Ah, Productivity, my old friend, we meet again. How I loathe you. How have you been? Keeping busy, no doubt. And me? Well, I have tried famously to avoid you at all costs. I've even started an online journal to chronicle my attempts to thwart you and your buddy over there, Hard Work. Well, actually I don't so much chronicle as write something down whenever I can. It's a product really, of my inactive lifestyle. What was that? Why did I use the word "product?" Well, I... Oh, oh, I see. This online distraction is a "product" I've "produced" I have therefore been "productive." Why you crafty little devil. You haven't really been gone at all, have you. Just lurking aroud behind me where I can't see. No, that was my manager. Well, in any case, well-played you, well-played. I look forward to our next showdown. I'm sure that next time I shall be better prepared. Telephone with personal phone call against my ear, coffee in one hand, one foot out the door, sleeping on the job, and chatting away online. See ya, Productivity, old man, and tell your friend Results, I'll see her when I see her.

-Tom
recommended download:
Frank Sinatra, Luck Be A Lady

credit where credit is due

the way things work, the way things should work, and the way I want things to work are all different things. here's an example:

interest lines are due at the begining of the month. we have 30 days to clear them. after 30 days they are past due and that's a problem.

yesterday we got an email from hypermanager telling us (in bold caps) to clear the intrest lines on our funds before they're (dun dun dun) past due.

I only had one outstanding line, which I had already followed up on with the PA who followed up with the client, so it's out of my hands. and it was only 26 days old, so I'm ahead.

today victor didn't show up. they split up his funds, I'm covering an easy one. easy trades, nothing weird, so no problem. oh, wait, what's that? victor hasn't cleared any of his SIX interest lines? and THEY'RE ALL MORE THAN A WEEK PAST DUE? what the hell man!?

so that's my morning. where normally I'd be blogging or chatting online or just, you know, spacing out, I'm now doing real actual work that people in my position do. and, since there are a billion past due lines out there hypermanager and counterpart are helping. bam, bam, bam they make adjustments to funds, bam I find a missing rate, bam I find an incorrect accrual date, bam, bam, bam and we're all good. took maybe an hour of research and adustments. real, actual work. I'd feel accomplished. except for one thing. I took care of my responsibilities weeks ago. I was doing someone else's real, actual, work. and I'm letting you know now, that he won't hear one thing about it when he gets back, and next time pastdue lines roll around no one's going to say "hey Tom, good work on Victor's funds last time, thanks for the help." So really, it would make no difference if I'd slacked like crazy this month, not cleared up any lines, and waited until the last minute AND THEN CALLED IN. credit where credit is due, is all I'm saying.

-Tom
recommended downloads:
Oasis, Cigarettes & Alcohol

You're driving me insane! THIS IS HOW PEOPLE GO INSANE!

That's a quote from bobrauschenbergamerica, it's a really wonderful play. Anyway, things here at work are escalating. When I say "things" I mean "tension." Gail is out this week and now things are running less smoothly than normal. I don't know if this is a) because Gail is so good at what she does or that b) she's really an excellent buffer between us (the FAs) and management. I suspect it is reason b. For example: Our weekly yield checks generate an excel spreadsheet which we need to review for zeroes, (no zeroes = good). Hypermanager, however, insists on checking each and every field of the spreadsheet for possible errors. There are 18 fields for each stock owned for each fund. That's lots of checking for stuff that doesn't matter. Hey, manager, just check the last column for zeroes. But alas, as he checks the stuff that doesn't matter, he finds things that can be "more accurate" and tells us to fix them. Are there zeroes? No. Do we need to bother fixing stuff so that there are no rounding errors? Do we really need to update the date/time format so they all match? No. Get over yourself, hypermanager.

He also sent out an email today regarding interest payments on the funds. These payments are supposed to be made in the first week of the month, but have a grace period of 30 days. Anything over 30 days is pastdue and he freaks out. So now we have a list of 27 stocks to check because next tuesday they'll be "pastdue" which, of course, means the end of the world. Hey, hypermanager, how about you let the PAs worry about the interest payments, which is, after all, their job? (However, I did get a laugh out of the PA on one of my funds when I described hypermanager as "freaking out").

Anyway, I'm going insane. With the interest payment crackdown, yield check overwork, and the ever present AIM police attitudes the hypermanager is carrying around it's almost inevitable. I'm going to go insane or develop pogonophobia (fear of beards -thanks Tom).

-Tom
recommended download:
Green Day - When I Come Around
and
Oasis - Step Out

ps. adina, donny and I do not have very similar problems: his office has lots of work and everyone wants him doing it. my office has zero to do, almost no responsibility and a psycho manager who isn't content unless the entire office is stressed-out-to-the-max. but you are right, donny can handle the beautiful women, I def. can't

Gone to the dogs.

Ok folks, here's a cute picture.

This

is from ephemera, that photoblog in the links section
(right, like you haven't checked out that links section yet)
it's a good one.

-Tom

Loss

I don't have anything to write about, but I don't have anything to do either, so I'm writing.

Yesterday I wanted to cut my hair, all of it, off. Today I don't. I've been going back and forth on this for a little while now.

Yesterday I settled on the GMC Canyon compact pickup, 4x4 crew cab. 18.1mpg, $23K. The day before that I had decided on the volkswagen passat, awd, 17.2 mpg $24.5K. I've also decided on the Ford Explorer Sport Trac, the Audi A6 sedan, and the Chevy Tahoe.

I am now begining to wonder if my indecisiveness is a symptom of something. Is it the effect in some causal relationship? So far this effect has not affected me overmuch. I can deal with longer hair, I'll just need to buy some more of that hair stuff to control it, keep it out of my eyes. I don't have to decide on a car just now, I don't plan on purchasing one until the end of summer anyway.

