1) April is going to be a very fun month in the lives of KP & MoPo. We'll be seeing Rent when it comes through Chicago; this is tremendously exciting in and of itself but the really cool thing about it is that original Broadway cast members Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal will be in it. The second exciting event? Seeing a little duo named Flight of the Conchords...
2) I went up north to go snowmobiling two weekends ago (for the first time in probably three years). It was so awesome that I tried doing it again this past weekend... except that there was an immense lack of snow on the trails (honestly, it was a longshot anyway given the weather but I thought I'd give it a chance). Instead of snowmobiling, however, the fates substituted a different "fun" experience--being pulled over by a state trooper for going a piddly ten over the speed limit. Seriously? You have nothing better to do than pull a guy over for doing the same speed as everybody else on the highway? Luckily I was only given a warning.
3) It doesn't look like we'll be going anywhere warm and exotic for vacation this year. We're opting instead to finally put a kabosh on all this credit card debt we accumulated by studying abroad (amongst other, less rewarding expenses). We've been whittling away at it pretty steadily for a while now but have also diverted a lot of our "discretionary" expenses to fun things like vacations, HD TVs, and new furniture. Suffice it to say, the prospect of being "bad debt-free" is pretty appealing.
4) By this time next month we'll be down to a single car payment as well. Wahoo!
5) We're going to the Food & Froth Fest this weekend with Leslie & Jimmy! I can't wait.
6) Growing up, I never thought I'd be more into a TV show than I was into Star Trek or The X-Files. But I've never, never spent as much time obsessing about a TV show as I do Lost. I'm very much a guy who doesn't like time to move too fast--I like to take things one day at a time. However, now I curse any day that isn't Wednesday (although Friday is ok--Friday has BSG). And while EW's Doc Jensen helps me through the week I'm also pretty sure his analysis of what in God's name is going on is what causes me to dream about Lost (as was the case last night). So even when I'm sleeping I'm still obsessing. *sighs*
7) Girl Scout cookies! YUM.
8) I poisoned MoPo last night. Apparently she has developed an allergic reaction to catfish because this is the second time her face has puffed up after eating it. But she's ok with a lot of other types of fish and shellfish. Strange.
9) I'm not sure if I've blogged about this before but I'm pretty sure The Walking Dead is currently my favorite comic.
10) I'm almost done reading The Worst Hard Time and it is pretty tremendous (it started off kind of slow but I was hooked after the first 50 pages or so). I'm not a germaphobe but this book is definitely turning me into a dustaphobe.
-KP
"I, (state the fake name you give to women), vow to always choose wet t-shirts over wet diapers. I vow to choose D-cups over sippy cups and perfect 10s over play pens. I will never jeopardize my dignity, paycheck or awesomeness through the heinous crime of reproduction."
-Barney, How I Met Your Mother
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
I suppose it could be worse.
The melodramatic part of me would start this blog entry by saying, "I lost my job today." But that's not fact. It's kind of how I feel, but it's not what actually happened since I'm still thankfully employed.
Instead, I'm the lucky one who is getting forcibly relocated to a different group in my department, complete with an entirely different set of responsibilities. I haven't hidden the fact that I've really enjoyed the position I've worked in since being hired--I owned a product that appealed to my sociological background and was exposed to a revolving wheel of new and different(!) research projects. Exposure to these new and different(!) things kept things interesting. Perhaps more importantly, however, was that I was good at what I did... good to the point where my (now former) manager told me today that I'm getting an 'exceeds expectations' on my yearly review. (I guess that deserves a "Yay!").
Rationally, it's most likely that my relocation isn't because of a lack of performance but because I have performed. It's also because I'm one of the very few in our department that has any amount of personal skills--not just the analytic mindset (basically I was compared against the stereotypical idea of a statistician, which is thought to be prominent in our department). However, the irrational side of me sees this as a demotion to more of a glorified babysitter role.
Time will tell if this move is as good to my career development as it's being spun by management. But today's a day I'm just overly frustrated and grumpy with the situation.
I still have a job, however. If anything, this move makes me feel like I have more job security than I did previously... they're not going to move a guy to this role (which is considered pretty damned important by the company), spend the time getting him up to speed to satisfy the client and keep them satisfied, only to let him go.
One would hope.
-KP
Instead, I'm the lucky one who is getting forcibly relocated to a different group in my department, complete with an entirely different set of responsibilities. I haven't hidden the fact that I've really enjoyed the position I've worked in since being hired--I owned a product that appealed to my sociological background and was exposed to a revolving wheel of new and different(!) research projects. Exposure to these new and different(!) things kept things interesting. Perhaps more importantly, however, was that I was good at what I did... good to the point where my (now former) manager told me today that I'm getting an 'exceeds expectations' on my yearly review. (I guess that deserves a "Yay!").
