7/22 - Where I finally get some good news!

Today's learning is going to be centered around Visual Basic and .NET, if I can ever get Visual Studio installed on my machine. I have several YouTube videos and a few other tutorials lined up, just so I can figure out how to do the homework from last Friday's .NET class at work.
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In addition to all the fun this weekend, I woke this morning to a complete and utter lack of internet. After a half hour or so on the phone with AT&T, they determined there was an outage in my area.

After dealing with the internet issue, I attempted to ignite my water heater again. Nothing. I didn't see a spark. I didn't hear any gas flow. Everything I read (including the label on the water heater) said it should be replaced if flooded. So I spent another half hour calling Home Depot and Lowes, trying to get pricing on an installation.

I have to tell you, the Lowes call took all of 5 minutes. The Home Depot call involved getting hung up on twice, then not being able to get a price because they were unable to do that in store - scheduling installations apparently involves an 800 number that isn't manned until 9am or some such. At that point I just wanted to know how much it would cost, but she couldn't give me that info. Add this experience to a simply pricing search on my phone for Lowes, then getting lost in the water heater parts on the Home Depot site, and I'm becoming a Lowes fan even though there are 2 Home Depots right around the corner from me.

Lowes told me I'd have to come in to the store to order the hot water tank, and I needed to be there before 10:30am if I wanted it installed today. I certainly did want it installed today, so I emailed my boss I wouldn't make it in. Luckily the class I missed was one I'd already taken while in Support, which makes it a little easier to figure out the homework. Having it be in SQL helps, as well.

I then toddled right off to Lowes. $620 and an hour or so later, I was on the list to have a new hot water tank installed today. I went home and walked around the neighborhood, taking care of a couple things like checking Savings Bond balances at my local bank. I forgot they are 20 year bonds, and have not matured yet. I figured I would cash them in if I needed them, and if not they could continue to mature.

By the time I got home again the internet was back up and running. I spent some time studying up on the current Savings Bond situation, which changed in 2012. You can no longer purchase them in banks, though you can cash them in at a bank still. Purchases have to be done on-line through the Treasury. I may set up an automatic withdrawal to purchase one with each paycheck, just to have them for retirement. They don't earn a lot of money, but they don't lose money either. Something to think about, though I'm not in a position to set that up just yet.
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I also received an email from the loan guy I was talking to about refinancing my mortgage. He's thinking he can save me about $100/month, AND take 3 years off the life of my loan. I'm still not 100% convinced this will go through, but we're in the preliminary stages where he wants all my financial data. I spent some time gathering everything he wanted, then sent it off to him. Since I was in paperwork mode, I also scanned in my lease documents and called Progressive about the 2010 Sentra I'd insured for the last 6 months, that I did not actually have.

Progressive told me Nissan had called and was told I did not have insurance on the 2013 Sentra. I don't understand how no one thought to call me, but no one did. I thought the insurance was taken care of when I left the dealership, especially since I had a piece of paper saying the 2013 Sentra was covered. I realize now I was supposed to call the insurance company to switch the coverage, but I obviously did not understand that at the time.

I asked Progressive what they could do about the fact I'd paid for insurance and not actually gotten any insurance, seeing as how I didn't have the car they insured. The person I'd talked with Saturday suggested I ask for a refund, but it turns out refunding that money would mean cancelling the policy, which would leave me in situation where I didn't have insurance for those 6 months. Not having insurance for any length of time has an astronomical cost associated with it, so that option was out. Ultimately we decided they could change the coverage to a policy that states I didn't have a car. Yes, insurance companies want your money whether you have anything to insure or not! It will take the better part of the week to get all the paperwork in order, but I should get a small refund on the difference between the two policies. I also verified the 2013 Sentra is currently covered. It is.
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It wasn't long after I got off the phone with Progressive when the water heater installer called saying he was on his way. I explained what I believe happened, that the water couldn't have risen more than an inch or two in that corner of the basement. He told me I'd have a better chance being hit by lightening than experiencing the issue causing the water heater company to say the heater should be replaced if flooded. They have to say that for liability purposes, but a certified plumber (he was one) could take the bits apart and clean them. He also explained I wasn't liable to accept delivery of the water tank until he actually began the installation, even though I'd waived my right to cancel the order.

When he arrived, he wanted to take a look before starting the install. A wise move. He tried the starter once, and WHOOSH! The pilot was lit! Apparently it just needed to dry out a bit more, even after my attempts to light it this morning. I'd left the dehumidifier pointed at it, and I guess that was all it needed.

He left, saying Lowes would refund my money and all I'd have to pay would be the $40 service call. I'll take that over a $620 new water heater any day!
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With hot water and still several hours in the afternoon, I decided it was the perfect time to get my long run in, so that's what I did. For some reason it took about 4 miles to get warmed up and find my stride, but once I did I was flying! It probably helped that the rain picked up about that time, too. My lower back was still somewhat tight, but I didn't have any pain. I do blame that tightness for the cramping in my feet by the end of the run, but they are much better now. I'll take some ibuprofen tonight, and expect to feel as good as new tomorrow (except I might need a shake out run to loosen up again).

Once I got home from the run I took a much anticipated hot shower, did some dishes and laundry, and have been puttering around on the computer. Ninja is on his way over to celebrate his birthday today. I'm not certain what his plan is, but the birthday dinner will have to wait until tomorrow. I didn't think I'd be able to afford it, but considering the way today went I'm feeling just a little more flush than I was this morning.

Now if I can just get my car back... The detailing place called while I was out running, but didn't leave a message. I should have more info on that tomorrow. <fingers crossed>

7/21 - Aftermath

This image was taken about 2 miles up the road from my house, about 3-4am Saturday morning.

I still have fans and a dehumidifier going, trying to dry my basement. I actually have 2 layers of carpet,which seemed the best idea when I moved in. I put the new carpet on top of the old, indoor/outdoor carpet that was down there, to create a bit of padding over the concrete floor. Unfortunately, when the basement floods it's difficult to get that second layer of carpet dry. I'm hopeful I can get out of this without stinky carpet, because that would mean I have to remove both layers, and the top layer may not be salvageable even if I get rid of the bottom layer.

With the ground still saturated today, I decided it would be a good time to get the garden weeded. Being outside for several hours, I had the opportunity to visit with a few neighbors as they cleaned out their storm damage. It looks like I got off relatively easy.

Turns out the building next to mine had 4 to 5 FEET of water in their basements. Most of them will have to replace furnaces, and just about everything they stored downstairs was ruined.

It looks like the storm sewer in front of my house failed. You can see the high water line in the grass across the street, which explains how Superman's and my car flooded. (It turns out Superman found a parking spot pretty much right in front of my house, not down the street where he normally parks.) I heard today there was a guy with a shop vac taking cash to vacuum out people's cars, while I was at the detailing place arranging to have mine done professionally. I'm thinking my solution will be better in the long run.

It appears only my little corner of the street is affected, which is another reason I think the sewer is the culprit. There is another lawn just past the bend in the photo above, covered in straw. The straw on that tree lawn was unmoved, while on the tree lawn next to my parking spot the straw is completely gone. Also, the only lawns with garbage are on my end of the street.

