Archive of Marcia's Musings June 3-9, 2002
Sunday, June 9, 2002
Relaxation
Yesterday was basically a relaxation day. I got my nails done at 10-ish butwas home by 11:30. In the afternoon, Sally and I napped and later I did a little sewing. Brian and I went out to dinner at Frankie's, Johnnie's and Luigi's (Italian, in case you couldn't tell); good food and great company. ;>) I've got enough left over for two lunch meals this week!
Full Agenda
Today's agenda is very full by comparison to yesterday: This morning, there is the traditional Costco run, immediately followed by a grocery store stop. Then, early this afternoon, we head up to his parents house to meet up with his sister and her family and a family friend that I've never met. We'll take Sally and her motion sickness pills along, and all of us will go to the park to play with the kids and the dog for awhile. Should be lots of fun but I wouldn't look for a post from me tonight if I were you-- I've got a feeling it'll be late enough when we get home that I won't feel like sitting in front of my computer!
That being the case, have a wonderful day, evening and night!
Saturday, June 8, 2002My Graduation Day
This was the day that I graduated from high school. Although I remember that now, I have and never will attend any of the reunions.
Friday, June 7, 2002Thank Goodness its (FINALLY) Friday!!
I am definitely ready for a Friday and a weekend! I'm tired (I didn't end up going to sleep early last night because of icing my knee and HGTV!). Unfortunately, this is the first of our busy weekends for the next two months. This weekend, I have a nail appointment on Saturday, date with my husband (he specifically asked me out to dinner!) and on Sunday, after the almost forgotten tradition of a Costco trip, we're seeing my in-laws (all of them except the ones who live in San Diego). That probably will be the last time that we see my sister-in-law and her family for awhile. Barbie and I spoke a few weeks ago and I reminded her that it would be a wonderful and educational vacation for the kids to come to Maryland and the D.C. area-- that was about as subtle as I get. We'll see Brian's parents again because we're going to be giving them some of our plants before we leave, probably in July some time.
Next weekend, we have a graduation party to attend after a hair appointment for me and the following weekend, we have friends coming over for dinner. Yep, it is going to be a busy couple of months!
Where Do I Begin?
This morning, shortly after I arrived at work, the not so brilliant customer sent an email telling me that she was leaving early and asked when I was going to get the document finished and ready to send to her. I responded to her email by saying that I wasn't in any rush to return it to her because first of all, I wanted to get it right and I was waiting on authorizations from people and, second, she had saidshe was going to be there all day. If she thought about leaving work early yesterday, she needed to tell me about it yesterday. Telling me about it today doesn't help.
I got the document out to her by about 10:30 with basically the same email as before: "Please tell me why you're deleting things-- I can't help you if I don't know why you're doing what you're doing." I've just gotta hope that she reads the email all the way through and responds to the questions of why and what she's doing. This deal is going through a reseller and, if she returns a document to me that doesn't have any explanations in it, I'm going to contact them to have them contact her manager and have him call me to resolve the issues. Maybe he'll tell me why things are being deleted, changed or added. Yeesh!!
See what I mean? I'm ready for a weekend.
Stiffening Up
I'm stiffening up the tension on my stationary bicycle. I've actually got it set higher (stiffer) than I've ever had it before, including before my surgery and I'm bicycling for as long as I am supposed to for my physical therapy. This is a good thing. I'm going to end up doing my legs (and weight loss plan) a lot of good if I'm able to keep it up! I'm actually looking forward to it most days!!
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I was going to do some sewing tonight but I think I'll just get stuff ready for tomorrow night. You have a nice evening, okay?
Thursday, June 6, 2002Great Improvement
The temperature is greatly improved today-- even after my work-out in physical therapy, I'm much more comfortable today than I was yesterday. Brian's still not completely comfortable and Sally seems to be still panting but not as bad as she was yesterday. I ended up being able to sit inside by about 9pm last night because the fans had cooled off the living room to a pleasant 80 and 76 by the time we went to bed. The overnight temperature inside the house was 74 which was really comfortable this morning!
Physical Therapy-- Not Terror-py!!
Physical therapy continues well-- Kristin is a really nice person as is everyone that works at the office. She had to push harder today in order to accommodate the ease with which I was doing the exercises. I also got all the way through my warm-up exercises before my session because I'm usually too tired to do them after (which is what I had to do on Tuesday).
Between her and the orthopedic surgeon, my reports are good! I'm doing well in my recovery-- the disjointed feeling that I have in my knee is not nearly as bad as it was a few weeks ago. I'm beginning to feel like my old self again!!
By the way, thank goodness we're moving out of the area: the doctor wanted to do my other knee in six months!! ARGH!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not So Brilliant Customer
The customer that was the recipient of my recriminations the other day has returned. I attempted to have a conference call with her today but, she wanted to finish reviewing and revising the agreement so we cancelled it until...tomorrow? She returned the agreement and, it was better than the last time with a couple of exceptions: 1) she didn't use "Track Changes" in word-- how incredibly stupid. 2) she can't tell time. Our maintenance service runs from 6am to 5pm PST. She read that to be 3am to 2pm Eastern time. No, I'm not going to let that one slip by quietly-- she made too much of a big deal about it in her email back to me (yes, she actually wrote comments-- 10 of them-- to discuss the changes that she needed in the agreement) that I have to point out the error (and stupidity) of her ways. And, yes, when I send the email back, I'm going to suggest that she use "Track Changes" for her next revision since it would save me about two hours of processing/reviewing time; I figure that'll be her motivation for not using it but, hopefully, she'll get the idea.
