Cats vs. Dogs

I'm a dog person, specifically a big dog person. Now what the rest of you city dwelling folk seem to think of as "big", I usually classify as normal, but to each his own I suppose. There have been a few small dogs I've come across in life that have been cool enough to worm their way into my heart - Taz, Oz, and Mellie come to mind - but I normally don't think twice until your pup hits about 50 lbs. Some day when I'm all grown up with a yard and time to train them I will start with two dogs. The first will be a malamute and his name shall be Atticus. The second, possibly a german shepard (I'm still working out the details on that one), and his name shall be Hiro Protagonist. It will be awesome.

But while I find myself waiting for this grown up life to start, it somehow seems I have become a cat person. Not by choice mind you, well not animal choice that is. See I moved in with a boy that had a cat and with the fact that we are working opposite shifts, I seem to find myself quite often in the company of an orange, 23 lb. pain in the ass named Bill instead of my intended. And, oddly enough, I don't really mind (I mind not seeing the boy as much as I'd like, it's hanging with the cat I'm oddly finding myself okay with just to be clear here).

As the days get darker and the possibility of me getting home from work while there is still natural light in the sky becomes a fading reality, it's nice to walk into the empty house and have something alive and wanting my attention. The extra warmth I get from his constantly wanting to lay directly on my lap helps when your apartment doesn't have the best heating system in the world. He purrs like a diesel engine at times, and it's comforting on quiet nights to have something besides my own thoughts making noise.

But that doesn't mean that I've switched sides. I'm still a dog person, and am confused by cat actions. A few weeks ago when the boy was out of town for the night I woke up at 3 in the morning to Bill making a racket. Running around, mewling, just being a loud ass pain in general. My first thought? Someone is breaking in of course. Because when your dog gets up at 3 in the morning and starts making all kinds of noise it always means something is wrong. So of course I get up and go out, slowly, to see what's happening. Do I find an intruder? Do I find a sick cat in the middle of the floor? No I find Bill wanting to play. That's it, just play. Can you guess who went back to bed cursing up a storm? I'll give ya three guesses and the first two don't count.

And I don't think I'm a fan of all cats. Like my feelings towards kids, I reserve my fandom for a select few felines. I'm also not a fan of litter pebbles tracked all over my wood floors, a habit of walking on my head when the food dish is empty and I'm still sleeping, or having every item of clothing I own covered in orange tabby fur. And it doesn't help that he loves to sleep in the laundry basket. Ah well, this is my life. Internet world - meet Bill (by the way, as a point of reference that basket is large enough to hold about 2.5 loads of laundry.)

A Random List of Smoking Fun Facts

An essay off the top of my head on the inside world of being a smoker.

Random smoking fun fact #1: Smoking is a social bonding experience. Even more so since the country (and parts of the world) has become seriously anti-smoker. Over the past 20 years that I've been tarring up my lungs, I've seen the acceptance of my kind die a slow, legislative death. I'm too young to remember offices filled with smoke, but I do remember being able to smoke in the mall. That was probably the first to go. Next came the smoking sections of restaurants. And the final axe - the bars. Smokers now stand around and tell tales of back in the day when you used to be able to smoke in the X, Y or Z, kind of like when we were kids and we walked uphill to and from school in the snow 9 feet deep year round - that kind of thing.

Random Smoking Fun Fact #2: Smoking is a bumming culture. Somewhere along the line it became not just acceptable but expected to be able to constantly ask your friends to support your habit. And it's not just friends that you can ask. See a total stranger on the street smoking? Go ahead, walk right up and ask him/her if they have an "extra" cigarette they can give you. Trust me, to a true smoker, there is no such thing as "extra" cigarettes, yet still this language persists.

Random Smoking Fun Fact #3: I haven't done enough studies to know if this recent phenomena is city based or increased price based. Further studies (ie going home for longer times) will have to be done. Strangers will now ask you not just if you have an "extra" cigarette (see fun fact #2) but will ask you for the cigarette you are currently smoking. And somehow this is deemed permissible. Don't get why that's weird? Imagine sitting in a restaurant, having a nice enjoyable meal, and a total stranger walks up and says "Hey, that burger looks awesome, can I get a bite?" See the weirdness now?

Random Smoking Fun Fact #4: I've smoked for near on 20 years. I am also literate and watch the news from time to time. What does this mean to you, oh so considerate non-smoker? It means I know its not good for me. I know that it will most likely kill me at worst, and will most definitely make life more difficult at best. So I'm not quite sure why you think that looking me in the eyes and having that serious, heartfelt, "I care about you and your health, and I really wish you wouldn't smoke" lecture is going to make a damn bit of difference. Especially if we don't really know each other, like say you are a random co-worker or a friend of a friend of a friend whose name I will never remember but that doesn't matter since I won't be seeing you again. Also, please do not be so misguided that you think you are the first person to have this little sit down with me. And unless I become a rampantly successful Internet writer and become a total recluse (and have my cigarettes shipped to me), you won't be the last. Sorry if I don't give you the half an hour you want of my time, and sorry you won't be the magic person that makes me see the light and turn my life around. If you are really insistent about teaching me the woes of smoking please feel free to get in line. I'm sure I'll get to you before my smoking kills me.

