recovering . .

After all the excitement with testing at work and the weekends of work, Thursday I went in to have surgery on my leg for that obnoxious huge growth which has been getting bigger and bigger over the years. I am now out till the beginning of the year. I was going to take the remaindeof my vacation which combined with holidays I almost had it. But then my manager (my new one since my old one got laid off) decided that it would be better if i took a leave of absence (short term disability, FMLA, whatever you call it) for 2 weeks. Basically, that will cover me for the same period and I won't have to be available for work as supposedly they cut off my access . . . I told them if they need me they can call me but i don't think anyone will really need me, hehe, because most of the problems we were dealing with have been solved and testing phase was ending on Friday. I only missed a couple of days of that and my other co-workers (whom I replaced back in September) were made available to help just in case.

So far, recovery has been rather boring. the first day I slept due to pain killers and recovering from anesthesia. The second day I read a bit more and watched TV while playing some games on the computer. Now I am starting into the 3rd day and I am b-o-r-e-d, lol. mainly because i have to sit still with the leg propped up. So even though usually i don't mind sitting around and reading for hours, when i have to remain still (and chase the cats off my leg) then it is different.

Oh, well, I got this nifty laptop pillow from Brookstone's so I can keep my laptop propped up better . . . hard flat plastic platform for the laptop with a soft angled pillow bottom for sitting on my legs (where is a lap when your legs are propped up???). this is actually much better than the regular pillow I was using since it gives the keyboard a slant. Now maybe I can get to work on all those articles and other tasks I need to finish up while recovering. Hmmm, now if only I had remembered to put the folders of information within easy reach. Oh, well, I have a few days to work out the bugs!

Another weekend of work . . .

this does get old! It has been a hectic week with all the testing and trying to solve defects fast. Last night was the migration of all the fixed code for the defects and the testers are checking things out today. So far I have managed about 3 hours of work, then I took off for the fitness center for walking/cycling. I stayed a bit longer than I thought I would but I feel fairly good about that. When I got home there were several emails about a problem . . . which isn't really a problem. This part drives me nuts . . . we spend a lot of time researching data, fixing the programs that go collect that data, explain to the tech ppl on the other side the limitations of what is retrieved (trying to make this short) and they still go ballistic sending me back emails saying "this is wrong and you need to fix it" . . . TG, the manager over both sides of this (me on the PeopleSoft side and those portal developers on the SAP side) is a bit more savvy and he stepped in with the explanation about why "it isn't a problem".

I have a few other choice things to say about a response I got in a phone call yesterday from one of those SAP developers and after I got off that call, I turned around and called a friend/co-worker to ask her how she would feel if this had been said to her. Basically, the guy told me that he was always able to work with my predecessor (a guy) with no problems . . . he asked lots of questions and they worked things out!! Excuse me!!! I took over this stuff in "working" condition from that "guy". Working according to how they "worked it out". Just because they developed in a vacuum without the real live data and now the real live data is causing problems . . . well, "excuse me" one more time . . . my predecessor is a smart guy with whom I have a fairly good working relationship . . . BUT I am not HIM (or is that he, lol??). My female co-worker agrees with me that there could be a sexist dynamic going on here . . . seeing as how the other side is from another country that has problems with women traditionally. He is a nice guy . . . but I don't understand some of this stuff. And darn it, I have probably been in IT for as many years as he has been alive!!!! I don't claim to know everything and I know I have limitations and I know I make mistakes . . . but cut me some slack . . . I am one person supporting this side and they have a team. I get barraged with emails from multiple ppl whenever a problem arises so I feel like they are ganging up on me. Sometimes I feel like they try to pass off the problems on me, but I know there are a lot of data issues that need to get ironed out on how we pass the data. Catch-22.

OK, time to quite the "bitchin" and go out to the car to unload those bags of mulch I bought a couple of days ago . . . still trying to "winterize" the garden . . . work interferes with lots of things.

Pardon my absence but . .

I have been so busy with work and then Thanksgiving holidays . . . I went to Arkansas to visit the family. My sister did the Turkey and fixings at her house in NW Arkansas. I made a pumpkin pie and baked some macadamia stars (fat and sugar, lol) to haul up there. Stayed in FSM with my Mom and brother then we all drove up to my sister's on T'day.

It was crazy just trying to get away from work to leave. I was driving on Wednesday and they had all this testing going on which was supposed to end Wed afternoon. Don't get me started about the stupidity of having testing back up into the holidays (one phase ended while another began on the 1st). I had to work another weekend so that makes 2 weekends in the past month lost to work along with all the additional stress. I did manage to get my exercise in but it was a struggle while there was so much pressure to resolve "defects".

Ok, I won't start up my "bitching" again . . . I went to the Plano office yesterday for some "socializing" with my co-workers/friends and when I was asked "when are you coming back?" . . . I said "certainly you don't mean that! It will be much quieter here tomorrow as you won't have to listen to my complaints".

Work can always present a catch-22 . . . got a project so probably wont be considered for layoff while on that project . . . but hating the project makes it hard to rejoice!! Hopefully, everything will get better once we get through this ugly part of the project . . . testing is always a "testy" time for everyone as we drive towards the january implementation. AND I am going to be off the last part of December with my surgery and vacation/holidays that are needing to be taken. Oh, yes, and I was told that I could take off the weekends that I worked in December . . . LOL, I am sure that everyone forgets that. . . and the fact that there probably wont be any time to take it off since I will already be off.

On the healthy side, I got another chicken to roast. So now I have lots of chicken and a bit pot of chicken soup has been cooked up too! Sooooooo, it helps to have some prepared food around the house. I hope I get enough points at the grocery store to get that roasting pan before I have to do my surgery . . . no shopping while on crutches! Oh, which reminds me . . . "drag out the crutches and practice"!

ok, I think I'll try to get myself motivated to the fitness center early . . . they moved that 8:30am to 10:30am so I have enough time to get over there first thing in the morning(well, by 7am??).