I have multiple bosses. I'm generally okay by this, IF they talk to one another and can communicate what they want clearly. I am in middle management, a place I much prefer NOT to be in.
I turned in a massive report yesterday, was told it was very complete and thorough and needed only layout revision by one boss. I did those revisions and turned in "final" bound copy to both bosses on this project, as 2nd boss had only provided very minimal commentary on first draft. I get called into a meeting this morning, upshot being "I never actually looked at your work and gave you the wrong indication of priorities. I also actually gave it more than a cursory glance this time and found all these edits I want. But hurry and do 2 weeks worth of work by Wednesday." I start editing as requested and he comes waltzing in an hour later, after I'm finished with a critical part of the report and says [edited for blogosphere] "Oh, you were kinda right. Redo it again to mesh the two. Oh, and put this crap we don't have onto the report front page." Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining. Don't tell me it's oh, so wonderful if you never really looked at it.
One thing I have noticed is that I have another waffling micromanager on my hands. Two jobs ago, I had one; it was the major reason I left. These people go back and forth, back and forth on which version of something critical they want. I don't mind being asked to show the different versions of whatever it is they're trying to figure out. It's something that needs to be done a lot of times. What I do mind is being told multiple times to switch it back and forth. It's a waste of time, effort, their money, and the client's money. It worsens when the bosses can't agree on something, so I get caught in the middle on which one ACTUALLY needs to happen. Communication is a flopping point in this company, mostly because no one really talks to each other at the management level and management makes the false assumption that everyone can drop everything else they've been assigned to work on for the job they want.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sangria!
It's New Year's Eve. I wanted alcohol, I wanted fizzy, and I don't care for champagne. Solution? Primal Sangria. Recipe below:
Sangria!
1 pineapple
1 orange
1 lime
1 lemon
6-8 cherries
6-8 strawberries
2-3 blackberries
2-3 raspberries
strawberry puree (1 c)
8 oz ginger ale
1 bottle dry red wine
Chop and peel all fruit to bite size, mix well. For each glass: 3/4 c red wine, 2 oz ginger ale, 2 oz strawberry puree, and a handful of fruit. For ice, freeze puree into ice chunks and use that.
Sangria!
1 pineapple
1 orange
1 lime
1 lemon
6-8 cherries
6-8 strawberries
2-3 blackberries
2-3 raspberries
strawberry puree (1 c)
8 oz ginger ale
1 bottle dry red wine
Chop and peel all fruit to bite size, mix well. For each glass: 3/4 c red wine, 2 oz ginger ale, 2 oz strawberry puree, and a handful of fruit. For ice, freeze puree into ice chunks and use that.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Primal Pad Thai!
Yep, that's what dinner was last night. I forgot to grab a photo of it, so you'll have to wait for a photo of leftovers tonight. What's that I hear? "Quit bragging and give us the recipe"? Coming right up!
Pad Thai (enough for 1 fasted adult + a snack)
1 zucchini, deseeded, turned into strips with a veggie peeler, and those sliced into fettuccine width ribbons
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (optional)
6-10 green beans, snapped into 1" sections(optional)
1 shallot OR 1/4 onion and 2 garlic cloves (sliced)
1/4 c broccoli, chopped(optional)
1/2 stalk celery, chopped(optional)
1/2carrot, chopped(optional)
3-4 stalks asparagus(optional)
1/4 c mung bean sprouts
1 lb beef (sirloin or skirt steak), cubed 1"
2 eggs
oil (I used olive)
Sauce
3 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp honey
2 teaspoons rice vinegar (you can use white or white wine vinegar if you don't have rice vinegar)
3 cloves garlic
Heat 3 tbsp oil in wide, shallow pan (got a wok? Use that.) Add meat, brown. Add veggies except zuke, saute for a few min, until just crispier than al dente. Add your zuke noodles. Using tongs, incorporate the zuke into everything else without breaking it. Mix the sauce ingredients well and add to the pan. Stir fry until the zuke noodles are tangled and well incorporated. Push everything to one side of the pan and crack the eggs into the empty area. Scramble 'em. Mix everything together. Serve with lime wedges, sriracha, and crushed cashews.