Random Smoking Fun Fact #5: Cigarettes are expensive. I know this, it's my wallet that opens daily to shell out the $9 (damn you Chicago tax system, damn you!) to my local dealer. And like the days of yore when we smoked everywhere, any smoker worth his salt will be happy to tell you how much cigarettes cost when they started. It's like the price of milk, or gas, it's something we hold onto as we yearn for better days. Point in fact, when I started I could get 2 packs and change from a $5. Not anymore my friend, not anymore.

And there you have 5 random smoking facts from the brain of a smoker. Did you need to know these things? Probably not. Did I have a fun time writing again and sharing my random thoughts? Hell yes. And isn't that what a blog is all about?

Time Warp

What I hope is the very last installment of

A View from my Office

A little background information to set the scene... Part of my job has been to work with and staff our board of directors. It's not always fun but some of been some really amazing women so its been worthwhile. And while I understand that I know them better than they know me, there are 2 memories that are my favorite that sum up so much of what the work is like.

1) A past board member insisted on calling me Jennifer all day at an event, while I was wearing a name tag that clearly did not say Jennifer

2) I received an envelope that I had created and sent out which was pre-addressed to me with one of the letters in my last name crossed out and changed. Because ya know, after 30 years I'm still having trouble with all those M's and N's.

Which brings us to the final tale....

Today marks the day that I will send out my very last Board mailing. A Board mailing, for those not in this particular position, is what my organization sends each month before a Board meeting and contains all the hand outs, agenda, etc. A standard part of each mailing is the memo. This is where the Executive Director creates a letter that talks about what the meeting will be about and provides any short, necessary updates.

In today's memo there was a paragraph at the very end announcing my imminent departure. Excited to see what not just my boss, but THE boss, of our tiny little world would have to say about me and my dedication since that fateful summer in 2006 when I joined up with the gang, I eagerly read through it.

There it is...thanks for my outstanding service...aw, that's nice...for the past...wait, what...THREE YEARS.

Yup. After four years with this organization I have been kindly thanked for my three years of service. That boys and girls, is the sound of the bell indicating this game is officially over.

Are We Really Surprised?

So in case you've been living under a rock in Chicago these past few days, I'm sure you've heard about our good king Daley retiring. Or more specifically, simply choosing not to run again. The way the news sites and social networks were ablaze yesterday when the news was announced you'd think it was the second (third, fourth, whatever) coming of Christ here in the Windy City.

The two major papers here, the Chicago Tribune and The Sun-Times, both used the quote caption "It's Time" on their front page, full picture story, which leads me to believe the rest of the announcement either sucked or was so poorly written for our sound bite loving culture that "It's Time" was all they got. The internets are awash with headlines like "Decision Stuns Political World" and "Business Lament End of an Era", Facebook yesterday had posts from friends ranging the gamut from elation, to sadness, and queries of whether or not now that Daley was stepping down, could they run for mayor (this being from a friend who actually doesn't live in the city anymore, but in a close suburb, and I'd totally vote for him!).

But as I sit back and watch the news filter by and the accolades flow freely, I have to wonder, why the hell is everyone so surprised by this announcement? Taking a step back, lets look at 3 simple things that have happened in the past few years.

1) 8 Years ago his wife, the woman that has stood solidly at his side for 38 years was diagnosed with breast cancer. And just this past year a malignant bone tumor showed up. That's a hell of a lot to deal with, and maybe, just maybe, the man wants to spend some time with his family after 20+ years in office. Hey, stranger things have happened.

2) On a less family friendly note, remember this spectacular failure? After pouring millions into the Olympic bid, Chicago was booted in round one. Round one folks. The banners were barely up before the city was shot down. Not exactly a way you want to be remembered.

3) And finally, on a services note, there was this amazingly disastrous blunder. Nothing gets folks involved faster in politics than fucking with a day-to-day service that almost everyone encounters. Snow removal, garbage pick up, parking - you get the idea. And boy did Richie fuck up the parking system. To the little guy it felt like we traded our best and only cow for a handful of worthless beans. And then, when there was a glimmer of hope that maybe those beans were magic, the bully down the street stole them in the middle of the night and blamed your brother.

