Today was my off Friday but I ended up working six hours or so preparing for project go live scheduled for next week. I am looking forward to it and from everything I can tell it is going to go pretty smoothly. We"ll have all the data staged and the release itself is significant process wise, but not major from a technical standpoint.
I had a rough week. Wednesday was my melt-down day. It was a stressful day anyway, right out of the chute, and then in the late afternoon my manager called and put some additional pressure on my to do a couple of tasks that lead to a heated discussion about the time pressure I was under. Here, I will insert my semi-standard rant about bad leadership and get on with it. We're understaffed and overworked and the stress levels continue to be high.
I do have the weekend off though, so I am going to go out and do something different, just to remind myself that there is something else to write about besides work. I haven't decided what I am going to do, but I am looking forward to it. I thought about just taking a nice long hike, something with a semi-serious distance, so I can see if I can beat my personal best on my pedometer (which is about seven and a half miles). That sounds like a worthy goal.
Showing posts with label Walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walking. Show all posts
Friday, September 6, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Rain and Continuum
It was another pretty good day. A few ups and downs, but what I would normally expect from a working day. It was a little stressful at the end of the day when I got a flurry of requests for data as other people ended their day, but I was able to knock about half of them off before I called it a day and headed home and the other half should be easy enough tomorrow morning. My meeting schedule at work is pretty light tomorrow, so it should be a productive day.
I had a simple dinner tonight, then took a bit of a rambling walk through the neighborhood just ahead of the gentle rain that has descended and is splashing off the rooftops outside. That is a great and soothing sound. I called my step-dad and talked to him for about a half hour or so. He is scheduled to be released on Thursday, and he's looking forward to it, but slightly apprehensive, which is understandable. After talking with him I called the ranch and talked to Tom for a while and everything seemed to be going smoothly out there.
So, my plan is to ease into the night and watch the most recent episode of "Continuum" from the DVR. During that, I may write a nice long email. Then, I will most likely curl up with "The Pattern Scars" and read myself to sleep. I think I am going to set my alarm clock tomorrow, something I rarely do, so that I can get a jump on the day. I'm feeling productive in advance of the day. Incidentally, if you like Science Fiction and you haven't watched "Continuum" on the SyFy channel, I happen to enjoy it.
I had a simple dinner tonight, then took a bit of a rambling walk through the neighborhood just ahead of the gentle rain that has descended and is splashing off the rooftops outside. That is a great and soothing sound. I called my step-dad and talked to him for about a half hour or so. He is scheduled to be released on Thursday, and he's looking forward to it, but slightly apprehensive, which is understandable. After talking with him I called the ranch and talked to Tom for a while and everything seemed to be going smoothly out there.
So, my plan is to ease into the night and watch the most recent episode of "Continuum" from the DVR. During that, I may write a nice long email. Then, I will most likely curl up with "The Pattern Scars" and read myself to sleep. I think I am going to set my alarm clock tomorrow, something I rarely do, so that I can get a jump on the day. I'm feeling productive in advance of the day. Incidentally, if you like Science Fiction and you haven't watched "Continuum" on the SyFy channel, I happen to enjoy it.
Friday, December 24, 2010
A Quiet Christmas Eve
It was a very quiet day at work today. No one called. I got one email and it was an automated system generated email. My team got one call on the Help Desk (and I let my analyst who was working the day go home at 9:00 AM). I spent most of the day simply reading, with a pleasant break for sushi (Hon Sushi in Mountain View) and a couple of games of pool with my friend Don (Don won most of them 5 to 2).
After work I stopped at Safeway on the way home and picked up the ingredients for tomorrows simple Christmas dinner over at my friend Bob's. I am very much looking forward to a quiet Christmas Eve and an equally quiet Christmas Day, through Christmas Day will involve some visits (the aforementioned dinner and probably breakfast). I might try and fit a movie in there somewhere, since there are a lot of films in the theaters at this time of year.
I was sitting here trying to remember the last time I had a simple Christmas evening - I did last year, as I was recovering from the toe surgery, but I actually don't recall much of it. Most likely I was sleeping twelve hours a day and dreaming of a hot shower. I still recall quite vividly the sheer pleasure of that first shower. I am sure my neighbors thought I was having wild sex I was moaning so much.
