You Are Hereby Put On Official Notice

...that I am outta City Hall in three weeks. I am giving my notice at work on Monday, something I hate to do. I have been very worried about the economic climate and my continued status as a dependent contractor at my current organization. My position is funded until June, but with a freeze both on hiring and overtime and worsening conditions, I feel I need to get out while I can. Being a contractor affords me no unemployment insurance and if things continue as they are, I think jobs will be harder to come by as June nears.

I have accepted a position at a University in the Boston area. The commute will still pretty much stink, but it is a 35 hour week and there is the opportunity to work remotely (i.e. from my dining room) one day a week. I am really looking forward to joining this organization and very excited to be working in higher ed.

Giving my notice is going to be very tough. I have been with my current organization, as both a full time employee and a contractor, for over 8 years. I work with friends, not with co-workers, and I will have a hard time saying goodbye. If were not for a residency rule, I would have stayed on as a full time employee. 

The first five people to comment and tell me I am doing the right thing win a prize. (Well, not really a prize but you will get the satisfaction of knowing you are keeping me from freaking out too badly).

Family Values

Ahh Thanksgiving - to me it means spending time with family and friends and just taking time to enjoy the people in our lives who really mean so much.

You can see the love for me emanating from my niece. I can just tell by the look in her eye that I am her favorite aunt. Being four months pregnant has just given her such a glow don't you think? Just scroll down and take a look for yourself.



I am so telling your mother.

Get Your Bird Here

Maybe We Should Shake On That

From my buddy Ronia at The 100 Day Season:

Listen you! You better update your blog!!! I'll be blogging in less than 3 days!!! You better get blogging my friend! Make me laugh .... I need to laugh!

Sorry about that. I've been interviewing the past couple of weeks and I've been a little stressed out.  I generally do ok with interviewing but I have had some mishaps along the way.

I remember one interview I had many years ago when I was moving from the medical field to information technology. To my surprise, I knew one of the woman in the office. We hugged and kissed on the cheek as old friends do. I interviewed with two or three people that day. I was happy with how things went and was fairly certain I would be offered the job. I walked back to my car , all pleased with myself. I got in the car, buckled myself in, and looked in my rear view mirror before backing out of my parking spot. Then I saw it. My friend in the office wore bright red lipstick and apparently thought I needed some as well as she had left a big red lip print on the side of my face. It would have looked ok if I was interviewing for clown school but it wasn't such a good look for your typical office.  I just wish I hadn't worn such big shoes that day.

You Are U-G-L-Y

I just read on the following on Boston.com about the building in which I work:

"Now City Hall, which opened in 1967, is getting some international attention: It tops the list of the "World's Top 10 Ugliest Buildings' and Monuments'' compiled by the websiteVirtualTourist.com."

Is it that bad? Really? Maybe I am just used to it. It's different looking that's for sure. But ugly? That's rather harsh. I'm curious as to what other's think, especially those that are seeing it here for the first time. What goes through your head when you see this picture?

My PC Got Me PO'd

I got some sort of virus the other day on my Windows laptop. Apparently there is this "go to google" Trojan that is making it's way across the internet. I'm pretty careful. I use anti-virus software and try to stay away from clicking on anything that looks suspicious. And I don't download a heck of a lot of stuff. I haven't been on any porno sites for months. (I'm just kidding - really - just wanted to see if you are paying attention).

When this sucker hosed my laptop, which now refuses to even boot up, I got a little frustrated. This incident, combined with the problems my new desktop PC had right out of the box, got me to thinking that maybe all those Mac users were onto something. So I went out and bought a new MacBook.

I still have a bit to learn. But so far I am really loving it. And I was able to get it going right out of the box which is nice for a change.

So all you Mac users out there - OC, Chewy, Janet - any and all tips, tricks, and suggestions from you experienced Mac pros will always be welcome!

H And The Hair Piece

This is obviously a very sensitive topic for my friend H. Had I known there was a competition in town, I would not even have suggested that we go out. Sadly, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The video below is acting up. Sometimes working, sometimes not. I am working on this.

In With The Good Air, Out With The Bad

The thing with pool floats is that they all have that fancy one way valve so the air does not escape when you are inflating them. Good for the start of the season, not so good for the end. Every year I find myself wrestling with the floats, trying to pinch open the valve while pushing the air towards the exit.

My neighbor has a clear view of my deck. I was wondering if he thought I had passed out on top of the float, or if I was getting kinky with the pool toys. Either way, it makes me smirk to picture him looking out the window wondering just what the heck I am doing. I can hear him now - "Honey, you gotta see this. It's that crazy lesbian next door and she's at it with the inflatables again."