Kingfisher Cove

Happy HalloWEENIE

Our internet was out all evening -- JDub just finally got it back up and running.  This has happened TWICE since we've had our new cable internet service.  (Grrr). 

And so, on this Halloween (without a single trick-or-treater, which is typical for as long as I've lived here), I've been reading the new Stephen King book (Lisey's Story).  Fitting, dontcha think?  Frankly I was quite relieved when JDub called about 9:00 and said he was getting off early, ya wanna meet at our Smoke-Easy?  Home alone without internet and reading Stephen King on Halloween was starting to get to me.  (Mostly the lack of internet part).  (Yes, I'm addicted).

My dear friend, Helen-from-Oregon, sent us the doggies some very cool Halloween gifts.  A Halloween squeaky bone, a squeaky black cat (that I believe she made herself), and of course some doggie treats.  There is also a page from a magazine that she tore out -- it's an ad for Kohler plumbing products with a woman at her kitchen sink bathing weenie dogs, with more weenie dogs lined up for their bath (ours would be hiding).  The kitchen wallpaper is weenie dog silhouettes!  I'm going to have to scan it to show you.  It's just great.  Bailey (the long-haired) absolutely loves squeaky toys, and she's been having a ball.  Yeah, it pretty much drives us nuts (squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak SQUEAK!!!), but she gets such obvious joy from it that we do, too.  Peanut pretty much rolls her eyes.  ("I'll just have a treat, thank you very much.")

Not much to report.  This is a good thing.  I shipped out my latest proposal from hell today, and I'm SUCH a happy camper about that (until probably tomorrow when I'll have another one on my plate).  Then, class again Thursday.  At least now I know how to get there, and it won't be such a dark drive as it was last week. I'm at the age where changes in my routine are a major deal.  I have this fantasy, though, of continuing my drive north all the way to Vancouver, B.C.  Hmmm.  After all, I do need to start my Christmas shopping...

I'd Be OK With 25-Hour Days

(That is, unless corporations decided that we had to work nine-hour days...)  No, that extra hour would be required for "free" time -- sleeping, goofing off, etc.  That aspect has been nice today.  Except we pay now with it being so dark, so early. 

We had a window of a few hours yesterday afternoon into the evening when it was absolutely beautiful.  We took a sunny and brisk beach-walk (JDub found 11 agates, I found ONE).  I snapped this picture after we returned from the walk.  Moments later that sun ball dropped down behind Squaxin Island and I snapped another picture.  I figured it may be the last nice sunset picture I'd be able to capture for a while.  Clear skies and sunshine are a scarce commodity around here this time of year and for the months to come, so we need to enjoy them while we can.  Yesterday, well into the afternoon, it was soupy-foggy, but finally burned off in time to take that walk.  Then last night, the rains came, but I wasn't aware!  I slept right through that!  Today, all day long, it was sunny and pretty, but the wind blew strong and fierce, keeping us holed up in the camping trailer.  (At least it was pleasant to peer outside, although the bending trees were a bit disconcerting at times).

So, a very relaxing weekend.  Frustrating, because JDub's soldering job on the internet card (to connect to the outside antenna) just didn't do the trick.  It worked OK Friday night (it was clear out), but the rest of the weekend with the fog and wind, I couldn't get beyond a single bar of signal strength.  I don't know what the answer is.  There might not be one.  But I hate having to pay $30/month for nothing (for two years). 

We read a lot.  JDub finished two books.  I'm reading "Straight Man" by Richard Russo, who wrote the astounding "Empire Falls", and I'm continually awestruck with his incredible writing ability.  This guy is magical with words.  And his greatest strength is characterization.  I find myself gasping at times with his lyrical phrasing and all the intriguing details he flows together so effortlessly to bring these folks to life.  And once again, the protagonist in this story is caustic and witty, my favorite kind of person.  I wish I could be that way.  In some ways I am, but very cautiously. ("Cautiously Caustic", that's me).  Oh, to be a person who doesn't care much what others think of me (especially people I don't respect) and to be able to put them in their place with a few acerbic words.  I'd love that!

Busy/Crazy Days

I have to say it was refreshing to be out of the office for a couple of days.  There was some stress involved, though.  Driving to an unfamiliar area in pitch dark (before the butt-crack of dawn).  Hunting for a parking spot which involved circling around three city blocks for a half hour.  Feeling old among a sea of youngsters.  But there was definitely an up-side, too.  The first session of the four-part class I'm taking on "Reader-Friendly Document Writing" was excellent. An English professor from Seattle University teaches it, and he's dynamite.  I've learned a lot already.  It's much more than being lectured to -- it involves a fair amount of hands-on activities and brain-work.  To truly learn things, we have to do things.  (I remember once going to what I thought was a Photoshop class and it turned out to be just a lecture with no computer interaction, and I came away from it knowing nothing).  It was useless.  So this class is excellent and engaging.  It's just that the hour is early and the distance is far.