Rationally, it's most likely that my relocation isn't because of a lack of performance but because I have performed. It's also because I'm one of the very few in our department that has any amount of personal skills--not just the analytic mindset (basically I was compared against the stereotypical idea of a statistician, which is thought to be prominent in our department). However, the irrational side of me sees this as a demotion to more of a glorified babysitter role.
Time will tell if this move is as good to my career development as it's being spun by management. But today's a day I'm just overly frustrated and grumpy with the situation.
I still have a job, however. If anything, this move makes me feel like I have more job security than I did previously... they're not going to move a guy to this role (which is considered pretty damned important by the company), spend the time getting him up to speed to satisfy the client and keep them satisfied, only to let him go.
One would hope.
-KP
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Crackdown
There's a lot of worry about corporate layoffs in today's economy and that extends to the company I work for, as well. No area is safe from cutbacks--not even Microsoft Outlook.
Farewell, RTA.
-KP
Farewell, RTA.
-KP
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Geekin' out in T minus 90 minutes and counting...
The Dharma Initiative made a timely supply drop before tonight's season premiere.
-KP
-KP
You ever drunk Bailey's from a shoe?
I owe Frank and Maria my everlasting happiness for this gem.
-KP
-KP
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Randomnicity (01.17.09 Edition)
1. It's that time of the year where I keep writing '08 instead of '09 on everything.
2. Look! Pictures!
I'll put more on Facebook/WebShots sometime in the next year.
3. I have been relentlessly playing Fallout 3. It's awesome.
4. I don't necessarily do New Year's resolutions but I am going to try and read more this year. Quite frankly, it took me 6 months just to read one book last year. I blame it on TV. But, even so, there you have it--more reading for KP in 2008. Er, 2009.
5. I've given up on the crappy coffee my employer supplies for us in the kitchenette. It's just horrible, horrible stuff and, after a year and a half of it, the fact that it's free doesn't matter anymore. Now I go down and get Starbucks from downstairs every morning. It's no Grind (which really just means I don't have Leslie to go get coffee with) but at least the coffee tastes good.
6. I have this extreme problem with overwatering houseplants. Example: I killed my cactus this week. How can you kill a frakkin' cactus?!
7. To all my fellow BSG'ers out there: isn't it great that show can still depress the hell out of you? Yet I must watch it. Because it's awesome.
8. Xbox 360 + Netflix may just be the best marriage ever.
9. MoPo and I are still trying to figure out what the hell we want to do for vacation this year. There's just too many places we want to go... we've thought about staying somewhere in the contiguous US, or going back to Oahu, or checking out my homeland of Nicaragua, or going to Mexico, or Canada, or St. Maarten/St. Martin. I think we're leaning towards splitting vacation time between St. Maarten/St. Martin (two countries, teeny, tiny island) and Canada (we have a friend that we've been meaning to visit for ages). However, I'm sure we'll change our mind six more times before actually going.
10. Obama inauguration! Huzzah! (Maybe Spider-Man will show up in RL, too?)
11. I have the perfect dinner planned for the season premiere of Lost. You just wait and see.
-KP
"Is he talking about what I think he was talking about?"
"If you mean time traveling bunnies, then yes."
-Locke & Ben, Lost
2. Look! Pictures!
I'll put more on Facebook/WebShots sometime in the next year.
3. I have been relentlessly playing Fallout 3. It's awesome.
4. I don't necessarily do New Year's resolutions but I am going to try and read more this year. Quite frankly, it took me 6 months just to read one book last year. I blame it on TV. But, even so, there you have it--more reading for KP in 2008. Er, 2009.
5. I've given up on the crappy coffee my employer supplies for us in the kitchenette. It's just horrible, horrible stuff and, after a year and a half of it, the fact that it's free doesn't matter anymore. Now I go down and get Starbucks from downstairs every morning. It's no Grind (which really just means I don't have Leslie to go get coffee with) but at least the coffee tastes good.
6. I have this extreme problem with overwatering houseplants. Example: I killed my cactus this week. How can you kill a frakkin' cactus?!
7. To all my fellow BSG'ers out there: isn't it great that show can still depress the hell out of you? Yet I must watch it. Because it's awesome.
8. Xbox 360 + Netflix may just be the best marriage ever.
9. MoPo and I are still trying to figure out what the hell we want to do for vacation this year. There's just too many places we want to go... we've thought about staying somewhere in the contiguous US, or going back to Oahu, or checking out my homeland of Nicaragua, or going to Mexico, or Canada, or St. Maarten/St. Martin. I think we're leaning towards splitting vacation time between St. Maarten/St. Martin (two countries, teeny, tiny island) and Canada (we have a friend that we've been meaning to visit for ages). However, I'm sure we'll change our mind six more times before actually going.
10. Obama inauguration! Huzzah! (Maybe Spider-Man will show up in RL, too?)
11. I have the perfect dinner planned for the season premiere of Lost. You just wait and see.
-KP
"Is he talking about what I think he was talking about?"
"If you mean time traveling bunnies, then yes."
-Locke & Ben, Lost
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