Happy St Andrew's Day

Happy St Andrew's Day - I'll be having a wee Laphroaig this evening.

It's cold and snowy outside, just like home. The house is warm and cozy...not like home :-)
I have a lot of traits from my parents. I learned a lot from them but I prefer to heat the house a little more than they did. I talked with my brother at the weekend and he takes after them, we calculated that I spend 3 to 4 times more per month on heating. I truly am a chili willy (like the Walter Lantz cartoon).

So, in my spare time I continue to melt glass...my latest creations are really cool dichroic glass earrings, the only problem is I want to keep them all. Today, I plan to check out a Coomers store and see if they have any space left so I can sell some stuff. I really need to clean out the basement...and making some money would be nice too!

Interview

Had an interview yesterday in Scottsdale. I flew down for the day and had a blast. The company was wonderful; great products, great people. It reminded me of a couple of places I had worked before, they were small companies with very creative hardworking people. Everyone cared about what they did, no laziness or complacency. I had wondered if those type of companies still existed...until yesterday!

Then I got a call this morning saying they would like to offer me the job, whoohoo!

I start in the middle of December, so I have a couple of weeks to play - bonus!

On Sunday night I came down with flu! This was my first contact with flu...on Monday I thought I was going to die of dehydration. I'm starting to keep fluids down, but I have a really bad case of sleeping sickness. I can't stay awake for more than 3 hours without needing a 2 hour nap! I hope this means I will be protected for the rest of the winter.

Si-O-Si Designs

Have kiln - Will use!
I have made 4 glass candy dishes, 19 earrings and 2 brooches made of melted glass and 18 glass labels that can also be used as Christmas ornaments. One of the guys I went for lunch with this week said he could help me set up an e-commerce website. At the time I was polite and thanked him for the suggestion....but now I'm really thinking it might be worth doing.
I'm generating inventory at an alarming rate.

What would I call my business?
Since I would be selling warm and cold glass products (melted and stained) I need a name that covers both. Years ago when I had thought about selling my stained glass I went through some creative sessions using the word glass combined with color; opal, spectrum, rainbow....Nothing got me excited. So for now I am using the name Si-O-Si, the chemical structure of silica - the main component of glass; Si-O-Si Glass Creations, Si-O-Si Glass Designs, Si-O-Si Art...

Job hunting

The job search continues....Week Two

So far my updated resume is on 4 websites, I have sent it out to 5 friends and contacted 2 recruiters I have used before. I have also applied for 4 jobs, one of which I was rejected in less than 6 hours! I am signed up on 5 daily e-mail blasts that send out jobs and contracts to bid on. My resume, cover letter, portfolio and references docs are all up to date. I have had lunch with 5 people this week. This has all filled my week pretty well, but I am concerned about how I will fill my time next week, and onward, before I get another job.

Sorry to post an e-mail - but this sums up my feelings today.

It is very tough to be a Republican in 2004, because somehow, you have to believe concurrently that:

1. Jesus loves you, but shares your deep hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
2. The United States should get out of the United Nations, but our highest national priority is enforcing U. N. resolutions against Iraq.
3."Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
4. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all humankind without regulation.
5. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a Conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers foryour recovery.
6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
7. Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins, unless you someday run for Governor of California as a Republican.
8. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
9. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, but then demand their cooperation and money.
10. HMOs and insurance companies make profits and have the interest of the public at heart.
11. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
12. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
13. It is okay that the Bush family's "Carlisle Group" has done millions of business with the Bin Laden family.
14. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him and Rumsfeld reassured him he was our buddy, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, but then a bad guy again when Bush junior needed a prop for his re-election campaign as the "war president"
15. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying about WMD existence, to enlist support for an unprovoked, undeclared war and occupation, in which thousands soldiers and civilians die, is, somehow, solid "defense" policy in a "War against Terrorism".
16. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which should include "banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet".
17. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's Harken Oil stock trade should be sealed in his Daddy's library, and is none of our business.
18. What Bill Clinton or John Kerry did in the 1960s was of vital national interest but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
19. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a "spirit of international harmony".
20. Affirmative Action is wrong, but it is OK for your Daddy and His friends (here and in Saudi Arabia) to get you to graduate from Yale without studying much, to dodge the draft in the Texas Air National Guard, to bail out your companies Harken Oil and the Texas Rangers, to get the Governorship of Texas, and then to have the Supreme Court appoint you President of the USA.
21. You are a conservative, but it is OK to spend like there is no tomorrow and run up deficits that your grandchildren will have to pay, while at the same time refunding as much tax money as possible to rich people who do not need it.