Then today I attended the second half of the SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services) regional conference (where I had to hunt for a parking space) -- and it was enlightening.  I met some fun people.  My boss was there, but we made an unspoken point to sit at different tables for lunch and to attend different seminars.  (We can compare notes later).  We would meet up in between events and chat (mostly about personal stuff!)  It was enjoyable, except I felt a little "out of it" because I hadn't attended yesterday (the first day).  There were all these little tricks and games for raffles and drawings and I didn't know enough to be a part of that.  As typical of smokers, I met up with one particular marketer who was a lot of fun -- we ate lunch together and I suppose did a lot of "networking".  I'm not good at playing those games, really.  In the spirit of down-to-earth friendliness, I enjoy a one-on-one conversation with someone, but I'm not a mingler or a schmoozer. 

One of the seminars I attended was "How to Deal with Challenging and Difficult People".  I was pretty excited about that one, but came away feeling a little disappointed.  I mean, you have two choices.  You either put up with it, or you submit your resignation.  Oh, there was some advice given on how to deal with it, number one being: Don't Take It Personally.  Which sounds good in theory, but when you have someone being condescending toward you, utterly disprespectful, thrusting a finger in your face, and on some ego-trip at the expense of others, well, I take that kind of personally.  And I'm so afraid of what kind of ass-ripping will come spewing out of my mouth that I tend to keep quiet and swallow it all.  And then it festers. The people I typically have to deal with tend to be a combination of "Controllers" and "Analyzers" (per Meyers Briggs personality testing), and I am a "Supporter" and "Promoter".  Totally opposite ends of the spectrum.  It doesn't bode well.

It wasn't until I was eating lunch there that I wondered if old Micrmnr Boss Bitch might be there, but I didn't see her.  (A funny side note -- in that seminar when he was talking about difficult bosses, one of the "types" was a "total incompetent", which was her to a T.  The full description could have been exclusively about her).  In fact, I saw nobody from my old company.  They didn't embrace SMPS there all that much.  (Micrmngr Boss Bitch wanted to keep all of us marketers in the office, like prisoners...)

Friday night, finally!  I'm going to start packing up the cooler and stuff so we can head out of here to Harstine.  Traffic sucks, but it'll be so very nice to BE there, eventually.  Just wish we had a helicopter.  (heh)

Crack of Dawn

At O'Dark-Thirty tomorrow morning, I have to be 20 miles north of Seattle for a work-related training session.  Google Maps claims it's about a 40-minute drive from our house, but I'm anticipating that it may well be much longer than that.  (40 minutes maybe during non-commuter time).  I plan to be on the road before 6:00 a.m. -- need a coffee stop, of course -- and maybe I can slip in under the bulk of the commuter traffic.  This means I need to get to bed shortly.

Once I get there, it should be interesting.  (I'm just dreading the drive -- and the early hour of rolling my ass out of bed.  I think jeans are in order).  The training session is presented in partnership with the company I work for and WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation) and it's a four-session course on writing in "Reader-Friendly Format" for technical documents.  It's geared toward environmental impact statements, but my coworker and I will incorporate what we learn into our marketing proposals.  (I can just imagine the engineers who are not yet enlightened about this up & coming format having conniption fits, like they do when they fight our templates that call for significant white space.  If they had their druthers, you would not see a single white PIXEL on a sheet of paper because they want TEXT to fill the whole damned page, that we all know -- NOBODY READS).  Anyway, so for the next four Thursdays, I get to deal with the butt-crack of dawn.

However, tomorrow?  Once this class ends (at noon), I'm going home.  I've worked many, many extra hours in the past couple of weeks, and I'm going to take the afternoon off (well, probably 2-3 hours anyway).  Oh, woohoo.  I'll probably need a nap!

In other news... JDub shaved off his beard.  I thought I'd be all disappointed about that (I liked the beard), but when I saw him, I realized that I really do prefer him without the facial hair.  He looks much younger!  Actually, I could go either way.  I guess that's what you call "unconditional love", right?  However, now I need to return the beard/mustache trimmer I got him for our anniversary....(that he never used, probably because he was planning on shaving it off anyway).  Don't have the receipt, though.  Could be another customer service fight on my hands.

