Kingfisher Cove

Bits and Pieces

• I continue to "hide" inside my Kindle.  (I'm 2/3 finished with my third novel!)  I've only had this thing a week.
• I did update my resume today, for consideration of the permanent Marketing Supervisor position.  That was the easy part.
• The hard part will be writing a killer cover letter.
• I've been feeling all kinds of angst.
• Self-doubt.  I hate feeling that way.  But I do know my weaknesses and and I know that I will really have to fight them in this position.
• What are my weaknesses, you ask?  Well... 1) Shyness; 2) Not as quick on my feet as I'd prefer to be -- I have great hindsight though; 3) Nasty and mean people intimidate me.
• There are a number of nasty and mean people I'll have to deal with.  Boldly, not shyly.  And quickly on my feet.
• Hey!  Christmas has been put to bed!  Normally I wait until New Year's but I was beyond ready to have it outa here.
• OK!  Back to my Kindle!
• Happy New Year, everybody!

In Which I'm Hiding in my Kindle

I have news, but instead of telling you all about it this week, I've been sort of "escaping" into my Kindle and reading like a fiend.  The fact of the matter is, I'm a bit frightened and overwhelmed and so therefore I tend to go into "Flight Mode".  Kindle has been my enabler!  (After all, it soars!)

OK, the thing is, I've been named the "interim marketing lead" now that my boss is leaving -- her last day is Jan. 2nd -- so I'll be taking her place.  There have been many meetings and discussions and decisions and that's what has panned out.  However, the permanent position to replace her has been made public so that anybody within or outside the company can apply for it.  So, I'll need to go through that process to be considered for the position permanently.  This weekend I need to dig up my resume and write one helluva cover letter...

The position is extremely responsible.  Man, it's a bit lot scary.  I've been able to focus on my designated transportation aspect of my marketing world, but it's about to be greatly expanded, with complete responsibility for all marketing proposals that are submitted from our offices, and that includes a lot more than just transportation.  Plus, I'll be supervising Annoying Coworker... AND I still have the newsletter responsibility.  AND all the transportation responsibility, that includes multiple meetings every month, some at different branch offices many miles away.  I already know that I have a gigantic transportation proposal coming up in January that I'm going to HAVE to focus an awful lot of time and energy on, in addition to everything else.  Can I do this?  Yeah, I believe I can.  But it's going to be uber-stressful, and I foresee a lot of late nights.  One thing that has not been addressed is compensation for these added duties.  I intend to meet with the office principal next week to discuss that and many other things. 

I do foresee that my attitude about work will overall be much improved (depending on that added compensation!), because I'll have some control over things.  I won't have to be frustrated about a non-responsive supervisor that I can't count on because she's never there.  My Annoying Coworker will no longer have her to constantly bitch about -- although I'm certain she'll find plenty of other things to take its place.  I worry about workload, but I realize that our boss hasn't been holding up her end of the bargain for a very long time anyway.  (She'd take the credit for proposals she's supposedly done, but in fact had dumped in either my or Annoying Coworker's lap).  But I will have to deal with some difficult people, and since I'm known to be a rather quiet, easy-going person -- I'm sure there might be some concern about how I'll handle those situations.  I'm not sure myself!  But I will have been empowered with some confidence that I've never had before.  I won't be so encumbered about what others may think of me -- I'll have the right to be firm (but reasonable) because I won't be viewed as a lower woman on the totem pole.  Plus, I know that I've already earned the respect of a number of people I work with regularly.

This is not my skin, really.  I've pretty much sought the easier/familiar road in my architectural/engineering marketing career, mostly because I've always felt that it was stressful enough!  I remember telling my boss during my first performance review (which was only 6 weeks after starting there):  "I want you to know, that I don't want your job.  You don't have to in any way feel threatened by me."  And it was true.  (And I feel that she appreciated hearing that, which might be the reason that she treated me pretty well).  At that time, I shuddered at the responsibility she had, but I also didn't realize then just how much of it she would shirk.  (Remember "Snakes in Suits"?) 

Looking at a whole different chapter here.  I'm thinking I need this to give me a jump-start, a reason to feel that I matter.  Ya know what I mean?

Scary, though.  I'm glad I have a four-day weekend to not only take down Christmas, but also to continue to fleeeeeeeee!  (I *heart* my Kindle).

My "Kindle" Review (so far)

I figured you might be interested in what my thoughts are about the Kindle. 

I gotta tell you, I'm loving my Kindle.  It's really perfect for me, especially in light of my thumb/wrist pain that gets so bad when I'm holding a book -- and I'm pretty convinced that (many) years of doing so is probably the root cause of that pain.  Also, since I've always bought books (in lieu of checking them out at the library), this will actually save me money.  The most expensive books to download (which takes just seconds because it happens wirelessly through Amazon's "Whispernet") is just $9.99, and I've found a number of them that are much less than that. But if you typically check out books at the library, it certainly won't "save" you money!  So far I haven't really missed the actual book while I'm reading, but I do know that when certain favorite authors release a new book, I'll probably want the actual book.  I love a book.  But mostly I love reading!  And this makes it very easy and pleasurable to do so (with no thumb pain!) 

