Thoughts about an early start to the workday

Even though I have been starting my workday earlier these days, I kind of like it. It's nice to call it a day early.

On Wednesday, I started my grocery and takeout run at 4 pm. It was great. I'm debating whether I should start my day at 8 am permanently. I have fewer distractions. It's also nice that I don't have to participate in our team's daily chat at 4:45 pm. I find it tedious.

Two more workdays. It helps that this week is breezing by.

The disaster that is a Windows update

On Monday, after I was done work at 4 pm, I had a Windows update on my work laptop that was pending and had it installed. I left my laptop on for another hour before I turned it off for the day.

I started my workday on Tuesday just after 7 am. I woke up too early. In a way, it was good.

I booted up my work laptop. I could not get Microsoft Teams to launch. I needed it to train the new hire. Rebooting and relaunching Teams did not work. I absolutely dislike whenever there's a Windows update. Ideally, it should work. When it's bad, it's incredibly bad.

At 8 am, I started training the new hire. I noticed that no matter what site I was trying to access, I had to enter my username and password, and my credentials could not be authenticated. I then saw a Windows message saying to lock my screen. I did it. Guess what? I was completely locked out of my laptop. Great.

At work, there's a self-serve password reset. I tried it and couldn't connect to the server. Lovely.

I then called the IT helpdesk. The folks there suck. The woman I spoke to said that she couldn't unlock my account and had to pass it over to her colleague. He would call me back. I asked at what number. At my Teams phone number. Um, no. I have Teams on my locked laptop. You can't automatically assume that the phone number on record is accurate. I gave her my cell phone.

I tried logging in after fifteen minutes. Success! I was able to log into my laptop and train. Sadly, I lost an hour of productivity.

The male helpdesk guy called me half an hour after I had logged in. Such a crazy delay! Apparently, since this Windows update happened, many folks have been calling the helpdesk for assistance.

Such a horrible update!

Knowledge and getting shelled with questions

I am one of those breathing fountains of knowledge. A while back, the diva on our team nicknamed me the data bank. I don't mind it.

The downside to being fairly knowledgeable is that people often fire questions at me and forget that I'm a person who doesn't enjoy constant interrogation. How about saying hi first, for instance, before you start firing your questions at me?

I have one friend who has been doing that online in direct messages. It's always a question that he poses.

The weekend, I had proudly mentioned that I got my vaccine shot in a public post. He congratulated me on said post and then privately asked me what vaccine I got.

I decide not to respond. It was the first time that I felt good about not replying. It's always a question. It's never how I am doing or a simple hello. I had had enough.

I am still training a new member of our team from India. Although he is good at asking me how I am doing, I find that he asks questions that are too advanced for his current understanding. It's not horrible, but it means that I have to explain the same concept twice. The first time is a basic version until we get to the actual topic in training where I need to explain it in more detail.

On Monday, I learned that his questions that he had about late last week's training sessions were off, meaning that he had either forgotten or he is the type who isn't the research-on-my-own type.

I have him working on an exercise on his own. We'll see how he does when we meet later on today.

Weekend reflections

Blink and just like that, the weekend is over.

I got two free bubble tea drinks on Saturday. I cooked and baked on Sunday. I also trimmed my bangs and can see again. It was been nice, relaxing weekend.

The spot on my arm where I got my vaccine injection is a tad sore. It's not horrible. I can sleep on it just fine. I only notice it now and again.

My friend and colleague checked up on me after I got my shot. She's sweet that way.

Have a great week, everyone!

Got my first vaccine shot!

I am thankful for getting my first COVID-19 vaccine shot on Friday. Everything went well.

The clinic was at a hockey arena. I haven't stepped foot into one for over a year. It was nice.

Everyone at this arena was helpful, kind, and wonderful. The medical doctor who administered my vaccine shot was so great, explaining what will happen and what symptoms I could feel afterwards. I

 have no soreness in my arm right now. I did have a dull, mild headache. It has since disappeared.

It was a well-organized clinic. My second shot is in August. I took half a day off to get the shot on Friday and will take the other half day then. It's not like I have places to go with my vacation days, so I'm okay taking time off to relax, even if it's getting a vaccination and driving for an hour to get to the clinic.

First vaccine shot today

I am getting my first vaccine shot in a few hours. I have to travel to the opposite side of the region in which I reside. I don't mind the drive, but it'll take me an hour getting over there. 

I decided to take the afternoon off as half a vacation day. My second shot happens in August.

I am happy that I got an appointment.

My intern and training a new colleague

My intern's work term ends in 1.5 weeks. She has been great helping me with recording training videos as I update my training slides. I let her know that I appreciated her help. I'm glad that I did.

In a few hours, I am training a new member of our team. I am ready. It will be different, but everything I seem to do is different!