Right now, it seems, it's just the car decision and the hair decision that elude me. Deciding on plans for the weekend, or what to have for breakfast happen easily. If this small bubble of indecisiveness grows, however, I will start some serious pondering.

-Tom
recommended download:
Bob Schneider, King Of The World

reading

I think this was supposed to be a joke, but seriously, how much does this sound like me?:

if we're talking about character strengths, mental strengths, then I'd say it has to be his concentration and multitasking abilities. While it may appear to you that he's browsing the Internet, or playing PS2 games in his office with his pants off, behind those sparkling eyes, his mind is working a mile a minute, perhaps juggling seventeen or eighteen different concepts: efficiency statistics, status reports, nonlinear algorithms, sales accounts, Portuguese poetry—


-Tom
recommended download:
AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

the wall

That's it. I've hit the wall. I can no longer function. Please forgive any typing errors. My muscles just gave up, I think the only things that are still working are my heart and the six or seven necessary tendons and muscles that operate the index finger. Oh, and the diaphram, I'm still breathing.

But that's it. Nothing else is working. My eyes are closed because I can't open my eyelids. I can't lift my head, the muscles in my neck aren't working, my head is lolling back and forth on my chair. My left arm is swinging listlessly at my side, fingers dragging on the floor. I've hit the wall.

I don't think it's anything but being really really tired. I'm not taking any medication thatmay cause drowsiness, I'm not inebriated, nothing like that, just really, very, physically, tired.

ugh.

What are you supposed to do in a situation like this? I was thinking about leaving, taking off, going home, but I can't. Physically. I couldn't get out of this chair even if I wanted to, nevermind make it all the way to the T. I'd fall asleep if I sat down on the train and I'd be out. Like a light. I'd be riding back and forth on the Orange Line until they kicked me out at Forest Hills at 12:45 tonight. That's no good. I think I'm just going to have to wait it out. Zone out, zone back in, struggle through the workday. [yawwwn]. Come on adrenaline.

-tom
recommended download
adrenaline - gavin rossdale

Bloomberg's in Spanish

So the bloomberg terminal is now in spanish. the functions are all the same, everything's in the same place, but now all the menus and commands are in spanish. We can still use it, I, for one, understand a little spanish, and the group, as a whole, knows where the menu items we use all the time are located, so things haven't slowed down. They've just been in spanish.

It's sort of funny. Every couple hours I sit down over there and start poking around, looking for the command that controls what language the menus are in. I haven't found anything that looks like "settings" or "idioma" so it's still in spanish.

This episode has made me realize how valuable my three semesters of foreign language were not. It's also made me aware that my affinity for software is not limited by my native tongue, but my ability is. therefore, I am going to make a half-hearted effort to use computers in other languages. I'm sure that if I don't have to go out of my way to do so, it will still happen.

This reminds me of the time my sister changed my cell phone display to hebrew. That lasted two weeks.

-Tom

DEBT FREE!

I have student loans (I know, I know, who doesn't) a bunch through the federal government and a smaller bunch from BU.

I paid off the BU loans! woohoo!

now I'm debt free :-D (only BU debt.) The point is: I now no longer owe money to the school I graduated from. Way to go, me.

Still, with the federal loans, but whatever.

Embracing my new found financial freedom I am now contemplating getting a credit card (or two) and purchasing a car or truck (today I am thinking about a GMC Sierra even though it gets a dismal 13.1 mpg) or possible a Dodge Dakota or maybe a corvette. There's lots of stuff out there that costs money I don't have, and I'm thinking about buying the lot.

-Tom

recommended download:
Barenaked Ladies, If I Had A Million Dollars.

I've got another creepy stalker

So the first creepy stalker found me on the facebook. started IMing me, and hey, I'm a friendly guy, I appreciate the random IM every now and then. We chatted off and on through the summer, she was going to school in NC she thought my picture was "cute" and took it from there. I haven't heard from her in a while, I understand that, a year at school changes people, you make new friends, that you've seen face-to-face, you know.

But now, I've got a new creepy stalker (hi there c.s.) New creepy stalker found me through Blogger. There's a nifty little button on the top of these blogs ("Next Blog") that takes you to a random blog on the blogspot server. She hit next blog, my web log came up, she commented. Naturally curious, naive, and unsuspecting me sent an IM, just to be friendly (I'm a friendly guy).

we have a pleasant conversation (she's a comic book fan) and then she hits me with this:
ncs: I didn't know you were in boston!
me: um, it says that in my profile
ncs: where do you buy your comics? I work at the new england comics on harvard ave!
me: um
ncs: so, are you social?
me: social?
ncs: you know, do you live alone or with people? do you go out with friends?
ncs: because you seem like a semi-intelligent person, and I usually enjoy talking to people like that

I sort of missed having a stalker. Not.

-Tom
recommended downloads:
Reliant K, I'm Lion-o

Cornered?

So when pressured, when backed into a corner, what are your options?
1. give up
2. flee
3. fight
or
4. take another look at your resources, both personal and in the surrounding environment. We humans are tool-users, reevaluate the tools at your disposal.

In this particular instance, the manager sees an AIM window up on your screen. It appears your initial efforts at keeping it hidden (hide taskbar button when buddylist is minimized, hide windows while away) weren't good enough (also, it's entirley possible, and entirely likely the whole reason he saw an AIM window on your screen and not the black, powered-down, sleep-mode monitor is because he was trying to mess with your computer while you were at lunch, but that's a fight for another day). He tells you to get rid of AIM.

Resources.

