Ok, I realize it's not officially winter until the 21st but it's cold now. I left work a bit on the late side last night and I shivered all the way home. Between the drop in temperatures and this winter head cold it sure feels like winter. I pulled out my warmest sweater this morning - hand knit from luxurious yarn from Rowan. I haven't posted about it before. Now would be the perfect time but I can't get a decent picture - another time.
It is winter. If you want more evidence, check out my friend's blog in Washington - they're skiing already. Or check out Scotland, my colleagues are snowed in. Right before a conference call earlier today they went out and measured and it's 6 inches already!
With all this talk of snow, I want some here too! Since I can't control the weather I've decided to revamp the website for the holidays. It took like 5 minutes - crazy how they've streamlined things.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Puzzler
Three posts in one day!
I just submitted the answer to this weeks Car Talk puzzler. Fingers crossed. How cool will it to hear my name on the radio if I get drawn for the prize?! The question was about prisoners identifying if they have a white or black hat on. Read more here (but don't increase my odds!)
Also, I just snagged some pics from Halloween and posted them on the earlier post. Here's a link in case you're interested.
I just submitted the answer to this weeks Car Talk puzzler. Fingers crossed. How cool will it to hear my name on the radio if I get drawn for the prize?! The question was about prisoners identifying if they have a white or black hat on. Read more here (but don't increase my odds!)
Also, I just snagged some pics from Halloween and posted them on the earlier post. Here's a link in case you're interested.
The Way We Read
I posted this before, but search as I may, I couldn't find it. So am reposting under a title that will hopefully help me find in the future. It's crazy that you can read this, but you can. Check it out:
"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
Founding Brothers
I just finished a good read I have to post about. It’s Joseph Ellis’s the Founding Brothers. I had picked up a used copy earlier this year at the going out business sale of Rodney’s. I never know with history books. I like history but I read the books during my commute mostly. So it has to read well. Can’t be too dry. It makes them hit or miss. The Scottish history book I picked up in the same trip is case in point. I can’t follow it – it jumps all over the place and seems to assume you know more than you really do. In contrast, the 1776 book by David McCullough was a good read – nice and easy and kept you enthralled enough to survive a commute ride home. That being said, I felt like I learned a very narrow part of history and specific point of view.
I would say the Founding Brothers was even better than the 1776 book. Mainly because I feel like I’m walking away with an even better sense of the period at that time. I picked the book up because it won the Pulitzer Prize awhile back – always a good sign. I was expecting it to be drier since it’s a culmination of this historian’s reading of the era for thirty years. He starts out with the infamous duel of Hamilton and Burr. I have to admit when I first started reading this chapter all I could think of was that wonderful Got Milk commercial from the 90s. It starred a history fanatic on the phone with a call-in radio show that only had to answer the question of who shot Alexander Hamilton to win $10,000. He says “aawan brr, aawan brr!” but they can’t understand him because he had just taken a bite of a peanut butter sandwich. A classic – check it out here.
Anyways, back to the book – it was great, through the chapters and the major milestones of the 1790s you get a glimpse into the real life of the chaos that was our early nation. We have the Jeffersonian utopian view these days that it was all simple and by rejecting the English everything else fell into place. But instead it reminds me of a class I took in Ohio – it was about teaching kids how to read (mandatory for all wannabe teachers – even if you were teaching middle school math). I was amazed that I (or anyone else) ever learned how to read once I got into the middle of the course. Same with our country, it’s amazing the thing didn’t fall apart that first decade. Interestingly enough, I’ve been reading a history book on the French revolution (in particular the period between the overthrow of Louis XVI and his beheading – a bit slower going as my French is pretty rusty – just kidding, it just doesn’t read as well) and there are interesting overlaps especially concerning Jefferson and Adams differing point of views of the success and similarity of that revolution with our own.
This doesn’t really represent the book but I have to share because it’s so intriguing, “The term American, like the term democrat, began as an epithet, the former referring to an inferior, provincial creature, the later to one who panders to the crude and mindless whims of the masses.” Isn’t that interesting? The book does address the biggest issue our founding fathers faced – the issue of slavery. It seems so black and white these days, but Ellis does a good job of letting us see the issue from the perspective of the day. There was no simple solution. Mainly because the eventual solution was not on the table, it wasn’t even considered. It struck me that “no model of a genuinely biracial society existed anywhere in the world at that time, nor had any existed in recorded history.” I wonder if that is really true. It’s amazing the solution the founding fathers chose was to not address the issue at all – there is a strict code of silence around the topic. For if the topic was truly argued, it was generally agreed that the consequences would be the nation in its infancy would not survive.
Now I’m starting to rehash the book. I leave it to Mr. Ellis to share the wonderful insights as he does a much better job. I highly recommend the book and it’s one that will remain on my bookshelf as I weed out other books and try to downsize my collection. I’ve started to think I might have too many books. I greatly agree with Cicero about rooms and books and souls (even though I don’t believe in souls per se) but I’m starting to run out of room in my little ol’ place and not all the books were awesome like this one. It’s just like one’s closet – you weed out the clothes you no longer will wear, same with the books.
I would say the Founding Brothers was even better than the 1776 book. Mainly because I feel like I’m walking away with an even better sense of the period at that time. I picked the book up because it won the Pulitzer Prize awhile back – always a good sign. I was expecting it to be drier since it’s a culmination of this historian’s reading of the era for thirty years. He starts out with the infamous duel of Hamilton and Burr. I have to admit when I first started reading this chapter all I could think of was that wonderful Got Milk commercial from the 90s. It starred a history fanatic on the phone with a call-in radio show that only had to answer the question of who shot Alexander Hamilton to win $10,000. He says “aawan brr, aawan brr!” but they can’t understand him because he had just taken a bite of a peanut butter sandwich. A classic – check it out here.
