Top five things going on in my life this week!
1) I made a luggage purchase this week - something that will be quite useful in my future career of getting on planes, trains, and automobiles. (The virgin voyage, of course, will be my rather exciting trip to Arizona. 17 days and counting, kids...) The piece of luggage is a Swiss Army 20" pilot's case - it matches my backpack, which I find necessary to take everywhere. {PS - If the Swiss are neutral, then why would they need an army? Points to ponder.}
2) I have decided that at my wedding, there will be no break between the wedding and the food. I attended a really lovely outdoor wedding this weekend (I have the sunburn to prove it). I had a pretty good time, but there was a two hour gap between the end of the wedding and the food. Wow, darlings. This is too much for a hungry RJ. I had some wonderful entertainment, of course - provided by my two nephews and my newest niece. I have long been an honorary member of the Upah family, and since Tom always works Saturday nights, I get to be Cindy's date at all official functions. The fam was quite entertaining, and I hadn't seen them in a while, so special bonus. Now if I can just find a bride....
3) To PhD or not to PhD? Dammit, why do I always have more questions than answers? I am still trying to make this decision. It's a helluva commitment, and also a high risk-high reward situation. I do want to do it, but I need time to sit down and do some productive research. {PS - Facebook apparently doesn't count as productive research.}
4) Physical therapy is good. It hurts, but it's good. Apparently, the arthritis that I have in my knees is a result of problems I have in my feet (not age, as my surgeon said). So, after thirty-five years, I am learning how to take care of myself. Better late than never, I have to say.
5) Tomorrow, as a result of my weight loss, I get to go shopping. My pants just don't fit me any more, so I'm taking action tomorrow night. My personal shoppers have been alerted, and we set off for wherever they suggest when I get off work. I must look my best for Arizona, after all.
All right, that is the update. Feel free to post commentary, suggestions, and requests - complaints will be deleted immediately.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Momentous events
It's been an up and down couple of days, around here...
We used to have a morale committee at work - it was called the Fish committee, and when someone went above and beyond in their job, they were rewarded with these little paper fish. People wrote something nice about what you had done on the front of it, and you were supposed to collect them and turn them in for different amounts of cash, days off with pay, etc. I questioned once what happened to the fish after you turned them in. I had become a bit attached to my fish, you see... Sometimes I form sentimental attachments to things. I don't know why, I have just always been this way. At any rate, the management kept your fish after they were redeemed. Most likely because they didn't want people to turn theirs in twice. When they told me this, I decided to keep my fish and turn them in on my last day. Not even out of rebellion, really - it's just that things like that cheer me up when I'm not feeling too hot.
The dream ended two weeks ago - the management decided that the program must go. They said it wasn't for economic reasons, but I don't think I buy it. We were asked to turn in all of our fish by the end of the day if we wanted to redeem our cash. I had a stockpile of 49 - by far the most, since everyone else in the company actually turned theirs in on a regular basis. Our secretary, who loves me, prevented them from being thrown away. She snagged them for me and now they're back at my desk, in their rightful place.
I did net some nice cash, that day... and I did have to purchase a small electronic device with it. My review of the ipod touch is that it is fabulous. It's really an insanely useful tool, and it looks good, too. I get so happy over electronics... almost as attached as I get to pieces of paper... This summer, hopefully BA (Before Arizona), I am hoping to visit my storage. I think I might have some notes from the 7th grade - stay tuned, it's likely to be a good story...
And now the not so fabulous news. I was standing around talking to my IT guy at work yesterday, when I heard a noise and looked over my shoulder to see what it was. As I did this, I felt something shift in my knee. Nothing alarming, not a huge amount of pain, just a little shift. I though it would work itself out. By about quitting time, however, I knew I was in trouble. I wasn't walking right at all, so I came home and iced myself. All night, actually. When I got up this morning, I yelled when my foot touched the floor. I don't yell very often, and I think I might have scared Jazz. Anyway, I did call the doctor and make an appointment for 11am tomorrow. I talked to his assistant, who told me it is something that I might have to just live with. I briefly wondered if he would like to live with my shoe embedded in his midsection... but then again, since I can neither bend my knee nor straighten it without a great amount of pain, it is unlikely that my aim would be that great. I hope the doctor has better news. If he doesn't, I'm getting a second opinion. Life is too short to spend it in pain! And there are still so many things I want to do - I need knees.