I still had sections of dry carpet Saturday morning, which means the water came through in rivers and did not fill the basement to any depth. Also, I took a shower this morning, which is why I was so confused this afternoon to find my hot water tank pilot is no longer lit (and I currently can't get it to light). I have a pit and a sump pump in my basement, to pull water from around the outside of my house and push it into the storm drains. If the storm drains backed up, they probably backed up into that corner of my basement too - the same corner the hot water tank sits. I've pointed the dehumidifier at the base of the hot water tank, in hopes the issue is just the striker got wet. If I still can't light it by tomorrow morning I'll have to take a shower at either Superman's or work.

I just read the side of the water heater, and it says not to attempt repairing a flooded water heater, to just replace. *SIGH* This heater is barely 3 years old! $300 is the cheapest water heater I can find, and that doesn't include installation. I'm still hopeful the striker will dry by tomorrow morning. It looks like there actually was standing water in that corner of the basement, high enough to wet the bottom inch of insulation in the water heater, but not enough to wet anything higher. The piece of insulation I tested is about 4" tall. It almost seems like water splashed in and the insulation soaked it up, except the vent around the bottom looks silt-covered. Maybe there was an inch or two of water in that corner. Not enough to wet the floor under the furnace, which is right beside the water heater.
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I planned to do my long run this morning, until I hurt my back yesterday working on the basement. I say it's my back, but it's really my tailbone area that's affected. I always relate this pain to surgical scars at the same level, but in front. Part of me thinks I'm pulling on those muscles, which are super weak, which causes the corresponding back muscles to take the load. Another part of me thinks my tailbone, which I believe I broke as a child, sometimes gets out of whack. Either that or it's just arthritis. No matter the cause, I wasn't prepared to go long with it hurting this morning, though I was prepared to try the run this evening no matter what. If I still hurt, and if the run didn't loosen up whatever the problem (it could happen!), then I could always turn right around and cut the run short. However, I will not run without access to a shower.

This is not to say I haven't been active today. I spent a few hours in the garden. I also pulled the carpet from the landing, where Monkey Boy's cat (and my cat before him) have peed, repeatedly. I finally got sick of it, and now wish I'd pulled the carpet years ago.

The carpet backing and padding were completely soaked, as were the floorboards underneath. I scrubbed the entire landing with dish soap to cut the grease in the urine, then started soaking the landing over and over and over with Simple Green's Cat Pet Stain Remover. I have a gallon, and will continue to douse the area until that gallon is gone.

Eventually I'm going to pull all the carpet in the living room. The stairs and bedrooms are still ok, but the living room carpet shows every inch of the 12+ years it's been used and abused. There are hardwood floors underneath, but I'll likely just re-carpet the whole house at some point. I want to carpet the basement stairs, since tiling them would be pointless considering the way they are worn. The kitchen/dining area need new flooring as well. That will be ceramic, once I pull the existing four layers (you read that right, FOUR layers) of tile and linoleum.

All of this is obviously down the road a ways. It will have to be done before sale. I'd also like to have the place re-wired, maybe put in some ceiling fans. That's getting into lotto winning territory though. For that matter, if it turns out my furnace was affected by the flood, I'm getting a new one with central air. They cost about the same anyway.
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New plan. If I can't get the hot water tank lit in the morning, I'll run the park near work, then shower at work. I have a class in the morning, but my afternoon is free. Both Lowes and Home Depot say I can have same day installation if I call before noon. Looks like I'm taking a half day, unless I can convince my boss working on .NET homework from home is actually working.

7/20 - Bailing on a Day with a capital D

The image above is one of two such buckets of dirty storm water I pulled from my basement carpet today. Last night's storm appears to have simply opened up and dumped a foot or more of rain in very short order. I haven't had a real basement flooding since they completed the waterproofing 2 years ago, and even then it was never this bad. I woke to completely soaked basement carpets, all the way across the floor. Superman found soaked carpets in his car. He headed to the dealership to find out where the leak was, and I headed to Home Depot for a Shop Vac.

It turned out Superman's leak was no leak at all. The sewers must have backed up, because we had a full on flood which rose up above the underside of his car. Meanwhile, while my car mats were dry, my car sloshed as I took corners on the way to Home Depot. By the time I got there my mats were soaked and my feet squished in them. My car was parked on only slightly higher ground than Superman's, and was also flooded.

Superman and I were not the only people affected by the storm. There was a run on Shop Vacs in Euclid, and Mentor, and Richmond Heights. I quickly stopped driving around and started calling. No one had any shop vacs left, but Costco had Air Movers, which are essentially fans with a scoop to point the air flow across the floor. At this point Superman's dealership had determined the problem and started vacuuming the water out of his car. I called my dealership to find out if they could do the same for me. Instead my dealership sent me to a detailing company who could take my car today.

The detailing company vacuumed out my car, but they are concerned the padding under the carpet is still soaked. They plan to pull the carpet and padding and see if they can dry them. If they can't dry the padding or it starts to smell, they will replace the padding.

While at the detailing place I called my insurance company, to see if they would cover the cost of drying the car out. Turns out I never switched my policy from the 2010 Sentra to the 2013 one when I leased the new car. The insurance company won't honor the claim because this car is not insured, and I paid 6 months of insurance on a car I no longer have. I could have sworn this was all taken care of at the dealership when I signed the lease, but apparently not. The person at the insurance company suggested I send them the lease paperwork and ask for a refund for that amount. If they are willing to refund that money, it should cover the cost of this particular repair. I'm just hoping having them refund the money doesn't then leave my record as having no insurance for that timeframe. I learned THAT lesson when I first started leasing. Rates go up astronomically if you've gone any length of time without insurance.

Because I can't work from home when I'm in training (I'm not actually working yet, to do anything from home), and because I can't miss the classes scheduled for the first few days this week, I thought I'd have to get a rental car. Instead, the detail place offered me a loaner car - a 2000 Acura with ~122,000 miles on it. I keep waiting for this thing to fall to pieces if I close the door hard! Superman assures me it won't kill me though, so that's what I'm driving for the next several days. I do like the sun roof...

I stopped by Costco and picked up the air mover, plus a small shop vac they actually had in stock even though the woman on the phone told me they didn't, and headed home to deal with the basement carpet. The shop vac has to go back. It doesn't seal correctly, and water came out around the lid every time I turned it on to started vacuuming. Luckily I have a steam cleaner which worked well enough. It has a small tank, which is why I wanted the shop vac, but it probably worked better at sucking water anyway since that's what it's specifically designed to do. That and I applied pressure on the front end to facilitate the suction.

3 hours and ~10 gallons of water later, the carpet is no longer soaked. It's still wet, so I have a dehumidifier, 2 fans, and a space heater running on high, trying to dry the place out. My back is sore from leaning over the steam cleaner to apply pressure. My arms are sore from applying said pressure. I called this my workout today, and even wore the heart rate monitor to track it. It wasn't the best workout I've ever done, as my heart rate didn't get very high, but I certain fatigued some upper body muscles.