Anyways, back to the book – it was great, through the chapters and the major milestones of the 1790s you get a glimpse into the real life of the chaos that was our early nation. We have the Jeffersonian utopian view these days that it was all simple and by rejecting the English everything else fell into place. But instead it reminds me of a class I took in Ohio – it was about teaching kids how to read (mandatory for all wannabe teachers – even if you were teaching middle school math). I was amazed that I (or anyone else) ever learned how to read once I got into the middle of the course. Same with our country, it’s amazing the thing didn’t fall apart that first decade. Interestingly enough, I’ve been reading a history book on the French revolution (in particular the period between the overthrow of Louis XVI and his beheading – a bit slower going as my French is pretty rusty – just kidding, it just doesn’t read as well) and there are interesting overlaps especially concerning Jefferson and Adams differing point of views of the success and similarity of that revolution with our own.
This doesn’t really represent the book but I have to share because it’s so intriguing, “The term American, like the term democrat, began as an epithet, the former referring to an inferior, provincial creature, the later to one who panders to the crude and mindless whims of the masses.” Isn’t that interesting? The book does address the biggest issue our founding fathers faced – the issue of slavery. It seems so black and white these days, but Ellis does a good job of letting us see the issue from the perspective of the day. There was no simple solution. Mainly because the eventual solution was not on the table, it wasn’t even considered. It struck me that “no model of a genuinely biracial society existed anywhere in the world at that time, nor had any existed in recorded history.” I wonder if that is really true. It’s amazing the solution the founding fathers chose was to not address the issue at all – there is a strict code of silence around the topic. For if the topic was truly argued, it was generally agreed that the consequences would be the nation in its infancy would not survive.
Now I’m starting to rehash the book. I leave it to Mr. Ellis to share the wonderful insights as he does a much better job. I highly recommend the book and it’s one that will remain on my bookshelf as I weed out other books and try to downsize my collection. I’ve started to think I might have too many books. I greatly agree with Cicero about rooms and books and souls (even though I don’t believe in souls per se) but I’m starting to run out of room in my little ol’ place and not all the books were awesome like this one. It’s just like one’s closet – you weed out the clothes you no longer will wear, same with the books.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Eerie
I forgot my phone cable today so can’t write about the latest subway siting. I finally realized that it is 'sighting' and I’ve been labeling all my posts like an illiterate mongoose. I’m slow to change – we’ll just phase into the proper spelling. Anyways, low and behold looking through the computer, I found this picture I took last month and never got around to posting about.
I was on my way home after a late night at work. These three individuals got on a stop later and were conversing. More accurately the two on either end were caring on the majority of the conversation. What struck me was the guy in the middle. I can’t remember his voice too much, but his mannerisms were eerily similar to my brothers. How he held himself – a slightly taller than average guy so the little stoop to better hear his neighbors. The way he held his jaw. He even had the same peripheral language – the yeahs and modes of agreeing and keeping the conversation going. I remember how eerie it was to see something so similar from a stranger.
Well, as you can see I was mesmerized and wanted to document this strange occurrence. I carefully studied the tableau in front of me behind the thin guise of reading my book. I was so enthralled I had to take a picture and tried to pretend I was checking stuff and snapped a picture. I wasn’t looking at them, trying to be all covert and it wasn’t until later when I took a look at the picture that I realized I’m not as sly as I’d like to think. Looking at the picture a month later I realize I was so stunned of the similarities that I didn’t realize that the flat picture wouldn’t capture it all. I wish I had taken video. Although if this is the result of a second trying to record the moment, imagine what the 10 second video would have captured.
In completely unrelated news, I was just trying to hunt down a wish list on amazon I used to park items I was interested in. My current wish list is grossly empty as if it’s been cleared. I have to say there is something strangely eerie peeking at the wish lists of others with your same name. As if they are other versions of you (split personality or something). There was everything from kindles to books on starting a restaurant to an anger management book. And no, I didn’t find my list. It was full of awesome stuff I'm sure. I did make it to 250 on LinkedIn - yay! Enjoy your t-day tomorrow.
Well, as you can see I was mesmerized and wanted to document this strange occurrence. I carefully studied the tableau in front of me behind the thin guise of reading my book. I was so enthralled I had to take a picture and tried to pretend I was checking stuff and snapped a picture. I wasn’t looking at them, trying to be all covert and it wasn’t until later when I took a look at the picture that I realized I’m not as sly as I’d like to think. Looking at the picture a month later I realize I was so stunned of the similarities that I didn’t realize that the flat picture wouldn’t capture it all. I wish I had taken video. Although if this is the result of a second trying to record the moment, imagine what the 10 second video would have captured.
In completely unrelated news, I was just trying to hunt down a wish list on amazon I used to park items I was interested in. My current wish list is grossly empty as if it’s been cleared. I have to say there is something strangely eerie peeking at the wish lists of others with your same name. As if they are other versions of you (split personality or something). There was everything from kindles to books on starting a restaurant to an anger management book. And no, I didn’t find my list. It was full of awesome stuff I'm sure. I did make it to 250 on LinkedIn - yay! Enjoy your t-day tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Hulu Plus is a Big Minus
1. Commercials – there are less of them, but they still exist
2. No CBS shows – not sure why, so I no longer follow CBS shows – there’s plenty other stuff
3. Shows expire – for some reason only about 4 or 5 shows are available, so don’t wait too long
I wasn’t sure what I exactly thought Hulu Plus was – they kept that part a bit ambiguous when they were pushing it. From the name, here was what I was expecting:
1. No commercials – you are paying a monthly fee now so you’d figure you’d get to lose those pesky interruptions.
2. Shows don’t expire – again, you are paying a monthly fee now so you should get the season from the start
3. More shows – maybe CBS shows are available to the paying customers or other gems not available to the general public watching the free site.
Turns out it’s the opposite! From what I can figure out, the Hulu Plus is referring to being able to stream the Hulu website on your TV directly. But that’s it. You now get to pay to watch shows interrupted by commercials. The shows still expire, no change there. And, believe it or not, not all the shows on hulu are available on hulu plus – you get fewer shows!
