Poker Face

Nine of us played some No Limit Texas Hold 'Em last night (with a just-exciting-enough $10 buy in)... and guess who the big winner was... ME!

Not bad for my third time ever playing! Huh?

Wanna know my secret??? I don't really *get* the game, so I don't really know when I have a good hand or a bad hand. As a result I don't really bluff. Bluffing implies pretending that you have a winning hand when you actually have squat. Since I have no idea what exactly constitutes squat I just decide "good hand" or "bad hand" (mostly at random) at the start of every deal and voilà! Big Winner!

Yay me!

Big Money... $33.70!

Shame

It is such a shame that Tahoe is SO UGLY.



Right?
;)

I told work to shove it last Thursday and headed North-East to the pristine glorious-ness that is Lake Tahoe for the weekend to visit with Kyle's family. It took a full day, but by Friday night I had completely stopped talking about my tiny cubicle and the idiots I work for. Ahhhhh. Peace.

We spent Friday at Kirkwood and Saturday at Squaw and both days were fantastical!! To anyone who has ever been snowboarding with me and seen, first hand, just how terrible I am... I have BIG NEWS! I, Courtney A. K., went off jumps. In a terrain park. On purpose. Screaming like a banshee the whole way, of course, but I *did* it!!!! It was EXHILARATING!! I even landed the third one.

The snow was wet and slushy, but it was 60 degrees out and I boarded most of the day in a t-shirt, so I can't really complain. I'll take wet slushy snow over the splotchy blue carpet in my office ANY day of the week.

At night, we played cards, cooked dinner, sat in the hot tub, and drank beers. It was me, Kyle, Kyle's parents, Kyle's little brother, and our friend Ben (who met us up there randomly) and it was SOOOO nice. Did I mention that I was 200 miles away from my desk and out of cell phone range!?!?! SO NICE!!!

Here are some pics from our day at Squaw...






Bliss, thy name is Spring skiing in Lake Tahoe.

Curly Willow

5 years ago, on the day I graduated from Berkeley, my then boyfriend’s lovely parents had a lovely graduation party for me at their lovely house. It was lovely, by the way. On that day, my dad, being…well… him, found himself out in their garden investigating all of their lovely plants. My dad was quite the plant the enthusiast… and not especially keen on mingling with… well… anyone. (He was interesting like that.) The garden was good spot for him.

Anyway, while out in the garden, my dad discovered my boyfriend’s parents’ curly willow tree. He was instantly a big fan. And so he asked if he could take a cutting home with him - all the way back to Los Angeles. Who does this? My dad.

Somehow the tiny little cutting survived the 6 hour drive back to Los Angeles… wrapped only in a wet paper towel. When he got home, my dad planted the cutting in his own garden and, to be honest, I never really thought much about it again… that is, until we had to clean out his/our/that house.

Tucked way in the back, behind the tomatoes, and overgrown kale plants, and random shrubs and succulents (my dad loved succulents), I found my little curly willow tree. All grown up – strong, thriving, beautiful. I stopped short when I saw it… it took a moment to recognize what it was… and then I cried. And then I decided that I had to have it. We put it in a pot and dragged it out of the garden. And I put my sister in charge of caring for it through the summer until I could come back for it.

It was hot in LA last summer. And watering can be such a trying chore. And my sister can be a lazy good for nothing forgetful. And so, when I went back for my plant over Christmas, it was little more than some long tangled sticks with a few leaves here and there. Enter not-so-pleased Courtney.

Anyway, we watered my thirsty plant, and cut it WAY back, and decided that, with my gentle nurturing, it would be fine. And then we loaded it into my rented pick-up and it made the long journey back to the Bay Area.

And then we had that whole frost thing in California. You know, the thing that killed all the oranges and avocados (grrrrr). The thing that my darling curly willow plant was not so much a fan of.

I woke up the first morning and found it surrounded by ice. The next morning all the leaves fell off. I probably should have dragged it indoors, but it’s not a small (or lightweight) pot, and I’m not exactly smart when it comes to not killing plants. And so it’s been sitting, a dead bunch of brown sticks, since just after the new year. I’ve been so sad. Too sad to even throw it away. I figured I would eventually plant some flowers in the pot and keep it as a nice memento. In the mean time, I just left it. Every morning I would walk by it, and I would feel like such a failure.

:(

And then a few weeks ago, mostly out of sheer desperation, I watered it. Silly to water a dead plant, I know… but some lovely clover had taken up residence in the pot around my dead curly willow, and I thought the least I could do was try to keep the clover alive.

Three days ago, I found this:

!!!!!

My curly willow! It’s alive. Tenacious little plant. :)

Happy Spring, Everyone.

On Starting All Blog Titles With The Word On

I'm easily entertained when I'm sleep deprived. The around the clock work schedule ends tomorrow morning. We should be returning to regularly scheduled blogging around then too. Thanks for hanging in with me.

On Squashing Whatever Spirit Remains

First a bit of background info: They ("they" being the supreme evil entity that I currently work for) just remodeled our cubicles. And by "remodeled" I mean they tore down our drab brown, 10' x 10' life sucking boxes, and replaced them with bright shiny blue, 8' x 8' life sucking boxes. Smaller cubes = More slaves per building. The new cubes also force the occupant to sit with their back (and therefore computer screen) facing the door. (Ummm, hello worst feng shui ever!) All the better to keep tabs on you my dear.

