Weather and Work

Today seems like an early April day. It's a bit more blustery than I'd like to see it but the temps and rainy conditions are appropriate. The early plants that should be in bloom are. Spring is here in all of it's glory.

Though not fully recovered from my illness, I was able to get outside over the weekend and enjoy the unusually warm weather. I must say, we got a lot done considering all the problems we've had in the past two weeks. We got the mulch put around the garden where it was needed. I got all the roses out of the garden and into permanent homes in the new bed which was finally ready for them. I started pruning the roses and got most of the front ones done, the OGRs were also done. I need to fertilize these soon. Hopefully I will get outside to shape and prune the new ones I just planted and get those fertilized. I'm also hoping to get the garden tilled and the compost in it to prepare it for the summer's produce. I have onions, peas, carrots and lettuce that need to be gotten planted. The compost bins need to have the red wrigglers set aside, emptied and the old brushy stuff mulched and put back in the bins with the worms on top. By autumn, the new stuff will be ready to top dress the beds for winter. Oh, BTW, I didn't purposely put those red wigglers in the compost bin. You know what they say, "You build it, they will come." And I have tons of the wigglers in the compost bin.

Yesterday was my first day of classes for the new software we will be using at work. And we're supposed to be able to operate it with a six hour seminar. Oh, yeah, like that's going to happen easily. There are a number of coworkers on my shift who are familiar with Photoshop, including myself. Armed with this knowledge, we have a better chance of figuring out the new InDesign software we are getting. What makes matters worse, however, are the new computers, the Mac Tigers that we're also getting. The operating system is very different from the OS9s we're used to using.

It's funny. When we got the G3s and G4s about 10 years ago, everyone complained about them. Yes, they were different from the old Harris system we had been using and many of the people couldn't see the ease that these new computers and software would make job. Everyone thought I was weird when I tried to explain how these computers would work compared to the old system. Eventually, people became comfortable with them. This time, however, things seemed different. Sitting at the back of the room, as was not necessarily my want, but that I had been one of the last people in, I could hear everyone as the instructor began to talk. There were tons of questions for the tech folks as he explained the different software formats that were compatible with this new system. It didn't take long at all before people began to see how easy this new software could make the job. A lot more room for creativity. It's just going to be tough without formal training to get used to these new Tigers and the new software; to get used to feeling our way around the new system and get the work done at the same time. Right now it looks like we're all getting the new Adobe Creative Suite 2. That would be a dream come true! I used a lot of the software that is featured in this new suite as it is but to be able to tweak my own photos in a pinch and send stuff to Illustrator for adjustments would be heaven! Especially for specialty text formats that I can't do now. The computers also feature a new dashboard for our convenience. I have big plans for this dashboard!! I used the Internet a good bit for stuff we need to do the job and I'll be able to set up the dashboard to make getting these things easier.

Now, if things just fall together....