Can't Complain

1 US gallon = 3.785 litres
In the UK 1 litre of petrol/gas costs 0.856 British pounds
3.785 l x 0.856 = 3.24 British pounds per US gallon

At today's exchange rate (1 British Pound = 1.89380 US Dollar)
that equals $6.14 a gallon!!!!!

That's why is cost my brother 100 pounds to fill is car up at the weekend!
Or, more scary is I complained when it cost $42 to fill up last week, using this equation it would have been $112 - so I guess I can't complain!

The Stress-Dream House

I had a stress dream last night.

I don't specifically remember having it before, but when I woke up I had the feeling I had had similar dreams as the place I was in looked familiar from other dreams. What was nice was my cat of 16 years who died over a year ago was there, so it was good to see the cute fur ball. In my dream I was very protective to him, exactly as I was when he was alive. In the dream we were at a hotel, not a chain but more a converted house in a local seaside town. I was carrying him down to breakfast with no harness or cat carrier...something I would never do as I know that would stress him out too much. When we get down to the breakfast room I look down at my chest and I'm naked; I think it's just my upper body. It's not one of those dreams where people are staring at me, in fact I am not aware that anyone has even noticed me. In my dream I wonder if I should got back to my room to finish dressing...I feel as if it might not be worth it.

Obviously an insecure stress dream. Am I insecure about my job, worried people will notice I am not good enough? Or am I taking risks that I shouldn't? Or am I not paying attention to more important things and need to reassess priorities?

Didn't even have time for a shower

I didn't like today at work.
Not sure I can cut it if it's going to be this stressful everyday.
How do you walk out on a job if you work from home?

Jan. 24 worst day of the year

Well, it wasn't a bad day for me. It was busy and pretty frantic at work. I was sucked into the laptop vortex from 7:30am to 6:00pm, I only emerged to get a sandwich at noon and a green tea at 3pm. I missed the almost 70 degree weather outside.

Overall it could have been a lot worse. I picked up the handle of a pan that had been in the oven yesterday. Last night I thought I had burned the skin on my left palm and spent several hours desperately grasping ice packs in an attempt to stop the pain; it was a balance between searing heat pain from the burn and pain numbing frozen pain. I fell asleep high-fiving an icepack on my pillow, either I was going to blister from the burn or lose a finger to frost bite. I woke up this morning and my hand looked a little bit branded in places, no pain, no blisters and no swelling. I've never seen anything like it.

Flood and Tornados

So here I am in Arizona. It hasn't stopped raining since I arrived on the 2nd. The state brags 360 days of sunshine, well I think I'm here for the 5 days of clouds, rain and severe weather. Yesterday we were under flood watch, I went to bed with the rain lashing against my hotel window...I awoke early morning to thunder and lightning. During lunch we were caught in torrential rain and hail. In the late afternoon when I thought the weather was subsiding the tornado warnings started, the funnel cloud sightings increased and the skies darkened. This is really not what I expected from a place people call "a desert".

Is an uneventful year a successful year?
Is a boring year a good year?
It wasn't a bad year I suppose.

• I managed to stay employed for most of the year; I started the year as a contract project manager for Sun Microsystems and will end the year as a professional services project manager for Thomson NETg. I was only unemployed for 6 weeks....compared to 2003, I did better this year!
  
• I didn't lose the 8-10lbs I wanted to...but I didn't gain anything either...not bad, I guess.
  
• I didn't sit the PMP certification test, but I know more and I'm closer to getting the certification.
  
• I didn't make as much stained glass this year, but I did dabble in mosaics and ended the year melting glass and making dichroic glass earrings.
  

I'll be 101010 in binary next year.
That will be exciting :-)

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...