My boss recovering from COVID-19 and my sleepiness due to humidity

My manager caught COVID-19, as did his entire family. He returned to work yesterday, working remotely.

We had a virtual interview to conduct. I had asked the person who had set up this interview to reschedule it to accommodate my manager.

My manager started losing his voice today. He talked for maybe two minutes during the interview. I did all the talking in the interview with the candidate.

The kicker is that this candidate wasn't a perfect fit right off the bat. I wanted to shut down the interview immediately because she has no writing experience.

Such a waste of time!

Anyway, I didn't sleep well last night. It was way too humid overnight. Having the air conditioning on has made things better. I've been napping throughout the day to make up for my sleepiness.

Staying cool and enjoying my staycation

I spent Tuesday at home. It was hot, hazy, and humid outside. I simply wanted to be in a cool environment.

I spent most of my day writing. It felt great.

This staycation has been pretty good. I will miss it when it's over. For now, I'm enjoying it.

Eye appointment, cafe stop, and writing advice

I visited my ophthalmologist yesterday. All went well. I go back in six months, in my usual monitoring mode. I'm happy.

I got to visit my favourite cafe next door. I was so happy getting a raspberry white hot chocolate and an albacore tuna sandwich. Yum and yum!

A fellow writer at work in California reached out to me asking for advice. I'm not sure how she found me. I hope to ask her that question next. She's apparently new to her project.

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.

Change and missing it

Monday wasn't my finer workdays. I found out that a feature that I had written about before I went on vacation was checked in properly. However, the powers that be moved the feature to a different release version while I was away.

Someone had apparently mentioned this tidbit of information in a mass e-mail. I missed it.

Part of me felt bad. I generally don't miss that sort of thing. Part of me doesn't. Communication isn't stellar at work. I get tons of e-mails. Folks can't make a decision.

Luckily, things have been fixed before this software release. I'd feel bad if the software release went out and someone noticed this issue after the fact!

I may take a longer long weekend. I haven't taken a longer Labour Day weekend in ages. I am typically training a new intern in September. It won't be the case this year.

No doctor call, but I had a nice chat with a colleague about his English skills

As expected, I didn't get a call from my doctor. I left a voice message, letting folks there know that they missed the boat and to call me back later on today. I'll be calling them, too. I don't trust their reliability, which is sad.

I will ask for my appointment to be over the phone. I don't see the need to come into the clinic.

On a happier note, I worked with a software developer on a new feature. After we were done, he confided that he likes writing documentation. He said that if I have any feedback on his written work (he's from Brazil), he'd be happy to get some from me. 

It was nice to hear. I wish that more developers would work on improving their English, if English is their second language. Heck, there are some folks whose first language is English and aren't great at it!

I let him know that I'd be happy to provide feedback. I do it anyway within my team, so it's a natural extension.

Enjoyable Sunday

On Sunday, I had a good day.

I gave myself a manicure and pedicure. Last week, I got rid of my old base coat. On Sunday, I got rid of my old top coat. My polish looks a lot better on my nails with new base and top coats.

I also wrote a lot. I find it therapeutic.

Sundays are enjoyable for me these days. I took a nap. I made myself breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I didn't go out. It was nice.

I now need to get through the week to look forward to the long weekend ahead.

Sorting out things - taking a blogging break

I am going through a bit of a rough patch right now. I am well under the circumstances. I'm sorting out a few things, so I'll be taking a bit of a break here.

Once I have sorted out things, I'll share them with you. I do need an outlet and my blog has always been it. It's difficult to write down how I feel when there are some loose ends.

Productive weekend and WhatsApp for my laptop

Weekends blow by so quickly. Just like that, this weekend is over.

It was a productive weekend. I am doing some writing for a side business project. I got excited about it in the past, got distracted, and then lost some of that excitement. However, it all came back this weekend.

I am to provide content for a Web site. In past jobs that I held, I did both writing the content and putting the content up on the site. It was the case with all Web sites that I designed for me.

I don't control the Web site for this project, so I have to feed the content to a person. It's difficult to visualize how everything will fit. I asked him to post everything and then we can review the site.

The other reason why I lost interest is that most of my writing happens on a laptop. Our little group uses WhatsApp on our phones to chat. It was such a turnoff to provide the content through this app by copying this content from a document on Google Drive.

I managed to install the desktop version of WhatsApp and it made a world of difference. Yay!

Here's to another week.

Friends, work, business, wings, and beer

Even though I was running on two hours of sleep on Thursday, I managed to stay awake and went out for dinner and drinks with two friends.

All three of us worked at the same company over a decade ago. They both left a year before I did. We are working on a business joint venture. I have the writing, social media, and Web site skills. One of my friends conceptualized this business model. The other friend has connections and is a smooth talker. So far, what I have been doing is exciting.

Getting back to dinner, between the three of us, we had forty chicken wings and two pitchers of Sapporo beer. I probably downed the most wings. I don't think that I drank the most beer. Thank goodness!

The good news is that I came back home and slept like a log. I simply need to remember not to drink a large strawberry black tea before I go to bed. Beer is okay.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! For those who are celebrating, I hope that you have a wonderful day.