Heading to bed.

If I Was Immature I'd Be Having A Hissy Fit

OK, sure, the party was fun, but work sure isn't.  Work sucks.  Work sucks bad.  And it's the people, not the job itself.  Frankly, the people in my office mostly seem to be good and decent folks, but all the work I've been tasked with since I was hired last May is for a branch office, and they are the rudest, most disrespectful, condescending, passive-aggressive, toxic bunch I've ever had to deal with.  And I've dealt with more than a vatful of toxicity in my work-life.

And so last night I escaped.  I'd missed the past two weeks of Grey's Anatomy so I DVR'd them, and last night I watched both episodes.  A mini-marathon, so to speak.  I know that people either love or hate Grey's Anatomy, and I'm in the former group.  Yeah, I suppose it's a bit soap opera-ish, but the acting is good and the characters are well-dimensioned and there are constant surprises that make me gasp out loud.  It can be gritty and emotional, or fall-on-the-floor funny.  (Like this middle-aged ex-husband and wife [cheating on their current spouses with each other] who were in the hospital's OB-GYN ward, stuck together because of his penis-piercing and her dislodged IUD.  Oh. My. God.  Yup, it was a great escape.)

Back to reality today, though.  A hellish day (dealing with toxins), followed by a very sweaty workout at Curves and it's true what they say:  exercise helps calm the demons.  That and wine.

Ladies and Gentlemen! Introducing.....

Oh. Wow.  What a party!  And I actually got to play the drums!  (A dream of mine...)  You can probably tell that I was having a ball. 

Man, what a place!  And it was an absolutely perfect venue for a party -- especially with close to 700 people (of which 99% I didn't know).  We had the entire museum to ourselves -- it was closed to the public.  People had the option of dressing as their favorite rock star, and a number did.  Lots of Jerry Garcias.  There was this woman sitting at our table who was very very large (a guest of one of the employees) with immense, bulbous chins and she had long flowing hair and drapey clothing and she said to me, "Guess what rock star I am?"  There was no doubt in my mind (or JDub's for that matter).  "Mama Cass!"  Uhm, nope.  Ooops.  Stevie Nicks.  (She was definitely Mama Cass, but saying so might well have been a blunder, ya think?)

There was something for everybody there.  There was a karaoke bar that was very popular.  There were all the intriguing exhibits throughout the museum, including lots of fascinating hands-on activities that were fun for people who had no musical abilities or for those who did.  There were several soundproof rooms where people could rock out on drums or guitars or keyboards, or even sing and harmonize with digitized tweaking of their own voice or with others. The quality of everything was so impressive, and of course the sound systems everywhere were top-of-the-line.  One of the most awe-inspiring areas was the Sky Church, which I guess is normally a venue for concerts.  For our party, it was full of intimate round tables with dark table cloths and glowing space-age centerpieces and that's where we ate and also sat to chat/drink (several bars were set up in there).  The ceiling in this immense open room was 85 feet tall, and an entire wall was a surreal video screen divided by 85-ft. hanging chains and incredible lighting and surround-sound over 50 speakers.  And then later after dinner, the tables were pushed back for a huge dance floor along the video wall.  It was the first company party I've been to where LOTS of people really got into the dancing. But if you didn't want to, there was even a Monet gallery to view! 

That ditty above with the awesome rock band "The Wiener Dogs" was this sound stage where you can privately experience your dream of being a rock star.  You name your band, and while you're wailing your instruments to the tune of your choice with a soundtrack of screaming fans in the background, they snap your picture.  The poster was only $5, which was way worth it, I think.  (I don't know about JDub, but I had a blast on the drums. I really did wail).

The food buffet left a bit to be desired. It was attractive, but odd.  For instance a pretty salad that was mostly big chunks of bread.  (Yes, bread).  Dinner was catered, and I don't think the catering company was associated with the museum.  There was certainly plenty of food, but not super (although the roast beef was nummy).  Also, there were trays and trays everywhere of chocolate-covered strawberries and they were excellent!

A fun evening. I met employees from our Denver, Albuquerque, Boise, as well as all the Washington state and Oregon offices.  My boss came (late) and she was adorable -- and pretty tipsy!  She kept gushing that I'm her friend, even though HR says when you're a supervisor you shouldn't have friends...

Here are a few more photos -- I grabbed them off Google Images because we weren't allowed to take photos inside (bummer).  But you can see what an eclectic place this is. 

Can You Say....Stalling?