Friday night I was settling in for the night and decided to set up my subscription. I thought I had figured out the best system ever. For $43 I was able to have high-speed internet (wireless in the house), and could watch almost any movie I wanted to (netflix) and could still watch this seasons tv shos (hulu). This compared to my previous internet/cable combo which started off around $70 and had snuck up towards $100 and didn’t even include on demand or tivo.
I set up my subscription to Hulu Plus and started picking out my line-up. I started picking out tv shows directly on the tv but realized it was faster on the laptop in my lap so switched over. I threw in The Office and Community. I picked out some light watching like Royal Pains, Burn Notice, House and Bones – good for ironing. I even got to snag Masterpiece Mystery and the new Sherlock Holmes. Went on and found Scientific America and Nova and Alfred Hitchcock presents. I was on a roll – this was going to be such an awesome line-up. I switch my attention to the tv to get the first show rolling. But wait, it doesn’t seem to be syncing. Many of my new subscriptions to the various shows aren’t showing up on the TV list. Very strange since I was thoroughly spooked when I set up the initial Hulu subscription – it’s a combo of doing it on the Roku/TV and on the computer. I was just finishing with my contact info on my laptop and I look up while the computer screen is processing the info and notice that the TV just activated – within split seconds! Eerie fast and they’re talking to each other without me.
That’s when I start to realize that Hulu Plus isn’t really all it cracks up to be. Some digging later and I find it’s seriously limited. And most of the shows I want to watch aren’t available for my TV. How can that be? It makes no sense. So I’ll be canceling my free one- week subscription and watching commercial free shows on Netflix. They may not be this season but there is so much to watch on there it should last me however long it takes for the Hulu people to figure out how to fix this mess. In the meantime they should really rename their product – talk about misrepresentation. It should be Hulu Streaming or Hulu TV. It definitely isn’t a Plus.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Subway Sighting!
This time it was something I overheard in passing while walking along the subway platform. "So is she gay or bi," said one lady to her neighbor.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tires
I bit the bullet and brought the car in. For the first repair. My rear tires and brakes were needing replacement especially if I wanted to pass inspection next month. Looking at the busy schedule coming up figured now or never. It took me awhile to adjust to the idea of paying out more money for the car and last night I was starting to prepare myself for the cost. It’s a newer car after all, but it turns out that when the dealer I bought the car from last year said they’d put on new tires, they didn’t really put on new tires. I’m having to replace the set as three were worn to almost their end. So I have some gripes about the dealer and the misrepresentation. I’ll have to hunt up the documents I have from the sale and see if there’s anything to be done there.
On the upside, I think I have a new mechanic I like. They came recommended through word of mouth and the main guy, Ed has a good interface with the customers. Apparently they do a lot of the work on the towns vehicles and are reasonably priced. I liked Ed. I can see a long term relationship blooming here. I was able to drop the car off this morning and then walk two blocks and catch a bus into work, only an extra 5 minutes to the commute, if that. Pretty convenient.
On the downside, Ed called later this morning and the total is about two times what I had in my head. Good thing my holiday shopping is mostly done (spread out over the year) and we’re keeping it low-key this year. Bummer though as it doesn’t seem like my savings is growing as fast as I’d like it too even though I’ve gotten super aggressive about it. This won’t help. I really need to sit down this weekend and start researching about investing. I feel like I’m missing out on making my money grow, even my retirement funds. Any suggestions?
In other news, I’m at 242 on LinkedIn – so close to the half-way point of 250! Only 8 more people to go. I think I may be a little obsessed, but at least my professional development benefits from this obsession. And it isn't a fiscal drain. I've been diligently trying to stave off purchasing super discounted yarn from Yarn Zone - $20 bags! The red lilac keeps calling to me... must resist.
On the upside, I think I have a new mechanic I like. They came recommended through word of mouth and the main guy, Ed has a good interface with the customers. Apparently they do a lot of the work on the towns vehicles and are reasonably priced. I liked Ed. I can see a long term relationship blooming here. I was able to drop the car off this morning and then walk two blocks and catch a bus into work, only an extra 5 minutes to the commute, if that. Pretty convenient.
On the downside, Ed called later this morning and the total is about two times what I had in my head. Good thing my holiday shopping is mostly done (spread out over the year) and we’re keeping it low-key this year. Bummer though as it doesn’t seem like my savings is growing as fast as I’d like it too even though I’ve gotten super aggressive about it. This won’t help. I really need to sit down this weekend and start researching about investing. I feel like I’m missing out on making my money grow, even my retirement funds. Any suggestions?
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Starsky
A proper knitting post. I really need to photograph a bunch of my projects. My pet peeve is photos people take of stuff they knit but they’re not wearing it. I want to see how it fits and flows. Although I guess a photo of sweater on the floor is better than no photo at all which is where I am now since self-shot photos are not my forte. I have a pile of knitted items that need to be documented. Maybe next month with all the house guests descending upon me.
The finished* sweater is the Starsky pattern that is free from Knitty. A lot of starts and stops on this one. I used the Debbie Bliss Silk Alpaca yarn from an earlier scratched sweater. Here’s a blog post and you can see I struggled. After awhile I realized it might not be the pattern but the yarn. It’s a drapey yarn that needs more than a straight stockinet stitch.
