The Long Cut ...we'll get there eventually

Ahh, I'm Also Gonna Need You To Go Ahead And Come In On Sunday, Too

An open letter to the guy who just dropped his "last minute" mapping project in my lap:

Please stop telling me, as you have repeatedly now, that the multiple changes your "little" map "aren't that tough" and "should be pretty easy to fix" unless you actually knows what goes into making those changes, which you obviously do not.

And it would make my job that much "easier to do" if you hadn't written all your notes while the draft map was facing south. "It's not that tough" to work with, though, I'll just turn my monitor upside down.

Mark

All this during Geography Awareness Week, to boot!

Where In The World Are My Books On San Diego?

They're right in my house!

But it didn't look good there for a while. I had put a hold on both of the books (plus a couple novels) and while they were in transit to my local branch, my local branch was forced to close due to construction next-door.

The closure wouldn't last long, the sign on the door assured, just until Monday. Except I'm leaving for San Diego Sunday morning (you remember me telling you about this, right?). Not good.

Here's where being a nice guy and writing a letter to the library's volunteer organization about how great the workers at your local branch are (and they are, at least at my branch). What happens is that a lot of the librarians remember you (since your letter was read at a staff meeting), and even two years after the letter they're still willing to do a favor or two for you.

A phone call, a knock on the library door, a big "thank you," and I've got my travel guides.

Now if I could only get those novels, too.

Smooth Sailing

Hey, that work cruise I wrote about yesterday ended up not being so bad after all. My plan to drink away any suckiness wasn't even needed (well, I did have one, as a precaution). The plan wouldn't have lasted long anyway, at $7 plus tip per cocktail.

After the mile walk in 94 degree heat (I passed up a chance to take a work-provided shuttle because I thought the ship docked further up the river than it actually did), and the half-hour spent baking while waiting to go aboard, and the chinchy one-free "soft-drink" voucher, and the awful "entertainment" that consisted of karaoke-quality singers who would also point out interesting facts about coastline attractions (they seemed more concerned at remaining perky than actually getting their regional facts right - and large part of their audience was made up of people (us) who get all geeky about regional facts, so that went over well) - after all that, things went pretty well.

Surprisingly, the food wasn't half-bad, but the best part was when they finally let us out to go up on the deck. There was a good breeze and it was pretty cool to see things like the Naval Yard and the sports complex from such an unusual perspective. Like I said, we're geeky about things like that.

I also took a whole bunch of photos that I hope to clean up this weekend. For now, here's a shot I took of the promenade at Penn's Landing (yeah, the Delaware's brown around Philly - you got a problem wit that?):

And here's that second-place pint glass I one at Tuesday's race:

I'm still debating whether to use it as a glass or save it as a trophy.

Inner Cube - Day 7

While I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd offer a few peeks into the ol' office space:

This month, So-Jer. Next month, So-Cal!

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This post was published using TypePad's "auto-post" feature. Comments may be left, but they will not be read by me until July 8, 2006, at the earliest . The family is on a much-needed, Internet-free vacation downtheshore. I have lined up a post for each day I'm offline for those of you who need your daily Long Cut fix.

Inner Cube - Day 6

While I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd offer a few peeks into the ol' office space:

Why the missus won't let me display these at home, I'll never know.

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This post was published using TypePad's "auto-post" feature. Comments may be left, but they will not be read by me until July 8, 2006, at the earliest . The family is on a much-needed, Internet-free vacation downtheshore. I have lined up a post for each day I'm offline for those of you who need your daily Long Cut fix.

Inner Cube - Day 5

While I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd offer a few peeks into the ol' office space:

A surprisingly accurate portrait, done by the almost-nine-year-old, almost six years ago.

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This post was published using TypePad's "auto-post" feature. Comments may be left, but they will not be read by me until July 8, 2006, at the earliest . The family is on a much-needed, Internet-free vacation downtheshore. I have lined up a post for each day I'm offline for those of you who need your daily Long Cut fix.

Inner Cube - Day 4

While I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd offer a few peeks into the ol' office space:

The side of my file cabinet that isn't visable from the hallway.

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This post was published using TypePad's "auto-post" feature. Comments may be left, but they will not be read by me until July 8, 2006, at the earliest . The family is on a much-needed, Internet-free vacation downtheshore. I have lined up a post for each day I'm offline for those of you who need your daily Long Cut fix.

Inner Cube - Day 3

While I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd offer a few peeks into the ol' office space:

My cherished chunk of the late great Veterans Stadium. There's no telling how many drunks peed on this piece of concrete.

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This post was published using TypePad's "auto-post" feature. Comments may be left, but they will not be read by me until July 8, 2006, at the earliest . The family is on a much-needed, Internet-free vacation downtheshore. I have lined up a post for each day I'm offline for those of you who need your daily Long Cut fix.

Inner Cube - Day 2

While I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd offer a few peeks into the ol' office space:

The kind of touching, beautifully personalized Father's Day gift that just can't be returned. No matter how hard you try.

