Office Spaced Out

Seeing as how I have crap nothing to do, I’ll air out my laundry to you, the reader. Laundry, here, being the operative term for my job, and the absence of activity being the mustiness of which it must be rid.

This, my current and last training rotation, is likely the least productive to date. During my first few days, I attended meetings, read briefs to gain information on this organization, and began a little project. This project was to be a fact finder and explain the benefits of new inventory planning software to my supervisor and his boss. After being met with some resistance from my primary contact, a colleague and I headed to Philly to attend a class on the subject. It was a day out of the office, but the valuable info was sparse. The following day, we created a presentation to convey the purpose, pros, and cons of the system. That was about three weeks ago and I have yet to present it to anyone. My only other ongoing task is to report last night’s baseball scores to my boss. In my surplus of time, I must do something other than sleep.

Wednesday the 19th, was the Employee Appreciation Day for my home office. They rescued me from my current cubicle to partake in the picnic and accompanying festivities. The Directorate Cup, an interdepartmental competition, was composed of a three-legged race, two relays, a x-country skiing race, and a cake eating contest. Our office won for the second straight year.

I have read/ skimmed through many an online article relating to various topics, e.g. the FedEx Cup, the UK, super-string theory, anatomy, new movies, motorcycles (keep dreaming) etc. Other than that, I mainly frequent eBay and also hope for Tuesday to arrive with a new episode of House. This, of course, is of slightly lesser priority than reaching the weekend. I hate to wish my life away. So, I’ll say that I anticipate the weekends yet try to enjoy the days betwixt them.

Something to ponder: Does freedom = power? Is someone who desires to be able to act, dress, speak, and do as they please... 1) thirsting for power or 2) seeking freedom from structure and regulations imposed? Think of this within a completely legal and moral framework.

Additionally, if anyone knows of a non-teaching job that involves creative thinking/ problem solving, let me know. If it includes helping people…bonus points. For now, I’ll return to the review questions for my class.

Wedding out West

A week ago, I made my first trip to Utah. A friend of mine was getting married in Park City. This was a very non-Mormon wedding, in case you are curious.

Saturday was mostly spent in the air or on the road. I was heading for BWI (Baltimore Washington International) by 330am. We took off around 7, and I hopped around to Vegas, Phoenix, and then to Salt Lake City. That night we had a fairly tame “bachelor party”. It entailed little more than an embarrassing outfit for the groom-to-be and a trip to Main St to visit a couple pubs and bars.

Sunday we jolfed…or tried to. Those of us who could keep under 80 or 90 did, I was not among the elite. Despite my hackery, I enjoyed the beautiful non-humid sunniness of the area. The venue: a fantastic layout of green amongst hill sides of brown brush. The Pete Dye course at Promontory is long. I played from the 2nd longest tees, and it was still probably about 7600 yds. I will admit the ball does travel farther than to what I’m accustomed. Most of the holes were fair and fun. The 299 yd par 3 was a bit daunting due to 260 or so yards being all carry over a canyon of tangled flora. My shot du jour was an uphill decelerating double tap (or hit and carry) flop shot. ..not good for the score, but good for laughs.

Hole 2

Have enough club?

My retirement home?

The early part of Monday, we toured the Olympic Park from the ’02 winter games. The highlights were riding a rolling sled down a twisting chute, and seeing the skiing tricksters practice aerial maneuvers into a bubbling pool at the end of the jumps. Later, we attended a wonderful wedding and reception. (the real reason for the trip)

Summary: Great trip, fun, and memories with a few familiar faces from good ole MethCo.

Not the Usual Excuse... and time out of PA

Typically, I don’t have anything worth posting. This time, however, I’ve wanted to mention a few things for the past several weeks and just haven’t had the opportunity.

