And nothing makes me happier, especially when I am down or irritated, than reading new entries on my friends' blogs:
Rob: http://rob-style.blogspot.com/
Dustin: http://fakedustin.blogspot.com
I wish they would post more often. So insightful.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
11.17.2007
11.01.2007
Halloween
Every year, we have a Halloween contest at work. And every year, it seems like the most radical hair-related sacrifices win. But this year - it was over the top. May I present Tim and Stan, our two winners, in their award-winning performance:
8.01.2007
7.09.2007
johnc made my snoopy poopy!
Stan came by and drew a Snoopy on my whiteboard the other day.
And what did innocent looking JohnC do?!
!!!!!!!
The devil shirt must be getting to him.
And what did innocent looking JohnC do?!
!!!!!!!
The devil shirt must be getting to him.
6.05.2007
stan comes out of the closet
... or the cabinet at least.
Yes, we have a little too much fun at work.
Yes, we have a little too much fun at work.
4.15.2007
bid bash fun and beyond
On Friday (the 13th, of course), we had our final BID Bash in our Sansome location. We'll be moving to a new building with greater BEA in early May. That, plus the fact that we released "Merced" in the morning, and that it was the last day of three of our longest employees, made for one insane party... much of which I don't remember.
It all started at 4pm, when the 3rd floor held its first-and-hopefully-last ever Box Race: conceived of and sponsored by our VP of Product Management. Basically, people climb into cardboard boxes on wheels that were really meant to trash boxes as we all start to pack up.
Carol climbs in
An action shot: Drew and David push Carol and Eno
And they're off! Rival teams of Kim, Sully, Randy and Matias race down the opposite hall
The winners
At about 4:30, we headed down to the BID Bash, which featured two kegs, lots of wine, massive burritos, and... Guitar Hero!
Christophe, showing his skillz
JohnG gives Joseph a tutorial
Noelle and I give Matias' head as a farewell rub
Some of then separated to forage for food. Rob, whose been having worse cravings than a pregnant woman in the final trimester, decided that he just needed MEAT. So Rob, Dustin, JohnG, and I met up with some people at Espetus, where I guzzled a lethal combination of chicken hearts and sangria.
Dustin tries out my vanilla flavored deodorant for dessert
When my stomach simply couldn't handle anymore dead animal, I scurried off in a cab and joined some other work people finishing up dinner and drinks at Myth. The rest... is a blur.
Carol, me and Jamie, doing something.
Somehow, feeling like a bat out of hell, I managed to crawl up on Saturday afternoon, and join JohnG, Heather, Virginia and Nathan at Wiggy's annual crawfish boil. I stayed far away from the beer, but did have some bugs and 'taters nonetheless.
A fresh batch!
Mmmm... potatoes.
Today, I just want to not move. I'm getting old... can't handle this much fun anymore :-)
It all started at 4pm, when the 3rd floor held its first-and-hopefully-last ever Box Race: conceived of and sponsored by our VP of Product Management. Basically, people climb into cardboard boxes on wheels that were really meant to trash boxes as we all start to pack up.
Carol climbs in
An action shot: Drew and David push Carol and Eno
And they're off! Rival teams of Kim, Sully, Randy and Matias race down the opposite hall
The winners
At about 4:30, we headed down to the BID Bash, which featured two kegs, lots of wine, massive burritos, and... Guitar Hero!
Christophe, showing his skillz
JohnG gives Joseph a tutorial
Noelle and I give Matias' head as a farewell rub
Some of then separated to forage for food. Rob, whose been having worse cravings than a pregnant woman in the final trimester, decided that he just needed MEAT. So Rob, Dustin, JohnG, and I met up with some people at Espetus, where I guzzled a lethal combination of chicken hearts and sangria.
Dustin tries out my vanilla flavored deodorant for dessert
When my stomach simply couldn't handle anymore dead animal, I scurried off in a cab and joined some other work people finishing up dinner and drinks at Myth. The rest... is a blur.
