Musings of the Museless

Wesley had surgery on Tuesday past, an aggressive treatment (lateral resection) for an even more aggressive series of ear infections. A check-up visit to the vet yesterday was positive; things are healing up nicely apparently. But until he gets the stitches out on Friday, he must continue to wear the Elizabethan collar, a.k.a. the lamp shade, to avoid any scratching that may disturb the healing process. He’s maneouvering decently these days, especially after Brian trimmed the cone. But he still bumps into things and plows snow as he goes out to do his doggy business on the patio. But he’s not very happy having it on, as you can see below.

It’s been busy lately. The “start of fall” (which, yes, technically isn’t until September 23 this year, but forever in my mind fall always starts once Labour Day has passed and school starts) always awakens a flurry of activity as we shake of the lazy hazy summer days.

Last weekend found me in Toronto hosting an IEEE workshop, this time for GOLD. In my opinion and despite my best procrastination efforts, it went well, and I think most would agree. I must definitely admit that I need some help in keeping track of time and keeping conversations on track. And to learn that 5:00am is not the best time to do slides. But… whatever. No one got hurt. The work’s not over, not by a long shot. But the pressure is less.

Work is interesting, though I sometimes feel isolated at my desk, programming and writing. I like the company, like most of the people most of the time (there are always times when the best people get on your nerves, and there are some people who will always clash), and like the projects.

I leave it here for now. Be good!

What is wrong with me? If I let me, I would collapse into a pile of sleepy goodness. I’ve been like that all weekend (I know it’s no longer the weekend). Is it the flu? Is autumn weaving its way into my psyche?

Maybe I’ll sleep on it.

Lord help you if you’re nerdier.

From previous posts, you may have gotten the notion that I am a little stressed or depressed. And I’m not going to disagree. But I have been doing a deal of research on depression, procrastination and the effects of one on the other (while procrastinating on some other stuff :P). No, seriously. Did you know “we” (humans, primates, whomever) usually procrastinate when we think the job is too easy OR because we think it’s too hard? We don’t want to admit our faults, so by not starting… People also tend to procrastinate on one task if they think they will be asked to do something else once they’ve completed the first task. I’m guilty of procrastinating for all of the above reasons.

My new philosophy/goal is to not procrastinate. I’m the Queen of Prioritizing (via Excel spreadsheets, usually) but am hopeless at following through with the things on my list I think are too easy/hard/etc. But as a wise man once said, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”. I’m approaching every task/job, be it housework, workwork, thesiswork or volunteerwork, in terms of small tasks, capable of being completed in minutes or hours.

Thus far it’s working well for me. Got a lot of house tasks accomplished this weekend. I did well today at work, especially considering it’s Monday. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s managable. I’ll take it for now.

Four more sleeps….