Clearly AIM's own camoflauge isn't enough. So you look for more effective ways of keeping the program hidden. Since you've had a computer since freshman year of high school you're pretty familiar with the Window operating system, this leads you to explore your Start Menu and Taskbar options.
First, you didn't know this before, but you can choose which icons appear next to the clock, or how often they appear. Normally the little AIM buddy is chilling down there next to the time, but you switch his command to "always hide" and click, he's gone! Also, you alter a few of the other icons commands from "hide when inactive" to "always show" to keep the taskbar busy-looking with business related icons.
Second, you change the Taskbar setting from "always on top" (Adina I know what just ran through your mind) to "autohide the taskbar" thus keeping that out of sight as well.
Third, and I'm very pleased I thought of this, change the name of the folder that opens from the Start button from "AOL Instant Messenger" to something inoccuous and business sounding like "AlphaComm" or "SecCom (SM)" so that even people taking a quick look at your list of available programs won't see it.

Granted, none of this will keep someone determined to find AIM from finding AIM. If someone were to be hell bent on discovering the program, they would only need to be at the terminal and conduct a search, or look through the Program Files folder. So, manager, you'll have to either be very timely to catch me chatting online, or very at-my-desk-while-I'm-not so you can search my files to catch me with the program. But try doing that when I put my Ctrl+Alt+Del lock on the terminal. Ha.

Well, you'll be seeing me, maybe not as often
And I hope that spy-manager over there won't be seeing any more of you.
The end.

-Tom
recommended download:
Eve 6, There's A Face

happy fractional birthday!

There should be a better way to say that.
Today is March twenty-fourth, today I am twenty-one and eight-twelfths -- wait, no no, no, today I am twenty-two and eight-twelfths, (reduced to twenty-two and two-thirds). Congratulations to me on making it through sixty-six percent of another year. It seems like a good time to talk about some highlights.

since being twenty-two and zero-twelfths (highlights include):
-getting a job: this really was a highlight, it reaffirmed my belief that I am wholly employable, and led to the second highlight,
-starting a web log!: for without such a decision I wouldn't have anywhere to post highlights.
-going to Rome: this one was pretty recent, it's the first time I've ever travelled far enough away that they speak a different language, and it was the reason for,
-buying a digital camera!: a real beauty too, 4.0 megapixels, 10x optical zoom, all that good stuff
-seeing Venture Bros. for the first time: it's a fun show, I like it, just like
-watching Robot Chicken!: this one just started, I don't know if it will last, but the fact that the stop animation relies heavily on gi joe action figures puts it way up there in my book, and speaking of books,
-reading lots of books!: it's been a while since I've read as much as I have these past few weeks, and I enjoy reading tremendously. The reason I haven't been reading is because the next highlight is
-getting an iPod!: these things are great. music, whenever, wherever you want it.
-watching the first couple seasons of The Shield on dvd: it's a good show, now I can watch it in primetime on FX. go commish!
-getting a Nextel phone: I love that walkie talkie feature, everybody I know is getting them, just like when we were kids playing guns in the back yard. The only thing that could make this sweeter is laser-tag
-getting invited to the Texas Rangers' Home Opener!: I love baseball :-D

Well, those are just some of the highlights. There were others. This being my seven thousand nine-hundred fourteenth day (I'm estimating) it's also a good time to look forward. Here are some goals:

from being twenty-two and two-thirds (going forward)
-buy a car!: this is the biggest goal.
-finish the one-thousand five-hundred piece puzzle we started yesterday!: it's from Rome
-make it another one hundred twenty-two days: so I can make it to the rangers game, make to the fourth of july bash (in austin), and to my next birthday.

-Tom
recommended download
Jason Mraz, On Love In Sadness

Pissed

Is my work suffering? Are you dissapointed in the quality of my results? Am I missing deadlines? Did I forget to print something out? Did I not run a report I should have? Am I a below-average employee? AM I?! No. I'm a good employee. I know, because I'm a smart guy. Here's how I figured it out, two things: People have always told me I'm a good employee. -and- I haven't changed or altered the way I work.

So why the static? Look. I'm not walking in here demanding you make me happy. All I'm asking, asking, is that you stop going out of your way to make me unhappy. My work is being handed in on time, right? It's correct, right? I'm learning everyday, making less mistakes than when I started, right? I elevate problems when I know I can't deal with them, right? I'm a beacon of positive light and energy in this workplace and especially this group filled with nay-sayers and pessimists, right? RIGHT. SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET UP OFF MY BACK?

So, manager guy, here's what you do. Pull me aside "Hey, can I see you a minute [awkward pause] Nothing bad." Walk to your office, out of ear shot, close the door. Say, "Listen, I saw an AOL Instant Messenger window on your screen while you were at lunch, I think the AVP might have seen it to. Instant Messenger isn't approved software, you know? I've had to talk to some other people about it. I'm telling you now, as like, you know.. I don't want to have to do something about it. If the AVP says something to me, then, you know... So just, get it off the computer. I don't want to him say something to me, before, you know..."

Gee, what a well delivered warning. I'm glad my boss can communicate at a level on par with high school freshman, like, you know? I'm glad his primary concern is the state of his group, the well-being of the employees directly under his supervision, and not, like, you know, company policies and procedures that, are (1) stupid and (2) not enforced by anyone anywhere except, aparently, my manager and the AVP.

So make your case. If it's not approved software, then get it the hell off the computers, it would take three seconds to add aim.com to the company firewall's restricted list. They've got control of all the computers on their network too, with a five line program they could sweep the nation wide network and have any instance of AIM on any terminal hooked up to the system uninstalled overnight. Don't give me this "not approved" line. If it weren't approved, it wouldn't be allowed. These are the same IT guys that have blocked hotmail, yahoomail, gmail, and every other online email site that exists. These are the guys that have blocked azlyrics.com (and what the hell is that about?).

