![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
mad catch up scramble
Hi, hi, it's been forever!
Mostly, that's been due to the job search ramping up in intensity and grinding to a happy ending of a new job in a new company with someone I've worked with (and loved working with) previously, \o/.
But oy, what a month. I ended up interviewing with 9 different people across 4 different appointments for the new job, and then when I gave notice at the current job, they came back with a counter-offer, which entailed 3 more meetings with various people. The only reason I entertained the counter was because my current director has been an absolute rock star since D's stroke and he asked me if I would raise some of my reasons for leaving up the chain of command. It was, I think, the least I could do for him, but I am SO HAPPY that it's all done and I'm leaving at the end of next week.
Also, in the middle of all this interviewing stuff, we had Covid-19 impacts to the current job because CurrentCompany has some large number of Chinese employees and multiple manufacturing facilities that were impacted by the quarantines, etc. I haven't done so many middle of the night calls in years. It totally fucked with my sleep, which is yet another reason I'm not sad to be moving on. The only thing that saved me is the Calm app on my phone, which has a daily Sleep Story--just someone reading some random thing in a super-soothing voice. I was extremely skeptical, but they consistently keep my brain out of its stress spirals and do it quickly enough that I don't even remember what the stories are because I'm snoring in no time.
In books/tv/movies news, I finished watching The Witcher, which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected to. Part of that is because BabyBoy is a huge, huge fan and his enthusiasm and enjoyment was contagious, but also, I really had fun with HC and his very expressive uses of 'fuck'. The intertwined story timelines didn't bother me (though possibly that's because I had the encyclopedic knowledge of BabyBoy only a text away), and you know I'm always up for a good found family trope. So that was fun.
I also zipped through Pandemic, Netflix's docu-series on, well, pandemics, and I have to say, it was really well done, especially given the timing. (Though, watching it as I sat on the subway every day got to be a little nerve-wracking, especially on days when I'd been on China-impact-assessment calls overnight. (My part in these calls is virtually nothing, but one of the teams I write for had major impacts to their delivery capacity so we were all there to understand the situation.)) I didn't find it to be unnecessarily alarmist or fear-mongering, but it is a scary topic, even without the events happening in real life. The people they profile are very inspiring, for the most part.
On the book side, it's been a string of exceedingly escapist fiction, which I will try to get to next week for the Wednesday reading topic, but all the buzz about Andie Christopher's Not the Girl You Marry was spot-on, in my view, and I'm not normally one for contemporary romances.
I have to laugh at all the articles about preparing for possible quarantines and how people are so worried about what you might do to keep yourself occupied if you can't go out. I mean, do they not know anyone with a serious TBR pile? Or a crafting addiction? I might grab a couple of extra pounds of butter tomorrow at the store, just in case we do get the work-from-home word and I suddenly have the time to go on a mad baking spree, but otherwise, I still remember with great fondness the snowstorm we had around 10 years ago, where the usual snow-removal strategy (wait for the sun to come out and it'll all melt) did not measure up for the actual snow that we got and we were home for a week. It. Was. Bliss. D was going bonkers in 2 days, but omg, I wallowed in it. I will definitely do my part to stop contagion vectors!
In other news, BabyBoy was cast in a production of The Laramie Project, which is probably yet another show we will not mention to the conservative part of the family. I know they have to be thinking that he's just not very good because we keep skipping over things like the original Broadway staging of Hair or the corsets from Cabaret so all they know is that he played one of the flying monkeys from Oz. (Don't get me wrong--he loved being up on a wire, but yeah, it's not really much of a dramatic stretch.)
Okay, I should go and take the berserker dog out for a walk, because it is actually not raining here for once (we've had more rain than Seatttle this year, ugh.)
Have a good weekend!
Mostly, that's been due to the job search ramping up in intensity and grinding to a happy ending of a new job in a new company with someone I've worked with (and loved working with) previously, \o/.
But oy, what a month. I ended up interviewing with 9 different people across 4 different appointments for the new job, and then when I gave notice at the current job, they came back with a counter-offer, which entailed 3 more meetings with various people. The only reason I entertained the counter was because my current director has been an absolute rock star since D's stroke and he asked me if I would raise some of my reasons for leaving up the chain of command. It was, I think, the least I could do for him, but I am SO HAPPY that it's all done and I'm leaving at the end of next week.