And that was my day. I'm now too tired to learn anything, and I'm heading to bed. I'll have to do all my Saturday stuff tomorrow, like grocery shopping and cooking. I also have a long run to get in, providing my back allows.

Hopefully the basement carpet will completely dry quickly, and hopefully I'll be able to get the place hot enough to kill any bacteria that would grow into mold or stink the place up. This being the worst I've ever flooded, I'm concerned about the water in the wooden framework and paneling.

<fingers crossed>

7/19 - Progress and prioritizing

Today I successfully created a shape in Blender. This is progress! Additional progress was remembering more menu commands, and finding things like the ability to cover this random piece in fur with just a single click.

I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do with Blender once I figure out how to use the program. I have a few ideas I'm not quite ready to share, but I'm definitely pondering where I want to go with this. I can tell you there will be far more detailed images than this one. I'm just not certain what those images will be, yet.
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Today's 4 mile run turned into the worlds most difficult 3 mile walk/run. Runs like this are always a learning experience. Sometimes a relearning expedience. With all the growing muscles, I'm sore and tight enough for things to start pulling out of alignment, so I have to be careful about my knees and back. I've found being tight changes my stride, which makes running uncomfortable because I'm using muscles I wasn't before, so everything gets fatigued more quickly.

Today I was reminded whenever my muscles get sore and tight with growth, I tend to start thinking they will always feel that way. Intellectually I know this is not the case and my muscles will heal, that the sore and tight is just tiny tears that will ultimately make me stronger. Emotionally it's uncomfortable and I want it to stop. I start thinking if I stop the discomfort will too. The truth is I always feel better when I hit it again, even if I can't hit it as hard as the workout originally called for.

I ran a shake-out mile earlier this week, and that run loosened me up for the better part of the day. Ultimately today's run was a shake-out as well, and even though it sucked in the moment I felt much better throughout the day for having gone there. I'm again thinking of running at least a mile a day, first thing in the morning, just to work out the kinks. I've already switched my cross-training plan to the classes at work (and even calling it cross-training, which I wasn't before), so why not switch up the actual run plan as well?

In case you haven't noticed, my training plans are nothing if not fluid. It's always an adventure to see what I'll be planning come next week!
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Today was challenging at work. I found I was over thinking my SQL homework assignment. I talked with the instructor, who told me "We already have a General Ledger program! Just show how you would record the transactions." So that's what I did. I came up with two different solutions to the 3rd request, and I still don't know which is best. They cover different aspects of the question, and the question really isn't answered without both. However, I couldn't figure out how to combine both into a single solution within the given parameters. I probably over-thought that as well. Thinking about it now, the point was to create a view, not solve for world peace.

I also spent some time working with V on the card we worked on together yesterday. Turns out we didn't complete everything we were supposed to do. My mistake (in addition to the ones I made yesterday) was to not read the exit criteria, which is what tells us how the program should look or respond once the task is completed. Apparently working with me threw V off as well because once we finished the first part, he submitted the changes without looking at the criteria to see if there was more on the list.

Today we got into some of the code on the form we'd edited yesterday. I don't yet understand all the details of what we were looking at, though I do understand what we were looking for, and how what we found was incorrect. We (meaning V) found the values being passed to the form that were causing the incorrect output. Monday we'll work on where those incorrect values come from. It will likely be in one of the ~2600 stored procedures.

The afternoon was spent in a .NET Fundamentals class, which would have been a bit simpler if I knew any sort of programming language. Ultimately we worked in Visual Basic, which has been on my list to learn for probably 10 years. I guess I'm going to finally get around to doing that, if I'm going to need it for work. Actually, I might not need it for work just yet since Bacon Patrol is written using Power Builder. Power Builder uses a graphical interface to mimic .NET-like functions. There is talk of eventually converting the program to .NET, because Power Builder is somewhat outdated. This means I'll likely need .NET at some point. Maybe if I get started now I'll be up to speed by then. Let me just add it to my list.
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I've started an actual physical (well, technically is virtual, but you get the idea) list of things I want to learn. There are several entries already, including multiple computer-related items, like Blender and Visual Basic. I haven't figured out how I'm going to learn any more than I'm already working toward. I assume once I get good at one thing I won't have to focus so hard, and can add another. Another question is, how good do I want to get?  Some of this will be helpful at work, and I'll be able to practice there. Some I may realize I don't really want to know, once I get into the research. I already know it's impossible to be an expert at everything. I don't want to be mediocre at everything either.

Dr J has said she finds it difficult to focus on more than one thing at a time. My friendly neighborhood Goddess has pointed out more than once how I like to take on the world. It's pretty much a given, when I get to taking on anything I try to take on everything. I like to think there's a happy medium in there somewhere, where I can get better at focusing on multiple routes to improvement without feeling I need to get it all done (and get it done right!), right now. I'm thinking there's a lesson in patience and acceptance in there somewhere. Or maybe the lesson is to live in the moment. THIS is what I'm focusing on now. Now it's THIS.
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Another thing on my list is learning how to forgive. I like to think I'm an easy going person. Sure, I like to complain, but I don't tend to stay mad at people. Except apparently sometimes I do. There is one person I really believe I need to learn how to forgive, because every time I think of that person I get mad all over again. It's not healthy. I don't have to spend time with this person, or even like them. I do however need to learn how to let go of this anger. It's been months and months, and all it takes is a stray thought to set me off again. Not good, and I'm getting tired of it taking up my energy and hijacking my thoughts. I guess that's probably the first step.
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Today I laughed at silly little things. I've turned into something of a worm savior, picking them up off the sidewalk and putting them back in the grass before they dry up and die on the concrete. I picked up a huge worm this morning, and was startled into laughter as it started wriggling manically trying to get away. Usually the worms are more dehydrated and apparently exhausted, as I haven't seen that reaction in a very long time. I'd forgotten they do that, and it made me laugh as the worm kept wriggling out of my fingers while I tried to move it off the sidewalk. 

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I don't know if I'll have time to post tomorrow. I have a wedding to go to, in addition to my normal Saturday activities. I've pushed my long run to Sunday, when the temperatures are supposed to drop from mid-90s to mid-70s. Logistically this works best with the wedding anyway.  It doesn't look like Monkey Boy is coming home this Saturday (I may have misunderstood), or it would be a REALLY crazy weekend. Now it will just be full, and hopefully fun. 

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7/18 - Macs and forms and Magic the Gathering cards

Today I learned, while I remember some of the keyboard shortcuts in Blender, the program is quite different on a Mac than the PC version to which I'm accustomed. I'm also reminded that learning has a tendency to make me short tempered and frustrated when things don't go as expected. the tutorial I was trying to follow kept using menus I didn't know how to get to, and the computer kept doing things I wasn't expecting. The combination did not make for a pretty me, so I quit while I was ahead and will pick this particular project up again when I am at my own computer. 
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Today I learned more about the Bacon Patrol program, as well as the program used to develop Bacon Patrol. The development program is called PowerBuilder. 

