Vacation

Yesterday was my first day back "in the office" after a 2.5 week vacation.

I spent most of the day triaging emails and completing an online training course.

As I was thinking about it, I realized that this was only the second time in my entire career that I was able to take more than 2 days off in a row from a day job.

The first time I tried, was a trip to India in 2008.  I brought my work computer because they were concerned about me being gone for two weeks.  I logged in while I was gone.  Remote work was nascent, so it was a challenge and hung over my entire trip.

Then I tried to take one week off in 2013.  It was a family trip to Mexico over the new year that was planned well in advance, and I ended up having to work every day... and got the flu.

Then Ramen and I took one week off to attend the Westminster Kennel Club Show in June of last year (2021).  I was a consultant at the time,  so I told them that I was not bringing my computer and would not be checking email.  This was the first time I had a true vacation from work.  Prior to this, even if the company had a shut down, I had to work.

And now for the second time ever, the last 2.5 weeks... Wilma and I went to the AKC National Championship.  I did not bring my work computer.  The internet wasn't working in the hotels anyway... and I truly had a vacation.  I'll post more about this trip later.  :-)

Happy almost New Year!

Worn Out Gloves

The fingertips are usually the first to wear out on my work gloves, but I was perplexed why it was my ring finger this time.

Then I realized that I have been compensating for my shattering my index finger on my right hand since last summer.

My index finger and grip have come a long way, but still have a long way to go.  Which means the compensation will continue and I will likely wear out at least one more pair of gloves this way.

Performance Evaluation

I'm not good at evaluating myself.  Especially when it comes to the things I have accomplished and done well.

It's one of the reasons I like having this blog.  Here, I am able to point to objective evidence of accomplishment and I am able to parse these accomplishments into small pieces.  But my personal focus has always been to be better today than I was yesterday... the result though, is often a feeling of inferiority.

This spills into my day job too.  As a Program Manager, I am always looking at what is yet to be done.  I have never felt that a Program or Project Manager was the "star of the show."  The star is the technology or project itself.

My job is to enable it to happen.

My job is to ensure the different players on the project have the information, tools, and parts they need when they need them.... Essentially, I'm the conductor of the orchestra.  I'm keeping tempo and queueing certain sections...  But I'm not the one making the music and I am definitely not the virtuoso soloist.

My job is to ensure the process runs smoothly with as few disruptions as possible and to ensure the players get their recognition.

I bring this up because it's performance evaluation time at my Day Job.

I didn't have much brain space to think about it this last week, so my self-review was... brief.

Fortunately my current lead thinks highly of me.  So he sent a note listing things he thought I should have included and stated that I had a couple of days remaining to make adjustments to my self-review.

So I spent some time on Sunday thinking about the list he sent me, which brought to light several other things I should take credit for.... even though there is still much to do.

Time Off

The last time I had a vacation, it was 2008.

It was the first time Hubba had ever seen me truly relaxed.

I tried to take a vacation over New Year's Eve at the end of last year.  It was not a vacation!  I was sick and had to work every day.

I don't mind working hard.  I've had a full-time day job since I graduated college.  I often had more than one part-time job while I was in school and I have been paying income taxes since I was about 11 years old.  Then, of course, we moved to our farm in 2009.

So while I didn't long for the type of vacation I had in 2008.... a week of relaxing on a Bahamian beach... I desperately wanted an extended period of un-scheduled time.

I'm happy to say that I've had that for much of the last two months.

It didn't exactly happen the way I wanted it to, but the reality is that it was wonderful.  I'm relaxed and very excited about my new employment relationship.

I'm Still Here

The last few months have been crazy-busy with the Day Job.

So busy, that I had a drafted post for Fiber Arts Friday last week and did not get it posted.  I have hardly even read most of my favorite blogs for months, let alone written anything.

Aside from working, sleeping and doing the minimum of farm chores, there hasn't been much else going on.  I wish I could say I'm working on something amazing or ground breaking, but I can't.  All I can say is that it's consuming most of my time and energy.

It's January, though.  The days are getting longer.  The weather was remarkably lovely last weekend.  I saw a Robin several days ago and the Geese seem to be on the move.

Hubba and I took a day to visit with a friend and his new Tibetan Mastiff Puppies over the weekend.  Of course, our dogs were very interested in what we had been up to.  ;-)

My seed catalogs have arrived.  I'm realizing that in about 2 months it will be time to start planting early-season seeds, so I guess I should get busy on my plan.

Next month, I'll start booking shearing clients too.

Spring is coming.  I hope I'm ready for it.

This Week

This week has gone by so fast.

Actually most weeks seem to go by fast these days.

It must be a sign of getting older, or at least of doing too much.  But also the days are getting shorter.  It's dark before I'm finished for the day and I'm no longer being woken up by the sun.


The view from our back stoop on a recent morning.


Wonton (aka LGD#1) has been on house arrest for the last several weeks with a broken toe.  She has one more week to go.  So she's been waking me up at the appropriate time, but as soon as she's back to work, I suspect I'll be needing an alarm again.


This dog is not spoiled at all.  Nope, not spoiled.


It's been a tough summer with hail storms, broken toes, surgeries and broken equipment.  So I thought I would share some good news from this week.

Unfortunately it's not cria... yet.  Both maidens are still pregnant.  Daisy seems to be progressing.  I thought for sure she was going to have her baby yesterday, but it seems s/he needs to bake a little longer.

Last evening's exam indicates Daisy is further along than Frieda now, but I know these things can always change.

Same photo as earlier this week, because everyone is still pregnant.


The good news I have to share is that my client has offered another project.  Yes, that makes me very happy.  :-)  Also, my current project is progressing.  Development is nearly complete which means integration testing is starting shortly.

So my current project is going well and my new project starts up next week.  We have babies coming and puppies being puppies.  Canning season is ramping up and work is happening on our basement.  So I will continue to have more than enough to keep me occupied (as if that is ever a problem).

The real good news is that I will continue to have regular income and continue to have interesting work to do.  It also means that I will continue to travel to MSP for at least one more winter.

Out of Touch

When I'm not on the road, I feel a bit out of touch with my projects and client.

When I am on the road, I feel out of touch with home.

Don't get me wrong.  With email, instant messaging, tele- and web-conferencing, the Internet and cell phones.  I am able to keep in contact.  I can attend meetings, update projects and whisper good night to my Hubba regardless of where I am.  However, there is no real substitute for seeing people in person.

Which means, I always feel out of touch with something that's important to me all the time.

Real Job?

Earlier today I read a blog post where the author mentioned his first Real Job and that it had something to do with developing computer games.

The term, Real Job, put be off.

I assume he meant his first Professional Job, since I can't imagine what a Fake or Pretend Job would be.  Personally, I have had lots of jobs before my first Professional Job.  All of them met Real Requirements, took Real Time and paid Real Money.

I suppose though, there is the scenario where a person's First Job is a Professional Job.

What does the term Real Job mean to you?