Boy, this is tough. I’ve been working REALLY hard on picking up the basics of the wireless industry, and how to negotiate deals, and so on, but the bottom line is that my boss is now gone and I’m supposed to handle, estimate, etc. everything except for one major customer (being handled by the other project manager in the group). Which is…interesting…since I’m coming new into a company, industry, and job function. Don’t get me wrong, I learn fast, but this is a bit ridiculous.
Anyway, the four things I’m trying to sort out simultaneously are:
- what is our product, how is it built, and how do we market it to customers?
- what is our market, what do cell phone manufacturers want, what do carriers want?
- what deals are in the pipeline, and what new ideas could we go out and sell?
- who does what in the company–who do I go to for advice, who do I walk warily around, who has the information on ______?
I think once I have a manager it will be slightly less overwhelming, but the bottom line is, the more of this I can pick up and the faster I can pick it up, the better for me. I want to be handling all that stuff–the business side, P/L, margins, scouting and negotiating deals, setting strategy–but I know so little about it that everything is new, everything needs thinking about. Right now I’m trying to set priorities and filter things down to the stuff I need to know immediately. Which, fortunately, isn’t nearly all of it.
But it’s still overwhelming.
In a way, it’s kind of fun; I have a lot of brain that usually goes to waste, because there’s nothing around that needs the kind of speed I can manage when pressed. So it’s great to have something that is challenging me, that is pushing me to my limits intellectually. Not only can I learn a lot of stuff, it’s crucial that I learn a lot of stuff really fast–which is great! I love a challenge.
I’m also getting to meet a lot of cool people–there are a lot of creative multitalents at Openwave, and it’s one of the most intelligent companies I’ve seen in awhile. This week I discussed theories of mind mixed with group theory and astronomical metaphors with our product strategist, and origami and spinning/weaving (!) with one of our engineers. I was really impressed that a male engineer would understand spinning/weaving and loom construction, but it turns out his wife is a fiber artist and he finds these things fascinating. So lots of creative people, I think that’ll be lots of fun. I’m going to bring in my silver spindle and show it to Kevin (the engineer) on Monday.
Meanwhile, the quote of the day:
“YOU have a TRUCK???”
It appears my coworkers have a lot to learn about me. 😉
I’m starting to think about starting another spinning project again; my initial projects have petered out, and the blackwork embroidery just isn’t working for me at the moment. I spend all day staring at a computer screen and doing meticulous eye-work, working on a project that requires intense concentration and counting threads just makes things worse. So I am considering doing another project as fine as the spiral shawl, and am debating whether to make it of handspun, or use a millspun yarn and concentrate on knitting. When I get back from work, I”m fried enough that I really need an hour or two just to settle my brain, and I think spinning would be good for that; but on the whole, I enjoy knitting better. I’ll probably try a couple things and see what I like best…I really want quick and simple projects, things that occupy the hands but not the mind. Maybe I’ll knit more socks.
(The only problem with that is that I’d have to dye the yarn first…my brain is really not up for project design at the moment, all circuits are busy at the new job. I may just dive in and start spinning a superfine yarn in, well, *something*.)
At any rate, it will be nice to take out and fondle my fiber collection.
I have been making progress on writing the book, but have decided to put it on hold for a week or two. It’s not that I haven’t been able to write it, but I’ve been pretty close to stressing out what with everything going on at work, and part of it is because in the time I’m not at work, I’ve been working on writing, so my brain never gets a break. It’s frustrating to me because I want to work on the book, I’m enjoying writing it, I’m just going into overload. So I sneak in a bit here and there, but I really need to give it a rest. Pfahh.
Meanwhile, I’m a bit worried because Isis is sick. She’s my Brazilian rainbow boa, and she’s been pfft!ing lately (which means she’s having trouble breathing–like a human with a clogged up nose) and lately she’s started gaping, sitting around with her mouth open, which usually means more serious breathing difficulties. Unfortunately, she’s also shedding, which makes it hard to figure out exactly how serious the problem is. As the skin loosens, it’s normal for snakes not to breathe quite as well as they usually do, so minor respiratory irritations can look exaggerated. But she’s never gone as far as gaping before, so I’m quite worried.
My normal vet can’t see her until Wednesday, which is very bad (respiratory infections can go nasty fast), but there’s another exotic animal vet in Belmont, who can probably see her Monday. My ex has offered to run her up there on Monday, so that’s great.
(He’s having problems with his chameleon collection–a raccoon fell into his water tank and drowned, so they had a dead raccoon in the water tank for a few days without knowing it. The rotting raccoon (yeah, that’s really gross) apparently infected all his chameleons with some nasty protozoan, so he drove down to Mexico to get medication from them (it’s over the counter there) and has been treating them. He also ran a couple of microscopic exams of the bacteria (to identify it), and just had to show me the photos of the protozoan-thingies on his digital camera. *sigh* Geeks.)
So anyway, that’s most of the news from down here. I’m excited to say that I have a hot date on Monday night–but, alas, it’s with my former boss and his boyfriend. *dramatic sigh* But I’m still getting to spend time with friends (another friend has a B-day party on Thursday), and that’s a good thing. At some point this work thing is going to let up–probably in a month or two–and then I can get back to normal.
Finally, the Bizarre Quote of the Day:
“And then I showed my vet how to handle a chameleon with a tongue that won’t retract…”
“Uh, so how DO you handle a chameleon whose tongue won’t retract?”
“You wedge something in its mouth so it can’t bite it off, and keep the tongue wet. After three or four days, it heals up and retracts.”
“Uh…how do you keep the tongue wet?”
“You put the chameleon on a wet paper towel, you raise the humidity to nearly 100%, and then you drip water on the tongue with an eyedropper.”
“By hand?”
“Yep.”
“For THREE DAYS????”
“Well…we didn’t know it was going to take that long.”
Somehow I just have this image of some poor soul, sitting there at a desk with a chameleon on it, dripping water onto the chameleon’s tongue with an eyedropper. (“So, umm, what do YOU do for a living…?”)
Anyway, I’m glad the chameleon pulled through, but man, is that a funny image…
And, with that, I leave you–it’s time to go to the farmer’s market, and later this afternoon a friend is coming over with hairsticks, and we’re going to play with hairstyles. She’s teaching me the French Twist, and we may just do some experimenting. Whee!
Tien
