We had a good weekend. I had Friday off as time-in-lieu for travel 2 weeks ago, and got some stuff sorted out (one bank hadn't closed out my loan account, another hadn't closed the credit card as requested...), then had dinner out, after getting this new toy...
So this is the ASUS EeePC 1000. I really do love it. very cute, nice keyboard, easy internet, good screen.
We also went out for dinner on Friday night - excellent Indian food at Everest in Fairfield.
Saturday was infrastructure stuff - lots to do with this computer - then a roast dinner for the troops, and afterwards I went to Linda's.
We went to bed fairly early and stayed there pretty much until this morning (Monday) when we got up for work. We have both been pretty wornout and tired, and a day of reading, chatting, snuggling, was just wonderful. We won't get to do that again for a very long time, I think. Next time we may even have to go to a hotel for a retreat day (the new house won't be big enough ...).
I'm hoping to have coffee with Ema this evening - she is enjoying her new job in Parkville, and she has great gossip about our last mutual employer... then I have outrageous amounts of housework to do tonight - tomorrow evening I'll be going to Castlemaine for a dog club meeting, and Mother will be staying over on Wednesday and Thursday, so it's got to be cleaned up by the time I get home on Wednesday. Which means tonight.
And I've still got lots to do at work this afternoon. So I'd better be getting back, I guess...
Monday, 4 August 2008
Saturday, 2 August 2008
I did it...
Can't decide if I'm cross with myself or not... I went back and got the EeePC 1000. I gave the 701 to my daughter. That's $380 I won't see again.. still, she will use it, and it will suit her requirements better than mine. Even now, when I've only been typing on this one for a minute or two I'm forgetting that I'm typing... so it was the right thing to do. Having said that, the small shift key on the right of the keyboard is irritating. the larger keyboard is much easier on the hands. I think I can use this one for work.
and I like the broadband connection. this one was so very much easier to get up, and I've got my eBooks on it too. It's kinda cute - turn the screen sideways (ctrl-alt-left arrow) and hold it like a book, use the touch pad with the left thumb to turn the page...
The mistake cost me a few hundred dollars, but I'm very happy with this one.
and I like the broadband connection. this one was so very much easier to get up, and I've got my eBooks on it too. It's kinda cute - turn the screen sideways (ctrl-alt-left arrow) and hold it like a book, use the touch pad with the left thumb to turn the page...
The mistake cost me a few hundred dollars, but I'm very happy with this one.
Friday, 1 August 2008
Trying out a new toy
I can't help it. I'm a tech-geek. Not a very high quality one, but I have to admit it. I bought myself the new Asus netbook (the little 4gig one - runs on linux) 2 weeks ago, and I 'm only just getting a feel for it. This is the first thing I've actually typed on it, ... I'm trying to see if I've made a mistake and should go and get myself the next sized one. It's a full inch wider and longer, and weighs another couple of hundred grams ... but it runs XP, and the keyboard is slightly larger.
The question is whether or not I can work on this size keyboard. I don't mind the small screen, but would my hands cramp on the little keyboard... I also have a 3G mobile broadband modem (which I had to exchange - the original huawei e169 was beyond my linux skills to get going) which doesn't seem to want to work on my Vista full-size laptop... but ... If I go up to the next eeePC I would almost never take the full laptop from home, so that wouldn't matter. But, if I stay with this one, is it big enough for me to work on??? Memory's not an issue - files I need can be put on SD cards etc, it's all about usability of this keyboard. And I just can't make up my mind. I love the size. It does everything (except eBooks - but that's another story) my old Dell PDA did (some things better), is small enough to go in my handbag and seems to be able to handle the work documents that I need to use/work on when I'm out of the office. But is the keyboard large enough to actually work on for a couple of hours? And it's not a trivial changeover. they may not exchange it 'cos I've been using it for 2 weeks, and the XP eeePC is about $650, so I want to be clear on this.
The eBook thing is a bit annoying - I can't get Adobe digital edition to work on this, so my eBooks are unreadable on a machine that is the perfect size to use as a reader. That's the only thing I really have against it. Except the size of the keyboard. I keep typing trying to see if this gets irritating, or starts to get uncomfortable. My fingers accidently hitting the up-arrow instead of shift ... that is starting to get to me. But keep trying.
