• trying again

    From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Mon Apr 6 23:25:02 2015
    Trying again to re-send this one... the second half of the response to the original message... Once again, I'm running about a week behind...!

    Message originally written on 19 Mar 15 20:52:09
    From: Nancy Backus
    To: Damon A. Getsman
    Subj: Re: Some good things going on in the land of poverty and confusion

    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 16-Mar-2015 21:37 <=-

    It should work out just fine... and hopefully there won't be too many
    horrible things in the future, either (though it doesn't hurt to have
    some sort of buffer just in case)... :) You've got the qualifications
    for the job, so you should be fine... :)

    Yeah, well the guy has a new baby in the house, so it's taking him
    awhile to get the work out here, and it's driving me a little bit
    batshit with the anxiety, but I know that it's something I should be
    able to ramp up to easily enough, it's just not being able to look at anything except the project issues without seeing the codebase behind them that is driving me nuts. That, and about 6 years being out of actual IT work, except what I'm doing on my own time.
    Thank you for the votes of confidence, though. :)

    New babies take a lot of energy and time, so I'm not surprised it's
    taking him time to get things together for you... Sounds to me like an
    exercise in patience and letting worries go... ;)

    Sounds like a story behind that... ;) I'd think, though, that if
    you passed security guard certification for power plants, that
    would be pretty similar to airport security requirements...

    Oh there is. I would think they're the same, too, but it's hard to
    know, especially when the airport has TSA and um. Yeah you got a
    pgp key? *laugh*

    Nah... never bothered getting one.. :) Never really had a need for
    it... :) Usually have had some other reasonably secure way of talking
    outside an echo or email... :)

    Get that brain fine-tuned for the purpose... :) Besides, you might
    have less time for your own projects once you start the new job in
    earnest, you know... ;)

    I'm working on it. A med flux that I had recently destroyed my
    ability to concentrate on left brained things very well for a few
    days, but I think I'm over that now.

    Ach... that doesn't sound good... hope it stays stable.. :)

    I'm going to start making sure that I'm putting in a full 4-6 hours,
    at least, on a daily basis, coding from now on. I definitely need
    to make sure that those pathways are ready to get up to speed on something new.

    Sounds wise.. :)

    I even created a virtual server with the software that they're using
    in order to just try learning what I can about fiddling with it
    while I'm sitting here and waiting to start. :)

    That's sounds like a good use of time... :) Gives you something
    reasonably constructive to do that might be useful on the job as
    well.... :)

    Exactly. Should be able to get that from the city government... maybe
    even on a gov website...? DMV (or whatever it's called there) would
    have rules of the road for the roads themselves, I'd think... but might
    not have anything about whether or not kids could use the sidewalk...

    Yeah I'm sure they've got one. My old city did, and that was less
    than 70,000 people. So I'm sure this place will have a better one. If
    I could just locate it now...

    Look in the phone book for City Hall, and start there.... or call your
    local branch of the library and ask there where to start... ;) One or
    the other should be able to at least point you in the right direction,
    if not actually have the answers about bikes, kids and sidewalks... ;)

    Sounds like you should be getting some decent economic security now,
    especially if the IT job works out well, as it should... :)

    Hell yeah. I'm just trying to not count my chickens before they're hatched, as it were. I've had a couple of promises yanked out from
    under the rug on me a few times here; this one is signed and sitting in my lap, but it doesn't truly exist until I'm putting in hours on it, at least in my head. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway.

    Signed and sitting in your lap, even without details seems pretty
    substantial to me... :)

    Heh. For now I'll just concentrate on the fact that on Friday I
    start that nice minimum wage job doing work that I can handle. It
    won't give me economic security of that nature, but it'll help me
    pay the bills, and that's a huge start.

    And it'll take up some of that nervous energy that is getting you so
    revved up... ;)

    Sorry this took me so long to get out... Those days of
    fogginess took their toll on my correspondence backlogs, also. :P
    I really hope the rest of the fog is gone by tomorrow.
    Best wishes!

    We all do have our days of fogginess... :) Last week (and to some
    extent this one as well) have been rather short-circuiting for me... a
    couple of days too full with unexpected problems, and a couple more
    where the brain didn't quite want to function well enough to answer
    messages... and voila... days behind... ;0 I'm almost catching up
    now... only a day behind now... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... Don't attempt to fathom the inscrutable workings of Providence.


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  • From Damon A. Getsman@1:2320/100 to Nancy Backus on Wed Apr 8 17:38:02 2015
    Re: trying again
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Mon Apr 06 2015 23:17:52

    Trying again to re-send this one... the second half of the response to
    the original message... Once again, I'm running about a week
    behind...!

    Yeah I don't think I ever saw this one originally... If I did I must've been
    horribly sleep deprived or something. Didn't ring any bells.

