On getting organised
I like to be organised. I really do. I hate that feeling when the boss says, 'So, Rose, what were the actions from the last meeting?' and I think, 'What actions? What last meeting?!?!' and then find out it was only a week ago. So, I use my Outlook calendar to record stuff I need to do (like, as soon as someone says, 'Rose, I need you to do such-and-such,' I give it a slot in my calendar) and that usually works. But then I still get moments like the one above, which really shouldn't happen.
I've been looking at all the Windows apps for drawing and note-taking but none of them do everything. My computer desktop is covered in virtual post-its but that's only really useful as a quick reminder. Plus, they have a really annoying habit of clustering themselves in the middle of the screen so I can't actually read them. I use FreshPaint for mind-mapping meetings, which I really like (lots of colours - pretty!!!) and I get a lot of satisfaction from rubbing everything out when I've finished, but I haven't worked out how to file the images so I can't really use it for anything else.
Then there is the uber-useful 'pens' tab that means I can scribble on MSOffice documents and keep notes next to the relevant bit of the conversation. This is one of the best things about the Surface.
But I still feel like I need something MORE. I was looking at OneNote again, yesterday. I've used it before (and have umpteen notebooks with who-knows-what notes in them to prove it) but I think the Surface might give it a new lease of life because when I just want to jot something down, I can. And when I need to keep all of the actions for a particular set of meetings in one place, I can just 'save to OneNote'. We shall see.
I couldn't test all of this out yesterday because it spent the end of the day 'installing update 1 of 2'. The updating thing is seriously annoying. Plus, it told me that my version of Skype was out of date and I needed to install the latest version and wouldn't let me use the old version. This is why I hit the 'restart and update' option, in the hopes that it will just 'take'. Otherwise, I think I might need an admin person to do it for me *sigh*
OK, so that was a lot of words about work! And here are some more. Last week was Graduation week. I love Graduation week. It's the only time I get to see the people I actually work for and everyone is smiling and working together to make the occasion as good as it possibly can be. It is just brilliant. AND I get to wear my Masters gown and hood, which makes me feel special. I had signed up for all five mornings but then a Project Board landed on me on Thursday, so I had to miss Graduation. I was not happy about that but you know, priorities...
The week was pretty quiet because the 'Info Desk' (which has become my Graduation home-from-home) is at the Lady Chapel end of the Cathedral where the Graduands are supposed to come in - but most of them come in via the main entrance at the other end. There are plenty of staff around the place to help them find their way around and they already have their seating cards (in the 'old days' we used to give those out in the Cathedral and you just couldn't hear what they were saying with half-a-dozen people shouting their names at half-a-dozen members of staff who were all shouting back, 'What?!'), so not having them come to us first isn't really a problem. Mostly, we're there to supply spare seating cards for the ones who have left them with their parents.
Friday was the most eventful with lots of lost cards and a girl who wouldn't come into the Cathedral on her own. I did think the security guard could have let her mum come in with her but I went and fetched her and took her to where she needed to be. Once I got her talking, she seemed OK, so I was rocking those 'people skills' again!
I raised the issue of 'being a BA on a PSO salary' with my line manager and he said he'd talk to the boss. I'm not motivated by money and at the moment, we can call this 'personal development' or something; but I don't work for free either, and at some point we're going to hit a critical mass where I'm performing a role that I'm not being paid for. So, I've left it with him because that is part of HIS role as my line manager.
I also got through the 'less of Mrs C, more of Dr L and Mrs L' edit of Mannerley, then spent some time yesterday really thinking about the curse. The main snag I hit was 'how do we know the curse has been lifted?'. At the moment, the girls just 'feel different' and Lord W decides to drain the marsh but none of that really says, 'The Curse Has Gone!'. What we need is a person who was affected by the curse no longer being affected by it.
The curse affects people who marry into the Lenoirs but at the moment we don't have anyone in that position. In order to put someone in that position, I either need to create a new wife for Robert (which means a whole other character to develop and keep track of *sigh*) or turn an existing character into his wife. The best candidate is Valentina who is currently his daughter but the father-daughter dynamic isn't that hot, so I think the switch will work. There is also the possibility that Dr Lassiter becomes Robert's son from a previous marriage - or he might be a school friend. He might end up as a love interest for Julia (at the moment, he sweeps Valentina off her feet) and, therefore, a rival for Lord W. Have to think a bit more about that.
Anyway, the idea is that Julia and Emmaline met Valentina when she married Robert (Emmaline's half-brother) and thought her a very pretty, lively girl. A couple of years later when they visit Mannerly Manor, they find her greatly changed - pale, prone to minor illnesses, etc. She is also pregnant. Robert and Emmaline's mothers both died soon after giving birth to them. So now, Julia isn't just motivated by a general wish to do the Lenoirs some good by lifting the curse - she's motivated by saving her friend. That is sooo much better! At the end, when the curse is finally lifted, Valentina is feeling much better - not fully restored to health but certainly on the road to recovery.