What's the real issue? You want us concentrating on mutual funds and only mutual funds? Why not say that then? Because you don't have a leg to stand on, that's why. Because I'm doing my job, I'm not costing the funds any money, I'm efficient, I'm correct, I'm on time. What is your problem. When it becomes an issue, when I'm not completing work because I'm online, that's when you say something. Otherwise back the hell off.

-Tom
recommended download:
Flogging Molly, Screaming At The Wailing Wall

UVA/UVB

My eighth grade class took a week long trip to Washington D.C. The school provided a list of items that would be necessary or useful on the trip to our parents, so that they could send us off well-prepared. One item on the list was sunglasses. So, while we were out shopping for stuff I needed for the trip I found a really nice pair of shades. They cost something like $15. My mom refused to buy them based on the belief that they were being taken to the airport, on a plane, on a bus, to a hotel, to a strange city for a week, worn by a perhaps absent-minded eighth grader surrounded by his at least as, and probably slightly more, absent-minded classmates. $15 was too much money to waste on glasses that would be lost before I even got on the plane. I argued my case, mostly with "I won't lose them!" but in the end she purchased me a pair of $5 glasses. Metallic green, black lenses, small X-games logo on either earpiece of the plastic so called "sports" frames (and this is back when the x-games were just starting out). So they were a little big for my tiny eighth grade cranium, not yet filled with the knowledge high school would try to cram in there and college would let seep out. They made me look like a bug. Giant bug eyes. But whatever, always one to make the best of any situation I wore them the whole trip, and was glad I had them, because Washington D.C. is sunny in the spring - but, the whole time, every day, I would think to myself, "mom thought I was going to lose the fifteen dollar sunglasses, I'll show her, I won't lose these, proving I did, in fact, deserve the more expensive pair." (That's almost an exact excerpt from my eighth grade brain, back then I thought with many dependent clauses). I didn't lose the glasses. I had them with me safe and sound when we returned to Boston. I kept them and wore them the following summer. I threw them on a shelf or someplace for the winter, and still had them the following summer, and so on...

Since my eighth grade year, and especially since my freshman year of college I've purchased many more pairs of sunglasses. Through it all I've kept the five dollar bug glasses. I've still got 'em. For the first few years they were my "I'm going to know where these are every moment of every day to make sure I don't lose them to prove mom wrong" glasses, later, they became the "junk" pair, the one's I'd wear if I thought there would be a danger of scratching, bending, breaking, or losing. Mountain biking, camping, vacations at the beach. I saved my other, nicer glasses for looking good, going out, weddings, birthdays, and so on. I've gone through maybe twenty pairs of "nice" glasses. I've still got the bug glasses.

I think, that if it ever happens, I'm going to be really upset if I lose them.

-Tom B-)

recommended download
Bob Schneider, I'm Good Now

So I pushed lunch back today, to run a few programs on the system. Added benefit is that while the programs run I can't use excel, which means basically I get an hour or so to screw aroud online while I'm "working" After the programs finished I was going to just run out and grab something to eat. Too late I realized that by not being able to use excel I was unable to work on my budget (due today) so now I'm not getting food, because of the stupid budget. Come on. These things are supposed to be done in the second week of the month, why give this one to me?

-Tom
I recommend that somebody bring me a pizza.

Like a true nature's child...

So I don't know what's been going on lately. My head isn't in the game. And I like it - because it's not ponderously sluggish thinking or anything, my synapses are firing at top speed, it's an unfocusability, like my head's floating over there, just behind me to my right, thinkin it's own thoughts, chillin, wheels spinning.

That's not the best way to get a budget done, but who cares? I'm like superman on gold kryptonite, without the super powers. I'm like a dream. I'm all over the place. Is any of this making sense? It's ok if it's not, I doubt you've read this far anyway (ADINA)

Maybe I'll get a croissant or a danish, mabye some coffee will alter my state of mind (but push it into focus? no way). My computer is spooling very slowly to the printer today, Jonathan, the Opie&Anthony fan is out, I've got my iPod and I'm about to hook it up to the computer, I've got a budget to finish, I could really go for a nap right now, I'm heading to the pub tonight, my hair is looking ridiculous again (I've realized I have too much hair to wear it long. That's right, too much. I'm enjoying it.), and the only thing I have left to do is budgets, yield checks, and archiving, oh, and actually applying for the job that it was suggested I apply for, which is such a proccess I might not even do it. Shouldn't the internal application be easier than the external? I think so. Anyway, I'm going to go chat online. If you've made it this far (ADINA) you don't have to comment, but if you're looking for something interesting to read, try the posts from last week, there are a couple good ones - I think.

lookin for adventure, and whatever-comes-our-way!
-Tom

liek a true-nature's-child
I was born-born to be wild
gonna climb so high think I'm never gonna
d-i-e
born to be wi-i-ild

what can I say, it just popped into my head. get your motor runnin, head out on the highway!
somebody stop me, this could go on forever. I don't even remember what I was going to post, my brain's been taken over. music music everywhere and not a note to drink. the who, bob schneider, donna summer, bowling for soup, madonna, pearl jam, just bouncing around. it's like my mind is on shuffle and I'm too impatient to listen to a whole song.

so I guess I'm a U2 fan

I watched a little bit of U2's induction into the rock and roll hall of fame last night, mostly the springsteen intro, he was great. I guess I'm a fan. There was a time (high school) that I didn't like U2, and I can tell you exactly why: Sunday, Bloody Sunday. That song drove me crazy, it was the only lyric I knew, and it just repeated repeated repeated. So I didn't give them a chance. Even if I had I don't know if I would have appreciated them, or if I do even now. There were two camps in my high school, Dave Matthews fans, and U2 fans, and they were mutually exclusive, not one person liked both groups, it was either hate-love, or love-hate. As I grew older, and was exposed to more music I began to lose passion for dmb and at some point thought I would give U2 a try. It probably wasn't the best time, it was just after the release of the single Wild Honey which is not their best, or even close, but I was listening to them.

