Category: Work

Why Windows Media Player can be bad sometimes

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

When people come over to my desk they can obviously see what’s on my screen; many years, when working in an office where we dealt with donor’s sensitive financial information, I developed the habit of very quickly downsizing whatever window I was working in when someone appeared behind me (as often happens when I’m listening to music at work). As a result, what’s often left on the screen is either Outlook (no big deal) or Windows Media Player.

Now, this is usually no big deal; all they see is the name of the song I’m listening to and maybe my playlist. However, when someone is standing there as you clear your screen to reveal that you’re listening to the Tool song “Hooker With A Penis”, there is a moment of awkward silence. I felt it would do no good to explain that the song was actually an indictment of fans who accuse bands of selling out when the fans themselves are typically mindless consumers.

Hopefully this doesn’t brand me as the office perv. While I wait to find out I’ve changed my WMP settings to hide song titles.

[tags]tool, hooker with a penis, windows media player[/tags]

I'm not the only dummy in this dummy room

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After last night’s drinks & veggie burger (at Spuntini’s The Spud Spot The Auld Spot) I watched Montreal play Pittsburgh. The Canadiens eventually lost in the shootout, but were lucky to get out of it with a point, being down 2 goals with 6 minutes to play. They had to endure a 7-minute (!) power play (during which they also went down 2 men for a while) and the loss of their best defenseman, so all in all they did well to get an OT draw, especially on the road.

Overall it was a great game: very chippy with lots of hitting but still fast with some real moments of skill. I can’t wait for the rematch on Sunday afternoon.

.:.

Fridays are my days to get stuff done in the office: fewer co-workers around me, fewer incoming questions & requests, and a last surge of energy before the weekend.

Ummm…I guess that means I should stop blogging though…
[tags]penguins, canadiens[/tags]

Good Day (no Sunshine though)

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Today was a good day at work. Not that I have any particularly bad days at work, but after four years at the same job days aren’t always the most exciting. Today, though, felt like a good day because a) nothing went wrong, b) several small things went right, c) a couple of biggish things went right, and most importantly d) I had lots to do. I’m not happy unless I’m busy, and I’m easily distracted if things are slow, so the more work the better. Today: plenty, but no crushing deadlines or anything.

.:.

It’ll be a quiet Friday night at home, as Nellie’s not feeling well and I have a bunch of stuff to do before I leave Sunday morning. It’s been a long time since my last course, and while it’ll be nice to see everyone again, I’m not looking forward to a week of stats. The math-related whining* will start around noon on Sunday.

* I should point out that I don’t dislike math. I actually enjoy doing math (for example: at 9:36 AM next Wednesday I’ll be exactly 60% of the way through the MBA). What I dislike is the memorization of formulae just to pass an exam, which seems pointless to me since I’ll never ever have to perform this kind of analysis strictly by memory.
[tags]stats, mba[/tags]

5 weeks off

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Yesterday I finished my last stats assignment. That means I shouldn’t really have to do anything for the next five weeks, except for a quick review of the assignment and maybe compiling some notes before the week of the exam. I can now finish up some pre-xmas errands and prepare for our trip to NS…as of the moment I get on that plane, I shall be in full relaxation mode. Relax on the farm, have fun with my family, have a nice dinner in Halifax, catch up on movies back in Toronto, maybe do some shoppin’…yeah. Sweet.

One more day in the office and then it’s mine, all mine.

[tags]rancho relaxo[/tags]

Happiness is a clean inbox

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I love it when my work inbox is completely empty. I’ve become ruthless about managing incoming email. None shall pass!

.:.

Six days from now I’ll be on my way to Nova Scotia for the holidays. I’m quite excited; both my brothers are coming home, as are their SOs and kids (where applicable). Good thing my parents have the big farmhouse; 8 adults, 3 kids and two dogs are quite an occupying force. I’m thinking we’ll need an extra tree as well; all those presents are going to take up a lot of space. Then again, Nellie and I are doing our part to cut back on the gift volume; we’ve asked for donations to charities in our name(s) in lieu of presents.
In the meantime, we have a lot of xmas stuff yet to do. We still have to buy a lot of presents, send ~50 cards, and watch our traditional holiday movies — Die Hard and Love Actually — whilst mowing down on Swiss Chalet festive specials. I think maybe we’ve been slack on the gifts and the cards ’cause it still doesn’t feel like Christmas…no snow yet. And it’s 6 frickin’ degrees outside.

I’m also trying to finish off my last stats assignment before we go, but it turns out doing tons of regression analysis isn’t the most exciting exercise, so I’m having trouble getting through it awake.

[tags]email, clean inbox, xmas, die hard, love actually[/tags]

This publicity stunt is making me thirsty

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The Long Blondes disc Someone To Drive You Home starts off well but takes a dive around song #3. It gets up off the mat for song #8, but quickly falls back down again.

.:.

My cold has pretty much left my sinuses and moved on to my throat. I’m a pretty hack machine right now. On the plus side I worked from home today (so as not to spread my illness around) and am getting a bunch of stuff done that I just can’t seem to get to in the office.

.:.

I’m not totally sure what to make of the Michael Richards thing. I saw the clip and the apology, and maybe I’m just cynical, but I kinda think this is a stunt. Richards’ career is in the tank. He’s never managed to break out of the “Kramer” stereotype. He looks at Mel Gibson, who got tons of free press over his drunken anti-semitic tirade (and who’s essentially gotten off scot free after doing a pile of apologetic interviews and talk show appearances) and thinks, hey, I can do that. Maybe the guy in the audience was a plant, maybe Richards just seized on the first black person he saw; either way, he knew it would get him attention.

Maybe it really is as Richards says, and it was all just a colossal fuck-up. Either way it’s deplorable. But I can pretty much guarantee you Michael Richards will get a primetime interview and some morning show appearances out of this. In a world where OJ nearly gets on TV talk shows and bookstore shelves saying “If I Did It”, anything is possible.

[tags]long blondes, someone to drive you home, michael richards, mel gibson[/tags]

Antipathy

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m having trouble finding motivation. Work is depressing right now; it’s one roadblock after another, and I’m not famous for my patience. I really believe in what I’m doing, and — as haughty/martyrish as this sounds — I feel like I’m one of the few people who’s more concerned with making the customer’s life better than with playing politics or just punching the clock. I guess everything happens slowly in huge traditional risk-averse companies, and being aware of the fact doesn’t make it any less frustrating. I’m trying to find a way around it, but it feels like every day I go to work, scramble to keep up with all the things coming at me, and when I go home I haven’t made a difference. I keep pushing, and there are good people around me pushing too, but feeling outnumbered at work every day is a hard way to live life.

.:.

Life at home isn’t really a respite these days either. I’m on autopilot right now; between trying to run 5 times a week (2-3 miles at a go) and spending 3 hours a night working on this term paper, I feel like I’m on a schedule from the minute I get home. I see my wife for the few minutes that I eat dinner and when we crawl into bed. Good thing this paper’s due in two weeks; after that we can settle into the happy insanity of the film festival. It’s some of the best quality time I get to spend with her all year, ’cause for those 10 days we’re a) on exactly the same schedule, and b) spending hours in line with nothing to do but talk. I think I look forward to that as much as the films. There’s an inspirational quote in there somewhere: “Lineups are better when you love the person you’re standing next to.” Awwwwwwwwwwww.

[tags]motivation[/tags]