After I got home this evening I took a walk around the neighborhood, looking at the various Christmas lights and breathing in the cool night air. We had another day of sun between rain storms here, so the day was very pleasant and the evening was equally as pleasant. The walk was short and nice and it took me over 10,000 steps for the days, which is the target.
Tonight, I am settling in for a quiet evening, my simple tree lit and my mood expansive and relaxed. Merry Christmas Eve, whoever you are and wherever you are.
After work I stopped at Safeway on the way home and picked up the ingredients for tomorrows simple Christmas dinner over at my friend Bob's. I am very much looking forward to a quiet Christmas Eve and an equally quiet Christmas Day, through Christmas Day will involve some visits (the aforementioned dinner and probably breakfast). I might try and fit a movie in there somewhere, since there are a lot of films in the theaters at this time of year.
I was sitting here trying to remember the last time I had a simple Christmas evening - I did last year, as I was recovering from the toe surgery, but I actually don't recall much of it. Most likely I was sleeping twelve hours a day and dreaming of a hot shower. I still recall quite vividly the sheer pleasure of that first shower. I am sure my neighbors thought I was having wild sex I was moaning so much.
After I got home this evening I took a walk around the neighborhood, looking at the various Christmas lights and breathing in the cool night air. We had another day of sun between rain storms here, so the day was very pleasant and the evening was equally as pleasant. The walk was short and nice and it took me over 10,000 steps for the days, which is the target.
Tonight, I am settling in for a quiet evening, my simple tree lit and my mood expansive and relaxed. Merry Christmas Eve, whoever you are and wherever you are.
Monday, January 4, 2010
2010 - Simple Resolutions for A Simple Year
2010 started very simply and gracefully for me – a long weekend in the company of friends, but in person and virtually. I ended the old year and started the new in the company of my dearest T.R. and I cannot think of any other way I would have liked for it to end and begin.
I am keeping my New Year’s Resolutions simple this year, complete with a simple acronym to remind me of them – WALK Simply.
-Write
-Act
-Learn
-Keep Healthy
-Simply get the full worth of each day.
I am consciously making the choice this year to keep things simple.
I am keeping my New Year’s Resolutions simple this year, complete with a simple acronym to remind me of them – WALK Simply.
-Write
-Act
-Learn
-Keep Healthy
-Simply get the full worth of each day.
I am consciously making the choice this year to keep things simple.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Daily Life: Thoughts Slipping Through A Busy Day
Today was quietly busy here at the office. We're working on a large scale project (a data integrity problem) so everyone has been tightly focused and is crunching numbers and playing with data algorithms, trying to bring order from chaos. We had a hot deadline for a portion of it of close of business (COB) tonight, Pacific time, and we are going to make it. It won't be perfect, but it will be significantly better, and we'll make more strides as we go forward.
One of the challenges I run into as a manager is I often have to force myself to pull back and let my people do their work. Sometimes when the boss tries to help the boss just gets in the way. I have also had to resist doing my Donkey (from Shrek) imitation. "Are we done yet? Are we done yet"?" I know how irritating I always found that when I was an IC (independent contributor).
However, I did run a stand up status meeting a few minutes ago and it looks like we are all green.
Don't you love it when I lapse into corporate-speak? It is a language all it's own and that is even without the acronyms. Start tossing in the acronyms and it becomes a truly alien language. That is actually the whole point - tribes (and organizations) define themselves by sharing a common language. It is a way of quickly identifying who is part of the in group and who is not.'
Weaving in and out of my work related tasks I have had a variety of thoughts running through my head and I am pausing here at work to enjoy a cup of coffee and write them down.
I spent some time today thinking about self-censorship, specifically in terms of blogging. I try to avoid it, but I actually wrote two entries today that will never see the light of day. One was pretty much a pure work vent, letting off steam. I wrote that one, went to lunch, came back, reread it, laughed and deleted it.
The second one I wrote while at lunch and it was an attempt at exploring my tendency to self-censor. It arises out of my reluctance to take someone else's business "to the street", which in turn arises from my strong sense of privacy. Now, that in itself is a little strange - I am generally a very open person, as far as "me".
