So my brother is older than me again! We are just under 11 months apart, so for about a month we are the same age, and I never miss the opportunity to tell him he's older than I am! I am a negligent sister, I didn't get a card off to him in the mail, but thank heaven for technology! I texted him during the day. Cheesy, yes, but I did want him to know I was thinking about him.
Have you ever been sucked in by an infomercial? I have, plenty! So I bought some of those Debbie Meyer Green Bags at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Guess what? I LOVE them. Since we both work full time, we only get to the grocery store once a week. I hate like heck to be midway through the week and discover that all my veggies are dead. So we decided ten bucks, we'll give them a try. We cheat and get the mixed bag of greens for salad, but I like a lot of extras in my salad. The first week we had the bags, it was ok, but seemed to be too moist. I went grocery shopping last Friday, bought all my veggies, then spent a couple of hours washing and chopping. This time I wrapped my newly chopped veggies in paper towels, or put a paper towel in the bag, and they were as yummy and crisp today as a week ago when I bought them. So I'm pretty happy!
We had an earthquake that shook the house last night, and on the other side of town there was some damage to homes, and a water flume broke, but shouldn't take too long to fix. We've had over 40 "siesmic events" in the last couple of days, but the only one I felt was the 4.7 last night. We've taken heavy things off higher shelves, just in case, and I took my Santa pictures off the wall for now, so they don't fall. One is a signed print, and the other is a signed copper etching from the same artist, Richard Burhans. It's from my favorite Christmas story "St. Nicholas and the valley beyond." Hopefully it will settle down a bit and we won't have any damage.
Well, I work tomorrow, so I better get some laundry done!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Rough days
Wow, have been having a rough couple of days! I'm working on a spreadsheet that has 4 pieces of information that I cannot get into a readable chart, all at once. Well, I got tapped to create the spread sheet for everyone, since apparently my ability to put a spreadsheet together with more than one field makes me the resident expert. The problem with that, is that everyone then calls me with little adjustments they want to make. I put out an email saying that there weren't any changes that could be made because cells are linked, formulas are based on cell position, etc.
So instead of getting all my work done, I had to focus on making sure we could all present the same information in the same way. Okay, so I'm whining.
Now, in staff meetings for the last several weeks, I've been fairly up front about the fact that since our director retired, and one of the associate directors has been the interim director, that the managers are taking on more tasks and responsibilities. In other words, the more tasks I have to take on, the more I have to push down to my managers, which ultimately means the more desk hours they are going to have: I can't spend all my time on the desk.
So today before I left, I asked the scheduler to make sure I was off desk for the next two days. She in turn asked what she was supposed to do since I need to be off desk, and one of my other managers does also. I could have handled it better, but my response was to make sure everyone got a lunch break, otherwise, schedule them on the desk. The reality is, my job is different than theirs--their major job responsibility is direct public service. That's a big part of mine as well, but I can't be neglecting managerial duties, and we're still trying to trim 15% off our 08-09 budget, then we'll begin trimming that much and more for the 09-10 FY.
So it's stressful at work, we're all doing more with less, and there is the added stress of vacant positions, having to close one of the libraries, and just general stuff.
Ok, I feel better now! And tomorrow I'm going to master the graphical representation of the spreadsheet!
So instead of getting all my work done, I had to focus on making sure we could all present the same information in the same way. Okay, so I'm whining.
Now, in staff meetings for the last several weeks, I've been fairly up front about the fact that since our director retired, and one of the associate directors has been the interim director, that the managers are taking on more tasks and responsibilities. In other words, the more tasks I have to take on, the more I have to push down to my managers, which ultimately means the more desk hours they are going to have: I can't spend all my time on the desk.