    New babies take a lot of energy and time, so I'm not surprised it's
    taking him time to get things together for you... Sounds to me like an exercise in patience and letting worries go... ;)

    Yeah it turned out that he'd been way slammed with all of that, much like I suspected. Though it has made me a bit leary of relying solely on this one mode of income. I've got that handled, though, so it's all good. It was, indeed, good practice in making sure that I'm still doing what I need to in order to make ends meet either which way. An exercise in letting go of the things that I cannot change, and a bit of courage in knowing the difference, if
    I may insert a bit of serenity prayer wisdom. ;)

    know, especially when the airport has TSA and um. Yeah you got a
    pgp key? *laugh*
    Nah... never bothered getting one.. :) Never really had a need for
    it... :) Usually have had some other reasonably secure way of talking outside an echo or email... :)

    Eh, I was mostly joking with that point, anyway. ;) Some stories don't need
    any retelling. Indeed it may be, at times, that in one's best interests it may
    be a good idea not to do so. ;) That being said, I do advocate encryption for
    even the most mundane things, as it provides, hopefully, a little bit more headache and pain in the ass for the powers that be with their long microphones
    and wiretaps. If it's implemented properly, anyway, which is tough in today's age of completely pwned hardware.

    I'm working on it. A med flux that I had recently destroyed my
    ability to concentrate on left brained things very well for a few
    days, but I think I'm over that now.
    Ach... that doesn't sound good... hope it stays stable.. :)

    Yeah my meds have been stable since that last little [tiny] burp. Wasn't nearly as bad as last time, and didn't throw me for a huge loop. I'm able to concentrate a little better now. I was worried about how it was going until I actually pushed out some contract work today. Now I've got the proof that I'm able to concentrate on things well again. ;) Looking forward to actually getting my nose to the grindstone on things a little bit more later tonight, as
    well. First I have to help my son with a speech, though, and I do believe he requires my assistance on a few other things, as well... If not tonight, I'll probably be getting up to 'burn the early morning oil' around 3 or so tomorrow morning, when I concentrate best. I need to push out at least a few more hours
    on this real quick and start a flow.

    hours, at least, on a daily basis, coding from now on. I
    definitely need to make sure that those pathways are ready to get
    up to speed on something new.
    Sounds wise.. :)

    I'd been slacking for a bit there; felt some burnout so I took a couple of days off. Today has been productive, though, and I think I've got a schedule that'll allow me to devote enough non-burnout time to it so that I'll keep the ball rolling at this point. ;)

    I even created a virtual server with the software that they're
    using in order to just try learning what I can about fiddling with
    it while I'm sitting here and waiting to start. :)
    That's sounds like a good use of time... :) Gives you something reasonably constructive to do that might be useful on the job as
    well.... :)

    It actually didn't help me too much, though I'm sure it kept me from letting my wheels spin too much and getting too angsty about the holding pattern that everything was in. Today I got to get my feet wet to a point where yeah, I know I can get back in the groove again, despite my time away from IT, and I'm certain that I can handle this work. It was self-doubt, I think, that was giving me the most problems, after the amount of time that I'd spent away from IT on anything other than minor sysadmin stuff and coding in strictly one language on my own project.

    not have anything about whether or not kids could use the
    sidewalk...
    Yeah I'm sure they've got one. My old city did, and that was less
    than 70,000 people. So I'm sure this place will have a better one.
    If I could just locate it now...
    Look in the phone book for City Hall, and start there.... or call your local branch of the library and ask there where to start... ;) One or
    the other should be able to at least point you in the right direction,
    if not actually have the answers about bikes, kids and sidewalks... ;)

    I still have yet to do this. I've been asking around, though, and it seems that perhaps it's not illegal in this portion of the city to be letting my son (and even myself) bike on the sidewalks. This is very good news. Traffic around here gets pretty hectic when workday traffic is about.

    Signed and sitting in your lap, even without details seems pretty substantial to me... :)

    Oh, it was. I've just gotten in the habit of not counting my chickens before
    they're hatched to the point where I refused to let myself count on it. So I was still fulminating a bit about the lack of being able to work in my chosen field and everything. Now, though, I'm immersed in discussion with the other developers, and we're steadily chipping away at some problems, even while they're being prioritized and moved around a bit. It's not nearly so bad now that I've gotten to the admin panel and been able to examine the layout of the project a lot more. :) I even got some billable hours in. ;)

    start that nice minimum wage job doing work that I can handle. It
    won't give me economic security of that nature, but it'll help me
    pay the bills, and that's a huge start.
    And it'll take up some of that nervous energy that is getting you so revved up... ;)

    It does help quite a bit for that. Now that I've got what should be a good balance between the different things going on I'm pretty confident that I'll be
    able to keep my nervous energy to a minimum. I do need to work on making sure that I'm getting out for a bike ride or something between my running days, though. I'm so used to being able to work on my upper body and other areas on my running 'off' days so that I can burn out some of that energy. Just got a tire repaired on my bike, so it's definitely time to start putting some new miles on it. ;)

    We all do have our days of fogginess... :) Last week (and to some
    extent this one as well) have been rather short-circuiting for me... a couple of days too full with unexpected problems, and a couple more
    where the brain didn't quite want to function well enough to answer messages... and voila... days behind... ;0 I'm almost catching up now... only a day behind now... ;)

    What worries me at times is that it seems to go in stretches. Definitely when I'm battling issues with my meds. That doesn't seem to be the case now, though, as proven by a day of successful work, so all is good on my front.
    I hear you on the short-circuited times. That's why my correspondence has been up and down a bit lately, too. At least it's not due to massive technical
    hardware failure or anything of the like this time. ;)
    I even managed to get a huge bite out of my standard email taken care of. As
    you can tell (and probably share in common with me), I write pretty verbose messages in my correspondence. So when I'm feeling too drained by life, work, or whatever, my inbox piles up a bit. I had quite the backlog in there... Managed to get through all of it except for one last message that needs to be written now, though, and I even managed to get a few messages out on one of those dating sites. ;)
    Best wishes and hope you're doing well and out of the fog!

