Checking In

A catch-all, catch-up post

There are 1,133 posts filed in Checking In (this is page 81 of 114).

Smitty at death’s door?

My sixteen-year-old cat, Smitty, has been sicker than I’ve ever seen her today. She hasn’t eaten, has barely drunk anything, hasn’t visited her catbox, and hasn’t been the sometimes maddening, constantly-underfoot cat that she’s always been. Windows were open and sunbeams were in ample supply but neither was enough to tempt her from her sleep at the foot of Hallie’s bed today.

Her lively, feisty self has disappeared with astonishing speed, almost overnight. I think this is it. I’ll frankly be surprised if she is with us in the morning.

Update: She’s still here this morning.

Carded

My son Travis and I went out Saturday to purchase some good beer from Total Wine. As I put the Red Hook Longhammer IPA and the high-gravity Rogue India Pale Ale on the cashier’s counter, I was surprised to be asked for my identification! I guess a three year old in tow doesn’t sway some people, eh?
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Great night of sleep

I don’t know what to attribute it to but I had a fantastic night of sleep last night. I woke up refreshed and happy. Kelly did, too, and mentioned only being somewhat awakened by the sound of a train horn in the distance. If we had a train go by last night, I certainly didn’t notice!

A few nights prior, I had a terrible night of sleep and thought to get that sleep study rescheduled that I’d canceled way back in January. I’m thinking I may need some surgery as my ENT told me then that my tonsils are larger than normal and that might be blocking my airway. Is 39 a few decades too old to get my tonsils taken out?

AT&T dispute update

Progress was made this morning on my dispute with AT&T. I got a call from Ms. Cherry Johnson from AT&T, responding to the consumer complaint I sent to the N.C. Attorney General’s consumer protection office. I reiterated that I never put my social security number on the account in question and that I never worked for the company whose name is on the bill. After some polite discussion we agreed that I needed to fill out AT&T’s “fraud packet.”
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Turkey Day time off ticking away

The final minutes of my Thanksgiving holiday are ticking away. I have thoroughly enjoyed the four day weekend and the time with my family. I am grateful to have had the days off as a paid employee, as I have been a full-timer for a mere six weeks now. Though I won’t be climbing into a car tomorrow for a commute, I will still miss the “home” time I’ve had.
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Turkey Day track walk

I hope everyone’s enjoying their Thanksgiving today. I know I am. The breezy, sunny, mid-70s day certainly doesn’t hurt.

We awoke after 8 AM (!), had a fun, leisurely breakfast, dawdled a bit and then set out for a nature hike around Durant Nature Park. We got to the corner of our street when we heard what sounded like a train horn, at which point we turned towards the tracks to see the train.
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Back from Annapolis

Day two of training yesterday didn’t go as smoothly as the first day, and part of it is my fault. We were trying a new method of training (aside from the new trainer: me), and I didn’t test every aspect of the new environment. If I had, I would’ve discovered some tools were missing that we needed to use. I didn’t build the environment, but I am responsible for making sure it works and I didn’t do that. Fortunately we worked around it and everyone seemed to appreciate the new approach, warts and all.
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First day conducting training

I conducted training on my company’s product for the very first time today in a room wall-to-wall with students. The training went very, very well. No one suspected it was my first time conducting the training, nor did they realize I’ve only been working with it since June. I even got a kudos from a more-experienced coworker who heard some of my presentation.

It was also fun conducting training again. The last time I did that was to a roomful of Chinese in Shanghai back in March. That day still stands out as one of the best of my career. Who knew I’d be out of work just two months later?