I am thankful for my friends and family, including you. Thanks for following along and supporting me here.

Take care,
Cutiebootie

Job interviews

A few weeks back, I decided to apply for a managerial job. Normally, I don't expect a response. I got one last week from a talent acquisition person.

I spoke to her on Monday. Everything seemed to check out fine. It was a good thirty-minute conversation.

Several hours later, she scheduled a second interview. I had that one on Thursday. 

Unfortunately, this person used Skype to talk to me. I could barely hear him. The connection was also bad, so I heard every other word.

Despite these technological challenges, I felt good about how I did. I was asked to submit writing samples. It's interesting trying to select samples from my past. It's nice that I have a decent portfolio after all these years. I have two from my past. Tomorrow, I will need to find something at work that I can submit.

This job is a step up for me. Considering that I have been leading a number of writers for a while and have been doing some of my manager's tasks these days, this job seemed like a good fit.

My commute time would be reduced a bit. I would be commuting to the west side of Toronto should I get this position.

I'm optimistic. I also don't mind if I don't get the position. It's nice to do interviews and get some practice.

Last post of 2017 - reflection and gratitude

I just looked at the number of posts that I have written in 2017. I am not sure what possessed me to write 346 posts. Somehow, I did it.

As many of you know, I am a writer by trade. It's simply in a much different form than what you have seen on my blog. This blog is the perfect place for me to unwind, put my thoughts somewhere, and share my fun spanking experiences with the love of my life, my guy.

I want to thank you for reading along this year -- perhaps even longer than that! Your support, encouragement, and friendship have meant so much to me.

I'd like to wish you a safe and happy last day of 2017, and a bright 2018 to come!

Love,
Cutiebootie

Thinking about a former manager who has passed on

Over a decade ago, I moved to the States. It was one of those bold leaps of faith. I didn't know anyone. My skills matched a position as a technical writer.

I was a contractor at Big Blue. My mentor was a gentle soul. He was also my manager. He was helpful in making sure that I was okay and was confident in my abilities.

At the beginning, I thought that I was slow at learning everything. He was encouraging, stating that it was the contrary -- that I was a quick learner.

When I look back, I was a decent writer. I made my deadlines either early or on time. I managed to pitch in and help others, often working extra hours to pick up the slack left by others.

I recall working 12-hour days for 12 days. A student had left the company and didn't do a great job on his deliverables. 

A colleague and I were there on the weekend. We were both contractors. Our manager was also there. We chatted around my office. He was grateful that we were there, pitching in.

When I got laid off, my manager waited till around 16:45 that Tuesday. My office door was three-quarters closed. He knocked and let himself in.

"I am sorry that you got laid off," he said sincerely. "It should have been me and not you."

I can still hear his voice telling me that. It was moving. He was nearly sixty years old and was about to retire.

"It's a business decision and I don't take it personally," I tried to comfort him. "I go home to Winnipeg and there's nothing wrong with that at all."

He smiled and seemed at ease. He let me know that he would be arranging my farewell luncheon. He also got a parting gift for me. It was a Java mug. I worked on the Java team. It was fitting, even though I am not a coffee drinker.

He was generous and sweet. I just learned that he had passed away two years ago from Parkinson's Disease. May he rest in peace.

Job analysis and prospective interview

On Thursday morning, i had to give a presentation to my entire team, which consists of over twenty writers from four different locations.

My presentation went well. I had a couple of technical issues. Otherwise, I was pleased with how it went.

I train folks and meet with students so often that speaking in front of groups doesn't rattle me like it used to. Sure, I still get a little nervous. To me, that's normal. It simply means that I care about what I am doing.

I ended up with an odd acknowledgement from my manager in our team meeting later on that day for whipping together a high-level process description for something that I do often. He normally doesn't make such an acknowledgement in front of the team. It was sweet that those in the room clapped. Perhaps my manager realized how valuable I am as an employee.

I am the longest-serving writer in our group and am the overall team lead for it. It has taken me a while to build up to this stage in my career.

With the job interview on Friday, I assessed whether I would be happy in that position. I wouldn't be a team lead. I wouldn't be coaching other writers. I wouldn't be training students. I love all these aspects of my job.

Sure, I would be saving in highway toll fees, travel time, and gas. I would also be taking a pay cut. It's interesting, but money has never been my main motivator. It's how I feel about the job that makes me happy.

All my development work, meaning writing to support our software products, will go to two other writers. I will focus on a migration tools task, performance statistics, and process work.

I have wanted a change and a reduction in my workload for a while. I will continue training students, supporting my team, and more. I like this change.

I made the difficult decision to decline my interview on Friday. It feels right. The recruiter was understanding. It is the first time in my life where I have declined coming in for a job interview.

I let my guy know. As usual, he is supportive. Whatever makes me happy, makes my guy happy, too. As usual, he is his sweet self.

Testes job being processed

At work on Thursday, I had submitted a job to be processed. I write for a living and needed to see what my output looked like.