    -D
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  • From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Sun Apr 12 00:40:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 08-Apr-2015 17:17 <=-

    Trying again to re-send this one... the second half of the response
    to the original message... Once again, I'm running about a week
    behind...!
    Yeah I don't think I ever saw this one originally... If I did I
    must've been horribly sleep deprived or something. Didn't ring any bells.

    When I first sent the original one, you might have been running on a
    sleep deprivation... I'm pretty sure that it was making it round at
    least the bbses I call... Possibly didn't make it to the west coast,
    though...

    New babies take a lot of energy and time, so I'm not surprised it's
    taking him time to get things together for you... Sounds to me like
    an exercise in patience and letting worries go... ;)
    Yeah it turned out that he'd been way slammed with all of that, much
    like I suspected. Though it has made me a bit leary of relying solely
    on this one mode of income.

    Now that you are clearly on the project and supplying input, likely
    there wouldn't be too many glitches in the work showing up... but, true,
    it's always safer not to put all the eggs in one basket... :)

    I've got that handled, though, so it's all good. It was, indeed,
    good practice in making sure that I'm still doing what I need to in
    order to make ends meet either which way. An exercise in letting go
    of the things that I cannot change, and a bit of courage in knowing
    the difference, if I may insert a bit of serenity prayer wisdom. ;)

    That's pretty much always appropriate, in my view... :)

    know, especially when the airport has TSA and um. Yeah you got a
    pgp key? *laugh*
    Nah... never bothered getting one.. :) Never really had a need for
    it... :) Usually have had some other reasonably secure way of talking
    outside an echo or email... :)

    Eh, I was mostly joking with that point, anyway. ;) Some stories
    don't need any retelling. Indeed it may be, at times, that in one's
    best interests it may be a good idea not to do so. ;)

    Oh, I figured you were mostly joking...

    That being said, I do advocate encryption for even the most mundane things, as it provides, hopefully, a little bit more headache and
    pain in the ass for the powers that be with their long microphones
    and wiretaps. If it's implemented properly, anyway, which is tough
    in today's age of completely pwned hardware.

    I've not bothered... I figure that the ones that it might actually
    matter for (if there were anything to worry about in what I was saying)
    would probably not find most encryption much of a hassle anyway, and it
    would end up only being a hassle to the ones that I might be sending the
    mail to... It's certainly a hassle to me when I get something encrypted
    that my software doesn't know how to decode...

    Yeah my meds have been stable since that last little [tiny] burp.
    Wasn't nearly as bad as last time, and didn't throw me for a huge
    loop. I'm able to concentrate a little better now. I was worried
    about how it was going until I actually pushed out some contract
    work today. Now I've got the proof that I'm able to concentrate on things well again. ;)

    That sounds promising... :) And certainly reassuring... :)

    Looking forward to actually getting my nose to the grindstone on
    things a little bit more later tonight, as well. First I have to help
    my son with a speech, though, and I do believe he requires my
    assistance on a few other things, as well... If not tonight, I'll probably be getting up to 'burn the early morning oil' around 3 or so tomorrow morning, when I concentrate best. I need to push out at least
    a few more hours on this real quick and start a flow.

    You sound psyched... ;) I'm sure that your son appreciated your help,
    too.. ;)

    I'd been slacking for a bit there; felt some burnout so I took a
    couple of days off. Today has been productive, though, and I think
    I've got a schedule that'll allow me to devote enough non-burnout time
    to it so that I'll keep the ball rolling at this point. ;)

    Sounds good.. How are things going now...?

    Today I got to get my feet wet to a point where yeah, I know I can
    get back in the groove again, despite my time away from IT, and I'm certain that I can handle this work. It was self-doubt, I think,
    that was giving me the most problems, after the amount of time that
    I'd spent away from IT on anything other than minor sysadmin stuff
    and coding in strictly one language on my own project.

    It's easy to get the jitters when you've been out of the field for a
    while... Now you can see that you'll be doing fine, after all.. :)

    Look in the phone book for City Hall, and start there.... or call your
    local branch of the library and ask there where to start... ;) One or
    the other should be able to at least point you in the right direction,
    if not actually have the answers about bikes, kids and sidewalks... ;)

    I still have yet to do this. I've been asking around, though, and
    it seems that perhaps it's not illegal in this portion of the city to
    be letting my son (and even myself) bike on the sidewalks. This is
    very good news. Traffic around here gets pretty hectic when workday traffic is about.