In other news, I'm meeting with a professor Thursday to talk about the phD program at UNO. I am excited by this. Also, Wednesday is the season finale of LOST - the only show I ever watch in prime time.
I will post further on all of these things! Night...
We used to have a morale committee at work - it was called the Fish committee, and when someone went above and beyond in their job, they were rewarded with these little paper fish. People wrote something nice about what you had done on the front of it, and you were supposed to collect them and turn them in for different amounts of cash, days off with pay, etc. I questioned once what happened to the fish after you turned them in. I had become a bit attached to my fish, you see... Sometimes I form sentimental attachments to things. I don't know why, I have just always been this way. At any rate, the management kept your fish after they were redeemed. Most likely because they didn't want people to turn theirs in twice. When they told me this, I decided to keep my fish and turn them in on my last day. Not even out of rebellion, really - it's just that things like that cheer me up when I'm not feeling too hot.
The dream ended two weeks ago - the management decided that the program must go. They said it wasn't for economic reasons, but I don't think I buy it. We were asked to turn in all of our fish by the end of the day if we wanted to redeem our cash. I had a stockpile of 49 - by far the most, since everyone else in the company actually turned theirs in on a regular basis. Our secretary, who loves me, prevented them from being thrown away. She snagged them for me and now they're back at my desk, in their rightful place.
I did net some nice cash, that day... and I did have to purchase a small electronic device with it. My review of the ipod touch is that it is fabulous. It's really an insanely useful tool, and it looks good, too. I get so happy over electronics... almost as attached as I get to pieces of paper... This summer, hopefully BA (Before Arizona), I am hoping to visit my storage. I think I might have some notes from the 7th grade - stay tuned, it's likely to be a good story...
And now the not so fabulous news. I was standing around talking to my IT guy at work yesterday, when I heard a noise and looked over my shoulder to see what it was. As I did this, I felt something shift in my knee. Nothing alarming, not a huge amount of pain, just a little shift. I though it would work itself out. By about quitting time, however, I knew I was in trouble. I wasn't walking right at all, so I came home and iced myself. All night, actually. When I got up this morning, I yelled when my foot touched the floor. I don't yell very often, and I think I might have scared Jazz. Anyway, I did call the doctor and make an appointment for 11am tomorrow. I talked to his assistant, who told me it is something that I might have to just live with. I briefly wondered if he would like to live with my shoe embedded in his midsection... but then again, since I can neither bend my knee nor straighten it without a great amount of pain, it is unlikely that my aim would be that great. I hope the doctor has better news. If he doesn't, I'm getting a second opinion. Life is too short to spend it in pain! And there are still so many things I want to do - I need knees.
In other news, I'm meeting with a professor Thursday to talk about the phD program at UNO. I am excited by this. Also, Wednesday is the season finale of LOST - the only show I ever watch in prime time.
I will post further on all of these things! Night...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Back from the dead!
The semester has finally ended. I would insert a "thank God" here, but since I'm not good with the great big floating parent in the sky idea, I suppose it would not apply. Nevertheless, I am now free to spend my time in whatever way I see fit. At this moment, this means sitting on the couch with Jazz, who is patiently awaiting the moment when this computer will shut down and I can finally pay her the amount of attention that she considers appropriate. FYI, she really likes a lot of attention.
The semester threw me a couple of curve balls. First, there was the business that I was building with a fellow student. We spent so much time on it that I decided about four hours of sleep was sufficient. I was wrong incidentally. Then, when I got bronchitis (most likely a result of my sleep schedule) we decided to stop the business plans for a while. Then my business partner fell off the face of the Earth, and then he just decided not to call me any more. This kind of sucked, especially because in the middle of it I had knee surgery. As a result of the surgery, I have a new appreciation for my good health, a new motivation to move someplace warm, with less rain than we have here (arthritis is no fun) and a realization that Vicadin makes me a bit bitchy. I recovered from the surgery in time to catch up my school work and finish the semester (I got an A and an A minus).
On the positive side, I learned a hell of a lot about myself and what I want from my future. The cool thing about getting a bit older is that when gigantic wastes of time present themselves, it's quite a bit easier to say no. One of my classes (the A minus class) was just awful. It was for my Management of Information Systems degree, and it was a foundation course I was required to take because I have no formal computer background. Unfortunately, it was an undergraduate weed-out class, basically designed so that students would do badly and decide not to go into that field. One main professor wrote the syllabus, and his students taught each of the sections. I think the greatest thing I learned was how to communicate with people that are only comfortable a) writing code and b) playing video games in their mother's basements. Seriously. My instructor would clearly rather have been boiled in oil than to explain the slides he read to us every week. He was a nice guy, but I needed a teacher. When I asked him questions, I generally got this deer in the headlights look - he was one of those guys to whom code just made sense the first time. He couldn't answer my questions, because he'd personally never had any questions.