I can't get over how "readable" this is.  It's not like looking at a cell phone screen or even a computer monitor.  It's more like looking at paper with printed text.  AND you can adjust the size of the text!  I'm just really tickled with it, but it's probably not for everyone. 

A couple of "cons" -- I'm noticing that the screen is already showing signs of "screen burn", where you can see a vague image of burned text, although it hasn't affected anything as far as readability.  I thought that you could just leave the unit turned "on" (nothing says not to) because a screen saver type image comes up once it "sleeps".  But I've now begun to turn it off when I'm done reading, just to preserve that screen.  (Leaving it on hardly affects the battery charge at all -- I believe that only turning pages and browsing through the options/books for sale drain the battery, but not much.  It holds a charge for a very long time).  The other "con" is the folder it comes with to transport it and to supposedly use to hold onto while you're reading.  It works fine as a transporter (it has a strap that holds it in place and protects it), but it's rather cheaply constructed and not all that sturdy, and it doesn't make it particularly easy to hold to read, which it's supposedly meant for.  When I take a smoke break at work I head to my car and read from it for about 10 minutes and it works fine for that, but otherwise I just read it loose from that folder.  One other "con" (so there are three, not a couple!) is that there are too many "turn page" bars and so I'm constantly pressing them unwittingly.  I'm getting better about that as I become more accustomed to the device and my fingers/thumbs are learning where to grasp it without inadvertently turning a page. 

I'm sure new generations of Kindle will take these things into account.  I think my main gripe is that for the price of the thing, the folder/cover should be MUCH better quality than it is.  It's really quite lame.  Leather would be good!

But I WILL sing the praises of the service behind this unit.  The technology is awesome. The Amazon "Whispernet" is fast and very user-friendly.  You can even access the web!  It's in black & white and not all that and a bag of chips, but it's do-able and it costs nothing extra.  (I was even able to access my blog!)  Obviously Amazon was very good at making it super-easy to browse, purchase, and download new books, and there are many thousands of them to choose from.  Pretty much the sky is the limit.  You can purchase subscriptions to some newspapers and magazines, but I'm really not interested in that since I can view news online and I'm not a huge magazine person (plus the choices are extremely limited). 

One thing that I'm intrigued with is that you can download a sample from a book for free -- generally a chapter or two -- to determine if it might be a book you wish to purchase.  I think that's a great feature.

I know Sony has one of these devices, too, and since I've never seen/used it, I can't make a comparison here.  But I'll just bet that the service behind it doesn't hold a candle to Amazon's.

This thing is awfully expensive, I think, although since it was a GIFT I don't have to dwell much on that aspect!  I'll bet that the price will reduce over time.  And like I said, I'm also sure that new generations will address some of the first generation issues.  But what a cool toy!  (Toy?) 

I hope that someday there will be a method to be able to transfer or even sell the books we've read on Kindle to somebody else with a Kindle.  Probably an issue with copyright/royalties, though.  But it shouldn't be any different than lending or giving a book you've bought to somebody, right?

A Mouse was Stirring...And Then it was Not

JDub came downstairs this Christmas morning greeted with a gift from Mojo. This mouse was very, very, very dead.  You could even say dismembered and disemboweled.  Poor JDub.  Not a particularly cheery start to the day!

Yesterday went well!  Helen and Ron came by in the morning and we had hot-buttered rums and exchanged gifts and had a nice visit playing with da kitteh.  For Christmas Eve, not as many people came as I was expecting so there is quite a lot of crab left over, even after giving some away!  And Nate hasn't even had any yet.  He had to report to work at 4:00 yesterday and didn't make it home until 10:30!  (Then he spent today with his dad's side of the family).  But we definitely enjoyed ourselves! 

Until we almost burned the house down.  See those butter warmers?  And the candles beneath them to keep the butter warm?  And those paper towels in close proximity of those candles?  A'yup, we had a near-disaster.  Or at least it seemed that way for 20 seconds or so while we were batting out flames and blowing and huffing and batting some more.  Afterwards, we just simply flicked the soot off the crab, took a deep breath, and dug in.  (And shoved our pounding hearts back down inside our chests).  Jeesh.

As always, opening presents was a blast, even for the dogs:

  

And Santa was Very Good to me!

Can you tell what that is?  No?  How about now?

