Baby Finances

Today was a really crappy day at work. I just felt really stressed out and direction-less. The problem being that there are too many things that need to be done and not enough people to complete them. I like being on the road much better because I don't end up having to deal with a lot of the crap. And it's just that, crap. Dumb stuff that I'm cleaning up after other people who didn't do the job properly. It's really frustrating. Not only am I cleaning up my own messes (because there are a lot of them still) I'm having to do it for other people as well. The problem is that one guy is not very knowledgeable so instead of actually asking a question to figure out how to solve the problem, instead just leaves it and hopes that it goes away (it never does.) My pen exploded today, and somehow I must have touched my lip or something - because when I got in my car there was a small smudge on my face. OMG I was walking around with a smudge of pen ink on my lip a...

It was an interesting week, but not for the reasons that you would expect. My work in Texas, about the third time I've gone to a customer site alone went really well. No major problems, I even solved problems that I wasn't really expected to solve. Yeah for me. I did everything I was supposed to plus a bit extra and did it well and in a timely manor. I'm making progress. A good trip like that makes me feel better about the company paying me for doing good work rather than paying me to screw up things. Raising the self-confidence level is good. I do much better work when I'm confident and not second guessing myself all the time. My flights were horrible though and so was my rental car. My flight out was delayed b/c the crew had gotten in late the night before and they hadn't had enough rest yet. So they delayed the flight three hours and 40 minutes. I ended up getting on another flight, but not in a timely manor. I should have gotten into Houston about 11...

For the rest of the week I'll be in Texas . I have to admit that I'm a little scared of going. I'm not sure that I'm ready for the huge belt buckles and the Stetsons. No, that is not a stereotype. My cousins moved from Ohio to Texas and came back with them. Plus the girls had the Texas Hair (IE BIG hair.) So I know that it can happen. I think that Houston will be okay and more "northenized" while I expect that Austin will be a little more... how do I put this... Texas . I'll report back with my findings. I'm amazed at how much people at this new place are willing to admit/tell me about their future plans. My boss admitted to me that he's applied to graduate school in his home country and most likely will be starting in another year. That says that in less than a year there is going to be a huge upheaval in the US office. It will be an interesting time to be sure. We'll see how long I last/put up with it. I'm trying not to make any judgme...

The last few weeks have been crazy busy for me. Last week I was in LA, this week I was in NY, next week is Houston, then week after is probably NJ. Essentially when I'm not traveling I run around doing all the dumb stuff that most people spread throughout the week, like grocery shopping, going out with friends, banking, cleaning, doing laundry etc. The few days that I am in the office are normally spent doing expenses and answering all the emails and phone calls that I ignored while I was traveling. Basically cleaning up from being away. I haven't gotten tired of the travel yet. I like going to different places. I have to admit that the one thing that I miss is a quality bed to sleep on every night of the week. I would much prefer nice sheets and pillows.

Well, back from sunny and smoggy southern California. The weather, the little I saw of it, was pretty amazing. However, the smog in the city was pretty disgusting. It was right up there with the grossness in the ocean on the east coast. The pollution was visible in the air above the city. Instead of looking over the city in the morning to see a combination of buildings, mountains, and a beautiful blue sky - there was this haze above the buildings that was the color of pee - nasty yellow brown in color. The other thing that really bothered me was the car culture. We were stuck in traffic anytime that we needed to go into LA. There's no reason for it. It was literally just everyone sitting on the highways going On this trip I was with one of my co-workers. He's a year older than me and he's been working there about a year, his first job out of university. It is amazing how different our lives are and how different our views on life are. We had a discussion about th...

I thought I was having a rough week until I talked to Josh yesterday. I was in the office Mon/Tues - then had a demo in Boston on Wed. and actually got out of work early! Thursday and Friday I had to go to CT to try to play with a customer's system. On Wed before work I fell down the stairs. That's right, I'm that big of a clutz. I didn't fall that far - maybe 5 or 6 steps. But it was not a good start to the day. My foot still hurts from the fall. CT was my first customer visit by myself - and I felt absolutely useless. I forgot how hard it is when you are first starting and have no clue what you are doing. I think I'm getting a sinus infection to top it all off. I just feel like I fell down the steps and got ran over. I should probably run to CVS or something and get something for this so that I can feel better. I really just want to lay in bed all day and do nothing. Which might be the plan. Crazy scary that Josh is in the hospital. I didn't think...