I am so out of date here...
I cannot believe I haven't been out here since March. Well, I can, given how nutso my life has been.
1) Everyone hear about that computer worm this summer? My work got hit HARD by that. We had to patch 30,000 computers globally, of which I was involved at least peripherally with the patching of 10,000 of them. No, I'm not kidding. We discovered we could max out our phone system - if you got more than 25 calls in our queue and more than 25 calls in the queue that rolls to us, you sent the phone system into never-never land. I also discovered I can work 12 hour days when necessary, but I'm an exhausted wreck afterwards.
Then, we got the second vulnerability discovered a month later, when we were finally beginning to pick up the fragmented pieces from the first one. So we had to patch everything AGAIN.
Then, the primary software package I support (when I'm not supporting, oh, everything else) got upgraded not once but twice, and the second upgrade failed utterly - 5000 upgrade CDs sent out over a six-day period - approximately 30% of them completely failed. You do the math on the phone calls.
Plus, my far-too-often one minute late logging in seems to be more important than my knowledge, willingness to stay late, and 8.5 years of experience, so I don't get promoted.
All this means, work is a big ol' drain on my energy.
2) Trying to take over the household bookkeeping takes more time than it ought.
3) Bought a new car (ok, new-to-me-car) this summer. Still not sure how I'm paying for it, but mine died.
4) In an odd space with my personal romantic life. Not doing terribly well with my primary, for various reasons. Still not in a 'romantic' relationship at all (mostly) with my legal partner, though we're getting along probably as well or better than ever; it's just easier for his primary if that's monogamous for him. Am probably most genuinely intimate with TGAW (for those of you who used to read this, you'll know who that is; otherwise, well, it's, someone) but that's decidely and apparently permanently a platonic non-relationship, really, we swear.
5) Busy with Pagan Pride and Thalia, as usual, though both are going well and mostly running without me, which is as I like it :)
6) Have gotten sucked into the local Unitarian Universalist church and am actually now a Worship Associate there (read: lay minister/deacon). Yes, yes, it's another time committment - but it's the chance to work on liturgy for a full-sized congregation, not just a coven, and that's exciting. Plus, it gives me a chance to find out if I really should at some point chuck the computer support biz and enter the ministry - after all, the UUs are the only ones who would take a reprobate like me. :)
7) The Boy, now 10, is still Very ADHD; while medication helps, it's not perfect. On one hand, he's not getting work done. OTOH, he's in a gifted/talented chemistry program on Saturday mornings that he's enjoying (and the school system is paying for!). And surprises me with occasional esoterica such as the latin roots for words, which seems to interest him. And understands the basics of algebra. At 10!
8) The Girl, now 7, is distracted as well - we are testing for dyslexia as she really, really, really shows a lot of symptoms. OTOH, she's also still a beautiful dancer and singer and sits in the bathtub and writes entire, coherent, mostly rhyming, musically sophisticated songs. Such creativity is apparently -also- common to dyslexia, which I'm discovering can be translated as "so right-brained as to be disfunctional." Which suits my 7-going-on-19-year-old to a T.
So, life is busy and that's still no excuse for not being out here more often. I think I'll try to start spouting philosophy more. Anyone want me to post the sermon I wrote to "audition" for the Worship Associate position, for example?
And yeah, that was the -brief- update, really, I swear. I'll try to give more gory details later.
1) Everyone hear about that computer worm this summer? My work got hit HARD by that. We had to patch 30,000 computers globally, of which I was involved at least peripherally with the patching of 10,000 of them. No, I'm not kidding. We discovered we could max out our phone system - if you got more than 25 calls in our queue and more than 25 calls in the queue that rolls to us, you sent the phone system into never-never land. I also discovered I can work 12 hour days when necessary, but I'm an exhausted wreck afterwards.
Then, we got the second vulnerability discovered a month later, when we were finally beginning to pick up the fragmented pieces from the first one. So we had to patch everything AGAIN.
Then, the primary software package I support (when I'm not supporting, oh, everything else) got upgraded not once but twice, and the second upgrade failed utterly - 5000 upgrade CDs sent out over a six-day period - approximately 30% of them completely failed. You do the math on the phone calls.
Plus, my far-too-often one minute late logging in seems to be more important than my knowledge, willingness to stay late, and 8.5 years of experience, so I don't get promoted.
All this means, work is a big ol' drain on my energy.
2) Trying to take over the household bookkeeping takes more time than it ought.
3) Bought a new car (ok, new-to-me-car) this summer. Still not sure how I'm paying for it, but mine died.
4) In an odd space with my personal romantic life. Not doing terribly well with my primary, for various reasons. Still not in a 'romantic' relationship at all (mostly) with my legal partner, though we're getting along probably as well or better than ever; it's just easier for his primary if that's monogamous for him. Am probably most genuinely intimate with TGAW (for those of you who used to read this, you'll know who that is; otherwise, well, it's, someone) but that's decidely and apparently permanently a platonic non-relationship, really, we swear.
5) Busy with Pagan Pride and Thalia, as usual, though both are going well and mostly running without me, which is as I like it :)
6) Have gotten sucked into the local Unitarian Universalist church and am actually now a Worship Associate there (read: lay minister/deacon). Yes, yes, it's another time committment - but it's the chance to work on liturgy for a full-sized congregation, not just a coven, and that's exciting. Plus, it gives me a chance to find out if I really should at some point chuck the computer support biz and enter the ministry - after all, the UUs are the only ones who would take a reprobate like me. :)
7) The Boy, now 10, is still Very ADHD; while medication helps, it's not perfect. On one hand, he's not getting work done. OTOH, he's in a gifted/talented chemistry program on Saturday mornings that he's enjoying (and the school system is paying for!). And surprises me with occasional esoterica such as the latin roots for words, which seems to interest him. And understands the basics of algebra. At 10!
8) The Girl, now 7, is distracted as well - we are testing for dyslexia as she really, really, really shows a lot of symptoms. OTOH, she's also still a beautiful dancer and singer and sits in the bathtub and writes entire, coherent, mostly rhyming, musically sophisticated songs. Such creativity is apparently -also- common to dyslexia, which I'm discovering can be translated as "so right-brained as to be disfunctional." Which suits my 7-going-on-19-year-old to a T.
So, life is busy and that's still no excuse for not being out here more often. I think I'll try to start spouting philosophy more. Anyone want me to post the sermon I wrote to "audition" for the Worship Associate position, for example?
And yeah, that was the -brief- update, really, I swear. I'll try to give more gory details later.