Carol, me and Jamie, doing something.
Somehow, feeling like a bat out of hell, I managed to crawl up on Saturday afternoon, and join JohnG, Heather, Virginia and Nathan at Wiggy's annual crawfish boil. I stayed far away from the beer, but did have some bugs and 'taters nonetheless.
A fresh batch!
Mmmm... potatoes.
Today, I just want to not move. I'm getting old... can't handle this much fun anymore :-)
1.13.2007
breaking out the bubbly
I've had massive senioritis this week, thanks to one very big product launch late last Friday. So my week has been filled with celebrations and drinks! Thank goodness I had a chance to play, because it seems like the bug that's been going around has finally caught up to me (and our heater seems to be broken to boot).
Team Bubbly
On Wed, we went out to celebrate the release of one of our hottest products at the Bubble Lounge. Those of you who know me know that this has been one of the most difficult releases for me, so I for one was ecstatic that we finally made it - and on time!
Team Bubbly
On Wed, we went out to celebrate the release of one of our hottest products at the Bubble Lounge. Those of you who know me know that this has been one of the most difficult releases for me, so I for one was ecstatic that we finally made it - and on time!
Champagne glasses
Brent
Lars, Andy and Andrew
Carol, Jesper and me
Sadia, Clinton and Dave
Jesper and Adrian
Swank, Steak and... the Crow Bar??
Our weekly happy hour took us to the Carnelian Room, at the top of the BofA building. The view was gorgeous, the place was swanky, and the drinks ridiculously expensive.
Afterwards, Heather, Greg, Scott and I headed to El Raigon for dinner. Considering how much I've heard about this place, I was actually mildly disappointed by the food. The steaks were flavorful, but not amazing; and both the appetizers were sort of boring. Since its always been hailed as an "inexpensive" steak house, I was also not thrilled that the tab came out to around $60 per person. Oh, Michael Bauer, my faith in you dwindles a little bit every day.
Heather and I wanted to play pool, so we said goodbye to the boys and headed to the Crow Bar. Being the super dive that it is, it didn't have any heating, so after one round in our winter coats, we were too frozen to stay.
A Casual Dinner with Friends
Tonight, despite having a migraine most of the day, I headed over to John and Belinda's for dinner. Yum! Now THAT was good food! It was a nice evening with friends over great food and wine... and some riotous stories about John and Belinda when they were dating and on their wedding day.
Overall, its been a fantastic week. Now... to just battle this sore throat!
1.03.2007
day 2 back: zen
Today is my 2nd day back, both on WW and to work. And really, to SF, since I got back at 11pm on Monday night. Anyhoo, I have to say, its been really super good so far. I know its only been 2 days, but I don't know... something feels different. I'm just... not stressed. Despite some minor ranting about the tech-writer-from-hell, I've been pretty chill about the whole thing.
One of my co-workers even commented, "I'm surprised you're not more frustrated by the situation."
"I'm feeling very zen," I said. "What's the point of getting upset? Its not going to change anything."
*~*~*~*
From an eating perspective, my appetite hasn't been the same since I got sick. I'm just not hungry, and I actually had to make myself finish my lasagna today at 3 so that I could take my antibiotics. This is probably ok, since I usually overeat anyways, and it'll help me keep the weight off.
I did manage to go to the grocery store for the first time in ages (yay car!) and made myself a yummy dinner. Tonight, I'm going to do laundry, give myself a mani/pedi, and watch more eps of my new addiction, Brothers & Sisters.
Total Points: 28.5 | 23.5 Flexies remain | 0 APs
One of my co-workers even commented, "I'm surprised you're not more frustrated by the situation."
"I'm feeling very zen," I said. "What's the point of getting upset? Its not going to change anything."
*~*~*~*
From an eating perspective, my appetite hasn't been the same since I got sick. I'm just not hungry, and I actually had to make myself finish my lasagna today at 3 so that I could take my antibiotics. This is probably ok, since I usually overeat anyways, and it'll help me keep the weight off.