Today's database training was cancelled, so I ended up sitting behind one of the developers again. We'll call this developer V. His project was to add headings and text to a Tax Credit form, and I finally saw something I could figure out how to do! The program used to edit the Bacon Patrol program is graphical, and form editing functions much like many other programs used to create forms. Ultimately V left me to finish the last page, which I was able to complete once I figured out how to access the correct version of the program where he made his changes. There is the existing version (9.1) and the version currently in development (9.2). Since the government agency actually updated this form in 2012, the edits have to go in both versions. V originally made his changes in 9.1, which I was not yet connected with. There was a bit of a snafu regarding the check in/check out program and a shared login, but I am now connected to both version 9.1 and 9.2. 

I thought I made the changes like a rock star, but V came back and found I'd missed a text box in the footer. Also, I'd somehow marked the entire form as invisible. I think I did this last through a keyboard shortcut, but honestly I'm not certain. V copied my changes to a different file and reverted the whole page to his original. He was then able to copy my changes in and make them visible. I would have simply selected everything and made it all visible, but V pointed out there were conditional check marks for check boxes which should only be visible when the box is clicked. 

Other things he did, that I'd like to remember:

• Check the preview to see how the changes actually look on the page
• Check the comparison of changes made. V indicated this would help ensure changes were checked in properly, which apparently does not always happen

Even after V corrected my mistakes, I felt confident enough in my abilities to think "I can do that" to two similar cards that came up in our sizing meeting. (Sizing meetings are to determine exactly the issue to be fixed, and how long we believe it will take to fix that issue.) I haven't said anything to the team yet, but probably will at tomorrow morning's daily stand-up meeting, where everyone says what they did the day before and what they will work on that day. 

I spent the rest of the day working on my SQL database homework. I've got the tables created to track inventory purchases from suppliers. I'm still trying to figure out which tables are necessary for a General Ledger process, and I'm not quite certain I've defined the constraints correctly to keep anyone from changing or deleting rows. 

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Today I also learned the Magic the Gathering cards I own might actually be worth something. Probably not a lot, but maybe combined worth enough to make the effort to sell them. My team is full of geeks and nerds (that's a good thing!), and when the conversation came around to selling Pokemon cards I asked about the Magic cards. The newest developer besides myself (I'll call him Jesus) apparently is heavily into Magic the Gathering, and said he would look through my decks for me. 

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I've been exceptionally tired this week. I still don't know if I had a 24 hour something, or if my workouts are just affecting me more than expected. I did go do Tap Out again this evening, but I have yet to complete an entire hour long video. There are a lot of strength and agility activities my body does not handle well, and I tend to stop when I can no longer tell if the pain in my back is growth or damage.  So far it all appears to be growth. I do know I'm growing muscles in several other places, like inner thighs and hamstrings. I've spent a lot of time focusing this week on loosening those new, tight muscles. I plan to continue cross training with Tap Out, and am looking forward to seeing what other muscles I can grow. 

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Today I laughed at and with Superman. I tend toward being overly serious, but that man has the nack for making me laugh! I don't even remember now what he said, but I'll remember the laughter. Thank you, Superman!

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7/17 - Tapping out, trusted professionals, and loan refinancing

I haven't given up on the Blender project, but apparently I can't do everything, every day. Who decided this, I ask?!? At this point I'm still trying to figure out how to both read and create on a regular basis. I'm hoping the weekend will save me, but of course this coming weekend is packed with both a wedding and

MONKEY BOY IS COMING HOME!!!

Monkey Boy is officially done with his stint in the Air Force, and is coming home for a few months before heading off to college. The next few months are going to be interesting, to say the least...
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Today I did not exactly feel like an Olympian. It could be the "2nd day is always the worst" from Monday's Tap Out workout, added to yesterday's run, or I might have caught something from one of the developers I was shadowing yesterday. All I know is I was tired and achy and headachy, with stomach issues off and on all day. It made for interesting spurts of concentration.

It also meant today turned into a rest day. I was scheduled to run 6 miles, but between the way I felt and the 95 degree temperatures, THAT wasn't happening. I went back and forth up until the moment I walked into my air conditioned house, before finally deciding it was in my best interest to just rest. I'm cross training with the TapOut class again tomorrow, and by Friday the temperature is supposed to drop so I can run outside without melting.
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Today I learned how to be a trusted professional, and about accountability. Part of the reason we have these classes is because my place of business hires potential talent, entry level and right out of college. Most of these kids have never had a real job and may not really know how to act. Another part is the company recently converted to an Agile development environment, and with that came what they call "Cornerstone Principles." The classes were created not only for new hires, but also for the existing staff when they changed the corporate culture to this new development approach.

It's interesting, coming from Support, to see how corporate culture is defined in the different departments. Personally I'd like to see more of the PD openness and playfulness in Support, but I don't know the reasons behind why Support runs the way it does. It's possible, since the phones have to be manned, that flying darts and more open space would be counter-productive.
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Today I pretty much gave up on the video walk-throughs for the Bacon Patrol product. I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the product, but it will take me two weeks to watch all these videos. I don't have the patience or time for that. I still have to create a General Ledger solution in a test database for yesterday's SQL class. I don't really understand what a General Ledger is yet, so I have to research that first. Today's classes didn't have any homework, but tomorrow I get into database programming, and Friday .NET (a programming language). It's a sure bet I'll have homework after THOSE three to four hour classes. 

I'm excited to get into the meat of what I'll be doing. Maybe next week I'll be ready to take on a card, or at least pair with someone on a card, and actually accomplish something. Can you tell I'm getting just a little impatient? 

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Today I talked with a loan person about refinancing my condo. I've tried periodically over the past few years to refinance, because my interest rate is currently about twice the market rate. Until now, I'd also hoped to lower my mortgage payment. With my new pay scale however, my current payment is less of an issue. When the mortgage guy asked what my goal was, I didn't have an answer. I don't want to refinance out to 30 years again. That doesn't make sense from an interest standpoint. I don't need a lower monthly payment, though it would be nice. It would also be nice to have a shorter term loan if I plan to keep the place.

Yes, I do plan to eventually live with Superman, and even one day marry him. At the same time, I've considered keeping my place. I've thought about letting Ninja and Monkey Boy live here. I've thought about having it as something like a "summer home," where family members would have a place to crash when they came to town. I've thought about renting it out, though I'm not thrilled with the idea of being a landlord to someone who might not actually pay their rent. I've also thought about short sales and simply walking away. Ideally I could sell it for what I owe, but in the current market that's not going to happen. Also, I'd have to do some remodeling to make it worth what I owe, since the kitchen floor is peeling up and the carpets are more than 12 years old.

What it comes down to is, I don't know what I want to do with the place when I'm no longer living here. At the moment I expect to live here somewhere between 3 and 5 years, but I'll be very sad if I'm still here in 2018. It's too small for Superman to move in with me, and we have talked about maybe setting a tentative date to seriously consider thinking about actually tying the knot in 2018.

