You Call This a Reward???

Most of you know I'm currently working on a project in LA. It has literally been sucking the life out of me. Due to a client that is a PITA, I have to fly down Sunday nights and can't leave on Fridays until a 6pm flight. They took what should be a 12 week project, sold it as an 8 week project and then made us do it in 6. Last week alone I worked over 71 hours. My client manager has never been a project manager before, is completely passive aggressive and has no idea what she is doing.

Three of the four members of our team (including myself) have finished our work this week. We had talked to the client about rolling off early since our work is complete. They met yesterday and decided they would only keep one of us for next week. Obviously it makes sense to keep the one guy who hasn't yet completed his work (due to their scheduling) next week to finish.

No no, they decide they want to keep ME. So now you are taking the one person who has been in all the meetings, conducted the interviews, read all the documents and has been involved since the beginning and removing him from the project. Instead, bringing in someone who hasn't been involved in any of it to finish the work. Oh, and the by the way, the second review of the work is at 7am Monday morning. Someone please explain this logic to me!

I know I should feel pleased that they like my work and trust the job I do. Instead, I'm just pissed. Is this how you "reward" people for doing good work? If so, screw that. I'm going to start sucking at my job from now on. I'm so done with this project, and have tons of stuff to do to prepare for Burning Man. When you only have 1.5 days at home on the weekend (during which you need to do laundry and errands) it makes it really hard to get anything accomplished. Most of the people I'm working down here with are great. Really only two are PITAs. However, those two are making life miserable and limiting the time I have at home.

Sorry, I'm just frustrated and needed to vent. Sadly you, dear reader, are on the receiving end. I'll be fine in a few days. Right now I'm just miffed.

This ridiculous moment of frustration was brought to you by the letter F and the number 1.

The Beauty Around Us

I spent this past weekend up in Tahoe. Flew from LA into Reno and rented a car. The flight was really interesting as I was sitting next to a man who organizes adventure trips and then does a satellite feed from all these exotic locations into children's classrooms. He's been to Antarctica multiple times (including organizing a marathon there), is heading to the Amazon soon, etc. Very very cool stuff. They occasionally take a couple kids with them on their trips as well. He had been down in LA as the keynote speaker for the Magic Johnson foundation as he will be taking a couple kids from that group to the Amazon. What an amazing job to have. Not only do you get to go to all these fabulous places, you get to educate children about them too!

Drove over to Tahoe in the middle of a thunderstorm. I love thunderstorms! Thunderstorms in the mountains at sunset are even more amazing! Friday night was a bit awkward with TB which I had expected. We talked about it a bit. Wouldn't say there was any resolution to anything, but enough to be friends. Now to just teach myself that someone else’s issues are just that – someone else’s and not a reflection of me.

Saturday I met up with the Reno Hash House Harriers group in Tahoe City. We went for a run and then went to the Truckee River Access Point and started blowing up inner tubes and rafts. We spent a good 3+ hours on the river drinking beer, enjoying the sunshine, frolicking and hanging out chatting. My bumm/low back is black and blue as I think I managed to find every single rock the Truckee River has in it. The idea of lashing your inner tube to someone’s raft seems like a good idea, until none of you are paying attention, you are floating along backwards and no one bothers to say, “Oh, look out for that rock!”  Good times all the same.

Got back to my car in time to throw on a sundress and head back to South Lake. Well, Harvey’s in NV to be exact. We had tickets to the CSNY concert. I met up with TB and his friend inside. Harvey’s Amphitheatre is a gorgeous venue. I highly recommend it! You get to sit there listening to great live music and watch the sun set over the mountains. Does life get better? Yes, yes it does. You get to have a beer in your hand while watching! I would have preferred to see just CSN instead of CSNY. I was pleasantly surprised though. The show was a bit too political for my taste - I don’t pay to hear your political views. I pay to hear you sing. Still a great show and nice to see those guys on stage!

