Friday, June 30, 2006

Gone Hiking

Be back week after next!

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Some people just suck . . .

They've made poor Amy's life hell ever since she moved to her new home and job, holding all her stuff for ransom, practically! More inclined to shout obscenities at these people than I can ever remember having been before. If you ever need to move, and I need to move soon, these are people to avoid.

http://sia.lostchicken.com/users/aibarr/104039.html

Poor Amy. Hugs. I'm going to go be grumpy now. Or maybe go have cookies sent to her new home. Sigh.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Chasing Blue Sky

Chasing blue sky with the end of the world in the rear view mirror. Riding the storm like a cresting wave, poised between joy and despair as the light ahead fades, blown away by the tossing wind. The shadow green sky that creeps from behind is a haunting fear that is half desire. The desire to turn and face the fury, be swept up and tumbled down by the darkness. What keeps me flying from it towards that patch of tranquil blue, when tranquility is out of reach? There is a piercing pleasure in knowing that the storm will win, cannot be controled.

But there is power in the race.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Gloop Gloop!

I dreamt all morning of living in a house where when it rained, water seeped in through the floorboards. I got up this morning and emptied the mixing bowls on my bedroom window sill. They were pretty full. I drove off to work this morning in a pouring rain. Three of my coworkers didn't come in because their houses had water in them. I drove by my soon to be new home on the White Oak Bayou this afternoon. Doesn't look like it got flooded, so I think I'll be all right there. Anyone building an ark yet? It's supposed to rain some more.

In other news, how 'bout them RICE OWLS! Still undefeated in Omaha. We play next on Wednesday evening. So I won't be rehearsing with the Houston Concert Band that night! :-P

Friday, June 16, 2006

I can will write good today

I am sooooo drained. Today I did some major overhaul on a document that was so poorly written, I was actually almost crying in frustration. It was sent to me to make sure that punctuation conformed to the client company's standards, and that usage of their trademarked terms was correct per a memo from their legal department.

I couldn't do it. Simply reading this document was like pushing my brain through oatmeal. It was almost as if a second grader had been asked to write an essay on how he fixed his installation bugs over the summer. Punctuation was the least of this writer's worries.

I felt insulted. Honestly. Some one considered this document finished enough to be proofread? Some one wanted to put it into my hands so that it would then bear the stamp of my own work? Look, I bust my butt to completely conceptualize a complex idea, to really understand the issue to be communicated, and then to do so with language that is PROFESSIONAL, is CONCISE, is LUCID. Whoever wrote this document did none of that. And then had the gall to ask that my company check for punctuation and consistent usage of the terms "click" vs. "click on" etc. I'm sorry. No.

On the other hand, I got a key to the office today, and I cashed my first paycheck yesterday. My cousin's getting married tomorrow, and the Rice Owls (as well as two of my best friends) are in Omaha for the College World Series. Life is a net postive at the moment, so I'll just do my best to enjoy it!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

OliO

The odds and ends of my life right now. It's possible I'll regret having stayed up to write this when my alarm goes off at 7 AM tomorrow. But I won't regret having spent a few hours with good friends at Brian O'Neill's.

My application for the new apartment got approved today! It's one of those things you never really worry about, but then when you know it's all okay, you realize how much it would have sucked if it wasn't.

I logged client-billable hours today loading boxes onto a dolly and taking them to a coworker's car.

I'm eating pop-tarts and drinking milk right now, and I won't tell you what the date is on the milk bottle because you'll all be appalled, but it smells okay and tastes okay, so it won't kill me, and I can't waste good food, somehow.

Finally, I haven't posted any poetry in a while, so here's one.
The sun breaks through the clouds
And falls on my head
A benediction
Healing by the laying on of hands
Then it's gone
The hand withdrawn
But the blessing
Lives on.
Night, y'all.

Friday, June 09, 2006

New Digs!

Well, I was productive today. I signed on a new apartment! Check it out!

http://www.stonewoodapartments.com/home.asp

I'll have a second floor unit with a bayou view. I went and looked at my view. Lots of trees, and the green slopes of the bayou. It's a little smaller than here, and I lose a closet and some pantry room to the balcony, I guess. But it will be a 10 minute drive to work with no highways, and it still has quick freeway access, because it's right off of I-10.

