Tag: life

2019

Published on by Andy Affleck

I think I am done with the whole, 201x was awful, let’s make 201x + 1 better, trope. It hasn’t been working. So I am going to shift my focus to making life better regardless of the date. There are only so many things within my control but I have to keep reminding myself that I have more control than I give myself credit for.

I’m still working on the job search. I have a few promising leads and am hoping that hiring will pick up in general now that it’s a new budget year for many places. Meanwhile, there’s always client work to keep the lights on and occasional stints hosting Geeks Who Drink (though I have nothing on the calendar until late February at this point).

The big thing this year is on May 15, Ann and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary. We’ve not been able to do anything major for either of our recent milestone birthdays so maybe we will be able to to for this anniversary? We haven’t been to Italy since our honeymoon 20 years ago… I’m just saying…

Anyway, like I said, I’m not going to say 2019 will be a good year or that I have x and y resolutions. Instead, I am going to say that there are improvements I want to make and changes that need changing in general and it’s time to get to work on all of it.

Uncertainty

Published on by Andy Affleck

 

I don’t much care for uncertainty. I like consistency. I like the determined, the knowable, the provable, the demonstrable. I like stable. Maybe that’s why I like being a manager (project or otherwise): because the discipline is all about making things as certain as possible. It’s taking the uncertainty out of processes which, otherwise, are uncertain by their very nature. 

(OK, maybe I’m overstating this just a little, allow me a little literary license, OK?)

Things are uncertain in virtually every aspect of my life right now. My current job contract is ending and everyone around me is uncertain and stressed. I have a possible new job provided the right papers are signed by the right people (likely to happen but still uncertain and the timing is also uncertain which adds to the fun). Our cub scout pack is in a state of flux after much needed changes in the leadership of the pack were made and we recover from the political fallout from those changes. Our own finances are uncertain given the state of the economy and the rising cost of virtually everything. The election is uncertain and, I believe, hugely important. I could go on, but you get the point. 

I’m keeping my head up through all of this. I said I don’t like uncertainty, but I’m certainly capable of dealing with it. I do what I can to keep things sane and we’re committed to keeping all that stresses us from impacting how we treat Kiddo or each other. I do feel that I am on the cusp of changes though. I am hoping that between the election next week and the job stuff that within days a lot of variables will become defined and I can relax a bit more.

But I’m not sure… [laugh track].