After a short hunt I decided on the Starsky and it was a perfect fit… except one thing. Yarn quantity. This is where it gets a bit fuzzy due to the timeline. I bought the yarn in June 2007. I’m guessing I didn’t start the Starsky pattern until a year later. I had Cece pick up a few more balls for me when she was at webs awhile back (like maybe two years ago). She searched and searched to get the same dye lot for the balls but ended up with Aran instead of DK I think. So the project sat for a long while until I stumbled upon the same yarn at the local yarn store in Chatham NY one spring while visiting Emilia. A year later on the next visit, I brought the project and bought three balls figuring I only needed two with the help of the ladies in the store. Frustrating considering the yarn was on sale for maybe $5/ball at Webs and was over $9/ball at the yarn store. If only. Started back up on the project only to discover that two balls was not enough and even with the third ball I was short. It went back into the black hole of unfinished projects that have me stumped. And then this fall I pulled it out determined to finish it one way or another. In the end I ended up holding two strands of the dk together and knit the belt first and sew up all the seams. Then I just kept knitting the collar until I ran out of yarn. I wanted a nice full comfy collar. And it worked out wonderful. That part did at least.
Which brings me to the * part. Aren’t all sweaters quasi-finished when first worn? The issue is the sweater isn’t quite done. I’ve woven in all the ends and it’s all knit. Only part missing is the belt loops which shouldn’t take much time and I have a little bit of yarn from the scraps that I should be able to coble. I need to press the thing as the ribbing on the front needs to be stretched out a bit. The reason I didn’t go all the way to the end? The #&*$ armpits. This is yet another sweater where it is tight in the armpits. Don’t know why. My arms are not that big. And I don’t think I’m seaming incorrectly.
Monday I wore the sweater to work to test it out to see if maybe wearing it would stretch the armpits out. I’m undecided. I can’t figure out if 1) I just got used to having a rubber band around my arm pits, 2) I learned not to move so the circulation would be cut off, or 3) the sweater actually did grow some from wearing.
Is there an easy fix to making the armpits bigger? I really don’t think there is. And I’ve looked. I don’t know what to do, short of ripping out half the seams, ripping out the entire collar, tinking back the top of the sleeves and reknitting the tops to be wider and then tinking back the core and starting the arm holes lower. And all this with no extra yarn. Is this a sweater I will wear even though it doesn’t quite fit right? Or should I go back and do it right? I don’t know. So until I can get a decent picture, I’m keeping this one in the closet and seeing how often I wear it (with nothing more than a tank underneath as that’s all there is room for). These pictures were the best I could do. Better ones later hopefully.
The finished* sweater is the Starsky pattern that is free from Knitty. A lot of starts and stops on this one. I used the Debbie Bliss Silk Alpaca yarn from an earlier scratched sweater. Here’s a blog post and you can see I struggled. After awhile I realized it might not be the pattern but the yarn. It’s a drapey yarn that needs more than a straight stockinet stitch.
After a short hunt I decided on the Starsky and it was a perfect fit… except one thing. Yarn quantity. This is where it gets a bit fuzzy due to the timeline. I bought the yarn in June 2007. I’m guessing I didn’t start the Starsky pattern until a year later. I had Cece pick up a few more balls for me when she was at webs awhile back (like maybe two years ago). She searched and searched to get the same dye lot for the balls but ended up with Aran instead of DK I think. So the project sat for a long while until I stumbled upon the same yarn at the local yarn store in Chatham NY one spring while visiting Emilia. A year later on the next visit, I brought the project and bought three balls figuring I only needed two with the help of the ladies in the store. Frustrating considering the yarn was on sale for maybe $5/ball at Webs and was over $9/ball at the yarn store. If only. Started back up on the project only to discover that two balls was not enough and even with the third ball I was short. It went back into the black hole of unfinished projects that have me stumped. And then this fall I pulled it out determined to finish it one way or another. In the end I ended up holding two strands of the dk together and knit the belt first and sew up all the seams. Then I just kept knitting the collar until I ran out of yarn. I wanted a nice full comfy collar. And it worked out wonderful. That part did at least.
Which brings me to the * part. Aren’t all sweaters quasi-finished when first worn? The issue is the sweater isn’t quite done. I’ve woven in all the ends and it’s all knit. Only part missing is the belt loops which shouldn’t take much time and I have a little bit of yarn from the scraps that I should be able to coble. I need to press the thing as the ribbing on the front needs to be stretched out a bit. The reason I didn’t go all the way to the end? The #&*$ armpits. This is yet another sweater where it is tight in the armpits. Don’t know why. My arms are not that big. And I don’t think I’m seaming incorrectly.
Monday I wore the sweater to work to test it out to see if maybe wearing it would stretch the armpits out. I’m undecided. I can’t figure out if 1) I just got used to having a rubber band around my arm pits, 2) I learned not to move so the circulation would be cut off, or 3) the sweater actually did grow some from wearing.
Is there an easy fix to making the armpits bigger? I really don’t think there is. And I’ve looked. I don’t know what to do, short of ripping out half the seams, ripping out the entire collar, tinking back the top of the sleeves and reknitting the tops to be wider and then tinking back the core and starting the arm holes lower. And all this with no extra yarn. Is this a sweater I will wear even though it doesn’t quite fit right? Or should I go back and do it right? I don’t know. So until I can get a decent picture, I’m keeping this one in the closet and seeing how often I wear it (with nothing more than a tank underneath as that’s all there is room for). These pictures were the best I could do. Better ones later hopefully.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Subway Sighting!
Actually it's on the bus home tonight that I saw a bunch of Mormans. There was this one girl making a strong pitch to her neighbor. I find them fascinating.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Heat On
I broke down on Saturday and turned the heat on. It was cold and I was cold and I had a cold. So Saturday afternoon on it went. Then Sunday was warmer so was able to shut if back off. Almost made it to Thanksgiving.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Migraines
The spelling of migraines gives me a migraine. Too many vowels. Anyways, they’re back. I was getting a bunch of them last year. More than what was normal based on what my doctor was saying. But no remedy really. Then I started seeing a cognitive behaviorist and the quantity of headaches let alone migraines went down to almost nothing. It’s been about 9 months – and pretty much learned to pay attention to the signs of a headache coming on, stop and assess the situation and deal with whatever the root cause (usually since they were stressed related) and that pretty much stopped them in their tracks – no headaches.
