Following Edge

Here's what my new office desk looks like. We just moved in today. Everyone thinks it's a big improvement from the underground office where I was working before, but I never minded it, even though there were other reasons that I had to move.

Maybe the windows will do Keith and I some good, but I'm just happy to have slipped into the office feeling  comfortable and productive within an hour or two.

As usual, despite the small space, there's room for Lauren to nap on days when I need to pick her up from school. I told her that we wouldn't be visiting the "underground" any more. She was sad, but eager to see the new office. It may be almost a week before she gets to visit the office, but I bet she'll like it.

After recently suggesting changes at work, I'm pleased about the company's vision and upcoming changes in my job.

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I finally made some decisions about my job. Oh, and I got Phillip, our favorite handyman, to come by and fix the leaks in our roof. Hopefully, his $50 of work will have our house totally dry and comfortable. Oh, and Lauren and I finished reading "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" and are now on to the next book in the Chronicles of Narnia, "The Horse and His Boy", which is a good book.

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I took a trip to Portland overnight for unexpected work.

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A situation at work comes up suddenly.

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Tossing aside my usual "Following Edge" mindset, I upgraded to WordPress 2.0 less than a week after it was released. Of course, I am a member of the Wordpress "testers" mailing list, so I've known about some of the issues and concerns about the new version. I was also very careful in comparing the upgrade to the old (1.5) version.

Even as careful and informed as I was, my impression is that most people could switch to WordPress 2.0 using the simple upgrade instructions, without my careful methodology, and have no trouble at all. In fact, despite people's concerns and talk of unresolved bugs, I think this upgrade from 1.5 to 2.0 was not as significant and difficult as the upgrade from 1.2 to 1.5.

You'll probably notice that things look identical, which I think is a good thing. The "behind the scenes" stuff is quite a bit fancier, with a what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor, easier image uploading, etc. I don't know if that's a good thing, since I didn't mind the old way. I know that a number of local Eugene bloggers use WordPress (even though my friend David has long forsaken WordPress for TypePad). I suppose the upgrade could be fodder for real blogging discussion at an upcoming Eugene Weblogger Get-together.

I didn't really upgrade for myself. First, I wanted to be sure that my Efficient Recently Commented posts plug-in appears to work fine with WordPress 2.0. In fact, all of the plug-ins I use seem to be having no trouble.

The second reason is that there's a new project afoot at work that will probably use WordPress 2.0 for managing articles and other content published on our various web sites. I had previously started the project with the older version, but put the project on the back burner after the person that was going to use it left the company. Now, there's renewed interest, so if someone new is assigned to use it, I'll probably get it set up for the company in the next month.

Despite how many imagine the lifestyle of the telecommuter, I don't believe that most spend all of their time working in their pajamas (or underwear) as many wisecrackers like to suggest. Today, however, I spent almost the entire day in my pajamas bent over the computer still trying to plow through my backlog of work, support calls and emails, and an online timeclock project which should have been completed weeks ago.

So, dinnertime arrived and I was still in my pajamas, so I decided I'd stretch the pajama day to bedtime. Anne Marie and I made cookies and Lauren watched a movie and decorated cookies. The picture here is from when we decorated the tree earlier this week. Hard to find Lauren, as big as the tree is.

Recently, my work activities have me thinking about creative solutions.

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I visited Redmond for work, things went well with Keith's help, and I'm looking forward to returning home to the family.

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A project I recently completed for work involved the compexity of integrating in two directions with a "legacy" computer system. I'm spending some time with Lauren and anticipating a visit from my dad.

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I'm pleased to be done with a project for work.

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Unexpected technical trouble has kept me busy over the Thanksgiving holiday, which we spent in Portland.

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Hey! Feeling much better today. I can't be sure what changed yesterday to improve my mood. Here's how it went: Spent half the day sitting in a room on jury duty. I was assigned to a group of jurors called "the mutts", which I guess is better than being in "the poodles" or "the labradoodles". I got a haircut from Tia. Gave her a big tip for doing such a nice job. Got my cell phone bill, so I can send off for my cell phone rebate. Love that paperwork! Got some good love from Anne Marie and slept well. Or maybe it had nothing to do with love or rebates or jury duty and was just a fluctuation in hormone levels. In any case, I'm feeling much better.

Now I can get on with things I'd put aside:

Eugene Weblogger Get-together planning. Hmmmm... cancelled for this month. Hey, that was easy planning. I'll set up a date for November as soon as I coordinate with Kinsey, who may be able to join us while visiting Eugene.

Catching up with work. I reduced my pending emails from 12 to 4. Mostly by deleting. Hey, that was easy too.

Essential household chores. I did the laundry. Easy.

Fixing the broken TV and terminating our renters' lease. Oh, drat! Not done yet. Maybe tomorrow.

It's nice when I'm feeling better. Thanks for staying tuned during my technical difficulties.

My work has been busy, with interesting technical hurdles, and looks to be busy in the near future.

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I'm experiencing depression, maybe related to being sick for 11 days, worrying about the Eugene Weblogger Get-together, needing to write an eviction notice, and work stress.

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I've been managing crises at work, running out of gas, and having conflicts with our rental tenants.

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A reorganization has resolved an issue at work and I am now addressing interesting technical challenges, while enjoying recently increased Apple stock prices and plans for a weekend at the coast.

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