Yup, JDub gave me a Kindle!  I was absolutely blown away!  Shocked, I tell you! Talk about a luxury I would have never bought myself.  I have already downloaded three books (I swear it happens by magic.  OK, wireless, same thing).  I love how easy the screen is to read.  It's about the size of a paperback, but lighter and you just press the side bar to turn the page.  It should be much easier on my carpal tunnel/tendonitis in my wrists and thumbs (I'm sure from holding open a gazillion books in my life time!)

Finally, Nate made it home just as my brother and my niece were turning into pumpkins (oops, wrong holiday), but they stayed to watch him open his gifts.  He's still in his work shirt here from his supplemental restaurant job -- a color that he abhors with his red hair, but what are you gonna do?  At least it's Christmasy.

Today we drove south of Olympia to spend Christmas Day with JDub's parents and we had roast duck!  It was delicious!  His mom makes this wonderful apple and raisin dressing that goes just perfectly with it.  More presents!  Including a new orchid!  I've bragged a lot about all my orchids in my garden window, but they haven't been blooming for a while.  It's nice to have some color back in my window.

It snowed off and on all day, but it wasn't until late afternoon that it really started to stick.  So we loaded up everything and hit the road and it was crazy out there!  It was like a blizzard with great big huge (wet) flakes, and the roads were pretty covered.  But north of Olympia the temperature increased a bit and so it was raining the rest of the way.  Thankfully!  I sure don't want to have to deal with driving in snow back to work tomorrow.

Yuk, back to work. 

Also?  I need to quit with the eating!

Bring it On!

We are ready!  The house is clean (and the kitchen is really clean -- I brought in the backhoe), all the presents are wrapped, candles are waiting to be lit, and every time I open the refrigerator all I see are Alaskan King Crab legs.  Good thing they're double-wrapped in plastic or I'd probably be grazing with crab cracker in hand.  I believe I'm going to cook them (actually "reheat" them) thusly:

• ~Crack the shells slightly
• ~Slather them with melted butter
• ~Bake at 350 deg. for 8-9 min.

They really are that easy because King Crab is generally cooked as part of processing, and then flash-frozen to supposedly hold the flavor.  (However, I do know that with Dungeness crab, there is nothing better than fresh, and I never order it in a restaurant or even buy them in a store because they are always previously frozen and the flavor and texture are greatly diminished!)  With King Crab, I don't know any different so I can't compare -- I just don't think you can even buy them fresh.  (And I'm not heading up to Alaska to throw out a pot any time soon).

The butter warmers are ready, too:

Wow, it's really storming outside tonight.  The wind is howling, although the rain has subsided.  I certainly hope that we don't lose power!  What a drag that would be!  Barbecued crab legs anyone? (Hmmm...)

It Was A Good Day

Don't you just love Saturdays?  They are my favorite day of the week, regardless what time of year it is.  Today was great.  I accomplished some mundane chores, such as putting laundry away and bathing the weenie dogs.  (Neither of them are a bit fond of that, but they do know that treats are in store for them afterward so they tolerate it OK.  And it's not a big ordeal because one-at-a-time I plop them in the kitchen sink and do the deed, while telling them what GOOD girls they are).  They smell SO much better!  We choreographed things around here pretty well so that while I showered and dressed and put the laundry away, JDub did his wrapping.  Otherwise I was going to need to find a good reason to "hide" or else head out into the pouring rain to find something to do!  (Certainly don't need to go out and do any more shopping!)   The timing of all that worked out perfectly.

I think the best thing about this day -- besides the fact that since I accomplished so much yesterday that I wasn't overwhelmed with tasks to stress me out -- was that Nate and I had a chance to really talk, clear the air, and reconnect.  I've been extremely irritated with him all week long, and he has been totally on my shit list.  As a result I've felt pretty depressed about it because overall we have a good and solid relationship.  Throughout the week we've been short (or silent) with each other (when he's been around, which he's hardly been); angry, and on the verge of a big blow-up.  The reasons are nothing huge:  irresponsibility, lack of communication, and immaturity and disrespect  (on his part, of course!) -- but they'd developed into aggravating issues.  Our talk was open and easy (non-confrontational), with both of us able to lay our feelings out there on the table in a conversational manner and acknowledge what's been going wrong.  (The dining table, as a matter of fact, with each of us sipping a nummy hot-buttered rum). We addressed how some things need to change around here, and we also talked about just about everything under the moon.   

So, I feel a lot better because of our time we had to connect. Getting off track happens sometimes with all of us, but it doesn't have to mean the train has totally derailed.  I'm glad that we waited until the anger dissipated and we could talk to each other without all that emotion boiling in the forefront.  I think that's the secret to everything, don't you? 

To-Doing Happens--EEEEEEEEEEEK!