Pad Thai (enough for 1 fasted adult + a snack)
1 zucchini, deseeded, turned into strips with a veggie peeler, and those sliced into fettuccine width ribbons
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (optional)
6-10 green beans, snapped into 1" sections(optional)
1 shallot OR 1/4 onion and 2 garlic cloves (sliced)
1/4 c broccoli, chopped(optional)
1/2 stalk celery, chopped(optional)
1/2carrot, chopped(optional)
3-4 stalks asparagus(optional)
1/4 c mung bean sprouts
1 lb beef (sirloin or skirt steak), cubed 1"
2 eggs
oil (I used olive)
Sauce
3 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp honey
2 teaspoons rice vinegar (you can use white or white wine vinegar if you don't have rice vinegar)
3 cloves garlic
Heat 3 tbsp oil in wide, shallow pan (got a wok? Use that.) Add meat, brown. Add veggies except zuke, saute for a few min, until just crispier than al dente. Add your zuke noodles. Using tongs, incorporate the zuke into everything else without breaking it. Mix the sauce ingredients well and add to the pan. Stir fry until the zuke noodles are tangled and well incorporated. Push everything to one side of the pan and crack the eggs into the empty area. Scramble 'em. Mix everything together. Serve with lime wedges, sriracha, and crushed cashews.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Grok Thyself and Know the Universe.
Well, Christmas is gone and past. New stuff a plenty, including stuff to and from me.
I guess right now most people, most blogs, would be yammering on about New Year's Resolutions. I'd hazard a guess that most of those Resolutions would cover one of 3 topics:
1) Lose weight.
2) Get fit.
3) [insert personality change here: listening more, stop procratinating, yadayadayada]
I'm not making a New Year's Resolution.
I see no point. If I'm going to do something, I'll do it, so what's a random day got to do with it? I do have a couple ideas, though, for what I want my life to start to be. I have couple ideas for enjoying my life more and making what I do worthwhile.
I want to start living more in the moment. Not for the future, not running from my past, not huddled under a blanket of the "present," but in the moment. Enjoy the cool breeze of summer, feel my emotions and let them run on their way, see with new eyes the little things I'm too busy or preoccupied to see, hear the life all around me, truly TASTE my food and love it, and in general stop trying to control the universe. Living more in the moment involves two things that I've been afraid to do for years: allowing myself to be out there enough to get hurt, and loosen control. I can't control everything and I need to remember that. To live in the moment is to grok everything around you. Not in the "know it down to the minutest element" sense of grok, but in the "Let it be and cherish it" element.
Along the same lines, I need to learn to master my emotions. Not control, not hide away behind a mask, master. Allow them to flow without letting them impact the issue at hand. Feel them without being overrun by them. Let them be a part of me and yet apart from me.
Remove the clutter from my life. Not just physical junk that takes up too much space, but emotional and mental clutter.
"Know thyself and to thine ownself be true." No clue where it came from, but it has a distinctly Martian and Buddhist flavor to it. In order to grok and cherish all that's around me, I must first grok and cherish myself.
Look within yourself. Look beyond that body you may not be comfortable with, look beyond that brain that overthinks everything, look beyond those emotions that blind you to yourself, and look at that little spark that is YOU. Meditate/ pray/ think on this. You may see this as extremely selfish, but I challenge you: how can you change or help others understand something you don't even grok? You cannot teach what you do not know. You cannot love and cherish others and the Universe without first grokking yourself.
I guess right now most people, most blogs, would be yammering on about New Year's Resolutions. I'd hazard a guess that most of those Resolutions would cover one of 3 topics:
1) Lose weight.
2) Get fit.
3) [insert personality change here: listening more, stop procratinating, yadayadayada]
I'm not making a New Year's Resolution.
I see no point. If I'm going to do something, I'll do it, so what's a random day got to do with it? I do have a couple ideas, though, for what I want my life to start to be. I have couple ideas for enjoying my life more and making what I do worthwhile.
I want to start living more in the moment. Not for the future, not running from my past, not huddled under a blanket of the "present," but in the moment. Enjoy the cool breeze of summer, feel my emotions and let them run on their way, see with new eyes the little things I'm too busy or preoccupied to see, hear the life all around me, truly TASTE my food and love it, and in general stop trying to control the universe. Living more in the moment involves two things that I've been afraid to do for years: allowing myself to be out there enough to get hurt, and loosen control. I can't control everything and I need to remember that. To live in the moment is to grok everything around you. Not in the "know it down to the minutest element" sense of grok, but in the "Let it be and cherish it" element.
Along the same lines, I need to learn to master my emotions. Not control, not hide away behind a mask, master. Allow them to flow without letting them impact the issue at hand. Feel them without being overrun by them. Let them be a part of me and yet apart from me.
Remove the clutter from my life. Not just physical junk that takes up too much space, but emotional and mental clutter.
"Know thyself and to thine ownself be true." No clue where it came from, but it has a distinctly Martian and Buddhist flavor to it. In order to grok and cherish all that's around me, I must first grok and cherish myself.
