Well. That sucks.
You know how sometimes, even when you see a thing coming, it takes you completely by surprise? That's what happened to me Friday, when my "position was eliminated." The signs were all there, and really, I think I knew -- I had even mentioned to a couple of people (not at work...I'm not a complete idiot) recently that I was thinking about starting to look around and see what was out there. But Friday, I really was completely blindsided by the reality of it. It was all very friendly and civilized, not performance based, severance is generous, and I was not alone so that helped (though of course I feel bad for everyone else who was let go as well). But I still kind of feel like I got punched in the stomach. What makes it worse is that I really believe in this company. I think they're doing a good thing and doing it well, and I think it will be a real shame if they go under. And I really, really, liked pretty much everyone there. I enjoyed working with them, and I enjoyed socializing with them. I'm scared to find a new job, because I don't want to work with new people (usually I start looking for a new job because I
do want to work with new people), I want to work with
those people.
I'm trying not to mourn too much, and not to give in to my paranoia (how soon did everyone else know? When X happened, was it because that person already knew...even though X happened 3 weeks ago?), because that just makes me angry, and I know no one did anything to deliberately upset or hurt me. I'm trying to look forward, and I know we'll be okay...
I'll be okay. I'm a good worker, a hard worker (sometimes much to my husband's dismay), and I've got a pretty wide range of mad skillz (in fact, I think the beginning of the end was when I went on maternity leave this past time and came back to a much less robust position -- I had just as much work to do, but the work was not as varied, as others had taken over many of my duties in my absence...which made me less valuable to the company as they did this round of layoffs). I do want to find another company/department that inspires me as much as this one did -- it was a new and very good feeling to be this invested, though I suspect that being that invested is what's hurting so much now. I wish nothing but the best to those who remain, and I do hope they're able to turn it around and recover.
And if anyone reading this knows of an opening in the NYC/North NJ area for someone with project mangement/data management/customer service management/etc. skills, please drop me a line at lauraDOTyonaATgmailDOTcom (substituting proper symbols where appropriate, natch).
I'm going to the store now, and then I'm going to come home and spend some time knitting and watching trash TV. Tomorrow, I hit the job sites, and maybe I'll tell you all what my dream jobs are.
Yesterday was a Very Cool Day, and today was pretty swell, too. Yesterday, I took my friend from work, Carolann, up to The Point and taught her to knit. Now, I've taught other people to knit (and learned to knit myself), and so I kind of knew what to expect: some frustration, lots of mistakes, loose wobbly stitches, stitches so tight you can't get the needle in, inadvertent yarn overs....if you've ever learned to knit, you know how it is. It's all to be expected, and you eventually get through it and have nice even stitches and then you either never knit again or really love it and keep on going. But that first learning curve is really kind of a bitch.
Yeah, well, not for Carolann. I showed her how to cast on, walked away to get lunch, came back and she had 24 stitches on, ready to knit her swatch. I knitted the first row for her (because that first row is also a bitch, usually -- stitches get pulled too tight) and was amazed at how even the tension was and how perfectly she had tightened the cast on stitches -- not too tight, not too loose. So then I showed her how to knit, watched her knit 3 or 4 stitches, turned around to eat my lunch and by the time I looked back, she was halfway across the row, knitting merrily away. No problem turning at the end of a row, no problem purling...the kid's a whiz.
Also yesterday I machine-sewed the Wrap Front Sweater together. The machine sewing was a success, but I'm not so sure about the sweater. I'm really not happy with the sleeves -- they're just kind of baggy and lifeless at the upper arm...it seems a shame to have such a beautiful sweater with saggy drop shoulder sleeves. If I knit it again (which I might, despite the fact that it's one of the most poorly written patterns I've ever come across, even using the errata), I'll definitely do some sleeve shaping, maybe even a set-in sleeve or sewn in raglan. I'll defintely be machine sewing more sweaters in the future, though -- super fast and easy, which is my favorite kind of finishing.
Today I got together with Merri of OW fame and her boyfriend for lunch, which was pretty awesome. We went to a dumpling place in Union Square that was both cheap and yummy, and then went to Max Brenneman's for hot chocolates afterwards. I told Merri I don't think we can be friends anymore -- friends don't introduce friends to that many caolries all in one place. I think we're going to have lunch there next time. :)
So last week, I told you I was going to take a spinning class, which I did. I do not have pretty pictures of yarn I spun, because I had spinnign wheel issues, wherein my wheel broke halfway through class. The instructor (Judith Mcuin-MacKenzie) let me borrow the loaner for the remainder, but I was already pretty far behind, due to my utter lack of skill, so I really only had a few singles by the end of class. I did learn that I'm a worsted spinner and not a woolen spinner, and that I should be making 3-ply yarns for knitting (while 2-plys are better for weaving), and got lots of practice and feedback...and she was really nice about me being a dolt. I highly recommend her, if you have a chance to take a class with her.
I would say this is just a quick little post, but we all know it won't be
Knowing you have a problem is the first step, and I know I tend to get verbose. However, I still have a bunch of work to do, so I'll try to be brief.
First, OMG
Otherworld rocks. If you haven't done it yet, do it next year. Seriously. This is by far my favorite thing that I do all year, and it doesn't involve yarn or fiber of any kind. And y'all know how much I love yarn. To get to spend time with this amazing group of people is such a tremendous gift...I can't believe Kit and I were so lucky to find this. Now that I think about it, the two best things that ever happened to me were a combination of blind luck and the internet (the other one being Kit) (yes, my kids are also two wonderful things in my life, but I count them as part of Kit). Thank you, intarwubs!