    That is good news.. It probably would be good to get it nailed down for certain, but if others are right, that's already a relief... :)

    Signed and sitting in your lap, even without details seems pretty
    substantial to me... :)
    Oh, it was. I've just gotten in the habit of not counting my
    chickens before they're hatched to the point where I refused to let myself count on it. So I was still fulminating a bit about the lack of being able to work in my chosen field and everything. Now, though, I'm immersed in discussion with the other developers, and we're steadily chipping away at some problems, even while they're being prioritized
    and moved around a bit. It's not nearly so bad now that I've gotten to the admin panel and been able to examine the layout of the project a
    lot more. :) I even got some billable hours in. ;)

    Sounds quite good... :)

    And it'll take up some of that nervous energy that is getting you so
    revved up... ;)
    It does help quite a bit for that. Now that I've got what should be
    a good balance between the different things going on I'm pretty
    confident that I'll be able to keep my nervous energy to a minimum. I
    do need to work on making sure that I'm getting out for a bike ride or something between my running days, though. I'm so used to being able
    to work on my upper body and other areas on my running 'off' days so
    that I can burn out some of that energy. Just got a tire repaired on
    my bike, so it's definitely time to start putting some new miles on it. ;)

    That sounds promising, too... :)

    We all do have our days of fogginess... :) Last week (and to some
    extent this one as well) have been rather short-circuiting for me... a
    couple of days too full with unexpected problems, and a couple more
    where the brain didn't quite want to function well enough to answer
    messages... and voila... days behind... ;0 I'm almost catching up
    now... only a day behind now... ;)
    What worries me at times is that it seems to go in stretches.
    Definitely when I'm battling issues with my meds. That doesn't seem to be the case now, though, as proven by a day of successful work, so all
    is good on my front. I hear you on the short-circuited times. That's
    why my correspondence has been up and down a bit lately, too. At least it's not due to massive technical hardware failure or anything of the like this time. ;) I even managed to get a huge bite out of my
    standard email taken care of.

    As long as the short-circuitings can be gotten past, you should be doing
    just fine... ;)

    As you can tell (and probably share in
    common with me), I write pretty verbose messages in my correspondence. So when I'm feeling too drained by life, work, or whatever, my inbox piles up a bit.

    I try not to be TOO verbose... but sometimes there just is a lot to
    say... ;) And I see that this one got fairly long again... oh,
    well... ;)

    I had quite the backlog in there... Managed to get
    through all of it except for one last message that needs to be written now, though, and I even managed to get a few messages out on one of
    those dating sites. ;)

    Sounds good.. ;)

    Best wishes and hope you're doing well and out of the fog!

    Mostly out of the fog at the moment... but am about to be off on a trip
    for most of next week, so I'm sure I'll be way behind again, even though
    I'm just about caught up for the moment... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... Wisdom is the ability to discover alternatives.

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  • From Damon A. Getsman@1:2320/100 to Nancy Backus on Mon Apr 20 08:19:02 2015
    Re: Re: trying again
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Sun Apr 12 2015 00:32:10

    When I first sent the original one, you might have been running on a
    sleep deprivation... I'm pretty sure that it was making it round at
    least the bbses I call... Possibly didn't make it to the west coast, though...

    That very well could be. Things were rough for a few weeks there, and I don't remember seeing it or finding it when I looked, so it could just be that my brain was elsewhere while my eyes were trained on the screen. ;)

    Now that you are clearly on the project and supplying input, likely
    there wouldn't be too many glitches in the work showing up... but, true, it's always safer not to put all the eggs in one basket... :)

    Well, yeah. Unfortunately I've landed with all of my eggs in one basket right now, anyway. If that manager could just like give me the schedule that he puts in the electronic schedule thing, that'd be great. But he does that, show up, nobody is there, then they want me to come in on my day off so that we
    can 'go over the schedule again'. It's unbelievable. So I haven't been fired or quit there yet, but I'm not taking any hours until I hear back from corporate or whatever. This crap is obscene.

    I've not bothered... I figure that the ones that it might actually
    matter for (if there were anything to worry about in what I was saying) would probably not find most encryption much of a hassle anyway, and it would end up only being a hassle to the ones that I might be sending the mail to... It's certainly a hassle to me when I get something encrypted that my software doesn't know how to decode...

    Oh it's true. I just try to encrypt everything that I can out of spite for those agencies. ;) Which, I'm sure, has bumped my name a little bit farther up their lists that in was in the first case.

    work today. Now I've got the proof that I'm able to concentrate on
    things well again. ;)
    That sounds promising... :) And certainly reassuring... :)

    We'll see how it goes today. :) Had some concentration issues not too long ago, but I've got nothing else to work on and some good vibes to roll with today, so I've got high expectations.

    so tomorrow morning, when I concentrate best. I need to push out
    at least a few more hours on this real quick and start a flow.
    You sound psyched... ;) I'm sure that your son appreciated your help, too.. ;)

    Well, a bit, but he's got some learning to do about the value of studying. He got really lucky on that speech; if he tries doing all of them like he did this last one he'll be in trouble when he's beyond 3rd grade.

    Sounds good.. How are things going now...?

    Eh... Work situations are stressful. Everything else is good, except finances. ;) It all hinges around the work, but all in all I've been very well adjusted despite the burps being thrown all over the place by the place I'm supposed to be getting a paycheck from.

    It's easy to get the jitters when you've been out of the field for a while... Now you can see that you'll be doing fine, after all.. :)

    Yeah. Another guy came in on the project and blew me away with some stuff, so that was a minor hit to the confidence, but I know that it's just because he's got a lot more [and more recent] experience than I do, so it's all good.

