A New Chapter for Linda

Well, that autobiography I keep threatening to write will have a new chapter...on Monday, I return to work at a military command! Today is my last day of employment with Hewlett Packard Software. It was a long 5.5 years, sometimes good, sometimes not. But, when we look back, aren't all jobs like that? So, rather than look at all the reasons I wanted to leave HP, I thought I'd focus on all the reasons I'm thrilled to be moving to this new adventure.

1. I am returning to science and engineering. Although my employer is OMNITEC Solutions, Inc., a Bethesda-based defense contractor, I will be supporting and working onsite at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). This is their mission: The Navy's designated technical authority and acquisition command for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (C4ISR), business information technology and space systems. Although they include IT, they sure have a lot of other stuff going on! I began my career and even received my degree while working for a predecessor of SPAWAR, and going back to it now fits perfectly.

2. I am using experience I have gained in STC. For all those who suggest they get zip for their membership fees in the Society for Technical Communication, I say pshaw! My new title for OMNITEC is Senior Strategic Planner/Analyst. I would never have had the cojones to apply for this position if I hadn't had a dozen years working with STC contributing to their strategic planning. Yes, I did a little of it in other jobs, but the bulk of my experience was at STC board meetings. So, for all those naysayers, out there, I say STC ROCKS!

3. I got a nice raise. :-)

4. I will, for the most part, have a flexible work schedule that allows me to work 9-hour days and have alternate Fridays off! Naturally, sometimes, duty will call on those days, but considering my normal day at HP was 9 til 6 or 7, with NO regular day off for compensation, I will definitely be ahead of the game. (I had years on the 5/4/9 schedule before I left SPAWAR's predecessor lab--the Naval Ocean Systems Center--how sweet it is to get it back!)

5. It's closer to home. My new work site is 11 miles from home; HP was 23 miles from home. Nice!

6. The hangar I work in has walls! Well, I'm referring to inside walls, not outside ones. And, yes, I will still be working at a cubicle, but the cube is in a room that only holds about 6 cubes. Then, you walk through a real door attached to floor-to-ceiling walls into another room that has several cubes, etc. I guess you might call each room a "pod": the setup is to have everyone facing a wall with backs all toward the middle of the room, and I don't recall any divider between folks. The big bosses still have real offices with conference tables, etc. At HP, we have rows and rows and rows of cubes all in one humongous room--and it doesn't matter who you are, no one has an office. No walls except those around the bathrooms, the outside of the building and some conference rooms. We have HUNDREDS of folks all in one room. I won't miss the HP cube farm at all.

7. I get to write about cool stuff. Part of my duties is to write strategic documents, guidance documents, vision documents, etc. I will be working with program managers and military commanders (captains and admirals) and will ghost write for them. How cool is that?

8. It was time for a big change. Energetically, this was meant to be. It feels right. I visualized a place that was just like this and did a whole lot of "thinking and praying and hoping and wishing" and it manifested. Life is good.

9. Social networking works. Someone who knew someone who knew me sent me a note asking me to help network a job in San Diego. I read it, realized I wanted to apply myself, and although I didn't exactly work my network, the person who offered my name to OMNITEC sure did. I hope whoever that person is knows how grateful I am! Maybe someday, I'll find out just how Nick at OMNITEC reached out to me. Or, maybe it should remain one of those anonymous, wonderful gifts that we pass along to someone else someday.

10. It makes me happy. And, in the long run, what more is there?

A month's worth of stuff

I am embarrassed at how long it's been since my last posting! This past month has been filled with lots of things...most of them challenging and energy-sapping. So, even though I've considered several blog post topics, none of them actually became real. Today, I'm home sick because I'm still getting over a bad case of bronchitis. I feel well enough to shower and dress and check my long-overdue home email (funny how I always keep up with work, but my home duties suffer). And, of course, I am making time to blog.

Here are a few things that have been happening:

• My sister, who according to the State of California, is disabled, has been having a tough time and when she has a tough time, I do, too. I am still finding how much support is appropriate to give and how much is too much. She's got a lot of problems...almost all of them mental, yet she can be a highly functioning, sane person from time to time. Right now, those times are few, short, and far between. Even when I don't make time to see her, I seem to get caught up in her drama just by talking to her on the phone. And these past weeks have been filled with her drama. Guess that's the price of being close to family.
  
• Work has also been stressful. I had to layoff one of my team and it was extremely tough. Lucky for me, I didn't have to choose the candidate, I was told who it would be. I keep thinking, like so many of us at this time, I'm lucky to have a job. And I am. But along with most of the world right now, it's hard to keep the positive flow going. I have found a really cool, upbeat person on the web who sends out positive advice for our times. If you're interested, I suggest you check out her site: http://www.svahaconcepts.com/ . I signed up for her newsletter and am pleased that I did.
  
• My health has been less than perfect. I'm one of those people who take mental health days off occasionally, but who is seldom actually sick. Well, that's changed this past month. I had a low-grade cough/headcold for about 2 weeks, but pushed through it. Would go to work and leave early when my energy ran out. Took one or two full days, but treated myself with Nyquil and Dayquil and other over-the-counter meds. Then, I felt really good for about 4 days. Thought it was all gone and I was ready to get back into my routine. Nope. Got hit with a much worse rendition of the first...got so I couldn't breathe, had some athsma-like problems, and was coughing so hard it hurt my ribs...so I bit the bullet, paid the $100 copay and went to urgent care (my own doc took Friday off and that was the day I decided I needed doctoring). Anyway, they did a breathing treatment to open up my lungs, gave me antibiotics, some codeine cough syrup, and sent me home to sleep. I did. Yesterday and today, I'm finally feeling humanish. I hope that by tomorrow, I'll be ready to tackle work. I am blessed to have a great team that works well even without me. (Hmmm. That might not be so good these days!)
  
• My taxes have yet to be done. I've collected most of the stuff, but now I need to fill in the paperwork and mail it to my CPA. I don't know why I'm procrastinating..I'm sure I'm getting a refund. And, I am definitely ready to pay off some bills with it. Of course, the new advice from Suze Orman (http://www.suzeorman.com/) is to only pay minimums and put the extra into a savings account in case you need it when/if you lose your job. I think I'll do some more budgeting to figure out what the best move is for me.
  
• My occasional roomie and co-owner of my house is arriving tonite from Virginia. She hasn't visited since June of last year when she helped me celebrate my big 6-0 birthday. I'm looking forward to it, but I also had to be sure that the stuff I'd hidden in her closet and put on her shelf in the medicine cabinet were moved elsewhere so she could use her own space while she's here. Not a big issue at all, but one more thing to do. Believe me the payback is great. She's quite the handywoman, and my list of things to do around the house is usually much shorter after one of her visits. We do well together and are great friends. Here's a picture of her from a couple years ago.
  I really must get some pix of the two of us together! Without her, I never would have been able to afford to buy a home in San Diego when I moved back here. So, Thanks, Jeanne! I'm glad you're in my life.
  
• Oh, another work-related item: HP reduced everyone's salary a little. Mark Hurd, our CEO, who made $1.45 million last year is giving up 20%. Every exempt employee on the HP payroll is only giving up 5%. I wonder how the ratio of all that works... Nonetheless, I'm still paid well, I just have to readjust a few luxuries...
  

OK. I think I'm caught up. This may be one of my more boring posts, but it is what it is. I'm in a rather boring state of mind. Stay tuned. It will get better.