So here I am again, listening to U2, now maybe I'll make an effort and get some more songs from their early years, see what they have to offer.

-Tom
recommended download
U2, New Year's Day
and
Bruce Springsteen, Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Live)

I believe you'd get your ass kicked saying something like that, man.

Hell of a way to start a week. Up til now Ihaven't really felt the urge to quote office space, but here I am, monday morning, that's all I can think about. These last few weeks have been like a kid rollercoaster, up and down, up and down, in a little circle - never to high up, never too far down, and you never go anywhere. today I'm thinking about quitting again. not because I dont like the work, not because my coworkers are giving me a hard time, just because I don't really feel like coming in. I'd rather not be in the office today, I'd rather be out, say, driving, or wandering around fanueil hall, just not doing anything. I had a couple problems early this morning, and rather than do some research and fix them, I just sat here, because I didn't want to. Fifteen minutes later I did the research, and they got fixed, but that's fifteen minutes I'd spent kinda "spacing out," you know where you're not actually doing any work, but it looks like you are. So to end this post, here's another office space quote:

Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.

Tom
recommended download
Jack Johnson, Sitting Waiting Wishing

so I guess I haven't told you

I haven't told you about how well my camera performed in Rome. It was awesome. Definitely a great purchase. I love the feature that diverts the view from the lcd screen on the back to the electronic viewfinder eyepiece, makes it feel like a "real" camera. plus the new memory card held 280 full 4.0 megapixel resolution photos, that's huge. and finally, and this is great, I bought eight rechargeable batteries and charged them all up before the trip, and the first batch of four lasted me the whole week! that's 280 photos, plus flash support, plus all the editing and viewing I did on the camera. they're still going strong. great purchases all around. to sum up, I love the charger and batteries, I love the memory card, and the fujifilm finepix series are a good line of cameras.

-tom
recommended download:
billy joel, only the good die young
and
fuel, last time

master of HTML

lo and behold, the brand new links section on the sidebar, containing links to blogs.

ok, but really I'm not a master of html, I didn't even write my own code this time, just copied and pasted, on the pyramid of html scribes I'm a lot closer to the office temp guy than the executive vp of writing html. but whatever - links section. now active.

-hTOMl

recommended download
pearl jam, ghost
incubus, drive
goldfinger, superman

friday, after work

fact: oreos are comfort food.

-tom
recommended download
amy dalley, men don't change

there's a lot of college left in me

today I learned a little more about ky30, one of my funds. I was told two pieces of information, once part in the morning, the other this afternoon, when I heard the second bit, they clicked, to make sense of each other, and as a result I know a little more about my fund.

there's a lot of college left in me. you see it in the way I dress (hooded sweatshirt) the way I make decisions, the way I act on decisions, I'm the same guy I was in college, but now I'm not paying tuition. and it seems someone/something is trying to suck me into this next world, of apartments, of cars, of responsibility...and i'm not saying I don't want to join up, I'm just saying, quit pulling me. I'll get there eventually, and everyone there will enjoy themselves a little more once I get there, because I'm a cool guy. Until then though, I'm just going to stick with the status quo. sweatshirts, gatorade, AIM. not button-down, coffee, email. and hey, you girls out there, start asking guys out. don't wait for them. and also, when they do ask you out, say yes, and - I can't stress this enough - after you've said yes, go.

my head is all over the place today.
-Tom
recommended download:
Counting Crows, Another Horsedreamer's Blues

I'm done

That's it, I'm done proving myself. I'm done trying. So I'm out, I'm trying to impress you, it's how I am, it's what I do. I'm out, I'm on. Witty, clever, sarcastic, intelligent, whatever the situation calls for, that's what I am. All I need is for you to just for one second step back and notice, "hey, he's clever/witty/smart" and be impressed, or startled, or whatever, just enough that you reconsider, just enough that you say to yourself, maybe I should give this guy another chance, maybe he is "boyfriend material" maybe I was wrong to dismiss him outright. There's more there than I thought.

Fuck it. I'm done.

I'm not "on" anymore, I'm not proving myself, I'm not trying. I'm just going to be me, the me that doesn't care, and if you're not impressed, if you don't want to see what else is there, fine. it's you're decision. Because when it comes down to it I don't really need someone who's impressed when I'm trying, what I need, what we all need is someone impressed with who we are when we aren't trying, when we're just on standby. So now it's cruise control, and we'll see where it goes.

-Tom
recommended download:
Counting Crows, Have You Seen Me Lately

ahahahahaha

So here at work we have security doors, magnetic IDs allow you to pass through them.
To enter the building there are three of these revolving doors. Fully automatic. You swipe your id, step into the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the door, and it turns one quarter turn, allowing you inside. This is also how you exit the building.

So just went to get coffee. I came back, several people were exiting the building as I was entering. This happens a lot. You take turns, one goes in, one comes out, back and forth. So I step up, swipe my ID, step into the door, and, just as it is about to turn a woman jumps in from the other side! hoping to piggy-back my ID swipe and just scoot through the other side of the door to get out.

Well, the door is having none of that. It stops mid turn, trapping both the woman and myself. I look through the glass at her, she's embarassed and upset. I look at my own reflection, I am composed, good-looking, and holding a small coffee from Dunkin Donuts. Other people near the entrance are also looking at us. No doubt they can see my composure, and her lack of composure. She motions to me from the other side of our little glass apartment. "Push" she mouths and indicates the door. Duh, lady, I was going to push on the ground.