So today before I left, I asked the scheduler to make sure I was off desk for the next two days. She in turn asked what she was supposed to do since I need to be off desk, and one of my other managers does also. I could have handled it better, but my response was to make sure everyone got a lunch break, otherwise, schedule them on the desk. The reality is, my job is different than theirs--their major job responsibility is direct public service. That's a big part of mine as well, but I can't be neglecting managerial duties, and we're still trying to trim 15% off our 08-09 budget, then we'll begin trimming that much and more for the 09-10 FY.
So it's stressful at work, we're all doing more with less, and there is the added stress of vacant positions, having to close one of the libraries, and just general stuff.
Ok, I feel better now! And tomorrow I'm going to master the graphical representation of the spreadsheet!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Been on Vacation!
Got home lost night from two glorious weeks on vacation! First, we went on a 5 day cruise to Mexico. We left from San Diego and first traveled to Cabo San Lucas. The weather was fabulous for our first full day at sea, and I laid on a lounge and listened to a book on my iPod the first day. Butch isn't a lay around kind of guy, but he was a champ about it. We spent a day in Cabo, and first thing we went on a Snuba excursion! Snuba is a combination of scuba diving and snorkeling. They give you a wetsuit, flippers and mask, and then a breathing regulator. Instead of wearing the air tanks, they float above you on a raft to which you are connected by a hose. I had a moment of sheer panic when they put the weight belt on and I got to the bottom, but fortunately, I overcame that. It was a lot of fun, I expected it to be a bit more colorful, we were close to the Sea of Cortez, but not far in the ocean or very deep. Only about 25 feet down. I would definitely do that again, or even learn to scuba dive.
Getting back into the boat, barefoot and wet, I slipped. Felt like an idiot. Got back to shore, and sure enough, my toes had started to go purple. Went to the first aid station, taped them up, and walked around Cabo for a while. I'm not so much into shopping, but I did want to get a beaded trinket. Allison brought one back for me from her cruise, and they are hand crafted from the Huichol people. From what I can tell, a shape is coated in a soft, pliable wax, then seed beads are individually set in patterns of symbols relevant to the Huichol people. Because I got a great picture of a starfish while on the snuba excursion, I got a simple starfish, with a few colors. They range in price from my simple starfish at 15.00 to over 1000.00. Bartering is fun, but sometimes I feel like I'm insulting the handiwork. It's not that I don't think it's worth the price they are asking, it's just that I'm not willing to spend money. We got back to the ship, had dinner, then made our way to the infirmary. Toes: broken. When I slipped, I must have rammed them right into the center of the boat, but because the water was so cold necessitating the wetsuits, that I didn't notice. I broke the third and fourth toes on my left foot. Important cruising tip: because I was injured on an excursion sponsored by Carnival, there were no infirmary bills, they took care of all of it.
The next day was a full day at sea and it was chilly and cloudy, so we spent the day in the cabin, napping, reading, watching movies, and keeping my foot iced and elevated.
The next day we went into Ensenada, and wound up taking a 45 minute bus ride along the coastline to see La Bufadora. La Bufadora roughly translates to Buffalo Snort, it's a natural blow hole from ocean, sort of like Old Faithful, only from the sea. There are only 4 naturally occuring blow holes in the world, so we went to see it. It's also a huge tourist trap flea market setting, but was fun to shop if you're willing to barter. I did get exactly the kind of purse I had been looking for in leather. Started at 45.00, paid 20. The thing is, I would have paid 45 if it was worth it, but I could have found it elsewhere. I finally tried fish tacos. Actually, it was very good, not what I expected. The deep fried part sort of eliminates the concept of a healthy item, but it was good! You get a "free" margarita when you order fish tacos, comes in a little paper cup like your dentist uses! Made me laugh! But I can say I've had fish tacos and a margarita in Mexico!
From leaving Ensenada we arrived in San Diego first thing in the morning and thus ended our cruise. As cruises go, it was fun, I'm not so enamored of Mexico, so probably would pick another destination next time, but love cruising!