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This post was published using TypePad's "auto-post" feature. Comments may be left, but they will not be read by me until July 8, 2006, at the earliest . The family is on a much-needed, Internet-free vacation downtheshore. I have lined up a post for each day I'm offline for those of you who need your daily Long Cut fix.

Inner Cube - Day 1

While I'm on vacation this week, I thought I'd offer a few peeks into the ol' office space:

The backup tapes, stored in boxes from last year's vacation.

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This post was published using TypePad's "auto-post" feature. Comments may be left, but they will not be read by me until July 8, 2006, at the earliest . The family is on a much-needed, Internet-free vacation downtheshore. I have lined up a post for each day I'm offline for those of you who need your daily Long Cut fix.

Not To Mention That I'm More Than A Little Sick Of Being Blamed For That Annoying Thing Dora Carries Around In Her Backpack

Rough, rough day in the mapmaking business. One of those days that gets you dreaming of a career change. So, here are my top ten occupations that sound a lot like cartographer, but seem a whole lot cooler:

[If my coding works right, you should be able to see the definition of these occupations just by "hovering" your cursor over the word - if not, you'll have to click on the link]

10. calcographer

09. glossographer

08. horologiographer

07. carpologist

06. hagiographer

05. haliographer

04. cartelist

03. psalmographer

02. carnalist

01. pornographer

I gotta be good at one of these!

Bullet Train Of Thoughts

Where I write like Larry King:

• Anyone who tells you that cartography is glamorous has never shopped for a plotter.
• Donuts in the morning + Mexican for lunch + church pancake dinner = Fat Tuesday.
• Spring arrives: first little league team meeting tomorrow.
• Curious about the beer on my shirt in the new "about" photo? It's Bahamian, and not very good.
• Brew of the week at Starbucks - Kenya. Blah, I'm not digging it.
• I am digging The Amazing Race. After stumbling last season, Phil and friends have got their mojo working again.
• More AR - Favorite couple: the Nerds. Also liking the Sisters.
• State Efforts to Help Women Avoid Unintended Pregnancy: Not liking how New Jersey (43rd) ranked in this.
• 34% - this I am liking.
• My Lenten sacrifice: nail biting.
• Meatless Fridays in Lent: Roman Catholic = Required. Episcopalian = Optional.
• BBQ anyone? Say... Friday?
• ummmm...

I could have sworn I had more to say. How did Larry do it?

E' Sottotitolato In Inglese?

All I'm saying is, if you're going to refer to Turin as Turino, then you should have to refer to Italy as Italia. None of this "Turino, Italy" stuff. You can't have it both ways, NBC. Geez.

[No Friday Random Ten today. I started my day at a meeting in Trenton (or as NBC Sports calls it, Trentonio) with every intention of going into work afterwards and reporting on the first ten songs spit out by my music player. Instead, I ended up being invited to an open house at my old workplace and cut work and drove out there. It's been close to a dozen years since I've worked there. They were celebrating the reopening of the recently-renovated historic farm buildings that house some of the commission offices and there were a bunch of former coworkers in attendance. I haven't seen most of these people since I left back in '94. It was a ton of fun and I even got to stand next to my favorite former governor. Maybe next time that happens I'll have the courage to actually introduce myself.]

And They're Sexy, Too

Woo-Hoo! We mapmakers have finally made the big time - the front page of Yahoo:

You know it must be a slow news day.

Update (6:02p): Well, the story's already off Yahoo's front page. I should say that the Mapquest-like cartography in the story has very little in common with the urban planning-based mapping I do (or did before I became middle management). So my indispensability (indispensableness?) in this digital age might not be as strong as that of the cartographers in the Yahoo article. But I am pretty sexy.

...I'm Away From My Desk Right Now...

The missus says that my last post wasn't very substantial (okay, maybe she didn't say it out loud, but she was thinking it), so I want to add an addendum to it. Here are the some of the trips that I have been sent on by my employer. By trip I mean having to pack my suitcase and all. Keep in mind that a cartographer, yes, even a computer cartographer, doesn't get to go to the most exotic locales. And he often gets sent to the same towns over and over again (sometimes a good thing, sometimes not). If I unfairly slam anyone's home town, I apologize.

4 places I like being sent to:

1. Baltimore - My favorite of all the places I go. A harbor to run around and a ballpark to walk to? That whole cool "Believe" thing? What's not to love?
2. Towson, MD - The annual conference they hold down here is pretty good, but I just like this town a whole lot. It's like a big small town. They got a bookstore, a Trader Joes, the college has a real college radio station that plays real college music and it's not that far from a beautiful rail-to-trail path for me to run on.
3. Lancaster, PA - No, not for the outlets, but because it's the home to Lancaster Brewing Co. and it's great brewpub. Also a great town for a hilly running workout.
4. Washington, DC - Lots of great restaurants, and very historic running routes.

