Had an absolutely amazing dinner with Ms Si at Visions Lounge in the top of the Renaissance Hotel @ 6th & Madison. The view and the ambiance were lovely. All seating is lounge chairs as opposed to wooden ones - and tres comfortable at that. It was very condusive to good conversation. They have a sweet happy hour(s) (4-7) with a bunch of very yummy sounding $2 appetizers. Am definitely going back. The truffle fries were sooo worth it!

So, I've never drank much port.  I've never really had the opportunity and when I did - I didn't know!  I swear I didn't know what I was missing!  Recently I've had the opportunity to try a few and the combo that really gets my taste buds excited is tawny port paired with salted caramel. 

Nathan took me out tonight for a rather more extravegant date than is our usual (in a bid to save my sanity, but it was too late :D ), and lo!  did they have chocolate truffle cake with a salted caramel sauce!  And so I went for it and ordered a 20 year old tawny port and wow!  it was like I would imagine drinking amber would be like if reality wasn't so pesky (yes I was that kid who stuck everything in my mouth) - smooth,  caramel-y, honey, sweet-but-not-sweet, not too dry, not too fruity - complex, and with an inner glow like a piece of amber.  I could spend all evening trying to describe it and not be able to.  

In short I had the HP Lovecraft of ports. ;-)  

I need to host an evening of Port, sea salt caramels, and my coup-de-grace, from-scratch butterscotch pudding.  Oh..  and some other food would be ok too...   

( Reading meme from Kim )

Jessica and I have a goal - one day we'll get together after work for just an hour and then get home at a decent time.

We're still working on it...  I think we just need to practice a few more times and I'm sure we'll get it. 


Fortunately our husbands have no such illusions. :-)  

I was reflecting the other day that I'm really glad I do work in this biz.  The job may seem stressful and thankless sometimes, but everyone I meet and work with is generally competent and has a few critical thinking skills.  I do think that's because most people are in it because, for whatever reason, they get a kick out what they do.  The money is decent, but not so decent you couldn't make more elsewhere and those people generally tend to get out. 

It also helps that Megacorp Inc shared a thank you letter from a very polite passenger (on that plane that ditched in the river in NY) who wanted us to know that he appreciated the job we did on the Auxillary Power Unt that kicked in and kept the flight controls and communications operational after the engines went.  Stuff like that really does make your day.  I didn't personally work on it, but it was a great reminder that I do sincerely work with some world-class engineers in an industry that fascinates me, and that's not something to take for granted. 

So after a long day of work Wed, I needed to stop by the grocery store. Needed some veggies and yogurt and a couple other things. Didn't take long which was nice. It had been a long day and I was tired - the kind of tired where your head hurts and you feel like you have a headache but you don't. Fuzzy, beat-up tired. My feet hurt. I was really looking forward to going. home.

( here's what happened next )

1. Drink more water - I'm horrible about this. I hate water. But darn it - it's good for you and I ought to drink more of it.

2. Work out more consistently. I seems like I'm either 'on' and never miss or 'off' and can go for a month without a good workout. I have the time, just need to stop making the excuses.

3. Entertain more simply. Sure I find cooking relaxing and I absolutely adore coming up with new recipes, but I think go overboard and make some folks uncomfortable. So I ought to tone it down and make it simpler. Yep, right after this next time. Honest.

4. Stay in more. I haven't counted, but with the exception of the month of October we were out more nights than we were home just about every month this year. This really needs to slow down. I am such a 'planner' though and I have no problem finding things to do and people to see, so pretty soon we're out more than we're in. I do think we ought to have more quiet evenings at home. (big talk seeing as how I have every weekend fully booked til the 1st of Feb - *sigh* I'll keep working on this one)

5. Write in my LJ more. I really should be doing some quick blurbs on what we're up to and how things are going. I realize life goes by in such a blur that sometimes it's hard to remember one year to the next and I should keep more of a record.

