New direction in my life

Those of you who know me well, know that I have been researching my geneology.  I know that I have Italian and Irish as the predominant portions of my heritage, but there is also slavic, Albanian, and other various great cultures in my history. 

Recently, it came to my attention that there may also be Scottish.  My husband may also have Scottish in his background as well.  While I haven't found direct lines and proof, I wanted to capture that heritage and proudly display it.

I have also long felt that I had, maybe not royal blood, but noble blood of some type.  I have always had interests that required fastidious etiquette.  When I was a child, I was very aware of what the teachers at the private school mentioned.  When the other girls heard but ignored the stricture to straightened their skirts under their legs as they sat, I fastidiously not only remembered, but practiced the movement.  When the teachers decreed that skirts must "touch" the ground when kneeling, I quickly informed my mother to adjust my skirts so that they exactly touched the ground, while my classmates had skirts that came mid-thigh. 

I spent hours and hours on penmenship, because the teacher said that a "true lady" could always be recognized by her "penmenship, the backs of her shoes (as they would never be scruffed), and the way she sat (with just her ankles crossed, not splayed so her panties could be seen)". 

I spent time with my grandmothers: learning to cook, crochet, knit, crossstitch, and do other maidenly pursuits.  My mother enrolled me in music classes (so I could be entertaining in a proper way?).  I dreamt of living in the time just before the civil war, when women wore corsets, and had ladies to assist them into dressing in corsets.  I didn't agree with owning slaves, but I saw no problem with having paid servants who were well treated and considered members of the family.  I considered my father the king of the house; my mother his queen, and we three children the princesses and prince. 

When I babysat for the main family that I cared for, the mother had a copy of Emily Post's Etiquette book (that she had gotten as a gift from her mother in law - I wonder if it was a hint.).  Most nights, once the young ones were in bed, I would spend the remaining hours reading that book - learning how to outfit a guest room, the best way to seat a dinner table for guests using name tags, how to write invitations to an afternoon tea.  All things that no normal teenager would likely pursue, but I drank it in, like it was mother's milk.

When I did become engaged and marry, I planned the entire wedding myself.  All the table settings, the invitations, ordering the "at home" cards, having the thank you notes done within the first month after the wedding. it all felt so very comfortable for me to do it all myself instead of hiring some coordinator.  All the things that Emily Post had said must be done, and the way she said it needed to be done.  Alas, the man I had married had little interested in behaving as any of the proper men in the Emily Post book.  We did have children, but we divorced anyway.

Then I met my current husband, and while he was a diamond in the rough (and still is to some extent), he understands my need to follow courtly ways.  My desire to send handwritten notes on heavy paper, written with a fountain pen.  My desire to call on friends and leave a calling card, should they not be at home.  My need to only entertain when the house is perfectly clean, and ready to support overnight guests should a guest take ill or over enjoy the wine.  But it also means that I have very good relations with his family, because I treat them as my own.  His mother is my mother.  His nieces and nephews, mine.  There is no division of his vs. hers that occur in some families. 

So this leads to Highland Titles.  I truly feel in my heart that I am born of nobility somewhere in my family line.  I just haven't found it yet.  I researched several title companies, and I wanted one that would grant me not just a piece of paper, but land that I could bequeath to my children.  I made a mistake with my first choice.  It sounded perfect, but when I asked them what the procedure would be to bequeath the land (for my lawyer's benefit), I was told that while the land was mine, it was only until I died.  That didn't sound like I was purchasing land, which was what they said I was doing with their premium package.  It sounded like the premium package rented me the land and granted me the title, and the standard package granted me the title only.  They agreed quickly to return my money since what I wanted was not what they were selling.  I will grant them that.  They did not give me any trouble in returning the "land" and "title" that didn't match my needs.  It was my misunderstanding of their product.

Another company sold land and title, and the land was large enough on which to build (in some cases, there were already buildings), however, living in the United States, how would I upkeep a building in another country when I have a full-time job still here for at least another 4-5 years before I can retire?  That wouldn't do.  Plus, the cost of those packages were much more expensive.  They also included tickets to some ball.  A nice touch, I am sure, to go to a ball where I could meet other Lords, Ladies, Counts, Barons, Dukes, and perhaps even the Queen, but with a child in school, I am not free to travel on short notice at this time.

So, again, I searched, this time, I did not limit myself to British titles.  My husband is nearly half British and nearly half Irish, but apparently a few Scots snuck in there somewhere, so he too has Scottish blood.  That is when I found HighlandTitles.com.  The site was beautiful and much more easy to understand.  I quickly found that the land was inheritable to whomever I claimed to be my heir.  Land plots come in 4 sizes.  Though the land is not authorised for buildings, as I said earlier, I can't maintain a building from here.  I immediately felt comfortable buying a plot for myself and my husband.  Then realizing that my three children would have trouble sharing two plots, I made a second transaction, getting a plot for each of my children (and the titles that go with them).  Now when I die, I will still have a decision to make, which of my children will get my plot.  My husband's plot will go to the child we had together.  But my plot?  I had two children with my first husband.

Maybe I will just wait.  Time has a way of showing us the way.  Just as time showed me Highland Titles just when I needed it most.  My job is tenuous and may well depend on the upcoming election.  My parents-in-law are both coming to the closing on their lives quickly.  I can see my mother-in-law declining before my eyes.  She will not be with me very long, and knowing the devotion he has for her, my father-in-law will not stay long with us once she is gone.  Once that happens, it will fall to my husband and his sister to lead the family.

My father passed just two years ago, and I was his eldest.  My mother has remarried, so I don't fear losing her soon.  But his sister died soon thereafter, and his brother has had heart surgery.  Soon, that  side of the family will also look to my generation to lead.  I am the eldest cousin.  I will be looked to as the head of the clan.  Having a title won't change what I will do or say. 

I am still who I was a few days ago.  But having the title changes the way I look at myself. It reminds me of my duties to mankind.  I suppose it is like a degree from a university.  The day I got my Associates Degree, I was still the person I had been the day before, but the piece of paper documented that I had studied and mastered certain skills.  The day I got my Bachelors, I was still the same person, but I now had a piece of paper that indicated to others that I had studied that material.  Now, in a few weeks, I will have documentation that will indicate to others that I have spent my lifetime studying how to be a lady.  Some may say, "Well, there is a difference, Highland Titles has no proof that you studied one bit how to be a lady."  Those people would be 100% correct.  Highland Titles has no proof, nor can give any that I am a lady other than that I hold the land. 

To that I say, how many people have I met, who have college degrees who obviously had others do their work for them, and cheated their way through school?  Also, how many people are born "Ladies"or "Lords" and yet have no idea how to gently treat another person?  "The proof is always in the pudding" as my grandmother always used to say.  To those who look on what I have done and claim me a fraud, then it must be by the actions I take toward humanity, not because I chose to buy a piece of heavyweight paper.  And those who choose to admire me based solely on the piece of paper, they are fools as well, as anyone can purchase heavyweight paper at an office supply store and create an entire kingdom. 

