Sunday, October 31, 2004

East Siders

Because we worked late on Friday night at the paper converting their database to the new system, I had the entire weekend to play. Yesterday I drove out to Richmond to visit Jeff and Myrle. I saw the sights of downtown, and we went to Bottom's Up Pizza for dinner, which was excellent. After grabbing some Amberbocks we went back to their place and watched the LSU game. It was great to see them, only regrettable in that they are currently moving to another place, so I neither got to see the old one fully furnished nor the new one. So it goes.

This morning I drove to DC and hung out with Adam, Erin, and Jenny. Adam was sick in bed, Erin nursing him, so my trip was capped off by a trip out to Linden Vineyards with Jenny for some wine, cheese, and sausage overlooking beautiful Virginia landscape. As an added bonus I now have 3/4 a bottle of Claret to get me through the week.

So there's the brief summary of my weekend. I'll try to post again later in the week with some stories of my interactions with some of the Staunton locals patroning the Holiday Inn bar. Until then...

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

I've looked at fog from both sides now.

Greeting from Virginia! Today was my first day out on site. Wait, let me start at the beginning.

Yesterday was never meant to be a long travel day. One flight, one quick drive, and one hotel check-in. Sounds easy enough. But fog got in my way. The airport was a zoo: delays, gate changes, cancellations left and right. Seven hours later I finally left the airport and headed for Roanoke. And really, after that, things began to look up. The drive to Staunton was gorgeous. Staunton, located in the Shenandoah Valley, is very quaint, old, and historic. I look forward to some runs if this rain ever passes. Oh, and as a fantastic bonus I'm only 100 miles from Richmond, so I should get to see Jeff, Myrle, Jenny, Adam, and Erin (friend, friend, cousin, cousin, cousin-in-law, resp).

But getting back to my first day on site. Today was, well, interesting. I don't have a whole lot of experience from which to judge, but it seems as though the office is managed about how I expected: effectively but inefficiently. People in this level of employment, it seems, are often times driven by one force: inertia. Little or no emphasis is placed on actually evaluating or improving the ways in which work is carried out, but rather all efforts go into make sure things are done exactly as they've always been done. I'm reminded of the calculus student who spends more energy resisting the possibility that he'll learn anything than he actually would simply learning. Perhaps this stasis infects us at all levels.

But despite those random observations, I enjoyed my first day. I really felt like I was able to contribute and help out when the managers had questions. I'm looking forward to sitting in on the training sessions that will take place later in the week.

After work I headed to the local Food Lion to buy some food for the room. Since I don't have a fridge I came back with fruit, crackers, tortilla chips, bread, peanut butter, granola bars, cheese in a can, pistashios, and canned soup. I'm calling tonight's dinner "New York dinner done Staunton style" as it consisted of crackers, bread, peanut butter, cheese in a can, and pistashios. Awesome*.

Alright, for now I'm gonna relax and watch some tv. Too bad I don't have a glass of wine. Goodnight.

*Don't worry, mom, I went out to a big lunch.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

A Nice Fit

Can anyone think of a creepier song than Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" ? Seriously, that song makes me want to curl up under a pile of coats and cry. Is there a song that's more disturbing out there? Tell me please; though I can't wrap my mind around that thought, I'm oddly curious.

In other news, I found out today that at 4:30 every Friday the large majority of my office stops working and starts eating/drinking. They have a keg in the kitchen (Bell's is on tap right now I believe) and someone is in charge of picking up some food. Fantastic! What a way to start the weekends.

Of course, many weekends I'll be on the road, but still...

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

cube decorations to come soon

Well, after two days of work I'll share some thoughts. I hesitate slightly - because how much can one really know after such a short time? - so be warned that I might be way off with my assessments. At any rate, here goes:

-> Baseview/Harris & Baseview is a very good company for which to work. They're established, respected, and seem to do good business. The Baseview campus is very laid back. Yesterday, while walking through the hall, I shared a smile with the VP of Sales who was walking his dog through the building, wearing jeans. No, not the dog. So that's what they meant by casual business casual. Needless to say it was jeans to work for me this morning. If only I had a dog to bring with me. Additionally, everyone seems really friendly and willing to help me out. This is key, as I'm a newborn when it comes to the world of newspapers.

-> When I arrived monday morning my supervisor had a checklist of things to do with me that day. This list included things like:
a) getting my laptop: a 15'' PowerBook G4, 1gHz, 1gB, 60gB, Combo Drive, external mouse, keyboard, monitor, and Targus bag
b) setting up my AmEx corporate account, phone card, email and server accounts, and Front Base developers license
c) spending hours setting up software on my computer
d) cleaning my cube - incidentally this was on the list two or three times - ha!
e) blah

-> Today was spend learning how to use our customer database system, as well as scratching the surface of how the product that I will be training works.

-> Tomorrow? More of the same.

-> I leave for my first trip next Tuesday, returning the following Friday (after Halloween). Staunton, VA. I might squeeze another trip in before Thanksgiving, in which case I might be returning the day before Thanksgiving. Oh well, at least I get a 4-day weekend.

-> Speaking of Thanksgiving, read my brother's latest post. I like the idea of the new foodstuffs blog, as long as I am allowed to contribute my famous green spam 'n cabbage souffle for St. Pat's.

Well, the battery on this little guy (iBook) is getting a little low, which means it's time for his nap. Sweet dreams, iBook, sweet dreams.

Monday, October 04, 2004

meet you at the pole

Elizabeth said it best, so I won't bother. I'll only add a few things:

"RIVALRY! PURDUE!" [Does "The Donald"]

Pink Fuzzy Hats + The Backer = Belle of The Ball
Pink Fuzzy Hats + Legends = Victim of Theft

Jim's breakfast choices still baffle me

Mic "meet me in montauk" Vat