The last two full weeks of July were spent on a command inspection of Fleet Industrial Supply Center Puget Sound, a Naval facility in Bremerton WA. The base itself was nothing to see. The buildings and layout were very drab. The highlights were its well furnished fitness center and the Sam Adams Brewhouse just across the street from the quarters at which we stayed. Despite being the “dry” season, it was cool, rainy, and gloomy for the first week we were there. Eventually this gave way to some pleasant, sunny days in the high 70s. Washington being called “The Evergreen State” is quite apropos. Evergreens and lush flora cover every mountain and hillside in sight. That is, of course, except the snow-capped peak of Mt Rainier jutting enormously into the sky as if it were so much closer than it really is. I toured Seattle and the campus of U Dub. The city is cool, in general. Watching the fish being tossed about at Pike Place Market is a standard attraction. Shops, clubs, bars, and cafés line the main thoroughfares. Before I left, I had some Irish fare at Fado Irish Pub. I find myself quickly becoming a fan of ciders i.e. Magners (Bulmers in Ireland), Woodchuck, and Strongbow. I recommend Magners the most. This makes me very much want to take a trip to Quip’s for wing night. Mmmm…

Following the two weeks in the Northwest, I went on vacation with my family and girlfriend. It was a good time in Ocean City MD. Time was spent playing some golf, getting mildly sunburned, playing cards, and walking the boards.

...continued thoughts

In retrospect... I should have resisted. Well, at least I wasn't in the office. (Confused? - see end of previous post)

Mental Escape from Office Drudgery

…with nothing to do, here I sit. Bored. Bored senseless. Bored out of my gourd. Yes…bored.

This week has been anticlimactic. Monday was shortened only by the need to drive to Crystal City that afternoon. Tuesday’s class, that necessitated the aforementioned trip, was a waste of a day. I did refrain, somehow, from becoming overly antsy in the class or from being in an ongoing argument with the presenter. …all of this frustration over a likely soon-to-be-implemented pay system that has the great concept of pay for performance combined with a lack of checks and balances, the deprivation of ways a person can increase his or her salary in a short period of time, an obvious deficit of input from Joe Schmo, and way too much bureaucratic group-think with congratulatory back-patting before program flaws have been investigated - let alone remedied. Wednesday and Thursday somehow passed without much fuss. Today, however, is different. The morning crawled at a snails pace…actually, slower. I enjoyed a break from my corner at lunch and visited Subway. At this point, I still have 2.25 hrs to endure. I have fired up Launch as TV-Links is no longer my working-day friend. Nearly every link I click and option I choose is met by (a) the need to download a media player, (b) an error, or (c) oblivion – in which a window opens but nothing ever loads. TV-links presents another problem. (2 to be exact) If I get enthralled, I am not likely to hear someone coming behind me. I don’t really want to be found watching House reruns or Fight Club (if I could get the friggin’ thing to work!). The alternative, listening to a program, is very much less interesting and is therefore unacceptable. The other problem is that Big Brother is watching. High bandwidth usage is a red flag, and as much as I might complain, I’d rather be employed than not…

This weekend is currently being viewed with much anticipation and optimism. One of the certain highlights is it is three days long. I love taking off of work. Monday will be spent hacking my way through a 36-hole marathon. Even if I average 95 per 18 holes, the day’s rating will soar far above that of office drudgery. Mt Valley beckons me…and I shall not resist.

#6 on the "Maple" nine

The Open @ Oakmont

Perhaps against my better judgment, I’ll type this while in a stupor of drowsiness. This, being not out of a sense of obligation, but written to both inform the nonexistent masses that frequent my page and to numb my mind to the inescapable sense that the hands of the clock are moving at half-speed while I sit in my cubicle jail cell. Without further blabbering, I present the past week:

This past Tuesday, I turned 24. It was a fairly quiet event. I’ve found that birthdays aren’t the annual holidays of our childhood, once we have moved away from home. When I was young, family and friends constantly reminded me of the occasion, and there were parties and gifts to anticipate. Now, though gifts are still nice, and being with loved ones is still a treat, there is a definite decrease in the hoopla factor. This isn’t really a complaint. I do not care about having a big bash, nor do I mind being older. In fact, I quite enjoy the inverse relationship that my car insurance premiums share with my time on this Earth.

This weekend was fantastic despite a disappointment that was completely out of my hands. On Sunday, I was one of these people.