It has a washer and dryer, too! And my apartment will no longer front a street that provides parking for a bar. It's expensive, the new place. But now I have a job, and it's cheaper than anything else comperable in the area.

Most importantly, it's a 4 year old building, not a 30 year old one that leaks!

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Drips :-(

I meant to give everyone an update here before this, but things have been a little hectic since Wednesday, when I got a note saying that my apartment complex could not would not fix my leaky window. That the problem is structural, the building is old, and I could either find a way to live with it, or they would be willing to let me out of my lease early with no penalty.

Upon reading this, I cursed and threw my keys across the room, plopped down on the couch, and cried out of sheer frustration. I've worked so hard to make a home for myself here. I've got my pictures on the wall, my china cabinet filled with my miniature tea set collection, my white board, everything set up just the way I want it. I'm close to my friends and my activities and my Rice Owls, and the rent is cheaper than anything I can expect to find nearby. The complex said I might be able to move into another unit here, if/when they find out that one is coming open, but that any unit could be subject to problems like I've been having, and that other units have similar problems, etc. To be honest, it sounded like they'd be happy to be rid of me.

So, in spite of the roots I was starting to put down, and my hopes that I'd be able to settle here for a few years at least and have a little stability, it looks like I'll be moving some time in July or August. My 8 weeks trial at IDI will be up sometime in August, and I'm worried about making a decision before I'm sure I have permanent employment. The 8 weeks might be shortened to 4 if I'm doing a really good job and look like a really good fit, though, so I'm hoping for that.

I especially want things to be solid at IDI before I move because I'm looking at a complex that's up off of East T. C. Jester, just about two feet from the office. It's more expensive than my place now, but it is a little bigger. I wouldn't save enough in gas money to make up for the rent increase, but I *would* save myself some highway driving risks. And when the highway we're talking about is the 59/610 interchange, the West Loop through the Galleria, the West Loop passing over I-10, and the 290/North Loop interchange, well, it seems likely I might be saving myself the cost of a new car. That's some dangerous road. As I well know. Sigh.

I *will* be writing an angry letter to the complex owners. I *will* be reading over my lease agreement. And I *will* be requesting that they pay my relocation expenses. We'll see how that goes. Anyone know a good lawyer?

New and Improved!

Now for the good news! My first two days at work were FABULOUS! On Thursday I put in 4 client billable hours editing a draft that had been reviewed and marked by the client, incorporating their redlines, adding captions and cross-references, and bringing it in line with the formatting specifications. Friday I overheard the writer I edited for telling the boss that I'd done a really good job! Yay!

On Friday the project lead started me on some web traning. He encouraged me to go at my own pace, take breaks when I needed to, and that he expected it would take me more than one day, and that I would probably finish some time on Monday. At 3:15 in the afternoon I asked him where I could find the rest of the course. He came over and looked at the windows I had open, and looked at me, and said, "So you've done all of these?" And I said, "Yes, and I took the test, here, and got all the questions right."

Him: "You got them all right? Wow!"
Me: "So is there anything else I need to do?"
Him: "No, you're finished. Wow. I was expecting . . . Okay, great! Hmmm."
Me: "So what can I do now?"
Him: "Hmmm. What can I have you do? Give me a few minutes, and I'll try to find something."

So he found me some stuff to read over that explains in detail how the client documents should be structured and formated. I read over that, then went to him with some questions I had about information that was missing. He said those were good points, and if I could please note any suggestions I had . . .

Me: "Oh, should I mark the typos too?"
Him: "There are typos?"
Me: "A few, and some inconsistencies in formatting."
Him: "Please!"

So at 5:00 PM I handed him a redlined copy of the style documents, and asked if there was anything else before I went home. He said, "No. Thanks! I'll have a project ready for you Monday."

I replied, "I'll be ready for a project Monday!"

Next week I'll view an apartment I could move into in early August, and I'll work really hard to shorten my trial period. Wish me luck!