In medias res » Uncategorized

Work vignette: when “Do not disturb” gets ignored

in medias res — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:45:53 +0000

I have a lot of meetings, and some of them, I run. Since we are spread around the world, nearly all meetings are conference calls, and a presenter will share their desktop via Live Meeting or Net Meeting so others can follow the presentation.

We also communicate a lot via an internal messenger. I set it to “Do not disturb” when I am presenting; that setting SHOULD kill any incoming IMs, but as I learned last week, it is not always the case.

And how did I learn? I was presenting to…a lot…of people, sharing my screen, set to Do not disturb, when up pops an IM from my boss. My boss, who tells us to ALWAYS ask before IMing anything if it is ok to IM. The content? “I am feeling really constipated today. Do you want to go for a walk at lunch?” That flashed for all the attendees to see before I could close it.

For some reason, after that I had a hard time getting people to interact on the call. Presumably they were all muted and laughing their asses off.

I say tomato, tomato

in medias res — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:03:55 +0000

We have baby tomatoes in the garden, but none are ready for eating yet. I couldn’t wait, so I picked up some organic tomatoes at New Seasons last night. For a mid-morning snack, I spread some lebneh on toast and topped with thin slices of tomatoes, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Yum!

The last weekend of June, in review

in medias res — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:46:13 +0000

Summer finally arrived. Yesterday, I think it was. It was hot enough here to melt the north pole from afar. Spent the day at a friend’s pool, but in the shade. Forgot about the reflective properties of agua. Now we are having a thunderstorm, and I am watching lightning strike to the SE. I’ve been house/dog-sitting for a friend since Friday.

To summarize, I feel ill from the heat, suspect that I may get a blister on my upper lip from the sun, and am now waiting for the power to go out–and looking forward to another sleepless night, missing my bed and listening to a strange dog bark.

The window is open, the wind is on my face, and the smell of summer rain is filling the room. A’s dog is perched on the back of the couch, gazing sadly out at the street. She misses A. I am gazing sadly at my laptop, wishing it could hand me some Thai food.

To wrap this up, I’d like to issue a big “fuck you, asshole” to the guy in the Ford van who, after running a stop sign yesterday and nearly broadsiding me, had the nerve to flip me off. Me! Additionally, I’d like to say to said asshole, please always, always wear a condom. We don’t need any more like you.

May heat stroke edition

in medias res — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:46:12 +0000

It has been a long, hot weekend in the bustling metropolis of Portland. Lots of shopping for me, as Dr. M is moving back to state for her clinical rotations in a month or so and asked me to take care of buying all her kitchenwares. Somewhere around $600 into it, I did call her and reconfirm that the budget was “whatever it takes.” My birthday present is being delivered tomorrow. This is all wonderful stuff.

All the home stuff shopping has me in a remodeling mood, and I am considering redecorating our home theater room while Vick is on vacation. That would be a nice surprise. It needs paint, some art work, curtains, better lighting, some new media shelving…and that’s about it. You’d think $14,000 worth of electronics would speak for themselves, but noooooo. I am picky, I guess. Plus, I’ve been using this great media room that cost me nothing for a couple years now, have gotten so spoiled that I now complain about “real” theaters (so do some of my friends who have repeatedly enjoyed the room with me, I should add), and I am immensely grateful that I really do have the best roommate in the world.

Anyway. I’ve been writing more often here lately, but I am not sure why. Maybe I like the new look. But right now, I have about a dozen trips downstairs to make, laden down with kitchen stuff that I am envying like mad. I got her an avocado slicer, that’s how thorough I am. And that is why I am jealous. She is going to have all the stuff I wish I had.

Good for her!