EY's Rants and Raves

If I were better organized, my year-in-review would go month to month, declaring the highs and lows of each 30 day increment. Or I'd organize by category (sports, cooking, etc). Seeing as how I'm writing this with no prep and only a half cup of coffee (so far), I'm afraid this will be random.

Best makeup product I never thought I should use: Bronzer. I used bronzer this year for the first time at the insistence of my stylist. I flat out told her it wasn't for me, then she pointed out that she'd just put some on me and asked how I liked it. Truth is, I really dig it. To me, the only way that "EY" and "bronze" would ever fit in a sentence would be something like "EY is reading a book about the Bronze Age." or "EY was in a museum and saw pre-Barsoomian bronzes." But bronzer, the makeup powder, when used with a LIGHT hand makes me look, well, less dead. I like that.

Best near freakout in the state of TX: Last year, a long lost friend found me. [Editor's note: I still get a giggle that he paid a search engine for my OLD address when my current one is floating free in the ether for free. But at the time, I was working at a data company and he wasn't. I shouldn't laugh at him for that....but I do.] This year, since his promises to come to AR never happened, I loaded up a bag and flew to his city in the Lone Star State. I'm not sure I've ever been so nervous. I walked around in a state of panic for the last week before the trip. Rationalizing that I had no need to be nervous, that it wasn't a date or a hook up, that his opinion of me is unlikely to be swayed by the way I look, that we'd already exchanged pictures a few times already and thus if he cared about my exterior now vs 2 decades ago, he'd had ample time to say so, didn't help. I was still freaked out. And based on how we both seemed jumpy at dinner, I think he was too. Fortunately, dinner included a sufficient amount of booze to tone us both down. For the rest of the weekend, the calendar may as well have read 1990 (when we hung out in college).

Best Girls: I think I've written before about how lucky I am to have fallen in with a group of girls from "The Boy's" side of friends. I still feel that way. We're all still a lot of fun, we still have a lot of fun together and are even attempting to lose weight together. We support each other in those efforts and while I'm not much for the "Weight Watchers accountability model", I can't disagree with its effectiveness. I almost feel that gaining weight would be letting them down. And a couple of folks are working SO hard and looking so great that I just can't disappoint them (well, except for last night when I ate a pizza).

Best near freakout in AR: I left Big Faceless Corp in December. Dec. 12, to be exact. After thirteen and a half years, most of which were really good. I like the work, I like the people, but it was time for a change. Working with 2 groups in particular gave me a wakeup call. After numerous instances of each lying, not following through, backstabbing, etc, I simply could not deal with them effectively. Email from them would cast a shadow over my whole day. I would sit and stew about what lie they would come up with next, what ineffective leader they would get to cover their butt, what lengths they would go to to NOT do what was needed. It's one thing to treat such a team with caution and help them set "baby step" goals that are manageable. It's quite another to tell your team that you can't deal with them anymore and that you're voting yourself off the island where they're concerned. It's also grossly unfair to your team and the other folks. Especially when you're the expert on their issues and you continue to meddle in their challenges after you declare the voting off the island thing. After I found myself doing that a few times, I realized that I needed a change. I had lost the ability to be objective and find good solutions. Although at the time, it was only with 2 teams, the bitterness I had for them could easily spread to other teams. The two worst things you could ever call me work-wise are "unprofessional" and "ineffective", yet with these teams, I was both....blatently. So, when a new opportunity presented itself, I thought "what the heck?" The new folks seem pretty excited about me and I'm excited about them. My decision to leave was termed "a disaster" by a couple of folks and was a surprise to nearly everyone. One person who did not express surprise, was my boss. He's always been great to deal with and this situation was no different. He's a good man, a really great guy and I will miss him. I'm hoping my 2009 wrapup will say that this was a good decision.