So she heaves at the door, I push a little too, the door moves. I enter the buidling, she scurries past security with her head down. Two other people who have entered with me laugh, good and long and hard. I laugh too.

Now I'm enjoying my coffee

happy st. patrick's day,
Tom

luck o' the irish

belushi isn't irish. but he's a funny guy.

"When I think of Ireland I think a lot of colorful Irish expressions like, "Top of the morning to ya," "Kiss the barney stone," "May the road rise to meet ya," "May you be in heaven an hour before the devil knows you're dead," "I'd like to smash you in the face with my shillelagh," "Danny-boy," "Begorra," "Wail of the banshee," and "Whiskey for the leprechauns, whisky for the leprechauns." But the expression I think most people identify with the Irish, is, of course, the luck of the Irish...Let's talk about the bad luck of the Irish, all right? How about this, POTATO FAMINE!! How about that? It scares them, doesn't it? Well, it should..."
-John Belushi

a penny saved

Funny how money saved is money earned, but time can only be well spent. You just can't save an hour of your day for later. I spent this morning reorganizing my daily reports for the last three months, order from disorder, but I'm not getting that time back. I can't sit back right now, decide to do nothing for a while because I want to "save this hour" for tonight, and it's a real shame it doesn't work like that, since I won't be doing anything anyway.

If I had more drive I would invest this time wisely, say in an anthopological study of the workplace.

"day one-ninety-seven, the natives seems to have accepted me into their community. recall that they are timid, but usually friendly with outsiders, it is often observed that most newcomers will be invited to the daily rituals "coffee" or "smokes." Now, however, I seem to have gained admittance to their upper echelon, I have begun to receive correspondence from some of the "cube-dwellers" through their electronic communitcations system. Normally a means for mass communication, this "email" can also be used to send individual messages. I was overjoyed to receive my first "forward" from a member of the local tribe, or "group." These "forwards" are apparently a type of communication meant to be humorous or satirical in nature, usually containing observations of the surrounding environment, or "office," which are often contradictory in nature. For example, this first forward I have received notes that the "manager" (a dominant member of the species) appears to demand that group members be responsible for their work, while acting in a contradictory manner and not taking responsibility for his own. It may take many more years of study to fully understand this culture and its practices, but I feel confident that the natives, desperate for contact with the outside world, will continue to aid and accept me. I must end my entry here, it is time for this morning's "coffee run" in which I have been invited to participate."

-Tom

Tied up in knots.

Celtic knots to be exact. Received a package today in the mail, book on constructing celtic knots, supposed to be very good. very not.

basically a book full of illustrations sans instructions or guidelines or hints. some "artist" decided to mimeograph his lecture slides and call them "directions." not so. however, there are a few panels that hint at an actual method. will be attempting this new method at work for the next few weeks. what else would I be doing, certainly not work. just knot work.

-tom

recommended download
flogging molly, factory girls

I am so bored that...

today I've actually read all of the blogs linked through john's blog
I never read all those

Miya-hee

So I've got that Romanian pop song stuck in my head. I don't mind really. It's not annoying. But I would like to say that if my likeness was as well known as this fellow's I'd be out there marketing the snot out of it. T-shirts with my face on it with a big "Miya-hee" written out underneath it. Come on kid, exploit the capitalist marketplace you call home, you don't know how long your fifteen minutes will really last, so might as well start cashing in now. Let me know if you get around to making those shirts, I'll buy one for all my friends.

-Tom
recommended:
watch the kid
read the lyrics
watch the music video

Stupid Americans.

Honestly, stupid fucking americans. If I were European I'd hate them on principle. Here we are, a group of about sixty parents and siblings, in Rome to see our sons or brothers sing for the Pope, for the Pope. And we get to like, tour Rome and see Pompei and stuff too, this should be a pretty happy group, right? Stupid. Fucking. Americans. I hate 'em.

Now here I am, just me, and I think a certain way. Something like "We're going to a different country on a different continent, I bet the culture and customs will not be the same as they are at home." Now, maybe that's obvious to you, but maybe that's because you're intelligent and open-minded. Not these parents though. Stupid Americans.

We had lunch in a resturant in Pompei, billed as a "traditional italian meal." It started with melted cheese and tomato sauce on flatbread, very similar to what we call pizza, then pasta, wide noodles stuffed with a meat and cheese mixture, then a salad of lettuce, tomato, and mozarella chese doused in oil, finished with a small dish of vanilla ice cream.
As soon as we got back on the bus they started bitching and complaining "Oh, that food was terrible, I couldn't even eat the pasta, what did they put in that?" while on the other side of the bus some pompous jackass was saying "Give me ten minutes in the kitchen I'll whip up something better than that, they'll lock the doors to keep me inside and keep cooking for them!"

What the hell? It seems that to you stupid Americans if something is different it's automatically bad. It occurs to me though, that they've beens serving food here in Italy for something like three thousand years, don't you think that if it was bad they would have changed it? Yeah.

Stupid parents in the group alternating between mocking the tour guide's accent and calling out italian phrases for no reason. Parents pestering the hotel staff with questions and not waiting for answers because they've already started asking the question again, louder and much more slowly. Hey, I'm not saying you have to be fluent in the native language of the country you're visiting, I'm saying remeber you're a visitor, a guest in that country. How about treating people with some respect and not your American "you're obviously here to make my stay easier and if everything isn't exactly as I expected it to be it's your fault" attitude. These are adults. We had dinner with the kids one night, it looked like they didn't like the food either (I half forgive them, kids are picky eaters anyway) but you know how they handled it? They pushed the food to the edge of their plate and waited for the next course. They said "please" and "thank you" to the waiters, in english. They were polite, quiet, courteous and respectful. I spent most of the time looking around trying to figure out how the hell these kids were raised by this obnoxious rude and disrespectful bunch of parents. Stupid Americans.