Today I am hopeful, but not overly optimistic. My place has to be worth at least 80% of the loan in order to move forward with the refinancing, and ideally worth 85% to do this without closing costs. I spent some time on the County Auditor's site and on Zillow tonight. I'm not completely disheartened, but it's going to be difficult to pull the numbers I'd need. Even if I can't move forward on this now, at least I'll have an idea of the current picture, because I'm going to revisit the question of what to do with this place sooner rather than later.
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7/16 - Running, dongles, and The Thief and the Cobbler

Today's image is not the continuation of my Blender adventures. Instead, I'm sharing the first page of a  treatise on running created by the author of The Oatmeal (a favored Web Comic). You can find the entirety of the work here. Go read it. Trust me, if that's all the time you have, his work is a far better use of your time than mine.

I'm training for my first marathon, and have for at least the last year known I will at some point run an Ultra. I am well familiar with The Oatmeal's Blerch, having one of my own. I do not treat my body, as the author claims, "like a fast-moving dumpster," but that's only because I fight that part of myself. I like vegetables and salads, but I also like pizza, and cookies, and chocolate.

Why do I run? In part because I have already eaten the pizza and cookies and chocolate. I run because I want to lose weight. I also run because, like the Oatmeal, it makes me feel I've accomplished something that day. I run because it makes me feel strong, and because it's more healthy to move than not. I run because it's the only form of exercise I've found with a tangible goal I can regularly make myself work toward. I run because I define myself as a person who runs, and I like that about myself. It's important to acknowledge and further the things you like about yourself.

Today I ran because I didn't run yesterday, and it's in my plan to run 3 short runs a week. I went to bed late and did not sleep well, so did not get up when I wanted. When I did get up, my hamstrings were very tight (part of why I didn't sleep well). The fact my hamstrings are tight is a good thing, an indication I'm getting stronger and improving since I'm actually using that portion of my legs on my runs.

I decided I had time for at least one mile, to loosen things up. A mile in the morning to loosen things up might have to happen every day, even on non-running days. It worked, and I was for the most part not stiff again until I had to sit through a 3 and a half hour class this afternoon. The periodic stretching throughout the day may also have had something to do with that....

I ran part of that mile at a less-than-10-minute-mile pace. This is very fast for me, but it felt sustainable. Unfortunately I did not have time for more than one mile this morning. By the time I got on the treadmill this evening to finish out the day's mileage, my entire body had tightened up again and I was back to +12-minute-miles. I know I have those 10-minute-miles in me, though. They're planned for on my training calendar. 4 mile days, until I get to where I can run them at 10-minute-mile pace. Then up the distance to 5 miles on those days.
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Today I learned about the program I'll be developing for. I planned to explore by seeing how many of the issues on the board I could recreate. Issues on the board are what the developers either are or will be working on. Recreating them would give me experience finding and deciphering the issue criteria, as well as navigating around the program. You have to be able to recreate the problem to know what you are fixing, and to know you are fixing the correct thing.

When I suggested this little game of mine during our morning meeting, I was directed to several training videos I'd not yet watched. The bit I had watched consisted of "this is how you enter your user name..." Apparently Issues Scavenger Hunt is a game for another day. I made it about halfway through the Overview video this morning, and still have 12 other videos to look through. Hopefully they are not all as lengthy, as I'm starting to feel impatient. I want to get into the program and actually get some work done.

Today I also had a class on relational databases. This turned out to be a refresher class on SQL, but was not in any way boring or redundant. The class was fast paced and I learned new things even as we went over the basics for SQL syntax. The instructor answered questions I'd had for a while, for which I'd never got around to looking up the answers. He also made things I thought I understood more clear. The homework assignment is a little daunting, which means I'll be challenged... not a bad thing.
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Today I learned I can connect to my laptop with a bluetooth headset. This is accomplished with a Bluetooth Dongle (love that word!) that cost me all of $15 at Microcenter. It's a tiny thing that plugs into a USB port:

I already have a bluetooth headset, one of many I've run through the washing machine. This one, I can hear just fine but the microphone no longer works. Perfect for this situation! Now I'll be able to listen to the training videos without being literally chained to my laptop by my headphone cord.
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Today I was thrilled to find this:

Ninja and Monkey Boy will appreciate this movie, The Thief and the Cobbler, which was a family favorite. I've looked for a copy of it off and on for years, and today found the full length version on YouTube. I love the optical illusions in the artwork. We all loved the jokes and play on words throughout. This movie was played over and over in our house, worn out, and is still quoted to this day.

Finding this = Made. My. Day.
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7/15 - Schedules and learning and models and bedtimes

Today's Blender project was to create an alarm clock. I'm using this tutorial, and will continue with this tutorial tomorrow. I don't have a clock face image, so used a random picture from my hard drive. Mostly what I learned is where some of the menu items are, and some of the keyboard shortcuts to move around within my project. I'm sure these tidbits will all be reinforced many times before I can create anything on my own. The program requires a lot of keyboard shortcuts, and so far I've probably used about 8 different menus.
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Knowing lessons need reinforcement was also a theme at work today. I am learning how to use the debugging tool in SQL Server Management Studio, which is the program in which I access the database tables. I've now seen the way two different developers debug. I'm ready to try it on my own, but am not certain I remember all the steps to successfully ferret out an issue. This will take practice and a bit of skill to know when to step in, out, through and over aspects of a stored procedure or function.

Today I also learned, if the programming issue I'm researching turns out to not be the issue at all, I don't have to resolve the underlying cause of whatever behavior I'm trying to change. I can send the problem back to the team drawing board for re-evaluation. This is an important difference between Support and Development. In Support, I would have to resolve the underlying issue, regardless of cause. In Development, the underlying issue will be resolved, but it's not solely up to me to do so.
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Today I learned it's not easy to find models that look like what I want to see in my mirror. I'm taking a program through work called "Living Lean," which is supposed to help me stop binge eating and snacking late at night (among other things). I'm only a week into the 5 week course, and the premise appears to be one of personal responsibility. Know the truth of why you binge (because not binging makes you uncomfortable for various reasons), and choose whether or not eating that donut aligns with your current goals (it probably doesn't). The program has helped me define what my weight goals are, one of which is to get back into my "skinny jeans."

I'm creating a digital notebook instead of the physical one the program asks for, because I'm a geek that way. Today's homework assignment included finding an image to represent the main goal I'm working toward. This goal, for me, is to be happy and proud of what I see when I look in the mirror. I decided to look for images of a girl in jeans, that looks like what I hope to someday see in the mirror.

Most of what I found looked a lot like this:

I'm a bit stockier and curvier. This circa 80's image was the closest I could find to what I was looking for:

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Today I decided it would be a good idea to schedule in time to read, where I can. I am incapable of following a long term schedule, in the same way I’m incapable of following a recipe or training plan, so I only added reading time to this week's schedule. Work is throwing information at me fast and furious, and I'm already 2 books behind. At the same time, I'm still watching Ellen and Daily Grace on YouTube after work. Well, last night I was. Tonight I walked down to Burlington's for a browse through their dress and shirt sections, then came home and played with the sprinkler in my garden. Reading will have to wait until tomorrow, even if I am feeling overwhelmed.
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I could read yet tonight, but today I also decided to officially set my bedtime at 10pm. I find myself getting tired and heading to bed earlier and earlier lately, but never officially set a time I wanted to be in bed. With the new work and workout schedule, I’ve set a time to be up every day. Setting bedtime at 10 gives me a half hour to settle down and 8 hours sleep time before I have to get up. Getting enough sleep is another goal I’ve struggled with, in part because I’m up several times a night, but also because I tend to stay up too late.