Where my privacy filters lock down is where other people are involved. I treat virtually everything that is told to me as a confidence - even when it clearly isn't. I am overprotective of it. I tried writing for a while about why that was - but, what I wrote was ultimately confusing and self-serving, so other than a few rolling notes, it also promptly ended up in the delete bin.
Lunch was unsatisfying by the way - a mediocre tuna salad and plain cottage cheese. Nothing looked particularly appetizing at the cafeteria.
I also now have the added pleasure of a stress fracture in my left foot. I have often written about my love of walking and urban hiking. On Saturday when I was in SF we covered a lot of ground and when I got home I noticed bruising and some pain when I rolled my foot, so I stopped by the clinic on Sunday and they took a look at it and taped it. They could not do the x-ray on Sunday so scheduled an appointment for yesterday. I stopped in on the way home, they shot my foot, and then called this morning. I have a stress fracture on the third metatarsal bone.
Fortunately it is not too bad (the doctor said "a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10"). It is only painful if I roll the foot laterally (which twists the bone). They've given me a bracing sock and a space boot. The space boot is this plastic contraption that I can wear if it gets painful. They did not recommend a cast or crutches. They just said be careful when walking and don't exercise walk or run for six weeks. I could swim or use a recumbent exercise cycle (one that doesn't put weight related pressure on the foot), so I may get a temporary gym membership. I can also stretch and do yoga and lift weights from a bench (nothing that requires me to stand and life weights), so I might spend the next six weeks working on flexibility and doing high rep, low weight bench exercises and a lot of sit-ups. I joke that I am too old to get abs of steel, but I can strive for abs of aluminum.
I am going to return to work and then contemplate something simple yet delicious for dinner, based on the unsatisfying results of lunch.
One of the challenges I run into as a manager is I often have to force myself to pull back and let my people do their work. Sometimes when the boss tries to help the boss just gets in the way. I have also had to resist doing my Donkey (from Shrek) imitation. "Are we done yet? Are we done yet"?" I know how irritating I always found that when I was an IC (independent contributor).
However, I did run a stand up status meeting a few minutes ago and it looks like we are all green.
Don't you love it when I lapse into corporate-speak? It is a language all it's own and that is even without the acronyms. Start tossing in the acronyms and it becomes a truly alien language. That is actually the whole point - tribes (and organizations) define themselves by sharing a common language. It is a way of quickly identifying who is part of the in group and who is not.'
Weaving in and out of my work related tasks I have had a variety of thoughts running through my head and I am pausing here at work to enjoy a cup of coffee and write them down.
I spent some time today thinking about self-censorship, specifically in terms of blogging. I try to avoid it, but I actually wrote two entries today that will never see the light of day. One was pretty much a pure work vent, letting off steam. I wrote that one, went to lunch, came back, reread it, laughed and deleted it.
The second one I wrote while at lunch and it was an attempt at exploring my tendency to self-censor. It arises out of my reluctance to take someone else's business "to the street", which in turn arises from my strong sense of privacy. Now, that in itself is a little strange - I am generally a very open person, as far as "me".
Where my privacy filters lock down is where other people are involved. I treat virtually everything that is told to me as a confidence - even when it clearly isn't. I am overprotective of it. I tried writing for a while about why that was - but, what I wrote was ultimately confusing and self-serving, so other than a few rolling notes, it also promptly ended up in the delete bin.
Lunch was unsatisfying by the way - a mediocre tuna salad and plain cottage cheese. Nothing looked particularly appetizing at the cafeteria.
I also now have the added pleasure of a stress fracture in my left foot. I have often written about my love of walking and urban hiking. On Saturday when I was in SF we covered a lot of ground and when I got home I noticed bruising and some pain when I rolled my foot, so I stopped by the clinic on Sunday and they took a look at it and taped it. They could not do the x-ray on Sunday so scheduled an appointment for yesterday. I stopped in on the way home, they shot my foot, and then called this morning. I have a stress fracture on the third metatarsal bone.
Fortunately it is not too bad (the doctor said "a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10"). It is only painful if I roll the foot laterally (which twists the bone). They've given me a bracing sock and a space boot. The space boot is this plastic contraption that I can wear if it gets painful. They did not recommend a cast or crutches. They just said be careful when walking and don't exercise walk or run for six weeks. I could swim or use a recumbent exercise cycle (one that doesn't put weight related pressure on the foot), so I may get a temporary gym membership. I can also stretch and do yoga and lift weights from a bench (nothing that requires me to stand and life weights), so I might spend the next six weeks working on flexibility and doing high rep, low weight bench exercises and a lot of sit-ups. I joke that I am too old to get abs of steel, but I can strive for abs of aluminum.