Best thing I never thought I'd want: My iPod Touch. I won one this year and have been amazed by how much I dig it. It's not that I'm opposed to music and sound, but I do tend to be a person who loves silence. I crave peace and quiet. I'm not someone who would be jumping around to music all the time, like they show in the commercials. After so long in a cube environment, hearing conversations I'd rather not, trying to keep my conversations at a normal level, I'm not much for noise outside that time. But the iPod is just darn handy. I can pick and choose songs in seconds, create playlists that correspond to my flighty moods. I can listen to nothing but Nine Inch Nails, George Michael or Straight No Chaser all day if I want to. I can make a playlist with 2 songs about a rather naughty activity, one about "wrap me up in chains", one about a loose chick and one about the "in" status of being sexy and listen to nothing but that. Not surprisingly, I also have a "moody" playlist. I have them for Chicks, Christmas, Comedy, Fun, Funky, and ones dedicated to specific artists. The Fun playlist is getting too long, so I'll need to figure out how to split it up. Weirdly, I'm looking forward to that. I can listen to the iPod in the car. Santa brought me a boom box (Sony's description, not mine) that will let me listen all over the house. And that's not all....When I was in grad school, I found Mahjong. Darn addictive game that I would stay up way to late playing on my computer. Now, I have Mahjong on my iPod. I played for an hour waiting for a dr's appointment last week. I honestly thought they'd called me and I'd not heard it.

Best non-paying gig: eWine tasting. This is all kinds of fun. We still start too early and end too late, but it's a great thing to do, I meet really nice folks, drink good wine and usually hang out afterward with Vicious J (who has a serious girlfriend now and while I would never NEVER begrudge him his happiness, I do miss him sometimes . I love you, man!)

Best musical seen on Broadway: Spamalot. OK, it was the ONLY show we had time to see, but still, it was awesome. Yes, it's largely a rehash of The Holy Grail, but if you have to rehash something, you could do a lot worse. I was highly entertained.

Best island in NYC: Manhattan. I'd never been to NYC until this year. Two friends and I had a long weekend there and had a great time. I'm hoping to make it to other parts of New York at some point, but for now, I'm in love with Manhattan. I completely understand why the girls of SATC love it. I'm sure if I had to pay what it costs to live there, my enthusiasm would be dampened (OK, drenched), but as a tourista, it was a lot of fun.

Best Wine (special occasion class): This one is tough, I admit, but I have to go with something I tasted recently. Ambullneo Bulldog Pinot Noir. I bought some a few years ago on a recommendation from a friend "in the business". I tasted some a few weeks ago. It knocked my socks off. I swooned. I bought (hey, it was on SALE). I'm dying to open it now now now.

Best Wine (sparkling): Veuve Cliquot has been special to me for a long time, but 2 recent bad bottles have me looking elsewhere. The oh-so-popular Rosa di Rosa and Rosa di Bianca have now taken its place. Much cheaper, easier to drink and approachable by all, these just can't be beat. Doesn't hurt that I know the winemaker.

Best food discovery: Beets. Yes, seriously, beets. I bought some on a whim and now I can't get enough of them. I prefer them roasted, but nuked will do in a pinch. Made an incredible roasted beet, cannelli bean, beet green and goat cheese salad this summer. Very tasty and pretty good for you. Fresh fresh fresh and easy. What more could you want?

Best thing to get up and do now: exercise. Coffee is finished, I'm out of ideas (although I reserve the right to have Part II or III if needed) and I really need to work out (see note above about accountability to the girls and last night's pizza).

# posted by EY @ 9:56 AM 0 comments

I got lots o' books for Christmas. A good thing, to be sure, but I already have a small stack of books I'm behind on reading. A quick count reveals that after I've finished my not small sci-fi book I'm reading, I have 7 books awaiting. SEVEN. I guess I need to get off the internet and pick up some dead tree!

If you had to pick two dogs which, it would be highly comical to see playing together, you couldn't do much better than a basset hound and a shih tzu. The In-Laws have a new ST puppy, C, who is just adorable as all puppies and small dogs are. She knows she is adorable and is a lot of fun. She likes to play, but the 2 other dogs in the house are older and not up for her youthful foolishness. E, our lovely long dog, however has always been up for playing and never has anyone who will play with her.