Also, in the middle of all this interviewing stuff, we had Covid-19 impacts to the current job because CurrentCompany has some large number of Chinese employees and multiple manufacturing facilities that were impacted by the quarantines, etc. I haven't done so many middle of the night calls in years. It totally fucked with my sleep, which is yet another reason I'm not sad to be moving on. The only thing that saved me is the Calm app on my phone, which has a daily Sleep Story--just someone reading some random thing in a super-soothing voice. I was extremely skeptical, but they consistently keep my brain out of its stress spirals and do it quickly enough that I don't even remember what the stories are because I'm snoring in no time.
In books/tv/movies news, I finished watching The Witcher, which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected to. Part of that is because BabyBoy is a huge, huge fan and his enthusiasm and enjoyment was contagious, but also, I really had fun with HC and his very expressive uses of 'fuck'. The intertwined story timelines didn't bother me (though possibly that's because I had the encyclopedic knowledge of BabyBoy only a text away), and you know I'm always up for a good found family trope. So that was fun.
I also zipped through Pandemic, Netflix's docu-series on, well, pandemics, and I have to say, it was really well done, especially given the timing. (Though, watching it as I sat on the subway every day got to be a little nerve-wracking, especially on days when I'd been on China-impact-assessment calls overnight. (My part in these calls is virtually nothing, but one of the teams I write for had major impacts to their delivery capacity so we were all there to understand the situation.)) I didn't find it to be unnecessarily alarmist or fear-mongering, but it is a scary topic, even without the events happening in real life. The people they profile are very inspiring, for the most part.
On the book side, it's been a string of exceedingly escapist fiction, which I will try to get to next week for the Wednesday reading topic, but all the buzz about Andie Christopher's Not the Girl You Marry was spot-on, in my view, and I'm not normally one for contemporary romances.
I have to laugh at all the articles about preparing for possible quarantines and how people are so worried about what you might do to keep yourself occupied if you can't go out. I mean, do they not know anyone with a serious TBR pile? Or a crafting addiction? I might grab a couple of extra pounds of butter tomorrow at the store, just in case we do get the work-from-home word and I suddenly have the time to go on a mad baking spree, but otherwise, I still remember with great fondness the snowstorm we had around 10 years ago, where the usual snow-removal strategy (wait for the sun to come out and it'll all melt) did not measure up for the actual snow that we got and we were home for a week. It. Was. Bliss. D was going bonkers in 2 days, but omg, I wallowed in it. I will definitely do my part to stop contagion vectors!
In other news, BabyBoy was cast in a production of The Laramie Project, which is probably yet another show we will not mention to the conservative part of the family. I know they have to be thinking that he's just not very good because we keep skipping over things like the original Broadway staging of Hair or the corsets from Cabaret so all they know is that he played one of the flying monkeys from Oz. (Don't get me wrong--he loved being up on a wire, but yeah, it's not really much of a dramatic stretch.)
Okay, I should go and take the berserker dog out for a walk, because it is actually not raining here for once (we've had more rain than Seatttle this year, ugh.)
Have a good weekend!
no subject
I just stocked up my TBR shelf. That plus my yarn for multiple projects, my DVD collection and my colouring books and I'm good for an extended period of hibernation. I just need to get more food in the house.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Yay new job!!! I'm so happy or you. :) Also I'm a huge fan of Calm, I recommend it to everyone I know.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
And yeah, I mean, I've got baking and reading (and writing) and Netflix marathons I'd like to do - I would love to be holed up for 2 weeks by myself, are you kidding?
no subject
I went to the grocery store yesterday and everyone was so annoying that I ended up buying enough of everything so I don't have to go back out again for a good while. Like, I can't get everything in the pantry, so we are set.
no subject
I've heard a few people mention The Witcher. I think I need to check it out.
no subject
If you have even the slightest thing for Henry Cavil, The Witcher should pop up to the top of your list, because he's never done anything for me, but I really enjoyed his performance and how enthusiastic he is about the story (he has a couple of behind-the-scenes shorts where he talks about the fight choreography (which is excellent) and Geralt's swords and all. Very charming.)
Also, you should know that the three main characters are in three separate timelines at the start. They drop clues in the dialog, but they don't ever make it explicit. Everything gradually syncs up, but if I hadn't known that going in, I think I would have been confused.
no subject
The coronavirus is obviously terrible for the people affected, and is also causing some issues at work (so far way more minor than yours though). However, the possibility of being quarantined for two weeks is so far from the worst that could happen (especially at this time of the year)!
no subject
I DL'd the Calm app, but I haven't done much with it yet.