formula 1 race cars) for added strength... And on the X200 and X200s, a magnesium-alloy top and bottom cover help to protect your system against flexing, impact and accidental drops."

As the IT guy was saying this in front of EVERYBODY, you can imagine how red my face was getting.

He got me a race car, in a laptop.

Humiliating.

Let's not also forget (from the Web site):
• Spill-resistant keyboards, each sealed and contained within a tray with special drain holes to channel spills to the bottom of the system to lessen opportunity for damage.
• Reliable, sturdy metal hinge construction designed for daily use.
• Strong Magnesium-alloy top and bottom covers.

Double-humiliating.

And it's an inch longer.

But, it's also about a third of a pound ... lighter.

And it's way more durable. And it has XP. And, well, it works.

So I really, really hope my laptop hasn't been able to see my scrunched nose that I've had for the past three days, because, really, I think it's better. Way better.

And, let's be frank. Even if it were worse, there's not much I can complain about, Miss 'third computer in 8 months.'

Here's to hoping nothing goes wrong with this one!

Training

This week's lack of blogging is due totally to training.

The most boring training ever.

The kind of training that takes you out of the office for four full days.

The kind of training that you leave and think, "did I really learn anything today?"

We're getting a new database system at work, and this week we've been training on how to use it.

Only not really on how to use it. Because we aren't learning with our database information or running realistic tests to manipulate the data.

Instead, we are working with fake data on a company and following a manual that's a gazillion pages long and says things like:
1. Select the Customer tab on the order you saved in Exercise 9.
2. Clik the Taken By link to open the Employees record that is linked to your user account.
3. Write the ID of the Employees record here: ____.

Followed by a screen shot.

Four days of this, people.

Taught by a former 5th grade teacher.

That's not a joke. He really is a former 5th grade teacher. We're his first class that he's teaching on the database system, so I think he's not done learning it himself. And he treats us like 5th graders.

"Am I going to have to separate you two in the back?"

"If you're all done the exercise, why do I still here clicking on your mouses?"

Et. Cetera.

So now you understand that I ssssoooooooooo wish I were able to post more this week!

Off to our last day of training!

How many blogs is too many blogs?

I haven't been posting as much as I would like up here, and you're probably tired of hearing me apologize for it!


I have been online. And I have been on blogs and Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn and goodness, what else is out there? So while I haven't been on this blog, I have been on other blogs.


Doesn't really mean much to you though, huh?

I’m heading up a social media initiative at work, setting up groups for my association on Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter accounts and a new blog.

I’ve got tons of help, and my colleagues are excited about it all, too. But it’s taking a lot of time to get them started, updating profiles and inviting people to join and welcoming people who join, etc., etc., etc.

Not that I’m complaining. It’s actually really fun. (Says the dork who on both Friday and Saturday nights is sitting on her couch with a glass of red wine, Gray’s Anatomy on the DVR, and laptop open. Okay, I am a dork, because nothing about that sentence sounds bad to me!)

So that’s what I’ve been up to. There seem to be so many ways to connect with people, but I still feel like I’m missing out on a lot with all of you! Like I’ve been busy with one thing or another, but still don’t have the time I want to spend on any of it! And I know I’m not alone in that feeling. I am positive I’m not alone in feeling like the time is going too quickly and like one day runs into the other and you haven’t made that phone call or returned that e-mail or made that visit you meant to.

For Pete’s sake, I still have a Christmas present sitting in my living room, waiting to be given to someone who lives 2 miles from me!!

So, indulge me. Just a little bit longer...