Well, I obviously did not update as quickly as I thought I would from last time. I kinda left things hanging with a tease about more to come. I probably would have gone longer without posting, but my coworker, Claire, came across my blog while I was showing her pictures of Ginny.

So, here I sit, updating as I wait for Planning Commission to start. Not much new to update, but maybe by forcing myself to update, I'll start automatically updating more often.

Big changes are afoot with work - that are having a huge impact everywhere else in life. Unfortunately at this point, I can only hope that the changes work out for the best. The least worrisome change is that my boss is leaving. His last day is March 20, which is also my momma's birthday and the first day of spring.

The Old Year

As is usually the case as the new year starts, I write with a promise to blog more... Again, we'll see how it goes.

2008 was a big year for me. It started out just like any other year, but big things were going to happen.

Early on in the year, Lauren discovered that she was pregnant! My first two-legged niece or nephew - and the first two-legged grandchild for Mom and Dad.

In May, Jenny, Annie, and I moved from Falls Church to Fairfax. I was now in walking distance of work, and Jenny's commute was cut in half. Annie, of course, kept her same commute - a short walk down the hallway to the next sunspot. Unfortunately, this move made Annie nervous, and unable to keep any food in her system. So, after a LOT of tests and trips to the vet, it turned out that she just had a nervous stomach. A month on a restricted diet, and no green beans, and she was back to normal.

As if dealing with Annie and the move weren't enough, the summer started out on a low note, with the passing of my grandmother's husband, Clagett. It was a huge loss for all of us.

On the day after his passing, oddly, I got a phone call about a potential job interview. I hadn't really been looking, but had put my resume in to a job here or there for the heck of it. I went for the interview with the City of Alexandria on the day after the funeral, and felt calm and relaxed - after all, I wasn't really in NEED of a job. A week later, I got a call saying that the job I had interviewed for was filled from within, but that left a vacancy - would I be interested in interviewing for that position? I said sure, what the heck?! Following that interview, I had a job offer that included a promotion, a significant pay raise, and an hour-long commute each way...

So, just after my birthday in August, I gave my notice.

Labor Day week was a trip to Nags Head. Aside from the extraordinarily painful sunburn, it was a great trip that resulted in a number of new friendships. I took another week off, and then jumped into the new job.

Months into it, I can definitely say that the switch was well worth it, in spite of the dreadful commute. Both the workplace and the job itself are much better fits for me.

On November 21,2008, Ginevra Oviatt Skillman made her debut. Although the four-legged family members aren't too sure about this addition, all the two-legged ones are enamored.

2009 has already started off with a bang, but more on that in a later post.

Brilliance in PR

I don't know who Metro has hired to do their PR and advertising, but I say they should have hired them long ago.

It began with the Peeps video, which demonstrated the convenience of taking Metro to the new Nationals stadium.

If that wasn't good enough, now, an advertisement for the "Mass Pass" has been pulled because the bobble-head stand-in for the Pope is not dressed in the proper vestements and it is not a Church-sanctioned item.

Brilliant, I say... Absolutely brilliant!

I hereby boycott Shell

With gas prices higher than ever, I am all for anything that gas stations/companies can do to cut the cost for consumers. I stopped for gas yesterday on the way home from work, and because it was an emergency (my gas light no longer works), I stopped at the closest station to the office.

I knew when I stopped that it was 5 cents more per gallon than the stations a few miles down the road, but I stopped anyway. I was fine with it because I wasn't sure how much gas I had in the tank. As soon as I started pumping, however, I came to regret my decision.

This Shell station has recently installed TVs above the pump. Apparently they are activated by a customer beginning to pump. With no way to turn it off or mute it, the entire time spent pumping is a bombardment of NBC at the Pump.

If this actually included current events, days news, relevant information, it would be a little better, but instead, it is advertising for local NBC affiliates. I imagine that Shell is making a pretty penny by doing this.

If that is the case, why, then, is the gasoline that they're selling more expensive than the places down the road? Shouldn't this added income reduce the price at the pump? Oh, my bad. It is just more money being added to the record profits that gasoline companies are making these days. No thank you. I will save those 5 cents for future gas purchases at other stations.

I should really get back into posting more often. Of course, if I am productive here, it means that I am not being productive elsewhere. While that normally would not bother me, it currently does because I am having a terrible time with mustering the motivation to work on my practicum - which is the only thing standing between me and a masters degree. Gah!

For now, this is not taking away from anything but work work. Of which, I have none.

Because I have nothing of note to discuss or rant about, I will post photographic evidence of my roommate torturing my dog. Enjoy!

Time Machine saved my life!

OK, maybe it didn't quite save my life, but it worked just in time. Time Machine is a new feature in Mac OSX Leopard. It automatically backs up your system every hour, and stores one day's worth of backups well as one daily backup for the past month, then one monthly beyond that.

I loaded Leopard into my Mac Mini in mid November, and set up Time Machine right away. At some point in December, my computer started acting funny. Turns out, my hard drive was kaput! (Thank goodness for AppleCare) After getting my newly fixed Mini, I went back to restore from Time Machine, and there it is... everything that was there before...

Now, it didn't go without a hitch - I was having problems starting my Mini before the breakdown because it was unable to find the system volume folder at starup. I had to go back to a day before the meltdown to find a backup that included the correct folder. It took a while to load each iteration of the backup, but ultimately, I didn't lose any data and all of my preferences are set as I had them.

I have had to spend some time adjusting to internet filters at work. When I was working at school, I could access anything, but a local government has a lot that is blocked. I'm always confused that certain sites are blocked but other aren't. Whenever I try to visit a site that is not allowed, a page pops up with a message about why it was blocked. Today caused me a lot of confusion. A page was blocked because it was "dubious/unsavory." What does that mean?