So much to write about and so much has happened recently but since I’m ahead of schedule for the pace I have put myself on for this site, I took the weekend off to practically do nothing, similar to what Peter from Office Space did. Well…I did a bit more, read several chapters of a book which I’m using as my ammo in the healthcare debate for the opposition (you know which side I’m on and what I prefer to call the whiners, it fits them, personally I think #4 from the Urban Dictionary nails them).
I’ll start with the best part because it’s associated with Apple, my employer. It’s no secret that Apple’s new fiscal year began last week, I work for a publicly traded corporation and it’s always mentioned in the financial news whenever the quarterly numbers get announced. Unlike past jobs, Apple undertakes every employee’s review in one big swoop around this time of year. When I worked at DG and University Towers, it was on the anniversary of your hire date, in DG’s case, you were lucky if it happened within six months after it. GDW? It was a matter of being pushy or making a threat. PowerComputing didn’t last long enough to ever iron out a policy.
Reviews are stressful for me regardless of the year I’ve had. The majority of mine with Apple have been great which vindicates who I am, how I operate and what my priorities are. I remember the guff I took from Celli at DG, the despair with PSW (delisted and gone!) and GDW’s parting words (also gone); all of them stating I’d never add up to much. Ha! Apple seems to have felt differently! I have a 10-year plaque.
This year was no exception on what I received, good marks and the positive things which come with it. Last year, I did well, but I was battling My Evil Twin; it means, I had a hard time believing all the nice things I read on my review because I perceived myself as a clock puncher, nothing more. The promotion to Senior Specialist (since we’re near Mexico, I could be Senor Specialist) has done wonders for my pysche. I have a supportive team of managers who let me take command with particular projects to move the Enterprise team in a direction I see as positive. My co-workers are onboard, most of the time. Human beings can’t help having differences of opinion, what matters is how they’re expressed and resolved. I hope to get some additional training over such job aspects, namely conflict resolution.
The awesome review led to taking the weekend off at my friend Deb’s house out in Briarcliff or Spicewood, I can never remember yet it’s a few miles away from Bee Caves, another small town being absorbed by Austin. Deb’s house is amazing. It’s a nice remote, peaceful, zen spot to enjoy the gradually vanishing hill country of Central Texas. It’s far away enough to avoid the light pollution if you want to gaze at the stars too. Currently, she is visiting her daughter in Hawaii and needed someone to check on her cats…and no, I do not have a catsitting/housesitting side business, I just love cats. She has wireless yet I chose to nap, eat, listen to podcats, try to round up the cats (impossible with Sting, Kitty Girl learned I was cool) and watch cable TV. Her son Matt was around so this was a rather easy errand, I think I should pay her for letting me hang out.
Then came the piece de resistance to the weekend, the AppleCare celebration of our ninth year in a row on winning the Consumer Reports roundup for overall support. It’s a tough award to win. Most CR reviews are not strong endorsements because they always ding Apple products on price and/or the lack of expandability for iMacs, Minis and portables. A big fat “no duh!” on the latter unless CR can find a way to modify a portable without it looking like something from There, I Fixed It!
The honchos of AppleCare chose to rent the entire Austin Pizza & Park to reward us. From 4 PM until 9 PM, the whole place was ours to enjoy: eat all the pizza we could stand, play the video games, drive the go carts, etc. Despite the rain preventing everyone from taking advantage of all the outdoor exhibits, it was an awesome time for me. I got to see co-workers in a more social setting and meet their children I’ve heard about. Some I’ve encountered before, others, it was a first time. We did this last year, around Spring time but my anxiety kept me from truly appreciating it. Most days, I wanted to stay the hell away from work and anyone associated with it, there were a few exceptions. This year, those inhibitions have been treated to prevent the great time everybody was entitled to, myself included.
On to doing my part in getting Apple a tenth title from CR because I lost at putt-putt golf again, by 10 strokes, I blame the wet course! I need my rematch with Somara and she needs hers on the go-kart track.
Thank you all for helping me achieve what I thought wasn’t possible some years ago. I couldn’t have done it without your support, encouraging words and everything else you do.
