Friday, September 29, 2006

[via my ox is broken via princess jami]

One of our deputies has “volunteered” to take on the task of managing the district website. He asked if I could help and I said sure, thinking that my meager experience with the blog and my mother’s business website would be enough to give some assistance.

Turns out the website is done using MS Front Page.

I’m sure that software makes it much easier for newbies to negotiate the creation of their first website, but for me it’s so easy it’s too hard. I sat with him for about an hour and my head started hurting. I told him that I’m used to actually writing HTML code and that I’ll need to see if I can get Front Page loaded on my computer so that I can click around to learn how it works before I will be able to be of any help.

Hilarious was that the little bit of geek speak that I rattled off elicited the blankest look.

Some randomness:

This has been a long week. Yesterday was boring. Today will be worse.

Turns out that my pregnant taste buds aren’t quite ready for the sweetness of the Pumpkin Spice latte. Sad, I am. Although my wallet is rejoicing at the money that will be saved this fall. I might try again when the Christmas lattes make their appearance. Eggnog latte, yum.

My cankles have gone down some after a night of sleep with my feet elevated on a pillow under the covers. However, they’re still a bit swollen. I’m watching my sodium and drinking copious amounts of water - by my count about 2 liters daily, which is about 2 liters more than I drank pre-pregnancy.

We got a call from the realtor who manages the townhouse we rent. There were a few things the HOA inspector noticed that need doing when they did their walk through the neighborhood this week. Easy stuff that the management company needs to do mostly. And he asked if we wanted a month-to-month or 12 month lease. I asked him if it was possible to get a 9 month lease, explaining about Beau’s job hunt and the possibility of moving next summer if he gets one of the jobs out of the area. He said no problem. That will save some penalty fees if that does happen. And I assured him that if Beau does end up getting a local job that we plan to stay in the house indefinitely. He liked hearing that.

This weekend our church starts a Saturday evening service to accommodate the gajillions of new people who have been coming on Sunday mornings. The past month of Sundays has been an adventure in the parking lot - there are a lot of people who’ve missed the first 25 minutes of the 11:00 service while trying to find a place to park. And pretty every seat has been full. So we’re excited about the new service, especially those of us who liked the Saturday service that we had when we were still in the old building. I’ll be at all three services this weekend since the choir is singing.

I think that covers everything - oh, don’t talk to me about Survivor or The Office. I plan to watch them tonight when I get home - I was at church until after 10pm last night and didn’t get to watch.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

I’m not really bored. It’s just that things are super slow now that the books are closed and I can’t do any financial stuff until Monday.

What I’d really prefer to be doing right now is reclining at home with my cankles elevated until I have to go to church for choir/band practice tonight.

I’m not kidding about the cankles, btw. You should see them and my feet, which have been shoeless for the past couple of hours. I may have to drive home barefoot because I fear these dogs won’t fit back into my shoes.

I shall be wearing flip flops to work tomorrow - I’ve already gotten approval from the Chief Deputy. *happy sigh*

So remember my rant from yesterday about the telecommuting thing?

I just got off the phone with my boss. He is sending my request for the wireless card for my laptop to IT.

I don’t think he would do that unless I was going to be telecommuting.

Woo!

I love autumn. The cooler temperatures with fresher, cleaner air. The colors of the dying leaves.

Coffee.

I bought my first cup of coffee (decaf) (since I found out about the baby) this morning. Sure was tasty.

Bring on the Pumpkin Spice Latte*!

* Although, I went to Caribou this morning - Lite White Raspberry Mocha, thank you.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

However, I think it’s a pretty cool picture.

Thanks to Beau’s Sis, who sent it to me via email.

I’ve made it no secret that I hope and plan to telecommute after the baby arrives. I’m also making it clear to the powers that be that bed rest is a distinct possibility because of the potential complications with the pregnancy. I’m doing this so that we have plenty of time to prepare and make the necessary arrangements before the time comes. I don’t want to have to take any more leave than necessary and I plan to keep my job.