    I try not to be TOO verbose... but sometimes there just is a lot to
    say... ;) And I see that this one got fairly long again... oh, well... ;)

    As do most of mine. ;) I try not to be too verbose any more, either, but then there are times when I just type it all out and don't care. Whatever works. That's usually a good strategy for family that I've not seen for a long
    time, I find. Especially being as I absolutely hate synchronous (ie phone) communications.

    Mostly out of the fog at the moment... but am about to be off on a trip for most of next week, so I'm sure I'll be way behind again, even though I'm just about caught up for the moment... ;)

    I'll be waiting to hear about this. :)
    Sorry there wasn't a little more in this one, it was written in a bit of a rush before getting my son up for school. Hope I didn't bog you down with too much stuff before your trip. *grin* I know you were trying to catch up there.
    Best wishes & have a great trip!

    -D
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  • From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Sat Apr 25 17:11:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 20-Apr-2015 07:58 <=-

    Now that you are clearly on the project and supplying input, likely
    there wouldn't be too many glitches in the work showing up... but,
    true, it's always safer not to put all the eggs in one basket... :)
    Well, yeah. Unfortunately I've landed with all of my eggs in one
    basket right now, anyway. If that manager could just like give me the schedule that he puts in the electronic schedule thing, that'd be
    great. But he does that, I show up, nobody is there, then they want me to come in on my day off so that we can 'go over the schedule again'. It's unbelievable. So I haven't been fired or quit there yet, but I'm not taking any hours until I hear back from corporate or whatever.
    This crap is obscene.

    At least the basket the eggs landed in seems to be the more dependable
    one. One does wonder how well the airport location will do, with that
    sort of sloppy management...

    work today. Now I've got the proof that I'm able to concentrate on
    things well again. ;)
    That sounds promising... :) And certainly reassuring... :)
    We'll see how it goes today. :) Had some concentration issues not
    too long ago, but I've got nothing else to work on and some good vibes
    to roll with today, so I've got high expectations.

    And it's something you know you are (and can be) good at, so that's a
    plus, too.. :)

    I'm sure that your son appreciated your help, too.. ;)
    Well, a bit, but he's got some learning to do about the value of studying. He got really lucky on that speech; if he tries doing all
    of them like he did this last one he'll be in trouble when he's
    beyond 3rd grade.

    Just have to encourage him to do his own work... and try not to do it
    for him. :)

    Eh... Work situations are stressful. Everything else is good,
    except finances. ;) It all hinges around the work, but all in all
    I've been very well adjusted despite the burps being thrown all over
    the place by the place I'm supposed to be getting a paycheck from.

    Speaking of which, have you gotten any pay from that foodservice job...?

    It's easy to get the jitters when you've been out of the field for a
    while... Now you can see that you'll be doing fine, after all.. :)
    Yeah. Another guy came in on the project and blew me away with some stuff, so that was a minor hit to the confidence, but I know that it's just because he's got a lot more [and more recent] experience than I
    do, so it's all good.

    Sounds like it's someone you can learn from, too... working together on
    a project can hone everyone's brains... :)

    I try not to be TOO verbose... but sometimes there just is a lot to
    say... ;) And I see that this one got fairly long again... oh,
    well... ;)
    As do most of mine. ;) I try not to be too verbose any more,
    either, but then there are times when I just type it all out and don't care. Whatever works.

    When there's lots to say, there's lots to say, after all... <G>

    That's usually a good strategy for family that
    I've not seen for a long time, I find. Especially being as I
    absolutely hate synchronous (ie phone) communications.

    If one has to impart a lot of information, written communication works
    well... But when one needs to get information, and it might require a
    series of questions/answers in order to get it, phone or face-to-face
    works best... at least for me... :) Especially if there's any urgency
    in getting the info.. :)

    Mostly out of the fog at the moment... but am about to be off on a
    trip for most of next week, so I'm sure I'll be way behind again,
    even though I'm just about caught up for the moment... ;)
    I'll be waiting to hear about this. :)

    I mentioned something about it in my replies yesterday, in a different
    forum... ;)

    Sorry there wasn't a little more in this one, it was written in a
    bit of a rush before getting my son up for school.

    Understood... life happens, too... ;)

    Hope I didn't bog
    you down with too much stuff before your trip. *grin* I know you
    were trying to catch up there. Best wishes & have a great trip!

    Well, I've been back for a week now, and still not quite caught up...
    but that's pretty much what I expected... I just plod along, and do
    what I can, with what time I have... ;) Might get all my Fido caught up
    today, but that remains to be seen... <G>

    ttyl neb

    ... There is a plot afoot to make me think I'm paranoid!

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  • From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Mon May 4 18:49:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 01-May-2015 12:09 <=-

    At least the basket the eggs landed in seems to be the more dependable
    one. One does wonder how well the airport location will do, with that
    sort of sloppy management...
    I'm wondering that more than a bit myself. I mean I've seen some
    pretty crappy locations with less overhead flounder and fail because of management that was a few levels better than what was going on at this place... I was really starting to wonder (along with the corporate people in the training team-- there was serious open dissent there
    about him) how he even got hired in the first place. I mean scheduling seems like one of the most basal and necessary skills for that work...

