
Tue, July 11, 2006 - 9:13 PM

I woke up with a terrific migraine. It was the same migraine that I went to sleep with. The problem with migraines, for those who don't know, is not the headache, although that's bad enough. The problem is the nausea and general feeling of ickyness that comes with it.
I decided to go to work anyway. I was not about to let some silly migraine rule my life! Yeah. That's the spirit.
Several long, gruelling meetings later, I felt like my head had been shoved into a washing machine, and someone had stuck their hand into my stomach and was playing with my insides. Ugh.
Yesterday someone in a different department quite, someone whom I like who had been at the company for fourteen years. She got a better offer somewhere else, I guess. This woman came on board just a few months before I did (I signed on thirteen and a half years ago). I will always remember one of our first conversations. We were talking about families and life and such. She had no children at the time and I asked her if kids were in her future. She said she'd rather cut her own throat! And she wasn't kidding. Now she has two beautiful children whom she loves dearly. Funny how life changes a person.
Most of the meetings today were about how to make our system perform faster. We're in the middle of a plan (my plan) to upgrade various components so it performs better, and there are almost forty major tasks to complete. We have just six weeks to do it. It's a lot of work, a lot of money, and a real challenge. We're pulling it off, but it's not easy.
The computer system was running too slow, and I had to assign some people to work on that issue. Two of my staff were off on vacation, so I had to line up a consultant to cover their positions. Our SeeBeyond system (the system that transfers data from the main computer to the warehouses) had crashed over the weekend, so I had to assign a team to figure that out. On and on. The neverending story, but at least it's fun, it's challenging, and heh, it's what I get paid to do.
I decided to leave after lunch, the headache was that bad. I almost never go home early, but, well, I just wasn't able to function at my best performance. On top of that, I was grumpy as hell.
I went out to lunch, and when I returned to the car, I noticed some goopy stuff leaking from the driver's side door, of all places. hmmm. I rubbed my fingers on it cautiously and sniffed. Suntan lotion? Turns out I had two bottles on the inside door compartment, and it got so hot they burst open. Suntan lotion all over everything. Took me almost thirty minutes to clean, and the whole car stinks like lotion.
I stopped at the Huntington Library on the way home. The nice thing about having a membership is I can stop anytime I want and it doesn't cost anything. So there is no guilt about spending just forty minutes in the place. I looked at some flowers and sculpture, took some pictures, and drove home.
Now I'm planning for the weekend. I've got to put the dog (Hades) into a kennel for the weekend as I am heading up to the San Luis Obispo renaissance faire on Saturday, then the San Diego Area Middle Eastern Dance Association faire on Sunday. Yeah, I know they are on opposite ends of the state, but it should be a fun weekend.
I think life is funny. I am a guy who has never danced in his life, and now I'm going around watching dance shows like they are going out of style. Interesting, isn't it?
At least tomorrow is hump day...
(the picture is a statue from the Huntington that I took today)
Auntie Pita (cause I am one!) (Wed, July 12, 2006 - 7:48 AM)
Sorry to hear about the migraine... (I had one Saturday ... I totally sympathize!) If you aren't allergic to it, try lavender and peppermint oil (on the temples and forehead) ... and of course dark, quiet, ...
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.