You'll laugh to know I set this goal today, and it's now after 10:30pm already. See my comment about long term schedules above. Setting bed time at 10pm obviously doesn't mean I’ll make it to bed by 10 every night. 10pm is the goal, with a half hour of stretching before and nothing scheduled after.  
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Today I opted not to run the 4 miles on my calendar. This morning dishes, laundry, and putting my utility room back in order seemed more important. I had to pull my utility room apart last week, when we had torrential rains and that section of my basement flooded. This was not the first time my basement flooded, even after having the place waterproofed a few years ago. There is something about the northwest corner of the building that has trouble handling torrential rains. Any other time it's good, but at least once a year the basement takes on water. The carpet in that section of the basement has been through several years of soakings, and the smell filled my house. Getting rid of the carpet eliminated the smell issue, but I'd only put about half the items back where I store them.

I know me well enough to build wiggle room into all schedules (see scheduling comment above). My workout schedule is based around training for The Perfect 10 Miler in August, then the Towpath Marathon next October. I have 3 shorter runs during the week and a long run on the weekend. It doesn't matter which days these runs occur, as long as they occur within those time frames.

On the days I'm not running, I'm cross training. The amount of cross training is based on the time I have available on any given day. I could have run tonight, but am not a fan of running in the heat so opted to switch today's run with tomorrow's cross train day. We now have a gym at work, and at 5:30 every evening there is a group of people who get together for workout DVDs. They just finished the Insanity program, and today was the first day of TapouT XT.  This is a mixed martial arts system, kind of like Beach Body's Combat. Punching and kicking is fun for me, so I'd planned to drop in periodically anyway.

I'm trying to stay positive on this blog, so am withholding judgement on TapouT until I can take a sit in on a few more sessions. Not every workout video is a good fit for every person, and that's all I'll say about that.
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Today I did not laugh out loud, but I smiled when my team (dubbed "Bacon Patrol") dedicated an entire white board to Zombieland. I also got a warm fuzzy from my first one-on-one with my boss, who told me the team is impressed with my work ethic. I'm excited for my friend "Hasty" who has an interview tomorrow, and I chatted with a different friend about the medieval fair a group of us are going to the end of this month.

Today I also laughed at myself, because apparently scheduling something pretty much assures I won't follow that schedule. At least that's how it worked today. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
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Jan[et] Cicelia

I'm moving over to http://janetcicelia.blogspot.com/. Come visit me sometime!

July 14 - Starting over

Today I decided to pull the trigger on several lines of thought I've been hashing over in my head lately. About 6 weeks ago, I accepted a Software Engineer position at the same company where I've been doing software support for the last year. Since then, I've been kind of free falling. My shift starts an hour earlier, I'm not playing World of Warcraft right now, and I find I'm wasting a lot of time on YouTube. Meanwhile, I miss being creative and I have goals gathering dust on the shelf. 

One solution is to start blogging again. I enjoy writing, and I like the community aspect of blogging. Thankfully Thorns Have Roses turned into something of a running blog. I do still run, and just finished working out a training plan for a marathon in October of 2014. However, I do more than run, and I don't want to my blog to focus on only one thing. I moved to Jan[et] Cicelia partially because there are other blogs named Thankful Thorns have Roses, and partially because this is a new format for me, with a new approach toward content. 

I want my blog to not only report on what I'm doing, but also drive and motivate me to do more. One of the ways I hope to accomplish this is by posting my artwork daily. The image above is what I accomplished today. Granted, it doesn't currently look like much, but it will. I'm teaching myself a graphics program called Blender. The plan to is to put in at least 15 minutes per day, and post my progress regularly. Today I learned  how to control the object: how to rotate, size, and change perspective on the plane.

I also want my blog to be a positive place. I don't want to make excuses for why my art looks the way it does, or why my runs went the way they did. The plan is to focus on what I did well and what I can improve on. So for today's piece, I did well to run through the tutorial twice, practicing each tidbit as it was discussed. The obvious improvement would be to actually create something more than the box the program automatically starts with. I'm looking forward to seeing how quickly I can get there.

I've been spending time on Reddit lately, and thoroughly enjoy the Today I Learned (TIL) posts. Well, today I laughed when I saw a pickup truck driving down the freeway. I know we've all held our hands out the car window, waving up and down as the air current flowed over and under. This pickup had four arms sticking out the windows, all moving with the air currents. It looked like it had wings! The best part? All four arms were adult, and heavily tattooed.

The Great Tea Taste-off

I've been trying to get away from soda, from caffeine, but struggled to find a good replacement beverage. I can drink a ton of water when I'm working out, but apparently not when I'm just working.

Also, I've started to follow the Atkins plan, which for me has created a side effect of dry eyes every hour or two, unless I am really well hydrated. The dry eyes are extremely uncomfortable, so this is probably the best thing to ever happen to me. I *MUST* drink quarts and quarts of liquid a day in order to prevent that discomfort. Everyone knows you're supposed to drink a ton of water to help lose weight. Voila! I can't NOT.

Hi, by the way. I've missed you all.

So. Trying to walk away from caffeine and soda, while not feeling forced to drink a beverage I don't really enjoy unless parched. I don't like coffee unless it's buried in flavored creamer, which makes it a high calorie beverage. Tea seems the logical answer. Except I can't drink sweetened tea on Atkins. Or rather, I can't drink as much as I need. I can use artificial sweetener, and do use Truvia, but each packet is considered a gram of net carbs (even though it says there are 0 carbs, they can say that when there is less than 1% so better safe than sorry). I'm currently supposed to have less than 20 net carbs per day. For those who don't know, net carbs = the number of grams of carbohydrates a food has, minus the grams of fiber. So you're basically keeping track of the sugars you eat. For me, less than 20 net carbs comes out to about 40 grams of carbs, period. 

I have several teas in my cabinet, but I've always drunk them with cream and sweetener. I've never really tried them without. I also found a sale on tea today, so added several more to the stash. Not having the cabinet room for all these teas, and now knowing if I even liked them, I decided to have a tea taste-off.

I started with 16 teas. Well, 17 if you count the Lipton's standard, but the first thing I did was throw that away. I already know I can't drink it unsweetened, nor can I drink it all day long. It is too acidic and upsets my stomach. Also, it was probably close to 10 years old. 

I eliminated the Tazo Wild Sweet Orange and the Good Earth teas from the competition as well. I already know I love Good Earth's Sweet and Spicy,  sweetened. That and the Wild Sweet Orange are both good unsweetened, though not amazing. I also already know green teas are ok sweetened, but not unsweetened. 

