Christmas Post
So my Christmas "vacation" started back on December 17th. First, I think I ended up wasting 2-3 vacation days this year since I was unable to use them all. And secondly, I felt like I was working several hours most days since. The days that Angie was off, I made sure not to turn on my computer, but pretty much all days that she was working (except like last Monday), I worked between 1 and 4 hours. Work/life balance...
But on the positive, all the hard work of the last couple of years had paid off!
Work Story
So on Dec 16th, I had a meeting from my boss that was supposed about her boss's comments on a system that I was in charge of rolling out. I felt like progress has been good, but slow, so I was ready for a "going to the principal's office"-like meeting. I even thought up some reasons and explanations in advance.
But as soon as my boss closed the door, she was like "I have nothing related to RLIMS (the system) to talk about. I just needed a reason to have a meeting." So at that moment, my first thought was like "am I getting promoted?", but I wanted to temper my expectations since there are other possible reasons. But I did get my promotion and man, it's nice! First, it's a VERY significant bump in my base salary, like 30-45% when all the numbers come back (she had issues printing so she couldn't give me an official breakdown of numbers). It was significant enough that she (who is a newer director) spoke about how much of a bump it was a couple of times. Secondarily, my bonus target will raise from 8% to 12% (I think), which means my bonus target will almost double! And lastly, unrelated to compensation I felt like my level was below my work responsibilities (my boss actually said something like "I don't expect this promotion to affect your day to day since you already do the work of the level") so it's nice to be recognized (more that people who I felt do much less than me or at this level).
So that was a good "early Christmas present". Now, actual Christmas activities were fairly altered because of COVID. So our original plan to was to have Christmas with Angie's side on Christmas Day. We were going to go to Ben/Jasmine's (brother/sister-in-law) house to do presents then go to a restaurant for dinner. But their son came down with COVID (and subsequently spread it within her household) so they were quarantining. So we did presents at our house, then went to Angie's parent's house to have dinner (take-out from the same restaurant) without Ben/Jasmine's family. Overall, it turned out fine, but it was a little sad since one of the kids actually said "I hate this virus because Jerry isn't here". But they eventually video called for seemingly hours during Christmas.
And then the plan for my side of the family was to go to my brother's for dinner (order in) and do presents. But my mom wasn't feeling well a couple of days before and was afraid of COVID possibilities. So we cancelled/delayed. My mom turned out to be feeling better and it doesn't sound COVID related, but we are still trying to figure out if we're doing anything since my mom is concerned about getting together. And my phone is having issues so I'm kind of out of the loop for these discussions.
Talking about my phone, I am having hardcore issues with AT&T.
Cell Phone Stuff
So AT&T is "sunsetting" their 3G and below coverage to expand 5G coverage or whatever. I actually don't care at all but the issue is that it hugely affects unlocked phones. So being a hipster and annoying, I don't like Apple (although hipsters love Apple...). And after using an Android for a while, I do very much prefer them. Additionally, I like smaller phones. So I've been using a Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact very happily for a while. And even though it has 4G capabilities, it's not going to be supported by AT&T. I had tons of issues with them sending me a new phone that I didn't want and cutting off service to my Xperia. And once 3G was getting sunset (around Feb 2022), my Xperia would stop working.
So I bit the bullet and bought a new phone Asus Zenfone 8, which was on AT&T's list of supported unlocked phones. So it was working okay, although wouldn't get VoLTE (or HD Voice as AT&T calls it). That means it was dropping from 4G to make voice calls so once again, it wouldn't work after Feb. I went to get a new SIM card, which AT&Ts site said was required to get HD Voice. After that, my phone would completely not work on the mobile network (even though it showed that it was connected to 4G). No mobile data or texts (calls would still drop to the old network). So over the last few days, I tried to fix this by physically going to an AT&T store (~1 hour of time), 3-4 online chats (~6-8 hours), and 1 call (>1 hour). It was escalated 3 times! They eventually was able to get it on mobile data, but texts still don't work and it's not on HD Voice, meaning it'll stop working in Feb. And because of 2 factor authentication, texting is super important and necessarily these days.
They claimed they'd be able to fix the texting issue tomorrow, but I'll definitely have to call again regarding the HD Voice. Ugh, I can't stand cell phone companies.
Oh, and to be materialistic, my first half of Christmas presents were:
-Aeon's End, which is a coop, deck-building game that Angie got me. It's big gimmick is that you don't shuffle much, which is okay. So far (2-3 games) it's pretty enjoyable so I'm excited to play more.
-Telescope lens and filters from Angie's sister's family. Again, I don't feel like I use my telescope enough, but I am excited to try them. And I hope that once our balcony/addition is made, that I'll be able to use my telescope more often.
