Wednesday, April 08, 2020
Coronantine
10 years later...
So now it's 2020, and I'm stuck at home. As are many people around the world as we all try to avoid spreading the corona virus. It's been a bit over two weeks for me. I went home early on Monday, March 23rd. We didn't have any work and our production manager was telling us to go home under those circumstances. Earlier I had volunteered for temporary lay-off. Business is way slow and it was one of the strategies that Yoyodine had for surviving this crisis. (Yes, I'm still at Yoyodine. My low level of ambition hasn't changed.) Noddles is making more than I am and, between that and the savings, we can survive a financial hit. Our production manager, John Cousteau, said nothing would be decided until the end of the week. I didn't stop to think that he was only speaking of decisions at Yoyodine.
Monday afternoon, the governor issued his stay at home order. All non-essential businesses will close and they have 48 hours to comply. Oh, well. I emailed John Cousteau and asked him if I should bother coming either Tuesday or Wednesday. I didn't know what work had to get out or what they wanted us to do to shut things down. (I did know that I wanted to come in and fetch the book I was reading over lunch, but I digress...) He replied that Yoyodine was an essential business and would remain open, but I didn't need to come in. I read that as meaning he would prefer me to stay home, so I did. Weird. I gave him a call on Wednesday afternoon to see what he wanted me to do next. This time he officially told me to stay home. I was now laid off--well, I think he said "furloughed", since they want me back--but that Yoyodine still needed to set things up with the state unemployment office. He said he'd contact me with more details before the 1st.
So now I'm home all day. In considering finding new employment (Details on that in another post on another day), I realized that I should be doing some self improvement. I've worked on my html/css skills, started an exercise routine, and now I'm practicing my writing skills. Whether any of these small efforts will bear much fruit is unlikely. But it has to be better than playing another hand of solitaire.
So now it's 2020, and I'm stuck at home. As are many people around the world as we all try to avoid spreading the corona virus. It's been a bit over two weeks for me. I went home early on Monday, March 23rd. We didn't have any work and our production manager was telling us to go home under those circumstances. Earlier I had volunteered for temporary lay-off. Business is way slow and it was one of the strategies that Yoyodine had for surviving this crisis. (Yes, I'm still at Yoyodine. My low level of ambition hasn't changed.) Noddles is making more than I am and, between that and the savings, we can survive a financial hit. Our production manager, John Cousteau, said nothing would be decided until the end of the week. I didn't stop to think that he was only speaking of decisions at Yoyodine.
Monday afternoon, the governor issued his stay at home order. All non-essential businesses will close and they have 48 hours to comply. Oh, well. I emailed John Cousteau and asked him if I should bother coming either Tuesday or Wednesday. I didn't know what work had to get out or what they wanted us to do to shut things down. (I did know that I wanted to come in and fetch the book I was reading over lunch, but I digress...) He replied that Yoyodine was an essential business and would remain open, but I didn't need to come in. I read that as meaning he would prefer me to stay home, so I did. Weird. I gave him a call on Wednesday afternoon to see what he wanted me to do next. This time he officially told me to stay home. I was now laid off--well, I think he said "furloughed", since they want me back--but that Yoyodine still needed to set things up with the state unemployment office. He said he'd contact me with more details before the 1st.
So now I'm home all day. In considering finding new employment (Details on that in another post on another day), I realized that I should be doing some self improvement. I've worked on my html/css skills, started an exercise routine, and now I'm practicing my writing skills. Whether any of these small efforts will bear much fruit is unlikely. But it has to be better than playing another hand of solitaire.
Labels: change, current events, life, work, writing
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Cop out
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Kill a tree today
An amazing thing is happening today--I have absolutely no outside obligations to attend to. I really don't know how this happened, but I'll gladly take it. Anyway, with the day stretching before me and all sorts of things on my to-do list, I chose to mess with our tree. One of the blessings of our little home is Seattle is the flowering cherry tree that has occupied a corner of our yard. It's provided beautiful blossoms in the spring, whispering leaves in the summer. For my wife, it's been a convenient stand for a birdfeeder; and for the kids, a canopy under which to play. But this past year, it's been obvious that its days are numbered. One of the three major branches has been dead, and a second has been drying up to create an early fall. So Noodles has decided to take down the old thing and replace it with a new tree.
Of course, this is one of those chores where Noodles has the idea but I end up providing the labor. That's not a bad thing, of course, because destruction is one of those things at which we men excel. (That line sounds sexist, doesn't it? Probably because it is.) So this morn I put on a pair of work gloves, took some yard tools and decided to poke at the tree. I didn't need the tools so much--most of the branches of the dead limb came off by hand. The only real difficulty was reaching the branches that hung over the fence. When I turned my attention to the second limb, I was only able to pull off a good third of the branches on my own. As I tried to disentangle them from the healthier branches, I couldn't help but wonder if we could have extended the life of the tree had we but did some pruning over the years. When it comes to yard care, I'm sure my farming forebears would hide their faces in shame if they saw what a lousy job I do of it. Anyhoo, for the rest of the second limb branches, I used the clippers. The third limb, the one that's still green and hangs over the slope, I left alone. It was time for lunch and I wasn't prepared to take the whole tree down today. Sure, that would be the most efficient use of my time and a rare free day, but why should I start being so practical? There will be other days in which to prune, plus I can then look forward to renting a chain saw and really having some testosteronal fun.
Of course, once the flush of mass destruction passes, I feel a bit melancholy over the tree. It was a nice little addition to the yard, and it'll be years before whatever sort of tree we might get will grow into a proper replacement. Assuming I don't kill that one first.