A pretty good track record. But then Wednesday I started getting a headache in the late morning which turned into a migraine and forced me to bed early. I slept for 5 hours and woke up without the migraine. I cooked up some late night dinner and then slept for another 7 hours. But then yesterday at the end of a networking event in the evening I could feel the migraine coming on. So to bed. This morning I woke up and didn’t have one technically but couldn’t sense it’s presence, like it was lurking around the corner, ready to pop out. And now I feel it coming on and am going to have to cut my day short a third time in a row and crawl into bed. I almost want to say it’s the same migraine, just moving the forefront for awhile and then receding into the shadows but still present in the background. I can’t seem to shake this one.
I don’t know why they’re back and am bummed as there’s really no way to operate with them. I can barely keep my head up and sometimes I worry about actually making it home from work. I really have to focus on not focusing, especially on the bus.
Here’s my theories of causes:
- Stress levels – more things on the plate with committees, projects coming back to life, networking/business development, holiday juggling
- Weather – isn’t there something about barometric pressure differences with the season changes? We’ve just switched from warm 70 muggy weather to cold 50 dry weather in a matter of a week.
- Cold – I have been fighting off a cold for a month and have lost ground. I’ve had the sore throat, a little stuffiness in the head, but not a full blown cold – sneezing, snot style.
- Cycle – I’m just wrapping up the end of my monthly cycle. Low iron maybe?
- Food – nothing too unusual although I did buy some un-homogenized milk last weekend to try. It tastes so much richer and better. It’s what the rest of the world drinks, so don’t think it’s that. I also bought a half gallon of Odwalla’s Mango Tango. I just learned of several people acquiring mango allergies later in life – but those had to do with the mouth swelling up. Nothing else that unusual.
Fingers crossed I can have a low profile weekend. Unfortunately it looks like I’ll have to bring some work home since the migraines knocked me off schedule this week. But will try to limit the intrusion.
On the upside, I’m up to 222 on LinkedIn. Slowly but surely. Actually make that, 224 - another two just while writing this - how nice.
A pretty good track record. But then Wednesday I started getting a headache in the late morning which turned into a migraine and forced me to bed early. I slept for 5 hours and woke up without the migraine. I cooked up some late night dinner and then slept for another 7 hours. But then yesterday at the end of a networking event in the evening I could feel the migraine coming on. So to bed. This morning I woke up and didn’t have one technically but couldn’t sense it’s presence, like it was lurking around the corner, ready to pop out. And now I feel it coming on and am going to have to cut my day short a third time in a row and crawl into bed. I almost want to say it’s the same migraine, just moving the forefront for awhile and then receding into the shadows but still present in the background. I can’t seem to shake this one.
I don’t know why they’re back and am bummed as there’s really no way to operate with them. I can barely keep my head up and sometimes I worry about actually making it home from work. I really have to focus on not focusing, especially on the bus.
Here’s my theories of causes:
- Stress levels – more things on the plate with committees, projects coming back to life, networking/business development, holiday juggling
- Weather – isn’t there something about barometric pressure differences with the season changes? We’ve just switched from warm 70 muggy weather to cold 50 dry weather in a matter of a week.
- Cold – I have been fighting off a cold for a month and have lost ground. I’ve had the sore throat, a little stuffiness in the head, but not a full blown cold – sneezing, snot style.
- Cycle – I’m just wrapping up the end of my monthly cycle. Low iron maybe?
- Food – nothing too unusual although I did buy some un-homogenized milk last weekend to try. It tastes so much richer and better. It’s what the rest of the world drinks, so don’t think it’s that. I also bought a half gallon of Odwalla’s Mango Tango. I just learned of several people acquiring mango allergies later in life – but those had to do with the mouth swelling up. Nothing else that unusual.
Fingers crossed I can have a low profile weekend. Unfortunately it looks like I’ll have to bring some work home since the migraines knocked me off schedule this week. But will try to limit the intrusion.
On the upside, I’m up to 222 on LinkedIn. Slowly but surely. Actually make that, 224 - another two just while writing this - how nice.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Dream Job
I’ve been thinking lately what I’d like to be doing for the rest of my life. I’m in the generation that has more than one employer in their lifetime and often more than one career. Not always, but usually. I’d like diversity in my job - learning and trying new things. I enjoy the interaction with clients – the discussions and work that evolves from the team. Having an altruistic goal like sustainability has been a plus. I miss teaching. Although I’m not convinced I want to become a full time teacher (perhaps middle school math). I keep coming back to the ideal job for me (through the rose tinted glasses) of being a director of sustainability at one of the many local colleges in the area.
I base this purely on my experience with my town. One of the first things I did was join the town sustainability group when I moved here about five years ago. From there I took on an appointed position on our town building committee. I’ve enjoyed the work. When I first started we worked on one building. That was it. The time requirement was not that demanding and I slowly got up to speed (still am). I didn’t have an agenda. Now we are working on 5 buildings. Many meetings. Many long meetings. I didn’t get home until 10:30 the other night. I was super hungry by then. But that’s not the point.
The point is that over the past years things have marinated and I haven’t taken the head strong approach to pushing a sustainability agenda. I’ve gotten my bearings, met the people and gotten in the middle of things. I like being in the middle. As a consultant I’m on the outside. I work with people in the middle, but it’s challenging.
This summer I was requested to join the town’s energy task force by the assistant town manager (we don’t have a mayor). It’s great working with the town to figure out what we can do. I’m fully aware, having marinated, that things will not happen overnight. But have been pushing an idea: Germination. You need to plant the seed. You need to put in the ask knowing you’ll get a “no” so the seed gets planted. And you ask again later and in a different way with a different argument. And you keep working on it. Figuring out why the “no”. Is it the wrong person? Is it money? Is it change in behavior? It’s exciting.
