2012 Flower Pr0n - Mountain Wildflower Edition

"I'm with Neil!"

The Phenomenauts singing about my celebrity boyfriend, here's "I'm with Neil!"

H/T to Skepchick.

Lying Sacks of Shit

I'm just curious. Is there a politician out there running for any office higher than dog-catcher who isn't a lying sack of shit? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I thought not.

Here it is, only July, and I'm already so disgusted by the entire political process I'm considering forgoing podcasts, television and radio until about February of next year. Seems like this year has gotten awfully nasty awfully quickly, and even though I'm enough of a liberal that I'd need my head examined if I decided to vote for Romney, the Obama campaign is making me just as ill as Romney's.

My friend David, a professional historian specializing in the birth and early years of our nation, tells me that our founding fathers were far nastier than today's political hacks. I'm sure that's true, but I wonder - did the citizens of our newborn nation hate the political season as much as we do today? I would never fail to vote, or vote in an uneducated way, but it does seem to me that performing my civic duty becomes more and more distasteful every year.

Angels and Ministers of Grace, defend us.

What I've been doing instead of blogging

Ignoring speculation about the Aurora, CO shooting

My Hot Daughter routinely likes to attend the midnight premiers of geeky films. So I was unsurprised when I came downstairs on Friday morning to find her still awake. And once I saw the news, I was profoundly grateful, as well. She easily could have been in that theater, and my family and I are all immensely relieved that she went to another location, instead, while simultaneously realizing that it was purely a "luck of the draw" outcome. Black Swan Events are like that.

I'm already sick of the news coverage, though - pundits drive me insane when something like this happens. This freeze dried whackaloon took a semiautomatic assault weapon designed for the Armed Forces and used it for its intended purpose - to kill people in large numbers. I'm not interested in how our so-called political leaders want to use this event to pursue their own ends, nor am I even remotely interested in the political or religious agenda of the freeze dried whackaloon. From where I sit, I don't give a shit why he chose to do what he did, because in many ways it doesn't really matter. No sane person sprays bullets into a crowded theater.

I think the always thoughtful Roger Ebert said it best in his blog entry The Body Count.

Oh...so this is what competence feels like

When I was Global Dynamics headquarters last week, we identified a number of issues with my on-boarding, mostly related to network access, required applications, and other matters of IT support. Each time, I created a ticket with the internal IT organization, and within two hours someone had not only gotten back to me, but in all but one case, resolved the issue to my complete satisfaction (the last case required my business unit to buy a Visio license, so the delay was ours, not theirs). Compare this to my old gig, where being without my primary production tool for three days was really no big deal, why are you complaining so much you uppity bitch? As my friend Ken notes, if I had known this was going to be my experience, I would have jumped ship for a lot less money.

Setting a new standard in poor land navigation

I swear to Cthulu, my land navigation skills are laughable. Complements of Google Earth, here's an arial shot of the complex where I was visiting last week:

My hotel is the complex there in the middle, and the building where my extended team resides is one of the ones on the left. I didn't have a car this time, so I was supposed to walk over to the building at the beginning of the work day. And I got lost. I got lost to the point where I had to call my teammate to come get me, to my enormous embarrassment. Yes, I realize how stupid it is to get lost on a road that's a big circle around your hotel. I'm sure that particular incident really reinforced their wisdom in deciding to hire me. Not.

Hanging out with the ladiez

The Amazing Anne had a ladiez get together this weekend up near Leadville, CO, and I drove up Saturday morning to participate. There was the usual suspects in these sorts of get together - food, alcohol, food. We also took a two hour hike and got rained on, although the views were pretty spectacular. Since all the beds were taken by the time I arrived on Saturday afternoon, I chose to sleep in the top portion of this awesome playhouse, built by the Grandfather of our hostess. It was like camping out, only better, because indoor plumbing was within 20 yards.Who says I'm not an "outdoorsy" type? Besides everyone, I mean.

All in all, I had a pretty awesome week, except I didn't get to see the Smart Man much, which tends to make both of us feel odd and cranky. We're turning into that couple, the ones who really prefer not to be away from one another. And I can think of worse things.

Miscellaneous Monday

Benefits-Shmenifits

I need to find time this week to review my benefit choices and make my selections, including my 401K contributions. When it comes to retirement savings, I NEVER EVER want to see that money in my paycheck - it needs to go straight to Fidelity, without passing go. LALALA I CAN'T SEE YOU (or spend you).

Looks like things will be comparable to my last gig (i.e., excellent), so I'm not too worried about it. I just want to make sure it's done. 

Go East, Middle-Aged Woman 

Things are likely to be a bit slow around here this week. I'm headed to points east to spend some time at Global Dynamics HQ, to include picking up my new laptop, getting my company credit card and the other administrivia that's required when you join a new outfit. I have lots of things to do this week, though, so don't expect me to be hanging around here much. Unless, of course, someone wants to pay me enormous sums of money to sit around here and blog my stream of consciousness. Then I'd drop Global Dynamics like a hot rock and be your dancing monkey full time. It seems unlikely, however, so you'll just have to limp along without me.

Let's Read!

We're up to a $75.00 donation to the Douglas County Library Foundation in the 2nd Annual Hot Chicks and Smart Men Dig Reading in Honor of Debbie Faught Summer Reading Program. That leaves 175 more books we need to read before now and Labor Day in order to make our goal. Let's get cracking, people - think of the children.

Yup, Still Middle-Aged

I'll be celebrating a birthday this week while traveling for business. I don't really care much about being out of town - the Smart Man, my Hot Daughter and I had our celebration on Saturday over at Vines, whose baked brie is so delicious and decadent that I actually had one for dessert. I never knew the wonders of brie until I was corrupted by the Amazing Anne and her Foodie Family. I now blame them for ALL my high calorie days, regardless of what I'm eating. That's just how I roll.

2012 Flower Pr0n

Things for Thursday

So far, I'm enjoying working for Global Dynamics. While there's a been a few small hiccups in the administrivia that's always necessary when you join a new company, it's actually been pretty painless. I suspect that may change once I get my laptop and have access to the corporate network instead of using my personal e:mail and spending my time studying and training, but for now - cool beans.
__________

I have confirmed that my company owned assets from my last gig have been safely delivered (and signed for) via FedEx. One more thing to check off the list.
__________

Now that I've had a few days to quiet my mind and enjoy my "I don't work for my old company anymore" status, I have to say - this feels good. This kind of good:

Hehe.
___________

I'm such an optimist. Today I signed up for the Spartyka Wounded Warrior 5K in Colorado Springs on September 22nd. I've never run in any kind of "fun run" or "race" or whatever. But I figured since my new running shoes have turned out to be such a winner, I can safely assume I'll be able to run for 45 minutes without stopping and without pain. I chose the Wounded Warrior 5K because, duh - it's the Wounded Warrior Project. I'll post a plan to collect donations in support of my run as the date approaches.