Judge me, I ask, not by my name, my title, my degrees, my apparel, or the things I own, but by the way I treat men and women alike.  How do I treat the mayor, and how do I treat the poor homeless veteran.  Do I give them equal sincerity and honor and dignity?  A true lady is named by the way she acts, not by a piece of paper with her name on it, or even a piece of land.  This title from Highland Titles reminds me to be humble, to be charitable, to be cognisant of those around me, to do what I can to better their lives, if I can.  That is what a title from Highland Titles has done for me.  It has reminded me to be a Lady.

SharePoint 2010 Content Type Disenfranchized from Syndication Hub

Content Types sent from the syndication hub across the enterprise are one of the biggest benefits of the syndication hub.  It allows standadization across the enterprise, and a way to ensure that the entire enterprise has access to the same authorized content types.  There is a catch though.  If the content type is changed at the local level, it *can* then detach itself from its parent in the syndication hub.  You will be able to tell this has happened when changes made at the syndication hub are no longer being accepted at the local level and you are seeing messages in the content publication log that say that there was a preimport check that failed because a particular column from the content type found a pre-exising column with the same name as a column needed by the content type.

Until now, the only resolution I had found for this was to delete any content in the corrupted library, then delete the corrupted content type.  Then I could delete the corrupted site columns from the local site columns.  Once all that was done, I could repush out the content type from the syndication hub.  As you can imagine, this is not a great solution if there is live content on that site.  So, I contacted MicroSoft.  Their solution was to read a blog that discussed this very problem.  Unfortunately, the solution was this very solution, and had been proposed by me.  I was not very happy that the best they could do was give me my own solution. But, I followed my own advice, and sadly moved forward.

Then, I had another library get corrupted; actually, several.  I don't know how they got corrupted, but this time, there was more than just a few live documents, but hundreds of thousands because we had already migrated content from 2007 to 2010.  There was no considering deleting the content this time.  I had to have a different solution.  I spent some time with my largest coffee cup and my dog.  We needed a fix and we needed it NOW.  And then something came to me.  Instead of trying to make the children accept changes maybe what I needed to do was change the parent to match the errant child. 

If I changed the parents so that they were the same as the child, then all the content types would again be in sync.  Then maybe if I changed it back at the syndication hub to the original parameters, they would all change back to the desired configuration together.  It was worth a shot.  After all, what could go wrong?  The ones still connected would change, and then just change back.  The ones not connected, if they didn't reconnect wouldn't be any MORE disconnnected.  But, to cut to the chase, IT DID WORK. :)

It does take a few steps and quite a bit of patience, but let's face it, being patient is what is needed when you choose to work with Windoze in the first place.  So, get your self a cup of java and settle in.

First, determine the list of sites on which the content type (ct) is broken.  You will refer back to this later.  Also, make a list of the values of the columns on the broken site(s).  Hopefully, your sites are all broken in the same way.  If not, you will be doing this in waves.  Luckily for me, all my sites had the same set of fields broken in the same way (i.e. three fields were set to "optional" that were supposed to be "required") so this is what I will illustrate fixing.

Now that you have the list of broken sites and the list of the columns and the states that they are in, you are ready to fire up the Content Syndication Hub (CSH).  Go to the CSH Site Settings->Content Types and select the ct in question.  Write down the way the columns *should be* for the ct when it is in the fixed state.  Save this configuration.  You will need it later.  Now change the values of the ct to match the *broken* content types as they are on the broken sites.  Now "manage" the publishing for this content type and republish it. 

Good, get another cup of java, and we will now go back to the broken sites.  On each broken site, go to site settings->content type publishing and check the "Refresh all content types" box and click OK.  This may take time depending on how many sites you need to visit.  Once you are done, get another cup of java.

Now, it is time to fire up Central Administration.  I hope you have administrative rights.  Go to Monitoring->Timer Jobs->Review Job Definitions and then select Content Type Subscriber for the correct web application on which your sites are housed.  If your site collections are on more than one web app, then you will need to run it on more than one subscriber job.

Make sure that you allow the job sufficient time to finish before moving on to the next step each time.  I have found that the Content Type Subscriber job can take a long time, and sometimes it appears to stall for a very long time.  So, you may need multiple cups of java to get through this.  This is not the time to give up coffee!  This is not the time to have a weak bladder.  But, if you are patient, this can fix the issue where somehow the local ct has had the status (required, optional, hidden) changed. 

I have not tried it in the case where the default value of a column has been changed locally in the list instead of by using the Column Default setting in the library settings, which is the only SAFE place to make that change.  The only reason I have not testing this is because I don't have a case where I have a library broken in that way right now.  Should that come up, I will certianly test it and report it back here.

Metadata - data about data

Over 30 billion documents are created and consumed every year and over 85% are never retrieved. Fifty percent are duplicates in some way.  Most often, because people are afraid they will never find the original again, so they make a copy for their own use.  That copy is then modified, and becomes a different version of the original.  For every dollar spent to create a document, ten are spent managing it.  This data comes from Combined Knowledge LTD & English, Bleeker and Associates, Inc.

As you can see, finding documents ("findability") and managing them cost a lot of money.  So as a community, it is important for us to devise a better way to put them into our collaborative systems so that retrieving them is more efficient.  This is called "putability". 

Originally, the organizational structure was limited to folders.  No matter how logical the system may have seemed to its creator, it wasn't always as logical to the person searching for the data asset.  Several systems came along whose purpose was to assist in the structure of the folders such that items would be more "findable", for example ISO 9000 standards.  While not just a logical filing system, it does include standards that direct the management of files.

Most filing systems sort files based on some common attribute, for example, name.  In a school's filing system, students' physical records may be filed in a filing cabinet according to their last name, and then by their first name.  Perhaps, those records are also divided by the class the student is in (freshman, sophomore, junior or senior).  Maybe the folders are colored blue or pink to designate girls or boys.  These attributes (the name, class year and gender color) are metadata.  They are data about the data in the file, i.e. the student.  By combining those different pieces of data, the workers in the school can more quickly find the student about whom they need information.

With SharePoint 2010, we have the same advantage, but brought more to the forefront and digitized for us.  We have digital metadata.  We can set up columns (either the prebuilt columns that come with SharePoint or custom columns) and fill those with the type of data we need to store on our data asset.  Those columns can be searched using the search center in SharePoint.  If we enable Managed Metadata, we can even create new datatypes that can be used as data on our data assets and search by that type of data as well. 

