So here's the thing. I got back from vacation and immediately had a ton of stuff at work to do, even though before I left I had carefully planned for things that could go wrong and completed a bunch of stuff so it didn't go wrong. It never fails. No matter how much I try to anticipate, crappola goes wrong I never saw coming. Ugh.
So, I spent a whole week working 47 hours a day cleaning all that mess up, only to have the next week eaten by training. Yep, you read right...a whole week's worth of I.T.-type training from 9am to 5pm. Now, I will admit the subject was enjoyable, but the amount of time away from my daily routine became somewhat long towards the end. I guess I can't complain too much...since I was the one who set up the training. :-)
At work we are getting a new packaged intranet system, and the training was for my department to become familiar with all the inner-workings before we have to start training/helping others move information into the new system. The gentleman that came from the company to train us was very nice, but VERY German. Dark hair, square jaw, thick Bavarian accent, the works. Since I put the training together, I got elected to organize lunches and such for him during his visit. The conversations we had over our meals together were enjoyable and I learned a ton.
For instance, I had not known that Germany has what our trainer described as a "church tax." If you belong to a church, the government automatically deducts 7% from your paycheck each month to give to the church. Consequently, there has been a sharp decline in the number of active church-goers in recent years. Stands to reason for sure...but was not something I had any inkling about.
Once I got through the week of training, I spent last week catching up on all the things I didn't get done the week before, plus showing off the new intranet software to some of the high muckity-mucks, plus scrubbing the plans and specifications for one of the new facilities we're building. We are getting ready for the final 100% construction documents to come out, so we can break ground in two months. I'll post in the near future more about that project and my role...but suffice to say it has taken a LOT of my time of late.
Then, to top it all off...I caught cold! IN JUNE!!! How screwed up is that?!? And, to add insult to injury, I came down with it on Friday night. Now I'm a reasonable guy...if I have to be sick, make it during the week! Then I can at least get some extra time off...but oh no! I HAD to get sick on a Friday and ruin my weekend with it! Grrr!! I am feeling some better today, but still not 100%...maybe 75%.
Oh, as a side note, the Rockies have been on a tear lately, haven't they! Last three series have been sweeps! I'm glad to see they're almost back to .500 now. Hopefully the next time they lose won't start another 10-game tail-spin. Tampa Bay starting tomorrow for three...and the Rays have also been doing well. Maybe we'll get a little of that old Coors Field magic back and keep on rolling!
