Okay, I've moved to a new location:
here. Come on over!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Lettuce Toss
I finally gave up on the lettuce soup. Much as it pains me to do so, I decided to toss it. It doesn't taste very good, is the main reason. I mean, it's edible, and it's probably even reasonably nutritious, so I feel a certain amount of guilt about throwing it out, but it is just . . . Not Good. It was a valiant effort to use up the vegetation in the fridge, but ultimately it's just taking up space in the freezer.
Everything else is tasty, though: I've been eating the curried carrot turnip soup quite happily. I've also been throwing in bits of other stuff--some leftover rice, for example, works very nicely, as would any kind of greens--and of course I add cheese. The next cooking project will need to use some beets, as I have the most of that. And the turnips, of course. I basically have until April or May to get through it all, i.e., until the 2012 crop starts up. I'll probably make some stuff this weekend, so I have lunches for work. (Oh yes, it's so very nice to be able to say that.)
In fact, I'm starting work today. My new boss called yesterday and asked if there's any way I could come in before next Thursday, and I said sure, so long as we work around a few lunch dates I have. So I'll go in this afternoon, most of Friday (Orange--I'll email you to see if you can pick me up after all), most of Monday, and all day Tuesday. I reserved Wednesday for seeing a friend and doing any last-minute chores. One of the things that I think will help is that NewOrg is funded by many of the same funding sources as OldOrg, so the contracts will be familiar, even if the specifics differ somewhat. NewBoss is overwhelmed, so wants me on board right now. Yes, it is nice to be wanted and, presumably soon enough, appreciated.
I keep fibrillating about commenting on the various political firestorms of the day, but I keep staying out of it. For one thing,Charles Pierce does it so much better than I could. For another, the forced-birth nuts are making me insane. Their insanity would be mindboggling if I hadn't spent the past 40 years having my mind boggled by them--though they do seem to get worse.
And Willard? The stripper of assets? The disgustingly rich do-nothing, who inherited most of his money, and then used that pile to make another pile, all without working a day in his life, and whose positions change with the weather? Or Santorum (whom Pierce consistently reminds us is a dick), the hypocritical creep? Or N. Leroy Gingrich, staff-banger supreme and pompous windbag? What can I possibly say? The notion that these assholes are serious contenders for the nomination for one of our two major parties shows just how much we have become beholden to corporate interests and far-right nutcases. The fact that so many of them are campaigning on shredding what remains of a safety net, and the fact that they get votes from people who would be negatively affected by said shredding, causes me to turn away and read whatever novels come to hand. I cannot fathom it, and I cannot stand it.
Also, this blog will be moving soon, to wordpress. I haven't figured out the details of it yet, but I"ll let you know.
Everything else is tasty, though: I've been eating the curried carrot turnip soup quite happily. I've also been throwing in bits of other stuff--some leftover rice, for example, works very nicely, as would any kind of greens--and of course I add cheese. The next cooking project will need to use some beets, as I have the most of that. And the turnips, of course. I basically have until April or May to get through it all, i.e., until the 2012 crop starts up. I'll probably make some stuff this weekend, so I have lunches for work. (Oh yes, it's so very nice to be able to say that.)
In fact, I'm starting work today. My new boss called yesterday and asked if there's any way I could come in before next Thursday, and I said sure, so long as we work around a few lunch dates I have. So I'll go in this afternoon, most of Friday (Orange--I'll email you to see if you can pick me up after all), most of Monday, and all day Tuesday. I reserved Wednesday for seeing a friend and doing any last-minute chores. One of the things that I think will help is that NewOrg is funded by many of the same funding sources as OldOrg, so the contracts will be familiar, even if the specifics differ somewhat. NewBoss is overwhelmed, so wants me on board right now. Yes, it is nice to be wanted and, presumably soon enough, appreciated.