I did manage to go to the grocery store for the first time in ages (yay car!) and made myself a yummy dinner. Tonight, I'm going to do laundry, give myself a mani/pedi, and watch more eps of my new addiction, Brothers & Sisters.
Total Points: 28.5 | 23.5 Flexies remain | 0 APs
1.02.2007
our own kaiser soze
I've been working with this one woman that I have to admit, I absolutely despise. She has a major attitude problem - just a generally bitter person. But considering I can be a super-bitch myself, I usually excuse attitude issues if people can deliver. Well, on top of her holier-than-thou-I'm-better-than-you bitchiness, she also actually doesn't do her work on time.
Last year, we gated a release by a day because she was writing her documentation - which was due months before - the day of GA. (She's a tech writer, clearly.) In the next release, she delivered documentation three weeks after a product was released. This year, it took me and her manager weeks to actually get a schedule out of her. And even the schedule that she gave us for her deliverables didn't actually mean sh*t - she never managed to meet a single deadline she set for herself, or even let us know about it.
Well, today we hit the last milestone before release of this huge revenue-generating product. She was supposed to originally deliver the Install Guide for this on 12/15 - but then it got pushed to 12/18... then 12/19... then 12/22... and finally 1/2. Needless to say, even though we are this close to GA, she didn't have anything for us but excuses.
But that's not what was totally unbelievable. She comes in this morning, tells us all these things she's "waiting on" before she can send the doc out for review, and then, around 11am, she just disappears. Doesn't quit. Doesn't tell anyone she's leaving. Doesn't finish anything up or let us know what's going on. Like Kaiser Soze, its POOF! and she's gone!
I've never even heard of such a thing before! Clearly she doesn't expect to have a job if she ever comes back, considering how she just left the whole team in the lurch. As one of my-coworkers said, she basically shanghai'd us into doing her work for her.
Her poor manager... dealing with this the first day back (after dealing with her ridiculous behavior all these months). I, personally, am relieved. Yes, its nerve-racking to wait to see if the new tech writer we assigned to it can get stuff done on time, but at least I don't have to deal with her pettiness, attitude and endless non-answers anymore. But still, so unprofessional.
"I wonder if she's go all post-office and come after you and [her manager] with a shotgun?" my psuedo-manager Drew perused.
Lovely.
*~*~*~*
UPDATE: Well, so she's not dead. I was actually really worried there for a while, since no one heard from her until about 1 this afternoon. Now, I'm pretty steaming pissed. What a total bitch! She got her doctor to courier a letter saying that she couldn't come in to work for the week. One could say, if they didn't know her, that maybe she had a breakdown or something.
But those of us who do see this as a totally bitchy and vindictive act. With a doctor's note, we can't fire her - well, we could, but then she would have grounds for a lawsuit. Does she honestly expect to come back after a week after pulling this stunt, leaving the rest of the team in the lurch like this??? Or even to take disability pay???
Even some of her previous supporters - or at least those that have given her the benefit of the doubt before - see that she just f*cked up and couldn't face up to it. Now those people despise her too. In the last few weeks, all of her lying and incompetence has been surfacing. The fact that we found a barely written guide on Monday afternoon says something. The fact that it took her over 4 weeks to get together what the replacement tech writer pulled together in less than 24 hours says something.
I hope that they fire her. Lawsuit threat or no, I'd say that there were plenty of grounds for dismissal even before yesterday's disappearing act.
Last year, we gated a release by a day because she was writing her documentation - which was due months before - the day of GA. (She's a tech writer, clearly.) In the next release, she delivered documentation three weeks after a product was released. This year, it took me and her manager weeks to actually get a schedule out of her. And even the schedule that she gave us for her deliverables didn't actually mean sh*t - she never managed to meet a single deadline she set for herself, or even let us know about it.
