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enthusiastickCatch-up, part two of a number to be determined.
On Saturday a workman from RCN showed up to bestow upon me the treble blessings of phone, cable internet and cable television. Hooray for a service provider for these things that isn't Comcast. The cable internet is hell of fast, and the phone... is a phone. I haven't been able to get my features to work yet (caller ID and voicemail, most notably) but I'll call and pester them about that if they don't start working in a couple of days. The cable TV, on the other hand, presents a problem. Well, two problems.
The first problem is that it doesn't work correctly. The converter box crapped out maybe two hours after it was installed. I called the help line earlier this week and after minimal holding and not too much runaround they confirmed that it just wasn't working, and volunteered to send a replacement on Saturday at no charge. The second, and slightly more difficult problem, is that now I have cable television where I live. Like good cable, with Scifi channel and Bravo and Spike and things. I had forgotten what a siren call sitting passively in front of a television could exert on me. I must endeavor to not turn into a completely brain dead couch-potato zombie. Potato-zombie? Zombato.
Labor day weekend was good. A three-day weekend was almost exactly what I needed. Work is going well and all, but I needed a reminder that it wasn't always going to be every week day, even if those instances when its not come only rarely. I didn't actually do very much. I drove out to the Cape Saturday night so that I could spend one final day on the beach on Sunday, and also steal a small cache of disused furniture from the basement. I accomplished both of these goals, and as an unexpected bonus totally freaked out my mother at the beach.
I went for a walk on a sandbar, and got farther from the shore than she was really comfortable with, so she sent my father to fetch me. I should point out that, as the tide was going out, I was in very little real danger. The water was getting shallower, you see, so its not like I was going to be trapped out there. Admittedly, the tide going out created a pretty strong current. If I had lost my footing and been unable to regain it for a minute or two, I could have been swept out into the channel. Its unlikely, but it could have happened. But I say, why go to the beach (particularly in some place as beautiful as Chatham bay) if you're not going to take advantage of it?
Now I am back at work. Yesterday all the trainees did prep work for these half-hour group presentations we had to give today as the final segment of our hazard analysis class. This morning my group got together for some last-minute discussion, then we headed out to give our presentation. It went well, I think. I brilliantly had scheduled one of my make-up exams for after lunch, giving me just a half an hour between the presentations and the exam start date in which to review and, oh yes, eat. Fortunately for me the presentations got out early, so I had ample time to eat and psyche myself up (read: stress myself out) for the test.
I am hopeful but not completely confident about the test. My lack of confidence comes from the fact that I won't get the scores back for a week, as this is one of those independently-administered tests. My coworker Tim assures me that I passed, that everyone passed, that despite the weirdly-worded seemingly trick questions mixed in among the total gimmes and the insurance-for-dummies questions the test really and truly was easy. But it was only 50 questions, multiple choice. I need 35 to pass, and would prefer to do better than pass, obviously. So I wait and I hope.
The upshot of the "presentations this morning, test after lunch" schedule is that my brain has completely and utterly shut down this afternoon. No matter that I have reading and prep work that I ought to be doing. Heck, I've struggled just to compose these livejournal entries. My brain really wants to do something mindless, or possibly nothing at all. It is very important that I not fall asleep at my desk...
On Saturday a workman from RCN showed up to bestow upon me the treble blessings of phone, cable internet and cable television. Hooray for a service provider for these things that isn't Comcast. The cable internet is hell of fast, and the phone... is a phone. I haven't been able to get my features to work yet (caller ID and voicemail, most notably) but I'll call and pester them about that if they don't start working in a couple of days. The cable TV, on the other hand, presents a problem. Well, two problems.
The first problem is that it doesn't work correctly. The converter box crapped out maybe two hours after it was installed. I called the help line earlier this week and after minimal holding and not too much runaround they confirmed that it just wasn't working, and volunteered to send a replacement on Saturday at no charge. The second, and slightly more difficult problem, is that now I have cable television where I live. Like good cable, with Scifi channel and Bravo and Spike and things. I had forgotten what a siren call sitting passively in front of a television could exert on me. I must endeavor to not turn into a completely brain dead couch-potato zombie. Potato-zombie? Zombato.
Labor day weekend was good. A three-day weekend was almost exactly what I needed. Work is going well and all, but I needed a reminder that it wasn't always going to be every week day, even if those instances when its not come only rarely. I didn't actually do very much. I drove out to the Cape Saturday night so that I could spend one final day on the beach on Sunday, and also steal a small cache of disused furniture from the basement. I accomplished both of these goals, and as an unexpected bonus totally freaked out my mother at the beach.
I went for a walk on a sandbar, and got farther from the shore than she was really comfortable with, so she sent my father to fetch me. I should point out that, as the tide was going out, I was in very little real danger. The water was getting shallower, you see, so its not like I was going to be trapped out there. Admittedly, the tide going out created a pretty strong current. If I had lost my footing and been unable to regain it for a minute or two, I could have been swept out into the channel. Its unlikely, but it could have happened. But I say, why go to the beach (particularly in some place as beautiful as Chatham bay) if you're not going to take advantage of it?
Now I am back at work. Yesterday all the trainees did prep work for these half-hour group presentations we had to give today as the final segment of our hazard analysis class. This morning my group got together for some last-minute discussion, then we headed out to give our presentation. It went well, I think. I brilliantly had scheduled one of my make-up exams for after lunch, giving me just a half an hour between the presentations and the exam start date in which to review and, oh yes, eat. Fortunately for me the presentations got out early, so I had ample time to eat and psyche myself up (read: stress myself out) for the test.
I am hopeful but not completely confident about the test. My lack of confidence comes from the fact that I won't get the scores back for a week, as this is one of those independently-administered tests. My coworker Tim assures me that I passed, that everyone passed, that despite the weirdly-worded seemingly trick questions mixed in among the total gimmes and the insurance-for-dummies questions the test really and truly was easy. But it was only 50 questions, multiple choice. I need 35 to pass, and would prefer to do better than pass, obviously. So I wait and I hope.
The upshot of the "presentations this morning, test after lunch" schedule is that my brain has completely and utterly shut down this afternoon. No matter that I have reading and prep work that I ought to be doing. Heck, I've struggled just to compose these livejournal entries. My brain really wants to do something mindless, or possibly nothing at all. It is very important that I not fall asleep at my desk...
