October 16, 2007

Wow, it'll be one year at this position on the first of November. How time has flown.

Things have improved tremendously. Most importantly my back has been comfortable enough that I'm able to play tennis again. I played last week and both days over the weekend. I'm pretty out of shape, but my plan is to play Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. If I can manage that for a few weeks I definitely will be in much better shape within a month or two.

Married life is great. My Wife is the most giving, generous, wonderful woman in the world. She puts up with my crap and smiles about it.

Work was pretty tough initially in this job. There wasn't much training and I really didn't know what I was doing. I found out I did things wrong when I made mistakes. I had a month or so in the early Summer when I was on medication for my back and I sort of spaced out for a few weeks. I came to work, but wasn't here. I got written up for it, but the day I met with my boss to go over the Performance Improvement Plan, I had been off the medication for a couple of days and was feeling like myself again. I started meeting weekly with my boss and going over my projects. It helped keep her in the loop and helped me get much more organized. After 4 weeks of it, I was deemed improved and doing well. I do feel much better about what I do here. There's much I don't know about how our bureaucracy works, but I'm learning. I'm comfortable enough now to be much more efficient.

Unfortunately there's a lot of time where there's not too much to do between projects and that does make some days really drag. Other, busier days are nice. This is a marvelous place to work and I'm eternally grateful that I was lucky enough to get hired full-time at a company where 200 out of 700 in the building are contract employees. That's 29% of the people in the building. Really a shame. We lost three contract people in our department and none are being replaced.

My boss is a Saint though. Calm, patient, knowledgeable - she's the best boss I ever had. She doesn't micro-manage at all, but is available to help with anything you need. I do tell her frequently that I think the world of her, she deserves it. She's also a very nice, pleasant person with a decent sense of humor. I couldn't ask for more. Most of the people here are like this. There doesn't seem to be too many bulls in the China Shop at this company. They just wouldn't fit in too well.

My little Grandson has started Kindergarten. I picked him up from School last Friday. It's amazing how quickly this little 5 year old is growing up. We met his friend and his Mom and Sister at school. The little boy invited himself over and I said sure. They rode their bikes to the house. I went into the computer room to help them put a disk in one of the machines. When the game was up and running my little boy said "you can go into the other room now" pointing to the living room. I just laughed and laughed. He was so serious and impossible to resist.

We took him to a Church Carnival and a Pumpkin Festival on Saturday. He had a great time, running around and trying everything. This little boy is the greatest gift I've ever had given to me. Having him in our lives has brought a wonderful light and purpose into our lives. We both are so crazy about him it's almost comical. But he's a very good boy and really appreciates the love.

Thursday March 8th

Can't believe it but turned 55 the other day. Fifty Fucking Five! Man, it's a downright shame because I feel more immature socially than ever.

The "new" job is great. Boy was I lucky to get hired by this outfit. My boss is a Saint. Nice, patient and really sharp. It's a joy to work someplace where I get treated like a "grownup" for a change.

We've had some lousy layoffs in January and last week. Shame that some great people had to lose their jobs. Our director, who's a great guy, got promoted and we'll all miss him. I think of how happy I've been in other jobs when bosses moved on, and this is quite different. I'm hoping that I'll have some more to do with the reorganization that's going to happen.

I also got the green light to facilitate a smoking cessation class shortly. I'm going to announce it as soon as they give me the dates I can have the classes. This one is for you, Mom. I had asked to do this in December but they postponed it. It's a great way to start Spring.

We're going to Mexico for a 4 night honeymoon in April which should be much fun.

The little boy has been spending a lot of time with us as his Mommy is working and we pick him up another 3 nights a week and keep him until 8:00. What a real joy he is. Hopefully his Father will get some medical help. He's been out of work for about a month now and can't walk. They're also letting a lousy Doctor jerk them around by taking too much time with a referral. The whole thing is a mess and makes me very nervous. I'm not going to help them financially.

After the dust settles

After a marvelous wedding last weekend, I'm a newly married, happy man.

While we only had 32 close friends and immediate family members, it seemed more crowded in the suite while we waited briefly for the short ceremony. The Justice of the Peace, was funny and sincere. Far and away the best I ever used or saw.

Family and friends got along very well. We had a marvelous dinner at Carmelo's afterwards. Having only eaten there 2 other times, I hadn't been impressed. The dinner we had was excellent though as was the service.

Haven't felt terribly well the last few weeks. Probably cedar fever as I've been quite headachy and generally not 100 percent. It seems to come and go though.

Work is marvelous too, still amazed that I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and get hired by this fantastic company. The people here are just marvelous. I've never seen people work so well together. The work is hard and I have a lot to learn. The corporate culture is far and away the best I've ever seen in a big or small company. People are just wonderful here. I guess with the complexity of our projects that we have to be.

Well, things are certainly on track for a great year!