Bad, Bad, Blogger
Bless me interweb, for I have sinned. It's been months since my last blog, Christmas to be specific.
The last few months have been out of control busy, even for my out of control, busy life. A rundown:
- I took the week between Christmas and New Years off to have some quality time with The Boy before the craziness geared up. That was the last time I saw any peace.
- All, I mean all of my clients decided that the first two weeks of 2008 were the best time to start approving projects. I delivered a bunch of projects, and travelled to Indianapolis for a client meeting.
- One word: thesis. Once I get this bad boy done, I'll finally be done with my masters. More importantly, I'll be able to cross one major thing off my list.
- I also have to finish up a paper for publication. So, essentially, I polish of a 40ish page paper and then immediately jump into another one to deliver by June. The upside is that I will be published in my field, which rocks.
- I'm teaching again this semester. Same as before, two sections of the same course. I've made some great enhancements to the class, which I'm really proud of. I love it, but it sure is time consuming!
- All of this work and stress has left me extremely burnt out, and with that burnout comes lack of motivation and less than ideal productivity. Something had to give, and in the short term, that has been Sasstastic.
- I've been fighting a miserable cold and lingering cough for the past month or so, a direct result of all this stress.
- This summer, I hope to have some time to dedicate to working on this site. I've disliked the new design pretty much since I launched it, so I really want to put together a much cooler site. Plus, I'll be teaching a course next semester that deals more with internet technologies, so I need to brush up on my web/Dreamweaver skills. This site is the perfect playground for that.
I'll do my best to keep up with my posting, but quite honestly, I may not see the light of day for the next couple of months. You're all invited to my graduation come May, though!Labels: biz, blogging, the boy, the fam, the girl
"You don't fly much, do you?"
Earlier this week, my job had me flying to Chicago to direct a video shoot. It was a semi last minute thing, so I had to get out the door pretty quickly. An admitted overpacker, I was determined to get all of my stuff into a carry-on bag, so that I didn't have to check anything. After all, I was only going to be gone one night. I am successful, and hop in the car to head for the airport. I chose Bradley because it's closer and is a nice small terminal generally lacking the huge crowds of the NYC airports.
Cut to me heading through security, proud of my light-packing prowess. I haven't flown since all of the drama of last summer (actually, I flew out of Heathrow about 3 days before they revealed the plot about the plan to blow up all of those planes out of London with the liquid bombs. I flew the same airline out of the same airport, how freaky is that?). Anyways, I'm not up on the regulations about what you can and can't bring on the plane. The conversation at security went a little like this:
- Security Guy asks me if I have liquid or gels.
- I start rummaging through my toiletry bag, pulling out stuff.
- Security Guy helps me put it in a Ziplock bag like it's supposed to be, smiling at me like like I'm there to entertain him.
- I ask if toothpaste counts.
- Security guard laughs at me.
- "Oh yeah, gel... gotcha."
- I look behind me and am even more grateful that I chose this airport, since there is no one waiting in line.
- Security guard tells me he has to confiscate my tube of toothpate "because it's too big"
- I say, "but it's nearly empty."
- Security guard explains to me that it's not the amount of toothpaste, but the size of the tube, if you catch my drift. (he didn't really say it that way, but I am trying to entertain you people!).
- Security guard grins and says, "you don't fly much, do you?"
- "Is it that obvious?"
- Security guard cracks another smile and shrugs politely.
- "It's okay, you can say it."
- Laughing... "Yeah, totally obvious. Your shoes are off, right?"
- I say, "Of course!" as I pull my shoes off my feet and put them in the bin.
- "Have a safe trip!"
All in all, the guy was totally cool and put up with my stupidity. I was sure to get it right on the way back, as I'm sure the TSA folks in O'Hare wouldn't be as amused by my antics. The trip went well, thanks for asking, and I'm glad to be home.Labels: biz, miscellany, travel
Call Me Professor
Well, adjunct professor...
This fall I have been awarded the position of adjunct professor in the department where I earned my undergraduate degree. I will be teaching Photoshop, Illustrator, and other graphics applications to underclassmen. It's a totally new thing for me, one I have never done before. I'm excited to embark on this new path.
In case you're wondering... no, I am not leaving my current job. The teaching gig is just a part time thing. One thing is for sure. Between The Boy and I, our jobs, the classes we take, and the classes we teach, it will be a busy, busy fall.
Some day things will slow down, right? That's the plan! All this effort is to help us accomplish our bigger picture goals for our life and family. I'm just going to do my best to enjoy the ride and try to stay sane.Labels: biz, happenings, the boy, the fam, the girl
Amen!
A geek myself, I must say that truer words have not been blogged in a long time:
A Note To Employers: 8 Things Intelligent People, Geeks and Nerds Need To Work HappilyLabels: biz, blogging, tech
Zen Ruiner
The Boy and I use this term regularly. In particular, he likes to tell me that I'm a Zen ruiner when I park in front of the house instead of over by the garage. He doesn't like the view of the house obscured by a car... even my cute adorable MINI.
Anyways... Yesterday at work, I was talking to a friend of mine, who likes to rearrange the toys in my office on a regular basis. I was getting ready to leave and I notice this when I turn in the direction of my Zen Garden:
It took me a second for it to compute...
Hey! Zero is defiling my Zen Garden! A Zen garden is NOT a litterbox! Now, that's a zen ruining move if I ever saw one. My friend cracks up... apparently, he was waiting the whole time he was there for me to notice what he had done. If nothing else, I'm reliable in that I give people the reaction that they're after.
Labels: biz, friends
What Exit?
I really hate driving in New Jersey... passionately. I had to head down to our Hackensack office to go to a meeting. I've been exhausted lately because of everything going on. Couple that with my normal tendency to let my mind wander, and that creates the recipe for a good Chrysanthemum story. There I am, driving along, sunroof open, listening to some tunes and I realize that I've blown by my exit... by about 3. Curses...
I think to myself, no problem, I'll just get off the next exit and turn around. **Insert the entire state of New Jersey mocking me with their laughter here.** Cut to me on on another major road heading away from the Jersey Turnpike with no clear way to turn around. I drove around for a good half hour, wondering if I was ever going to find the highway again. Finally, I find the highway in the direction that I'm headed... good to go, right.
Pardon me while I take a moment to skoff at the thought.
So, I'm headed from the other direction and reach my desired exit. You would think that you could take the road either way from an exit, but think again. Now I'm on the correct road, headed in the wrong direction. Finally, I find a place to make a U-turn (!!!) and finally head the right way and reach my destination.
I feel as if I've been through a war, but am glad that I left myself a ton of time to get here for my meeting.Labels: biz, the girl
Dear Mr. Junior Biz Dev Guy,
A word of advice... If you're putting together a sales pitch and presentation and then following it up with a lengthy proposal, it might be a good idea to confirm the spelling of the company's name.
Oh, yeah... and don't ever use the word synergy in a sales pitch either.
I think our two companies have some great synergies!
Ugh!
That is all.Labels: biz