SharePoint libraries can be configured to use a faceted filter that will bring back data assets which meet criteria in the following categories: Content Type, Choice Field, Managed Metadata, Person or Group Field, Date and Time Field, and Number Field.  The Metadata Navigation Filter acts similarly to the search on the Best Buy web site, where a user can narrow down his or her search for a television by brand name, size, resolution, screen type (LCD or Plasma), and price range.

This type of filtering is much more intuitive than folders, and therefore more usable and sustainable, and makes our files more findable.  Files can be found using the faceted filter immediately upon checkin, even before the crawl has been run, whereas advanced search (as powerful as it is) can't be used until the crawl is complete.

Of course, there are some drawbacks to managed metadata.  It cannot be used in datasheet view.  It cannot be used in Infopath forms.  It cannot be used in sorted  columns (which is why the faceted filter is provided).  It cannot be used in filtered views where the filter uses "contains".  Knowing these drawbacks upfront helps one decide whether metadata is for you. 

Little gotchas in Content Syndication

There are always little gotchas.  One of the ones that bugs me the most is default values.  I create a farm wide content type to be used across the entire farm, but on different sites, some columns will need default values but on those different sites (or even on entire site collections) those defaults will be different.  So, I can't set them at the hub.  But, I have had Site Collection Administrators mistakenly try to set them at the Site Collection or Library level, and in doing so, they break the umbilical cord from the syndication hub.

So, how exactly can one use a syndicated Content Type and still have different default values and NOT break the umbilicus? The answer lies in Library Settings.  If the Site Collection Administrator (or other person with proper permissions) can go to the library settings and in the first column on the left, there is a link that says Set Default Column Values.  THIS is the correct way to set default values for columns that are coming in from the Content Type Syndication Hub.  Setting the default value here does NOT break the umbilical connection to the hub.

However, clicking on the column name, and then clicking the "Edit Column" link, is the WRONG way to set the default value for a column that comes from the syndication hub.  Changing the value in this way will break the umbilical cord and a -content type changed in this way will no longer accept updates from the syndication hubs.  So, if you are interested in keeping the content types connected to the hub, remember to only set defaults using the link within the Library Settings list.

Managed Metadata and the Term store

The Term Store is a big part of using the Content Syndication Hub.  By using columns made from managed metadata, we can really control the standardization of the Content Type across the farm.  With the Term Store, we can make adjustments to the values within the term store and have those adjustments be populated out across the farm, just as changed to the Syndication version of the content type are populated out across the farm.  Together, these are very powerful.

In order to use the Term Store, one needs access to Central Administration or access through Site Collection Features to the Term Store Administration link.  From there, the first steps is to upload the original Term Store information.  Initially, Term Groups need to be created.  Term Groups are the equivalent of site columns.  They are columns that have data in them, but that data may be further differentiated in a tree configuration.  So, if the Term Group is States, the first level would be the state names, but under each state name, there could be city names, under the city names, there could be county names, under the county names, there could be area names or neighborhood names.

Changes to the Term Store require a timer job that runs (typically) once per day in the middle of the night.  The timer job schedule can be change to run at a different time or on a different frequency, but it can also be run manually by going to Central Administration->Monitoring->Job Definitions and then going to Taxonomies which is on the second page of jobs. These jobs can also be run on request at any time by going to the Job definitions and choosing the Run Now button.

Content Syndication Hubs and SharePoint 2010

Ever create a great document library, have all the columns set exactly the way you wanted to have them, and then wished you had them across the entire farm? I could just template the library, you say! Sure you could! :) So you spend the afternoon making the template, and copying it to all the sites you need. As you finish the last one and push your chair back from the desk and reach for that Snicker's bar, your boss stops by and asks how much trouble it would be to change the Comment field to a Multiple Line text field from a Single Line text field, change the Start field from a Single Line text field to a Date and Time field, and add a new field called OriginationLocation that would be a Single Line text field?

"On all those sites? By close of business today? Sure, I can get them done", you think. As you chew your candy bar, you wish you these three columns had been defined before you made that list template. Each library will now need to be changed individually or deleted and recreated with a new template. Oh well, there goes the rest of the day. How could this have been avoided? By using the Content Syndication Hub and SharePoint 2010! Let me illustrate this by rolling back the clock, and replaying this scene at MY desk.

I wander out of the elevator, eyes barely open, coffee steaming from my mug. "Wonder what today will bring," I mumble as I drop my lunch off and hang my coat up. As I enter my cubicle, I see my mohawked cubemate sitting in front of his computer, load balancing the virtual servers. "Morning!" I call out as I put my purse in the drawer, slide my ID card into my computer and enter my PIN. "Anything?" "Nope," he replies, "All quiet." "Good, I think," as I settle down and open up my browser. I click open a few tabs. First, I hit Central Admin, then I hit my CSH - Content Syndication Hub.

New custom content type - I pull out the list of fields needed. There are 23 fields needed. No problem. On the Content Syndication Hub, I go to Site Actions->Site Settings->Site Columns. From here I look at the columns I need to make. Hmm. Six of these are going to be hidden columns used only for transferring data by a console app being written by one of our developers. No one by he and I will see them. I think I will cluster them together in a group called TFR Columns so that they are easy to find. I create each one as a custom site column and make sure that the column type is TFR_Column. I mark each one as Hidden. Okay, six down.

What else do I have? Ten are related to Finance and will likely be used again for other Finance libraries, better put them in a cluster too. I create each one of those and make sure that the column type is Finance. Sixteen down and seven left to go. Those are just generic custom columns. That'll do for them.

Now that I have created all the needed columns, it is time to make my content type. I go to Site Actions->Site Settings->Site Content Types. I give my new Content Types its name - MN Document, based on the regular Document content type. Then I "add from existing site columns" and add all of the columns that I just created. Then I Manage Publishing for my content type, and click the Publish so that my content type will be sent the next time content types are published. Great now to actually publish it.

Over to Central Administration, I go to Monitoring->Timer Jobs and I run the Content Hub and the Content Subscriber jobs. Now, all the sites that are on those web applications have access to my new Custom Content Type - MN Document!

I go to each of my site collections, go to advanced settings, enable content management, and add my new content type, add it to the libraries where it is needed (and delete the plain document content type if I want the new content type to be the only one in the library.) I am done.

As I push my chair back from the desk and reach for my tea bags, intent on a nice hot cup of cranberry-fennel tea, my boss stops by and asks how much trouble it would be to change the Comment field to a Multiple Line text field from a Single Line text field, change the Start field from a Single Line text field to a Date and Time field, and add a new field called OriginationLocation that would be a Single Line text field?

"On all those sites? By close of business today? Sure, I can get them done", I say, "No problem. I will have it done in 30 minutes. Just let me grab a cup of tea." I saunter into the kitchen and pour boiling water over my tea bag and honey. I watch as the bright red color swirls out of the bag and into the water. Mesmerized, I just stand there for a moment, then I remember that I have work to do. I walk back to my desk and put my ID card back into the computer and log my PIN back in, and switch back to the Content Syndication Hub. I click on my new custom content type, MN Document. I make the changes my boss mentioned. After checking them over, I click on the Manage Publishing for my content type, and click the Republish option.