So. I will find a way to proceed while getting what I need. Armed with the right information, I'm generally successful. I was having a conversation with my advisor the other night, and she suggested that instead of the dual MPA/MIS degree, that I get a phD in Public Admin with a focus in MIS. I could feel my ego inflating. (It's just like feeling your arteries hardening, but completely different.) Anyway, I am going to start investigating this possibility next week. I'm not at all worried about the class work, but I am worried about how I would handle the financial parts of it. I would have to function on about half of my current income. Which might suck tremendously. Will revamp your computer processes for food...
In other news, my right knee has now begun to hurt in much the same manner as my left knee did before the surgery. Good health insurance is insanely cool. Also, if I am headed for knee replacement of one or both knees, then I will finally fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming RoboRJ. (Alternatively, I could become the LesBionic Woman, but I don't look a thing like Lindsay Wagner.) It's been raining a lot here lately too, which may be adding to my difficulties. It makes me think of Arizona, to which I will be travelling soon - I'm pretty sure I'll be OK there, at least for the weekend!!
Dude. That's enough for now, I think... I look forward to blogging more often. It's time to play the guitar a little bit, now. My fall back career has always been rock star, so I'm going to work on that for a few minutes. Night, y'all.
The semester threw me a couple of curve balls. First, there was the business that I was building with a fellow student. We spent so much time on it that I decided about four hours of sleep was sufficient. I was wrong incidentally. Then, when I got bronchitis (most likely a result of my sleep schedule) we decided to stop the business plans for a while. Then my business partner fell off the face of the Earth, and then he just decided not to call me any more. This kind of sucked, especially because in the middle of it I had knee surgery. As a result of the surgery, I have a new appreciation for my good health, a new motivation to move someplace warm, with less rain than we have here (arthritis is no fun) and a realization that Vicadin makes me a bit bitchy. I recovered from the surgery in time to catch up my school work and finish the semester (I got an A and an A minus).
On the positive side, I learned a hell of a lot about myself and what I want from my future. The cool thing about getting a bit older is that when gigantic wastes of time present themselves, it's quite a bit easier to say no. One of my classes (the A minus class) was just awful. It was for my Management of Information Systems degree, and it was a foundation course I was required to take because I have no formal computer background. Unfortunately, it was an undergraduate weed-out class, basically designed so that students would do badly and decide not to go into that field. One main professor wrote the syllabus, and his students taught each of the sections. I think the greatest thing I learned was how to communicate with people that are only comfortable a) writing code and b) playing video games in their mother's basements. Seriously. My instructor would clearly rather have been boiled in oil than to explain the slides he read to us every week. He was a nice guy, but I needed a teacher. When I asked him questions, I generally got this deer in the headlights look - he was one of those guys to whom code just made sense the first time. He couldn't answer my questions, because he'd personally never had any questions.
So. I will find a way to proceed while getting what I need. Armed with the right information, I'm generally successful. I was having a conversation with my advisor the other night, and she suggested that instead of the dual MPA/MIS degree, that I get a phD in Public Admin with a focus in MIS. I could feel my ego inflating. (It's just like feeling your arteries hardening, but completely different.) Anyway, I am going to start investigating this possibility next week. I'm not at all worried about the class work, but I am worried about how I would handle the financial parts of it. I would have to function on about half of my current income. Which might suck tremendously. Will revamp your computer processes for food...
In other news, my right knee has now begun to hurt in much the same manner as my left knee did before the surgery. Good health insurance is insanely cool. Also, if I am headed for knee replacement of one or both knees, then I will finally fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming RoboRJ. (Alternatively, I could become the LesBionic Woman, but I don't look a thing like Lindsay Wagner.) It's been raining a lot here lately too, which may be adding to my difficulties. It makes me think of Arizona, to which I will be travelling soon - I'm pretty sure I'll be OK there, at least for the weekend!!
Dude. That's enough for now, I think... I look forward to blogging more often. It's time to play the guitar a little bit, now. My fall back career has always been rock star, so I'm going to work on that for a few minutes. Night, y'all.
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