So far, and I'm just about finished revising the agreement, I've got about 15 comment points and changes that we need to make. She wants a perpetual agreement and a perpetual license-- not a problem but then you can't buy subscription products or services. She wants a perpetual term on the agreement-- not a problem but I have to have a "Termination for Convenience" clause. There are always trade-offs in this world.
Not as Much...
I'm finding that this week, I'm doing better in my exhaustion level-- I'm not nearly as tired as I was last week and certainly not as bad as the week before last. My concentration is improving-- it has to be with customers as bad as the one I'm dealing with these days!
I've got several emails to write but, if you're someone I "owe", don't count on getting a response tonight-- I'm going to bed early tonight just because I don't feel like I've slept well during this heatwave.
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Take care-- have a nice night!PS: Happy Birthday to Bob Thompson-- Have you received the Eminem CD yet? Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 5, 2002Not Long for this Room!
It is unbearably hot in my office. It was hot-- a real scorcher-- here again today. I went outside to read my book but came in because it was too cold. There's a really good breeze outside right now and I was too cold.
I'm going to alternate the rest of the evening in and outside of the house. I can't take outside for too long because it really is cold and, inside is...unbearable.
Forgive the short post-- please understand that I sincerely hope you are more evenly temperatured than we are right now! Have a nice evening!
Tuesday, June 4, 2002Awfully Early!!
Its awfully early in this end-o-quarter month to complain about customers but boy, did I get a doozy this time!! I have a customer who reviewed our new document-- you know, the one that I did the road show for back in April. This document is designed to be (and really is) much more end-user-friendly than our previous license. It tells it exactly as it is: This is how we license our software.
Well, I've got a customer that, out of the 25 paragraphs of this agreement chose not to modify three-- yes, she did modify the other 22!! She even went so far as to rename the document!! Of course, even though she renamed it in the preamble paragraph, she neglected to follow it through the entire document and attachments! Yeesh!! I have a 67-Comment document that I'll be sending back to her tomorrow. Yes, John (the AVP) and the sales rep are absolutely floored by this woman: she told them that transfer fees could be eliminated. John's reply? "Sure they can and we'd be more than happy to charge you for those new licenses that you'll be needing in Raleigh since you can no longer move the software!" He's really not happy with her-- it won't take much for this one to blow up in everyone's face. Of course, the pitiful end user doesn't have a clue as to what is really going on and doesn't realize that she's about to lose the software that she wants because her negotiator isn't negotiating. This should be a truly interesting case-- I can hardly wait!
New Computer or ? ? ?
Remember how my old computer used to blow up at the end of every quarter-- you could set your calendar to the fact that on the first day of the last month of any given quarter, my computer would start blue-screening on me and stay in that position most of the quarter. Well, guess what happened today? Word died on me-- there was a dialogue box that said something about Windword.exe failing or something. Tonight, the MIS people upgraded my Word version-- hopefully, that resolves the problem but, man, is that deja vu all over again or what?
Druthers . . .
A few weeks back, I mentioned my co-workers husband who is running for City Supervisor in San Francisco. Michael is a great guy-- I know him and know that he isn't a sleazy politician. I wish I could vote in San Francisco-- I'd vote for him, he's that good. If you live in District #6 in San Francisco, I strongly suggest that you check out Michael's website; I'll leave the link up top until November's election, too as I'm sure the website will be updated periodically. He's definitely a wonderful guy and decent politician-- for a change!!
A Corn Popper!!
It is really hot again tonight-- at the present moment, it is 81 in the living room and probably 85 or so in my office (I've got the western exposure-- lucky me!). Unless it starts to cool down soon, I won't be sewing tonight; it is really just too hot back here!!
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Speaking of which, Sally and I need to go cool off in the living room. Have a nice evening!
Monday, June 3, 2002Another Step
Yes, I'm dramatic but you knew that!! I'm referring to my "Goodbye" page-- I've had a couple of comments about being a melodramatist. Well, DAH!!!
One advance is that I brought home about 30 boxes for moving today. I'll probably have more on Wednesday but those aren't the collapsable moving-company-kind. We forgot to mention, too, that on Saturday along with our last California month rent check, we sent our notice to the owner of the house. Our official move-out date is July 31 but, because we knew, we thought it would be a nice gesture to give them as much notice as possible. So far, we haven't heard anything from anyone (the owner or the property manager) which we think may be a little odd but, it could also be the second time we've been wrong about something. ;>)
Other than that . . .
I'm actually feeling a little coldish-- like I've got a summer cold started (Joy, of Joys!). Yes, I've started pounding down the zinc and echinacea to try to beat it before it beats me. I've got physical therapy tomorrow morning for a change-- its my only morning appointment so it should be a new and different way to start out my day, don'tcha think? For tonight, I'm going to be getting the binding pinned on the Denim Dreams quilt. I wouldn't ordinarily do that but, because it is tied, it is fluffier than usual so it would be difficult to sew without pinning it first.
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Sorry so short but there's just not a lot going on at the present time. Have yourself a very good evening!
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