Training and challenges

I'm not crazy about snap training sessions. I got the word on Monday that I'm to train a new employee. My manager thinks that I can do it the following day. Um, no.

I spent Monday ordering access for this person. I dislike training someone on an application that he does not have access to. That person doesn't learn well without it. Getting access to various applications at my workplace takes longer than it should.

On top of poor planning that's completely out of my control, I start training at 8 am. The new hire is in India. Luckily, I only train for four hours instead of the full eight hours each day.

I'm starting training on Wednesday. My manager did not complain. Monday was to get this person access and wrap up my development work. Tuesday is for wrapping up my work and updating my training materials. As long as I can back up my reasoning, it's all good.

My manager also wanted a high-level training plan. Nope, it goes to the new employee first. My manager has my training slides. He can figure it out there. That's micromanaging to ask me to do more work that is unnecesary. I have been training for years that I don't need to provide proof of my training plans and curriculum.

Ugh.

When I used to conduct onsite training, my manager would drop by. He is a control freak. I'd just ignore him and continue to train. Working from home, he has no control there. Training is zen to me. I don't supply the online session link to him, which is a bonus. He is not the target audience.

I also train in do-not-disturb mode. He has interrupted my training in the past by pinging the new employee. It will be more difficult for him to do that with a contractor who doesn't report directly to him and who will likely be a guest on Microsoft Teams.

Work is fascinating!

Weekend and cooking

I feel like I need another weekend. This one blew by too quickly.

I tend to cook on Sundays. I made french toast and chocolate banana muffins. I also made turkey salad and made wraps.

All were low-carb. I find that I sleep better when I cut back on carbs and sugar. It's cool.

This used to be my playground

On Saturday, I spent some time checking out my old elementary school from the outside. Naturally, it's closed on weekends. It's also closed thanks to yet another lockdown that our province is under.

The general layout and building looks the same. I miss the old playground, though. I had so much fun with an apparatus with tire swings, and more to play on.

I guess hopscotch is outdated. All those lines are gone. However, a square with four small squares in it still exists. Weird.

A lot of memories flooded in. It was nice to reminisce and think of simpler times. 

Weekend and my friend's apartment move

The weekend is finally here. Yay!

My friend and colleague is moving into her new apartment this weekend. She took Friday off from work and let me know through text messages. She has invited me over to her place once she's settled and it's safe to visit friends again.

Getting an apartment in the greater Toronto area does get expensive. She told me that she had asked our boss for a raise. I hope that she gets one, as her starting salary wasn't as great as it should have been.

For the past year, she lived with two roommates. It didn't work out and she prefers having her own space. I get it. We are similar in that regard.

I am happy for her.

Rest and a charcoal face mask

Yesterday, I took half the day off as a sick day. I felt exhausted at around noon. The rainy, gloomy weather outside affected me indoors.

I'm glad that I did. I ended up napping and reading. I felt a lot better with some rest.

I am currently using a charcoal face mask. My facial muscles are so relaxed right now. I look scary in a black mask, though.

Rain and milkshakes

It raining right now. I love the sound of rain. It's relaxing.

Yesterday, I did takeout, which is my usual. I caved and decided to get a couple of milkshakes. There was a buy-one-get-one-free deal happening. I had to.

The milkshakes came in mason jars. I love repurposing them for various uses, such as storing ghee that I've made and looseleaf tea.

The milkshakes were delicious. Not overly sweet. Not huge. They were perfect.

It's okay to treat yourself to something yummy. I'm glad that I did, as I haven't had much sugar as of late.

My next interview

I did well in my writing interview. I have moved to the next stage, which is apparently an on-site interview. I'm not sure if I'm ready for it during a pandemic.

I am hoping that it can be an online video interview instead. I would hate to do an interview in a closed environment wearing a mask.

It's an interesting shift as far as recruiters go. The first one is done. I get a second one. It's that elaborate.

We'll see what happens next. I never expected to go through a set of interviews during a pandemic!

Writing interview

For years, I have been an interviewer. On Monday, I became an interviewee.

It was an interesting session. It was deemed a writing interview. I didn't know what to expect. It was essentially one writer reviewing my writing sample that I had submitted last week and both of us discussing my process to produce the end result.

I felt pretty good after the session. I don't know whether it was good enough to get a formal interview or if that's it for me. I can never truly tell how the other person has perceived things.

A recruiter found my resume online. It has been quite the process. I feel like it doesn't hurt to see where this avenue will lead me.

A productive Sunday

I had a productive Sunday. I tend to cook in the morning. I made a batch of French toast to enjoy throughout the week. The bread has no sugar, which is great.

I also made mini turkey quiches. I'm still using up my leftover turkey, and added spinach and cheese to the egg mixture. They turned out better than I had expected.

My dad needed me to help book a doctor's appointment for him. Everything is done online and he isn't there. He's booked for a phone appointment later on today.