I am going to return to work and then contemplate something simple yet delicious for dinner, based on the unsatisfying results of lunch.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday Night and Irish Films
It is a beautiful California night. I got home from work, cooked a light dinner (soup and sandwich), and then went out for a rambling, zig-zag, hour walk, threading in and out of neighborhoods. It was just cool enough to be crisp inside the velvet blackness of the night. The neon lights at the Maple Leaf plaza looks very cool as I walked past the Sushi Boat, the Final Score, Yaz, the Pho place and Ringer Hut. Classic California night.
The day was fairly chaotic at work this morning - I got into the office early, got on the phone, and then basically spent the next five hours glued to the telephone in a series of meetings and impromptu calls that stacked up one after another. By the time I slipped out to lunch it had been a full day. It quieted down in the afternoon and I managed to get quite a bit accomplished. With the end of the project that almost broke me, it feels nice to be slipping back into the normal rhythms. I still have a lot of work, I am constantly busy, but it is an achievable busy - I go home at the end of the day with the sense of having actual done something.
After my walk, as I settled in for the evening, I watched a pretty amusing movie that I had not seen before - “The Last of the High Kings” with Jared Leto in an Irish coming of age story. Sweet, poignant and funny, I would recommend it if you have not seen it. I went through a phase a few years back where I was hooked on either Irish movies or movies with an Irish theme. Let me see if I can list my top ten favorite Irish movies...
Positions One, Two and Three are a solid lock with the Barrytown Trilogy.
(1) The Commitments
(2) The Van
(3) The Snapper
Then, hats off to just a solid performance by Gabriel Byrne in:
(4) Into the West
Then, let me stack a couple others up:
(5) The Wind In The Barley
(6) Some Mothers Son
(7) The Playboys
(8) Michael Collins
(9) Millions
(10) The Last of the High Kings
And, three more classics:
(11) The Fighting Prince of Donegal
(12) Darby O'Gill and the Little People
(13) The Quiet Man
There are many, many others that are excellent. The Irish Film Board turns out some excellent work, some truly great independent (non-Hollywood) films.
I spoke with my mother on the telephone Sunday and she is doing much better. She is still feeling the after effects of the acute pancreatitis, but is mentally alert and very much herself. I will be heading back to South Dakota on the 20th for ten days of Thanksgiving vacation (returning to California on the 30th), so I am looking forward to the visit. One of the things I plan on doing while there is to sit down and have a heart to heart with my parents on the issues and challenges of aging - we have had several of those conversations over the years, but I think another one would be a good idea. I think it is important that the wishes of the individuals be expressed and understood while they are hale and hearty.
So, this week is going to fly by at work, as will the next, since I have seven working days left before I take off on vacation and it usually takes two or three days at least to get everything coordinated. Most likely I will take my personal laptop with my on vacation (either the Mac or the PC - yes, I have two laptops - three if I count my work laptop). Though the ranch is basically “off the grid” - dial up only, no AT&T cell phone coverage, I often take the laptop so I can process photos, write, and play games. When I am there is something pops up work related that I have to deal with, I usually drive into Winner, SD and get a hotel room, specifically for the internet connection. LOL - someday they will have broadband at the ranch - that day just isn’t there yet.
Tonight, for the rest of the night, after having a great telephone call with a dear friend, my plan is to read and relax and hopefully fall into a deep and restful sleep. I did dream last night but, given the chaos of the morning, the substance of those dreams has fallen away. Perhaps I will remember tonight’s dreams better.
The day was fairly chaotic at work this morning - I got into the office early, got on the phone, and then basically spent the next five hours glued to the telephone in a series of meetings and impromptu calls that stacked up one after another. By the time I slipped out to lunch it had been a full day. It quieted down in the afternoon and I managed to get quite a bit accomplished. With the end of the project that almost broke me, it feels nice to be slipping back into the normal rhythms. I still have a lot of work, I am constantly busy, but it is an achievable busy - I go home at the end of the day with the sense of having actual done something.
