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#5188 – a kind of promotion

so i’ve been given a kind of a promotion for the next 90 days. my boss had talked with me a week or so ago about career progression, and she mentioned how our quarterly business review team (QBR… they go out once a quarter to large customers to give them a snapshot of what their accounts are currently like) was looking for someone for a special 90-day project and she was going to tell them about me. at the very least it would help me understand more about an analyst’s role and duties, since an analyst position would be my next position to go for.

today my manager (my boss’ boss) came over and asked if i could step into his office for a talk. i wasn’t that nervous, but i found out in the last few days about some really elementary mistakes i made and thought he was going to have a chat with me about them. can i help it if i’m slipping because i’m feeling burnt out? anyway, he tells me that our reporting and analysis team needs someone for a special project together with our finance and legal teams — it’s something totally separate from that project with the QBR team — for 90 days, and he says that if i don’t feel like it’s right for me it doesn’t preclude me from applying to other positions in the meantime. i’d be really the only non-analyst (or higher) person on this 7-person team, and unfortunately from what i’ve understood from other peoples’ previous special projects there’s no pay increase during the project itself. anyway, it’s basically seeming like it’s a crack team where we figure out how best to track down issues before they become issues… there’s audit teams and all, but it’s more of a team that tries to answer questions like “how can we streamline processes?” / “why are these issues occurring?”, etc., and it seems i’m going to be learning about SOX compliance as part of this role too.

it’s all hush-hush at the office, though. i can’t tell my coworkers about it because those who need to know, know, and those who don’t, don’t. mostly it’s to keep rumors down.

in any case, it’s kind of funny i was approached about this today, since the day before i applied for an analyst position with the reporting and analysis team as part of the systems group. what a way to streamline myself in there! bahahaha

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#5186 – that's how i like my newsanchors

even though i thought this up about a month or two ago, i still haven’t posted about it, and it’s almost comedy gold so i can’t really keep it from you:

so i’m eating lunch at work, and we have cnn on the tv in the cafeteria, and it dawned on me how many hot newsanchors there are on tv. not just on cnn, but in general. i mean, when you’re watching the news next time, just make a mental note of how many attractive folks there are — you’re not going to find someone who’s been beaten with an ugly stick. there’s a reason why helen thomas is a writer and not a news anchor. same for garrison keillor, he’s got a face made for radio. anyway.

so i’m watching this and later that day i’m looking up some of these newsanchors on wikipedia, and i see this for kyra phillips:

On January 30, 2008, Phillips joked about making a “reverse oreo” with black co-host Don Lemon and white female colleague Gerri Willis. Phillips used the term with sexual overtones (stating, “yeah, good time”), much to the “visual embarrassment” of Willis.

AND NOW, THE PUNCHLINE…

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#5185 – WANT

CANON U.S.A. INTRODUCES THE EOS REBEL T1i DIGITAL SLR CAMERA THE FIRST REBEL DSLR TO FEATURE HD VIDEO CAPTURE

Canon Breaks the $1,000 Mark Again with the First EOS Rebel Camera to Feature HD Movie Recording Capabilities, DIGIC 4 Imaging Processor and 15.1 Megapixel Resolution

Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today introduced a new addition to its Rebel lineup, the EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR camera, the first in the Rebel line to feature Full HD video capture. The new Canon Rebel T1i SLR incorporates some of the best technologies from the EOS 50D and EOS 5D Mark II models into an entry-level juggernaut. With a 15.1 megapixel CMOS sensor and HD video capture, along with the DIGIC 4 Imaging Processor, the Rebel T1i gives aspiring photographers plenty of reason to step-up to the latest and greatest model in the Rebel lineup.

…

The Canon EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera is scheduled for delivery by early May and will be sold in a body-only configuration which includes a rechargeable battery pack and charger, USB and video cables, a neckstrap, an EOS Solutions Disk CD and a 1-year Canon U.S.A., Inc. limited warranty at an estimated retail price of $799.99. It will additionally be offered in a kit version with Canon’s EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens at an estimated retail price of $899.99.

i was interested in getting a 40D to replace my current rebel since i figured the 50D was too lofty a goal, but HOLY CRAP! what a deal! same current price as the 40D with more megapixels, HD video, and just in time for trip planned for europe in june??

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#5184 – caution children

so last night i had this really bizarre and awesome dream. i dreamt that i was part of the panel for a new one-off episode of match game that was being filmed in central park in new york city.

the opening credits started with a poor special effect of leonard nimoy, wearing an indiana jones hat, in a rocket-powered skiff hurtling through the streets of manhattan (obviously green-screened special effect), while he comedically tried to act like he was going to be thrown from this thing at any moment and that he was hanging on for dear life even though it was obviously sitting still since it was all a poorly-made special effect. all this while a poor imitation of the indiana jones theme was playing for the soundtrack to these opening titles. then the show’s title appeared, in star-wars-esque typeface:

MATCH GAME

(CAUTION CHILDREN)

the “caution children” was in flames, another poor special effect.

then they showed similar skiffs arriving at the location in central park for the show and different science-fiction actors were getting out to be part of the panel (for some reason i was part of this panel as well). they would all pretend to be a different character when getting out of their skiff, and they were all wearing indiana jones hats too. the only one i remember was george takei, and when he got out he tried to convince everybody that he was captain kirk.

some of the panelists didn’t arrive in skiffs. for some reason, i remember jon pertwee from doctor who dressed up like he was in a greek play so he had a white tunic on and a fake white beard to match his hair, and the credits showed him giving a monologue like he was in a play as he climbed through some underground cavern and slid down an underground stream. this was all showed with the film slightly sped up to add to the comedic effect.

once we were all there, we couldn’t immediately go out to the panel — we were instructed to stay in certain rooms. unfortunately some people didn’t heed this warning and ended up getting killed as a result, and then it was up to me to investigate why.

instead of getting gift bags for appearing on the show, we got big bags filled with candy. i raided some extra starbursts i found.

the match game panel was much larger than the regular tv panel. instead of being only 2 rows, this was about 4 or 5 rows and twice as many people in each row. but that’s about all that i remember.