Areas of Unrest

15 September 2000 - Work Is Better

QOTD: "Blessed are the young, for they will inherit the national debt." - Herbert Hoover

Reading: just finished Trial Run by Dick Francis

Listening to: nothing

Things have been improving at work, for a number of reasons. For one thing, my evil coworker has been easier to avoid, since he's now out sick at least three days a week, instead of just one. He claimed to have worked all night Friday night, causing a relapse that made him miss our big design review this week. It's not like I'm happy that he's sick (if he really is - and I have my doubts) but it means I don't have to deal with him.

More importantly, I got a very nice "atta girl" this week, the type that comes with money attached. You can write all the nice letters and commendations you want, but nothing says appreciation quite like a check.

Finally, I think I was reasonably effective at our design review this week. I don't like to feel like I'm just hammering away at people giving presentations, but I'm also not going to sit still and keep my mouth shut when people aren't telling a reasonable story. The tricky part is asking questions in a productive way, making it clear that we want the project to succeed and we're not just picking things apart because we can.

That design review was up in Sunnyvale, by the way, which was a nice excuse to have dinner with Elliot. I showed him selected highlights of my vacation photos. He doesn't have much interest in that sort of travel himself, but he was impressed enough at the pictures. We also had the usual sibling harangue match, in which he accuses me of being a cheapskate and I accuse him of being an irresponsible spendthrift. Which was quite ironic, since I paid for dinner.