Summarizing the year: the things I've done, the changes I've made, the toys I've gotten, the sites I've found...

Jan 01, 2007

January marked my second month at Treehouse Central, and the arrival of my first new home computer in ten years. Before this point, I was working on a computer with a 5 GB hard drive and a CPU speed of 133 MHz. (This was all considered blazingly fast when I bought the thing, wa-a-ay back in 1995.) I had upgraded the machine over the years, adding an ethernet card and a CD burner; but it was old. I was happy to get my new computer. (Until I found out that I couldn’t install Red Hat Linux on it.)

February saw me buy several 500-threadcount sheet sets. Those things are wonderful! (Part of me is concerned to buy higher threadcount sheets simply because I don’t know how to spot quality versus ‘higher numbers make consumers think they’re more valuable’. There must come a point at which the high threadcount means threads that are extremely thin and prone to breaking.) And when you see Christmas-themed coffee on extreme sale…there’s probably a reason. Such as beans that have been in non-airtight bags for so long that any vestige of flavor has long since leached away.

March gave the world cybernetically altered sharks, wired up for use by the military. I suppose the military went after sharks because 1) they’ve already got thousands of years of instinct following scent trails and finding that which does not want to be found; and 2) it’s unlikely that animal rights groups would have much success getting people pumped up to save the sharks.

April and May showed even more deterioration of the contract gig. The management style, which hadn’t been my favorite before, began to list to the left and slip beneath the surface. (Later in the year Forbes profiled the company, and noted that many workers had commented unfavorably on the management style and corporate culture…as in, that was their reason for leaving. While it was helpful to know that I wasn’t alone, it wasn’t helpful enough to make me less aggravated.) This unhappiness really sapped my energy for most of the year.

In June, I worked as a volunteer at the registration-day/opening-ceremony for the Aids Lifecycle. It was exhausting, it was fun. After working 14 hour shifts each day of multi-day rock concerts, working these two days was an effort, but not nearly as much “work” as the concerts. The energy was very upbeat, and we found out later that our reg crew had really moved people through quickly and efficiently — so much so that many veteran riders and ride volunteers commented on it!! I’m headed back next year. (Make that this year.) Later on that month, a heat wave bitchslapped the state, I had a seizure, and my cats made close friends with the linoleum.

July and August marked continuing heat, a new medication regimen, and growing aggravation at work. By the end of the month, I told my then-boss that I was looking for other opportunities. Said boss did not seem to believe me, though, since I got to take over administration of the group’s brand new dedicated Windoze server. What a joke that was. (Manager-types: when a worker says that they are leaving, and that it’s not a problem you can fix, saddling them with mission-critical projects will not make them stay. It will, however, put you in a bind when that person leaves the group.)

September was DragonCon, in Atlanta GA. While I would have preferred not to have gone with a group of people who were there to enjoy the convention rather than focus on their business, at least I know not to go with them next year. I made a few cool contacts, got some ideas for passive business promotion, and (best off) got a break from The Job From Hell. I got a digital camera, and proceeded to annoy the living hell out of my cats.

October got me another digital camera (a giveaway from The Company — they give good swag, but the day-to-day environment was not sufficient compensation) and — yay — a job interview. The swag giveaway coincided with the opening of the new lobby and employee cafeteria. I worked at this company with the tech writing group; so it was amusing to notice that the sign to the eatery read “Dinning Area”. (Then again, considering the noise in that place when it was crowded, perhaps this wasn’t sloppy typography on their part?)

In November, I began to post more frequently, began to take more enjoyment in visiting other sites and commenting, participating in memes…rediscovered my will to write. It’s absolutely amazing what can happen with a change of venue. I hung out my blue Christmas lights (and bought some more.) I also continued to annoy the cats, and found out about — and signed up for — Holidailies.

And we come to December. I had originally listed thirteen potential topics for Holidailies, and didn’t use five of them; so that’s fairly good. (One was changed, after seeing people’s comments about burnout; and the other four were pretty heavy topics. I still want to post about them. I’ll just get to do it later.) After having at least once daily for a month, I have a greater respect for those folks who posted in NaBloWhichaWhat (though not respect for the name of that event, as it turns out) and then went right into Holidailies.

Keywords: | year in review | work | technology | Holidailies | epilepsy |
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