This entry would have been two pages longer if I'd written it last week. This is just the leftover frustration.

-Tom

Dublin

Well, I've wanted to go to Dublin for a while, sort of a "yeah it would be nice to go, I've heard it's a really nice place" want. But I've never wanted to go more than when I was in Rome. It may have been due to the fact that I was in Italy, oh so close to the rest of europe, it may have been that the only alcohol we drank over there was wine, and while it wasn't bad wine, it certainly wasn't guiness, or it may just have been that the music I had with me on the trip was Flogging Molly, who technically are an irish rock band from california, but it's irish rock, and everybody knows that's from either dublin or boston, and I've seen boston.

But man, I certainly wouldn't want a whirlwind sightseeing tourist trip to Dublin. That would be the worst thing ever. We were in Rome for a week and saw something like sixty of the 900 churches plus the ancient ruins plus the food plus bus trip to pompei, plus mass at st. peter's plus mass at st. susanna's etc etc etc etc. We were running around for the whole week. No, when I go to Dublin it should go something like this:
irish guy "welcome to dublin"
me "thanks, does dublin have 'sights'?"
irish guy "well, sure, I can show 'em to you if you like"
me "no sights, where's the nearest pub?"
irish guy, smiling "right this way"

That would be cool. Sit, relax, divide my time between resting and drinking at a pub. And that would be all, a real vacation. Ah, Dublin.

-Tom

A game of baseball...in texas.

I've never met a texan I didn't like. There's John, Rosa, Karen, Sylvia (who I just learned yesterday hailed from texas), Kelly, Liz, and a few more. I like 'em all. So it was with great excitement yesterday that I accepted an invitation to the Texas Ranger's home opener in Arlington, Texas on April 11th. Which means two things: first, I get to go to a baseball home opener, which I have never done before (also we'll be going in style and "rubbing elbows" with the "movers and shakers" to borrow a phrase); and second, I get to fly to texas, which is cool, because I've never been there before.

Baseball. In Texas. How exciting is that? I love baseball.

And for you readers who are fans of full disclosure, it didn't hurt that the extra ticket to the home opener was offered to me by a pretty good-looking texan, which didn't make my decision to skip work to see a baseball game in a state I haven't visited yet any harder ;)

Peace out, yo
-Tom

recommended download:
Take Me Out To The Ballgame

"Now"

So I'm a little jet-lagged, I think. Well, probably. I was on the other side of the globe for a week and adjusted to the local time, so now, back home, I don't know what time my body thinks it is, I only know it isn't "now."

Day one, Monday: We left the airport in the afternoon, five o'clock or thereabouts and flew for what seemed like a 38 hour day. For the rest of the week some of the other parents on the trip were referring to the first two days of our trip as "Moosday." Once in Rome we began a foot tour of the city on day two, I mean day three, we walked all over and visited many many churches. My favorite was St. John Lateran, the Pope's parish church. We also viewed acnient ruins and crumbling temples from the Roman empire's prime. I took lots of pictures with my digital camera (which was great).

The next day we took a bus trip to Pompei and explored the city. Vesuvius kicked its ass. Since the disaster that destroyed Pompei the volcano has erupted about once every fifty years, the next expected eruption is like, now.

The next day (Friday?) we took a bus tour of Rome, this was nice because we had a tour guide with us pointing out important things, like Mussolini's balcony and Sofia Loren's penthouse apartment. On this trip we got to go inside the Colusseum and the Sistine Chapel.

Finally on our last day we hit the few remaining spots we'd missed, took three taxis and the subway where I almost lost a leg and a grandparent in the quickly closing doors. Capped off with a view of Rome from the top of the dome on St. Peter's Basillica we finished our vacation with an even longer flight home.

So I still don't know what time it is, but I'm slowly adjusting, I'll get there.

-Tom

woohoo I got a raise

ok, so they announced our annual "merit increases" today. and they bumped up my salary! by a whopping 1.5% which, as two people have already pointed out, is just lower than inflation. As Erika put it "it doesn't even cover the increase in the cost of living...so we're actually poorer now than we were before" which is true. but hey, more money is more money.

The highlight of the merit increase one-on-one with my manager however was not more money, but a glimpse at some heretofor only suspected confidence in my ability. He hinted that I should apply for the senior fund accountant position that just opened up in our group, that I have what it takes because I'm "a pretty bright guy." Well there you go. He would like to have given me a bigger raise (I'm sure they always say that) but the company didn't allocate enough, instead though, you should apply for this better job, which comes with more money, so it'd be almost the same thing. cool.

-Tom
recommended download:
whatever you want, go ahead, download anything, really.

back.

So I'm back from Italy. It's nice to be home. There were a few posts I would have shared if I had had internet access while over there. As it is, I wrote one of them down longhand and jotted some notes on the other two or three. I may transcribe them, if I have time, or if people pester me with comments like "so what did you think of your trip?" or "share your thoughts on touring Rome, please please please" or something like that. Right now it's back to work. Like I never left. I didn't get the group hug I was hoping for, with my coworkers cheering simultaneously "We had such a hard time here without you! Welcome back!" but who are we kidding, I hardly ever get that sort of reception. ;)

ok, can't post much more, still got budgets to do. how bout leaving some comments about how your week has been without me keeping you entertained (or without me bugging you online)

-Tom

recommended download:
Flogging Molly, Tomorrow Comes Too Soon

When in Rome...

