Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Sleepless in the Mid-Atlantic

I went to bed completely exhausted about 9:00 PM and was in deepest slumber by 9:15---didn't even hear hubby sneak into bed after Monday night football. Now it is 1:30 and I am wide awake. Same thing happened last night! I can't quite put my finger on the reason I have been having sleep problems lately. My life is morphing so much now, that I am sure this has something to do with it. I am a grandmother for the first time, I am approaching retirement, I am building a house, I am apartment living in the city for the first time in decades...all of this is changing and challenging me. But, this restlessness occurs mostly on the week nights, so the insomnia probably relates more to job stress than anything else.

As I wrote a while back, my work program is morphing also. I spent late yesterday in a meeting with others (one pompous ass that should retire ASAP, two gung-ho young technical writers and PR types, and one career woman about my age) meeting to plan how to meld my program's public image with another new progam web-wise. We must have one consistent approach. They have the budget now, so I have to be realistic about the direction of things. But, it takes tremendous patience not to scream when they spend hours discussing the aspects of the subject area...since they are each learning about it for the first time. I know the history, I know the customers, I know the accomplishments, I know the issues. But, I have to let them try to figure out how to prioritize because I can't take my marbles and go home. I have no marbles. (Marbles being money...not brains although sometimes I think that is open for discussion as well.)

They recognize that I have decades of work in this subject area and at least five years of work with this particular department. It is just that they come with a political/policy agenda and I come with an education/research agenda. So, we have different goals and approaches. You can't really teach an old dog new tricks. You can just update their act and add it to yours.

Tomorrow I have a stupid two-day training class for three hours each in a general apsect of my subject area. I only signed up because I was making an effort to learn new tricks, but I am sure I will come from this not having learned much new. Make me wrong, please.

Feeling a little grouchy like this 'bear' in the woods.



2 comments:

  1. That is an interesting "bear." Somebody had to see that from just the right angle.

    I hope soon the job turns more toward work for you and less talk. Good luck, kid.

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  2. Kid? Thanks for the compliment. I was trying to see if this 'bear' translated the same through the lense as it did through my eyes and it looks like it did!

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.