elainegrey

I generally find airline miles to be near useless, in part because i'm not willing to play all the games around them (figuring out where to stay to get points, playing with credit cards to get points, etc). I did take a little time to inspect my points early this year, and found that i was actually flying Delta enough that a ticket might be acquired (one more trip east). So i'll actually be loyal to Delta as long as their flights continue to be sensible ones for my travel needs. United, however, keeps writing me with a message about how i am close to a travel reward (i just need to double the points i have). I don't know: that's not my definition of close. On the other hand, United seems to have a way i can spend the points for something other than airfare. I'm sending my Mom a FTD miniature rose plant with points, which is actually kind of cool.

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Training continues to go well: yesterday was a little more easy. I find interesting similarities between the training and Friends' practice: the role of a clerk is similar to that of a SCRUM master, there is a practice of queries. Coding principles like encapsulation might be similar to the testimonies. Quality might be the aspect of the Light visible from this perspective.

There are differences of course: no one comes to a Meeting with a prioritized list of things to work on that is not open for discussion, and time-boxing (setting a hard and fast fixed time in which something will occur) is, to some extent, anathema.

There are enough similarities that make me wonder what would happen with cross pollination. Our HR trainer talked about using SCRUM practices in another project she was working on, creating some new training tools. What in SCRUM practices could be moved to other projects, like relief work? Or political advocacy?

It's probably an exciting thought for me because i can imagine a transition away from software development into other areas with this as a technique.

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I've been thinking about job shifting. My current financial situation makes leaving the benefits the Whale provides very challenging, particularly in the next three to five years. But i could come up with a three year plan, and if part of that is taking SCRUM and translating it for different projects, working with the Friends community to help reshape it into a process that can be translated....

It's an interesting thought.

Being prepared for the possibility.

This morning i was.

I received a LinkedIn request from a recruiter in the north bay. I wasn't interested in her current industry, but her previous work was as a career coach. I posted off to her my job desires and my draft of a "career coach wanted" posting. And that motivated me to make the next connection in my Meeting to discuss work possibilities.

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I read more in "The Satisfaction Finder" yesterday. Essentially the process is to make SMART goals and then tell yourself that that is sufficient, enough, and that you are satisfied when you meet the goal.

SMART goals always make me think of this LOL Cat:


A blue point cat lies face up on asphalt with a stunned look on hir face, blue eyes slightly crossed, ears askew, with the caption, "I am so smart, S-M-R-T."

It's appropriate partly because there's some redundancy in the letters, and i can never remember what my workplace chooses for them.
( reflection )

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Christine had tangible apprehension about her electrolysis last night. Day two is when it hits, she observed last weekend, and she's sleeping deeply this morning. I expect this quarter will be a marked rhythm: midweek intense with classes, weekend with electrolysis and recovery. There is, at least, a clear end in sight with the approaching surgery. Small comfort, that.

I ponder a trundle over to the farmer's market. I've plenty of baking apples and miscellaneous things to add to a baked fruit (and winter squash?) preparation. Dried up beets. So maybe i should really just make a roasted apple and veggie preparation and another roasted apple and fruit preparation.

Plenty to do....

Yesterday i kept triggering the OMG Panic OVERLOAD reaction. I decided to let myself escape into a deep afternoon designing the logic flow for a system we have to build. What a glorious vacation! Towards the end i realized i was trying to optimize the flow too much in a linear manner, which may be just stupid with modern software design, although i don't know. (All this on the job guessing, hardly training, in software design....) Anyhow, i finished and sent it off.

At home we watched two episodes of the comic mystery TV show Psych, which had a slightly different formula than the first two (less dependency on Dad the retired cop). There was also a serial suicide killer, entertaining after seeing the Sherlock Study in Pink. Also, Christine picked up the cereal box pun, and so now there's something else to watch for. While watching i binged a bit on chips and licorice mix. We did not do laundry. I did ride the bike for a little bit, perhaps enough to keep from waking in the wee hours. Surely not enough to offset the licorice. I had a giddy sense though, "I'm running away from the OVERLOAD! Lalalalala!"

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I'm taking slightly more aggressive action against the iron supplement side effect. ( Read more... )

A staff member may have lupus, and a colleague's wife is dying of cancer, and my boss just had a melanoma biopsy. I know i shouldn't compare miseries, map them to the same scale, and so on, but i end up feeling guilty about being so concerned about my own damn health. Depression is real, yes, and i know i've been dealing with it since i remember having a self.

I work so hard at being functional. I get so jealous. (But as Christine just says to me, other people have to work hard a other things.) Comparisons don't make sense.

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I'm meeting with RR over dinner tonight to do more career exploration. We have more of a conversational friendship as it is, so i think it won't be as awkward as the previous meeting with FP. (And definitely not as awkward as last week and the guy who wanted me as a reference.

Yesterday, as an example on how HQ can't quite get around wanting jobs to be filled in HQ and not in the hinterlands, like *here*, i mentioned to my boss that my colleague had recognized that i enjoy the product analyst work and i'd be good at it, and that i had considered our product analyst opening, but it was clear the hiring folks really wanted the person at HQ -- even though they need to work with us daily. It was a humorous way to point out my desire for that sort of work in a context that wasn't fraught with it being About Me. It will make it easier to talk to him about work satisfaction at a later date.

And now, off to work.

I bought corn flour this past shopping trip and have skimmed through http://www.donamasita.com/en/recetas/ , letting the traditional recipes inspire me. On Sunday afternoon, i started with the http://www.donamasita.com/en/receta/ALMOJ%C1BANAS.html and made two variations. One half of the batch had peanut butter and sugar added, the other had the last of a black olive hummus added. I was looking for a soft crumb and this produced a warm little bun that was soft and gentle to eat with flavor. Last night i used the same recipe (now down to "one egg, some baking powder, some cottage cheese, corn flour to make the right consistency dough," because it seems awfully forgiving) and dropped the balls into a pot of simmering and pureed creamed corn seasoned with paprika and onion powder. That i then ladled over half an avocado, in small slices, and i had another soft and gentle meal.

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I just took far too much time taking an airline survey. I'm basically satisfied, but my expectations are abysmal. I don't think i fly enough to be able to tell the difference between most of the core airlines: this trip i was on American, United, and US Air. The survey reminded me of the Clooney movie "Up in the Air," with its context of frequent flyer super point accumulation. If i were a frequent flyer, i suppose i might develop some loyalty for efficiency's sake, but at my current rate of flying -- it's all the same, it seems. In reflecting on "Up in the Air" though, i realized i had completely forgotten how it ended. My memory stops when the romance between Clooney and the other power traveler skids to a halt as he finds he is her escape. I skimmed the synopsis in Wikipedia: i wonder if my memory ended with the end of the "traditional" narrative of girl meets boy.

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Today is a writing about work day, and i'm already on a call. This is the new division meeting (since the beginning of July), including the folks i went through that personality assessment with last week. The last half has been about a cube reorganization that's going on in the Ohio office.

What to say about work? I need to be aware about the "i can't" reaction and give myself time to recover from it. Step away from the "i can't" trigger and give myself time to let my back of mind solve the problem. I don't know what to do about the overwhelm.