I also finished filing tax returns for my parents. He gave me all tax receipts on Easter Monday and wondered why I hadn't done them on Thursday. I have to work. I do my best tax work on the weekend when I'm not pressured. It was odd. Our tax deadline is always at the end of April, so I didn't understand why he felt like rushing things.

Sadly, the weekend is over. Here's to a new workweek!

Hot flashes

I have taken a couple of days off from posting. All is okay, except for waking up a couple of times this week in the middle of the night.

I believe that I'm experiencing hot flashes. I may be premenopausal. It's weird and interesting.

So far this year, I have had a mini period in February that lasted a couple of days. It was definitely shorter than usual. January and March have been menstrual-free.

My last hot flash was last night. I woke up at 5:45 am and it was unpleasant. I ended up turning on my fan at the lowest setting that's perfect for sleep and I was able to sleep in till nearly 10 am.

I have heard that drinking cold water helps. I may need to fill an insulated water bottle with some and test it out. It has been yet another research topic. 

Big head = smart

I have a big head. Yes, the physical size of my head is large. My graduation cap never fit properly. I do well with knitted toques that stretch, though!

I often poke fun at my head size. The other day, I had this meeting chat with my manager.

"There's so much innovative news that I want to share with someone. I asked myself, 'Who has a big head? I know! Cutiebootie.' So, I'm telling you," he said.

"Should I report you to Human Resources? Yes, my manager said that I have a big head," I replied.

"People with big heads are intelligent. I have a big head," he said.

"My head is much larger than yours in comparison," I said.

It's true. Thus, I am smarter than he is allegedly. Ha!

Panties subscription has arrived!

I have so much to write about, but it'll need to wait a bit. My panties subscription has arrived!

I got these pretty pastel green panties with lace. They feel so smooth and buttery. It'll look much better when all the wrinkles are out, though!

 

 

And the back of the panties:

 

I also got a sleepwear set. I tend to wear the short-sleeved ones with shorts. This set fits so nicely.

Here's the top. I like the little pocket:

 

I took a photo of the shorts folded. They are super wrinkled, so I'll need to do another set of photos once I've washed them. They don't have pockets, but I'm glad that the top does!

I am so happy with this subscription!

So long, long weekend

My four-day long weekend is coming to a close. I start my day with a four-hour meeting that starts at 7 am.

I slept so well last night. I slept in till 10 am. I can't remember when I last did that.

Monday was great. I went out to do some shopping. I needed to get some low-carb bread. I also got a pair of double-walled glass mugs that were 45% off. I have wanted them for ages.

I am looking forward the weekend already!

Getting a compliment that I'm thin

Last Wednesday, I was doing my usual grocery store run after work. There was a woman taking up the middle of an aisle while looking at something. I wanted to get past her, so I could stand behind her. We were both waiting to pay for our items at the checkout.

I was my usual self by excusing myself to get through. I indicated that I didn't want to plow through and hit her. She was nice. We struck up a conversation.

She was telling me that during this pandemic, she has consumed way too much chocolate and that she was chocolate. She wished that she was as "thin as [I was]." She was so sweet!

I am not known to be thin. However, I'm thinking that my cutting out sugar has made a dent in how I look. I know that I feel much better and I tend to sleep better these days. My pants aren't as snug when I wear them. I thanked her for making my day.

She had a lot of items in her cart. I had a handful. I passed by her on my way out the door and she waved to me. I wished her a good evening.

It's nice meeting friendly folks, especially during a pandemic!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope it's joyous and peaceful.

Glee making ghee

Yesterday, I did something different. I made ghee.

I bought a jar a few months ago and have since been in love with the nutty taste of ghee. I was down to the last few tablespoons and went looking for a jar last week. The supermarket that I was at did not have any.

I met up with a friend afterwards and mentioned it in passing. She told me that she makes her own ghee and it's pretty straightforward.

She was right. I made mine in thirty minutes.

I use ghee all the time. It's keto-friendly and it's nice that the milk solids are gone because I am borderline lactose-intolerant.

I won't be buying ghee. It's enjoyable making my own.

Happy Easter long weekend!

My extended long weekend has officially started. I am drinking a beer and just finished watching a hockey game. It's heaven!

Have a safe and happy weekend, everyone!

Being the interviewer and interviewee

I have so much to say, but I'm tired. I'll get around to these posts soon.

I have an interview to conduct at 08:00 today. The candidate is in India. Chances are that the next person hired on the team will require my training this person early in the morning. Luckily, I am able to span it across two weeks, so I'd be training three to four hours each workday.

The other night, I had a thirty-minute discussion with a recruiter. It went well. I am not looking for a job. Rather, this person found my resume and wants to find a position within the company that suits me. It's interesting.

I'll be working on updating my resume shortly.