I go back to Central Adminitration, and head back to the timer jobs. I rerun the Content Hub and the Content Subscriber jobs. Then I refresh the browser that has my first library. Sure enough, the changes to my content type are showing. I check each library on each site that is using my MN Document. Yep, all of them are now showing the change. Well, that was easy.

My tea has now fully steeped and the flavor is at its best. I lean back and take a big sip. My update is done; I should probably send my boss an email. You know, let him know I am done. Well, it can wait until I am done with my tea.

Repurposing this blog

I haven't written any blog posts in a while. I have been busy working on SharePoint 50+ hours a week for many weeks, months, etc. First it was on SharePoint 2007 and lately, SharePoint 2010.


I started in February or March with a project to create an archival solution for SharePoint 2007, and that will be detailed in another post, but that project eventually led to the realization that we needed a Records Management solution, not just an archival solution.


So, I am going to repurpose this blog from a blog about just random thoughts to a SharePoint centered blog, at least as long as I am a SharePoint engineer anyway. This will be the first post in a series (I hope) about Records Management solutions using SharePoint 2010. I may go back and also detail some of the solutions we developed in 2007, though, those are of less importance since we are quickly migrating away from 2007. I envision that if I do detail any of those, it will be in reference to how to move data from 2007 to 2010.


If you liked my old blog and you miss it, I am sorry. This will probably will be in the same style, just about different stuff. If you didn't like my old stuff, but like SharePoint, maybe it will have information you will like or need. If you didn't like my old stuff and you don't like SharePoint, why in the world are you still reading this?

Strange

I got an email from this blog site, indicating that my blogsite is attached to a particular email account. Strange, I didn't ask which account it was associated with. Probably means someone else was trying to login to this account. Tough luck, whoever you were. :) This is still my blog, and only I can post here. Nanny nanny boo boo. :)

Okay, I am being childish, but I am feeling childish today. Yesterday, I found out that my employer, well, the base on which I am employed, it not only being disestablished (I knew that), but the # of contractors (I am a contractor) in my department (the IT deparment) is being reduced from 137 to 29. The entire base is being reduced by a ridiculous (as far as I am concerned) amount, but to reduce IT by the amount they are discussing is unbelievable, and to expect to be able to continue to provide the needed services with 1/5 the contractors in our specific department it ludacris. We have only contractors. There are no military or civilians in our particular department (other than the one project manager). If they reduce us by 1/5th, there is no way to complete the mission.

We will hear who the lucky 29 contractors are in about 6 weeks (the end of March). Will I be one of the lucky 29? Oh, I don't know. I work hard. I get my tasks done on time and usually as well or better than asked. But, I am not the top of my sub-department. So, if they can keep only one, I don't think it will be me. But, if they can keep more than one in my sub-department, I have a reasonable chance, I suppose.

Maybe it is time for me to rethink whether IT is my lifelong career path, or whether it is time to re-evaluate.

Branching out

I spent many years working toward my Bachelor's degree so that I could work in the computer science field, and I enjoy doing computer science work, that isn't the problem. But, there is something missing.

I also spent a lot of time over the years, some official, some not official, learning about healing arts - mostly in the spiritual/emotional realm. I spent a lot of time working in mental health, and helping people work with their mental illness - some of it counseling, some of it just listening. I took a lot of classes in psychology. I also took a lot of classes in biology, and have spent a lot of time learning about medical conditions, so I have also counseled people about some medical conditions that are often very sensitive.

Since I took my full-time job in computer science, I haven't been doing much of the "other" stuff and I am feeling a void in that area. I am doing some on Jules' list, but that isn't really enough.

Several years ago (when I was at William and Mary), one of my hallmates introduced me to Tarot. Since then, I have studied it off and on over the years. In the last couple years, I have purchased several additional decks and have read a myriad of books and studied various author's interpretations of the cards and their meanings. I have joined online Tarot enthusiasts groups and read their interpretations as well. Through all this, I feel I have gained a lot of insight into who I am and into ways to interpret the cards and how they speak to us about the many facets in our lives.

I want to have a second job where I can use this knowledge to help other people. I don't have to earn a lot with it. My full-time job pays well enough, I suppose. But any work is worth being paid for. I have put up some information on my personal web page about doing readings. I set it up with PayPal. The prices are pretty low compared to other readers I have seen. I am hoping to get a small consistent clientel. Even if I only get 10 clients that I serve monthly, that would be good. And it would amount to about $50 a month.

Do I think it will happen? Probably not. Not because I don't do a good job reading, but because I don't know how people would find out about it. I can't advertise it at my regular job. That wouldn't work. I would just have to hope that some people find the page. And with so many pages out on the www now, that isn't all that likely.

Baseball season

Each year as the winter ends, my heart yearns for baseball. Not professional ball, though that is nice too, but minor league ball. We have a local team - a feeder team for the Mets. We have the Tides. We have a major class stadium, and I love sitting on the first base side and watching baseball.

I have a glove, but I hardly ever take it. Not too many balls come to where we usually sit, and when they do, they are usually too fast and hard for a novice like me to catch. Well, I am not exactly a novice. I played catcher for several years as a junior high and high school student (not a school league, but a youth group league). But still, that was a *few* years ago, and most catchers don't catch balls like the ones that come our way.

They have hot dogs, sausages with peppers, funnel cakes (my daughter's favorite), soda, beer (too many overdo with the beer), soft pretzels, ice cream, cotton candy, and of course, cracker jacks. I typically stick with water and maybe a pretzel. I am too interested in the game to spend my time stuffing my face.

I watch each pitch, each swing, each ball. I keep score in my head, even though they have those large LED screens. I do all the charge calls, and sing all the fight songs. I participate in all the "waves".

I can't wait for my first game this year. I hope it is soon.

New MP3 - some small frustrations

I got a new MP3 player the other day. I had a 1GB that I have had since 2006 and it had been a great little unit - it does everything I need it to do, except that it didn't quite hold as much music as I would like for it to hold, so a few days ago, when I was shopping for Father's Day presents for my hubby and my dad, I saw this nice little 4GB with upgradeable memory (it has a mini-SD slot), I decided to pick it up for myself.

It came a few days ago, and I spent one day just letting it charge at work. Didn't expect it to do anything else. Then, that evening, I started transferring music to it. Worked pretty well. Got a good mix going but wasn't nearly finished when I was ready to crash for the evening.

Played it at work yesterday, and was very pleased. Then last night, I spent some more time transferring more music after I installed the mini SD (which I haven't even begun to fill.) My only complaint? The lanyard.

