Monthly Archives: January 2007

A funny thing happened at work today…

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…well actually yesterday.  You see, there’s this person at work.  They have been the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE for nearly two years now.  They go behind my group’s back, second guess everything we do, claim to be an “IT expert” even though they are in a totally non-IT position, and generally makes a huge nuisance of themself.  The kind of person, when they call or email everyone rolls their eyes and says “Oh, great.  It’s so-and-so.”  I’ve gotten to the point, in fact, where I will not even communicate any longer with this person, choosing to hide behind my supervisor (who lets me) and our business analysts (who think they can handle them). 

So what’s funny you ask?  Well..I’ve never met this person.  Not ever.  If I was standing next to them in the grocery line, I’d have not the faintest clue.  Until yesterday, that is.

I get sucked in to THE PROJECT.  I tried to avoid it for as long as I could, but I finally had to buckle down and do the work.  But I got it done.  On time.  Cuz I’m just that good.  Anway…the clients (one of them being this person) wanted to have A MEETING because they were confused over how to use my easy-to-use program.  I was dreading this meeting, because I knew it would be the first time I set eyes on THE NEMESIS, and I was concerned that I would not be able to keep my mouth shut, and I would say something I regretted.  Yeah, this person makes me that angry.  And then…

They were nice.  DAMMIT!!!!  I HATE THAT!!!!  They even gave me a hug and said what a great job I did.  ARGH.  I mean, that doesn’t change the fact that we were manipulated into doing this work, but still…I can’t hate them anymore.  And I’m pissed.

Ok I’m not *really* pissed…just…I knew that would happen.  I knew it.  And I mean, what does that say about our preferred methods of communication now (email, phone, email, text, IM, email)?  So much is lost in the technical translation, that what may very well be innocent or well-meaning or honest communication is so easily colored by interpretation.  It reminded me just how important, how necessary face-to-face communication is.  So next time you want to chat with a friend, or talk to a loved one…do it in person.  You’ll say so much more without saying a single word then you ever could with an email.

Jack’s Back! Well sorta.

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I went to the vet today to pick up Jack.  Jack in a box…forever.  I’d been putting it off for quite a while (see date on prior post), and not just because I still have to pay the 170 bucks that I don’t have (and totally forgot about!  ouch) and I decided I was ready to deal with this next step.  And you know what…I feel better.  It was actually kinda nice.  I mean, he’s in a white cardboard box, taped shut, and I know he’s in a plastic bag inside that box, since Jasper went the same route a year ago, but…he’s back.  He’s back, kinda hanging around the house now (well, on my counter).  I have my Jack Pot all ready to go, and I just need to find a Jack Plant that likes ashy soil (any suggestions?).  He’ll have to stay Jack in the Box until I can find the Jack Plant (this is actually getting kinda fun!) to put in the Jack Pot, but he doesn’t mind.

He’s almost as well behaved as he was before he died!  Just not quite as affectionate.  But still..welcome back Jack!

(Please do not call the local mental services to pick me up.  I’ll be alright.  No really.)

Transition time again

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I am in the middle of my personal transition time.  It comes every year, although some years are more impactful than others.  But every year, between the days of January 6th and January 9th, something, somewhere, happens that affects or will affect me.  For instance:

  • January 6th, 1990 – I get on a train in Boston with all my worldly possessions.
  • January 9th, 1990 – I arrive in Portland, Oregon for the first time.
  • January 6-9th, 1995 – My cat Jack was most likely born sometime around this date.
  • January 6th, 2001 – I met my recent ex.
  • January 9th, 2001 – We have our first date.
  • January 6th, 2006 – My dog Jessie was born.
  • January 6th, 2007 – I begin to recover from a crippling, soul numbing bout of depression.

I know there’s more, and it started with that train trip.  The pattern didn’t emerge until later, although for the first 5-6 years I would always remember on those days, that fateful train trip.  Something happened to me on that trip – I knew that within a few months – and it changed me.  I felt a shift in my psyche during that trip, I felt more grounded, more in touch, more thoughtful, more …aware.  And apparently the ripples of that experience are still…well, rippling.  Ever since I stopped consciously commemorating those few days, those days things happen to me.  Not every year, not that I can tell, but they’re usually good.

So the short version is….I’m feeling better.  Maybe it’s because I started working out a few days a week.  Maybe it’s because I’ve had good friends call me and say hey I want to hang out with you, just because, and we stole a wicked cool ash tray from a place called Chopsticks III .

Or maybe…it’s the power of those four days. 
I think it’s both.