I keep fibrillating about commenting on the various political firestorms of the day, but I keep staying out of it. For one thing,Charles Pierce does it so much better than I could. For another, the forced-birth nuts are making me insane. Their insanity would be mindboggling if I hadn't spent the past 40 years having my mind boggled by them--though they do seem to get worse.
And Willard? The stripper of assets? The disgustingly rich do-nothing, who inherited most of his money, and then used that pile to make another pile, all without working a day in his life, and whose positions change with the weather? Or Santorum (whom Pierce consistently reminds us is a dick), the hypocritical creep? Or N. Leroy Gingrich, staff-banger supreme and pompous windbag? What can I possibly say? The notion that these assholes are serious contenders for the nomination for one of our two major parties shows just how much we have become beholden to corporate interests and far-right nutcases. The fact that so many of them are campaigning on shredding what remains of a safety net, and the fact that they get votes from people who would be negatively affected by said shredding, causes me to turn away and read whatever novels come to hand. I cannot fathom it, and I cannot stand it.
Also, this blog will be moving soon, to wordpress. I haven't figured out the details of it yet, but I"ll let you know.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
On the Right Side of the Glass
I"m having lunch with my new boss and coworkers next week--yes, before I officially start--and I'm looking forward to it. One of the coolest things about this whole process is that there is clearly a group of people who are eager and enthusiastic about what I bring to the table--rather than, say, shoving me out the door because they just don't think I have anything useful to add. Even though I'm not going to bother with the interview with the third organization, and I'm not sure I'm the best person for the job for which I interviewed last Friday, the fact that three organizations were interested enough to want to talk to me is very nice. On top of that, of course, one of the organizations did handstands and cartwheels to get me on board as quickly as possible. The second person with whom I met briefly on Wednesday asked NewBoss how s/he found me, the implication being that it was a great find.
Seriously? I feel like I'm back on the right side of the looking glass, where up is up and people want to use what I know and what I know how to do, where people consider me a valuable find rather than a thorn in the side. I had lunch yesterday with someone from the old place--someone who is also outside the bubble team--and s/he confirmed again what I was experiencing (and is experiencing his/her own version of it). So, oddly enough, my ex-boss's original statement, that s/he thought I would be a better fit and would be happier elsewhere, is accurate. The problem, though--for the old organization and for ex-boss, not for me--is that the reason that is true isn't because of some deficiency on my part.
But I don't want to spend any more energy on the old place. I have an opportunity here to continue building on what I've learned, and I'm excited to get to do that. The things I ended up doing at the old place because there wasn't anyone else to do them gave me the knowledge I needed to be able to step into this new role, and my new boss knows all kinds of stuff, and can teach me all kinds of stuff, that will expand my capabilities even more.
It's all a little surreal, because of the speed and intensity with which it happened. I'm trying to be calm about the success, too, just as I tried (and sometimes succeeded) to be calm about the challenge of being unemployed. So I'm making some bread right now, because that's my default activity these days, and later we're heading off to cheeseland for the night (fab dinner plus college hockey game), and the bread will be something of an experiment, because the final rising will be done in the back of the vehicle (where it will be cool) or in my fridge, i.e., will be a very slow rise. No idea if that will work, but no big deal if it doesn't.
Seriously? I feel like I'm back on the right side of the looking glass, where up is up and people want to use what I know and what I know how to do, where people consider me a valuable find rather than a thorn in the side. I had lunch yesterday with someone from the old place--someone who is also outside the bubble team--and s/he confirmed again what I was experiencing (and is experiencing his/her own version of it). So, oddly enough, my ex-boss's original statement, that s/he thought I would be a better fit and would be happier elsewhere, is accurate. The problem, though--for the old organization and for ex-boss, not for me--is that the reason that is true isn't because of some deficiency on my part.
But I don't want to spend any more energy on the old place. I have an opportunity here to continue building on what I've learned, and I'm excited to get to do that. The things I ended up doing at the old place because there wasn't anyone else to do them gave me the knowledge I needed to be able to step into this new role, and my new boss knows all kinds of stuff, and can teach me all kinds of stuff, that will expand my capabilities even more.