I spent probably an hour trying to get the darned lanyard on it last night (while it was transferring music). It just wouldn't go through the stupid hole. Then again this morning, I was trying to force it through the hole, using a paper clip and a twisty tie to assist me. Still no joy. I ended up going to the website and searching the forum for "lanyard". Guess what I found - there was a post from a user explaining that there is a small piece of plastic inside the hole that needs to be popped out before the lanyard can be pushed through. He did it with a staple that he had unfolded. Uhm, yeah. That is something that most people will automatically think to do. "Gee, let me take a staple, unfold it and poke it in this hole in case there is left over plastic that needs to be reamed out before I can insert my lanyard." Crappy design people! The lanyard hole is darn small enough as it is, let's not make it even harder to get that tiny little thread of a piece in there, okay?

My lanyard is now in place (I used a pushpin, as I don't have a stapler - don't ask why.) I still don't have all the music on the player that I want to have on there, but it ran out of battery last night before I finished transferring stuff. :) I will finish tonight. It also has an external speaker, WIFI (in case I want to listen to Internet radio) but I can also use that to upgrade the firmware. I can also use it to connect to Flickr, though I am not sure why I would want to. There are a bunch of other features I ahven't even looked at. I really only got it to listen to music though. :)

So, what happens to my old MP3? Well, my daughter has lost hers, so I may give her the old one, or I may keep it (it is loaded with exercise music, while the new one has a different mix on it ), so I could still use that when I go to the rec center.

So what type of music am I putting on there, you ask? Mostly "relaxing" music. I have been in somewhat of a blue funk lately. With my grandmother's recent health decline and then death, I spent many weekends up with my parents helping to care for her, so I was listening to "soothing" music, both in her room with her (though I am not sure how much of it she was hearing that last weekend), and then in the car while I was traveling to and from my parents' home. I also have been listening to it while I am at work because it doesn't interfere with my work or bother my workmates. It seems to fit my contemplative mood. Is that good? I don't really know. It may be a sign that things are just a bit too low, but I have good reason to be feeling a bit low. Surely, I will rebound soon, and I will want peppier music. We will have to wait and see.

Assistant or Professional?

Some of you know that I have other blogs I write besides just this one. I try to keep my WordPress blog up to date on a more regular basis than this one (in fact, most of what I write here ends up there as well), but I know some of you prefer to read here or have taken this feed, so I try to write here as well. I recently consented to Google Adsense. I don't expect to earn great amounts of money this way, but who knows, maybe it will add up to something.

Today, I wanted to talk about the difference between being an administrative assistant and being a team member. As most of you know, I was an administrative assistant to the Bishop for this area a few years ago. I really enjoyed working for Dave, and I was sad to see him retire, even though I had left the job before he did.

My job was partially as one of his administrative assistants but also partially as a system administrator/webmaster for the diocese. As his administrative assistant, I handled some of his correspondence (from dictation), I took phone calls and emails for him, I handled filing, that sort of thing. Basically, I kept him aware of what was going on in the diocese of which he needed to be aware. I did that because he couldn't be everywhere at all times, but also because I had skills in areas he didn't. He wasn't skilled in database administration, so he couldn't be expected to keep himself up to date on the status of our database. He wasn't skilled in web design and development, so he couldn't be expected to keep himself up to date on the needs of the web server. Do you see where I am going with this? If there was a problem with the web server, it was my job to fix it and handle whatever issues came about from it. No one held him accountable for downtime of the website. That fell squarely on my shoulders.

Fast forward to where I work now. I am on a team (of three) webmasters. Tuesday, I found a problem with one of the websites. I met with one of my co-workers to see if he was getting the same error I was getting (he was) whihc led me to determine that the issue was that the index page was just missing. No explanation as to why it was gone. He and I looked at the backup index file. It was still valid, so he transferred it to the necessary location (since we were at his desk), and the problem was solved.

Now, I had been gone (on bereavement leave) for 5 days, so it could have been messed up just for a few minutes or hours, or it could have happened right after I left the previous Wednesday (it was working earlier on Wednesday.) There is no way for me to know at this point unless I can find someone with access to log files that may or may not exist. Yesterday, my supervisor was upset with me because I didn't notify him that there had been a problem. So he is yelling at me over the phone about this. Well, excuse me, but he was AT WORK while I was away on bereavement. He had the opportunity (along with my other co-worker), to check that website every day to make sure that it was functioning. In fact, he could have checked it THAT MORNING to see if it was working. But, apparently, it didn't occur to either of them to do that. So, since *I* happened to do my job to find and fix an error, I get in trouble for not *telling him* that I did my job. Gee, I guess trying to get 3 days work done in the first 4 hours I was back made it slip my mind (oh and the other co-worker physically sits right next to my supervisor while I am on the other side of the building). Why didn't my co-worker mention it to my supervisor when he got back from lunch?

I am not my supervisor's adminstrative assistant. It is not my job to keep him informed about things that are outside his ability. He should have the skills to check the website and determine whether it is working or not. I am not his assistant. I am an IT professional who is here to work on specific projects. And it ticks me off that he is yelling at me when it was just as much HIS job to look to see that the site was up and operational. Sure, he may get calls that the site was down, and he will not have known about it, and he may get in trouble for that. But that isn't my fault. I wasn't even here. He will end up getting less of those *because I fixed it* (regardless of whether I told him) than if I didn't fix it. Had I not noticed it and fixed it, how many complaints would he have gotten?

Been a while

It has been a while since I blogged here because I have other places that I blog more frequently. I suppose I need to only blog in one place, but that just isn't me, I suppose.

I have a new job, but it is a contract job (4-6 months). But the 6 months is technically up, but they are still paying me when I show up. We will just have to wait and see.

Twice a year

I am a Christian. I go to church each Sunday. I volunteer time with my church. I am in the choir. Yada yada.

This morning, my family and I got to church a bit early. I knew the choir was going to have some extra songs, songs we don't sing all the time, so I wanted to have some time to look over the songs, mark the pages, etc. My husband was a Eucharistic minister (that means he assists the priest in distributing the communion to the congregation), so he had some things to do before church started as well. My youngest wanted to be there early because she knew there would be an Easter Egg hunt afterwards, so she was anxious as well. Her best friend was with us, also interested in the Easter Egg hunt. She attends with us at least twice a month.

As I got my music ready, I watched the regulars wander in, greeting each other, chatting and introducing their visiting family. Pretty much the same as every week, except there were more visiting family members than normal. The priests came in, and they greeted the members, checked on various things that needed to be done, etc. Again, pretty much the same as every week. Then it changed.

The strangers started to show up. First, just a few. Well, we occasionally have visitors, and we always try to make them feel welcome. Sometimes they become regulars. Then, there were more, and then more. Soon, there were strangers wanting to sit in the choir area. "Sure", I told them, "you can sit with the choir, but we will expect you to sing with us," I said with just a touch of a light laugh. "Oh, no we had better find somewhere else, we don't know any of the songs." Gee, I thought, that is why we have song books.

