I'm thinking about taking some classes to boost my resume (graduate certificates at SHU).
I'm having trouble making up my mind between .NET Technology:
Dynamic Web Page Development
Windows Interface Design
Web Design with JavaScript
Web Programming with ASP
and Web Development:
Windows Interface Design
Database Design
Web Programming with ASP.NET
plus one of
Advanced ASP.NET
C#
There's also Interactive Multimedia:
Web Design with JavaScript
Fundamentals of Interactive Multimedia
plus 2 of
Dynamic Web Page Development
Windows Interface Design (VB.NET)
Advanced Scripting with Interactive Media
Multimedia Authoring and Scripting (Authorware)
Any thoughts/recommendations?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Remembering 9-11
I was in the operations center at Nasdaq (where they run the hardware that the market runs on). I had a software release that was going live that day, so I got there at 8am. There was a large TV in there that always had the news running in the morning, it was a way to see if perhaps it was going to be a heavy trading day because of world events.
When they reported the first plane, our comments were on the line of "how do you not miss something that big?" As 9:30 approached (that's the time the US markets open), the NYSE and the Nasdaq decided to postpone the open until 10:30. Then before 10:30, they decided not to open. That must have been before the NYSE was evacuated and also before they realized how many communication lines would be interrupted by the attacks. (All markets were eventually closed for the entire week as firms scrambled to set up alternate trading sites and arrange new communication lines.)
I spent most of the morning following my VP around to various meetings (standing along the wall with other Leads, in order to answer questions about my system.) I was numb, focusing on work, so much so that when I saw a co-worker crying, I wasn't sure why. I asked if she was OK and she gave me a strange look, I guess she wondered why I was calm. It really didn't hit me until a few days later, like a ton of bricks. Her way was probably better.
Then they decided to evacuate everyone. In the confusion my purse ended up with someone who had already left, and I didn't have my car keys. (The purse had been in my desk in another building and I asked a friend to get it for me.) A co-worker gave me a ride home (it took an hour to get out of the industrial park because everyone in the place was leaving.) We met up with the gal who had my purse and my co-worker took me home.
In the course of the morning, the schools were closed and I had some trouble getting through on my cell phone, but I was able to talk to his aftercare provider to make sure that she'd watch for the bus at the right time. I left Daniel there, because I was going to have to go back to work at some point and didn't know when Blair would be home. That was hard because I wanted to hug my boy very much.
I was waiting in my driveway for my ride when Blair and Daniel drove up. I held onto Daniel for a long time. Then my colleague arrived. A couple of years later, I asked Daniel what he remembered about the day the bad things happened. And he said, "the day the man came and took you away?" It's funny the spin they put on things. I explained that the man had just been giving me a ride to work. But in the intensity of that day, I hadn't thought to reassure him why I was leaving in a strange car with a strange man.
We had to go back to work so the systems could be shut down in an orderly way, because one part of the system was still waiting for market open. Although in a legal sense the markets were closed for the rest of the week, as far as the computers were concerned they were running normally. We did this so that disrupted firms could test their backup systems, new comm lines and the like. We just never sent the transactions to clearing. We also worked with the customers all weekend so that everything was ready when the markets opened the following Monday.
I used to work in the north tower of the Trade Center. Fresh out of school I got a job doing documentation for the state of NY. Since the state owned the building, they used it for offices until better paying tenants moved in. I used to shop in the mall in the basement. The food court was near the PATH train station. The employee cafeteria was only two floors up from us, but because it was on a different bank of elevators, to get there you had to go down to the lobby and back up. From our offices, we had a stunning view uptown that included the Empire State Building. This was back in the early 80's, so it was before the earlier bombing as well.
Afterward, the depression I'd been living with forever and hadn't really noticed or acknowledged, became much worse. The thought of raising my children in a world where this could happen, where it had happened, was overwhelming. But it pushed me to finally do something about it, to admit to myself, to my husband and to my doctor that I was struggling, and to get help.
It also pushed me to sign up for group voice lessons at Adult Ed and eventually for private lessons for a year. It also led to my bosses noticing the way I handled myself in a crisis, and the way I handled my team, and they ended up asking if I'd thought about going into management. That led me to going for my MBA. I know I wouldn't have gone back to school before I started taking anti-depressants. I'm doing a lot of things I never would have considered before then. I think the whole thing made me braver about putting myself out there and doing things I was afraid to do, like taking voice lessons.
"What if it turns out I'm kidding myself when I think I can sing, and I really suck." "What if my scrapbook pages are mediocre and I'm being a big ass when I think I'm an artist?" We've all got the Impostor Police lurking around the corners in the back of our minds, whispering that the rest of the world's going to find out that we're big fat fakes. But you know what? We can sing, and we are artists, and we're good at our jobs and we deserve the compliments others give us.