Just looking at those 3 things, I'm confused as to what the fuss is all about. He's a man. He had a job and has decided to not do that job anymore. End of story? Unfortunately not in Chicagoland it won't be.

Moving Day!

This moving thing in 158% humidity sucks. That plus the fact that I'm old, fat, and lazy probably doesn't help much.

After a long, stressful, drawn out process I finally got the keys to my new place at around 11 o'clock last night. A wonderful friend who was with me did a power move of about half the stuff in my back two rooms in about 15 minutes and we left the rest for today.

So I set my alarm for my usual work wake up time and by 7:30 I was hauling boxes. By 7:50 I was already sweaty and exhausted. This should be fun.

I've set the pace at about 15 minutes of moving and then sit for 5-10 to regain my breath. I really need to utilize this gym membership I keep paying for. I've got friends scheduled to come move the big stuff around noon and I'd really like to have most of everything else done by then. I even have a friend that offered to come over on his lunch break. Seriously, my friends kick ass.

I've already taken one break to cancel my internet (yay for free highjacked wi-fi to write this!), move my Com-Ed service, and change my address. Now I've used this break to write this. I guess it's back to the grind.

Would you like fries or a clean database with that?

As I mentioned in my last post, big changes are a coming to my little corner of the world, and the crucial folks in my real life have been told, so I can finally break the blog silence (but not the Facebook silence, I'm not ready for that yet!).

After 4 years in my current job, a job that made me some amazing friends, taught me that I love working with databases, and gave my liver a serious workout as of late, after 4 years with this I have finally decided to quit.

But before you break out the party horns and let those gasps of excitement pass your lips I must tell you I also don't have another job lined up. Well, I didn't when I actually put in place the plan to be done with the current gig, I might have a part time one now.

Here's how it all unraveled....

About 2 months ago I sat down behind closed doors to have my 4 year, annual review with my supervisor. Somehow, and I honestly don't know how it all started, instead of going through the rote motions of checking off accomplishments and things to learn and work on, we spent close to 2 hours talking about the fact that I wasn't happy anymore and what we could do about it. It was by far the most liberating, amazing review I've ever had. By the end I had received some really good constructive criticism that I hope will make me a better employee in the future and a plan had been sketched to work me out of the organization.

They would start working on re-writing my job description (as it had drastically changed since I started) and I would step up my job hunt (now no longer needing to hide in the shadows and fake appointments in case of interviews). We figured it would take about 2 months to post, interview, hire and replace me and I hoped I could find something along that same time frame as well. However, just in case this economy totally had it in for me, we worked out a slight extension plan as well.

Let me step back for a minute and tell you about my not so secret love of databases that this job has opened up for me. Turns out I love organizing, maintaining, and producing clean, reliable data and reports. And I have come to master the current fundraising database my organization utilizes in a way that sometimes even scares me. This is something I could see myself doing full time (and that is what I've been applying for), this is something I could see myself really enjoying. Raisers Edge watch out, I will find someone who uses you and come to master you! (Okay, geek aside now, sorry about that).

And while I love my current database, I also loathe it because it is totally out of shape. It needs a major ass-kicking clean up, and I am just the one to do it. See, that's the extension plan we've worked out. If I don't have a job by the time my replacement is here and ready to be set loose on their own, I will transfer over to a full time database clean up project. We expect that to last about 8 weeks so I will have employment (if this plan all goes accordingly) till about mid December. If I do get another job, the plan is to transition the database cleanup to a part time gig (nights/weekends) instead because no matter what, it needs to be done, and not to sound totally egotistical but no one here but me really can do it quickly and efficiently.

So that's my life. Since this has all been announced a possible part time job has come up starting in mid September that I am totally, ridiculously geeked about. It's not a database gig, but it's with a company that I adore and think that I could learn an amazing amount from. But since it's not even remotely settled yet I am keeping that one to myself for now. But if it does come through it will mean that once I've wrapped up all the work here I will still need to supplement my income with a second part time job - know anyone hiring? Need a database cleaned? How about a dog walked? I'm open to most ideas (except watching your kids, sorry, but no one really wants that to happen do they?).

To make this a little less scary when it comes to life and finances, I'm also moving in with someone so my rent will be cut in half which always helps. That in itself is a completely crazy, out of left field, mind twister, but it will have to be saved for another post.

A promise is a promise

So I know that I promised in my last post that I would attempt to update you and help wile away your hours with entertaining, non-ask related musings, so here we go. Actually this is not so much an update as a foreshadowing of an update.

There are some serious things afoot in JJ's World these days and I am bursting at the seems to share them with you. However, until I can actually iron out some details and spread the word in my actual, real life world, it's probably best to keep a lid on all secrets internet style.

With that said, keep on the look out for some possibly startling revelations to start poring out of this little blog I sorta keep up with here.

Cheers.