Traction
• proceeded along the path of Process Ninja. My 6 Sigma training has been a curious affair. I was basically forced to do the yellow belt training (although I was glad to go). I was already several steps above my station at that point, but then I got put forward for the black belt training. I missed out on a place on the BB course, because I have nowhere near enough experience to do that work. But they said lovely things to me, including that apparently I had the highest test score of all applicants to date in the numeracy section and they’d really like me to work towards becoming a black belt some day. They also sent me on a green belt training programme. Where does this leave me? I’m an accredited yellow belt as of last Friday, I’m working on a green belt project (with a deadline of November, because these tend to be massive projects) and I’m basically on a promise to be a black belt some day. Somewhere along the line the question will have to be asked: do I actually want to be a process ninja? Well, right now the answer is that I don’t know but I’d definitely like to get paid a bit more.
• interviewed folks. Didn’t interview Caroline Rhea, despite Lizzie doing everything short of kidnapping her and bringing her to my flat. Did interview Greg Davies by email. Also spoke to Norman Lovett on the phone for about 45 minutes, who’s a very sweet old bloke. Also spoke to George Monbiot, which was a lot like reading a George Monbiot column except a lot friendlier. I have a slight man crush on him now.
• Joey, Joey, Joey. Apart from two small things she’s been terrific recently. Turning four means a lot to her and she’s approached the task with the solemnity most people would reserve for being appointed Secretary General of the UN. She’s well-behaved, chatty, affectionate, loads of fun to be around and working really hard on teaching herself to read and write. And to draw as well (she’s already better than me). It’s rare to see her without a pen in her hand. She’s a joy. Except for two instances, that is…
• …like curtailing Padmini’s party... A shame because I was having a great time, catching up with old friends and getting to know people from the Suggested Friends column of Facebook. Joey only slept until 10pm though. Lila kindly offered to go home and look after her, which offered me the extremely rare opportunity to have fun without stressing about having to rush home. Except Joey, who’s been struggling with flu for the last few days, insisted on having me back too. So my night out was curtailed at around 11pm. Ah well. Poor thing wouldn’t be so clingy if she wasn’t feeling ill.
• …and then there was this morning. While I was getting dressed there was a loud crashing sound followed by a scream. Parents can read their kid’s screams and I can usually tell an “I dropped my lollipop” scream from a “The cat scratched me” scream. This was a full red alert scream. I ran into her room and found that she had managed to pull a large chest of drawers over onto herself. There followed a full hour of the two of us essentially freaking out in different ways (mostly we cuddled on the couch in a state of quiet shock) until we both realised that her only injury was a small cut on her shin. She now seems to think that the whole thing was quite funny; I’ve been having horrible flashbacks all day and I’m sure this will provide me with a lifetime supply of nightmare fuel. The chest of drawers has been moved.
• Received divine intervention. By the way, the incident above was interrupted at one point by a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was nice to them as I always am. I live on the fourth floor and I can’t get mad at anyone who walks all the way up here just to save a stranger’s soul. That said, Jehovah really needs to learn a thing or two about timing.
• Attended first E303 tutorial. And rather awesome it was too. I’m really enjoying this course and the approach to grammar is fascinating. There was one odd moment though where one woman, who hadn’t read as far as the rest of us, refused to let the tutorial proceed because she didn’t know what we were talking about. She wasn’t asking questions, she just refused to let us proceed. Strange
• interviewed folks. Didn’t interview Caroline Rhea, despite Lizzie doing everything short of kidnapping her and bringing her to my flat. Did interview Greg Davies by email. Also spoke to Norman Lovett on the phone for about 45 minutes, who’s a very sweet old bloke. Also spoke to George Monbiot, which was a lot like reading a George Monbiot column except a lot friendlier. I have a slight man crush on him now.
• Joey, Joey, Joey. Apart from two small things she’s been terrific recently. Turning four means a lot to her and she’s approached the task with the solemnity most people would reserve for being appointed Secretary General of the UN. She’s well-behaved, chatty, affectionate, loads of fun to be around and working really hard on teaching herself to read and write. And to draw as well (she’s already better than me). It’s rare to see her without a pen in her hand. She’s a joy. Except for two instances, that is…
• …like curtailing Padmini’s party... A shame because I was having a great time, catching up with old friends and getting to know people from the Suggested Friends column of Facebook. Joey only slept until 10pm though. Lila kindly offered to go home and look after her, which offered me the extremely rare opportunity to have fun without stressing about having to rush home. Except Joey, who’s been struggling with flu for the last few days, insisted on having me back too. So my night out was curtailed at around 11pm. Ah well. Poor thing wouldn’t be so clingy if she wasn’t feeling ill.
• …and then there was this morning. While I was getting dressed there was a loud crashing sound followed by a scream. Parents can read their kid’s screams and I can usually tell an “I dropped my lollipop” scream from a “The cat scratched me” scream. This was a full red alert scream. I ran into her room and found that she had managed to pull a large chest of drawers over onto herself. There followed a full hour of the two of us essentially freaking out in different ways (mostly we cuddled on the couch in a state of quiet shock) until we both realised that her only injury was a small cut on her shin. She now seems to think that the whole thing was quite funny; I’ve been having horrible flashbacks all day and I’m sure this will provide me with a lifetime supply of nightmare fuel. The chest of drawers has been moved.
• Received divine intervention. By the way, the incident above was interrupted at one point by a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was nice to them as I always am. I live on the fourth floor and I can’t get mad at anyone who walks all the way up here just to save a stranger’s soul. That said, Jehovah really needs to learn a thing or two about timing.
• Attended first E303 tutorial. And rather awesome it was too. I’m really enjoying this course and the approach to grammar is fascinating. There was one odd moment though where one woman, who hadn’t read as far as the rest of us, refused to let the tutorial proceed because she didn’t know what we were talking about. She wasn’t asking questions, she just refused to let us proceed. Strange