More and more strangers are coming in. They are dashing around, looking for 'seven seats together' or 'seats close to the window.' Well, we only have but so many windows, it is a small church. The priests begin. The first part comes where the congregation is suppose to repond to what the priest has said. The response is obviously only being said by the regulars. The others are silent. Maybe they wre just caught off guard, trying to find the right page. Sure, that's it. The next part comes up. It is a standard, the same in every church I have ever been in. Again, only the regulars and their families say anything. This is going to be a long day.

Next song comes up. Good, it is an oldie but goody, everyone knows this song. No one even needs the book for this one. I look out over the congregation. The regulars have books in their hands, the strangers are digging in their purses for mints, or are staring off into space or are messing around with their cell phones.

The readers read from the Bible, again, mostly readings that are really well known, nothing obscure. The priest starts his homily. Welcoming the newcomers as well as the family members of the regulars. And eventually, he gets to it, the Twice a Year Christians. The ones who only show up twice a year, and only to churches that have Easter Egg hunts for the kids. He doesn't chastize though. He says that if you are only going to come once a year, this is the best Sunday to come. He is right. Easter is the one day that sort of wraps up the whole Christian message in one big ball.

It is sad that those people don't have the memories from childhood of singing those songs so many times that if there aren't enough books, they could hand theirs to the "strangers" and sign the songs from memory. Sad that they can't respond to the priest from memory without digging through book. Sad that they aren't familiar enough with the start time that they can come in and find a seat with their family without having to ask someone to find them enough seats together.

Mass progresses. Readings, prayers, etc. The priests then offer Christ's peace to all of us and we offer it back. Then we turn to each other and "Pass the Peace", which means we shake hands with anyone near us and offer them Christ's peace. Sometimes we have a short conversation, ask about each other's health. The "strangers" look hesitant, but the regulars smile and greet them anyway and ask them how they are, tell them how happy we are that they have chosen our little church today.

Then the real test comes. Our church is somewhat unique. Okay, not just somewhat unique, but really unique. The only one like it in the US. Our church started as an experiment between the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia 30 years ago, to see whether it would be possible to have one church that served a congregation of both denominations. Not two separate congregations that shared a building. That is done in plenty of places. This is one congregation made up of people from two (well, more than two) different Christian denominations, and that is sanctioned by both dioceses.

We do everything together that deep conviction does not require that we do apart. Basically, the only thing we don't do together is share the Eucharist. We have two altars. We have two priests. When we get to the part of the Mass when it is time to consecrate the Eucharist, each priest goes to an altar, and they consecrate their own set of Eucharist (in unison speaking at the same time, nearly the same words, though some are different). Then, the Roman Catholics go to the Roman Catholic priest. The Episcopalians go to the Episcopalian priest. Because the Episcopalians, the Lutherans and the Methodists are in communion, if we anyone of those denominations, they can receive from the Episcopalian priest as well.

The priests stand and explain this process. All the Roman Catholics are to get up and gather on the side with the Catholic priest. All the other who are receiving are to get up and gather with the Episcopalian priest. The regulars are used to this. It is the same every week, but the strangers all suddenly look like deer caught in the headlights of a car - scared and motionless.

The choir starts the offetory song, as we reach the last verse, the regulars get us, and start to move to their side. The strangers mill around near their chairs. Some move a bit toward one or the other end of the room, but most just sort of wander around in a circle in the middle. It is going to be a big mess, again.

The consecration begins. Both priests doing their parts, the regulars responding at the appropriate times, the strangers shuffling their feet. The choir pipes in with the service music were it is needed. Then, the Eucharist begins. The regulars step up and demonstrate, some even guide some of the strangers. Some strangers just get in line and hope for the best. Eventually, everyone has gone through, except the choir (we are always last), we get to the refrain of the song (because the congregation can at least carry the refrain) and we quickly head to whichever priest is "ours". Then we return to finish up the song.

After Eucharist, the priests say a few more short prayers, make a few announcements (including information about the Egg hunt), and Mass is over. We sing the last song, and everyone bolts. I sit down in the choir area and watch the people leave. I wonder how many of those "Twice a years" will come back next week. Did we make them feel comfortable enough? Did they get anything from the homily? Did the readings touch a chord in them? Did the verses in the music reach their hearts? Did the candy in the plastic eggs at least sweeten their kids' hearts?

Who knows? Next week, Whit Sunday, traditionally has the lowest attendance of all weeks of the year, so I won't bother to even make a guess based on what I see next week. But, maybe the next week, one or two of those "strangers" will wander back in, and will find it easier to get a seat by that window. Maybe this time, they will go ahead and open the song book and sing part of the song with us, even if they don't really know the song (we don't care if you can sing well, just that you try). Maybe they will follow along and respond with the rest of us when the priest finishes his part. Maybe when the priests go to their sides to start the consecration, they won't just mill about in the middle, but will gravitate to one side or the other. Maybe, when we Pass the Peace, they will stretch out their hand and smile. Who knows, maybe a "Twice a year Christian" will become just a regular Christian.