Second, election stuff. I think it's pretty clear where my political affiliations lie, but that's not what I want to talk about today. I want to direct you to a post that one of my favorite authors made on his blog the other day (his is also not party focused, but rather election focused). He expressed what I think are some pretty good thoughts about voting (or not) and since he took the time to write it all out, I don't have to.
Go read it here. Go on, I'll wait.
I also wanted to mention another election related post I read recently, wherein the poster asked his readers to comment on the issue(s) they were focusing on to choose their candidate. The only restrictions were to be polite and to use a positive rather than a negative (IOW, he wanted people to justify why they liked Obama's economic plan rather than why they didn't like McCain's, for instance). The first one seems pretty obvious to me -- I mean, nobody wants to actually start a flame war in their comments. Well, most people don't. Not the people who write the blogs I read, anyhow. But the second one kind of threw me. I certainly believe that people should be informed (see link above), but I also believe that--as long as you are indeed informed--voting against someone's policies is just as valid a reason to vote for someone else as actually voting for the other person's policies. To go back to the f'rinstance I mentioned above, I might not think Obama's economic policy is the end-all, be-all but I think it's a damn sight better than McCain's. So am I voting for Obama's policy because I think it rocks? No, obviously not. I'm voting against McCain's policy because I think it sucks more than Obama's (
NB: There are a whole lot of reasons I'm voting for Obama and not McCain, but as I said, that's not what this is about). Voting for the lesser of two evils is better than letting someone else decide which evil we're going to have to live with for the next 4-8 years (FWIW, I actually like most of Obama's policies, but again, not the point).
Finally, I'm off to Rhinebeck tomorrow for an all-day spinning class, so hopefully I'll have pretty pictures of Yarns I Made All By Myself(tm) to show you soon. I'm not as excited about this as I was when I signed up for the class. I blame Otherworld, because I know that no matter how awesome the class and the people I'll be meeting tomorrow are, they won't hold a candle to my Otherworld peeps. Yes, I said peeps.
I'm not even supposed to be here today!
For reasons that I won't get into here, I'm at work on the first day of my vacation. I'm currently waiting for reports to run so I can go home, hang with the hub, do some knitterly things (I hope!) and so on. Of course, I'll also have to work some from home tomorrow, which just even more depressing. I was really looking forward to having one day off where I didn't have anything to do. At all. Nothing. I could prep for Otherowrld, or not. I could knit, or not. I could sew, or not. I could spin (since I have a class next week and haven't spun since Becky was still immobile, so it seems like I should make sure I still know how), or not.
Alas, it was not to be. Instead, I'm working today and part of tomorrow, I have a couple of appointments I have to get to, my mom's coming in (which I'm excited about, but I really was looking forward to a day all by myself) and there are some OW tasks that absolutely
must get done. So I'm in a pretty sucky place. At least my boss didn't go to Vermont.
Also, my fun bulky oversized sweater? Done, cast off, not so much with the oversized. I have to see if the yarn can be ripped back, and if so, I'll just knit the next larger size (at least I won't have to rip back the arms -- I can just add some length). I ended up with a full ball and then come left over, and frankly, I'm not sure where I went wrong, as I measured and got gauge and everything. Sigh. Story of my life lately.
The Wrap Front Sweater is almost done -- one more pattern repeat to go on the hood -- but I effed up the shaping on the second side of that, too. For that one, though, at least I effed it up so it's wider than it's supposed to be and can compensate in the seaming. I'm going to try to machine sew it together. Wish me luck.
I've got stome stash pics and kid pics to post later (maybe tomorrow if I get everything else done?). Oh, and I've decided to go as Sarah Palin for Halloween, with a t-shirt listing the top 10 reasons you should vote for me -- things like:
10. I believe in family values (for other people's families)
9. Oil rigs are beautiful and I pledge to place some in each and every state park
8. If I win, every third grader will get extra credit ::wink::
7. Hunters will no longer have to stalk their game -- helicopters for everyone!
6. I'm a hockey mom -- you can tell by the lipstick
and of course number 1: I'm HOT!
Once I get the t-shirt made up, I'll link here and donate all proceeds to the Obama campaign.
Man, I can't wait to get to Otherworld!
Shake it, Salome*
I went to my first opera of the season last night and,
wow. I bought a Tuesday series at the Met this year -- it's incredibly cheap, something on the order of $20/ticket. The first opera of this series was Salome, which I had never seen before. To be fair, I haven't seen most operas. I'm not even sure I qualify as a dilettante -- I go to operas when I can, which is more often now that I'm not dead broke and not pregnant, but still, I think I've been to fewer than 15 operas my whole life. I never have any idea who's singing, except for the one time I got to see Pavarotti. ::swoon:: But I do like it, and seriously, $20 a pop to see opera at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC? You just can't beat that.
But back to Salome. I have always enjoyed opera, but never really had a "favorite." In fact, I have been to several operas that I cannot tell you the name of. I believe I have a favorite now. Leaving aside the naked chick and the beheading (because who doesn't like those things, especially when the chick does a strip tease that involves two guys pulling her pants off with their teeth?), the music is
amazing. Also, it's short, which was kind of cool (the last 4 operas I went to see were Wagner. I adore Wagner, but he is the opposite of short.). If you've never been to an opera, or someone you love is nagging you to go and you are not a fan, I recommend that you give this one a try (see above re: good music, short, naked chick, and beheading).
*
Points if you got the reference to the little known B-side from U2's "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
