My More Intersting Pursuits

I started working at a new client site last week. I was afraid that it would be a depressing environment, boring work, and non-fun people. So far I have been a bit pleasantly surprised; the environment is nice, its only shortcoming being the lack of good comestibles nearby. The work is not the most exciting thing I can imagine, but because it is something I am familiar with (SSIS) I am able to jump right in and impress my coworkers with how quickly I crank out deliverables. And so far I have found my coworkers pretty personable. While these factors are better than I had feared they might be, I still would like the opportunity to move on to something more interesting in the not-too-far future.

On Tuesday, I had to have my laptop scanned by the client's IT department to make sure it was virus-free and safe to connect to the network. After delivering my computer to the IT area for said scan, I returned to the communal work room for the remainder of the 2-hour scanning process, where I realized how challenging it is for an IT consultant to appear productive with no computer in front of them. So I got out a pad of paper and a pen, hoping to at least look like I was writing important notes about something. But what to actually do with this pad? I had no notes to write. So I attempted a portrait of my stuffed penguin which sits on my desk. On the left is my drawing; on the right is a photograph of the actual penguin. I am quite impressed with my artistic creation!

On Wednesday I went to the mall for no reason in particular. I found a few awesome things, which are laid out below in photos arranged less artistically than Mari's similar posts and described in less appealing language. Mari: if you want a not-very-cool-project, try to make my clothing purchases sound more fun.

Left: Plum ruffle-top shirt; originally $39.50, I got it for $7.50 at the Limited. Behind that, a bright green sweater I got in Spain. Gray skirt, originally $59.50, I got it for $24.99 at the Limited. Fall-Green flutter-sleeve blouse (100% silk!), originally $69.00, I got it for $23.97 at Banana Republic. With the silk blouse is a brown cardigan I got a the Limited a few weeks ago, also on sale but I don't remember any specific prices.

Right: Jade Knit dress with tie waist, ruffle detailing on front, and made of very nice fabric, as indicated by its original price of $98.00!!! I got it for the a measly $23.00! Yay!

In summary, I spent $79.46 on items that originally totalled an impressive $266. I feel very pleased.

Sparse Update

I know that I haven't updated in a long time.

Last Tuesday (a week ago tomorrow) I went with Mama and Daddy to drop Mari, Chris, Pounce and Mouse off at the airport to go to Japan. Obviously I was sad because I am going to miss them (indeed, I already miss them- mosly Mari and Chris, not Pounce and Mouse quite as much). But it was comforting to know that we'll be able to see their smiling faces via webcam! I have already had at least three webcam conversations with Mari in the (less than) one week they've been gone, and they were very nice! I'm glad we have that technology. It makes them feel not so far away.

As I headed back to work Tuesday after dropping them off, I felt glad to be returning to a normal routine- sitting at my usual desk, around the usual coworkers, would help me not think about the absence of Mari and Chris. So I felt very sad when I was told that that was my last day at this client; the next day I would be reporting to the home office!  Normally this would have been good news, since I had long ago run out of work to do for this client, and the atmosphere was a little bit depressing.  But on this day of having to part with my sister, I didn't feel like also parting with my familiar desk in which I had been sitting since July.

So for the past 3-1/2 days I've been at the Houston office, and I've taken up a project: learn how to build a website.  It's kind of fun, and it's cool to be learning something new and useful.  If I get good enough, I may endeavor to replace this blog with my own website! For those of you who might be asking "wait- isn't this blog a website that you have built?" the answer is "no, not really."  In setting up a blog, all the hard work has been done for you- the blogger simply chooses fonts and formats and whatnot.  In building my own website, I would start from scratch.  Think of it as the difference between baking a cake from scratch and ordering a cake from a store where you simply choose flavor, icing, and shape.

So far I have learned how to do the basics of a website, like put in text, pictures, and even links, but it doesn't look very nice. I am also still hosting only on my local machine, which means that it looks like a website and I can open in my internet browser, but noone else could access it from their browser because it's not on the web.  Anywho, once I learn those things I may have my own publicly-viewable website! Wouldn't that be neat?