So I'm in a new job. I took a paycut for this one - I've wanted to work here for a very long time (I started applying for jobs with this group in about 2004), and now I'm in. they seem very happy with me. there's alot of work out of the office, on site where late in the working day I have to produce an Interim Report on a computer. We can take our work laptop - but it is heavy, so I'd rather take my own. If I have to do that I'd rather take the smallest, lightest one I can ... hence the eeePc I'm typing on. I'm trying to type enough to see if I can forget that I'm on such a small keyboard. Almost, I think. I'm going to sign this off and work on a report for half an hour and see how it's looking.
There goes that up-arrow/shift thing again...
BTW the battery life is fantastic.
The question is whether or not I can work on this size keyboard. I don't mind the small screen, but would my hands cramp on the little keyboard... I also have a 3G mobile broadband modem (which I had to exchange - the original huawei e169 was beyond my linux skills to get going) which doesn't seem to want to work on my Vista full-size laptop... but ... If I go up to the next eeePC I would almost never take the full laptop from home, so that wouldn't matter. But, if I stay with this one, is it big enough for me to work on??? Memory's not an issue - files I need can be put on SD cards etc, it's all about usability of this keyboard. And I just can't make up my mind. I love the size. It does everything (except eBooks - but that's another story) my old Dell PDA did (some things better), is small enough to go in my handbag and seems to be able to handle the work documents that I need to use/work on when I'm out of the office. But is the keyboard large enough to actually work on for a couple of hours? And it's not a trivial changeover. they may not exchange it 'cos I've been using it for 2 weeks, and the XP eeePC is about $650, so I want to be clear on this.
The eBook thing is a bit annoying - I can't get Adobe digital edition to work on this, so my eBooks are unreadable on a machine that is the perfect size to use as a reader. That's the only thing I really have against it. Except the size of the keyboard. I keep typing trying to see if this gets irritating, or starts to get uncomfortable. My fingers accidently hitting the up-arrow instead of shift ... that is starting to get to me. But keep trying.
So I'm in a new job. I took a paycut for this one - I've wanted to work here for a very long time (I started applying for jobs with this group in about 2004), and now I'm in. they seem very happy with me. there's alot of work out of the office, on site where late in the working day I have to produce an Interim Report on a computer. We can take our work laptop - but it is heavy, so I'd rather take my own. If I have to do that I'd rather take the smallest, lightest one I can ... hence the eeePc I'm typing on. I'm trying to type enough to see if I can forget that I'm on such a small keyboard. Almost, I think. I'm going to sign this off and work on a report for half an hour and see how it's looking.
There goes that up-arrow/shift thing again...
BTW the battery life is fantastic.
Friday, 9 May 2008
phtotobucket meme
I like these...
DIRECTIONS:
1. Go to http://www.photobucket.com/
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box.
3. Use only the first page.
4. Insert the picture into your Blog.
------------------------------------------------
1. What is your relationship status?
2. What is your current mood?
3. Who is your favorite artist/band?
4. What is your favorite movie?
5. What kind of pet do you have?
6. Where do you live?
7. Where do you work?
8. What do you look like?
9. What do you drive?
10. What did you do last night?
11. What is your favorite TV show?
12. Describe yourself.
13. What are you doing today?
14. What is your name?
15. What is your favorite candy?
16. What is your favorite drink?
DIRECTIONS:
1. Go to http://www.photobucket.com/
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box.
3. Use only the first page.
4. Insert the picture into your Blog.
------------------------------------------------
1. What is your relationship status?
2. What is your current mood?
3. Who is your favorite artist/band?
4. What is your favorite movie?
5. What kind of pet do you have?
6. Where do you live?
7. Where do you work?
8. What do you look like?
9. What do you drive?
10. What did you do last night?
11. What is your favorite TV show?
12. Describe yourself.
13. What are you doing today?
14. What is your name?
15. What is your favorite candy?
16. What is your favorite drink?
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
A question for 2008: Where have all the older women gone?
scientiae-carnival
I started off this post thinking that in the coming year I’d like to see a cultural change in the labs here – I’d like the male managers stop demanding that our (female) manager find their metaphorical socks for them.
As I was mulling over this fragment of wishful thinking it occurred to me that all of the women who do the picking up and buying tasks for the labs are rather young.
And they are under the only female manager in our part of the company (there are seven others), who is also younger than I am.
And all of the women in the labs (with only 2 or 3 exceptions) are younger than me.
.
..
…
I am a training person in the development arm of a pharmaceutical company – not massive, but pretty big. I see a lot of the ‘ordinary’ analyst staff, and spend a deal of time with their managers, and a bit of time with their managers.
