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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary Week of 11 November 2002 Latest Update: Sunday, 27 April 2003 08:39 |
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Monday, 11 November 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Starting today the Thompson Techno Grotto will undergo
a little bit of schedule change with my new job starting first thing
this morning. I will still publish my diary (or Bob will) each morning
as usual. More than likely I will be writing it the night before but
that does not really change anything. I always have written about the
previous days activities and what is on tap for the current day.
Bob will have to go back to the morning visits for Lenore and I will take the evening ones. Since I will also be switching all my gym classes to evenings it will not be a problem to visit her afterwards. Bill came over yesterday to visit with Lenore. I did the morning visit after I finished cleaning house since Bob seems to have caught a version of whatever crud is going around. He always stays through dinner, eating at the nursing home with her, and coming back and forth here to do his laundry. I have the alarm set for 6:40 this morning to give myself plenty of time to read the paper, eat breakfast, and get rolling early. I do not want to be late or even close to being late on my first day. Since I have never had to fight rush hour traffic at this hour to get downtown I want to leave myself plenty of time. Fortunately, the parking garage is attached to the building so I do not have to allow for much walking time. Today I report to the main office building for the law firm to get papers signed and begin my training. Once I get all squared away I will be working permanently in another building a block over. They also have an attached parking garage. This weekend I started a new mystery author Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple. I am reading the first book in the series Death at Wentwater Court. Since I am only through a few early chapters I will wait to do a plot summary and opinion. Thanks to everyone who stops by and visits my pages. I appreciate all my readers. Hope your week gets off to a great start. See you tomorrow with news about the new job and work place. Top] |
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Tuesday, 12 November 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Neither rain, snow, nor threat of tornadoes shall keep
me from my first day work at my new job. Kerry woke us up around 6:30
pacing back and forth in the foyer evidently scared from the bright
lightning. I got up to check on him and very quickly let the dogs out
before the apparently oncoming storm hit. I turned on the Weather Channel
to discover we were under tornado watch until mid-morning. Just as
I left the house for the short drive downtown it started pelting down
rain, thunder and lighting was flashing all over the place, and the
wind was blowing leaves off the trees like a blizzard.
Fortunately everyone around me was driving cautiously since most of the roadways were either an inch deep in water or slick with falling leaves. By the time I pulled into the parking deck I felt quite relieved. I and two other new employees spent the first hour filling out paperwork, tax forms, etc. After a short break we were taken down to the basement floor where the training rooms are located. We spent another hour learning some basic information about our on-line time cards, Outlook, and how to use the phones. After this orientation we were supposed to start training on the software package we will be using. However, it was too late to get started so they sent us home early. Tomorrow we get started with that training. So far, everyone I met was very nice and professional. Since I have not really started learning the actual aspects of the job I will refrain from more details until tomorrow. We were very lucky with the storms that tore through Alabama, Tennessee, and Ohio. By the time the front reached us it was mostly high winds and heavy rain. It could have been much, much worse. It remained cloudy the rest of the day with the winds kicking up periodically. I spent the early part of the afternoon checking e-mail and working at my desk. Late in the afternoon I settled on the couch to read and play some ball with Malcolm. Bob went back to read and rest on the bed for awhile and Malcolm joined him. I stretched out and took about a thirty minute nap. We ate an early dinner so I could make my 6:15 Body Pump class after which I visited Lenore.
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Wednesday, 13 November 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| The three of us actually started our training today
on the software. Through conversation with the trainer we learned there
are six full time employees working on the project now. The law firm
hired five additional temp workers to help out. The two other temps
are working the afternoon shift.