I've gotten as far as changing over to my work laptop (stupid slow-poke thing that it is).  And so what is the first thing I do but check out my blog.  You wouldn't believe all that I've done to put off climbing on here and having to face this awful job that won't die.  For instance, I'd much prefer to empty the dishwasher and reload it up; haul laundry up and down stairs; fold laundry and put it away; water the plants and refill the cat food; take a shower, do my hair and face, and get dressed; chat with my son.  I'm wondering what else I can come up with to fill my time.  I've got a (mediocre) book going.  I'm kind of hungry.  I could call JDub on his cell phone and see if he's bought a new snowmobile or something (he's at the annual Snowmobile Expo).  The grocery store beckons. 

Ah ha!  The dryer just stopped!  Time to fold some more clothes!  Hooray!

How Many?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 84 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Moving Along

You know how it is, you get in a funk and then you make yourself move forward.  Because you gotta.  It's been a *funky* week, to say the least.  And as you can probably tell, that wasn't my first choice of adjective. 

It all continues, but I feel a wee bit better because I have seriously put my foot down and let people know what the expectations are (for the umpteenth time but with FIRMNESS instead of NICENESS), plus I've kept certain higher powers informed of what I'm putting up with.  Not that it'll probably make a whit of difference, but at least I'm not bending rolling over and taking it in the butt and cowering in the corner.  My boss has been supportive (to my face), but other than feeling all feel-goody about that, it hasn't changed anything.  And guess what I get to do this weekend -- again?  Yup.  Work.  Put in several hours last night, too. 

It's really sad, but we aren't going to Harstine this weekend.  It's going to be sunny and nice, too!  Probably the last nice weekend in a good while, and then next weekend we set our clocks back.  Such a bummer!  But, we have my company party to go to tomorrow night.  Believe me, this week I was seriously rethinking attending, but I'm too curious to give it up.  I've been wanting to see the EMP and it'll probably be the only opportunity I'll have to do so.  Plus, I hear that the food is going to be awesome.  PLUS, there's a drawing for a $2,500 trip voucher to where ever you want to go!  Chances of winning aren't that great since so far nearly 700 people have RSVP'd!  I can dream.

While I'm working (here at home on the laptop) tomorrow, JDub's going to attend the annual Snowmobile Expo.  So the weekend is not a total loss for him.  I know he was feeling quite pouty.  It would have been nice to wind up his week's vacation at Harstine.  (And I'm sure those bird/squirrel feeders need filling...)

Fried

I really don't know which emotion is stronger -- absolute burn-out, or white hot anger. Likely it's a combination of the two.  Are there people out there who actually are enlightened and inspired from their jobs?  Are there truly people out there who come home and say to the husband, wife, or cat: "I just love my job!" ?  (And really mean it?)  These days, many people who work in my position have degrees in communications or journalism, so this is not just a fly-by-night "job" at Wal-Mart or something -- it's a career.  And I've been doing this since 1980. 

I won't go into detail what's been happening because you've heard it all before.  Like here, here, and Big Time here.  I'm pretty sure I kept a journal back in the 1980s that would illustrate similar experiences. Or like the time in the early 1990s when the architect/owner of the company I worked for threatened to kill me -- as a result of non-responsiveness of others to meet a deadline.

Nothing changes.

I'm so tired of existing in the Twilight Zone.  I'm so tired of the disrespect.  I'm so tired of the absolute lack of control.  I'm so tired of the impossible deadlines.

Really, what this is like, is the nightmare experiences in school when I was put into a "group" to accomplish a project.  And nobody else in that group would do their part, and so I did it all.  Because the grade depended on the outcome, and if nobody else did their part, my own grade would suffer.  (And so the do-nothings got a decent grade on account of me working on the project until midnight for two weeks in a row).  The only difference here is that what's needed from the rest of the "group", I can't provide.  I'm not an engineer or a scientist or an architect.  And they assume with arrogance that they are above me.  The outcome is on my shoulders, but I have no control, no empowerment over their participation.  I can't say, "If your written approach to how you would design this project is not provided to me by this date, we cannot submit this proposal."  There are no consequences for their arrogance or lack of action.  And there is no foot-down, palm-slapped-on-the-table support from management to enforce their participation.  To the marketing staff, it's "handle it."

With what?  Fiction?  Hey, I've tried that out of desperation and been reamed a new asshole.  "Tonya!  What were you thinking?  Don't you know that SEPA requires all state and local governments within the state to use a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to ensure the integrated use of natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts in planning and in decision-making and that environmental amenities and values will be given appropriate consideration in decision-making along with economic and technical considerations?  God! That's a no-brainer!"

This is what I put up with.  And I'm utterly, totally, miserable.