Naturally, there can be a number of jobs being run simultaneously. There were five other jobs happening.

One writer ended up creating a project called Testes and submitting a job to see its output. Nope, no joke. Testes.

Maybe I should create its sidekick, Penis.

Naturally, it makes more sense if I submit a job called Spank Me. My guy would make sure that this job would be completed by him!

It's never a dull day at work.

G is for George and God #AtoZchallenge

Just before Christmas, my manager made a comment while a number of us were working that the software development manager (my guy has nicknamed him Sharky, for he seems to be attracted to me and circles around my desk) looks like George Clooney. My manager went on and on about him.

I decided to tease my manager about it, by saying that Sharky was his man-crush and boyfriend. I did it again yesterday when my manager looked at a prospective candidate's photo on LinkedIn, and decided to paint a picture of how tall he is, how much he weighs, and more. He even told me that he is hairy.

"Are you developing another man-crush? First it was George over there, and now it's this new hairy fellow?" I teased.
"Okay, stop," he said.
"Stop what? It's all true!"

My pointing out his boyfriends makes my manager immediately stop talking about them. It's good.

The other day, I decided to look for some freelancing work that I can do on the side. I decided to try one out where you write short articles.

I first got a written interview through e-mail. It consisted of answering a set of questions in a Word document. It was about my education, my degrees, what I do for a living, and a few other areas. Based on my answers, if they were satisfactory, I'd go on to the next stage.

Sure enough, I made it. The next phase was a test assignment. This work consisted of reading a given article, and arguing for or against what the author was conveying.

The topic? Religion. Yes, it was about God. The article was philosophical.

First, I studied a number of philosophers in my last year of high school. I did not enjoy it. Second, I am not a heavily religious person. So, I felt that I was doomed trying to write a three-page test assignment.

However, I am a pretty logical person. I am good at stating my case and backing it up with examples. I did exactly that.

The assignment is due on Friday night. I sent it off on Thursday night. It has references and a bibliography, too.

My view is that if this prospective employer passes on me, I will be okay. At least I did everything I could. It will also be this employer's loss, as I still managed to turn in a high-quality, thoughtful piece in which the topic did not do much for me. However, I gave it my best job. I'm good with that fact.

My guy has always encouraged me to take on some part-time work that involves writing, because it's what I love. He has even encouraged me to have a side business of reviewing and editing people's essays and theses. Perhaps I should try this endeavour should I not get this freelancing gig.

E is for erasing horrible punctuation (a.k.a. my ultimate superhero) #AtoZchallenge

I am a writer by trade. I unwind after busy workdays by blogging here. Strange? I don't think so.

I find that this blog is a nice release for me. I say whatever is on my mind. My writing style is casual. It's all good.

On Facebook, a dear friend sent me this fine video of a grammar vigilante who corrects signs displaying incorrect apostrophe usage:

I see signs all the time where apostrophes are misplaced. Ugh!

This guy is wonderful and made my day.

A disturbance in the workforce where change is constant

I do not know why important meetings tend to be held on Friday afternoons. Most of my team had to attend a three-hour meeting last Friday.

The way that we are working is changing. For a while, I have been doing the workload of roughly two people. My contractor tells me that I should be cloned. I am not sure how most would feel about that option. Perhaps my guy would like to be pleasured often and vice-versa!

I'd say about two years ago, I was reviewing the work of other writers on the team to improve the quality of our team's deliverables. It helped and made our documentation more consistent. However, when a defensive writer decided to resign, I not only handled her workload, but continued mine until I had to drop reviewing everyone's work.

My manager hinted last month that he wants to have me give review work another go, among other tasks. I told him that I need my workload reduced. He agreed. So, writing about new software features on two different teams is off my plate. These tasks go to the contractor that I have been working with for two months. Some of my other tasks will go to the co-op students.

Although I shouldn't have been working on Sunday, I did for an hour. I am training a new co-op student tomorrow. Another one is supposed to also start at the same time, but there is some uncertainty as to whether I'll see her tomorrow.

Anyway, I don't have time to spend reviewing the contractor's work on Monday. So, I decided to review her work on Sunday. She had two tasks to do. Both require rework.

The problem with her is that she is quiet and I have to ask her how she is doing. She doesn't share what she is doing unless she is prompted. It will be interesting to see how she does with the two teams that she has now inherited. I get to break the news to her tomorrow.

So, I will continue to ease her the work on her two teams, as there is a transition period that needs to take place. I am still going to be her team lead, but for one of her teams.

There is a winter storm that starts dumping snow in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I had contemplated getting a hotel room close to work for a night. I then thought that using my hard-earned points should not be devoted towards a work-related goal. Sure, I'd like to be at work to continue training at least one co-op. If the commute is bad, I will simply do what I would normally do -- work from home.

The difference is that I will hold my training session online. It may be a challenge, but it would be better than conducting no training at all.

Change is always present. I am actually looking forward to not directly documenting new software features. I will still be writing, but I like the change. It is much needed. I don't know whether my workload will truly be reduced, as it takes time to train folks to have them become independent and confident.