Wednesday, April 4, 2007

fo-fo-fo

One of the great things about today is that I know the date. While tomorrow might be April 5th or May 4th based on where you are from 4/4 is nothing to argue about. I look forward to Cinco de Mayo. (Maybe I will try to have another Margarita.)

I have been working 8 AM – Midnight, with lunch at my desk and no dinner break. It’s about as awesome as it sounds. Stress is near maximum. I’ve eaten all the skin off the ends of my fingers. It’s pretty gross. I have a constant low grade headache that spikes on conference calls and when anyone speaks to me. Stupid huans! Woo woo. Every day I get assigned X things to do urgently, and achieve .4X of those things. I am a frog sliding deeper into the well every day. No worries about getting bored. I seem to have about 5 people who think I report to them. None of them are shy about delegating action items. As long as I keep trying to do everything they ask, all this will probably persist. If only I weren’t so conflict averse... I’d rather eat the wrong order than bring it to the waitress attention that I ordered the grilled cheese, not a calamari platter.

I never played D&D, but I wish I knew the lingo, because I would drop a line right here about needing two sleep potions. So there.

My employer (who I’ll never name again here) has recently expanded it’s corporate policy to prohibit employees from having a blog. Though many of my readers are co-workers, I’m hopeful they won’t report me. I think the intent behind the policy is to stop us from disclosing any corporate secrets. They needn’t have worried, as I don’t know any.

Imagine if I started blogging about corporate methodology. I don’t even think my Mom would check Courtneyspondence any more. “Another best practice is writing things down…”

One final point about work is that my good friend Amy Cooper’s husband’s baby brother is about to come from Dublin, Ireland to work with me. DON’T WORRY SIMON: It’s won’t be as bad for him as it is for me, I promise. As a ‘non-executive’, his hours are tracked and he’s not eligible for overtime, so while I’ll likely continue to work to midnight each night, he’ll need to leave by 6:30 or so PM every day, which is reasonable. I’m looking forward to having someone around that I know and someone that I trust. Paul is super smart, so having him on the team should make my life a little better. I am getting sick of cutting the meat into safe bites for the ponce who reports to me now.

Tragically, the Hoyas lost. Final 4 is pretty good though. Pretty good. I think the team might be decent next year, too. We didn’t play great against Ohio, but it wouldn’t have mattered as there was no stopping Florida. No stopping them. (From the accounts I read of both games.) Does U of K have a coach yet? Is it weird that I think Joquim Noah looks a little like my sister?

How much do Macs suck? Okay they have better commericals, but try using one. I am using my powerbook right now, so I can’t put links into this post. Ability to hyperlink text is not exactly a new ask. I’m only able to use word because somebody awesome who lives with Dave Marino gave me a copy, not to get her in trouble for the student exemption. ( I’m a student, of sneakers. )

That’s about all the complaining I can fit into this post. Expect more.

On the up side, pieces 4 and 5 of mail have arrived from the US: YAY! made my week! Super thanks to Ali Kling for a PERFECT care package of exactly what I was missing. Also super thanks to Tim, Alex & baby Nina who sent me 4 cliff bars, one for each day of the upcoming nationals tourney and a reminder to be sure only to eat them in my 'glycogen window'. I’ll try. I bet they only feed Nina in her glycogen window.

Things are pretty good right this second too. I am home in 301. I have on a track suit. I am blogging and listening to Iron + Wine, Kings of Leon and drinking a glass of champagne. Does anyone (Curtiss?) know how to get the cork back in the bottle. I only want a glass. It’ll go flat…

Also. In a few weeks, I'm going to see Wilco. I bought a ticket today. I had NO IDEA they were coming, but Hootchie sent me a clue and I jumped on it. And you all thought he was good for nothing... I guess this'll be my 7th or so time to see Jeff Tweedy. It's an assigned seating show. that'll be one night to leave work before midnight.

6 comments:

Paige said...

You're going to see Wilco without us?

Anonymous said...

I don't know how to get the cork back in. But David's grandparents but us some glass stoppers. They work pretty well. Not sure if they'll make the champagne go flat or not. They have this odd rubber seal type thing, so maybe not. But I really don't know what I'm talking about. I just feel the need to get to the bottom of this little text box for some reason.

Den.

amy said...

At least you get to see Wilco! That's awesome - I love them. We had our Ambush meeting on 4/2 (American-style) and we all missed you. I hope work lightens up soon, and that you continue to enjoy Australia and ultimate!

courtney said...

paige - not if you can get over here in time. how does a 27 hour plane trip with a 2 year-old rank on your list of things to do in this lifetime? (love and miss you guys, i will tell jeff you said hello.)

dennis - me too! i get such satisfaction from filling up the boxes. my champagne went flat, but that's okay. i really get a kick out of your notes so thanks for checking in on me.

amy - i read your minutes. it looks to be a great season. go ambush!

amy said...

This is from Wiki, is it true?

"In Australia, rabbits are an invasive species and generally considered pests. A long-running campaign to replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby, a native marsupial, yielded moderate success. Easter Bilbies are a common and unremarked sight in many Australian stores around Easter. The sale of chocolate Easter Bilbies was to fund raise for the "Save the Bilby" campaign. [2] As the bilby is a threatened species,[3] it does not have the same connotations as rabbits, and the Easter Bunny remains considerably more recognized and better-known."

If so, can you bring me back one of these: http://www.qccqld.org.au/resources/Bilby/choc_bilby.jpg

Thanks!

courtney said...

Amy, That's all true about the Bilbies. I picked some up. I'll try to get one in the mail to you next weekend. Please prepare a comfortable home for him, as he will probably be nervous about leaving Australia. More Bilby Pics: http://home.iprimus.com.au/readman/bilby.htm