Thankfulness 2018: Week 14

The first week of April I went to the corny state for work that week.  The weekend was robotics.  It was a good change of pace from the grind back at the office to go to the manufacturing plant.  Some things to be thankful for:

• A business trip that incorporated having supper with Uncle Bex
• Eating well while being on expense report
• Complex problem solving
• Delicious breakfast with Mark, Marilyn, and Jessica
• Getting 8 hours of sleep
• Taking a nap
• Feeling like a part of a team
• Feeling desperate for God to speak

The height of fashion in manufacturing - steel toes that you strap on.

Things that make you go hmmmm......the first evening there was just one plastic Olive Garden bag sitting in the stairwell.  On the third night there were two.  Is someone hiding evidence of poor eating habits from a spouse?  Can they not stand the smell of garlic even though they just ate it?  And why not throw it away in the lobby instead of stashing it in the stairwell?  Or call housekeeping and ask them to come and get the trash?  Quite queer.

Ten Year Anniversary

As of Tuesday this week, Herman and I have been in a relationship for ten years.  That's a lot of commitment and working on keeping things maintained.  It includes a couple drives to ND, countless trips to the corny state and the cheesy state, and a few trips to da U.P., eh.

It's reaching the point where I probably need to start thinking about getting a new car, but it's tough to get motivated to do that when Herman still runs so well.  He had some brake issues earlier this year that almost precipitated some changes, but now he's back to humming along.

If they still made the Mazda6 5-door, I'd buy another one of those, but they don't make them.  And I don't think I can go back to a trunk that doesn't have a hatchback type door.  So that most likely means I'll either be buying a nerdy/crunchy hatchback or else a small crossover vehicle.

Some things on the potential list include a Mazda3 hatchback, the Mazda CX5, a Subaru Crosstrek....and probably some others.  Anybody out there have some additional suggestions?  No fancy imports like BMW, Audi, Porsche, or Lexus because I don't want to drive forever to get to a dealer.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

Thankfulness 2018: Week 13

Week 13......still back in March.  And the first day of April.  Monday of that week I was feeling very discouraged about life.  I opened my phone and had this snapchat from my brother.  It was just the message I needed at that time.  He probably won't ever truly understand how much his goofy and cheesy snapchats can brighten my day.

Some other highlights from the week were:

• Encouragement and care from friends
• Texts and snapchats from family
• A beautiful sunset
• Having time to think while on a long drive
• Brakes repaired on my car
• Mashed potatoes and gravy
• Special hymns found for the week
• Reading Deuteronomy 20 at lunch one day

A successful day of robotics

Getting some pork loin ground and into the freezer.  There was a good sale at the store that I couldn't resist.

Thankfulness 2018: Week 12

Looking at the log from mid-March, it appears that I spent the week focusing on getting stuff done at work and appreciating small blessings.  I may have still been in a bit of a fog from returning from New Zealand and trying to catch up.  A couple highlights from the thankfulness log were:

• A quiet afternoon of focused work
• Impromptu lunch with a friend
• A good morning greeting
• Eating breakfast with early morning sunshine
• Intense exercise
• Finishing my taxes
• Canned chicken and Ramen noodles
• Chocolate
• Finishing something and a feeling of accomplishment

This was the only picture I took that week.  I saw this in the grocery store and it amused me because sometimes we call Aunt Kiwi by the name Kumquat instead.

2018 - New Cubicle

It had been eighteen months since I moved to a new cubicle, so I suppose I was due for a move.  A person shouldn't collect too much junk.  After yet another reorganization at the end of January this year, my manager changed again, and I was asked to move my stuff across the hall closer to more of the other hardware engineers.  Of course everybody gives me a hard time about having too much stuff.  I don't know why they do that.

The old place all cleaned out.

I wasn't all that sad to leave the old place.  It was a long, hard, eighteen months there.  I learned some good lessons, but they were tough ones.  I traveled to China five times and can recognize Chinese when I hear it (although I can't understand the words - I can only recognize the cadence and tones).  I tried some exotic food including chicken feet.  My airline membership status on United was upgraded - yay for economy plus free upgrades!  You can get a lot of stuff done with drawing pictures and using Google translate.  I learned again the value of in-person interaction and the power of being the first to reach out and bridge a communication gap.  I learned about the the power of trust and teamwork and how detrimental it can be to lack trust and teamwork.  You can get a lot of stuff done really quick if you don't have high standards for long-lasting quality or safety.  I'm sure there are many other lessons I can't think of right at the moment, but that will do for now.

I gained a good friend from the hard times in the old place, but I'm happy to move on to a different chapter.  I've been in the new place now for almost two months.  The work hasn't changed a huge amount, but I am almost done transferring some of my duties over to someone else.  So far the new place is pretty good.  I get the morning sun on my face instead of getting to see the sun heading toward a sunset.  I like the people that sit next to me.  It feels less isolated.  So far it still involves 7:30 AM calls to India almost daily, but that's do-able compared to 6:30 AM calls and 9 PM and 10 PM calls.

Moved into the new cubicle.  There is a lot less space to post any person pictures, so I had to bring some home.

Thankfulness 2018: Week 11

Let's see.....week 11....the middle of March.  The week after I returned from vacation.  If I remember correctly, I was in the doldrums a little bit after returning from vacation because I was back to old clothes and porridge so to speak.  However, when I look at my thankfulness log, there are still lots of things for which to be thankful. And a lot of them involved people:

• Eating lunch with my mentor
• Talking to other women engineers
• The fun of a design review (I know, nerdy!)
• The symbolism of moving to a new desk at work (more on that in a different post)
• Edifying conversation
• A walk with a nature buff
• Laughing

Some nice, early spring scenery.

It's difficult to tell if this is a beaver or a muskrat.  That reminds me of a song.....but I digress.  Maybe it's a beaver since the tail is on top of the water.  This was part of the fun of the walk - learning all about beavers and how they make their lodges/dens/whatever you call them.

Sand hill cranes.