And today I just got asked by a group to speak with them about water and figuring out how to implement some measures. I’m seen as being on the inside. It’s great. I love being in this position. Being able to push from the inside. Well, relative inside. I’m still in an outer layer but the door is cracked open. In a way, this would be a dream job. Working as the sustainability director for my town. The problem is that I also like the idea of living in my town and the compensation doesn’t quite match for that.
So we’ll see what happens. I see the potential and see it will take time – years and baby steps. I put in the long nights on the building committee because I believe everyone should do their part, as part of their civic duty. And I love that it’s paying off in so much more than I expected.
I base this purely on my experience with my town. One of the first things I did was join the town sustainability group when I moved here about five years ago. From there I took on an appointed position on our town building committee. I’ve enjoyed the work. When I first started we worked on one building. That was it. The time requirement was not that demanding and I slowly got up to speed (still am). I didn’t have an agenda. Now we are working on 5 buildings. Many meetings. Many long meetings. I didn’t get home until 10:30 the other night. I was super hungry by then. But that’s not the point.
The point is that over the past years things have marinated and I haven’t taken the head strong approach to pushing a sustainability agenda. I’ve gotten my bearings, met the people and gotten in the middle of things. I like being in the middle. As a consultant I’m on the outside. I work with people in the middle, but it’s challenging.
This summer I was requested to join the town’s energy task force by the assistant town manager (we don’t have a mayor). It’s great working with the town to figure out what we can do. I’m fully aware, having marinated, that things will not happen overnight. But have been pushing an idea: Germination. You need to plant the seed. You need to put in the ask knowing you’ll get a “no” so the seed gets planted. And you ask again later and in a different way with a different argument. And you keep working on it. Figuring out why the “no”. Is it the wrong person? Is it money? Is it change in behavior? It’s exciting.
And today I just got asked by a group to speak with them about water and figuring out how to implement some measures. I’m seen as being on the inside. It’s great. I love being in this position. Being able to push from the inside. Well, relative inside. I’m still in an outer layer but the door is cracked open. In a way, this would be a dream job. Working as the sustainability director for my town. The problem is that I also like the idea of living in my town and the compensation doesn’t quite match for that.
So we’ll see what happens. I see the potential and see it will take time – years and baby steps. I put in the long nights on the building committee because I believe everyone should do their part, as part of their civic duty. And I love that it’s paying off in so much more than I expected.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Halloween
I have to get this written before I forget. Since I’ve moved to Mass I’ve enjoyed Halloween every year except one I think, at Cece and Aarons. They live in suburbia on a horseshoe full of family homes. On the front yard amongst their decorations, they set up a fire pit and grill up some ribs invite over a few folks and plop out the tailgating chairs. We have fun settling in for an evening of reviewing the costumes around the warm fire while chowing down on ribs and cornbread, eating way too much candy and trying to avoid the smoke from the fire.
This year was a little different as, 1) it was Sunday and not a week day, and 2) their son is able to take in Halloween – he’s just shy of two years. They had opened up the festivities to everyone including a ton of kids from day care and there was a mob of families over enjoying the spread and kids running around playing. Myself included. On a sidenote, Cam and I invented a game where we’re riding around on the little cars he has (I found one I could fit in if I rode it backwards). We’d be riding around and one of us would yell “to the wall”. It was so cute when he first started doing it. We’d race to the wall and come up to it and with our hands pretend we were typing sci-fi style on it. He started repeating me with my “boo do boop, boo do boop” quasi digital impression of sound effects. Did I mention how cute it was? It was like we had our own secret language. (Picture added later - we were taking a breather and discussing something serious apparently).
I don’t know how it happened but in the shuffle, as we headed out as a group to start the trick or treating after filling up on ribs, I ended up with Cameron. It was exciting and hand in hand we started walking up to the first house. I was coaching him to say trick or treat when we get to the door. And this is the part I love, I stopped looking at Halloween the way I’ve seen it for years in my desensitized way and was transported back to the innocence of first seeing this strange tradition. It makes no sense and is frickin’ scary really if you stop and look at it.
The safety of playing in your own front yard is replaced by entering into someone else’s territory. As Cam and I were walking down the sidewalk to the front door, the older kids running around collecting their goodies and the parents chatting away at the road all melted away. It was just Cam and I and as I looked down I see him walking slowly, cautiously, not sure what’s going on, holding on tightly to the candy bucket in one hand and my hand in the other. Trying to make sense of the strange scare crow stuffed with leaves and covered in cobwebs we were approaching. His eyes are big and he mumbles “twick or tweet” quietly, repeating after me, while staring at the decorations. We get up to the porch and there’s a strange man dressed strangely with a black cape. Not so sure. But there are other kids and the man crouches down and he has a huge bowl of candy – huge bowl. And he offers Cam the bowl for him to choose a piece. And all the scariness is a little less – free candy! How awesome is that. You can almost see the gears going in the little brain trying to make sense of it all – of the scariness and the strangeness of it all and the other kids laughing and the adults all smiling and being supportive. He relaxes realizing this all ok and picks a piece laughy taffy and is back to his usual self. He turns, still standing on the crowded porch of kids and adults and smiles to no one in particular and waves his first piece of candy. Animated he wants to open it immediately. (Picture added later - look at that grin! And if you look closely there's the laughy taffy in the left mittened hand)
I suggest we go show mom who is waiting back at the road and he repeats, “show mom” and adds “wooow”. It was so cute. Such a transformation. And this was only the first of many that night. The second one I witness a moment later as we are walking back towards mom. There’s young kids and old running around and parents everywhere. And suddenly he stops walking and I look down to see what’s wrong and he’s transfixed in this one spot staring over to our left. I turn and see two older kids standing to the side talking, waiting for their friends (about 10 years old). One is dressed up as a transformer and has a mask on. You can’t see anything – no eyes, nothing. And Cam is staring intently. He’s scared. I was thinking about this afterwards and there were much scarier costumes – hers was a nice pattern with happy colors, not too ominous. But I think it was the mask. Take away the face, and you can’t read the person – there is no reassurance. Such a simple thing. I explain it’s just a girl and not to worry, but he was just staring. So I pick up my cuddly little pumpkin and we walk back to mom and all is forgotten. And soon dad has taken over chaperoning the door to door visits and I get to have some snuggle time with my little larvae. Who I’ll add just watched everything without a sense of fear of the situation. I’m curious to see what next year will be like for Mags.