It's all a little surreal, because of the speed and intensity with which it happened. I'm trying to be calm about the success, too, just as I tried (and sometimes succeeded) to be calm about the challenge of being unemployed. So I'm making some bread right now, because that's my default activity these days, and later we're heading off to cheeseland for the night (fab dinner plus college hockey game), and the bread will be something of an experiment, because the final rising will be done in the back of the vehicle (where it will be cool) or in my fridge, i.e., will be a very slow rise. No idea if that will work, but no big deal if it doesn't.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Do a Happy Dance
To answer Larry's question below, I'm basically saying that there were a lot of changes at the senior management level, which is true, and that we were having difficulty figuring out how best to connect my skills with the organization's needs, which is true-ish. I've had a fair amount of practice saying this in the past week, what with two in-person interviews (to which I will return momentarily) and a phone interview, and I'm suspecting that it's asked mostly to make sure I don't launch into a screed of some kind. And, frankly, though I've kept the severance details private, the fact that I can line up people with whom I worked and who are still there is probably helpful, and I can line up ex-bosses back to the early 1990s probably says something,
So I had a phone screen on Monday, and the woman with whom I spoke called me back later that afternoon and asked me to come in for an interview on Wednesday (yes, yesterday), which I did. Just about 24 hours later, the interviewer/prospective boss called and officially offered me a job. The salary is very decent--it's about what I was making before my last promotion at the old place--and the commute is about the same as the old place (it's two stops more on the train, and maybe two more blocks of walking at the other end), so that's all good. Even better, though, the NewBoss is very very excited to have me on board--obviously, given that s/he turned cartwheels to get the references and everything else done in less than a day.
I start in two weeks, so the vacation is nearly over. I have had time to do some nothing, and I'll have some more time to do that--basically, I will have spent what is usually the worst part of the winter hanging out in my apartment with Loaner Cat, and I have ended up in a job where people are enthusiastic about what I bring to the table. It's a bit of a whirlwind--I really didn't think it would work out this well or this quickly, and especially not well and quickly together. Go figure.
And, hey, I still have a freezer full of veggies, and an active sourdough starter, and a cleaner apartment (well, that one needs some revisiting). I'm going to try to get a new faucet next week, and I might be able to get the fabric to make a curtain for the kitchen window, and then I'll be set for a bit. I'm trying to not get too excited, much as I tried not to get to anxious, but I'm permitting myself a day or two of happy-dancing, for sure.
So I had a phone screen on Monday, and the woman with whom I spoke called me back later that afternoon and asked me to come in for an interview on Wednesday (yes, yesterday), which I did. Just about 24 hours later, the interviewer/prospective boss called and officially offered me a job. The salary is very decent--it's about what I was making before my last promotion at the old place--and the commute is about the same as the old place (it's two stops more on the train, and maybe two more blocks of walking at the other end), so that's all good. Even better, though, the NewBoss is very very excited to have me on board--obviously, given that s/he turned cartwheels to get the references and everything else done in less than a day.
I start in two weeks, so the vacation is nearly over. I have had time to do some nothing, and I'll have some more time to do that--basically, I will have spent what is usually the worst part of the winter hanging out in my apartment with Loaner Cat, and I have ended up in a job where people are enthusiastic about what I bring to the table. It's a bit of a whirlwind--I really didn't think it would work out this well or this quickly, and especially not well and quickly together. Go figure.
And, hey, I still have a freezer full of veggies, and an active sourdough starter, and a cleaner apartment (well, that one needs some revisiting). I'm going to try to get a new faucet next week, and I might be able to get the fabric to make a curtain for the kitchen window, and then I'll be set for a bit. I'm trying to not get too excited, much as I tried not to get to anxious, but I'm permitting myself a day or two of happy-dancing, for sure.
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