I think that's enough for now.

And it's still winter darn it! I want to be out in my my garden right now! I get spring fever so bad right about this time of year. I'm sick of being cooped up, sick of the short days and want to go smell the dirt as it awakens for spring. I bought some spring bulbs (lilies, gladioli) and so this weekend we did a little cleanup on the front bed and I'm working out a planting plan. I'm thinking I'll actually get some gardening software so I can keep track of what I'm planting where and make note of how different things worked.

The previous owners had a bad habit of putting inappropriately-sized plants in poorly thought-out locations so there's going to be some digging to do. Sometimes I can make stuff like that work if it's just cosmetically jarring, but the CO spruce that is going to grow to 60' and is planted smack under the power line has got to go, as does the hydrangea planted 12" from the corner of the garage. I'm excited to see if my 2 little japanese maple cultivars did ok over the winter. This year they get bigger pots and maybe next year into the ground. This is also the year to take my black lace elderberry out of it's pot and find it a permanent home. Same with the walking stick tree. We also have a very mature rhodie being squeezed out by two mature Camelias that could use some translplanting. It'll be nice to get a head start on everything this year. Last year we were so focused on the interior after we bought the place that the garden was neglected til May. Tis very good to get the beds in shape while the ground is cool and moist. We did fall clean-up and mulching, but now we need to cut back and get the winter weeds. Almost time for the hard rose pruning and definitely time to cut back the pampas grass. I missed my garden!

I work waaay too hard at not being stupid. This does not mean I'm 'smart'. I'm not. I realize it's a silly thing to b*tch about but I wish people would stop talking about how smart I (supposedly) am. It makes me extremely uncomfortable. If I were so d@mn smart I wouldn't make so many dumb mistakes.

Haven't seen a meme this widespread in ages - simply had to go see for myself.

( Read more... )

Really though - quite accurate.

How many of us really get to do what we love? How many people wouldn't let the door hit them in the @ss if they won the big one? I consider myself fairly lucky. Oh I have plenty of days where my job is stressful and I don't love some of the things that come with it, but I adore my work - I get to solve interesting problems, work with lots of fun toys, have awesome, competent co-workers, we work great as a team, there is little in the way of politics or personal drama, and we have management I respect. How much more could you ask for?

Well, I have moved to a new gym much closer to the new house (2 blks north of work actually). I made it irrevocable by going through the hassle of cancelling my old membership. Seriously - the place is almost 10 miles out of my way now that we've moved, so how realistic is it that I'll make it now that it's not just a brief jog south of the house? The new one is less than $10 more a month since I get the membership subsidized through work. However, I feel much trepidation about the new one - the old one was very utilitarian and no frills, the new one is just about as swanky and high-brow as you can get. They have lots of amenities (including valet parking and a full service spa) and a locker room that is twice as big as our house and nicer than most 5 star restaurants. I. Am. Intimidated.

So we move - a lot. For years I moved 2-3 times a year. During the last 5 years it's only been once a year or even once every two years (except for the unfortunate time we moved to Redmond when we moved twice in one year again and happily paid $1K for the privilege). But we move a lot. Only 2 years out of the past fifteen have I not moved once, twice or three times (even a couple years with 4). Up til we broke down and bought furniture a few years ago, I have always been ready to throw my belongings in a car and leave without looking back within 4-5 hours.

Sat we just moved into a house where we don't need to ever move again if we don't want to - for. the. rest. of. our. lives. I have never felt more conflicted. Is this how guys who can't commit feel when they find someone they could potentially settle down and be happy with? I am happy, but I was happy being a semi-nomad too. I'm not one of those who thinks a piece of land or a house somehow makes a home. I read stories of people who won't leave their homes in times of conflict of emergency (flooding for example) and I don't get it. Home is inside each one of us and I carry it with me wherever we live. Home is me and N loving each other and although the new house will be fine for that - I don't know if I feel that this is the momentous occasion that many of my friends seem to feel it is. Although it dedfinitely feels strange.