I was so happy I had the opportunity to share in this first trick or treating experience with my little godson. To see Halloween with those fresh eyes and to be there for him. I look forward to what his little life brings forth next!
This year was a little different as, 1) it was Sunday and not a week day, and 2) their son is able to take in Halloween – he’s just shy of two years. They had opened up the festivities to everyone including a ton of kids from day care and there was a mob of families over enjoying the spread and kids running around playing. Myself included. On a sidenote, Cam and I invented a game where we’re riding around on the little cars he has (I found one I could fit in if I rode it backwards). We’d be riding around and one of us would yell “to the wall”. It was so cute when he first started doing it. We’d race to the wall and come up to it and with our hands pretend we were typing sci-fi style on it. He started repeating me with my “boo do boop, boo do boop” quasi digital impression of sound effects. Did I mention how cute it was? It was like we had our own secret language. (Picture added later - we were taking a breather and discussing something serious apparently).
The safety of playing in your own front yard is replaced by entering into someone else’s territory. As Cam and I were walking down the sidewalk to the front door, the older kids running around collecting their goodies and the parents chatting away at the road all melted away. It was just Cam and I and as I looked down I see him walking slowly, cautiously, not sure what’s going on, holding on tightly to the candy bucket in one hand and my hand in the other. Trying to make sense of the strange scare crow stuffed with leaves and covered in cobwebs we were approaching. His eyes are big and he mumbles “twick or tweet” quietly, repeating after me, while staring at the decorations. We get up to the porch and there’s a strange man dressed strangely with a black cape. Not so sure. But there are other kids and the man crouches down and he has a huge bowl of candy – huge bowl. And he offers Cam the bowl for him to choose a piece. And all the scariness is a little less – free candy! How awesome is that. You can almost see the gears going in the little brain trying to make sense of it all – of the scariness and the strangeness of it all and the other kids laughing and the adults all smiling and being supportive. He relaxes realizing this all ok and picks a piece laughy taffy and is back to his usual self. He turns, still standing on the crowded porch of kids and adults and smiles to no one in particular and waves his first piece of candy. Animated he wants to open it immediately. (Picture added later - look at that grin! And if you look closely there's the laughy taffy in the left mittened hand)
I suggest we go show mom who is waiting back at the road and he repeats, “show mom” and adds “wooow”. It was so cute. Such a transformation. And this was only the first of many that night. The second one I witness a moment later as we are walking back towards mom. There’s young kids and old running around and parents everywhere. And suddenly he stops walking and I look down to see what’s wrong and he’s transfixed in this one spot staring over to our left. I turn and see two older kids standing to the side talking, waiting for their friends (about 10 years old). One is dressed up as a transformer and has a mask on. You can’t see anything – no eyes, nothing. And Cam is staring intently. He’s scared. I was thinking about this afterwards and there were much scarier costumes – hers was a nice pattern with happy colors, not too ominous. But I think it was the mask. Take away the face, and you can’t read the person – there is no reassurance. Such a simple thing. I explain it’s just a girl and not to worry, but he was just staring. So I pick up my cuddly little pumpkin and we walk back to mom and all is forgotten. And soon dad has taken over chaperoning the door to door visits and I get to have some snuggle time with my little larvae. Who I’ll add just watched everything without a sense of fear of the situation. I’m curious to see what next year will be like for Mags.
I was so happy I had the opportunity to share in this first trick or treating experience with my little godson. To see Halloween with those fresh eyes and to be there for him. I look forward to what his little life brings forth next!
Friday Opps
Meant to post this Friday last week. You'll see why it got missed:
Head cold + crazy morning of meetings outside of the office = walking out the door to grab food and forgetting the house keys*
*Forgetting house keys translates to me being locked out** of my place since my door automatically locks when closed shut.
**Locked out translates to being unable to get into my place*** until my landlords come home from work, 5+ hours later.
***Unable to get into my place translates to me running needed errands****: oil change, pet supplies, grocery stores (with TJ Maxx in there since the grocery store run had to be put on hold until the end of the afternoon so refrigerated items wouldn’t spoil).
****Errands translates to me dropping 90% of my monthly allowance within the first week of my billing cycle. Only 22 days left to survive on a hundred bucks. It's an aggressive budget I've got these days and it doesn't allow for holiday gifts - opps.
And when I finally got in I had to turn around and run to Harvard Square to meet up with a dinner date with a friend. All I wanted to do was climb into my warm bed and curl up with a good book instead of braving the cold elements and public transportation. Luckily it was Friday.
Head cold + crazy morning of meetings outside of the office = walking out the door to grab food and forgetting the house keys*
*Forgetting house keys translates to me being locked out** of my place since my door automatically locks when closed shut.
**Locked out translates to being unable to get into my place*** until my landlords come home from work, 5+ hours later.
***Unable to get into my place translates to me running needed errands****: oil change, pet supplies, grocery stores (with TJ Maxx in there since the grocery store run had to be put on hold until the end of the afternoon so refrigerated items wouldn’t spoil).
****Errands translates to me dropping 90% of my monthly allowance within the first week of my billing cycle. Only 22 days left to survive on a hundred bucks. It's an aggressive budget I've got these days and it doesn't allow for holiday gifts - opps.
And when I finally got in I had to turn around and run to Harvard Square to meet up with a dinner date with a friend. All I wanted to do was climb into my warm bed and curl up with a good book instead of braving the cold elements and public transportation. Luckily it was Friday.