Over Thanksgiving, C and E became fast friends and had a great time. This week was no different. One of the things that struck me as funny is that C is the only dog small enough to go UNDER E while they're playing. Seriously, watching a tiny furball dart under your basset is high comedy. From early morning until they both fell out asleep, they were chasing and playing and having a good time. So much so, that E slept all the way home, had a bite to eat and went straight asleep tonight. I've tried getting her to play a few times and she's not up for it. Tiny dog wore her out.

I wasn't surprised to see the playful side of E come out this weekend, but one incident did surprise me. M, the neighbor's lab had spent a good bit of time in E's bed. Since E didn't seem too concerned, I didn't see a need to roust M. After all, E had ignored the bed, preferring to wander and moon around (which I despise). Today, however, M growled at E while E was passing by M who was curled up in E's bed. Apparently, this added too much insult to the injury of the stolen bed and E snarled back. M was put outside for her ill-behaviour. A girl can only take so much, apparently.

M: Can I help you with anything? Unload the dishwasher?
EY: Nope, everything's OK. I don't invite you over to do manual labor.
M: But I *like* helping you.
EY: Even though it drives me insane?
M: Yes.
EY: So I can deduce that you LIKE to drive me insane?
M: No, that's not exactly what I meant. I think I'll go read my book now.
EY: That would be nice.

Merry Christmas to one and all.....!

For many years, I've watched the president of my alma mater make decisions which are not in keeping with the spirit of the school, or at least, not the mood when I was there. Instead of being a leader in education, Current Prez is a money-grubbing ho who seems to care only for how many times HIS name is in the paper.

His boondoggle that infuriated me to the point of cutting off all contact with the school was to ask the city to replace a stoplight on a MAJOR thoroughfare with a roundabout. Roundabouts are fine and have their place. Indeed, the city has a few in LOW traffic, single-lane areas. That's not what this one is. This is a high traffic, two-lanes each way, major intersection where big trucks pass on a regular basis. To make matters worse, school has built right up to the edge of their property on 2 sides of this intersection. Roundabouts need room. The more lanes you have, the more space you need. CP initially wanted the part of the road that goes in front of the college to be one lane each way and have crosswalks on the street instead of the unslightly (but safe) pedestrian bridge that exists now. Hmmmm. People trying to get from one end of town to the other get stuck in a roundabout, nearly get run over by the driver from Local Big Truck Firm who has no idea how to negotiate his huge 18 wheeler in a traffic pattern he's never encountered, now drivers are panicked and LATE, so to make up time, they'll shoot out of the roundabout and get back up to normal traffic speed (which, on that road is about 45-50). Yeah, I want to walk out in front of THAT.

The latest boondoggle is "The Hamlet". Clear cutting a lovely bit of land so that houses can be built. Clear cutting. This school, when I was there, was all about the environment. We recycled before it was cool, pushed the landscape folks to use fewer chemicals, pushed the cafeteria to serve vegetarian meals and source foods locally. Goodness knows Our Fair Town doesn't have enough housing. Designed by an architect from Miami who made fun of Fair Town when he was presenting the idea with CP to the press. That's how you know you got a good architect, when they have no respect for the area and insults you as he's taking your money. The Hamlet will be a very planned community where you can walk around, meet your neighbor, and now, possibly walk to work. A large energy company is building a building there. Only here's the catch: If you work at the school (especially if you work at the school) or the energy company, you won't make enough to afford a house in The Hamlet unless your spouse is really raking in some dough. Houses start at $200K and go up drastically from there. And for your money, you don't "own" the house. The Hamlet does. You get a long term lease. [Editor's note: I have a 3000 sq ft house on 3 acres not 8 miles away from The Hamlet for less than that and it's MINE.]

CP envisions internships for the science majors. What about the OTHER majors on campus? I get that there are a lot of science majors (a degree from school is an easier ticket to med school than a degree from the local State U), CP says 40%. I'm not great at math, but my reading says that over half your students do NOT study science. Big F's to them, CP?

Sigh.....The more I read about the goings on, the more I wish I'd gone to large state school.

