scifiknitter

Several years ago I set about writing a condensed biography to use on my blog and on other social media sites. As I’ve changed the bio over the years, I have kept one phrase: “I’m very content to be one of the little people, whose names aren’t recorded in history books and who are remembered only by family and friends after they die.” Perhaps memories of my voice and my face may fade, but it seems that my name will be around for a while. I had a kitchen dedicated to me on September 9, 2016. Planning for the kitchen was well underway at the time I retired. Since then, my former boss and Executive Director of the agency, Patrick Ames, put together the funding for the project. What made the project possible was a change in funding rules that allowed USDA Rural Development to partner with the agency. The dedication ceremony was as good an experience as I could have imagined. There were speeches by State elected officials, a County executive, Patrick, the Board President, and me. Th...

I'm up much too early on a Saturday morning, in a good cause: feeding my niece pancakes. My brother-in-law drove through whiteouts to bring M. north so that she can audition at a local college's excellent music department. (I went there myself many moons ago, as did R.). They are off to the adventures of the day, and R. has gone back to bed. With coffee in my veins, sleep would elude me, so I will grab the quiet moment to reflect on recent events in writing. Work, work, work. It has demanded much of my energy and focus for quite some time as we have grappled with a reduction in funding and a structural deficit. This week, the board of directors affirmed the path we think will lead the agency through hard times, "we" being the six-person leadership team. I have to deal with the hardest task that is at hand: the elimination of a half-time custodial position. I am the direct supervisor of the individual who will be laid off. Alas, he is poorly prepared in many ways to de...

It is official now: I have new responsibilities at work. I am now Finance and Personnel Manager PLUS the Technology Coordinator. My boss has noticed how comfortable I am with computers, iPhones, etc., and thinks I am a good fit for the job. My new duties are supposed to phase in, while the person who has been in charge of the job phases out. However, I am seeing distinct signs of him abandoning all concerns with the health of the network. Time for me to get stirring and to take command of the situation. What have I inherited? - A WAN/LAN spread between four buildings on two facilities. - A peer-to-peer network that hooks us up to the Internet. - A workplace that has become as dependent on Internet access as we are on drawing breath. - Closets full of wires labeled with the names of people who have retired or moved to different offices. - A system that is persistently giving out bad IP addresses when people boot up in the morning. It sounds like a wireless router is hooked up incorrectl...

When I screw up, I am much more likely to not do something that I should do, rather than to do something that would have been better to have been left undone. Just this week, I forgot to dial up a teleconference on a new ethics policy, and to take my car to the shop to have the emissions system reamed out. Often errors of omission can be corrected simply by doing what should have been done at a later time. The teleconference will be available online, and I made a new appointment with the car shop, after an appropriate period of apology and abject groveling. When I get really, really busy, I forget things. Simple things like checking my calendar on my Palm Pilot every morning to see what is on the schedule that day. Sometimes, though, an error of omission means a lost opportunity. That just happened to me. I've known for months that a very high level accounting position would be opening up in county government. I'm one of the most qualified people in the county for the position....

I'm so busy right now, I feel like summer is going to slip by with no chance to enjoy it. By "it", I mean the warm sun, the lush plant-life, the water, the great outdoors. We have sailed all of two hours so far this summer. This is pathetic! Of course, there have been a lot of rainy weekends, which doesn't help. Other contributing factors: It's budget time at work, so it's hard to take time off. I'm knocking down the work, as much as I can in the heat. Showtime is July 24th, when I must have a budget together. Our band has eight gigs this month, which is a lot. We have four gigs next week, which is probably too many. My sister and her family visited the last weekend in June, and they are coming back this weekend - my niece is attending a music camp at a nearby college. Fun, and they would go sailing with us, but there just isn't enough time. My grad course this term is a killer. I'm taking Governmental Budgeting - which I thought would be a slam-du...

This week started off right. Our firewood for next winter is cut, split, and stacked in the woodshed. We got done just as the black flies started getting vicious. Now we can bask in a virtuous glow, and turn our attention to other projects around the homestead. The last couple of days have been quiet. Robert is in Albany, working on the economic development project, and Ana is home, so I have been making sure to get home at a reasonable hour, and hang out with her. I have gotten quite a bit of knitting done. The two pairs of mittens, for Robert and me, are felted and ready to put away until next winter. They are gorgeous, soft brown and very thick and fuzzy. Mine are oversized, so that I can wear them over a pair of fleece gloves. I am hopeful that I now have handwear that will actually keep my hands warm on the most bitter days. I'm also happy that Robert has handwear that will be more effective when he plows and snowblows the driveway. Which he will again, even though that seems ...