Etherlimits

Lazy Saturday Morning

LisaDiane — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:05:20 +0000

Today I am off to Munich, Germany for work with two of my colleagues. Next week we will be showing off the new database for the first time to end-users who have not been involved in the design of the system. I really hope they like it!

Since I had to be in Wilmington for SME Week, it was cheaper and less crazy to simply stay over in Wilmington on Friday night and travel with Aaron and Albert from Wilmington to Munich, rather than try to go back to Austin for 24 hours.

I am very pleased with my decision to schedule my travel this way. It meant I got to have a lazy Saturday morning before my flight. I slept late, I arranged for a late check-out, and then walked around downtown Wilmington. I stopped by the Farmer’s Market, and then had brunch at Press 102, a newer restaurant that I had been wanting to try. I had Eggs San Franciscan, like Eggs Benedict, but with salmon instead of ham. The food was great, I will definitely go back. The bathroom had a funny poster labeled, “The world according to girls”, I took a picture so you can enjoy it too.

I chatted with my mom, and the got myself packed up and checked out of the hotel. I am now in the airport waiting for the first leg of my flight to board. See you on the flip side!

SME Week

LisaDiane — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:45:00 +0000

My project at work has really picked up. We are working on figuring out what topics people will need to be trained on related to the new database that is being built. My team spent the week in Wilmington, NC, meeting with Subject Matter Experts. We had back to back meetings all week (organized beautifully by my team member, Jessica). We began calling it “SME Week”.

We made a lot of progress, but all the work this week highlighted how much more there is to do between now and our go-live date, which will be toward the end of the year.

I did manage to have some fun while I was in Wilmington, though. Dinner with my team, and time with friends. We even made it down to Carolina Beach one evening. Amy insisted that we go to Britt’s Donuts, and as she promised, the donuts were delicious!

Appendicitis

jether — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:22:21 +0000

Automated muscle pump on right leg. Automated muscle pump on left leg. Automated BP cuff on left arm that sounds like a Donkey Kong machine. Red diode pulse ox sensor clothespined to my left index finger. Nellcore pulse ox sensor taped to my right ring finger. Peripheral cannula (IV heplock) on the back of my right hand (the infusion pump is quite talkative – beeps and lights). Bair Paws hospital gown with integrated climate control. Nasal cannula supplementing my O2.

Spent part of my day catheterized & on a ventilator after being filled with IV contrast, measured by a digital scale, and imaged by a laser guided talking magnet table.

Did I sign up for the space program? If so, is it enough that my blood went through the centrifuge, or do they have to send me?

Saint Laika protect us :-) 

New poster helps me meet my deadline

LisaDiane — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:26:43 +0000

Joey found this poster, and thought I might like to have it for my office. I really love it, and am bummed that I will be out of town, and so will not get to spend time in my office for a whole week! It was good encouragement today. I had a really big deadline for work this week, and I am taking off work tomorrow, so I had to fit everything in today! I managed it, in the end.

Tomorrow morning early I am off to Chicago to meet up with Laura, and see her sing.

While I was getting ready to take the photo of the poster, Elanor came and sat next to me. KatyDog used to cross her paws like this, and recently Elanor has started. She looked so cute, I had to take a picture.

Asher in a tree

LisaDiane — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:22:03 +0000

Today was my nephew’s third birthday party (his actual birthday was yesterday). His birthday party was at the Northwest Recreation Center. My older godson was very excited about attending the party because he remembered that the Northwest Recreation Center is the “park with the climbing tree”. He actually climbed the tree several times. I took a few nice pictures, all of which were vetted and approved by their subject.

Joey has many more pictures of the party itself, which I am sure he will post in a day or two.

Austin Wildflowers

johann — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:30:50 +0000

I’ve paused here and there in the last few days to capture wildflowers and whatnot et cetera as the springtime rolled out.

The equinox is behind us and the pollinators know it.

Big copies at Flickr – See this set via the Flickr slideshow viewer.

[Show as slideshow]

Opal sock yarn at Opal Divine’s

LisaDiane — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:31:44 +0000

Joey and I went to Opal Divine’s tonight for dinner. I decided to try some new beers, so I got a flight of beer, including: Southern Star Blond Bombshell, Thirsty Planet Armadillo Wheat, Circle Brewing Envy Amber, and Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout. The two Southern Star beers were by far my favorites. While we waited for our food, I worked on Mom’s socks, for which I am using yarn called Opal Hundertwasser by Zwerger Garn. Coincidence? I think not.

10 Year Anniversary

LisaDiane — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:17:42 +0000

2011 is the tenth year that I have been with my company. I started working as a temp for my current company in January 2001. I was hired on as a full time employee on 09 April 2001. So my official anniversary is in a couple more weeks, but my team celebrated a little early.

My friend Amy made a slide show with pictures of me, and quotes from my colleagues about me. My manager had flowers delivered, 10 irises, one for each year. The iris color is almost the same as my company’s logo color. My team sent a box of cupcakes – they even knew to order yellow cake with chocolate frosting. The cupcake delivery guy took a picture of Joey when he made the delivery!

Employees who reach ten years at my company can shop from a list of service award gifts. I ordered a purse – no big surprise there!

It is odd to think about having been at the company so long, especially when I thought I was just going on a temp job! I have had ten managers, nine desk locations (cube and office), and nine titles over the years. I have had the pleasure of working with some really wonderful people. I met people who started out as colleagues, and have come to be treasured friends. While I am sometimes frustrated with individual situations, overall, I am glad I found my company. I have developed many new skills, traveled the world, and found a career that I had never even imagined existed.

Elanor and Cali guard Joey’s office

LisaDiane — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:02:32 +0000

Cali came to stay with us this week, since Lee and Billy were out of town. She and Elanor actually shared the green dog bed for a bit, while they guarded the door to Joey’s office.

St. Patrick’s Day in Wilmington

LisaDiane — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:40:44 +0000

Julie invited me to join her and her husband at their favorite Irish Pub, Harp, for St. Patrick’s Day. It did not take much convincing, and shortly after work, we were standing outside the pub watching people play the bagpipes.

As we approached the pub, I noticed that Dr. Who had also traveled to Wilmington for St. Patrick’s Day, as the TARDIS was parked outside the pub. I got a kick out of hearing people walking by asking, “What is a Police Public Call Box?” I never spotted The Doctor, but I am sure he was there somewhere.

We drank green beer, and ate bangers and mash. We hung out with some other friends from work, and generally had a great time.