This illogical behavior can take a toll on a healthy mind. So if a friend of yours has been acting a bit dazed and confused lately, be nice: he or she may be a Republican!

Get a job!

I've just spent an hour playing solitaire on my PDA - I think I'm addicted. Wonder if there is a 10 step program? I thought about removing it, but then I'd just play Freecell. I used to think I was addicted to Freecell, but I don't play it so much now. They say Freecell is more difficult that Solitaire because you can see all the cards so it's game of skill, not chance. My Freecell win-rate is over 50%, so I moved to Solitaire because of the chance...my win rate is only 7% :-) but I'm working on it!

I had an iPod moment earlier...found myself singing at the top of my voice to Ultravox - it made me laugh. I thought of the marketing advertisement to the baby boomer crowd. It's an 80's song, the silhouette is slightly overweight and wearing relaxed jeans. The image is not cool like Bono in his iPod ad, the dancing is awkward and more Gary Newman-like...and after 30 seconds they have to sit down and wipe sweat off their brow. The final scene shows them flinging their arthritis pain killers across the kitchen counter...the final caption "Better than drugs" or "don't forget your vitamins" or "get your own"....

Guess I should send out some resumes and get a job!

Last Day

Today is my last day contracting for SMI. On Wednesday we got the word that the department had lost funding, so Shari (the other PM) and myself were out at the end of the week.

I'll miss the people, the routine and the money :-)

Slow day

It's a slow day. I'm working from home, but I've still had time to check my personal e-mail, apply for a job (8 month contract) and make some cookies. And it's only 1:30pm.

It's weird how spam trends change, I have almost stopped getting smut, viagra and lonely housewife e-mails. I would guess that 70% of the spam e-mails (that slip through my 3 filters) now assume that I am desperate for a Rolex; Genuine Replicas Watches, Swiss Watches, she told me you wanted a watch, Rolex is forever. From sex to watches... strange progression.

I know I shouldn't get political on this blog, but today I just can't help it. I have a question for Bush. So Bush says that he answers to a higher power, his decisions were made with help from God. Well, no matter how you reason it we're in Iraq basically to secure oil for the US, er, not to fight terrorism. So, what I want to know is why hasn't Bush's God told him about wind power, solar power and tidal power? These resources are feely available in the US, will always be available and don't pollute the environment. How many quillions of US dollars could be saved by having less pollution clean-up, less health risks and deaths? No oil slicks, no exhaust induced asthma attacks, no brown clouds, fewer oil refineries....

What happened to September, or part of October for that matter?
It came, I was busy and it went. Work has been crazy busy, I'm working on more projects than I ever have. I'm working on more projects than is comfortable. If my job is like juggling plates, I feel it's just a matter of time before I break a plate; tight ecconomy, company saving money, resources stretched, whatever - it's not going to change.

Compared to August, I'm not so sure about working from home. It's okay for the most part, but work is a little lonely. I can go for days without leaving the house, and with Chris studying, life is lonely. I miss human contact. I keep telling myself, they're paying me pretty well (even if I can't claim the hours I work over 40), I don't have to deal with a 40min drive, I don't have to fuel my car so much, I don't have to buy office clothes (actually that's not agood one, I miss dressing up), I can be with the cats (they're so cute, especially when I'm on conference calls), I'm not tempted by the candy machines (damn those jelly beans) and I get to work in a purple office.