At Will Employment

"At Will Employment" sucks. Last summer, I interviewed with a local software company for what appeared to be the perfect position. It was a programming position with a company that has only one product (help desk software). The company appeared to be very progressive - fancy coffee machine in the break room, very casual clothing, ping pong table for the employees to use to recharge their brains. Unfortunately, after I interviewed, the interviewer called me and said that she was in the middle of writing me an offer letter when the "higher ups" had deferred the money for the position, and that while I was the first choice, it would be 4-6 months before the position would be filled.
So, I went back to the job search. Later that fall, after several months of setup for a different job, that required a security clearance, I lost the job at the last moment because my security clearance didn't come in time. It was their own fault because they waited until 10 days before the project was supposed to start before they turned in the paperwork, whereas, I had filled out my end of the paperwork over a month in advance. Anway, with no clearance in hand, they gave my job away to someone who already had a clearance and I was stuck starting my job search over again from scratch.
At this point, desparate for an income, I interviewed for a job as a receptionist in a dentist's office. The interviewer was concerned that I was overqualified, and therefore would leave as soon as something better came along.
I was caught in a no man's land. Where I live, nearly all IT jobs require a security clearance because nearly all IT jobs are related in one way or another to the government. Government jobs nearly always require security clearances. Without a security clearance, getting an IT job is nearly impossible. Jobs that are not connected with the government are for the most part adminsitrative jobs. You know, receptionist, typist, clerical assistants, adminsitrative assistants. And those jobs don't require a degree in computer science. So, unless a person has a security clearance, that person is stuck taking clerical posistions, but if a person has a degree, then when they apply for a clerical position, the interviewer immediately questions why they are "only" applying for a clerical position when they are so overqualified. The interviewers immediately assume there is something "wrong" with someone who would apply for a position so far below their qualifications.
So, I basically had to beg for the job as a frontdesk receptionsist. How humiliating. But they gave me the job, and I was doing a great job with it. How could I not? How hard was it to pull patient files, put them in order by appointment time, call tomorrow's patients to remind them to come in, and then to enter the visit into the computer, so that it would generate a bill and an insurance claim?
I was nearly through the two weeks of training when I got an email from the local programming company - their money came through. The programming position was funded, and I was still their first choice. Did I still want the position? Wow. What a position to be in. I would have to tell the dentist people that after begging for them to hire me, I was going to ditch them. I am not that kind of person.
I went to a lot of trouble to find them a replacement person; someone who had experience as a corpseman in the Navy. Then I met with the programming supervisor to discuss the position. Forty hours a week, repairing coding defects, searching for defects, that kind of thing. Sounded good to me. It was an entry level job, at below entry level wages, but since I had no enterprise level experience, I was okay with that. She agreed to have the acceptance letter sent to me that afternoon.
I started on December 17, 2007. In our first departmental meeting, I learned that we were trying to get version 8.0 ready to release. There was no official release date (drop dead date was March 1 because of a trade show), but the department manager was hoping for end of January, and therefore wanted everyone to work extra hours (after all, we were all salaried), to get it done on time. There were only about 380 defects, so surely that would be doable. And off we went to get our jobs done. I waited to have defects assigned to me (can't just pick a defect to work on, it had to be assigned, so that we knew that only one person was working on any specific defect).
Most of my original defects were really simple. A mispelled word, something bolded where it shouldn't be, that kind of thing. Easily fixed, gave me a chance to learn a bit of the over 800 ASP pages, and the over 5000 SQL stored procedures and tables in the projetcs.
Sounds good, right? Wrong. Each week, we'd have a developmental meeting. Each week, the department head would ask whether we thought we could be done with the defects by the next week. Each week, no one would say that they didn't think they could finish their assigned defects. Each week, I would find more defects while repairing the ones I had been assigned. Now, I am not saying I had immediate solutions for all the defects assigned to me. I didn't. But I had also told them up front that I didn't have a lot of ASP/SQL Server experience beyond classwork. But I do have some PHP and MySQL experience, and I felt sure that I would pick it up quickly. And I did. I was learning it very quickly - but I was also finding some very disturbing things as well. Variables that were being used to track ordinals that were using the data type "float" or worse yet "real". Uhm, no one counts with "reals". There were inconsistencies between the tables, the stored procedures and the ASP code in the sizes and the datatypes of the variables. I tried pointing these inconsistencies out, and I was told that "we inherited this code and have to just live with it." When I found situations were the validations that were being used were insufficient and that I had a better validation plan, I was told to only use it on the two files listed in my defect, and that the program would just ship with the bugs in place, and that they would only be fixed if a customer found them and complained.
I was confused and concerned, but I just continued to do what I was to to do. Then, came the big shock. On Feb 19, 2008, my supervisor called me to her office to tell me that things just weren't "working out", that this "wasn't an entry level position" and that she wasn't able to move me up to move difficult tasks, which she had hoped to be able to do. I was again confused. She had never given me anything more difficult, so how did she know that she couldn't move me up? And this isn't an entry level job? Then why was it paying below the minimum in the area for an entry level position and why was it not advertized as a mid-level position in the first place? Why did they hire me when I told them upfront that I wasn't a looking for a mid-level position, but was looking for an entry-level position? Then she came out with, "I have a special project for you to prove yourself." 34 special defects that would not be part of the 8.0 release, but which would be part of the 8.1 patch. She said there was no particular order in which they needed to be done and there was no time limit in place for completing them. She also said that I should feel free to interrupt her at any time if I needed to get her help. She said I should put the solutions in a specific folder, and she would look at them at the end of each day.
I began to work on the defects. I didn't ask for her help. In less than 2 weeks, I had completed 44% of the defects. Some of the defects had been on the defect list for 2 years. On the 29th of February, she called me back into her office, and fired me, saying again, that "things just weren't working out". She didn't say if she had even bothered to look at my solutions for those defects.
Yesterday, I had a conference call between myself, the HR person from this employer and the Virginia Employment Commission. Apparently, whenever someone applies for unemployment benefits, the VEC has to acertain whether or not the person was discharged for misconduct. The HR person agreed that I had not been discharged for misconduct. When the VEC investigator asked why I *had* been discharged, the responce was "at will employment". The VEC investigator wouldn't accept that as a reason. She asked if they were going to replace me. The HR person said no. So the VEC person asked if that was because there was no work, therefore it was a lay off situation. The HR person got a bit flustered and said, no that it was more like a reorganization of the department. That the department was going in a new direction and that my performance wasn't in that direction. And that they may hire someone, but if they did, it would be a part-time position.
So, basically, what she was saying was that they hired me as a temporary worker to clear defects in their code for their March 1 release. Once they got the 8.0 release ready for the drop dead date of March 1, then they no longer needed me, so since Feb 29 was the end of the pay period, they let me go. Their "reorganization" was to not need any temporary people until their next release. Their use of "at will" in the letters of acceptance gives them an out of the contract without having to give any real reason.
I recommend that people reconsider accepting contracts that include "at will" working unless you don't care about how long you will end up having the job. I also recommend that people consider seriously whether they want to accept positions with certain software companies in downtown Virginia Beach (also known as the Pembroke area of Virginia Beach. Of course, I can't reveal their name, but it shouldn't take too much investigation to figure out who they are.

Been a while

I know I said in my last posts that I was going to be posting at Geekend, and I have, but not as much as I thought I might. Instead, I have mostly spent my time in trying to change to a better job. Last I spoke about it, I was working for a non-profit organization. I was doing their techy stuff, in addition to the rest of the stuff associated with being the assistant program director. But, they lost their funding for my position, so I had no choice but to start looking for another job.

I did accept a job with a software company (which I have detailed in another blog, which I may move here), but what they presented to me as a permanent position was really only a temporary position designed to get their latest version ready for release on March 1. They let me go on Feb 29, because they no longer needed me. They claimed I was let go because things "just weren't working out" but they told the Virginia Employment Commission that they didn't intend to fill my position (and it had been a "new" position for me in the first place.) That sounds like it was created specifically for me to debug their product, doesn't it.

Anyway, I have decided to revive this blog for myself, and to use the other blog for my daughter's fiction writing site.

Goodbye my sweet Vincent

I knew you were getting old, though I had no idea your true age. A rescue from the local pet store that caged you alone as a singleton, I couldn't leave you alone like that. You came to me with no background. A complete mystery.

Talented and smart, you came when I called your name. You did tricks and kept me company when I was alone. Running from shoulder to shoulder behind my head, you always had a quick kiss kiss for me. Never shy, always ready to play, you were my favorite. You blessed me with so many beautiful pups, but you gave me so much more than that.