Right, so Valentina is Robert's wife and Dr Lassiter... Still need to decide what to do with him! One thing at a time :D
Wow - haven't written this much in ages. Now it's time to do some other internet stuff before I go to meet the grandson so that we can watch Minions!
Bye for now, LJ.
I've been looking at all the Windows apps for drawing and note-taking but none of them do everything. My computer desktop is covered in virtual post-its but that's only really useful as a quick reminder. Plus, they have a really annoying habit of clustering themselves in the middle of the screen so I can't actually read them. I use FreshPaint for mind-mapping meetings, which I really like (lots of colours - pretty!!!) and I get a lot of satisfaction from rubbing everything out when I've finished, but I haven't worked out how to file the images so I can't really use it for anything else.
Then there is the uber-useful 'pens' tab that means I can scribble on MSOffice documents and keep notes next to the relevant bit of the conversation. This is one of the best things about the Surface.
But I still feel like I need something MORE. I was looking at OneNote again, yesterday. I've used it before (and have umpteen notebooks with who-knows-what notes in them to prove it) but I think the Surface might give it a new lease of life because when I just want to jot something down, I can. And when I need to keep all of the actions for a particular set of meetings in one place, I can just 'save to OneNote'. We shall see.
I couldn't test all of this out yesterday because it spent the end of the day 'installing update 1 of 2'. The updating thing is seriously annoying. Plus, it told me that my version of Skype was out of date and I needed to install the latest version and wouldn't let me use the old version. This is why I hit the 'restart and update' option, in the hopes that it will just 'take'. Otherwise, I think I might need an admin person to do it for me *sigh*
OK, so that was a lot of words about work! And here are some more. Last week was Graduation week. I love Graduation week. It's the only time I get to see the people I actually work for and everyone is smiling and working together to make the occasion as good as it possibly can be. It is just brilliant. AND I get to wear my Masters gown and hood, which makes me feel special. I had signed up for all five mornings but then a Project Board landed on me on Thursday, so I had to miss Graduation. I was not happy about that but you know, priorities...
The week was pretty quiet because the 'Info Desk' (which has become my Graduation home-from-home) is at the Lady Chapel end of the Cathedral where the Graduands are supposed to come in - but most of them come in via the main entrance at the other end. There are plenty of staff around the place to help them find their way around and they already have their seating cards (in the 'old days' we used to give those out in the Cathedral and you just couldn't hear what they were saying with half-a-dozen people shouting their names at half-a-dozen members of staff who were all shouting back, 'What?!'), so not having them come to us first isn't really a problem. Mostly, we're there to supply spare seating cards for the ones who have left them with their parents.
Friday was the most eventful with lots of lost cards and a girl who wouldn't come into the Cathedral on her own. I did think the security guard could have let her mum come in with her but I went and fetched her and took her to where she needed to be. Once I got her talking, she seemed OK, so I was rocking those 'people skills' again!
I raised the issue of 'being a BA on a PSO salary' with my line manager and he said he'd talk to the boss. I'm not motivated by money and at the moment, we can call this 'personal development' or something; but I don't work for free either, and at some point we're going to hit a critical mass where I'm performing a role that I'm not being paid for. So, I've left it with him because that is part of HIS role as my line manager.
I also got through the 'less of Mrs C, more of Dr L and Mrs L' edit of Mannerley, then spent some time yesterday really thinking about the curse. The main snag I hit was 'how do we know the curse has been lifted?'. At the moment, the girls just 'feel different' and Lord W decides to drain the marsh but none of that really says, 'The Curse Has Gone!'. What we need is a person who was affected by the curse no longer being affected by it.
The curse affects people who marry into the Lenoirs but at the moment we don't have anyone in that position. In order to put someone in that position, I either need to create a new wife for Robert (which means a whole other character to develop and keep track of *sigh*) or turn an existing character into his wife. The best candidate is Valentina who is currently his daughter but the father-daughter dynamic isn't that hot, so I think the switch will work. There is also the possibility that Dr Lassiter becomes Robert's son from a previous marriage - or he might be a school friend. He might end up as a love interest for Julia (at the moment, he sweeps Valentina off her feet) and, therefore, a rival for Lord W. Have to think a bit more about that.
Anyway, the idea is that Julia and Emmaline met Valentina when she married Robert (Emmaline's half-brother) and thought her a very pretty, lively girl. A couple of years later when they visit Mannerly Manor, they find her greatly changed - pale, prone to minor illnesses, etc. She is also pregnant. Robert and Emmaline's mothers both died soon after giving birth to them. So now, Julia isn't just motivated by a general wish to do the Lenoirs some good by lifting the curse - she's motivated by saving her friend. That is sooo much better! At the end, when the curse is finally lifted, Valentina is feeling much better - not fully restored to health but certainly on the road to recovery.
Right, so Valentina is Robert's wife and Dr Lassiter... Still need to decide what to do with him! One thing at a time :D
Wow - haven't written this much in ages. Now it's time to do some other internet stuff before I go to meet the grandson so that we can watch Minions!
Bye for now, LJ.