4 places I don't like being sent to:

1. Huntsville, AL - Seven days in hell for this northerner. I actually got to see real-live cotton fields for the first time - lots of them in fact. Good barbecue places, though. Other than eating out and visiting the rocket museum there's nothing else for a guy 1000 miles from his family to do.
2. Piscataway, NJ - Pretty surprising, huh? There may have been good restaurants around here, but the highways (and that's all there is is highways) are so hard to navigate that I just wanted to lock myself in and order room service.
3. Tyson's Corner, VA - And I thought Piscataway had a lot of highways! Good God, people, doesn't anybody walk anymore? Not the greatest place to drag the family along for five days while you're at training.
4. Harrisburg, PA - If Trenton was so far away that I had to sleepover I would put it on this list, too. State capitals are pretty sad places, though Harrisburg does have a river to run along and a minor league baseball team. Still, all in all I'd rather be in Baltimore.

Can you tell that I run a lot on business trips? And eat a lot? Kind of all balances out in the end. I hope.

Update: Harrisburg also has the Appalachian Brewing Company brewpub with it's great food and beer. I might have to rethink my negative view of Harrisburg.

It's Up To You, Newark, Newark

My recent work-related travels:

Today: Newark!

Tomorrow: Trenton!

But next Friday, next Friday I get to go to... well, next Friday I get to go to Trenton again.

Jealous?

Makes me miss the good old days, when they used to send me out to exotic outposts like Harrisburg.

[The above photo, which is from this website, is a little deceptive since I ended up taking Amtrak today.]

Paper Jam

Strange phone call today at work (from "Unknown Caller" on my caller ID):

Woman: Mr. XXXXX? (mispronounced, of course)

Me: Yes?

Woman: I'm from XXXXX, Inc. and I've been asked to get the serial number of your HP LaserJet printer to update our records.

Me: Uhhh....Ooooo-kaaaay.

Woman: Could you get that for me - the printer is right there on your desk, correct?

Me (Looking out the window to see if I'm being spied on - even though the printer isn't anywhere near my desk): No it's not, and I'm not sure I can give out that information.

Woman (quickly): Okaythankyoubye.

Click.

Weird. I went right to my Sys Admin guy to warn him, and he said he got the exact same call minutes earlier (even the "it's right there on your desk" line). The woman hung around with him long enough to ask him who purchases the toner for his printer (which he refused to tell her, which made her end the conversation quickly with him, too), so he figures that they just wanted the info so they could bombard us with toner ads.

Still, a really weird call.

168-Step Program

In an effort to help along my diet, strengthen my legs, and continue to be a better person than you are, this week I began eschewing the elevator in favor of the stairs at work. And, man, it's a lot of steps up to the 8th Floor. The first few flights aren't so bad, but by the fifth or six my heart rate starts approaching four digits. And my poor calves just cry for mercy.

Of course, I had to choose the hottest week so far this year to start this program. We've had three straight days of temps over 90 here in Philly - that's the definition of a heat wave. And the humidity, oh, man, the humidity. But I'm determined to stick with this stair thing.

On a less successful note, the seven-year old's Little League team had their first playoff game, but I'd rather climb another seven flights than talk about the game. Ugh.

Moving On Up Over

 

Different buildings, same floor. I miss the character of the old place (and having a corner office), but I don't miss watching nasty-looking pigeons on the ledge all day.

Someone Keeps Moving My Chair

Well, my work's move from South Independence Mall East to North Independence Mall West is officially complete. Here's the damage:

1. My trash can was stolen,
2. a big warehouse club-size box of Trident gum has gone "missing," and
3. my group (and only my group) doesn't have access to the Internet or the network.

The details:

1. When I came into the new digs this morning, my office had a trash can. I went down to the conference room, where the building management had laid out a free breakfast for us, and when I came back my trash can was gone! A co-worker of mine stole my damn trash can! How low can you get?
2. Shortly after this, I went back to my old building to pick up some last minute things. Before we moved, we were advised not to let the movers handle breakable desk items. So I, like most of my co-workers, left my pictures and other things from my desk (including my numerous economy-size packs of gum) in a box labeled "do not move." I should have labeled it "do not ransack," cause when I went back today its contents were all disheveled (some things were even outside the box) and my gum was gone! When I went back to the new building with my now Trident-less box, the movers were in the conference room enjoying the leftovers from our breakfast. I wanted to go in there and check the breath of each one of them to find the bastard with the usually-fresh spearminty breath, but I didn't. At least I still have my Swingline Stapler.
3. The system admin people seemed to have found time to hook everyone up to the Internet network except me and the people I manage. I need to have access to the Internet network. I can't surf work without the Internet network. When, at 3:00, I checked to see when we would be connected, they seemed surprised that it wasn't already done and said it would be tomorrow. Hmfph. At least I came out looking like Mr. Cool Boss by letting my underlings go home early since they couldn't do any work.

Other than that (oh, and I seemed to have lost the keys to the intern's desk. Oops!) I really can't complain. This place is so much nicer than the old place. It's brighter, cleaner, and more secure (real guards who really check i.d.s!). It's also got perks like a gym and a cafeteria. I'm having a hard time working up any nostalgia for the old place.

But I'm still pissed about the gum.

[For the less-hip readers out there, the post title comes from a They Might Be Giants song.]