Pilgrim.

Somehow I doubt it. Does the Union really not see that they may have killed their own meal ticket? I am not sure its a bad thing, since now they will HAVE to restructure themselves. Painful, but most of life is.

They may go out into the night, but quietly, I doubt it.

Photo by baldheretic via Flickr Creative Commons

As a serial job hopper, I generally go somewhere, work my hardest until I get bored an leave. Before I leave, I generally manage to shake things up, make a sizable dent in workloads and force the other workers to match my own crazy techno music pace, or die trying. There have been casualties along the way I am sad to say, but I am amused to say that a lot of places are required to use two or sometimes three people fill my shoes. I know how big my shoes can be to fill (and maybe my hat as well) but I always have left my mark.

Well, not here. When I got re-assigned away from Big Black Box Computer Company, well, it all went downhill in a massive mudslide.

So when is it all too much. This year I went from the 25% travel I signed up for, to 100% travel in one fell swoop. So my thought is, when is “sticking it out” actually worthwhile. I know the standard reasons, to establish stability, to make significant contributions, to work your way up the food chain. I don’t see that as a possibility here, though I have to concede that I may just be tired and feeling whiny.  At this point, I don’t even meet my own criteria for staying, as follows:

Am I happy?

Do I feel challenged?

Am I at least friendly with my co-workers?

Do I have a good boss who will help me grow?

Do I have room to grow within my role and the company?

Do I have interesting and creative work?

How easy/hard is it to get up to go to work versus to get up to go to the gym or anyplace else?

Am I living each day in a worthwhile pursuit?

Can I see the results of my work?

Am I making enough money to pay for necessities?

So, you take this list, and weigh they number of questions you answered yes to and the number of questions you answered no to. Add those up. That is the most logical way I know. However, that being said, I also know that I am not really a logical person, and those who say it is just that I am a woman, can stow it. You have to understand who you are, so if logic is enough for you, great, if not, you then have to weigh out how important each one is to you. I usually give them a percentage and add them all up on an excel spreadsheet.  I may not be logic driven, but i’m still a nerd at heart.

If you get some extra time, try it out. Does your current job measure up?

Photos by billaday and  by wsdot via Flickr Creative Commons.  

Financial freedom is something we all like to think we are working towards, but are we really? I personally like to think that its about the journey, not the destination, and it has always been a stepping stone in the IT Pilgrimage. You have to be financially free in order to do what ever you want to do. I am tired of belonging to big corporations, tired of them owning me.

I personally am about 70% of the way there. Still have two mortgages (separate pieces of real estate), still have a little credit card debt, and still have car loans. I started the journey something like a year and a half ago and went from close to 15k in CC debt to now only $1500. Step two: dump the mortgages.

Hope eveyone else jumps on. If you can’t enjoy the ride, try to jump off for a brief party every now and then. It cuts down on the motion sickness

Thanks Francois!

Photo by unforth via Flickr

Views from the balcony.

and from the beach

Here’s a typical view of my desk, anytime day or night.

PS. I HATE coffee. I hate even the smell so much that I will leave the room if someone else has an uncovered cup.

You absolutely cannot buy this out on the market. They make dog blankets, but they are very simple and have never done the trick for my little shiver monster.  They look like this:

So here is what a little determination, a lot of time, and willingness to experiment, and a very patient dog get you, the doggy super coat. I don’t even want to talk about how difficult that little gusset by her legs was to make that small. Now I know why they don’t sell these. The biggest upside is that it allows her to do agility in it, doesn’t hinder her jump at all. What do you guys think? Would you buy one? Or maybe I shouldn’t give up my day job.

Here is what I drew it up from,

The best bonus of all. Its more than twice the weight of what you can get commercially, and it did not cost me $50.

I am so sick of having to hunt and search for specialty things, like horseback riding clothes. I am most definitely not one of those lithe little twigs they use to design clothes for. And here’s a big shocker, I am not alone. I can’t even begin to tell you how many women I have seen riding around with those button gaps in their blouse, coat, or jacket. Its sad.

Well, here you go ladies, my hard research I make available to you. With cold weather having arrived, I spent countless hours researching what jackets are a little more realistically sized, let’s just say in the front.

In this episode: Riding Jackets that come in a realistic XL or a XXL. Next time, tall boots. Also, check out Fuller Fillies and 1824 Plus Sizes, a few new companies making horseback riding clothes for larger women. Other companies making larger jackets: Ariat, Mountain Horse, Horseware Ireland, and Dublin. So here’s my free secret, hard won through years of experience. If it comes in unisex, its more likely to come in a bigger than twig size. Here are the ones I have specifically found that come in the larger sizes.

Horseware Blackwater Combo

Mountain Horse Cirrus Rider

Dublin Empress

Fuller Fillies 4-in-1

I have a few more, and I have also researched which online retailers carry the larger sizes and which ones do not. In general, UK retailers do, US retailers do not. If anyone is interested, just let me know and I will help you.  Just drop me an e-mail or leave a comment.

Happy Trails

**Update **

Tried on another one, you know for fun and happiness.

This time, the Julia Down by Horseware Ireland, because it was on sale. The verdict: The sleeves are actually nice and long and fairly roomy. However, the chest is pretty small. If you measure 40 or greater, hold out for the XXL.