I'm in the midst of putting away (many dollars' worth) of groceries, including a NICE bunch of Alaskan King Crab legs and another NICE assortment of booze (care for a snort, Helen? tee hee), and in my peripheral vision is a black & white kitty going absolutely apeshit....because he has brought in yet ANOTHER (albeit dead) MOUSE.  Big, white, six-toed paws are doing airborne jazz hands and there is much thumping.  Oh, and growling.  The dogs are very intrigued and especially Bailey would love to join the fray, but she's too savvy to come near those gloved jazz hands when Mojo is in growling mouse-mode.  (I'm trying to ignore this.  Eventually the carcass will be found.  I hope.) 

So I got off work quite early after seeing my proposal out the door.  Costco was a zoo, but when is it not?  They were having their seafood deal with their big mobile iced bins heaped with not only King Crab legs, but gigantic prawns, whole Dungeness crab, lobster tails, oysters, and big bags of steamer clams.  Mmm.  While the gal was helping me, several children came up to the plexiglass bins to peer at it all and I was surprised at how unfamiliar with the seafood they were, and also a bit fearful.  I've grown up with seafood so to me it's just a marvelous sight that makes my mouth water, but I suppose to an unknowing kid they all look like miniature monsters.  (Well, and the size of those King Crab legs is very impressive.  Did I mention I got a BUNCH?)

My to-do list is definitely shorter and that feels good!  While JDub naps this afternoon I think I'll finish up my wrapping.

(Note:  No, I don't know that crabber guy in the photo -- I just purloined it from Google Images to show the perspective of how HUGE those crab legs are!  And I can tell you that they are jammed packed with sweet and succulent crab meat!)

Have a Long To-Do List, But Haven't Been Doing Much To-Doing

God, maybe I do actually thrive on last-minute deadline stress.  (No!  Really, I don't!)  I've been procrastinating all week long with basically little things I could be nipping away at to get ready for the holiday, but mostly I've been a lazy slug.  Christmas Eve isn't until Monday, after all, so I have Saturday and Sunday to accomplish what I need to.  So, I'll just allow myself to be a lazy slug relax until then.  It'll get done. 

I've also had my nose in the 2nd book of His Dark Materials trilogy (after The Golden Compass) and it's just as riveting as the first one!  What a storyteller!  These really aren't for young kids, though, because the subject matter is rather dark and serious.  Young teens, maybe.  But man, they are good.

I am frustrated with my son.    The school quarter is complete, and my understanding is that he's been working double shifts at two different restaurants -- but I wouldn't really know that for sure since he's never here, night or day.  His (very few) household responsibilities haven't been tended to, including the heaping garbage can that he neglected to take down for pickup this week.  When he is around, he complains that he has no money ("probably no Christmas presents for anybody this year"), and yet in the next breath he talks about meeting his buddies at the bar and playing pool.  Hmm.  It's tempting to insist that he move out and learn some Life Lessons (read: Grow Up), but I just know that would mean he'd drop out of college and never get his degree -- which he REALLY needs to do.  Grrrr.

Just one more day left in the work-week. I'm hoping to get off a little early tomorrow.  Need to get to Costco and pick up a bunch of Alaskan King Crab legs that I'm broiling up for Christmas Eve!  With melted butter...mmmm.

Alrighty, Then!

Had my "career assessment" today (performance review) and it was absolutely glowing!  I know I've mentioned every year how much I hate these things, and I get pretty worked up about them.  (I guess I'm basically an insecure person).  But since I've been with this company, they've really been stellar.  I remember how utterly awful they always were with Micrmngr Boss Bitch at my previous job.  What a dweeb she was!  She would mostly just talk about herself, but when things actually came around to me, her perceptions were on a different planet, I swear.  (In fact, a different dimension).  I would walk away just shaking my head from the bizarre-dom.  (There's a word for ya).  What a contrast; my boss said to me today, "I wish this company had six of you!"

My boss (who is leaving the 1st of the year) is pushing for me to become the office "lead", to take her place.  Yes, I've been getting my head wrapped around this concept and I spent a lot of thinking-time about it over this past weekend.  I've gone through the cycle of utter horror through grudging acceptance through a bit of excitement.  Yes, I can do this.  Yes, it would be good for me.  I've since learned that Annoying Coworker isn't interested in pursuing the position (whew!)  I will have to go through the "process" by applying and interviewing for it, likely to abide by state law.  But my boss is pulling for me and has the ears of Important People in the matter.  It really would make the best sense for the company.  God, though... 

As my friend Helen said, which absolutely cracked me up:  "Getting your cheese moved can be such a drag."

~~~~~

On a different subject, I received a message that the beta version of my Windows Live Writer that I now use exclusively to write my blog posts was expiring and asked me to download the new version.  I figured it would cost big bucks, but I was willing to pay for it because it's just a super program (and never a threat of losing a post unexpectedly).  Guess what?  It's still free!  I highly recommend Windows Live Writer because it's so user-friendly and about as truly WYSIWYG as anything could be!