Thanks to my wonderful girlfriend and some planning with a good friend of mine from my days at MethCo, the “woms” (a term of endearment coined by another friend) and I spent many hours in close proximity to many of golf’s top players: Els, Funk, Singh, Furyk, Mr. Woods (just google him - if you must) etc. Mickelson took the weekend off… that’s ok. (I can see overweight hackers at the local municipal track.) The only other tournament I’ve attended was The Player’s Championship in the spring of 2002. I was able to get much better views there. I’m under the impression that approximately the same number of people attended each. However, Oakmont’s openness and hole configuration do not allow for spectators to be along each side of every fairway and tee. This caused many areas to be off limits and severe congestion in those that weren’t. Worse yet was that after Baddeley handed over the lead on the first hole, Tiger couldn’t hold onto it with par. His 2-over round resulted in a 2nd place finish tied with Jim Furyk, one stroke behind Angel Cabrera. Despite the loss, it was an enjoyable experience.

I also decided that my not-so-coveted Fashion in Golf award goes to Ian Poulter (see above). I’ve liked his sartorial choices for a while but would never wear any of them. Why would I, a hacker, want to have any more people’s attention than is absolutely necessary?

After the festivities, we made the return to Harrisontonburgvillefieldcesteria around midnight. Time well spent.

"Find your fun - faster" ...I found mine.

Thanks to the rut I’ve created, fallen captive to, and perpetuated, information from two weeks ago can still, very much, be considered news. This news is the purchase of a new automobile. After very much research, some test driving, some crunching of numbers, and a good deal of thought, I decided on the Honda Civic EX. “Why?” you might ask. …to which I respond, “Why not!” My criteria were many and, dare I say, unrealistic. I was looking for new, 4-doors, manual transmission, good acceleration, fuel economy, that runs on 87 octane fuel, and is affordable. Also added to this list were the elements of appeal and reliability. Several cars satisfy some and not all of the requirements. The first four requests would be easily met by the BMW M5 or Mitsubishi Evo. The Kia Rat-trap or Hyundai Shoebox could likely meet some of the standards too, but let’s not be silly.

Among the researched vehicles were the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Dodge Avenger, Chrysler Sebring, Saturn Ion and Aura, and Pontiac G6, to name a few. I realized that I’d need to explore “extra-continental” options. (as if the afore mentioned pop out of US soil like the corn in Iowa) The search continued on to the Mazda 3, SPEED3, and 6; Toyota Camry and Corolla (what do you mean they stopped making the Supra?); Honda Civic and Accord, Subaru Legacy and Impreza, Volkswagon Jetta, Mitsubishi Galant and Lancer, and the Nissan Sentra and Altima. Further eliminations were made to rule out larger, old man-ish cars and those with turbo or super-chargers …as they require high-test petrol. I was now left with the Civic EX or Si, the Mazda 3, and the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V. Despite the Mazda’s good reviews, well equipped, it was more expensive than the others, had mediocre mileage, and has a very unattractive rear-end. I test drove a 2006 Spec-V. The performance was mediocre, styling was worse, and the salesperson was the worst. She even misinformed me as to what octane gas it needed. That’s no way to make a good impression, much less a sale. I left without hesitation. The next several test drives were Civics in either the EX or Si trim. The Si is sweet. It’s sweetness is diminished, however, by about another grand on the price tag and around $400/ year more in gas, thanks to it’s premium requirements and lesser efficiency. The EX has the necessities and some accessories to make it enjoyable. Sure, you won’t see it at the drag strip or being power slid in tripod mode by Jeremy Clarkson, but I have yet to be plowed into while attempting to merge into traffic. Here she be:

...it's tough to complain about averaging 34 mpg...

This past Saturday I played in a little fundraiser-type golf tourney. I haven’t been on a course since January, so I knew it’d be interesting. Our team of hackers wanted to lean on me, but that would have been analogous to leaning on a crutch of cotton. We skank-bladed, snap-hooked, rip-topped, and laughed our way to a one over par. This, I might add, was a mere 14 strokes off the lead. …can’t be perfect all the time.

As an afterthought, I highly recommend any future car buyer to read this article. Confessions of a Car Salesman, though lengthy, provides a great deal of insight and is entertaining to boot.