Well, today we hit the last milestone before release of this huge revenue-generating product. She was supposed to originally deliver the Install Guide for this on 12/15 - but then it got pushed to 12/18... then 12/19... then 12/22... and finally 1/2. Needless to say, even though we are this close to GA, she didn't have anything for us but excuses.
But that's not what was totally unbelievable. She comes in this morning, tells us all these things she's "waiting on" before she can send the doc out for review, and then, around 11am, she just disappears. Doesn't quit. Doesn't tell anyone she's leaving. Doesn't finish anything up or let us know what's going on. Like Kaiser Soze, its POOF! and she's gone!
I've never even heard of such a thing before! Clearly she doesn't expect to have a job if she ever comes back, considering how she just left the whole team in the lurch. As one of my-coworkers said, she basically shanghai'd us into doing her work for her.
Her poor manager... dealing with this the first day back (after dealing with her ridiculous behavior all these months). I, personally, am relieved. Yes, its nerve-racking to wait to see if the new tech writer we assigned to it can get stuff done on time, but at least I don't have to deal with her pettiness, attitude and endless non-answers anymore. But still, so unprofessional.
"I wonder if she's go all post-office and come after you and [her manager] with a shotgun?" my psuedo-manager Drew perused.
Lovely.
*~*~*~*
UPDATE: Well, so she's not dead. I was actually really worried there for a while, since no one heard from her until about 1 this afternoon. Now, I'm pretty steaming pissed. What a total bitch! She got her doctor to courier a letter saying that she couldn't come in to work for the week. One could say, if they didn't know her, that maybe she had a breakdown or something.
But those of us who do see this as a totally bitchy and vindictive act. With a doctor's note, we can't fire her - well, we could, but then she would have grounds for a lawsuit. Does she honestly expect to come back after a week after pulling this stunt, leaving the rest of the team in the lurch like this??? Or even to take disability pay???
Even some of her previous supporters - or at least those that have given her the benefit of the doubt before - see that she just f*cked up and couldn't face up to it. Now those people despise her too. In the last few weeks, all of her lying and incompetence has been surfacing. The fact that we found a barely written guide on Monday afternoon says something. The fact that it took her over 4 weeks to get together what the replacement tech writer pulled together in less than 24 hours says something.
I hope that they fire her. Lawsuit threat or no, I'd say that there were plenty of grounds for dismissal even before yesterday's disappearing act.
12.09.2006
drinking liquid
We had our company holiday party on Thursday at Club Fluid. Wow. I was wrecked. I must be getting old, because I can't really handle 10 beers anymore.
But it was super fun... or at least, what I remember of it ;-)
This is ridiculous. Both Andy and Jason are 6'7". I look like I'm sitting down - but I'm not.
Some of my favorite people - who looked around in confusion when I told them that. (L-R: Dave, Leif, Ari, Corinne, Jonathan and Dax)
Lisa, Kurt and Topher
The lunch crew and then some: Rob, Ingrid, John, John, Deepali and me
Rob and Ingrid
Ingrid and me
Me, John and hair!
Mitch is such a sweetheart
Jason (aka "The Kid"), Scott and Don
But it was super fun... or at least, what I remember of it ;-)
This is ridiculous. Both Andy and Jason are 6'7". I look like I'm sitting down - but I'm not.
Some of my favorite people - who looked around in confusion when I told them that. (L-R: Dave, Leif, Ari, Corinne, Jonathan and Dax)
Lisa, Kurt and Topher
The lunch crew and then some: Rob, Ingrid, John, John, Deepali and me
Rob and Ingrid
Ingrid and me
Me, John and hair!
Mitch is such a sweetheart
Jason (aka "The Kid"), Scott and Don
12.04.2006
cookies for code freeze!
I continue to bribe my teams into hitting their milestones with baked goods. Last week: cupcakes to celebrate hitting feature complete for the Rank Engine. This week: cookies for code freeze.
The secret to good Program Management: kickboxing and baking.
The secret to good Program Management: kickboxing and baking.
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