I do not have 16 tea cups in my house, so I knew there would be several rounds of tasting. I started with the teas in my cabinet: Green Chai, Organic Breakfast Tea, Salada White, Tangerine Orange Zinger, Berryblossom White, and Red Zinger. I steeped them for a minute or two, pulled the teabags out and put an ice cube in each cup. I smelled each teabag as I discarded it, and tried to guess which ones I would like by scent alone. I was not always right.

Once the teas were cool enough to taste, I took a spoonful then a full sip. The Tangerine Orange Zinger was the unsweetened winner, hands down. I also liked the White, which surprised me. I did not enjoy the other four unsweetened, so tried them with one packet of sweetener each. The Green Chai was good sweetened, but the Organic Breakfast tea won this round for the sweetened tea category.

The next round consisted of several Tazo teas: Sweet Cinnamon Spice, Apricot Vanilla Creme, and Passion. There were also Lipton teas: Green Tea with Orange, Passion Fruit and Jasmine, White Tea with Blueberry and Pomegranate, and Orange Blossom Hibiscus. The Stash Green Tea with Pomegranate and Raspberry was the last, so I added it to this round.

I learned I'm really a white and black tea girl. Most of the green teas didn't wow me, sweetened or not. I was really hopeful for the Sweet Cinnamon Spice, but it tasted like a cinnamon roll in tea, and that was just too odd for me. I'm wondering now if I'll even like any of the other "desert" teas. I'm game to try, but a bit skeptical. 

In the sweetened category, the Organic Breakfast Tea held it's own. However, in the unsweetened category I found a new winner. The Tazo Passion is amazing! It is full, with a strong flavor of rose and orange. It's obvious to me I like orange teas, but this is a step beyond. I'll be drinking a lot of this tea!

Now I know I have several flavors of tea I like unsweetened, for when I get tired of the Passion. I don't see that happening any time soon, but anything is possible.

It turns out the only tea I really didn't like is the Red Zinger. This is actually one of Superman's favorites, so I'll be keeping it around anyway. However, I do now have a lot of tea I'm not particularly fond of, sweetened or not. I know my tastes are not the same as everyone else's, so it's possible these teas could find a good home with someone who will appreciate them. I'm willing to put all I have left of each, waterproofed in a ziploc baggie, and send them off to anyone who wants some. I won't ship the boxes because it will be cheaper for me to send envelopes. Just let me know which of the following you'd like - first come first serve. If you've chosen more than one and someone else would like one you've chosen, I'll split it between you.

Stash Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea
17 left
I really wanted to like this one. Maybe it if had been white tea...

Tazo Apricot Vanilla Creme
19 left
This one smelled amazing, but the taste for me was just meh. Maybe I needed to steep it longer or something. 

Tazo Sweet Cinnamon Spice
19 left
This is apparently discontinued as I can't find it on the Tazo site.

Lipton Green Tea with Orange, Passion Fruit & Jasmine
19 left
It has all the right ingredients, except the green tea part

Lipton Blueberry Pomegranate
Only 8 left. I like this one sweetened and with creamer, but that's not how I'm drinking tea these days

Tazo Berryblossom White
8 left
another I liked creamed and sweetened

Lipton Orange Blossom Hibiscus
16 left
another I really wanted to like, but didn't. 

Leave a message in the comments if you want any of this. If no one claims them they'll just go in the trash. I don't have the cabinet space for it all!

Be Careful What You Wish For

Last post I talked about Shakeology - whether I should try it or not, how expensive it is, a few of the pros and cons. 

My darling son Monkey Boy had not gotten me a Christmas present, so decided to step in and help sort out my indecision for me.

This package arrived at my door Thursday. 

Now I really have a decision to make. It was easy to toss the pros and cons of meal replacement around when I hadn't actually spent money on the Shakeology product. Apparently Monkey Boy figured Shakeology was too expensive, so purchased more than twice as much product for just over $100 more than the Shakeology would have cost. 

I cannot follow this program. That I know already. The Vi program is based around two shakes per day, plus a healthy dinner. Now I'll admit I've daydreamed about being able to take a pill and get all the nutrition I need in a day. That would remove all temptation to over-eat, because I wouldn't eat at all. "Brownies? No thanks. I don't eat." In the real world though, I want to learn how to eat right, how to eat within my body's requirements, and I want to eat real, healthy food.

But I have this stuff in the house now, and I cannot decide what to do with it. I was (and still am) considering meal replacement shakes for breakfasts. I don't eat breakfast every day, but on the days I'm hungry in the morning a shake would be quick and easy, measured calories, tasty, and (theoretically) nutritious. Just using the shake portion of this seems such a waste though. I am in no way inclined to use the appetite suppressant pills, and am not even mildly consistent about the vitamin supplements I do take. 

I made sure Monkey Boy wouldn't be upset if I returned this lot, which at this particular moment I'm almost certain I will do. I may or may not get the Shakeology, or maybe a different brand of comparatively nutritious meal replacement shake. I don't know. 

I do know I made yogurt smoothies for breakfasts this week. 

I guess I'll see how these go down before deciding about meal replacements one way or the other. 

I'm still amused by my workout schedule. If I were sticking to a single program I would probably be complaining about little quirks of the trainers. As is, I can't decide which videos I like best. I lost a bit of steam toward the end of this past week. I wasn't prepared for the Combat video to require weights, and had to improvise. Thursday night I had multiple vivid and violent nightmares, which contributed to Friday being a rest day. I didn't run today either, though I could have. Even so, this past week is the best workout week I've had in a long time, as I type this I'm looking forward to the week to come. 

Should I drink the koolaid?

A friend of mine has lost 40 lbs doing the Insanity program, and has now become a Team Beach Body Coach. She's invited me to her Facebook page and encouraged me to talk about my "hybrid Beachbody workout plan."

I can't seem to get a good pic of my calendar.
I mark off each day with comments about weights I used,
or whether it's better to do that particular workout in the basement

I don't know that I really want to talk about my plan on her Facebook page. Mostly I don't want to talk about it because I feel like a fatty. I've been running for over two years, but even when working out regularly I haven't lost any weight. Much like the start of my friend's workout journey, mine has included a lot of workouts and not so many dietary restrictions.

My friend has drunk the Koolaid. She's also drinking the Shakeology. At $4 per shake, I'm having a little trouble swallowing that one. Sure, they're full of all natural ingredients. So would any smoothie I made from whole foods instead of processed "beet juice powder."

It's working for her.

I've spent an awful lot of money trying to figure out approximately how many calories I expend in a day, and how many I need to consume. I'm better about overeating now I'm staying away from gluten, but I still have a sweet tooth the size of the Grand Canyon. I still have no idea if I should try to subsist on 1200 calories, or if I really need the 1700-1900 I consume most days.

I'm actually inclined to believe the latter. For the past several weeks I've been weighing myself when I get up and when I go to bed, on the days I'm home. Starting Mondays I've consistently lost a pound or two through the course of the week. Then comes Wednesday or Thursday Chinese, then Friday Mexican, and by the end of the weekend I've gained it all back.