Look within yourself. Look beyond that body you may not be comfortable with, look beyond that brain that overthinks everything, look beyond those emotions that blind you to yourself, and look at that little spark that is YOU. Meditate/ pray/ think on this. You may see this as extremely selfish, but I challenge you: how can you change or help others understand something you don't even grok? You cannot teach what you do not know. You cannot love and cherish others and the Universe without first grokking yourself.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Squashy Truck
As mentioned in the previous post, I made a red squashy stuffed pick up truck for a friend's kid using red and black fleece.
A view of one of the sides (both are the same)
A view from the back, including the velcro tailgate
A view of the front: note the grill and headlight embroidery that I'm rather proud of
A view from the top
All of the black parts were stitched on after the body of the truck was done, including the grill and and the wheels. Gonna stuff the bed with leftover Halloween candy and then wrap it to give it to the kid. I think he'll like it.
All of the black parts were stitched on after the body of the truck was done, including the grill and and the wheels. Gonna stuff the bed with leftover Halloween candy and then wrap it to give it to the kid. I think he'll like it.
It's 3 days Until Christmas...
...So where the hell'd my holiday spirit go? I've been trying to enjoy the season and get into the spirit, but it seems like that went away around the time that the stress started building up. You know the old saw "a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part?" My bosses (henceforth referred to as Minigoats, Old Man, and Phone- a- Boss) need to learn this. Knowing full well that Christmas was next week, with Friday being a holiday, they schedule a report due Thursday. One that requires serious overtime by two people to complete on time. This wasn't because they didn't know the client's timeline (they did), or because the data wasn't collected (it was), but because they once again put it off to the last minute because they couldn't get in contact with one another. So I'm having to work overtime and take work home on a holiday week and try to get this done quickly through a sinus infection because their planning skills are supbar.
Today seems to be shaping up to be a (introducing sarcasm italics here ----------->) wonderful day, full of charm and mystery and jackassery. I got out of the house late. Fine, dandy, my fault. I had to stop for gas, which again, was my fault. What cheesed me off so badly was at the gas station (might I point out here that I wore a dress because I didn't expect mother nature to pull one of her famous "winter morning, fall afternoon" stunts) where there was a couple of asshats who didn't know standard gas station decorum (turn down you crappy music, I don't need to hear it from across the parking lot, pull all the way up to the furthest pump in line so others can use the other pumps, get off your damn cell phone if your talking abt your gyno appt, yadayada) and the pump I was using was busted. Fine, dandy. I drive over to another pump. It declines my card because it was just used at the same station at a different pump. I haul ass over to another gas station (with ma and pa ferguson out for a morning drive going 30 in a 50 taking their half out of the middle of the road.) People at that one didn't know gas station decorum either, but I got my gas and got the hell out. Got to work and I'm now pretty much sitting on my thumbs until the data input guy finishes up, then I have to put ALL that into my report.
I finished Kid's toy last night. Kid is the child of Guy with Kid, a good friend in the middle of a not so amicable divorce. I'll post photos later, but I'm somewhat proud of it. I made the kid a stuffed picked up truck that looks very similar to his father's truck. It's made of red fleece with black fleece tires and windows. It has a bed that you can actually put stuff in and has velcro so you can lift and lower the tailgate. The wheels don't actually roll like I was originally aiming for them to, and the wheels are REALLY too smally for the scale of the toy, but I wanted to get it to the kiddo by Christmas and my original plan to get the wheels to roll didn't quite work (note to self, pipe cleaners do not behave correctly as axles if you can't provide a sturdy connection to the wheel.) BUT, it is soft and squishy, and washable, which is something that the matchbox cars I tried to sleep with when I was younger wasn't.
I think tonight, after going over to guy with Kid's house, I'll keep working on Niece's gift.
Today seems to be shaping up to be a (introducing sarcasm italics here ----------->) wonderful day, full of charm and mystery and jackassery. I got out of the house late. Fine, dandy, my fault. I had to stop for gas, which again, was my fault. What cheesed me off so badly was at the gas station (might I point out here that I wore a dress because I didn't expect mother nature to pull one of her famous "winter morning, fall afternoon" stunts) where there was a couple of asshats who didn't know standard gas station decorum (turn down you crappy music, I don't need to hear it from across the parking lot, pull all the way up to the furthest pump in line so others can use the other pumps, get off your damn cell phone if your talking abt your gyno appt, yadayada) and the pump I was using was busted. Fine, dandy. I drive over to another pump. It declines my card because it was just used at the same station at a different pump. I haul ass over to another gas station (with ma and pa ferguson out for a morning drive going 30 in a 50 taking their half out of the middle of the road.) People at that one didn't know gas station decorum either, but I got my gas and got the hell out. Got to work and I'm now pretty much sitting on my thumbs until the data input guy finishes up, then I have to put ALL that into my report.
