Every Little Bit Helps

At least, it better! My brother had surgery yesterday for a very bad shoulder injury (could be a long story, but we'll just say it was injured again and again). He's been in pain from it for a very long time. As far as we can tell, the surgery went well, so we hope and pray things continue to improve. Maybe he will even be able to come kayaking with us!

This is very exciting for me especially. If you know me, you know I have a lot of hobbies and there is always something going on. My brother used to be the most active person I knew. When he got injured, he kept up his schedule as best he could. Then it got worse, injured again, etc and everything just declined. I am so excited and hopeful that he will soon return to the always on the move guy I knew (as much as his wonderful wife will allow, that is! :-)

In totally unrealated news, if there's something you want from my shop, now's the time to get it. It will be closing soon™ since it is not making enough to support itself. Like everything, it's always fun while it lasts! ;-)

Cheers!

The Irony is Not Lost on Me

It was some time in high school. A friend turned to me at lunch and said, "What's wrong with your eye?" I whipped out my trusty mirror and found a broken capillary. This is no cause for concern, really, except I'd never had nor seen that happen to my eye before. Off to the office, a call to my mother, and before I knew it, I'm being examined by our family eye doctor. What amazed both she and my mother was that I could see at all. I left that day with a pair of brand new, headache inducing glasses.

Where is the aforementioned irony, you ask? Why, it's in the four (or more) broken capillaries in my eyes now, that mark the end of my glasses-wearing days (at least for a few years and excluding sunglasses). You see, I subjected myself to someone frying my eyes with a laser this past Monday, otherwise known as LASIK surgery.

Sickly blood-shot eyes aside (it's really not that bad, by the way) and a little more dryness than I'm used to, I feel great. In fact, Wednesday when I went back to work was horrible, because I could think of a thousand things I'd rather be looking at than my work on the computer screen (the snowflakes falling like a blizzard outside but that didn't accumulate on the roads, for one). My surgeon said I'm seeing pretty good now, and it's only going to improve as my eyes heal. I guess, so far, the best improvement is being able to recognize the person on the other end of the room waving frantically at me. It's nice to be able to see the different trees in my backyard instead of the wall of trees it once was, and to sit in front of the TV and not have to wonder about where my glasses are.

The surgery itself is... well... not for you if you're not a risk-taker. They didn't prepare me for when they put a cap over my eye and then I went blind. They didn't prepare me for the funky sounds the laser would make. And they didn't prepare me for the indescribable sensation of having the outermost part of your eye peeled back like skin of a banana (even with lots of numbing). But yeah, it wasn't so bad. And it's so nice to be able to look out over my computer screen and see the old oak that rules over our lot, not just a blur of brown.

Cheers!

Happy Martyred Christian Saint Day

To an un-coupled person like me, the holiday that is for couples is very annoying.

I suppose you might expect single people to loathe Valentine's Day, I think many of us do. This day is, after all, all about doing something romantic with your lover. Sure there are people who say the day of love applies to family and friends, but come on. That's not really what commercialism says it's about. It's about roses (which I love), chocolates (which I don't need), and corny sweet love wishes (bleh). Add a cynic like me and you get two words (if you can call them that):

BAH HUMBUG!

I hope everyone has a disgustingly pink Bah Humbug day. And for those who are coupled and love the sweetness of couple's day, good for you, please stay away from me.

¿Qué tal?

So, who wants to know what's been happening?

I know, I know, it's been quite a while! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm always doing something. And I've just been doing a lot of somethings!

The thing I wish most to tell you: Remember how on New Years Day, I saw several forest creatures along the road? Last Friday morning, 27 Jan, my father and I were driving to work down one of the regular little 2 lane unlit backroads that gets us to the Interstate. Just in the shoulder of the roadway (if you can call it a shoulder, more like a foot or so of extra pavement before the ditch) there was an owl. The squat, feathery, letter-carrying creature was standing on the road looking at us as we drove by. I've never seen an owl in the wild before, and the side of the road (maybe eating something) was the last place I would have expected to see one! However, it was dark, so I'm not sure what kind of owl it was. But it was there, sitting on the road, an owl. I've been noticing lots of owl-ish things lately, come to think of it. I wonder if they have a message for me....

Adolf has been off all week, and will continue to be off until 7 Feb. Can we say WooHOO! On the office front, however, it has been made clear to me that the department managers will say something to the group (like policy or something) but it does not apply to me. For example, they will say what kind of job performance criteria merits a promotion. Other tasks outside of regular stuff will be factored in. Guess what? I rarely do 'regular stuff' at all! The guidelines and quota numbers don't apply to me, because I don't do that work unless there are special circumstances.

They recently got on my case about coming in on time. If I time in at 0703 instead of 0700, I'm late (technically, I can't argue there). However, they told the group that they do take into account traffic and weather that may slow our path to work. However, once again, that doesn't apply to me, who lives 50 miles from the office. I wrote down the days I arrived late and why, and was told "regardless, we believe you can get here on time." If they give me a written warning for being late for traffic, I will quit on the spot. When we first moved to this location, the higher-ups had a meeting with every department and said they would work with those of us who live far away. My managers must have missed that memo.

As far as the overtime projects, I had reason to believe the Boss² never told Adolf about how behind I was, because Adolf called me that Friday and asked what could be deleted from the inbox. If Boss² had told them about the catch-up project, they would have known they could delete them all. For that, I am greatful. Yes, working overtime is very hard on me. I'm exhausted, I got sick, and more and more I want to do other things than work (you know, like updating my blog). I've turning on my home computer all of twice since we started this, I'm just too tired when I get home to do anything else. Needless to say, we are finally in compliance, so I guess I won't have to work overtime for a while.

And another thing! Last week, after a meeting with Adolf and Boss² about my inability to time in before 0705, Adolf decided that I would like to hear how happy they were that their stepson's gerbal had just died. (Happy because Adolf is on a cruse and doesn't have to worry about finding someone to watch the creature.) Have I ever given anyone the impression that I find it amusing or happy when a life dies? I am still beside myself on what could have possibly been going through Adolf's head to make them share that information with me. Also remember we're not really on a social level, so the fact that I got told anything of the sorts is still beyond me. There is something just not right about that person....

Snowboarding and brunch this weekend! Wee!