The software was designed to be used with MS Outlook. Today we used learned the basic of how the package works and how it integrates with Office. We spent the entire morning on the training taking a break about 10:30. Tomorrow we get started learning exactly what our jobs will be with the project. Rain, rain, and more rain. We had another 1.4 inches Tuesday to go along with the 1.8 we got Monday. Behind this rain we are getting a cold front to move in for the weekend. I can already see that after I home in the afternoon and grab a bite to eat it will have to be Malcolm time. He will not lie down and let me work at the computer until he gets his play time. With the soggy weather the past two days we have had to play indoors. First he jumps up on the side of my chair and licks my face. When I get up to follow him he heads right for the door to let me know it is play time. Today we roughed around the den for fifteen minutes or so and then he was satisfied. Since I had an errand to run later in the afternoon I decided to go ahead and do Lenore's visit before dinner. She has almost recovered from her cold and seems to be in pretty good spirits. I spent an hour or so with her before returning home to get dinner started. We spent the evening relaxing, reading, and watching the latest episode of Buffy. Today when I get off work I will stop on the way home to do the grocery shopping. I supposed I could switch back to Saturday mornings but I prefer shopping in the middle of the week. It will actually not be that much later than it normally was before I started working by the time I went to the gym and then visited Lenore. I am almost finished with the Carola Dunn, Death At Wentwater Court. I really like this series from the first book. Of course in this first book we meet Daisy Dalrymple, a guest at Wentwater Court to write an article about the family history for Town and Country Magazine. Daisy also comes from an aristocratic background but due to family circumstances has decided to strike out and work for a living rather than live with her stuffy relatives or impose on her sister. The second day after Daisy arrived a murder takes place. Inspector Alex Fletcher from Scotland Yard takes on the case while in the same area solving a rash of jewel thefts from other aristocratic homes. Daisy and Alex find themselves working together on clues to solve the murder. This series falls into the funny, cozy category set in the early 1920's.
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Thursday, 14 November 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
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Today we spent about an hour learning what we would be looking for in the InterAction database and how to handle the various mistakes and duplicates that needed fixed. We then started working in a test database to put our training into actual use performing the same tasks we would be doing on the live database next week. I felt pretty good with the basic stuff by the time I left at noon but still need a lot of practice, which we will get for the next two days. I spent the afternoon working on stuff at my desk until time to leave for the library and dinner. Afterwards we took Lenore some a sandwich and visited with her about an hour. I watched NYPD from Tuesday night then read until time for West Wing at 9 pm. Tuesday night I finished up the Carola Dunn before bedtime and started one of the Charlotte and Aaron Elkins golf mysteries, Rotten Lies. This afternoon I have Friends of the Library meeting at 4:30. I think I will visit Lenore before the meeting. It will be at least 5:30 or later until I get out of the meeting and home for dinner. [Top] |
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Friday, 15 November 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| From tornadoes to frost. Monday I was driving to work
under a tornado watch, this morning the grass in some of the low lying
areas looked like it had a light dusting of snow the frost was so heavy.
Mother Nature at her best.
I had a very busy afternoon yesterday. When I got home from work I grabbed a quick bite to eat, played ball with the dogs for about fifteen minutes, prepared the agenda for my meeting, and then headed out to vacuum up the leaves. An hour and a half later I had cleaned the entire yard plus the natural areas. Yes, my lawn vacuum works like a charm. After I finished up in the yard I came in to freshen up a bit before going over to visit Lenore and going on to my meeting. Our meeting, which usually is over about 5:30 ran until 6 pm because we had so many items to cover. Since I was so late getting home we had a light dinner. I fixed salads for both of us and Bob had a sandwich along with his. Today is another busy day. I have an eye exam at 3:00. Between work and my appointment I need to run a couple of errands. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
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Saturday, 16 November 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I don't believe I remember seeing this much rain so
often in the last four years. For all intents and purposes, the drought
is mostly over in our area. We had another deluge last night that woke
up both of us. Today we are socked in with rain all the way through
tomorrow. Tonight was the public observation at Pilot Mountain but
the only thing we will be seeing is clouds.
I survived my first week of getting up at 6:40 every morning. Yesterday was a long day with errands and my eye exam, I did not get back home until 5:00. I fixed homemade pizza for dinner, walked the dogs and dashed over for an hour visit with Lenore. I went to bed early last night but sat up until almost 11 finishing my book. More than likely I will grab the next book in the Gideon Oliver series for the weekend. Gym this morning, Lenore visit, and lunch with my folks at their house. This afternoon I want to tackle various chores that need some attention. [Top] |
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[Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I am reading Old Bones from the Gideon Oliver series
by Aaron Elkins. Gideon is in France for a seminar as a presenter. When
some old bones are discovered under the basement floor of a nearby old
French mansion Gideon is called in by the local police to try to make an
identification. In the meantime, a family squabble has been taking place
in the mansion over inheritance rights. While the old bones investigation
takes place downstairs a murder investigation is taking place upstairs
after one of the family members dies from ingesting poisoned wine.
Not really much on the news front for today. Clean house this morning. This afternoon the final Winston Cup race will run from Homestead, FL. We've had another 2" of rain with more on the way for today. See you tomorrow. [Top] |