Honey (Leo) and I are having a great time together, although I will be leaving town tomorrow, leaving the state next week, and leaving the country before he does. [More to come on these later.] I did want to point out that other than the missing baseboards and one light fixture, another room in our house has been completed. We are so excited! Pretty, ain't it.
Happy Ada Lovelace Day!
As a sometimes blogger and a woman immersed in technology, when I heard about the Ada Lovelace Day pledge, I just had to join in. I made a pledge a month or so ago that, "I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 people will do the same." The final count of actual blog posts will well exceed that number and may in fact double it.
My very first thought was that I would blog about Rear Admiral Grace Hopper and her contributions to computing. Of course, I soon realized that she would be one of the most blogged about of all and decided that I would rather read other blogs about her achievements than to create one of my own. As I thought about the hundreds of women in the field of technology that I have encountered in my life and who have had an impact on me, I struggled to pick one out of the crowd. But instead of choosing one of these, I have decided to write about a young lady who currently represents the future of technology, my 8 year old granddaughter Madison Finster.
Madison is a typical 8 year old in many ways, but that is assuming that I understand what a typical 8 year old girl is. She likes to ride her bike, loves her Girl Scout activities, plays softball, is living with her Aunt Rebecca through the end of the semester, and absolutely loves the things that her computer allows her to do. When I gave her computer to her for Christmas, I envisioned hours of sitting together with me showing her how to accomplish things with the tool. I also assumed that since she knows that I am the family computer "expert" she would come to me regularly for help with her computing issues. Well, it hasn't turned out quite that way. I've discovered that Madison and others like her have grown up so totally immersed and enmeshed in the world of computers that even for those who have never spent a great deal of time with these devices interfacing with them comes a lot more naturally. In other words, my assistance is rarely needed.
I can't imagine what new innovations, new ways of working, and new ideas and accomplishments are going to come out of the energies of Madison and her peers over the next few years, but I do look forward to finding out. These kids are having a huge impact on the world already. They understand the power of connection and instant information. The fact that they are "connected" to other people and to information in a way that my generation and the one in between never was means they have a huge head start toward even greater achievements. Just watching her at work with her machine, observing the movements, habits, and ideas that occur to her naturally absolutely amazes me. And with all the wonderful influences on her life, even by people she may never know much about like Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper, Madison has every chance to play a real part in the next big technological advancement. And mayby, just maybe, another blogger down the road will have an opportunity to post an article about Madison Finster and her achievements and positive influence in the field of technology.
So, Happy Ada Lovelace Day, and here's to the future impact of women in technology!
Related links:
Oh yeah, I'm excited! Just a few more days and my sweetie will be home again!
I've been so incredibly busy over the past couple of weeks, but still feel like I'm not getting as much accomplished as I should. I'm sure I'm the only person in the world that this is happening to, right? My new business joint venture is getting close to M/B-Day (make or break day) and I'm hoping we're going to answer all the questions, resolve all the issues standing in our way, and pick up a major contract SOON. Then the fun will start.
But hey, that's a posting for another day. This is just a quick note before I hit the hay (have to be on the road by 3am) to let you all know that Leo will soon be home (Thursday) and you'll know because you'll see me grinning like a possum.
Happy Days are Here Again! 25 of them!
I got a warning message from Leo this morning, and verified it online tonight. It is possible that Leo's return will not happen as planned...it may be delayed by a day or two.
The news story that explains the problem is titled Nigeria Oil Strike Looming and describes details of a planned strike in the country by blue- and white-collar oil workers alike. There are two reasons this could affect Leo's travel plans. First, unions in Nigeria very often honor strikes of other groups. It is quite conceivable that the airline workers will strike in sympathy. The other reason is that the "airline" workers at Leo's end of the travel zone ARE oil workers. So, at the moment I am thinking that Leo has about a 50/50 chance of coming home on the day he is scheduled to, but an 80/20 chance of coming home within a couple of days of the target. I am not looking forward to a delay, but can deal with it if it comes.
Now I'm getting ready to ask Leo about another section of the article that he did NOT happen to mention to me. It says, "While pipeline explosions are sometimes the result of illegal tapping, witnesses said the explosion near the Escravos Terminal was the result of sabotage by armed groups operating in the delta." Um...Leo...what explosion?
