Saturday, August 26, 2006

A post to post the post a post!

Good day readers. Just wanted to post in and try to give some kind of explanation for that last post.

Life's been nutz the past year or so, and honestly, thats no excuse for a father to not stay in contact with his kids. But, thats what I did. Trying to stabilize and get some sense of order in my life, I failed to maintain contact with my children.

Thankfully children are remarkably forgiving, and I have reestablished contact with that part of my life, and I've no intention of ever letting that be out of my list of priorities again. Not that it ever was, but that would require far more explanation tonight than I really feel like going into.

Until then, that was the mystery..

Over and out.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Real Fear

Real fear is wondering if your children will ever want to see you again.
And knowing its noones fault but your own if they don't.

This is my thought for the day.
Explanation to come later.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

*lies in a pool of drool on his desk, snoring contentedly*

Ok ok.. No.. I'm awake, but I'd very much *LIKE* to be asleep. Apparently the weather change (YAY RAIN!) has made me sleepy. Seems like perfect napping weather, a cup of warm tea, my Turkish Flower curled up next to me, and just listening to the rain fall. Nice image, no?


Well, instead I'm at work. And ya know, that ain't so bad either. In the last few days I've come to like my co-workers a great deal, my supervisor is an amusing guy who reminds me in a very distant way of Tim Taylor, and my boss. *heh* He's a big guy, and he smiles and laughs alot. This bodes well for my future here. I'm also picking up the work fast and digging right in and enjoying the hell out of it. Yes, that makes me a touch of a geek, as its all data entry, but its *INTERESTING* data entry. I'm not lookin' at the same stuff all day, I start a project, finish a project, move on to the next project. And my inbox overfloweth. (This is not entirely typical, even my teammates have gasped when they saw the loads coming in)

On an amusing note, things I've been meaning to mention the past few days:

1. The Divine Secrets of the 'Yeah yeah' sisterhood. Nikki, my trainer, is cute in that 'friends annoying kid sister' kinda way, and one of her habits is to respond to any comment requiring a positive with an overly cheerful 'Yeah yeah!'. Which made me snicker quietly to myself the first couple of times I heard it, and when I mentioned it in passing, it turns out that its a habit she learned from her grandmother. Apparently, 'Nah nah' is also part of their vocabulary, and I'm not alone in finding this habit incredibly amusing. So apparently, they are in on some of the 'Divine Secrets of the Yeah Yeah Sisterhood' and her Grandmother is the headmistress. *shrugs* I don't expect you to laugh, it was funny being there.

2. The coolest, flowers.. EVER.. I believe are called 'Chocolate Cosmos'... Observe.

These little blaggards *SMELL* exactly like a rich chocolate cocoa. They are, in a word, divine. I will have some for my garden. Seriously, I mean, chocolate scented flowers? This goes right up there with beer.. "Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin had it ALMOST right. "Chocolate Cosmos are proof..." Seriously folks.. Yum.. CHocolate.. Damn.. I think I'd eat them though. Which has potential.. I wonder A. If they're edible, and B. What they taste like. (Eyes the flowers on Nikki's desk with renewed interest)

3. A bit of a tirade on my part: Why the hell should people be expected to do more than they're paid to do?
Now, I'm playing the devil's advocate here for a minute, as I love learning new things and picking up new projects. So lets assume for a moment, that when you start a job, you get a job description. In that job description one finds a list of the things that is expected of you for that job. You get offered the job, and accept the job. Boom. You now know what you have to do.

Rant begins:
Now lets assume the following: One day, having completed everything on your list of things 'in your job description', you are approached by your employer noticing you lounging and generally enjoying reaping the rewards of a job well done. They suddenly want to know why you aren't working "Done." "Well can't you find something else to do?"

Correct me if I'm wrong but 'Everything in my job description has been completed, you want me to do more, pay me more' should be an acceptable answer to this. I agreed to do a particular set of tasks, for a particular wage. More tasks = more money in my mind. Seriously, is there anyone out there who can contest this as a purely logical conclusion?

No, this didn't happen to me, and no, I'm not SOLIDLY on the side of those who agree with the above. But I see its logic, and certainly don't think you should be punished for being efficient. Should be an encouragement to get all your work done quicker, neh? Me, like I said, I like learning new things, and so jump at the idea of new work once the old is done. But I don't think ANYONE should be expected to do more than they're paid to do, and what they're paid to do is included in their job description when they get hired on.

Rant ends.

4. Ok.. I'm catching up here, so bear with the verboseness. I'd like to throw a thank you to all those incompetents out there.. No really.. I love 'em. Hell, I've probably even *BEEN* them at one point or another. But seriously. I keep hearing: You're *SO* much faster to catch on than the last person was, they had to keep asking the same questions for the entire duration of their stay here and kept making the same mistakes over and over again.

So, I'm performing below what I consider acceptable standards, not moving *NEARLY* as fast as I think I should, and I find out the following: A. I'm exceeding production levels, and B. Obviously due to A, I'm doing better than the last one did during her entire stay here. What this means is, ultimately, I can perform below my own personal standards, and *STILL* be exceeding requirements. Everyone high-five the incompetents of the world for lowering the bar for the rest of us.

*thinks* I think I pretty much covered everything I wanted to talk about today... Though there's something itching at the back of my brain from earlier today that isn't quite coming forward. I'll post about that when I remember what the heck it is.

Friday, August 04, 2006

That work thing..

Good morning campers!! Up and at 'em! Its a bright new da..

Oh Scupper it, just go back to sleep. I would've this morning.


But the reason I haven't is particularly good news! I started a job today work.. Well, never mind where I work, suffice to say you wouldn't want to hear from me. But I *AM* working, and that makes all the difference.

Good news - My co-workers are pretty decent people so far, bright and amusing with decent senses of humor.

I give myself a week before I manage to offend one of them. :-)

The work itself is pretty straightforward and simple thus far, nothin' too horrid, and contrary to the warnings I've been given, the phone is *NOT* ringing off the hook. Of course, this is only day 1.

Weird factors - I've never been paid once a month before, and thats going to take some adjustment.

Now, computer facilities.. ALl in all, pretty decent, got your email, your web stuff, able to get to my web emails...
The problem (not really) is that I only have access to web based messengers, and Yahoo has, yet again, gotten on my shit list in that department. Yahoo doesn't *HAVE* a web based messenger. So take heed!

If you want to talk to me between the hours of 12:30pm-1:30pm PST, when I get on for my bit of mid-day recreation, ye'd best be gettin' an MSN messenger, and adding aodhan_an_chalaidh@hotmail.com to it so's I can *TALK* to you!

But aside from that, things are going well...

Now I just need my fans and fountains. :) This desk is kinda dreary..


Oh, and the office music? Varies from horrible to.. well.. AC/DC's 'Hells Bells' is playing right now. *rocks out*