I finished Kid's toy last night. Kid is the child of Guy with Kid, a good friend in the middle of a not so amicable divorce. I'll post photos later, but I'm somewhat proud of it. I made the kid a stuffed picked up truck that looks very similar to his father's truck. It's made of red fleece with black fleece tires and windows. It has a bed that you can actually put stuff in and has velcro so you can lift and lower the tailgate. The wheels don't actually roll like I was originally aiming for them to, and the wheels are REALLY too smally for the scale of the toy, but I wanted to get it to the kiddo by Christmas and my original plan to get the wheels to roll didn't quite work (note to self, pipe cleaners do not behave correctly as axles if you can't provide a sturdy connection to the wheel.) BUT, it is soft and squishy, and washable, which is something that the matchbox cars I tried to sleep with when I was younger wasn't.
I think tonight, after going over to guy with Kid's house, I'll keep working on Niece's gift.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Intro to Moi
I guess I need to introduce myself.
I'm a 25 yo female living in West Texas with my husband of 1 year. I'm a fairly typical "one of the guys tomboy," with an extra helping of geek. I do enjoy some more feminine stuff, but let's face it, I'm not a girly girl.
A bit of backstory:
I went to college here in West TX. I graduated with my Civil engineering degree and went to live with my fiancee and his folks while we saved up for a down payment for a house. I went to the doctor several years ago and got diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. At this time, I was also at a job with a boss I downright hated (he stole accomplishments and was an utter Fundie jackass.) My depression (from the hypo) didn't help matters. I really don't want to think about where I'd be right now without the support of my now husband.
I switched jobs to one I loved and started to try to watch my health more. I did some more research of hypothyroidism and discovered that those with hypothyroidism tend to lose weight more easily on low carb diets. I tried that for two days, hit low carb flu, and went back to "healthy eating". Fast forward 3 months and I ran across MDA on Stumble. I read the blog archives for weeks and lurked on the forums, doing research and debating on trying the low carb thing again. The more I read, the more it made sense. The more I lurked on the forums, the more convinced I was. Trying to get both sides of the story, I used google to try to find downsides. The worst one was high cholesterol. I already had that, so I didn't care. I was in. I started eating Primal.
I dropped my thyroid pills a few weeks ago (insert shock and horror here) in favor of a thyroid supplement, which seems to be working better that the levothyroxine.
Why am I telling you all this medical crap? Because it's my journal and it will crop up. Live with it.
I recently started a new job in a small town here in West Texas after being laid off by the job I loved. I'm still not enthused by the middle management aspect of this job, but at least it pays the bills and I'm working towards my Professional Engineer (PE) license, as opposed to being unemployed.
This journal will likely be a true journal: recipes, thoughts, rants, stuff from my own special brand of religion, self experimentation, exercise stuff.... you name it.
I'm a 25 yo female living in West Texas with my husband of 1 year. I'm a fairly typical "one of the guys tomboy," with an extra helping of geek. I do enjoy some more feminine stuff, but let's face it, I'm not a girly girl.
A bit of backstory:
I went to college here in West TX. I graduated with my Civil engineering degree and went to live with my fiancee and his folks while we saved up for a down payment for a house. I went to the doctor several years ago and got diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. At this time, I was also at a job with a boss I downright hated (he stole accomplishments and was an utter Fundie jackass.) My depression (from the hypo) didn't help matters. I really don't want to think about where I'd be right now without the support of my now husband.
I switched jobs to one I loved and started to try to watch my health more. I did some more research of hypothyroidism and discovered that those with hypothyroidism tend to lose weight more easily on low carb diets. I tried that for two days, hit low carb flu, and went back to "healthy eating". Fast forward 3 months and I ran across MDA on Stumble. I read the blog archives for weeks and lurked on the forums, doing research and debating on trying the low carb thing again. The more I read, the more it made sense. The more I lurked on the forums, the more convinced I was. Trying to get both sides of the story, I used google to try to find downsides. The worst one was high cholesterol. I already had that, so I didn't care. I was in. I started eating Primal.
I dropped my thyroid pills a few weeks ago (insert shock and horror here) in favor of a thyroid supplement, which seems to be working better that the levothyroxine.
Why am I telling you all this medical crap? Because it's my journal and it will crop up. Live with it.
I recently started a new job in a small town here in West Texas after being laid off by the job I loved. I'm still not enthused by the middle management aspect of this job, but at least it pays the bills and I'm working towards my Professional Engineer (PE) license, as opposed to being unemployed.
This journal will likely be a true journal: recipes, thoughts, rants, stuff from my own special brand of religion, self experimentation, exercise stuff.... you name it.
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