As a follow-up to my last posting I DID find my wallet after all. It was quite embarrassing (in the bottom of a garbage bag full of trash) but thankfully I found it after taking time to think about where I had it last. Took me a full 15 minutes of going through my activities before I got the idea on where it might be and tracked it down. Whew!
This weekend has been quite fun with daughter Rebecca and granddaughter Madison here since Friday night. We worked on web pages and other work-related activities, watched some "family friendly" movies (I'd forgotten how much fun that can be!), popped popcorn, sang silly songs and danced around, and in general had a productive but FUN weekend together. And the fact that Leo is coming home in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS has me absolutely giddy with excitement. So, thanks for the kind thoughts for everyone who knew what a poopy time I had just a week ago, but things are MUCH BETTER now!
Sheesh...are my mood swings indicative of something more sinister, like maybe old age creeping up on me? :-)
I had a rough week last week, what with opening an office, buying a new computer, getting things set up and more. That was followed by a really great weekend (except for the sore-throat-keeping-me-up thing) with my daughter Rebecca and granddaughter Madison spending most of it with me. Then came today. Some days should allow do-overs...today is one of those days.
Although I planned to go in early and get a big start on the week's activities, it was 3am before I was able to get to sleep. Oh well. When I got up at 9am, I was able to get some things accomplished for school (PhD application process) but not much else. About noon I decided to run to town and take care of three little items: 1) get a bite to eat, 2) mail some forms to Texas Tech, and 3) fax four transcript requests to different colleges. So, I packed up my goodies and out the door I went. Here's where it all starts.
I notice that the truck looks a little crooked sitting in the driveway. A walk around to the other side lets me see that I have a flat tire on the front driver's side...really flat. Fine. Whatever. I'll deal with it later. I take everything out of the truck and put it in "little green", Leo's old ('95) Nissan Sentra. I needed to drive it anyway, right? As I go puttering into town I try for one of the Mexican food restaurants I like. Oh yeah. Most of them shut down on Mondays. Fine. I'll just go to one that I'm not sure about. The meal is actually pretty good. As I get ready to leave, a search through my purse reveals that I do not have my wallet. I remember looking at it right before I left, so I'm sure it's laying out somewhere on my desk, or perhaps it's in the truck. Great. I make a deal with the waitress to leave my baby laptop while I run home for my wallet.
When I get home, a search of both the truck and my desk reveal nothing. No wallet. Drat. I decide to go borrowing at Jess' house, and he loans me $20 to take care of my stuff until I find my wallet. As I'm driving back to town wondering what else can go wrong, I look at the sticker on the car. You guessed it...it expired in January. So, I decided to take the back roads. Back at the restaurant I pay my $10 meal tab and retrieve my laptop. The post office is on the way, so that should be my next stop.
As I walk into the post office, I don't even get to the door before my left shoe (don't worry; it's only a flip-flop) falls apart. Great. I go into the post office barefoot. I buy my envelope, mail my letters, and decide the faxes will have to wait...I can't take any chances. So, back home I go.
When I get there Jess is checking out my flat tire. He figures out that the plug from my last "fix" has sunk into the tire and is the cause of the trouble. He wants to know if I want to air it up and drive it to town to get it fixed. Hmm...still no wallet. No, I tell him, I'm thinking I need to drive the Miata for a few days anyway. After a little discussion we head in to the garage look at the inspection sticker on the Miata. You guessed it...it expired in AUGUST of 2008! Great.
So, Jess is in town trying to get my tire fixed while I'm here at the house turning things upside down trying to find my wallet (Leo...you can stop laughing now!!) I have the BIGGEST urge to crawl back into bed for the rest of the day! I swear...I was using my wallet only a couple of hours ago. Where could it be? I want a whole day do-over!!!
Yes, that's right...my company has just opened new offices in Houston. We are located on Mercer Street, near the ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company campus where my sister Ginger works. I am sharing the office space with another individual, but am very excited about the prospects. We are in a suite that is owned by a local custom builder, and so far the rest of the suite tenants seem to be very nice.
I also bought a new computer to put in my office space and was able to find just the set-up I want with a dual screen system using two 22" monitors. The used furniture shows up tomorrow, so we will be busy establishing our new office space and setting up our computers and other components.