-Contact by Carl Sagan from Angie's parents. I felt like I rewatched the movie somewhat recently so I was interested in checking out the original novel. Someone has said the characters are potentially less good in the book, but I'm interested in seeing the differences.
But on the positive, all the hard work of the last couple of years had paid off!
Work Story
So on Dec 16th, I had a meeting from my boss that was supposed about her boss's comments on a system that I was in charge of rolling out. I felt like progress has been good, but slow, so I was ready for a "going to the principal's office"-like meeting. I even thought up some reasons and explanations in advance.
But as soon as my boss closed the door, she was like "I have nothing related to RLIMS (the system) to talk about. I just needed a reason to have a meeting." So at that moment, my first thought was like "am I getting promoted?", but I wanted to temper my expectations since there are other possible reasons. But I did get my promotion and man, it's nice! First, it's a VERY significant bump in my base salary, like 30-45% when all the numbers come back (she had issues printing so she couldn't give me an official breakdown of numbers). It was significant enough that she (who is a newer director) spoke about how much of a bump it was a couple of times. Secondarily, my bonus target will raise from 8% to 12% (I think), which means my bonus target will almost double! And lastly, unrelated to compensation I felt like my level was below my work responsibilities (my boss actually said something like "I don't expect this promotion to affect your day to day since you already do the work of the level") so it's nice to be recognized (more that people who I felt do much less than me or at this level).
So that was a good "early Christmas present". Now, actual Christmas activities were fairly altered because of COVID. So our original plan to was to have Christmas with Angie's side on Christmas Day. We were going to go to Ben/Jasmine's (brother/sister-in-law) house to do presents then go to a restaurant for dinner. But their son came down with COVID (and subsequently spread it within her household) so they were quarantining. So we did presents at our house, then went to Angie's parent's house to have dinner (take-out from the same restaurant) without Ben/Jasmine's family. Overall, it turned out fine, but it was a little sad since one of the kids actually said "I hate this virus because Jerry isn't here". But they eventually video called for seemingly hours during Christmas.
And then the plan for my side of the family was to go to my brother's for dinner (order in) and do presents. But my mom wasn't feeling well a couple of days before and was afraid of COVID possibilities. So we cancelled/delayed. My mom turned out to be feeling better and it doesn't sound COVID related, but we are still trying to figure out if we're doing anything since my mom is concerned about getting together. And my phone is having issues so I'm kind of out of the loop for these discussions.
Talking about my phone, I am having hardcore issues with AT&T.
Cell Phone Stuff
So AT&T is "sunsetting" their 3G and below coverage to expand 5G coverage or whatever. I actually don't care at all but the issue is that it hugely affects unlocked phones. So being a hipster and annoying, I don't like Apple (although hipsters love Apple...). And after using an Android for a while, I do very much prefer them. Additionally, I like smaller phones. So I've been using a Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact very happily for a while. And even though it has 4G capabilities, it's not going to be supported by AT&T. I had tons of issues with them sending me a new phone that I didn't want and cutting off service to my Xperia. And once 3G was getting sunset (around Feb 2022), my Xperia would stop working.
So I bit the bullet and bought a new phone Asus Zenfone 8, which was on AT&T's list of supported unlocked phones. So it was working okay, although wouldn't get VoLTE (or HD Voice as AT&T calls it). That means it was dropping from 4G to make voice calls so once again, it wouldn't work after Feb. I went to get a new SIM card, which AT&Ts site said was required to get HD Voice. After that, my phone would completely not work on the mobile network (even though it showed that it was connected to 4G). No mobile data or texts (calls would still drop to the old network). So over the last few days, I tried to fix this by physically going to an AT&T store (~1 hour of time), 3-4 online chats (~6-8 hours), and 1 call (>1 hour). It was escalated 3 times! They eventually was able to get it on mobile data, but texts still don't work and it's not on HD Voice, meaning it'll stop working in Feb. And because of 2 factor authentication, texting is super important and necessarily these days.
They claimed they'd be able to fix the texting issue tomorrow, but I'll definitely have to call again regarding the HD Voice. Ugh, I can't stand cell phone companies.
Oh, and to be materialistic, my first half of Christmas presents were:
-Aeon's End, which is a coop, deck-building game that Angie got me. It's big gimmick is that you don't shuffle much, which is okay. So far (2-3 games) it's pretty enjoyable so I'm excited to play more.
-Telescope lens and filters from Angie's sister's family. Again, I don't feel like I use my telescope enough, but I am excited to try them. And I hope that once our balcony/addition is made, that I'll be able to use my telescope more often.
-Contact by Carl Sagan from Angie's parents. I felt like I rewatched the movie somewhat recently so I was interested in checking out the original novel. Someone has said the characters are potentially less good in the book, but I'm interested in seeing the differences.