We spent the next day in San Diego at the zoo. Typical zoo fare, fun! Our hotel was in the Gaslamp district, so we walked around later in the evening. Boy, talk about a town coming to life after dark! There were so many great bands playing, lots of outdoor bistro settings, it was fun.
Then we headed for Anaheim, and 5 days at Disneyland. Okay, 5 days in a row might be overkill, but we had fun. The first two days we spent the entire day there, then the third day we spent the morning, and headed home. Then we took a day off, then the final two days we went after lunch for the evening activities and fireworks. We could see the fireworks from our hotel room, but you have to be sitting in front of the castle for the full effect!
So, home again, ready for going back to work. For the first time since I can remember, I didn't check email or work email for the entire time!
So, thanks for dredging through the entire post, there's a lot more to tell, but trez boring!
Getting back into the boat, barefoot and wet, I slipped. Felt like an idiot. Got back to shore, and sure enough, my toes had started to go purple. Went to the first aid station, taped them up, and walked around Cabo for a while. I'm not so much into shopping, but I did want to get a beaded trinket. Allison brought one back for me from her cruise, and they are hand crafted from the Huichol people. From what I can tell, a shape is coated in a soft, pliable wax, then seed beads are individually set in patterns of symbols relevant to the Huichol people. Because I got a great picture of a starfish while on the snuba excursion, I got a simple starfish, with a few colors. They range in price from my simple starfish at 15.00 to over 1000.00. Bartering is fun, but sometimes I feel like I'm insulting the handiwork. It's not that I don't think it's worth the price they are asking, it's just that I'm not willing to spend money. We got back to the ship, had dinner, then made our way to the infirmary. Toes: broken. When I slipped, I must have rammed them right into the center of the boat, but because the water was so cold necessitating the wetsuits, that I didn't notice. I broke the third and fourth toes on my left foot. Important cruising tip: because I was injured on an excursion sponsored by Carnival, there were no infirmary bills, they took care of all of it.
The next day was a full day at sea and it was chilly and cloudy, so we spent the day in the cabin, napping, reading, watching movies, and keeping my foot iced and elevated.
The next day we went into Ensenada, and wound up taking a 45 minute bus ride along the coastline to see La Bufadora. La Bufadora roughly translates to Buffalo Snort, it's a natural blow hole from ocean, sort of like Old Faithful, only from the sea. There are only 4 naturally occuring blow holes in the world, so we went to see it. It's also a huge tourist trap flea market setting, but was fun to shop if you're willing to barter. I did get exactly the kind of purse I had been looking for in leather. Started at 45.00, paid 20. The thing is, I would have paid 45 if it was worth it, but I could have found it elsewhere. I finally tried fish tacos. Actually, it was very good, not what I expected. The deep fried part sort of eliminates the concept of a healthy item, but it was good! You get a "free" margarita when you order fish tacos, comes in a little paper cup like your dentist uses! Made me laugh! But I can say I've had fish tacos and a margarita in Mexico!
From leaving Ensenada we arrived in San Diego first thing in the morning and thus ended our cruise. As cruises go, it was fun, I'm not so enamored of Mexico, so probably would pick another destination next time, but love cruising!
We spent the next day in San Diego at the zoo. Typical zoo fare, fun! Our hotel was in the Gaslamp district, so we walked around later in the evening. Boy, talk about a town coming to life after dark! There were so many great bands playing, lots of outdoor bistro settings, it was fun.
Then we headed for Anaheim, and 5 days at Disneyland. Okay, 5 days in a row might be overkill, but we had fun. The first two days we spent the entire day there, then the third day we spent the morning, and headed home. Then we took a day off, then the final two days we went after lunch for the evening activities and fireworks. We could see the fireworks from our hotel room, but you have to be sitting in front of the castle for the full effect!
So, home again, ready for going back to work. For the first time since I can remember, I didn't check email or work email for the entire time!
So, thanks for dredging through the entire post, there's a lot more to tell, but trez boring!
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