I was supposed to do something for work by the end of 2016, and I was on track for that, but then a couple of things took work from SNAFU to FUBAR and... I'm now scheduled for the second week in 2017. So far no one else seems to mind, because they know that the delay is because I'm helping cover for the new mess (at least until a new hire starts at the beginning of January), but I'm annoyed that my records will now say 2017 instead of 2016 just because of one month's delay.

A while ago G & I ate out and got 2 fortune cookies. Each one came sealed separately in plastic. The first fortune said "You will receive a fortune. (cookie)"* and we did (even not counting the self-referential fortune/cookie, because we got the second fortune cookie), but I was still disappointed in that fortune because it felt like it couldn't not come true...

The next time we got fortune cookies, one of the sealed packages contained nothing but air.



*I wasn't thrilled with the grammar, but ok.

We took down the rest of the sukkah yesterday morning before it rained. This year my brother and oldest nephew did most of the work for both putting up and taking down, because G hurt his wrist before the holidays and wasn't ready for heavy lifting. Also, the oldest nephew is now taller than I am (and my brother always has been) so the two of them together count as two tall people while G and I are one tall and one not-tall (but not really short, since I can just reach the schach if I stretch). I'm looking forward to the other nephews becoming taller than I am.

Once again we did different parts on different days, but this time there was a lot more coordinating between the three households (me, my brother, and our parents who own the sukkah and the yard). Overall it went well, and I'll probably ask my brother/nephew to help more again next year even if we don't need it as much.

I just finished the third of three on-line courses. It's still not clear to me how much of the material will actually be relevant for the certification exam which I'm studying for, so now I'm thinking of taking another course which is focused less on general facts and more on the exam itself. Taking this course would mean putting off the exam until mid/late December, but at this point I can't take the exam in September (the sign up process takes too long), and October is so full of holidays that I was going to have to wait until November anyway.

We saw them last week (on shabbat of course, so no pictures): baby (toddler?) pigeons. They looked a lot like the adult who was at the nest with them but they were a lot smaller.

Ironically, the nest was sheltered (and possibly held in place) by wire spikes which were probably intended to keep birds from landing on the building ledge.

Two weeks ago I posted this: As for my "real" job... The past few weeks have had a couple of interesting twists and turns, including insufficient preparation for a big change which is (re)scheduled for tomorrow. I'm avoiding "day 1" because I've already finished my 40 hours for this week, so I get to take Friday off for a 4-day weekend. (No, this isn't standard, or wasn't until the past few weeks. Call it one of the interesting twists & turns.) So instead of dealing with the chaos tomorrow, I'll just get to hear all about on Tuesday, assuming they don't postpone the big change yet again.

So the big change - switching from the software system we've been using for a few years to a new one - happened as scheduled on Friday. Sort of...

Apparently not much happened on Friday as the old system was unaccessible and no one knew how to get anything done in the new system (not an exaggeration: not one department could function properly using the new system). That continued on Tuesday, with promises of additional training. On Wednesday we had access to the old system (but only for looking at information) and a bunch of additional training (including being told to use things that our version of the new software doesn't have). Thursday was the same... until partway through the day when we were told to go back to using the old system. "Yay!" (It sounds like they're still planning to have us change to the new system at some point, but hopefully this time they'll listen to the people who will have to use it and make sure it will work as needed before telling us to switch.)

It's a week later and we're still dealing with the backlog, but the attempted software switch isn't the only reason for that. In a case of "perfect" timing, we got a bunch of new contracts (some of them large) during the failed changeover. So instead of a slow semi-holiday week (which they were probably expecting with July 1), the company had a super-busy week when we were least able to deal with it. *sigh*

I remember learning about a tefach (ancient "hand width" measurement) back in grade school. We asked the obvious question (c'mon, of course we looked at our (not-all-the-same-size 5th grade girls') hands and the (male adult) teacher's hands), and we were told that it's approximately 4". Fast forward a bunch of years...

Today I was reading about best practices in cable separation* and found this: "best practice is to maintain 4 in. (100 mm) separation... A practical method to gauge spacing...is to use your fist. If you can get your fist between [relevant items], spacing requirements will be met with the additional benefit of easier...serviceability."

So that's one standard I'm not worried about memorizing, even if their "practical method" isn't practical for me.


*Yes, I'm taking yet another on-line course, and I'm expecting more. "Yay!"

**My fist is approximately 3" wide, so not even close for this purpose. I understand that most people currently working technical jobs in my industry and/or taking this course are men, and easy to remember practical tips are great, but me using my fist as a spacing guide will not lead to easier serviceability for most people.

The editing job is finally finished. One editor was removed from the project (I don't know if they were reassigned or they quit or they were fired) and the new one was a lot more clue-full in some ways but couldn't help with the absurd deadlines or the need for yet one more round of editing (although they did say "no" to yet another round after that, with an even shorter turnaround time). I don't know that I'll ever be working with that publisher again, but part of the setup is that I do editing and don't get involved in the business side of things, which suits me just fine.

As for my "real" job... The past few weeks have had a couple of interesting twists and turns, including insufficient preparation for a big change which is (re)scheduled for tomorrow. I'm avoiding "day 1" because I've already finished my 40 hours for this week, so I get to take Friday off for a 4-day weekend. (No, this isn't standard, or wasn't until the past few weeks. Call it one of the interesting twists & turns.) So instead of dealing with the chaos tomorrow, I'll just get to hear all about on Tuesday, assuming they don't postpone the big change yet again.

So last week I spent almost every evening working on a super-high-speed editing job, but it was finished Wednesday night and that was that, right? Um... actually, no. I've got another version (plus additional materials) and less than a week to do it. "Yay!"

It's gonna be another long week.

On-line course is complete... Now for a short night/long nap before it's time to wake up for work.