We have seven sections in our department, eight if you count the office administration staff as a group of their own.
I am part of Infrastructure – we are a diverse group including ordering, inventory management, documentation, instrument support, instrument validation and training; often referred to as ‘housekeeping’(yes, we have a lot of women in our group).
We have over 90 people in Development. Eight of them are managers. Another fifteen are team leaders (or equivalent); there are 3 office staff; the other 60-ish are analysts or equivalents. .
What’s the breakdown – how many women are there?
• Fifty in total
• One manager
• Nine team leaders
• All the office staff (three)
• 37 analyst/equivalents
Women are over-represented at analyst and team-leader level, and under-represented at the next level. OK. No real news there, this stuff has been going on in labs for many years. True, I am very disappointed to see the effects that I first observed in hospital labs in the mid-80’s have carried forward a quarter of a century, but I can’t seriously say that I’m surprised.
What does surprise me is the lack of older (ie, 50+) women.
I’m in my mid-40’s and I have grown children. Most of the women who are here are my age or younger and the majority of them have children in lower-secondary school or younger. Where are the women who graduated before me in sciences? In our entire department there is not a single woman in the labs over 50. There are several men who fall into that age group, but no women. Is it truly possible that there aren’t any?
Are those of us who are late-40-ish really the oldest working women in our field? I find it scary to be one of the oldest women here – there are very few older than me. And, for the record – I AM NOT OLD (yet). Where did they go? I’m sure women were completing Chemistry degrees in the late 1970’s – but I can’t see them. Being an analyst seems to be a young person’s job – even the men are predominately under 35, but older men ARE represented, and we can see men all over the company hierarchy. We know where they went.
So, are you out there? Female Analytical Chemists who worked their way up through the pharmaceutical hierarchy, have successfully managed children, relationships and work, are now 50+ and can help those of us who are struggling to work out how to do all of this? Or are we truly alone out here, making it up as we go along?
I started off this post thinking that in the coming year I’d like to see a cultural change in the labs here – I’d like the male managers stop demanding that our (female) manager find their metaphorical socks for them.
As I was mulling over this fragment of wishful thinking it occurred to me that all of the women who do the picking up and buying tasks for the labs are rather young.
And they are under the only female manager in our part of the company (there are seven others), who is also younger than I am.
And all of the women in the labs (with only 2 or 3 exceptions) are younger than me.
.
..
…
I am a training person in the development arm of a pharmaceutical company – not massive, but pretty big. I see a lot of the ‘ordinary’ analyst staff, and spend a deal of time with their managers, and a bit of time with their managers.
We have seven sections in our department, eight if you count the office administration staff as a group of their own.
I am part of Infrastructure – we are a diverse group including ordering, inventory management, documentation, instrument support, instrument validation and training; often referred to as ‘housekeeping’(yes, we have a lot of women in our group).
We have over 90 people in Development. Eight of them are managers. Another fifteen are team leaders (or equivalent); there are 3 office staff; the other 60-ish are analysts or equivalents. .
What’s the breakdown – how many women are there?
• Fifty in total
• One manager
• Nine team leaders
• All the office staff (three)
• 37 analyst/equivalents
Women are over-represented at analyst and team-leader level, and under-represented at the next level. OK. No real news there, this stuff has been going on in labs for many years. True, I am very disappointed to see the effects that I first observed in hospital labs in the mid-80’s have carried forward a quarter of a century, but I can’t seriously say that I’m surprised.
What does surprise me is the lack of older (ie, 50+) women.
I’m in my mid-40’s and I have grown children. Most of the women who are here are my age or younger and the majority of them have children in lower-secondary school or younger. Where are the women who graduated before me in sciences? In our entire department there is not a single woman in the labs over 50. There are several men who fall into that age group, but no women. Is it truly possible that there aren’t any?
Are those of us who are late-40-ish really the oldest working women in our field? I find it scary to be one of the oldest women here – there are very few older than me. And, for the record – I AM NOT OLD (yet). Where did they go? I’m sure women were completing Chemistry degrees in the late 1970’s – but I can’t see them. Being an analyst seems to be a young person’s job – even the men are predominately under 35, but older men ARE represented, and we can see men all over the company hierarchy. We know where they went.
So, are you out there? Female Analytical Chemists who worked their way up through the pharmaceutical hierarchy, have successfully managed children, relationships and work, are now 50+ and can help those of us who are struggling to work out how to do all of this? Or are we truly alone out here, making it up as we go along?
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