Life Moves Pretty Fast

Work has been interesting (and by interesting I mean insufferable) insofar as we haven't had any projects for a couple of weeks - this is rare. Also serendipitous, as we've been given weeks of computer-based training to do on future applications and processes. In-between the spirit-crushingly dull online training, at least I personally have had some server outages and other unix distractions to keep my week bearable. Thankfully, I can navigate my iPod effortlessly with Rhythmbox, which turns out is MUCH faster than Amarok AND I don't have to download kdm libraries!

I'm back on schedule - that is to say, "non-Summer hours." I am a magnificent creature of routine and now that the kids are back in school, I'm *at* work at 0700 instead of my wife rousing me at 0900 for my daily conference call, usually not making it in until 1100 :/ Speaking of the 0900 meeting, after not saying anything for a month other than, "Nothing for the Group" I recently announced,

I usually listen to very thematic music throughout the day. However, this morning I've been powering through a lot of Rammstein - German Industrial - and I have NO IDEA how this may affect me.

Despite my lackadaisical week at work, I've had plenty of pre/during/post work activities which keeps me, quite literally - hopping. From the school's gear-up meetings (my son asked that I volunteer to be a parent-chaperon at 3-day overnight Adventure Camp), to the P90X my wife and I started (at 0400!!!) each morning as a sort of mild martial-arts replacement program until we're able to get back to that sometime next year. And we're still walking in the evenings which have turned blessedly cooler as Autumn descends and still reading "The Hobbit" to the kids. Busy, busy!



Professionally, things haven't been as rosy. We've been through a series of layoffs (the first I can recall in about ten years) with the threat of more to come. And though my wife and I have run through several exercises of our "emergency plan" of different scenarios over the years (one of which includes my job loss) I found it particularly difficult to lose one of my co-workers. So while this was our second cut in as many weeks, and reduced our already small numbers considerably (we've lost over 25% of our team in under a month without any decrease in work) increasing our individual load and accelerating on-call rotation, it was also unexpectedly painful.

And it seemed to me the hissing sound, as it were, of an opening sepulcher, punctuated by the stale odor which came behind; The Grim Reaper curled his bony hand in our direction and I heard a scream. "Behold, one shall be taken from you." And she was gone, and joy followed with her.

Now I'm not one to let external influences change my behavior. I keep my head up, and remind everyone outwardly that we all still have a job to do and to do it well. But inside, I think I died a little bit. We are all brilliantly executing our assigned functions, but no one's heart is in it, and I have not been motivated to write. Nothing I say here will ever change anything.

But I can try.