Not to be

Well, I submitted my resume for a position at work that could have been interesting and a combination of existing skills along with MBA skills I'm learning. It would have been outside the IT department, which isn't really a problem, but interfaced with IT. I knew it was a longshot when I applied but I was hoping to at least get an interview and get a chance to talk up my skills. Alas, it was not to be. They were solid on a requirement of 5 years marketing experience, which I can't make up no way no how. Ah well. I have my 2010 performance review on Friday and I think that will tell me a lot about how my organizaiton values me (or doesn't). I'm confident my boss tried to give me the best score he could, but the process is less about score on your review than fitting you into the correct "bucket" to figure out what your raise will be. We have this stupid "forced ranking" system that's supposed to be a pay for performance setup but what it really turns out to be is what senior management thinks of you. Who knows, I might get surprised, but I suspect that I'll be ranked lower than I think I should be. However, as long as I get a raise, I'll be marginally satisfied.

Had last week off with the boys and the wife. It should have been a relaxing week, but turned out to be stressful in a different kind of way. We booked a vacation to Baltimore during the April recess. Which should be a blast. However, I have 3 MAJOR assignments for school due right around that time (just after we get back). That means if I'm to enjoy that vacation, I need to get pretty much everything done before we leave, or 2 weeks early. So that means I spent last week going crazy trying to get ahead. And not enjoying it terribly much. We did do a fun thing and visited the Corning Museum of Glass in, where else, but Corning, NY! You would think a museum all about making glass would be dull, but it was totally cool! There was even a live demonstration of glass blowing! And if you wanted to pony up $25 you could even blow your own glass ornament. Not to mention all the other cool stuff. It was a welcome break from all the other things that had been weighing on my mind last week. I could probably do a whole post on that, but it would probably be more stressful to write about it.

Lastly, it appears I'm going to get to meet another of my blog pals! JennyJinx of Fabulously Jinxed is heading my way in the beginning of June so we're arranging for a meet. I'm looking forward to getting a chance to speak to this lovely young lady in the flesh after years of corresponding on the web. I have yet to meet all of my fave bloggers though I've spoken with many on the phone. Perhaps one of these days I'll have to go on a blog road trip. Perhaps for my 50th birthday. That could be fun.

As soon as I download the pics from CMOG from the SD card to my network I'll post a couple. Ellen is becoming quite the shutterbug with her new camera and we got LOTS of pictures.