It's been awefully fun painting the whole place in COLOR! (and apt dwellers know what I'm talking about) That is without a doubt the best part of the whole home-owning thing :D

Well, war broke out on monday and I'm mopping up today. What a roller coaster this week has been. The second I get all my goals for the day finished I am getting the heck out of here! Last week it looked like this would be a quiet week filled with immersing myself in the aspects of the job that I really enjoy and I was very much looking forward to it. Unfortunately on monday I made a finding while I was reviewing a document that brought to light an issue that cause widespread pandemonium and a 2 week slip in the schedule.

What really gets me is that I and several members of my group had previously pointed out this particular risk and despite all our discussions and efforts to head of the situation, another particular group still managed to grab failure from the jaws of success. We work with this group and have to partner with them on various aspects of the project. I hate it because I feel like their babysitter. Honest-to-god you couldn't do this stuff maliciously because it would take incredible amounts of work and planning to time things just right to cause maximum schedule damage at the very moment we are about to make a delivery to our key customer. I am usually very calm, apolitical and solution-oriented when glitches occur - I drive towards the best possible resolution and let the managers play the blame-game, but this time I am just p*ssed.

I am so glad it's Friday.

Well - we are buying one. I never really thought we would, but we put an offer on one and it's been accepted. We got our inspection and made 1 repair request based on that. We've filled out papers for the mortgage company and the title company and all that remains (I believe) is to get homeowner's insurance. This feels really surreal. Moving seems like a good time to document all of our stuff for the insurance policy, but guess we could do it now. We have been realizing that, after years of a nomadic existance where all of our belongings fit into the trunks of our cars, we finally have stuff we care about that would be difficult to quickly replace if something were to happen to any of it. It's finally hitting me - OMG, we're buying a house and we have 'stuff'. Not too much though - we could still fit fairly easily in a 1 bdrm. The new place will have room for the exercise equipment though which isn't such a big deal to me since I started going to the gym, but N would miss it.

Speaking of going to the gym... I've been going very regularly since Sept. I work 6:30 to 3:30 so I can head to the gym on my way home. I've missed for holidays, weather and appts, but otherwise I'm generally there. Honestly - however did I get through the week before I started going? By the time I get outta work I am literally jonesin' for some exertion - I'm counting down the time in the afternoon until I can get out of there and go work out. I don't know how I coped before. Plus now I'm full of energy when I get home and don't just want to flop on the couch and listlessly surf the 'net all evening. I used to have a gym phobia and an inferiority complex about working out with all the 'beautiful people' (lol), but I'm so glad I got over it (admittedly I feel a little ridiculous about it now) and started going.

Doing what I want no less!!! I've been there for a week. It's in avionics again. Thus far it's been pretty much throw-a-bunch-of-technical-docs-at-the-new-girl-and-then-throw-her-at-a-big-unfamiliar-product-and-expect-her-to-hit-the-ground-running - *whew*! Good thing I like that sort of stuff. I don't know how I'd ever manage if someone wanted me to learn something slowly and methodically. Somehow things don't feel *right* unless I am trying to learn 3 things at once at breakneck speed with a big deadline coming up next week. A little stressful but I bring it on myself - I am irresistably attracted to huge messy, tight projects. My job description has changed twice already and I'm enjoying the heck out of myself. I love being thrown at different things with no warning - no. really. I do :-)

I get to do way more hardware than I ever thought anyone would let me do and they are tickled pink that I can handle SW too. And I am also getting nice big chunks of signals (gawd I'm rusty) and RF theory thrown at me. You run into some pretty funky situations around airports and nav beacons and I am studying nights to try to get the gist of the conversations going on around me. OTOH I have been itching to get into the RF and electromagnetic stuff and I will be getting terrific experience.