So a person in my office was chatting about how she needs more of my involvement in her stuff, although I have no desire to get sucked into her stuff and I plan to discuss this with my boss as well. However, I just nodded my head as I listened to her. Then she asked about my telecommuting plans. I laid out what kind of schedule I and my boss were working on and she mentioned some additional computer equipment that she thinks I’ll need to help her. Whatever, I’ll mention that to him, too.

And then she said, “Just so you know, I’m not going to say anything to anyone about your telecommuting. People have done nice things for me in the past and I like to return the favor.”

I just looked at her, trying to keep a neutral face.

Clearly, she was implying that she feels that she could complain discrimination or something like that. After a second, I said, “You know the telecommuting policy is approved by OPM. I’ve only gotten verbal approval at this point, but I’m filling out the proper forms to make this official. I still need signatures from management to make this final.”

And it bugged me that I was defending myself to this person. It’s not my fault that when she was a newly divorced woman with a small child that this wasn’t an option. But it is an option now and I plan to work it to my advantage. There is no reason for me not to telecommute - I can do 95% of my job from anywhere. And it’s not like I’ll never be in the office - my plan is work here 2 days a week, which I told her.

There’s always one major pain the butt that makes life miserable for an entire office. She is that person. I wanted to tell her not to hold back just because she wants me to think she’s nice. Go ahead and complain. We’ll see where it gets her.

Gah.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

I never cease to be amazed at the number of forwarded emails I get from coworkers (my boss is the worst offender) with phony alerts and warnings. The latest was this one:

Claim:  Service station customers are getting stuck by HIV-loaded syringes affixed to gas pump handles.

Status:  False.

A simple check at Snopes.com before you decide to forward the message will save a lot of people the hassle of checking it out themselves or living with some irrational and unfounded fear. It is the first thing I do when I get one of these messages. Almost all of the time it’s a false warning or fake story.

OK, I think I’ve managed to watch all of the new shows that I had planned to see this season. Here’s my snap judgment of said shows:

Vanished: The Masons have reared their conspiratorial heads. I’m still liking it.

Smith: I like Ray Liotta and he’s great in this role as the anti-hero burglar who wants to be a normal family guy. Shoreh Agdashloo I love and I like her character although we only saw her for about 10 seconds. Interesting.

Standoff: I like it. When LOST starts back up this may get pushed to the upstairs Tivo (which hardly gets watched), but I’ll keep it to watch it if I end up on bed rest.

Justice: I’m moving to the fence on this one. I sort of like it, but if I miss it one week I won’t cry about it. This may get dumped from the DVR eventually.

Shark: The one thing I hate about TV and movies is that too often the character rattle off their dialogue so quickly that it’s hard to keep up. I don’t know many people in real life who can put their thoughts together and get them out of their mouths coherently that quickly. I like the show, but it’s a little too quick for my taste. I’m hoping it mellows out a bit.

Men in Trees: I’m still charmed.

The Nine hasn’t started yet. I’m interested in this one, too.

Monday, September 25, 2006

I know that every one of y’all relate to something in that video.

[via caltechgirl]

We watched The Interpreter on Saturday. Beau thought it was a bit slow and long. I liked it.

Political intrigue and deception unfold inside the United Nations, where a US Secret Service agent (Penn) is assigned to investigate an interpreter (Kidman) who overhears an assassination plot.

That sums up the story well. The acting by Penn and Kidman was good. The plot held my interest; especially in light of the goings on at the UN last week. I think it’s worth the rental.

3 stars out of 5.

I think the Race may be back to its old form, but a few more episodes will tell. So far I’m enjoying the show. My general thoughts behind the link…

Friday, September 22, 2006

For those who have been waiting - there’s a new update at Whiny Complaints.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Today marks the real end of the Moussaoui trial for our office. We wanted to have an awards ceremony for the folks who helped our agency with the operation that actually began when we took custody of that prisoner back in 2001. I just came back from a nice recognition event reminded of just how big the whole thing really was for our courthouse. I bet most of you didn’t realize that it really lasted more than four years rather than just a few months, right?

It’s kind of cool that I had such a peripheral part of this historical event.