go, me!

today i got a raise. not huge or anything, but due to budget cuts a lot of people didn’t get them at all, so I am thankful.

give it up, already!

i think that it is time to give up my favorite hooded sweatshirt, now that the zipper officially has no puller. for a few years it has been missing part of the puller, but i worked with what i had. however today i went to put it on, and voila!, no zipper. time for a new one — hey — it’s only been……hmmmm……7 years since i bought the one i have now. we have been through 3 states and many memorable times together, but i suppose we all have to say goodbye sometime.

in other news….i got asked to take over being the official User-Centered Design process owner for IBM’s iSeries servers. it sounds more important than it probably is…but it’s cool. a little intimidating because i will be susceptible to calls from Vice Pres-level people, but i’m sure it will be very educational as well. i have started to look into my choices of career paths within IBM, and i’m starting to think that i may want to be a team leader. it sounds like a bunch of administrative stuff and keeping things organized, in addition to doing normal usability stuff. most people don’t like those kind of duties, but i am kind of a dork because i do. i have to look into it some more, but it’s a possibility in the years to come. just thought i’d let you know.

it’s a beautiful day outside, and i’m glad i have a big window in my home office. i think the weekend should hurry up and get here…..

interesting….

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

10% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

random

i am addicted to popcorn.
i love working from home, except when i have computer trouble.

today…

…i want to lay in my bed with the covers over my head and tell everyone to LEAVE ME ALONE.

bastards

i finally have the time to sit down and write, so i do. i wrote a nice post updating you all on my life. then what happened? “server error”, and it’s all erased. bastards. maybe i’ll have time later to re-write it.

“Run for the Roses”

When i was around 10 or 11 years old, i had this huge fascination with the Kentucky Derby. i would skim the sports section of the paper in the weeks leading up to the Derby, searching for pictures and articles about the horses. i would cut them out, and paste them to pieces of paper so that i could save them. I remember one year when there was a horse from Minnesota named Unbridled — I was especially interested in this “Home Town Hero”. when the day of the race came, i watched all the various goings-on of the day on TV, and sucked in all the television coverage i could find. in the following weeks, i would root for the winner of the Derby to win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes — the remaining two legs of the Triple Crown. There has never been a Triple Crown winner during my lifetime — the last one was a horse named Affirmed in 1978.

I still try to catch the Derby on TV when life doesn’t stop me from doing so. For the past few years, there have been horses that have obtained two legs of the Triple Crown, and I anxiously watch the Belmont Stakes in hopes of witnessing a Triple Crown victory. i admit even having excited tears in my eyes when a horse wins the Derby & the Preakness…hoping that he might also win the Belmont. Of course, this hasn’t yet happened.

When I was in 4th grade, we took a family trip and one of the things we did was visit Churchill Downs — the track where the Derby is run. A life-long dream of mine is to be there someday, on the first Saturday in May for the Kentucky Derby.

how rude!!

i was in a meeting today where a “guest” was giving a presentation on a project that some of my colleagues do a lot of work on. during the presentation, they were constantly talking amongst themselves (quite loudly) and asking her questions that jumped way ahead of her presentation. several times, the presenter tried to politely tell them to hold their comments, but they seemed not to notice. there were only about 10 people in the room, so 2 of them participating in this behavior was quite noticeable. we were also on a teleconference, so i’m sure the people on the phone couldn’t hear the actual presenter because the two audience members were talking so loudly. it was really ridiculous, and actually pretty embarrassing. i could not believe how unprofessional and rude the whole episode was. have some courtesy, people!!

i’m a real person now

i am 25 years old and married, i have a full-time job, i own a home, i have 2 dogs and 3 cars, one of which is a volvo station wagon, and another is an SUV.