With a really nice office set-up at home, you're probably wondering why I would set up a Houston office as well. I have been "officing" at one of the ExxonMobil sites for years now, but over the past year the situation has changed slightly. Although I am as busy as ever with their projects, the projects are generally small and of a short duration (3 months or less) so the entities I work for don't see the value in setting me up in an office. Scrounging around for a place to work has largely been my own endeavor over the past year, and often frustrating. I decided recently that in order for me to keep doing business here in the Houston area I was definitely going to have to take care of the situation myself. So, here I am.
My office mate is someone with whom I am totally compatible and her needs for a quiet place to work part-time echo mine completely. It didn't take us long to figure out the solution, and we think we are really going to like it. Of course, only time will tell.
I'll be posting more (address, photos, notes) in the days to come, but will try not to bore you with my business details. Until then, I thought I would share a couple of website links with you. The Amaya Consulting link will take you to my company website. It is still a work in progress as I am currently trying to populate it with examples of my work. The Herries ETS website is my new adventure as I am in a joint-venture [we think it is going that way anyway] set-up with a small engineering firm in the country of Papua New Guinea. It is all very exciting at the moment as we are firmly believing that we will get a contract soon and begin our work in earnest. I can't share much more than that with you yet (you know how "start-ups" are) but will as soon as I feel comfortable doing so.
On the home front, I get a text message from Leo every night between 8:30pm and midnight. That is when he gets up on his side of the globe. It is always short, but also always sweet and gives me some level of comfort. On the silly side, I respond to the text message every single time, but Leo never gets them! We don't know if it is a problem with the connection or a problem with the set-up on one of the phones, but it is just another one of those things we just deal with. Leo does send his love to everyone though, and it KILLS him not to be able to send out proper emails (as if he would have such time for it anyway!) Keep an eye on the count-down timer to know when you can expect more missives from my sweetheart. Goodnight all.
Most of what I receive from Leo is little tidbits about what's going on in his life. He doesn't have time for more. I did receive a lovely letter today, however. I don't feel comfortable sharing his thoughts for the world to see, but I am going to break with tradition and share mine. I don't know why, but just thought you might like to take a peek. Bea
Hi sweetheart. I think I wish you wouldn’t send me such sweet messages while you’re gone…it only makes me miss you that much more. It might sound odd to you, but I haven’t always felt this close to you.
There was a period of time when you went to your job and I went to mine and I really didn’t care what was going on in your life; mine seemed more important to me. Then when I moved back home from Brazoria, we went through a time when we were trying to learn to live together again, which was difficult at first, but somewhere along the way I started realizing how much fun that was. I moved out again in order to complete my schooling, but it was different this time. This time I was always looking forward to coming home, looking forward to spending time with you, and trying to figure out the angles that would let us spend more time together.
When you retired early, I was disappointed because we hadn’t finished the thing we really wanted to finish…the house. But within only a few weeks, I found out that the arrangement at that time, with me working, studying and keeping busy, but you taking care of things at home and being the stabilizing factor, well, that was the best arrangement yet. I miss that time so very much.
I’m not sorry that God provided this job for you in Nigeria. I know that it’s hard work for you even though I will never understand it all. But I also know that things are happening here, because of your work, that we really need to happen; things that will give us peace for the rest of our lives. You are making a big sacrifice. Well, I guess we both are even though our sacrifices are very different. But here’s the thing…we only have to make it a few months longer. The next phase of our lives will put us back into that “sweet spot” once again.
Once you are retired for good, I will be so happy, no matter where I am in the world, to have the knowledge that no matter where I go and what I do, you will still be at home waiting for me. You will still be there to rub my feet, to pick up my dirty clothes when I’ve forgotten to, to cook me home-made pizza with extra onions and jalapenos, and to be the smile I wake up to every morning and the one I go to bed to every night that I am home. And when I am not home, your heart will travel with me as mine will stay home with you and we will thrive as a couple even during periods of separation because of that. Honey, you are truly my soul-mate and as always, I am looking forward to the next big adventure with you.
I miss you more than you know, but am not as “sappy” about it as I was when you left. I know that we are both okay and that we are both depending on each other. That makes everything just fine. And when your rotation comes to an end, you can count on the fact that I will be there at the airport eagerly waiting for you to walk through that gate. Until then, I look forward to the little messages you send me throughout the day. I still respond to them—every one of them—even though I know you’re not getting them (for some reason it makes me feel a little better to send them).
Take care of yourself, honor your heritage, rely on your faith, be assured of my love, and exercise patience knowing that you will soon be home with me again. I love you so very much.
Me