Sunday I hung out on my own at Fallen Leaf Lake. Did a little reading and soaked up some sunshine. I decided to pamper myself (hey, if I don’t do it, who’s going to?) by getting an hour and a half deep tissue massage which was wonderful minus the bruises described earlier. Headed to TB’s shop which is across the way from a sunglass shop as mine had bitten the dust the day before. He did get me an excellent deal on a couple pairs of sunglasses which was very nice of him. I said my goodbyes and headed back to Reno to catch a flight to LA.

Every time I visit Tahoe I’m reminded of just how much of a mountain girl I am. The air is crisp and clean, the water an unbelievable shade of blue and the mountains…well, the mountains always remind me just how small we really are and how insignificant the “big” problems (read that – problems we make big) truly are. Mountains are wonderful for putting life in the proper perspective, for reminding me to slow down and appreciate all the beauty that is around me. I am so blessed by having all this at my fingertips!

This was brought to you by the letter M and the number 5.

Do You Have Any Idea....

How difficult it is when your client asks, "How are you?" to refrain from answering...

"Horny as hell, thanks. How are you?"

Thank goodness my filter occasionally works.

Ack!

This was brought to you by the letters L - U - S - and T and the number 29.

Light Through Yonder Window Breaks

Ok, that was a bit melodramatic.

However, after an absolute shite week, I had the complete antithesis of a weekend! Flew in Friday night. Met a dear friend and former roomie for dinner at Marne Thai over in the Sunset. It was really good to see her again and catch up on each other's lives. There's always an element of peace? serenity? all of the above? when spending time with someone you've known for years. There's a certain comfort level attached to that which always restores the spirit.

That night managed to start some laundry. Saturday morning (after sleeping in!) I finished my laundry. Ran a few errands and headed to Chrissy Fields to spend the afternoon with another friend and her Australian Shepherd "puppy". Puppy is in quotes because Quinn is 8 months old and hardly looks like a puppy anymore. She is so much fun and it was great to catch up with my friend whom I hadn't seen in months! I hadn't seen Quinny since she truly was a puppy so it was fun to see how she had changed. How can you beat spending time with a friend in the sunshine, on the beach, playing in the water with a dog?

That night I picked up C from the train station and grabbed some dinner (at Marne Thai strangely enough). Mmmm mmm good. Then we were off to see the new Pirates of the Carribean flick. Pretty sweet film, but definitely requires you to see 3. The first one could stand alone, but this one leaves you hanging. Finally headed home and split a beer with some good conversation. Eventually headed off to slumberland.

Spent a wonderful lazy Sunday morning cuddling. Now that's the way to spend a Sunday morning! Tried to meet up with Boychaos and his lovely Tanya for brunch, but ended up just being the two of us (C and I that is). Nothing quite like a milkshake for breakfast. You can always count on Mel's for a good milkshake! Muahahhahahahahahha. After a leisurely and rather special drive down Geary to the soundtrack of Death Cab For Cutie (had to be there), I dropped C off at the train.

Did a quick run home, changed and played a few games of volleyball in Golden Gate Park. Then had to head home, pack for the next two weeks, take a quick shower and head off to the airport. It took every ounce of willpower to actually get on that plane. Luckily I had the glow from the weekend to keep me company. Had an interesting conversation with the guy next to me, but that's another blog for another time.

A huge thank you to all involved in making this weekend so wonderful and rejuvenating!

This moment of bliss was brought to you by the letter S and the number 3.

Water Baby

I am officially a water baby. As a kid you couldn't get me out of the water - swim team, canoeing, white water rafting, fishing, etc. Always in the water. As I got older it seemed to happen less frequently. That is, until recently.

Three weeks ago I was white water rafting in Oregon. Two weeks ago I was swimming in Lake Tahoe. Last week I was sea kayaking and swimming in the ocean. This week I'm fishing and swimming in a lake.

I heart summer!

I wonder if I can grow gills?

This watery moment was brought to you by the letter W and the number 11.