For most of my 30+ years, I've loved mail in all forms. Electronic or postal, I am always optimistic that something good will come my way. As a child, I loved getting and going through the mail. It was rare that I got anything at all, but when I did, it was better than a new toy and almost better than a new book. Even as more of my mail ended up being bills, I still have some excitement about the magic of the big green box.

When email came to little old EY, I was equally fascinated. Whether mundane, silly or frustrating, I like my email. Didn't hurt matters that a product I used to work on would ONLY tell you if things were well or ill by email. You could be in the computer room, sitting, looking at the screen and if something blew up, you'd have no idea. To keep your finger on the pulse, you had to watch your inbox. I've also developed the habit of responding quickly to email. So much so, that a co-worker once quipped that I respond to his emails before he sends them.

With Friday being my last day at Big Faceless Corp, my email account was, of course, turned off. Saturday was a fairly busy day, but I did spend some time on the computer. The urge to check my email was just as strong as it had been the previous Saturday. Today, I haven't been home much, but still, there is a lingering feeling that I "need" to check on things. That makes no sense whatsoever, but it's such an ingrained habit that I'm having a hard time shaking it.

I suppose about the time I calm down about email, my new gig will start and my attachment to email will start all over again.

(with a nod to E. Clapton for a great title and better song)

I'm nervous as I can be about stopping one job and starting another. I have a decent amount to get done before Friday, the largest task being cleaning out my office. I'm just going to have to get here early every day and start knocking it out. I have plans every evening, so staying late isn't an option. My spouse and Mother are going to discuss our holiday plans this evening. I expect near bloodshed. She's likely going to whine at him and he's not going to like it. Of course, it's entirely possible that she'll bow to his thoughts on the matter and then gripe at ME about it for 325 days. Either way, I don't care.

I feel great. I feel light (and not just because I had a Lean Cuisine and carrots for lunch). I didn't realize that work had been a weight, but I've felt lighter and lighter as the time between announcement and end has passed. Heck, by Friday, I could be levitating.

I'm a fair to middling college football fan. I rarely worry too much about the BCS. Unfortunately, the prime reason for that is because the team I like (home state team) will never be in a BCS bowl. This year, however, I've watched a lot more college football than normal. Watched teams I don't even care about; rooted for in-conference rivals of my team. Heck, we didn't have a chance against them--may as well root for them when they're playing someone when the overall game will be good.

Because I've watched a little more football, I was interested in the national championship picks than in previous years. I didn't get to watch any of the SEC Championship, but I would have liked to. Maybe if I had, I'd see why Florida would get picked to be in the really big game instead of Alabama. I'm no Nick Saban fan, but I gotta say, I think they got robbed. Florida never held a BCS or AP position higher than #3 all season and for a few weeks, didn't make the top 5 or top 10. Alabama killed everyone they played; never got below #5; was #1 for 5 weeks in a row. Sure they lost to Florida. Texas lost to OU. In fact, everyone in the top 5 has one loss. Anyone want to suggest that 12-0 Utah should be playing for #1? How about Boise State? No takers? Anyone? Didn't think so.

If I were picking the games and I had to stay with the BCS idiocy, it would be OU and AL for the top spot with Texas and Florida battling for #2. Both games would happen NEW YEARS DAY. Not halfway through January like they do now. January is NFL playoff season, not "let's drag on the college game" season.

Got a compliment today that is the kind Mark Twain insisted he could live upon. I'm feeling pretty buoyed by it myself. Was talking to a soon-to-be-former co-worker, eccentric genius type of fellow. Starts sentences just fine, but will delve into things quickly that just make your head explode because you understand them. His head is doing just fine containing them. He asks if I'm excited about the new gig. I say "well, not so much excited as nervous". He says "no need to be nervous, you're a bad ass. You'll rock that place."

I almost fell over. I like this guy and we've always worked really well together. But for HIM to call ME "bad ass", well, that's like the Pope giving you a personal thumb's up. Or Thomas Keller saying you're a good cook. Or Tom Brady and Brett Favre saying you throw a nice football. Don't know that this one will last 2 months, but it will last a while.