I'm not good at wholesale changes. That doesn't mean I'm not good at changes. I'm still working on making the gluten free one stick. I'm planning out how to cut coffee and soda from my diet. I'm not as concerned about the caffeine as I am with the chemicals in the coffee creamer and diet colas I drink daily. The majority of my day to day diet is healthy whole foods. I am slowly working on reducing the calories in while increasing the calories out.

I don't want to drink the Koolaid. I want to be able to eat healthy foods and maintain a healthy weight without all the hype.

I guess we'll find out how well that works for me.

I've taken another set of "before" pictures. I won't subject you to them, but I will say I'm pleasantly surprised to find I have some muscle definition in my arms.

Release the Anger

I am a literalist and a realist. Because I take everything literally, I do not function well when people lie to me. I don't lie to you, and I expect the same courtesy.

We've been having a bit of drama at work lately. One of the guys that was hired in with me has been extremely unhappy. He didn't like the hours, so decided to make his own. Coming in half an hour to an hour before the rest of the crew wasn't that big a deal, as long as there were tickets to work on. However, when he decided he wanted to start his shift a good 2 hours before support hours began, Management decided he needed to be doing other things during that time. He was trained on applications that had support hours when he wanted to come in.

He wasn't happy learning the new applications. He apparently had enough trouble learning the application he was hired in to support, and learning two new applications on top of that overwhelmed him completely.

At about the same time he finished his training and was put on the phones to support these two new applications, his daughter became ill.

This guy's behaviors and mannerisms reminded me Ninja. I felt bad for him, and somewhat protective since he was obviously struggling. I'm not bragging when I say I know the most out of the three of us about the product we support. I helped this guy out. I let it pass when he asked me the same questions over and over, figuring he wasn't using his knowledge as much since he was supporting these new products. I let things pass because he had "stuff going on."

He started calling in sick. A lot. The way the schedules worked, it was just he and I on Mondays. He started showing a distinct tendency toward Mondayitis, leaving me alone to handle what is supposed to be a two to three person job. Work stressed him so much he refused to log onto the phones when he was there, leaving the majority of the work to myself and the third member of out team. It got to where I could almost predict when he would be out, based on his behavior the day before.

There were a lot of doctor's visits for his daughter, who had a severe and mysterious pain in her side. Ultimately, there was a gall bladder surgery and an extended hospital stay, all of which he had to attend. He used up all of his PTO with unplanned outs, and then some.

Last Monday was his final day at work. At some point while he was supposedly out with his daughter's illness, he interviewed for and found another job. This is not a job I would have taken. From what I understand it does not pay as well, nor does it have the benefits this company offers. I'm only a little mad he lied about interviewing, and that's mainly because the lie he told was obvious enough for me to feel insulted he believed I'd buy it. I am more peeved he used our concern and care over his daughter's illness for his own gains.

I'm mad that he lied about so much else, too. I've found in the last week he told the other guy on our team he was making more than both of us. That is patently ridiculous, considering each of our level's of education and experience. He told clients things that made the team look bad. Everything he ever said is now being questioned, and quite a bit is not living up to the scrutiny.

Here's the thing. It's easy to get stuck in "mad." I'm a complainer. I try to keep it under wraps, but I frequently find myself complaining about things. Frequently those things involve work. I've been complaining about this guy for months. He's only been gone a week, and I'm already tired of being mad at and complaining about him. I'm tired of the jokes going around the office about him, even when I find myself participating in them.

I drew the above image to help me release the anger, the frustration, the fear of how this change will affect both the team and myself. He is gone, and he will have to pay for the choices he made while here. The residual effects will likely be gone before this next week is over, except for the fact we're now down to two and don't know when that will change. There's also the question of how this affects my training, upon which my expected promotion is if not hinged at least marginally contingent. I'm concerned about the frying pan/fire aspect of our next teammate as well. At least we've been promised the next new hire is ours.

I've been thinking for a while about incorporating my drawings here. My art waxes and wanes, and I often have to make a conscious decision to pick it up again. I'm trying to find time for it now, and chose drawing as something more mobile than clay. I can draw just about anywhere, whenever I find a few minutes.

At the same time, I've been thinking about the possibility of making money from my art. This has always been a dream of mine. If you look over to the left, you'll see I've started a shop where people can purchase things with my work on them. This week's piece may not be the best to begin that with, but I figure by the time anyone actually finds my shop and wants to buy from it, the quality and quantity will be much improved.

New decor

Showing off my new workout room decor. The papers on the walls are P90X worksheets, and they surround the room.

Still so very amused.

Yeah yeah yeah...

I'm not a big fan of resolutions. I'm even a bit hesitant about goals, but at least those aren't contingent on a calendar date arbitrarily mandated by a papul bull in the late 1500's.

That said, there are a few things I would like to see happen this year.

1. Work out more days than not.  I am highly amused by the fact I've acquired the following workout video series: Jillian Micheal's Body Revolution, P90X, Insanity, Les Mills Combat, and TurboFire. I am even more amused by the fact I combined them all into a year's worth of workouts. One series per day, something like this:

Add in the Yoga class Superman and I found on Groupon and an hour long run on the weekends, and I have over a year's worth of workouts planned. I'm not likely to get bored, and really all I have to do is show up. Shouldn't be that difficult. right?

2. Gluten Free.  I've been reading Wheat Belly, and while I have an awful lot of raised eyebrow at the sweeping statements and high drama (the author practically says going wheat free will cure cancer) there is enough science and testimonials to make me at least consider the benefits. Turns out I'm kind of addicted to gluten/wheat. I thought it was sugar, but going off gluten for over 2 weeks, then going back on, I see the difference. There is also the possibility it affects my allergies, though that one is harder to pinpoint cause.

So, gluten free as much as possible. We eat out somewhat regularly, and gluten free at restaurants is almost impossible and I refuse to obsess overmuch about this. I will refrain from ordering tings I know will contain gluten, but if my steak comes with an onion ring on top, I'll just take the onion ring off and give it to Superman. I won't send the steak back because contact with gluten may transfer some. I'm not celiac and I don't have to be THAT careful.

Sugar free would be nice too, but I know myself too well. I can't make sweeping changes successful, and I have a sweet tooth the size of the grand canyon.

3. Rediscovery my creativity. I have plans for this, including a return to blogging, but the biggest problem is finding time. I'm a big fan of lists, and currently have multiple calendars to keep track of workouts, what I need to do to make those happen, and when I have a little extra time. I'm still working long hours. I'm still playing WoW and raiding twice a week. Those aren't likely to change any time soon, so I have to make time elsewhere. I have nights I don't raid, and I have weekends.

None of these are new ideas. Well, gluten free maybe, but not if you count it as "eating better." None if it is anything I'm not working on all the time, every day, regardless of new or old years. I say that, but I still keep coming back to Aurther's take: "Re" means "again" ... and "solution" means "something you thought you already fixed."

Maybe I do believe in resolutions after all.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope it's a stellar one for all.