It is happening to me.
I got word last week that my job is going to be outsourced to external contractors, with the idea that the organization will save money in the long run. I can’t say I agree, but I guess what I think doesn’t quite matter as much anymore, now that my job has an expiration date. My last day is March 20th.
So once again, I will be looking for a job. And I am just thrilled, let me tell you.
Continue reading “Outsourcing IT – not just happening to other people”
Right now it is zero degrees outside, and with the wind blowing pretty hard the wind chill is WAY below zero. I think right now with the wind blowing at 12 miles an hour, the wind chill is about fourteen below zero. And since the wind is gusting to even higher speeds, that wind chill is probably going to go even further into Antarctica territory.
And what is truly insane? This is not going to be over anytime soon.
Continue reading “We have definitely crossed the threshold of ridiculous”
Last night I dreamed that Rerun drank water from the pet bowl in the bathroom, then padded his way down the hallway, walked around the bed, and then jumped up into his usual spot near my feet. It seemed perfectly normal at the time. It even sounded like him drinking, because he always had this unique rhythm to how he drank.
Then I woke up, and I realized that he wasn’t actually there, and he couldn’t have been there, because he’s been gone a while. And then I couldn’t go back to sleep.
I keep waiting for this to get better.
-Geoff
I woke up a couple of hours ago and checked outside. Dave Epstein had predicted that many of us would have a foot of snow or more by this point, and I am pretty sure his predictions have been born out in many places across Massachusetts. I cam’t tell how much snow we have gotten so far but it looks like we have gotten enough to almost reach the top of the Mini’s tires.
Continue reading “Greetings from the snowy tundra of Cambridge”
I miss him. I miss my little buddy, and how he used to greet me every day when I come home from work. Thumbelina still does, of course, but it’s not the same as when the pair of them would get each other all worked up and excited over things like that.
I worked a half shift yesterday before I went to rehearsal last night. I wasn’t really in any mood to deal with people but one of my coworkers had called out sick and another was sick and needed to go home. Word had also spread about Rerun’s passing and this particular group of people, who are ordinarily nice to me, were super sweet and supportive. I ended up with a lot of time to work in the quiet places and get some time alone. I really appreciated it.
This is not the obituary I thought I’d be writing. I really thought that Rerun would be with us for a while yet. Rerun died this morning. He was 11 years old.
Continue reading “Rerun S. Hopkins-Michael June 2003 – January 15, 2015”
Although we are WAY under our usual quota for snow so far this season, winter has decided to let us know that it is still here, and that all those warnings from the Starks were not for nothing.
This morning when I got up, the temperature according to the little weather tool on the kitchen computer was -3 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind chill was somewhere between -20 and -25 degrees, depending on just how hard the wind was blowing. It would be white walker weather, except for the lack of snow.
Continue reading “A gentle reminder that this is New England in winter”
Kelly and I are big Neil Gaiman fans, in case you didn’t know already.
Now we have yet another reason to love the guy. Last year he recorded a wonderful version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: a version in which he reads from Charles Dickens’ own annotated copy, as Charles Dickens, complete with clothes and beard.
Good people make mistakes. It happens. No one is perfect. How we acknowledge those mistakes, and how we try to make amends, that is what’s critical to getting along with everyone, especially those who are harmed by our mistakes. It makes a world of difference whether we recognize the harm we sometimes do as individuals, as organizations, and even as nations.
And that is why it truly pains me to see groups that I believe in make bad, even horrible mistakes, and then fail to do the right thing afterward. It is just heartbreaking. And lately it seems like it is one after another.
