Archive for 2007

I’m finding myself a bit sleepy this morning. In addition to a busy week, I’ve got the latest version of “the crud”, so I’m not sleeping well.

As I was going through my morning news/blog routine, I found myself leaning back in my ergonomic desk chair like it’s a recliner. I found myself starting to fade. I found myself staring at the pretty Windows Vista desktop photographs on my new monitor. I found my vision go out of focus the way it does when I am lost in thought.
I had to snap out of it. I don’t know what motivated me to raise the height of my chair, but it worked! I’m much more alert and more attentive to the computer and my tasks!

So, like the factory experiment when they turned up the lights and increased productivity, I have found a little way to “boost” myself when I feel a drag.

Ok, so I have lost my Treo twice since June. Once, it was right where it fell out of my bag. The other time, we had to file insurance on it for all the damage it endured.

Tonight, I figured out why it was so easy for it to fall out of the case. I had been putting it in upside down! What? How on EARTH is this possible. Well, let’s just say that it is. If I put it “antenna down”, it’s much more secure than the way I had been carrying it. If I had figured this out a month or so ago, I might not have had a weekend with no phone. If I had figured it out from the beginning, I might not have had the panic of losing my phone during a bridal shoot!

::sigh::

At least I figured it out, eventually!

I just signed up for BarCampTexas. There have been a couple of barcamps that I was invited to, but couldn’t make the dates due to weddings and other obligations.

http://www.barcamptexas.com

“BarCamp is an ad-hoc technology gathering for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.

BarcampTX is right around the corner. Come on down to Downtown Bryan, TX on January 26-27.More information and sign-up on the BarCampTX Wiki.”

This one is here, though! Thanks to Always Creative and a couple of other entrepreneurs, Bryan is hosting BarCampTexas! and As You Wish is a sponsor!
I’ve also signed up to volunteer. I’m not sure what that will entail, but I’m always happy to help at events.

I’m sure most of the “geek” stuff will be over my head, but it’s a great networking opportunity and I’m sure to learn a lot of cool web stuff!

Day three. My boss is out of town this week and next.

I’m shooting images for the website and negotiating details of our deal with the company we hired.

It’s a busy time, but it’s all good stuff! I’m thrilled to be given the responsibility and authority to really make something happen.

Moreover, I’m glad to see someone decide something without hemming and hawing too long before making a decision. In my opinion, it’s better to do something and risk doing it incorrectly than to fail to do anything out of fear or over-analysis. Case in point: I applied for a job in August. It was a great fit and I was exactly the type of person they needed. Just before the end of the process, something changed and the hiring supervisor changed. So, they started all over with the search…and /still/ haven’t hired anyone. While I now know that it was not meant to be, if I had had that job, it would have saved me a lot of agony at “Reeks” this fall.

So, I have grand plans for my side of our website. If our vendor can get us a good design, we’ll be golden!

Most of you know that I work with Aggie ALLIES, a safe-zone program for the Texas A&M community. We have expanded our educational programming (Thanks, Becca!), so there has never been a better time to go through the workshop—known as an Advance—to become an ALLY.

This flier lists the dates of the training

I’ve not been clear to everyone about my Christmas intentions. This statement will rectify that.

I Am Skipping Christmas!
(honestly, I’ve tried this for a couple of years, now)

• I will not do anything that doesn’t bring pure and rich value to my family and friend relationships.
• I will not participate in annual “holiday” parties that happen to be held during the “holiday” season; there are 11 other months in which groups can celebrate, they do not all have to be in December.
• I will not participate in organization/charity/whatever parties; again, there are 11 other chances to do so.
• I will not give to an “angel tree”; too many of these are scams or seek to get free high-end items instead of what kids need.
• I will not carol; there are plenty of these in stores—and have been since before Hallowe’en in some cases.
• I will not participate in any state-funded celebration of Christmas, or any other religion; there are laws favoring the separation of “church” and state.

In short, I am only willing to exchange gifts because of the influence of two family members. Otherwise, my ideal would be to celebrate with family/friends/food only. Don’t get me wrong: I DO want to celebrate Xmas; I just want to do so in a pure manner. I don’t want to get sucked into the commercialization of it all.

If you are planning a gift for me, please consider one that is handmade or recyclable. Please don’t be offended if your’s is the same. I’m working hard to preserve the Earth this Christmas. If you can’t make/recycle/reuse something into a gift for me, please consider gifts that are committed to the environment.

If you are having a “pure” Xmas, email me: I’d love to hear about it.

-Lori

Today was my first day at my new job. For those just catching on/up, I’m now a Technical Writer for StarVision Technologies.

