Summertime

Someone has their ducks in a row

A dragon sunset

And the silver lining

The August blue super moon

 

A bit of sunshine on earth

Inertia

I got word that I need to renew my lease on my apartment this week. Which, was weird because for the first 5 years, I had no lease, I just paid month-to-month. Then they remodeled and I moved and signed a one year lease, but that was about 3 years ago and I've never been asked to renew, so I assumed it was month-to-month, but apparently not. 

Anyway, no biggie, but it did get me thinking, briefly, about whether I want to move. And I was reminded that I am a person who generally thrives on inertia. 

I'm not saying I am never proactive. There are lots of things, especially where people are involved, or when cars get stolen and I have to buy a new one, where inertia just doesn't cut it. 

But some things, like "should I move or not," are strongly dictated by inertia. I mean, moving is such a hassle. I'd have to find a place, I'd have to pack, and unpack, and wherever I moved to I'd probably have to drive to work, which sounds awful. 

Whereas, if I do nothing, I can focus my energies on everything else that isn't content to remain the same. 

The laws of physics are real, and sometimes you just have to accept it. Embrace the inertia.

Papercuts

I cannot take credit for this title. That goes to a podcast, Hello Internet, in which Brady Haran would occasionally list his papercuts. No, not the actual thing. But those little things in life that aren't really a big deal, really, but just drive you crazy.

So, today's papercuts are brought to you by unasked for "improvements" to software. Like Chrome's new location for downloads (who asked for this change? Was it you? Because I just can't even). Or Adobe Reader's new design, that apparently they are rolling out randomly. I got lucky today because another co-worker finally got the updates. And couldn't find anything. And I was just so glad someone could feel my pain.

Another papercut is certain companies who think they are doing you a favor by delivering a package before the date you requested they delivered it. Early is not always better. I frequently choose the delivery date because the earlier date (that, yes, you did give me in the list of options, and I DELIBERATELY didn't choose it) doesn't work for me. And yet they still look at what I CHOSE, and say, "This girl is dumb and doesn't know what she needs. We know so much better, even though we don't know actually know her at all, and even the data from our algorithms isn't knowledge of her, it's knowledge of the choices she makes when we choose what she gets to choose from. So we're going to deliver it on the earlier day, because surely she just made a mistake when she chose a later date."

There you have it folks. My papercuts for the day. Lucky problems to have. 

I was not prepared for this

I know I'm new to the role of "management" and am still learning. But one thing I was not prepared for is how very 1 step forward 3 steps back it is. In the days of just being an employee (ah, beautiful days. Many good things about them), I finished work and it was...finished.

Now, somehow, for every piece of work I get done, I seem to have 3 new pieces of work to do! One task really ends up being the first step of a process, rather than a task that can be completed and really be done. 

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I think to an extent it is the nature of being in a role with more responsibility. The work I deal with is the work that is more complex, with more pieces to address. And that's okay. I generally like the challenge of the work I'm doing, and the variety in my day to day work. 

But every now and then, I do miss being able to be done with a thing. 

Ruins, an owl, and a rare elevated view

These are from a trip to Chihuahua, Mexico, I took at the end of June/early July. I liked having a more realistic view of what that part of Mexico looks like. (I think it just gets painted as a desert with nothing there, which is obviously not the case). Chihuahua is the home of Paquimé, an archaeological zone that was home to the Mogollon. And no, I had never heard of them, but the ruins are very different from others I've seen (and I've seen a few in the last year).  Very labyrinthine. 

We also visited a couple of cemeteries, which might sound weird, but cemeteries (or panteones) are really interesting places. I enjoy a good cemeteries. These ones were sparse on the shade, but really interesting, and I made the acquaintance of an owl who missed the memo that it was his bedtime.

Finally, we drove up to the tops of the hills and got a great not-quite-aerial-but definitely-an-elevated view of the area. I don't get chances to take shots like that often, so I loved it. 

Chihuahua reminded me very much of home. Which just goes to show that national borders are really arbitrary compared to the actual terrain they cross. That definitely stuck out a lot on this trip. But I enjoyed Chihuahua, and enjoyed seeing a different part of Mexico.