These last few months, I could tell you were feeling your age. You lost weight, you slept more, but were always still willing to play with me. This past week, I think you may have lost sight. It was hard for you to tell where the edge of my hands were. I was worried you would fall while you climbed around, but you had complete confidence that I would keep you safe.

Last night, you took a pumpkin seed, but instead of eating it, you kept it in your mouth. Were you afraid your sons would snatch it away and you wouldn't be able to stop them because you couldn't see them coming? I kept them away to give you time to eat it. You moved so slowly.
And now tonight, we found you curled up under the wheel. I wish I had been in here to hold you in your last moments, but that stupid project at work has had me so overworked and preoccupied, I had nodded off. When you needed me the most, I wasn't there. Oh Vincie, I miss you so much.

A new place to blog

My husband was recently approached by a tech site wanting him to blog for them. I was happy for him, and gave him some insight on his drafts, helping him polish them up a bit before he submitted. I was also willing to be a sounding board when he decided to write an article about how to get one's significant other involved in the "geek" life.

His editor read the article and loved it. He also liked the ideas I had given to my husband. He then read some of the responses I had sent in to other bloggers on their site, and asked me if I would also be willing to blog for them.

So, if you are looking for some of my more techy/geeky blogs, they will be appearing in Geekend at TechRepublic.com. That doesn't mean I won't still blog here; I will. But I will also blog for them.

If you are wondering what else is new in my life, I have finally graduated with my BSIT. It took long enough, thank you, but I am glad to have it. I haven't decided whether to hang it on the wall or leave it in the padded leatherette folder.

I have also begun the process to start my own non-profit program here in Virginia. If it floats, this program will offer training to people with mental illness so that they can do techy things for other programs run by people with mental illness. There are more of us out there than you know.

I have also recently purchased a gerbil and a hamster. I am awaiting the purchase of a second gerbil in the next few weeks. You may view my pets on my personal website.

I am also still working on my web development company. I have picked up a few new customers, while retaining most of my old ones (I dropped one that wouldn't pay). I still don't have enough clients to quit my day job, but it is fun nonetheless.

I guess that is mostly all. Catch you on the flip side.

Gerbils, hamsters and mice, oh my

I have a six year old daughter. She has been after me for several years now to get her a pet. Somehow, to her, our existing cat, two dogs, turtle and fish didn't qualify as pets. I got her a Beta (it is a type of fish), and she has been taking care of "Matthew" very well for several months.

Last month, a stranger moved into our home. A small grey and brown mouse. She was living behind the gas stove. Our cat gave up trying to catch her. My son caught her a few times, but she always managed to get back in the house (once, she jumped out of the mason jar in which he was carrying her - she jumped out and over his shoulder, and ran back behind the stove).

Anyway, we got a humane trap and after several failed attempts (she figured out how to defeat the trap), we finally captured her once we had made adjustments to take into consideration her previous escapes. I had several empty fish aquariums, so we set one up as a temporary home for her until we could decide what to do with her. Since she had previously returned when we just released her into the yard, we knew we would have to drive her many miles away to prevent her returning or would have to kill her.

From the second she was put in the tank, it was obvious she was a lively and intelligent mouse. I had owned pet mice as a young person, but this mouse exceeded their intelligence by more than twice. As I watched her, I realized that she was on the level of Jonathan Frisby (if you don't recognize the name, you led a sheltered childhood.) Since she was a female, we named her Mrs. Frisby (who in the story wasn't as bright as her husband, but was still fairly bright.)

We went to the local pet shop and purchased an elaborate hamster condo to house our newest "pet". We explained to the six year old that Mommy would be in charge of caring for this mouse, but it could be *her* pet nonetheless. We set up the condo, put in the bedding, the water bottle, the food, and transfered her in. Within seconds, she was scouting out possible escapes. I watched her for a while, and was sure all the parts were tightly attached. I went downstairs to get a drink. My mouse/daughter-needing-a-pet problem was solved. Oh so I thought.

I was only gone a few minutes, and when I came back up to the office, Mrs. Frisby was gone. I got a long plastic stick and pushed the bedding around to be certain she wasn't just hiding. Then my 17 year old son called from the kitchen that Mrs. Frisby had run under the stove. She had found one set of bars that was slightly more spread than the others, and squeezed herself through.

Now I had $60 in hamster cage and nothing to watch in it. I began researching hamsters and gerbils. I had both as a child, but that was a long time ago. I decided that gerbils appeared to be the better choice for our family: less smell, more intelligent, more playful during the day. Problem is that they don't like to live alone. They like to have a companion. My husband and I decided that two females would be a reasonable expenditure.

I did some more research and found a local breeder, but she only had one female left. The next brood isn't due for a week or two, and then it will be 5-6 weeks before she could release one to me. I arranged to pick up the one she had - Lauren. Of course, the breeder warned me not to use the hamster condo, but to use the rehabilitated fish tank. Gerbils do better without the air circulation.

Shoot, I still had that hamster condo. Why not just get a hamster too? They like to be alone, so I could get away with just the one. So, Zoe ended up coming home too.

Who should we recapture this morning? Mrs. Frisby, of course, so we made another trip to the garage for another empty fish tank and a quick run to the pet store to get another mesh lid to keep her in. This time, she doesn't get the condo; she gets mouse-impervious glass and very fine (though sturdy) mesh.

So, I went from 2 dogs, 1 cat, a turtle and some fish, to adding a gerbil (plus another in 6 weeks), a hamster, and a wild mouse. What a zoo. I sure hope Mrs. Frisby isn't pregnant.

Changes

This morning, as I was getting ready for church, I looked at my coat and decided it was too dirty to wear. It was cold this morning, so I needed to wear something. In the closet, hung the red coat I bought for my older daughter (the one who lives with her Dad now). I bought it over two years ago, so it fit her when she was 12. I looked at the size tag. It looked possible.
So, I tried it on and it fit. This may not seem important to some of you, but you see, my daughter was very slender when she was 12 (she probably still is but I haven't seen her for 2 months.) I, on the other hand, haven't been called slender since I was her age. In fact, I have been called quite the opposite on occasion. Well, that has changed. I have worked very hard to lose the extra weight, though I am not to my goal yet. I am only a little over halfway there. But being able to put on her coat is a big step for me. I was also able to put on one of her sweaters, but it was a little short. She likes her clothes to show her tummy, but I want my shirts to cross my waistband and go a little beyond.
I wonder what she would think if she knew. I told her weeks ago that I was going to start wearing the clothes that she left here when she left, and now it is a reality.
In case she reads this, I did try the blue snowflakes jammie pants, but they were still a little too snug. Maybe in a few weeks. I already took and wear your Eeyore nightgown. :)