Oh yeah and I get a raise. Better not tell them I would have taken a pay cut for the chance to get my hands dirty in this area. :D

Question: how many paranoids does it take to change a lightblb?
Answer: WHO WANTS TO KNOW?

Q: How many zen masters does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Two, one to screw in the lightbulb and one not to screw in the lightbulb.

Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: One, but the lightbulb has to want to change.

Q: How many programmers does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: None, it's a hardware problem.

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A mathematician, a physicist, and an engineer were all posed the same question. "If a man and a woman stand on opposites sides of a room and each minute move towards one another so that they are half as far away as they were a minute ago, when will they reach each other?" The mathematicians says, they will never reach each other. The physicist says, they will reach each other in an infinite amount of time. The engineer replies, in about ten minutes they'll be close enough for all practical purposes.

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A proton walks into a bar sobbing. Goes up to the bartender and orders a shot. The barkeep says "Hey buddy, what's your trouble?". Proton says "My electron left me today." Barkeep says "Are you sure it's gone for good?" Proton says "Yeah, I'm positive".

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Later on a neutron walks into the same bar, orders a beer and lays a fiver on the counter. The barkeep gives the fiver back to the neutron and says "For you, no charge."

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Three things to think about...
1. COWS
2. THE CONSTITUTION
3. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

COWS: Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.

THE CONSTITUTION: They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse. You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians - it creates a hostile work environment.

I am so very excited! I have lost enough weight that I had to go have my little black dress taken in - w00t!

I had a lovely dinner...

sirloin steak - med (meant to get it rarer, but oh well)
mushrooms - sautee'd in a bit of butter
chopped greek salad
glass of lovely red wine

The sirloin steak was interesting. I've been noticing that I am gravitating towards leaner cuts of meat and liking them more rare. It's the salty, almost bloody flavor that I'm craving and not overcooking it means it's tolerably tender. Tonight's steak was incredibly tender and yet was a very lean cut - made for a very satisfying dining experience :-)

I had the most surreal dream last night where I was in France watching Don Dokken sashay on stage in a shiney plether jacket and thigh-high boots. Then suddenly I was in my old hotel room (the first hotel in Paris I stayed at) and was looking at myself in the mirror and as I watched my hair grew grey. They greyer my hair got the older my face got until it was glistening white and then my face became young again and Nathan entered my dream and I grabbed his hand and we ran along the waterfront laughing and being silly. The only other thing I remember is that I was wearing a bright orange sari - weird.... Just had to note this since I don't usually remember my dreams. Now I have "Breaking the Chains" running through my head...

It's going to be blazingly hot in Seattle today (maybe) - so I think I need to go peruse the University Bookstore for books on Fields and RF engineering principles (which I've been meaning to do) and get me some WOW. I am also realizing how much trig I have forgotten - Calculus sticks with me for some reason, but I tried to remember the Law of Sines yesterday and totally drew a blank other than a visualization of what it looks like on paper. Think I need to get out my Trig books and review - especially if I want to keep inching towards the EE space.

I've officially started applying for jobs - woot! I won't be able to sit the whole time, but I am hoping most employers will be understanding and allow me to set up a sit/stand situation. However I found an interesting validation position at a medical device manufacturer that might allow me a decent amount of movement in my day. There's a nondestructive test position at Boeing too (which is why it would be good to be refreshed on some EE principles and more familiar with fields). I've been doing so much software though I don't know if I'll be in the running, but I do have a decent amount of experience since I took the CMU through all the environmental and electrical testing (right up to lightning strikes) for the HW changes we had to do for the last project. The EMI labs were totally understaffed so I got to jump in and do quite a bit as opposed to sitting there twiddling my thumbs while a technician ran the test suite. It was a blast and I'd love to do more, but I can't tell if I had fun just because I enjoy learning new things or if I really liked the work. Dunno if I'd like it day in and day out....

At any rate I'm having lunch with my old boss tomorrow, so we'll see if he has any leads for me at HN.