    If corporate people were also wondering, then perhaps there will be
    others passing comments up the line. I suspect that you weren't the
    only one being caught in the sloppiness... :/

    Anyway I'm interested in knowing what happens to it, but then again, without a job at that airport I'll probably never really know unless somebody tells me that it closes. My guess is that he'll get fired as manager before that, though. Maybe sooner, rather than later, if I
    ever get that email written. Not that it'll have as much effect now
    that I've taken weeks off from writing it to de-angst from the
    situation, first.

    Probably should send that email, if you haven't already... it certainly couldn't hurt, especially since you've already quit... Maybe they'll
    offer you a job at their other location locally...

    Just have to encourage him to do his own work... and try not to do
    it for him. :)
    That is a tough one for me. When I'm trying to help him with things
    he really does all he can to milk everything out of me.

    Just have to stand firm and keep him on track to do it himself except
    when he really does need the extra hand up... :)

    The situation makes it a little bit
    difficult, but it's getting better now that he's in "Cranium Club"
    after school which gives him time and trained teachers aides to help
    out with the homework. :) He's a lot happier coming home with plenty
    of time to do his own stuff now instead of having that to deal with
    upon release from the dungeons. heh.

    That's a good deal all around... :) They'll be less likely to do it
    for him, more likely to talk him through things so he really does learn
    from doing his homework... and yes, having it out of the way frees him
    to do his own thing when he gets home... :)

    Speaking of which, have you gotten any pay from that foodservice job...?
    I got one paycheck, which helped for a bit. I'm not sure, they may
    have a little bit there more waiting for me, but if so it's miniscule enough so that it won't make much of a difference in the current situation, so I'll probably just wait for them to mail it out, instead
    of putting more miles on my dying vehicle and burning up just as much
    in gas.

    I'd go for having it mailed out, too, considering... I'm glad you got
    some compensation for the time and energy expended... :)

    Sounds like it's someone you can learn from, too... working
    together on a project can hone everyone's brains... :)
    Yeah there've been some blockers on it in the past week, but it
    looks like things are getting up to speed again. I'm doing what I can
    to keep my iron in the fire on that one.

    Especially as it's likely your meat and potatoes job... ;)

    Well, I've been back for a week now, and still not quite caught up...
    but that's pretty much what I expected... I just plod along, and do
    what I can, with what time I have... ;) Might get all my Fido caught
    up today, but that remains to be seen... <G>
    Heh. Yeah I'm very slowly catching up in areas, too.

    At least neither of us needs to feel guilty if a message doesn't get
    answered immediately.. <G>

    I know I've got at least one fellow waiting for me on some promises
    to work on fido stuff that is probably stuck in his craw a bit. Well, probably not, pretty amicable dude, but I wouldn't begrudge him if it were so.

    He'll probably have figured out that one can't do everything all at
    once... and if he's aware that you've got the kid, there's a mitigating
    factor right there... :)

    I've had so many irons in the fire that it's been tough to prioritize
    and keep up on everything when I'm exhausted from all the stuff before right now.

    Just keep plugging away... and eventually it all falls into place... ;)
    At least that's my philosophy... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... BUFFERS=7 FILES=5, 2nd Down, 4th quarter, 5 yards to go!

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  • From Damon A. Getsman@1:2320/100 to Nancy Backus on Wed May 6 17:21:02 2015
    Re: Re: trying again
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Mon May 04 2015 18:41:36

    If corporate people were also wondering, then perhaps there will be
    others passing comments up the line. I suspect that you weren't the
    only one being caught in the sloppiness... :/
    Probably should send that email, if you haven't already... it certainly couldn't hurt, especially since you've already quit... Maybe they'll offer you a job at their other location locally...

    Oh I know that I wasn't the only one caught up in it. There were probably somewhere between a quarter & half dozen people that got caught up in the muck while I was still there. I suspect it's only gotten worse. I will try to get that email done today, though, now that I think a little more on it (since my last message)... It was a pretty good place that I liked the philosophy of, maybe the other location would be a lot better. Wouldn't hurt to try it out, and it'd be nice to be getting pay for my 'social' hours, as it were. :)

    Just have to stand firm and keep him on track to do it himself except
    when he really does need the extra hand up... :)
    That's a good deal all around... :) They'll be less likely to do it
    for him, more likely to talk him through things so he really does learn from doing his homework... and yes, having it out of the way frees him
    to do his own thing when he gets home... :)

    Yeah he's just really good at trying to make it seem like he can't do it and throwing up his hands when I'm around. That doesn't mean I always do it for him, but he just seems to think that he can do that stuff around me, where when
    it's anybody else around he keeps on pushing and trying on his own instead of giving in to his frustration. I've known other kids that were that way; just wish I could identify what I'm doing that makes him think that's alright. I've
    not hauled his bundle out of the fire that often, I don't think...

    I'd go for having it mailed out, too, considering... I'm glad you got some compensation for the time and energy expended... :)

    Yeah I'm definitely not wasting another trip that far in my dying vehicle. *grin*

    At least neither of us needs to feel guilty if a message doesn't get answered immediately.. <G>

    Heh. People that don't understand that with me often get left by the wayside
    when something broadsides me in life. I wish I could get to a point where my load-shedding pile doesn't dictate things so much for me, but if I can only accomplish a certain amount every day, and for as long as that situation may last, I've got to put priorities in place or things will end up messy really quick. :P

    He'll probably have figured out that one can't do everything all at once... and if he's aware that you've got the kid, there's a mitigating factor right there... :)

    Oh he knows. He just likes to rib me about it every now and then. :)

    Just keep plugging away... and eventually it all falls into place... ;) At least that's my philosophy... ;)

    Yep, I'm trying to get up the motivation points to start chipping on some large blocks that are holding me up here right now. Gonna try to get my blood flowing a little bit first and see if that helps, since I was having issues concentrating earlier. Viva la mountain of crap!