When they reported the first plane, our comments were on the line of "how do you not miss something that big?" As 9:30 approached (that's the time the US markets open), the NYSE and the Nasdaq decided to postpone the open until 10:30. Then before 10:30, they decided not to open. That must have been before the NYSE was evacuated and also before they realized how many communication lines would be interrupted by the attacks. (All markets were eventually closed for the entire week as firms scrambled to set up alternate trading sites and arrange new communication lines.)
I spent most of the morning following my VP around to various meetings (standing along the wall with other Leads, in order to answer questions about my system.) I was numb, focusing on work, so much so that when I saw a co-worker crying, I wasn't sure why. I asked if she was OK and she gave me a strange look, I guess she wondered why I was calm. It really didn't hit me until a few days later, like a ton of bricks. Her way was probably better.
Then they decided to evacuate everyone. In the confusion my purse ended up with someone who had already left, and I didn't have my car keys. (The purse had been in my desk in another building and I asked a friend to get it for me.) A co-worker gave me a ride home (it took an hour to get out of the industrial park because everyone in the place was leaving.) We met up with the gal who had my purse and my co-worker took me home.
In the course of the morning, the schools were closed and I had some trouble getting through on my cell phone, but I was able to talk to his aftercare provider to make sure that she'd watch for the bus at the right time. I left Daniel there, because I was going to have to go back to work at some point and didn't know when Blair would be home. That was hard because I wanted to hug my boy very much.
I was waiting in my driveway for my ride when Blair and Daniel drove up. I held onto Daniel for a long time. Then my colleague arrived. A couple of years later, I asked Daniel what he remembered about the day the bad things happened. And he said, "the day the man came and took you away?" It's funny the spin they put on things. I explained that the man had just been giving me a ride to work. But in the intensity of that day, I hadn't thought to reassure him why I was leaving in a strange car with a strange man.
We had to go back to work so the systems could be shut down in an orderly way, because one part of the system was still waiting for market open. Although in a legal sense the markets were closed for the rest of the week, as far as the computers were concerned they were running normally. We did this so that disrupted firms could test their backup systems, new comm lines and the like. We just never sent the transactions to clearing. We also worked with the customers all weekend so that everything was ready when the markets opened the following Monday.
I used to work in the north tower of the Trade Center. Fresh out of school I got a job doing documentation for the state of NY. Since the state owned the building, they used it for offices until better paying tenants moved in. I used to shop in the mall in the basement. The food court was near the PATH train station. The employee cafeteria was only two floors up from us, but because it was on a different bank of elevators, to get there you had to go down to the lobby and back up. From our offices, we had a stunning view uptown that included the Empire State Building. This was back in the early 80's, so it was before the earlier bombing as well.
Afterward, the depression I'd been living with forever and hadn't really noticed or acknowledged, became much worse. The thought of raising my children in a world where this could happen, where it had happened, was overwhelming. But it pushed me to finally do something about it, to admit to myself, to my husband and to my doctor that I was struggling, and to get help.
It also pushed me to sign up for group voice lessons at Adult Ed and eventually for private lessons for a year. It also led to my bosses noticing the way I handled myself in a crisis, and the way I handled my team, and they ended up asking if I'd thought about going into management. That led me to going for my MBA. I know I wouldn't have gone back to school before I started taking anti-depressants. I'm doing a lot of things I never would have considered before then. I think the whole thing made me braver about putting myself out there and doing things I was afraid to do, like taking voice lessons.
"What if it turns out I'm kidding myself when I think I can sing, and I really suck." "What if my scrapbook pages are mediocre and I'm being a big ass when I think I'm an artist?" We've all got the Impostor Police lurking around the corners in the back of our minds, whispering that the rest of the world's going to find out that we're big fat fakes. But you know what? We can sing, and we are artists, and we're good at our jobs and we deserve the compliments others give us.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Why Do They Call It Labor Day...
... if we don't do any work? :-)
Wednesday afternoon, I left work a little early, went to the apartment and grabbed my luggage, picked Dumble up at the groomer (boy, do I love the soft fluffy hair on the top of a freshly bathed Yorkie's head, just like baby's hair!) and headed to the airport. Just enough time in O'Hare to pick up a Cinnabon and bagel to go, before heading to the other gate - where they were already boarding! Blair picked me up at LaGuardia and we got home after 1AM. Good thing they changed my appointment the next morning from 11am to 9am (NOT).
We were in downtown New Haven and Blair wanted to stop by Gateway to return his textbook (having scored an earlier version way cheaper on line), and I convinced him to try to find our way there rather than get on the highway. We ended up in West Haven - so much for following my nose! After that we pottered around the Trumbull mall for a bit and had lunch at Johnny Rockets - love the music, love the half fries/half onion rings! Quiet afternoon and evening at home.
On Friday, we exchanged the cable box for a new one, and then headed west on 84 to route 7. It's been a while since we've been antiquing and we had fun meandering down 7, stopping where ever it struck our fancies. We had lunch at a place called the Little Pub, it was quite busy, and the fries were great!