Of course, this is one of those chores where Noodles has the idea but I end up providing the labor. That's not a bad thing, of course, because destruction is one of those things at which we men excel. (That line sounds sexist, doesn't it? Probably because it is.) So this morn I put on a pair of work gloves, took some yard tools and decided to poke at the tree. I didn't need the tools so much--most of the branches of the dead limb came off by hand. The only real difficulty was reaching the branches that hung over the fence. When I turned my attention to the second limb, I was only able to pull off a good third of the branches on my own. As I tried to disentangle them from the healthier branches, I couldn't help but wonder if we could have extended the life of the tree had we but did some pruning over the years. When it comes to yard care, I'm sure my farming forebears would hide their faces in shame if they saw what a lousy job I do of it. Anyhoo, for the rest of the second limb branches, I used the clippers. The third limb, the one that's still green and hangs over the slope, I left alone. It was time for lunch and I wasn't prepared to take the whole tree down today. Sure, that would be the most efficient use of my time and a rare free day, but why should I start being so practical? There will be other days in which to prune, plus I can then look forward to renting a chain saw and really having some testosteronal fun.
Of course, once the flush of mass destruction passes, I feel a bit melancholy over the tree. It was a nice little addition to the yard, and it'll be years before whatever sort of tree we might get will grow into a proper replacement. Assuming I don't kill that one first.
Labels: guy stuff, home, life, yardcare
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Stewardship
I'm facing a dilemma this evening: Do I spend my own money to benefit my employer or not? The situation is that my boss, John Emdall, recently asked me to redesign the company's website. The current Yoyodyne site is a fancy-schmancy APX thing that's getting out of date. John Emdall wants a new site, not too complicated, but still nice looking. And cheap. He wants cheap. Hence his asking me, despite the fact that I have openly professed my limited skills. Anyhoo, he had used a demo of the program Artisteer on his PC to make a nice looking page. I brought the html and attendant documents over to my Mac and started messing with it. I was able to figure out enough of Adobe Dreamweaver to add some graphics, alter the menus, and plug our online ordering site into a window. Pleased with myself, I submitted the template page for his review.
A few hours later, John Emdall informed me that Internet Explorer had taken it upon itself not to display the graphics. Actually, what he said was more along the lines of, "It's not working." It was left to me to discover what exactly was screwed up. Putting the blame on Explorer was pretty easy. Figuring out how to fix it has been a challenge. I spent a good chunk of yesterday figuring out how Artisteer created its page with CSS. I never did quite reach the point where I figured what items Explorer was ignoring and how to work around it. One thing I blame is my reference book, HTML 4 for the World Wide Web by Elizabeth Castro. It's a great book, but it's 2000 vintage, and I wonder if it's not a trifle too old for what I need.
So, to come to my main point, I'm debating whether to go out and buy the most recent edition of Ms. Castro's book. I did a search and found that I could pick up a copy at Barnes & Noble for around thirty bucks. Much more than I like to spend on a book, but it might prove useful not only to my personal playing on the web, but also in my unofficial role as "web designer". On the other hand, since this would be primarily to benefit Yoyodyne, why should I be spending my own money? Might it not be wiser to present the boss with the decision to invest in the book, or better yet, hire someone whose competent?
______________________
Update: Of course, the deciding factor was, which choice would allow me to browse in the bookstore? I managed to snag a copy of the book at Half Price Books for ten bucks.
A few hours later, John Emdall informed me that Internet Explorer had taken it upon itself not to display the graphics. Actually, what he said was more along the lines of, "It's not working." It was left to me to discover what exactly was screwed up. Putting the blame on Explorer was pretty easy. Figuring out how to fix it has been a challenge. I spent a good chunk of yesterday figuring out how Artisteer created its page with CSS. I never did quite reach the point where I figured what items Explorer was ignoring and how to work around it. One thing I blame is my reference book, HTML 4 for the World Wide Web by Elizabeth Castro. It's a great book, but it's 2000 vintage, and I wonder if it's not a trifle too old for what I need.
So, to come to my main point, I'm debating whether to go out and buy the most recent edition of Ms. Castro's book. I did a search and found that I could pick up a copy at Barnes & Noble for around thirty bucks. Much more than I like to spend on a book, but it might prove useful not only to my personal playing on the web, but also in my unofficial role as "web designer". On the other hand, since this would be primarily to benefit Yoyodyne, why should I be spending my own money? Might it not be wiser to present the boss with the decision to invest in the book, or better yet, hire someone whose competent?
______________________
Update: Of course, the deciding factor was, which choice would allow me to browse in the bookstore? I managed to snag a copy of the book at Half Price Books for ten bucks.
Labels: books, computer, life, work
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Excuse #2
It's Sunday night and as I try to write, I find my mind lacking in profundity. Too tired, I guess. But then again, blogging at the end of the day used to be the norm, and I could come up with something to say. What's the difference? I'm I just older and too many of the old synapses have worn out? Has the stress of the weekend sapped my creativity? Am I just hoping to slap together a blog post and then go watch a movie on the tube? Ah, maybe that's a hint. No blasted time. There's just so much that I want to do that I end up with no time for reflection, hence when it comes time to put words on, er, some server God-knows-where, I'm at a loss. Of course, if that's the case, the solution is easy--wait until I'm 65 (or 67) (or 70) (or 75) (or...) and start a retirement blog. Of course, by then blogs will all be videos featuring one's 3-D animated avatar with the option of using artificial intelligence to generate snarky comebacks for any obnoxious comments. And I'll still be on dial-up (provided by the Museum of History and Industry's 20th Century Living History exhibit), unable to post.