I got an email this morning that actually made me shudder...

"This note is written to inform you of the requirements imposed on the newly remodeled areas. This includes all areas that have the new style cubicles. No bookcases or other non standard furniture will be allowed. This includes second chairs. For those personnel who have relocated to the newly constructed cubicles, you will be given two drawers of additional storage in the 4-drawer cabinets. Drawers will be assigned to you.

Evil Boss #1*, Evil Boss #2* and I have a very short period of time to purge the building of excess data and excess NFI hardware**. This will be accomplished. Everyone will have to live within their storage allotment. The sooner you understand and comply the easier it will be for all of us. Please purge as soon as you can. Its better you do it than we do it.

Thank you for your cooperation,
Management***"


------
*Name changed to protect the evil.
** NFI Hardware is all the neat "extra" work parts/thingamajigs that we're not using anymore. They're either spare parts we don't need , or a development/prototype part, or a part that got damaged at some point. Anyway, being an engineer, I find actual hardware to be REALLY cool. You design stuff on the computer all day and it's neat to see it and touch it and play with it in real life. It helps you learn, and helps you explain things to others. There's no substitute for a good show and tell session with actual hardware. Once the company decides that they're not going to use a part for anything "official" anymore, the part becomes "NFI". The engineers tend to keep these NFI parts at their desks to play with.... well, at least we used to... I guess now we'll have to "purge" ???
*** Name NOT changed. The guy actually signed the email "Management"... like some scary, mysterious, name-less, face-less being. I swear I'm working in a Dilbert cartoon.

P.S. Happy St. Patty's everyone!!

On The 4pm to 6am Shift

(WARNING: The following is a very bitter post, written on 4 hours of sleep, while suffering from a headache. Anyone seeking a cheery, up-beat blog entry should go seek someplace else. They should also kiss my butt.)

I now understand why they call it the Graveyard shift - it makes me want to kill myself.

I don't remember signing up for this crap at 14 when I capriciously thought "Gee, I think I want to be an Engineer when I grow up." I paid my all-nighter dues in school. And I specifically didn't go the crazy, work for a start-up, live on coffee and Ramen for a few years, and then pray the start-up goes public and make major big bucks route. No, I chose the cush, 9-5, no risk but no real reward, corporate route. I've got the no reward part down... but where's my cush??? Where's my 9-5??? The 72 hours I put in last week certainly didn't feel like your typical, run-of-the-mill, corporate job. It felt like I was being overworked and underpaid with no potential benefit waiting for me at the end. And now I have the pleasure of feeling that way from 4pm to 6am. Super. I hate to sound like a What's-in-it-for-me-er... but uh, WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME!?!? We don't get bonuses or awards. And my department is TERRIBLE about promoting people. Heck, our raises are barely 3%. Why am I killing myself?

UGH! I'm just so grrrr right now. It's probably the switch from human to nocturnal slave working for the man. I'm not taking well to it. Sleeping during the day and being awake all night is looooooooonely, and energy sapping, and it's leaving unsightly bags under my eyes. So. Not. A. Fan.

On Kissing Frogs

Should you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of discovering a wart on one of your otherwise pristine fingers, you should NOT, under any circumstances, mistake that wart for some sort of strange finger zit and attempt to pop it, and then, when said popping attempt fails, stab at it with a needle for several hours hell-bent and determined to get the darn thing to release its pussy disgustingness. Trust me. It’s a bad idea. Just get some wart remover and call it a day.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Rasie your hand if you hate springing forward and losing that precious hour of sleep.

Extra daylight, schmextra daylight. I needed that hour! Stupid farmers.

My Nephew

Isn't he the cutest!?!??!

And Just Like That

Today was miserable.
This whole week has been miserable.
12 - 14 hours a day... EVERYDAY... even Sunday!!!
It can't go on like this.
Work is Hell.
It's been Hell for months.

I spent today weary and disillusioned. Trapped, from 6 am on, in a clean room kept at 70% humidity. Wearing a sweaty clean room coat and fugly clean room bouffant on my head. Fighting with software, and hardware, and all sorts of big company red tape garbage. It was ugly.

At 4:30 pm I looked at my watch. CRAP! I actually forgot to do my homework and go to school today. Just plum forgot. Because I have no idea what day it is anymore. Because everyday is a work day. Because everything sucks.

I'm so tired.

As I was driving to school (late... to meet my lab partner and attempt to explain how it was that I FORGOT to do and turn in my half of the homework assignment) feeling quite exhausted and quite pitiful in my sorry little state, I got a phone call.

It's gonna be a boy. My brother is having a little boy!

Instantly! The cloud is gone and I'm (tired, yes, but also) refreshed and feeling blessed. Suddenly it's squeals and baby names and visions of little boy toys. It's a bouquet of blue flowers sent next day delivery. It's triumphant shouts of "I *knew* it was boy! The magic necklace is never wrong!!" It's the thought of our family name being carried on for another generation. It's the best day ever. Just like that.

:)

One Of Those Days

In the ladies room at work this afternoon I realized that my shirt was, and had been ALL DAY LONG, on backwards.

I left it.