Ten days
How has it been ten whole days since I last posted? Sheesh.
Well, I evidently have not won any of the HP Magic Giveaway contests I entered. Bummer. I must be doing something wrong… I enter just about every sweepstakes and contest I come across online, and I have yet to win anything. I guess I’ll just keep trying. Can’t win if you don’t play, right?
Speaking of winning… we had our annual Christmas pitch-in today at work. After the “town hall” meeting where the boss congratulated everyone on a decent year and told us to “sharpen the saw” over the holidays (he actually said “take time to reconnect with your families if you need to” – it totally came out wrong and was HILARIOUS), about sixteen of us participated in a little competition. Someone found these puzzles, and the first person to finish correctly would win a prize. Now, let me say right now I didn’t finish it alone. One of my co-workers came over and helped me… I could not have finished it without her. But finish it we did, and first! We won a $50 Mastercard gift card, which I offered to split and she turned down, so I won it. I WON SOMETHING!! Whoopee! So exciting.
Twitter. I am terrible at it. I go days without posting an update, and then I post two or three in a row. It seems like I could just, oh, I don’t know, blog it instead? I may quit, I just haven’t decided yet. I’ll give it until after the holidays, I guess.
Weiner? You decide.
So, I mentioned the HP Magic Giveaway in my last post. As I said, I first found out about the contest from Moosh in Indy about a week or so ago, and I’m entering at several different sites – I realize it’s highly unlikely I’ll win, but you can’t win if you don’t play, right?
One thing most of these contests have in common is the request that the winner share the $6000 worth of technology with someone/thing/entity less fortunate or more worthy. I had to really think… if I won four computers, a printer, a media center thingy, some Windows software, and a couple of other extras, who would I share it with? I’d love to say family and friends, but they don’t really need it. We all have jobs that we’re not in danger of losing, we can all provide for our families without relying on the charity of others or public assistance. That left me with strangers. But how would I find these strangers?
Each year, my coworkers in our mid-sized IT department sponsor at least one family through the United Christmas Service. These are families who can’t afford the most basic of things – cookware, clothing, winter coats/mittens/hats – and are immensely grateful for the things they have. This year our department is sponsoring three families, and I’d be willing to bet that none of them have access to technology like this in their homes. Sure, they can probably use a computer at the local library, and I’m sure the kids can use them at school, but wouldn’t it be great if they could do anything and everything they need from the comfort of their home? If I won this prize package, I would donate three of the computers the three notebooks to these families. Would I like to keep all of the prize package for myself? Honestly? Yes. Who wouldn’t want more geekery and gadgets than they could ever need? But it would feel awfully good to share it with others who could really, really use it.
I would keep the TouchSmart and the printer to replace my 7 year old desktop, which would also be donated to a charitable organization. The one piece of hardware I wasn’t sure about was the MediaConnect Media Center… I don’t really have use for it, so I would donate it to fundraising efforts for the JDRF. The company I work for does a lot of fundraising for this organization throughout the year, and I think the MediaConnect would make a great item for the next raffle or silent auction, don’t you?
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7-Dec, ETA: Added a link above to Merlot Mom. I could retype the same post over and over again, but I’d rather just keep adding links.
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11-Dec, ETA: Added a link above to Stop, Drop and Blog. I’ve also added a little to the post… I’ve had time to think some more about what I’d do with this package…
Sleep is for the weak
One of the unfortunate side effects of spending one or more nights at my brother’s each week is that even if I remember my laptop, I usually forget to write a post. See, I’m not one of those disciplined people that write posts ahead and set them to publish later… I’m more of a just-in-time kind of girl.
That’s true everywhere in my life, but nowhere more than my attitude about sleep. I am not an early bird in any way, shape, or form. I hate the alarm clock – in fact, the only thing I like about my alarm clock is the snooze button. I keep thinking I should try one of those clocks that wakes you with light, becoming brighter as the minutes click by. Not that it would help… it’s not that I can’t wake up in the morning, it’s more like my mind just can’t see the purpose in it, and my body is happy to comply.
Unfortunately, I have one of those jobs working for one of those people who sort of expects you to be there at 8am. I’ve been coming to work at 9am for several years now… lately, it’s actually been sliding closer to 9:30. And at the beginning, I felt guilty. I worried about the ramifications of coming in late. I even bought this book. Apparently, there really aren’t any negative ramifications for showing up late… yet. I guess I’m silently rebelling against the 8-5 mentality, and hoping the fact that I still work 40 hours or more a week is more meaningful than what time I actually get to work. All of this is one of the reasons that the ROWE appeals to me so much. I’d love to work somewhere where the results of my work are more important to my manager than the hours I worked to obtain them.
It’s a frustrating work environment for me, for sure. I wish I didn’t feel so stuck where I am… but until ROWE becomes widespread, I suppose I’ll live with it. At least I have a job, right?