After my walk, as I settled in for the evening, I watched a pretty amusing movie that I had not seen before - “The Last of the High Kings” with Jared Leto in an Irish coming of age story. Sweet, poignant and funny, I would recommend it if you have not seen it. I went through a phase a few years back where I was hooked on either Irish movies or movies with an Irish theme. Let me see if I can list my top ten favorite Irish movies...
Positions One, Two and Three are a solid lock with the Barrytown Trilogy.
(1) The Commitments
(2) The Van
(3) The Snapper
Then, hats off to just a solid performance by Gabriel Byrne in:
(4) Into the West
Then, let me stack a couple others up:
(5) The Wind In The Barley
(6) Some Mothers Son
(7) The Playboys
(8) Michael Collins
(9) Millions
(10) The Last of the High Kings
And, three more classics:
(11) The Fighting Prince of Donegal
(12) Darby O'Gill and the Little People
(13) The Quiet Man
There are many, many others that are excellent. The Irish Film Board turns out some excellent work, some truly great independent (non-Hollywood) films.
I spoke with my mother on the telephone Sunday and she is doing much better. She is still feeling the after effects of the acute pancreatitis, but is mentally alert and very much herself. I will be heading back to South Dakota on the 20th for ten days of Thanksgiving vacation (returning to California on the 30th), so I am looking forward to the visit. One of the things I plan on doing while there is to sit down and have a heart to heart with my parents on the issues and challenges of aging - we have had several of those conversations over the years, but I think another one would be a good idea. I think it is important that the wishes of the individuals be expressed and understood while they are hale and hearty.
So, this week is going to fly by at work, as will the next, since I have seven working days left before I take off on vacation and it usually takes two or three days at least to get everything coordinated. Most likely I will take my personal laptop with my on vacation (either the Mac or the PC - yes, I have two laptops - three if I count my work laptop). Though the ranch is basically “off the grid” - dial up only, no AT&T cell phone coverage, I often take the laptop so I can process photos, write, and play games. When I am there is something pops up work related that I have to deal with, I usually drive into Winner, SD and get a hotel room, specifically for the internet connection. LOL - someday they will have broadband at the ranch - that day just isn’t there yet.
Tonight, for the rest of the night, after having a great telephone call with a dear friend, my plan is to read and relax and hopefully fall into a deep and restful sleep. I did dream last night but, given the chaos of the morning, the substance of those dreams has fallen away. Perhaps I will remember tonight’s dreams better.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sum of a Friday
Well, all in all, it was an indifferent Friday. I slept in later than usual (which often leads into my indifferent days), spent some time online, then went out and ran a couple of errands, caught a movie (Body of Lies with Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Ridley Scott), then met some friends for an early dinner at Holdens. After dinner, I ran a few more errands and then circled home. Spent some time on the telephone talking to my mother, and then went out for a nice long walk through the neighborhood.
In hindsight, after I starting writing this entry, there were several high spots during the during - a good morning conversation with someone dear to me, the movie (I always like Ridley Scott movies, he is a very good director), the conversation with my mother, and then the walk. It is a beautiful California night out there - a pure fall night - cool and crisp, and I left just at the trailing edge of twilight and made it home well into the dark.
Then I decided that a nice root beer float would be a fine finale to the evening, so here I am, drinking my float and writing. That is not a bad way to wind your way toward the end of an evening. I have been contemplating writing all day, but the ideas are just kind of swirling about, not entirely formed, so we will see if I actually decide to do any creative writing tonight or not. Meanwhile, let me continue to enjoy this float.
In hindsight, after I starting writing this entry, there were several high spots during the during - a good morning conversation with someone dear to me, the movie (I always like Ridley Scott movies, he is a very good director), the conversation with my mother, and then the walk. It is a beautiful California night out there - a pure fall night - cool and crisp, and I left just at the trailing edge of twilight and made it home well into the dark.
Then I decided that a nice root beer float would be a fine finale to the evening, so here I am, drinking my float and writing. That is not a bad way to wind your way toward the end of an evening. I have been contemplating writing all day, but the ideas are just kind of swirling about, not entirely formed, so we will see if I actually decide to do any creative writing tonight or not. Meanwhile, let me continue to enjoy this float.
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