Boots
Yesterday, on my way into work, I started feeling unsure on my feet. Turns out the heal on my right boot was loose – about to break off. Now thinking about it on my way into work this morning, the irony did not escape my notice. Irony, what irony? Let me take you back, way back to my senior year in high school.
I was in the advanced science and math tracks which meant that I was taking calculus senior year (lots of work) on one hand and on the other, I was in science research class (very free form). We were about a dozen students and the way the scheduling worked out, we didn’t have a lunch period, so the class was our lunch too. There’s a classic story of mine here about mountain dew and revenge on the boys who would graze on our food, but that’s for another day (and not to be put in writing).
Instead, what I distinctly recall from those days, was mimicking the saunters. Our classroom was on a side hallway and a few of us girls were giving a go at doing the exaggerated limp saunter that was just emerging back then. You know, where the guys are slouched while standing which is a feat in itself. Add on top of that the shuffle: left foot forward normal like, and then the right leg brought forth without barely any bending at the knee. Throw in there a little bop. It’s complicated. And we were taking our turns down the hallway giving it a go. Did I mention the class was “free form”? If I remember correctly, my poor attempt of ridiculing the walk of our peers was poor in deed. I believe Ali had the best rendition.
Now last night, I was about to leave when a call came in from a coworker who is… let’s put it as not brief. Two hours later I was finally walking out of the office and making my way to DSW downtown. My walking by now had adapted to the condition of the boot. It was about to collapse on me, so instead of walking heal to toe I was walking on my toes and the right leg was starting to take on the limp drag from those earlier days. Making fun of the boys way back then was coming back to haunt me as I morphed into a version of them briefly for the night. So that’s the irony for me.
I tried on boots, tons of boots and was reminded that my little chicken legs are just not well equipped to take on the calf height boots. Sigh. I have two great winter dresses that are screaming for a nice brown pair of below the knee boots. I did pick up a pair of short boots to replace the broken pair. I was torn as they were almost exactly the same ones – same brand, but they were on clearance. We’ll see if this pair lasts longer than one season. I finally found some nude pumps (yay!). Ok, they’re a little more khaki than nude, but still do the job of elongating the leg. I picked up a pair of embellished sandals that I was looking for all summer after I came back from Paris. And the fourth pair I almost didn’t get.
I was trying on shoes and had a pile on the floor near the mirror. While I was checking out some other shoes, I come back to find a lady trying on a pair of ballet flats from my pile. I was about to say something but realized there were piles of unclaimed shoes everywhere and I wasn’t really sure if I wanted them. I wanted to mull it over some more so I bit my tongue for the moment (I knew where the box was after all). Which was smart as I was able to see what the shoes looked like, 1) from a different perspective not attainable when trying them on yourself, and 2) with ankle length pants (I had longer pants for heels on). I kept my eye on her and at one point was tempted, while her back was turned, to grab all my stuff, run up and grab the shoes from her new pile of shoes she was trying and run over to the cash register before she noticed what hit her. In the end I got distracted by this marvelous pair of Italian designer shoes and she left the ballet flats so all was right. And after a little adjustment, I was able to walk home with my regular gait and my new boots on.
I was in the advanced science and math tracks which meant that I was taking calculus senior year (lots of work) on one hand and on the other, I was in science research class (very free form). We were about a dozen students and the way the scheduling worked out, we didn’t have a lunch period, so the class was our lunch too. There’s a classic story of mine here about mountain dew and revenge on the boys who would graze on our food, but that’s for another day (and not to be put in writing).
Instead, what I distinctly recall from those days, was mimicking the saunters. Our classroom was on a side hallway and a few of us girls were giving a go at doing the exaggerated limp saunter that was just emerging back then. You know, where the guys are slouched while standing which is a feat in itself. Add on top of that the shuffle: left foot forward normal like, and then the right leg brought forth without barely any bending at the knee. Throw in there a little bop. It’s complicated. And we were taking our turns down the hallway giving it a go. Did I mention the class was “free form”? If I remember correctly, my poor attempt of ridiculing the walk of our peers was poor in deed. I believe Ali had the best rendition.
Now last night, I was about to leave when a call came in from a coworker who is… let’s put it as not brief. Two hours later I was finally walking out of the office and making my way to DSW downtown. My walking by now had adapted to the condition of the boot. It was about to collapse on me, so instead of walking heal to toe I was walking on my toes and the right leg was starting to take on the limp drag from those earlier days. Making fun of the boys way back then was coming back to haunt me as I morphed into a version of them briefly for the night. So that’s the irony for me.
I tried on boots, tons of boots and was reminded that my little chicken legs are just not well equipped to take on the calf height boots. Sigh. I have two great winter dresses that are screaming for a nice brown pair of below the knee boots. I did pick up a pair of short boots to replace the broken pair. I was torn as they were almost exactly the same ones – same brand, but they were on clearance. We’ll see if this pair lasts longer than one season. I finally found some nude pumps (yay!). Ok, they’re a little more khaki than nude, but still do the job of elongating the leg. I picked up a pair of embellished sandals that I was looking for all summer after I came back from Paris. And the fourth pair I almost didn’t get.
I was trying on shoes and had a pile on the floor near the mirror. While I was checking out some other shoes, I come back to find a lady trying on a pair of ballet flats from my pile. I was about to say something but realized there were piles of unclaimed shoes everywhere and I wasn’t really sure if I wanted them. I wanted to mull it over some more so I bit my tongue for the moment (I knew where the box was after all). Which was smart as I was able to see what the shoes looked like, 1) from a different perspective not attainable when trying them on yourself, and 2) with ankle length pants (I had longer pants for heels on). I kept my eye on her and at one point was tempted, while her back was turned, to grab all my stuff, run up and grab the shoes from her new pile of shoes she was trying and run over to the cash register before she noticed what hit her. In the end I got distracted by this marvelous pair of Italian designer shoes and she left the ballet flats so all was right. And after a little adjustment, I was able to walk home with my regular gait and my new boots on.
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