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| Grand Rapids, MIWell, I ended up having to travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan to do the kick-off for my project. I'm in a boring area near a mall and various strip malls. Picture a subruban AnyTown, USA with too many strip malls and a mixture of single family homes in varying degrees of disrepair and decently maintained. I'm not in a very affluent section of town.
I really wish I could see downtown GR, but I couldn't get there yesterday or today. It's OK, I found a great restaurant (The Green Well) that wasn't too far away (though the ride was creepy -- I'm not a fan of wooded areas, city boy here, what can I say).
I'm heading home tomorrow afternoon, and I'm hoping the roads won't be too much of a cluster fuck. Between Michigan and Chicago, the potential for snow in the next 18 hours is not in my favor. Yeah, I rented a car and drove here.
Anyway, weekend ... yay! I gotta drop off the car first then I'll head out to the company Happy Hour for a lil bit. I have dinner rez with the wife @ 7PM (The Publican), and then I'm going to go home and pass out. Saturday, 9AM training session, and then ... BE USELESS?!??!!? Who knows, I wouldn't mind popping out for a lil bit on Saturday ... depends on how crazy The Publican gets. Mmmm ... pig's heart.
Alrighty, I should probably pack up now. Or just sit on my not-so-comfy category one hotel bed. Note to self ... when I'm back here for hand-off in a few weeks, I'm getting a better hotel. For seriously.
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| 2009, et. al.Writing entries can be tedious, but that's not why I haven't done so here or in my private journal lately. Mostly because I have a different outlet for my thoughts lately, but also because my public persona really doesn't have much to talk about.
For better or worse, the world that we live in right now is a hot hot hot mess. And, frankly, will be a hot hot hot mess for some time. Steaming hot, even. Many of my friends know people that have felt the crunch. I know people that have been let go or are struggling to make the ends meet. Me? Well ... I survived two rounds of layoffs with my company while being on the bench (meaning: not chargeable to a client, aka: paying me to do nothing) because, basically, I'm pretty awesome.  I won't lie, the last couple of weeks were a bit unnerving ... because some of the people that got the shaft were a lot more talented than I am when it comes to technology and some of them were high performers (just like me, of course!).
When the layoffs happened, I got a nice reality check. I used to talk about the idea of "high performers" being safe from all that mess. I was wrong. I won't say that "no one is safe" because that's not true. I don't know what the criteria is for being consistently "safe" from all that, but I will say that there are some people that are more safer than others. Yes, that sounds like Animal Farm's "some are more equal than others", and it is exactly that. Achieving this state of greater equal'ness (or "more safer'ness") is all about balancing tangible metrics with managed perception.
How does one manage perception? Managing opportunity (aka: being opportunistic), selective aggression, consistent assertiveness, and plain-and-simple manipulation. Is this a bad thing? Well, as the saying goes you say po-tat-oh and someone else will say po-tay-toe. All I know... is that it works, exceptionally well. Proof of concept? There are many out there, and I'm sure anyone that reads that can point to a few without me having to prod.
Anyway, I'm not complacent. I'm happy to have a job (note that this is different than saying "at least I have a job"), and, over the last few months, I've come to be happier in my job. Sure, it's generally unfulfilling, but, it's helping me get towards a few personal goals and that matters to me. I've somehow found a way to get consistent recognition and praise both region and company wide, so obviously I'm performing well (or is it that I'm precieved as someone whom is performing well?  ). I ask a lot of my company, but I give back a lot.
Having served all of 2009 thusfar on the bench, I'm happy to say that I'm staffed again starting Tuesday the 24th. It's a short project, but it extends my tenure with the company and gives me a chance to build up on my metrics and perception, and you know I'll keep things teetered towards my side. Managing opportunity.
So what do I make of this hot hot hot (steaming!) mess of 2009? Ehh, I saw a quote once -- don't know where -- that I truly believe in. This is a correction, not a crisis. Take that as you will. No one group, thing, event, or whatever got us here. We all contributed to this shit sandwich and we're all poised to take a nice, sweet, bite.
Yum.
How's that for a cheery update? 
Regardless of what is said above ... the bottom line is this: life is good, and I enjoy living it now more than I have over the last 15 years.
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| zombiliciousYeah, you know you've seen too many Project Runway episodes this season when you attempt to append "licious" to inside jokes way too often (yes, once is considered "too often").
Anyway, I'm one helluva zombie right now. Need sleep, but here I am writing assembly test scripts for a client the week of my roll-off. Smart on their part.
I had an awesomely good weekend doing everything from random neighborhood bars (Skylark and The Continental) on Friday, chilling like Frosty on my couch on Saturday, and going to Siskel Film Center for a private screening of a friend's documentary on Sunday.
I met interesting, though moderately socially awkward people, including an artsy half-breed who called me "charming" (awww, she likes me!). I made people do Bookers, and heard the infamous crys of pain and smiled. I walked the loop and River North, and had the closest thing to Pinkberry this city has to offer. I experienced a crowd and an area of the city that most people I've hung out with would never touch, and I actually got a new perspective from it, as well as validated some assumptions. All-in-all, I can say there was a great deal of fun stuff this weekend, and lately it's been a rarity in my social scene that fun has been had.
Work has been less consuming lately, but I've neither posted here nor on my private journal. I have a lot in my head, but I've found less of an urge to express it. Usually that means changes are forthcoming, so, I'll leave that as a brief but poignant "warning". hehehe.
In the grand scheme of things, life is good. Work keeps me frustrated, but I'm ready to put myself on a new path and move forward.
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| Lotsa updates to come, maybe, but for now...... my new project's weekly meeting schedule:
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: 11PM - 12AM
Thursday: 9AM - 10AM
Friday: 8AM - 9AM
Yes, it sucks. I may be home (e.g. not traveling) and working downtown again, but it should come at no surprise that I'm not enjoying my new project.
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| Ready for my flight ... but not ready to flyI'm ready to fly out tomorrow morning, as in my bags are packed, my boarding pass is printed, and I'm all reserved for flight, hotel, and car. I'm not quite ready to get back into the swing of things in Minnesota.
I haven't really been into work in recent times, and having fully nested here at home, I'm far less keen on traveling for work right now. Oh well, c'est la vie I guess.
Anyway, the long weekend was good but I'm not in the mood to type about it right now ... maybe tomorrow from the Marriott.
Alrighty, hopefully my room's nice and cool so I can catch some z's before my alarm starts bothering me at 445AM. Yuck.
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