Spring has sprung April 2, 2006
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It’s been in the 70s the last few days, which is really nice. 
I’ve got my Sox shirt on, since baseball starts tonight.
Life’s been quiet the last few days. I have one slight work dilemma, but I asked one of the editors for advice and I’m sure he’ll have good suggestions. I think I might start turning to him more. He’s got lots of experience, he’s not involved in the chain of command the way EE is, and he is willing to help.
On a related note, I said something in a conversation with a co-worker that led him to note I was having boss issues. (He said he could see it in my eyes, which sounded funny coming from him.) He sent a e-mail telling me that anybody can tell I know what I’m doing and I work my ass off, so not to let her questioning my capability doubt myself. It was a nice note from somebody who doesn’t have that rep in the newsroom.
I’m hoping to go out for a walk tomorrow, but between a dentist appointment, canceling my cable and having to edit a section and a project before choir, I don’t know if I’ll have time. Maybe in the neighborhood around my church before choir…
I’m such a geek March 11, 2006
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With my conference almost over, I’m so wound up about what I can do when I get back and what the reporters who came with me can do. Yes, I’m a geek. (Just ask Mark and Angelique, who got to experience it first-hand last year.)
The trip’s been really fun outside the conference as well. We’re right near the Portugese/Brazilian/Spanish district, and there’s this amazing bakery we discovered Thursday morning that has wonderful pastries for unbelievably inexpensive prices. (The three of us had breakfast – five pastries total – plus espresso and two coffees for $8.10. Can’t beat that.)
It’s also been nice to just get away from the office and do some brainstorming and big picture thinking with the reporters without all the daily pressures.
Oh yes, and I stopped briefly in Easton, Pa., on the drive up and plan to stop for a longer visit on the way back. Why, you ask? Because it’s home to the Crayola Factory and they give tours. *BAG*
I’m back February 25, 2006
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OK, I can now type reasonably well again, so expect posting to pick up. For now, here’s a brief update on various things:
* My finger is ugly, but healing. (The reason for the bandages was also a source of much amusement in the building this week. Glad I could help, guys.)
* Our IT guy got Open Office running on my laptop, so I’m looking forward to playing around with the DB program, as well as having a spreadsheet and full word processor again. Now to get comfortable enough with it so we can install it on work computers for reporters to use the DB program. (Microsoft doesn’t make Access for the Mac, and there are limited options for relational DB programs on this platform.)
* SE had a 102 fever yesterday, but insisted on coming in and covering the Regional semifinals (in a suit, no less). It looked like he had strep yesterday, but his throat’s fine today, much to everyone’s relief. Strep sweeping through the newsroom would just suck. His fever’s gone and he feels better, but sounds lousy.
* My personal work hell should basically be over tomorrow. I have corrections to make now that CE has proofed it, and I’m waiting until tomorrow night to come in and work on them.
* We have a new (old) reporter this week. The cops reporter when I got here has returned as a city reporter. It feels like a pressure valve has been released in the newsroom.
* So far this week we’ve had a plane crash on a highway and a house engulfed in flames 25 feet high. We’re hoping tonight is a bit quieter.
* Yes, this is heavily work-centric. I haven’t done much else the last week. Knitting was out because of my finger, and work sucked up most of the rest of my time.
* I did take my iPod with me on a walk in the park. I need to set up some playlists based on the speed of the music so I can have fast and slow options. All those years of marching band mean I tend to adjust my pace unconsciously to reflect the music.
* We worked on a gospel piece in choir this week and I’ve had it running through my head ever since. Cool song, and much fun to sing.
Links January 27, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Fun Times, Trixie.3 comments
I added a few more links to the collection below. If I’ve left you out, it’s not that I don’t like you – I just wasn’t sure you wanted to be added. Drop me a line at my .Mac account or leave a message in comments and I’ll add you in.
Counting down January 25, 2006
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I’m back from vacation and deep into preparing contest entries. We have to mail them out tomorrow afternoon, so today and tomorrow will be a marathon to get all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed. (Lots of really picky rules, and it sucks to get thrown out on a technicality.)