Dan's been grumbling about the new dress code at his school, so he was excited for his first "casual Friday," where he could finally wear his traditional first day of school shirt (the one that says "Warning! I'm not paying attention.") He feels it's only fair to let the teachers know right out of the box what they are in for. Friday was also our last Ice Cream Social at 6 to 6. He's been going there since he was 4 - sniff, sniff.
Dan has been talking about "needing" skinny jeans like his friends, so we told him to find out where they got them, and to let us know. So on Saturday, we hit a store in the mall called Zumiez, where he got a blue pair and a black pair. The blue jeans were a youth 24, but the black pair was a men's 26 - yikes!
Skinny jeans are a good look for him, it's the first time in eons he's had pants that both fit at the waist and are long enough (usually the long enough jeans are way too large in the waist). The 26s were a little bunchy around the ankles, but for some reason made his legs look even skinnier. I know how it feels not to have the right clothes and it made him so happy to have them. That night we had dinner out with my in-laws, it was good to see them.
On Sunday, there was a BBQ at my mom's (but poor mom had to work, so everyone was there but her!) Yummy Ballpark dog, homemade potato salad, cole slaw and mom's Texas Barbecue Sauce, baked beans, and some sinful desserts Dad got at Costco. One was a cabernet pear tart, with marzipan, one was a cake that was more like a huge, thick chocolate chip cookie, and the other was a mudpie cake that was like fudge with marshmallows and nuts on top. I had to have some of each.
I gave my sister her wedding album and she loved it. She and her hubby had hit the Elephant's Trunk earlier, and she got me 4 Trek plates that she got there way cheap for my birthday. We brought Dumbledore with us and he loved seeing all the family and playing roomba while we ate. We hung around back at home for a bit, I packed, and then we went back over to see my mom when she got home from work.
On Monday, we left for the airport at 11 for a 2pm flight, because we were worried about traffic. The guys tried to get gate passes, but the ticket agent wouldn't go for it. As always, it sucked leaving them, and I'm here in MN now until Thanksgiving.
Wednesday afternoon, I left work a little early, went to the apartment and grabbed my luggage, picked Dumble up at the groomer (boy, do I love the soft fluffy hair on the top of a freshly bathed Yorkie's head, just like baby's hair!) and headed to the airport. Just enough time in O'Hare to pick up a Cinnabon and bagel to go, before heading to the other gate - where they were already boarding! Blair picked me up at LaGuardia and we got home after 1AM. Good thing they changed my appointment the next morning from 11am to 9am (NOT).
We were in downtown New Haven and Blair wanted to stop by Gateway to return his textbook (having scored an earlier version way cheaper on line), and I convinced him to try to find our way there rather than get on the highway. We ended up in West Haven - so much for following my nose! After that we pottered around the Trumbull mall for a bit and had lunch at Johnny Rockets - love the music, love the half fries/half onion rings! Quiet afternoon and evening at home.
On Friday, we exchanged the cable box for a new one, and then headed west on 84 to route 7. It's been a while since we've been antiquing and we had fun meandering down 7, stopping where ever it struck our fancies. We had lunch at a place called the Little Pub, it was quite busy, and the fries were great!
Dan's been grumbling about the new dress code at his school, so he was excited for his first "casual Friday," where he could finally wear his traditional first day of school shirt (the one that says "Warning! I'm not paying attention.") He feels it's only fair to let the teachers know right out of the box what they are in for. Friday was also our last Ice Cream Social at 6 to 6. He's been going there since he was 4 - sniff, sniff.
Dan has been talking about "needing" skinny jeans like his friends, so we told him to find out where they got them, and to let us know. So on Saturday, we hit a store in the mall called Zumiez, where he got a blue pair and a black pair. The blue jeans were a youth 24, but the black pair was a men's 26 - yikes!
Skinny jeans are a good look for him, it's the first time in eons he's had pants that both fit at the waist and are long enough (usually the long enough jeans are way too large in the waist). The 26s were a little bunchy around the ankles, but for some reason made his legs look even skinnier. I know how it feels not to have the right clothes and it made him so happy to have them. That night we had dinner out with my in-laws, it was good to see them.
On Sunday, there was a BBQ at my mom's (but poor mom had to work, so everyone was there but her!) Yummy Ballpark dog, homemade potato salad, cole slaw and mom's Texas Barbecue Sauce, baked beans, and some sinful desserts Dad got at Costco. One was a cabernet pear tart, with marzipan, one was a cake that was more like a huge, thick chocolate chip cookie, and the other was a mudpie cake that was like fudge with marshmallows and nuts on top. I had to have some of each.
I gave my sister her wedding album and she loved it. She and her hubby had hit the Elephant's Trunk earlier, and she got me 4 Trek plates that she got there way cheap for my birthday. We brought Dumbledore with us and he loved seeing all the family and playing roomba while we ate. We hung around back at home for a bit, I packed, and then we went back over to see my mom when she got home from work.
On Monday, we left for the airport at 11 for a 2pm flight, because we were worried about traffic. The guys tried to get gate passes, but the ticket agent wouldn't go for it. As always, it sucked leaving them, and I'm here in MN now until Thanksgiving.
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