    -D
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  • From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Tue May 12 14:09:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 06-May-2015 17:00 <=-

    If corporate people were also wondering, then perhaps there will be
    others passing comments up the line. I suspect that you weren't the
    only one being caught in the sloppiness... :/
    Probably should send that email, if you haven't already... it certainly
    couldn't hurt, especially since you've already quit... Maybe they'll
    offer you a job at their other location locally...
    Oh I know that I wasn't the only one caught up in it. There were probably somewhere between a quarter & half dozen people that got
    caught up in the muck while I was still there. I suspect it's only gotten worse. I will try to get that email done today, though, now
    that I think a little more on it (since my last message)...

    You must have been anticipating my response to the previous message. ;)

    It was a
    pretty good place that I liked the philosophy of, maybe the other location would be a lot better. Wouldn't hurt to try it out, and it'd
    be nice to be getting pay for my 'social' hours, as it were. :)

    If they don't offer, or even that job doesn't pan out, there is still volunteering... if you were to volunteer at, say, a rescue mission, you
    might also gain/keep a healthy perspective on your own situation... ;)

    Just have to stand firm and keep him on track to do it himself except
    when he really does need the extra hand up... :)
    That's a good deal all around... :) They'll be less likely to do it
    for him, more likely to talk him through things so he really does learn
    from doing his homework... and yes, having it out of the way frees him
    to do his own thing when he gets home... :)
    Yeah he's just really good at trying to make it seem like he can't
    do it and throwing up his hands when I'm around. That doesn't mean I always do it for him, but he just seems to think that he can do that stuff around me, where when it's anybody else around he keeps on
    pushing and trying on his own instead of giving in to his frustration. I've known other kids that were that way; just wish I could identify
    what I'm doing that makes him think that's alright. I've not hauled
    his bundle out of the fire that often, I don't think...

    Kids in general tend to be masters at manipulation... give in once, and
    they'll try to make it happen again... one just has to stand firm...
    every time... ;) And if one does appear to be giving in, one should
    explain why and in what way(s) this help is different from just doing it
    for them... ;) He knows that you want him to look good as well as do
    well... so you may have to (seemingly continually) explain to him the difference, and how his doing it well on his own is much better all
    around, at least in the long run... Not that he'll act like he gets it,
    but eventually it sinks in... :)

    At least neither of us needs to feel guilty if a message doesn't get
    answered immediately.. <G>
    Heh. People that don't understand that with me often get left by
    the wayside when something broadsides me in life. I wish I could get
    to a point where my load-shedding pile doesn't dictate things so much
    for me, but if I can only accomplish a certain amount every day, and
    for as long as that situation may last, I've got to put priorities in place or things will end up messy really quick. :P

    And priorities can shift, as pressing things come into play. Currently,
    I've been spending a fair bit of time with my mom in the hospital.. She normally lives with one of my sisters, and there's another sister
    besides me here somewhat locally, so all of us have been spending a lot
    of time, trying to keep one of us (or a trusted friend) there around the
    clock. :) Doesn't help my schedule any that the hospital is almost an
    hour away from home for me, either... ;) She is going home this
    afternoon, so things will mitigate slightly, since there will be more
    options for coverage once she's back home. :) Anyway... message
    writing had to be relegated to bits of time found amongst the
    leftovers... <G>

    Just keep plugging away... and eventually it all falls into place... ;)
    At least that's my philosophy... ;)
    Yep, I'm trying to get up the motivation points to start chipping on
    some large blocks that are holding me up here right now. Gonna try to get my blood flowing a little bit first and see if that helps, since I was having issues concentrating earlier. Viva la mountain of crap!

    Good luck... ;) Keep plugging away... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... "Careful, we don't want to learn from this." - Calvin

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  • From Damon A. Getsman@1:2320/100 to Nancy Backus on Wed May 13 22:08:02 2015
    Re: Re: trying again
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Tue May 12 2015 14:01:48

    You must have been anticipating my response to the previous message. ;)

    Well I was feeling gung ho about it at the time, but things have gotten to a state where I'm really not feeling the extra motivation right now. Besides, if
    the guy was just making some mistakes out of the box, I don't want to pound a nail in his coffin there. Weird how my point of view has changed now that I've
    got better income. :)

    If they don't offer, or even that job doesn't pan out, there is still volunteering... if you were to volunteer at, say, a rescue mission, you might also gain/keep a healthy perspective on your own situation... ;)

    Definitely doing a Free Geek shift soon. :) I've been thinking a bit, as well, about volunteering at a shelter though, too. I've been _in_ that situation before, but not in an urban area. I think you're right it may damn well put some much needed perspective on my situation. It's been awhile since I even has an ear to the ground near such things. The last work I did in a setting like that was as an intake specialist helping people like that out with
    cash grants.