So I'm going to Rome. Fly there, take in the sights, take lots of digital photos, fly back. I hear the food is good, I'm very excited about the artwork. I'm looking forward to super jetlag when I get back. Look for the next post about the Tuesday after my return.

ciao,
Tom


until then, recommended purchase: Flogging Molly, Alive Behind The Green Door
:)

semicolon, hypen, end parenthesis

Smiley faces should not be used in company emails. :-)

But today, that's what I feel like doing. For quite a few reasons. But first, a little about my day.
Today on the train were the two cutest little girls to ever exist in the history of the world. Riding in on the orange line with their mother, three and a half, and two years old in little winter coats and little scarves and little boots with cute little dimples counting down stops. "twooo more!" and one girl's courdoroys had flowers on them and the other's jacket had flowers, and they had pictures that they drew with them with cute little handwriting. just adorable. also the littler one's name was Dora, and she had little gloves with her name on them in sparkles and she couuldn't get al her fingers into the gloves, she kept getting two stuck in one of the gloves fingers, a-dorable.

Then meeting at work 10AM sharp so I didn't even open excel or look at my funds, just threw up an away message and went to the meeting. Which was pretty good. Until right at the end when one of the manager's mentioned the hyper-six-coffee-a-day manager isn't in today, so it may seem less stressful, or some lighthearted comment like that. At which point Amy busted out laughing. Out loud. Which causes the rest of the group to start laughing too. I guess they all feel a little stressed with hyper coffee manager hovering over them all the time. busted out laughing because things "might be less stressful today"

And, to cap it all off. As we were coming back from the meeting the prettiest girl in the whole wide world called me over to her cubicle. Not for anything grand or important, just to ask about which of my group is handling which of her funds today (since we rotate the funds frequently). But, she did ask me. And not anyone else in the whole group, as we were all walking past her desk. She did call my name. There were just some adjustments to be made on the funds, and could I please email her when the adjustments were finished, thanks. No problem at all.

Smiley faces do not belong in company emails.
But man I felt like typing one in there. ;-)
They're just not really professional, you know? So I didn't. Ah well.
On the other hand, her "THANKS SO MUCH!" reply did seem a little, well, a little excited.

-Tom :-Þ

recommended download:
Flogging Molly, Whistles The Wind, Drunken Lullabies, and Every Dog Has His Day

well today sucked.

here's what I'm thinking, 10am thursday morning:

what the hell man. I'm going to Rome in like three days. It's the day after a fuckin awesome live show and almost no sleep. And what the hell.

So the Ireland fund didn't tie last night, which means big problems today. I've got a budget due friday which means every spare moment I have today has got to be budget related or I'll be staying late the friday before a week long vacation (and how does that make any sense). And I was supposed to get a ticket to the BU hockey game tonight (last home game of the season) but that ends up not happening.

And then Joe doesn't come in. He missed a train, or something, or whatever, so the manager is like "can you tie out Joe's funds?" and I'm like "yeah fine whatever" cuz it takes like two minutes and I have two minutes before I start my budget, so I can handle it. Except Joe sucks and his funds suck and it was the worst time to say "yeah fine whatever" ever. Two major problems with the funds took up my whole morning, plus figuring out the Ireland fund and totally ignoring the budget (say hello to a late friday). What the hell. And Joe doesn't come in at 11:30 when they said he would. Which means I've gotta get the rates for his funds too, which is a huge pain on thursdays cuz that's when all the manual rates update. Plus one of Joe's funds has like ten trades in the middle of the day (we usually get, um, zero). Argh.

He finally shows up, at three fifteen. What the hell man, why not just stay home all day? why not call in and be like, hey listen, why not just double Tom's work load today, cuz I know he's going on vacation and he might miss working on mutual funds. What the hell.

This could have been a post about the totally awesome Flogging Molly show last night.
But no. What a limgatoraidass day.

-t

recommended download
Flogging Molly, Light Of A Fading Star, and Whistles The Wind

they're beautiful songs.
or you could download some of their songs that really rock
like Black Friday Rule, Devil's Dance Floor, The Kilburn High Road, or Tobacco Island

holy crap I make a good jesus

hey 18a, this is from the freshman year "let's recreate works of art with live models" night, I had no idea this stuff was online anywhere, (thanks for the link adina) (thanks for uploading the pics c-koch)

pieta

-Tom

waiting for gouda

I am very sleepy. I would most like to take a 20 minute nap. Maybe on the T, let the swaying of the train lull me to sleep. that would be nice.

Jill gave her notice. She's gone next monday. Today they showed me how to run a few new programs, ones she used to run. Chuck is now complaining that I'll be gone all next week and he'll get stuck with all the bad funds. "You're the only reliable one here, he won't do it, she doesn't do anything, Skip is sort of reliable but he's always so late." he said, rolling his eyes to indicate who "he" and "she" were.

Tonight is the Flogging Molly concert, and I'm really excited. I may have mentioned before that I can't actually remember the last live show I went to, but I'm sure I will tomorrow. Joey's coming in for the show, driving down from school this afternoon.

My hair is getting in my eyes. A lot. My eyes are always bloodshot now. I think maybe in a few weeks it'll be where I want it to be, until then I'm just dealing with the pain and pokey-ness.

and here are some follow ups:
my stapler is working well
I still don't have caller ID
the archive boxes have not arrived to date
today's simpsons trivia calendar question is:
In "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One," while forcing Smithers to ride the exercise bike in the Executive Spa, what does Mr. Burns do?"
a) he counts his loose change
b) he exercises his "foreclosure finger"
c) he reads the paper and plays pinball
d) he eats condor eggs and caviar

this is tom, saying goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.


recommended download:
The Shins, Caring Is Creepy
and
Flogging Molly, The Devil's Dance Floor, and Salty Dog