I spent most of the morning doing paperwork. This afternoon, I got a more formal tour from my boss, Mike. I was able to learn a little about what each project does (COOL stuff!) and ask questions. It felt like a field trip! In one room, there is a “race track” outlined in black on the floor. There are giant legos making bridges and posts. When I asked what it was for, I found out that it’s a robotics exercise for some sophomore engineering majors at Texas A&M. They demo’d a robot for me. It’s very much like our Roomba!

I spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out Windows Vista, Microsoft Outlook, organizing some thoughts, and coordinating with a potential web developer. I also poked around on the server to see if I could get some bearings on where things are. Can I just say that these Aerospace guys are or-ga-NIZed??!! wow! I’ve never seen a neater file server. More importantly to me, everything is there. This place has a lot of secrets, that’s for sure, but there are none kept from the staff. I was impressed to see a couple of Wish Lists for IT and tools. When is the last time you saw budgets and such on the company/department’s server for all to see???

My first big project will be to get our website updated. Luckily, a former staff member did an amazing job of outlining/storyboarding the site. She just drew boxes in PowerPoint slides, but it’s a great visual aid for establishing where content should go. Her area of expertise is “marketing language” so she put a lot of research and thought into the way the company needs to be positioned from a web point-of-view. She compliments my talents so very well. I’m glad she remained on board in a consulting role. I’ve already given her stuff to the next company to offer a quote.

At what I thought would be the end of my day, I headed to “the back” to ask a couple of questions. My boss had a “present” for me: a Canon Rebel XTI with an additional 75-300 zoom lens (so I can shoot images for the website). As I was taking possession of it, the sophomore robotics students came in for their “races” around the track. I was at work until 7:30pm shooting their races and challenges and “awards”. It will make great PR for our company was Just SO Much Fun to see in action!
It’s going to be a busy and challenging job. However, it’s also a very supportive environment. I couldn’t be happier, thus far.

See 30 pounds shaved off a lingerie model in 30 seconds

http://tinyurl.com/2a5jqn

So, after a pretty long medical leave of absence, I resigned from “REEX” on November 26th, worked through the 30th, and took leave through December 31st. Yes, push came to “shove it” and I told a couple of them where they could (with my eyes only, of course).

On Thursday the 29th, I saw a Tech Writer job post at a company I’d not yet heard of. I applied and was immediately offered interviews for Friday or Monday afternoon. Tuesday, I had an email offer, and Wednesday, I went to my first meeting. My first day of work is Thursday, just one week after the position posted.

I’m still spinning from the rush of it all. It’s a wonderful company with plenty of room for career growth and true professional development. It has a family feel. Today was another staff member’s last day and I could tell it was hard on everyone.

Initially, I’ll be writing small and large grants, coordinating press releases, and updating content on the website. I’ll also have a role in getting the company up to ISO 9000 standards. And get this: thanks to my photography skills, I’ll be shooting images for the new site so we can get away from using so much stock photography. wow! (At my old job, they intentionally kept me from doing photography projects because I shoot weddings on the side.)

The company designs and builds aerospace electro-optical products. One example is some $600,000 gizmos that keep satellites in the right orbit by “looking” at the stars. The company also uses what is learned on a project and makes consumer products from that technology. This same technology allowed the company to create a ~$300 astronomy laser pointer, a “StarTagger(tm)”, that can identify any star it’s pointed at and tell you what constellation it’s in. (These are currently scheduled to be on the market in about a year and should be a huge hit with schools and parks)

The office is currently in Research Park (SE corner of 2818 and University) so it’s much closer than I was before. And, in January will be moving to the NW corner of 2818 and University. I’ll be able to bike to work, again. Heck, I could walk if I wanted to.

Everyone is part of the team. The new space will have work “pods” for each product. So, when you need to work on any given thing, you are in the same room with others working on that same thing. It will create synergy and foster creativity. The rest of the office is an open-floorplan concept. So cutting edge!
http://starvisiontech.com/

Thank you Jenn, JJ, Lee, and Dr. Welch. I appreciate the urgent reference checks!
So, for the first time in my adult life, I’m saying goodbye to Higher Education (snif! snif!) and hello to a corporate environment.

Y’all keep me in your thoughts; it’s a little scary, too.

Thanks to Karl, I now know of a music duo known as The Weepies. They have a fabulously romantic love story.

http://www.theweepies.com/
Click  “About” (their flash site won’t let me create a direct link)
Become their friends on MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/theweepies

wow! just WOW!

It’s almost as romantic as the way Emil and I met!