Burndown chart
This morning I dreamed that I was asked by presidential hopeful John Edwards to warm a crowd up by portraying him in his youth (in my dreams I am perpetually sixteen). I did my best impression of his southern twang but for some reason my throat seized up and I could barely manage a whisper. Even without the accent, my extemporaneous introduction went over poorly, eliciting zero applause and more than a few audible critiques.
I handed the mic off in shame.
Apparently, my sister could not hack more than a week of manual labor at the farm. She quite unexpectedly appeared at my parents' house Monday night while Mom was at agility class with the puppy. There has been no discussion of the intended duration of her stay but it's safe to assume it will be through Thursday of next week since she previously made plans to crash in my pad Friday and Saturday. As though her jobless nomadic wanderings weren't already rubbing me the wrong way now the bitch is going to disrupt my once-a-week one-on-one puppy-time.
Speaking of the dog of dogs, Chloe had been evidencing some odd behavior, barking at family or friends from a distance as though she cannot recognize them. Mom, of course, went into a tizzy, speculating about early-onset blindness, cataracts, glaucoma and the like. A recent trip to the doggy optometrist (if indeed there is such a thing) has confirmed that, despite being perfectly healthy, the puppy is in fact near-sighted.
It turns out there are people who actually fit their pets for contacts. At the moment, though, my mother is not one of them.
Work is pretty miserable. We are fifty percent of the way through this month-long sprint but I have only accomplished forty percent of hours I estimated for myself. The team seems to be averaging about 25-30%, so at least I am above the curve. The charming thing is that I was informed by my manager that I am getting a 5% raise soon due to rebalancing of our division's salaries. As per usual, I was completely unappreciative; I can't get past the fact that, when you work it out, after taxes it's like another hundred bucks per paycheck.
I spend that on Peking Duck.
S. reiterated that I should be happy someone is looking out for me since most of the team got nothing.
One of these days, I will learn to suck up. Then again, that will likely be the day people stop trying to please me.
I handed the mic off in shame.
Apparently, my sister could not hack more than a week of manual labor at the farm. She quite unexpectedly appeared at my parents' house Monday night while Mom was at agility class with the puppy. There has been no discussion of the intended duration of her stay but it's safe to assume it will be through Thursday of next week since she previously made plans to crash in my pad Friday and Saturday. As though her jobless nomadic wanderings weren't already rubbing me the wrong way now the bitch is going to disrupt my once-a-week one-on-one puppy-time.
Speaking of the dog of dogs, Chloe had been evidencing some odd behavior, barking at family or friends from a distance as though she cannot recognize them. Mom, of course, went into a tizzy, speculating about early-onset blindness, cataracts, glaucoma and the like. A recent trip to the doggy optometrist (if indeed there is such a thing) has confirmed that, despite being perfectly healthy, the puppy is in fact near-sighted.
It turns out there are people who actually fit their pets for contacts. At the moment, though, my mother is not one of them.
Work is pretty miserable. We are fifty percent of the way through this month-long sprint but I have only accomplished forty percent of hours I estimated for myself. The team seems to be averaging about 25-30%, so at least I am above the curve. The charming thing is that I was informed by my manager that I am getting a 5% raise soon due to rebalancing of our division's salaries. As per usual, I was completely unappreciative; I can't get past the fact that, when you work it out, after taxes it's like another hundred bucks per paycheck.
I spend that on Peking Duck.
S. reiterated that I should be happy someone is looking out for me since most of the team got nothing.
One of these days, I will learn to suck up. Then again, that will likely be the day people stop trying to please me.