    Kids in general tend to be masters at manipulation... give in once, and they'll try to make it happen again... one just has to stand firm... every time... ;) And if one does appear to be giving in, one should explain why and in what way(s) this help is different from just doing it for them... ;) He knows that you want him to look good as well as do well... so you may have to (seemingly continually) explain to him the difference, and how his doing it well on his own is much better all around, at least in the long run... Not that he'll act like he gets it, but eventually it sinks in... :)

    That's pretty much what I do. :) I get compliments on my extensive explanations for the reasons behind things to him all the time. It's a really nice bit of feedback to get, especially when things are low.

    And priorities can shift, as pressing things come into play. Currently, I've been spending a fair bit of time with my mom in the hospital.. She normally lives with one of my sisters, and there's another sister
    besides me here somewhat locally, so all of us have been spending a lot
    of time, trying to keep one of us (or a trusted friend) there around the clock. :) Doesn't help my schedule any that the hospital is almost an hour away from home for me, either... ;) She is going home this afternoon, so things will mitigate slightly, since there will be more options for coverage once she's back home. :) Anyway... message
    writing had to be relegated to bits of time found amongst the
    leftovers... <G>

    I'm terribly sorry to hear that your mom was in the hospital. Medical issues
    are always bogus. I hope that y'all were able to make her time in there somewhat more tolerable. For certain do not worry in the slightest about packets taking awhile to trickle back out. As always, IRL is more important, especially when it's family. I hope that things are doing better in that situation, and wish you & yours the best.

    -D
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  • From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Tue May 19 19:57:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 13-May-2015 21:47 <=-

    You must have been anticipating my response to the previous message. ;)
    Well I was feeling gung ho about it at the time, but things have
    gotten to a state where I'm really not feeling the extra motivation
    right now. Besides, if the guy was just making some mistakes out of
    the box, I don't want to pound a nail in his coffin there. Weird how
    my point of view has changed now that I've got better income. :)

    Well, I suppose with better income outside of that job, you have a lot
    less hide in the issuer... ;) And, I suppose also that if he hasn't
    improved any since, others will probably do the complaining up the
    scale... :)

    If they don't offer, or even that job doesn't pan out, there is still
    volunteering... if you were to volunteer at, say, a rescue mission, you
    might also gain/keep a healthy perspective on your own situation... ;)
    Definitely doing a Free Geek shift soon. :) I've been thinking a
    bit, as well, about volunteering at a shelter though, too. I've been _in_ that situation before, but not in an urban area. I think you're right it may damn well put some much needed perspective on my
    situation. It's been awhile since I even has an ear to the ground near such things. The last work I did in a setting like that was as an
    intake specialist helping people like that out with cash grants.

    Seeing the people without any "feet" makes one less grumpy about not
    having "shoes"... ;) Years ago, I was an income maintenance worker for
    DSS... one does learn to appreciate what one does have, as well as learn
    more compassion for those with a lot less... :)

    Kids in general tend to be masters at manipulation... give in once, and
    they'll try to make it happen again... one just has to stand firm...
    every time... ;) And if one does appear to be giving in, one should
    explain why and in what way(s) this help is different from just doing it
    for them... ;) He knows that you want him to look good as well as do
    well... so you may have to (seemingly continually) explain to him the
    difference, and how his doing it well on his own is much better all
    around, at least in the long run... Not that he'll act like he gets it,
    but eventually it sinks in... :)
    That's pretty much what I do. :) I get compliments on my extensive explanations for the reasons behind things to him all the time. It's
    a really nice bit of feedback to get, especially when things are low.

    Reinforcement that you are doing your job, and doing it well.. :)

    And priorities can shift, as pressing things come into play. Currently,
    I've been spending a fair bit of time with my mom in the hospital.. She
    normally lives with one of my sisters, and there's another sister
    besides me here somewhat locally, so all of us have been spending a lot
    of time, trying to keep one of us (or a trusted friend) there around the
    clock. :) Doesn't help my schedule any that the hospital is almost an
    hour away from home for me, either... ;) She is going home this
    afternoon, so things will mitigate slightly, since there will be more
    options for coverage once she's back home. :) Anyway... message
    writing had to be relegated to bits of time found amongst the
    leftovers... <G>
    I'm terribly sorry to hear that your mom was in the hospital.
    Medical issues are always bogus. I hope that y'all were able to make
    her time in there somewhat more tolerable.

    It seemed to have been helpful... she had very little delirium, which is
    a major risk especially for the elderly in a stressful environment...
    and she is improving steadily now that she is home. She had to have
    emergency bowel surgery, fortunately not worst-case scenario, and the
    surgeon was quite happy with how she progressed afterwards... Maybe now
    she won't keep having some of the bowel issues she was having...

    For certain do not worry in the slightest about packets taking
    awhile to trickle back out. As always, IRL is more important,
    especially when it's family. I hope that things are doing better
    in that situation, and wish you & yours the best.

    Thank you very much. :) I don't worry... just try to get the the
    packets when possible... This week the issue, beyond still being part of "Mommy-care", is that I was away over the weekend for a niece's wedding,
    in PA near Pittsburgh... and this coming weekend, I have another trip
    coming up, slightly longer... and no online access while away,
    either.... ;) RL always takes precedence where necessary... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... Murphy's Philosophy: smile -- tomorrow will be worse.

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