Between that and CE being off, I’m on days both today and tomorrow. That added to having a Friday-Tuesday weekend has me *all* discombobulated in terms of what day it is. But I continue to muddle along.
The fun part about today has been the reminders of all the really good work people did all year. There are so many things that should stand out, but as the year rolls on, they fade into the background. Having this annual inventory is a nice memory job.
In other news, I stopped at the outlet mall yesterday and picked up two really nice sweaters at Liz Claiborne for $20 and $15, respectively. I have the cardigan on today, and it’s wonderful – a soft, fuzzy, beautiful medley of blues and greens. Definitely worth the $20.
Relaxing weekend January 15, 2006
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After 24 hours of fun, I’m much more relaxed than I have been.
Last night, Aleta and I went to Mary and Jenn’s luau. I got several comments on my sarong outfit, which was funny because it was made from $4 of clearance fabric and with a pair of pinking shears. They had leis for us, so I have two (Aleta graciously let me have hers) to bring back – one for me and one to continue a running “discussion” with WG. 
We got back to discover the power was out, which meant we both went right to bed. The power came back on about 11:45, so I was able to toss my laundry in the dryer and turn on the radio.
Today we hit IKEA for breakfast, then she graded papers while I picked up some stuff I needed. The bathroom shelf I wanted was suposedly there, but they discovered when I went to pick it up that they were out of stock. Since I’d already paid for it, and it’s a fairly light package, they’ll be mailing it to me in a couple of weeks.
I also went to Michael’s, gift card and coupon in tow, and then Recollections, which was having a sale. I ended up with lots of great stuff for very little out-of-pocket money (gift cards don’t count).
Now we’re just chilling in front of the fire – and I still have all of tomorrow off.
Getting ready for the weekend January 13, 2006
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Eight hours and counting…
That’s how long I have left in this shift before I leave for three days off!
Tomorrow night, I’m headed to Jenn and Mary’s for a luau, then back to Aleta’s that night. I have to make a sarong tomorrow afternoon before the party so I’ll be appropriately festive. One of the women I work with loaned me two leis – accompanied by comments from Sports Editor, who was deliberately thinking of a different spelling of the word. *RME*
Now I just need to pack, something I’ll likely do tonight so I don’t have to worry about it tomorrow. I don’t have any real rush to get up to Aleta’s in the morning, so there’s no need to scoot out early tonight and go right to sleep.
Of course, I also shouldn’t talk on the phone until all hours either, but we decided last night that it was messing with both our sleep schedules, and kept the conversation fairly short. (45 minutes vs. 2 hours) I don’t expect a call again tonight, but if so, it also will have to be fairly short.
Conquer the world January 12, 2006
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One of my co-workers told me his fiance wants to kill me.
I gave him my old copy of Civ III now that I have Civ IV and he’s addicted. *VEG* If you’re not familar with the game, imagine SimCity but for the entire world over six millenia. It’s an amazingly cool game, and each version has been orders of magnitude better than the previous one. (Our publisher’s wife came up during the discussion and asked us not to mention it around him – he’s already addicted to SimCity, and she doesn’t even want to think about if he got his teeth into Civ.)
I’m enjoying my copy of Civ IV, though it’s running really slowly. I might have to consider upgrading the memory on my computer, since I won’t be able to replace it with one of the new kick-ass Intel iMacs for a few years.
Absolutely gorgeous January 12, 2006
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It’s about 70 degrees today, so I just finished a walk in the park. I didn’t even need a sweatshirt! And I got a good workout too, since I was chatting with one of the regulars down there. He’s about 6-3 with legs to match, and walks pretty fast, so keeping up with him while carrying on a conversation gave both my legs and my lungs a workout.
Looking forward to the weekend January 11, 2006
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Two more days, and then I have a whole three-day weekend off (to be followed by three days of work and five days off)! I might actually have a chance to kick back and relax for more than 10 minutes at a time.
