Random Thoughts from AngelGirl

Well, here it is, Friday again - made it through another week!

It's that dreaded performance review period at work - everyone including the supervisors and managers groan about having to fill out the self-evaluation form. I'm an accounting clerk in a scientific research institute - the eval form is geared more toward the scientific staff. My work is very repetitive, a continuous cycle rather than specific projects with a beginning and ending - like that old cliche about painting the Golden Gate Bridge, we start at one end and before we reach the far end, the starting point needs painting again. It's really difficult to come up with specific achievements to put on the form, which is what they ask for. It's the same way for me when compiling my resume - all the job search advice is to highlight specific achievements - but that's hard to do when the nature of the job requires you to be a cog in the machinery!

It doesn't help that I'm an introvert with a hypersensitive nervous system who does NOT thrive in a cube farm, with people rushing past my cubicle all day long, and being forced to listen to half a dozen different conversations going on around me at the same time. It's really hard to tune out all these distractions and concentrate on the drudge work, especially since I am not a numbers person by nature and after many years in the accounting field, am getting burned out from lack of mental stimulation. Doing the same thing, day in and day out, gets very old after all these years. I can't just let my mind wander to more interesting things while I'm doing all this data entry, because accuracy is so important. So I try to take a "brain break" every hour or so, and sneak in a quiz or two on FT! I just wish I could find something to do that pays enough to live on while at the same time lets me be myself a bit more.

Well, enough griping...it's the weekend!

Well, here it is, Monday again...back to the grindstone after a weekend spent doing not much of anything. It was kind of nice to be able to sleep in and let my internal clock reset after last week's time change. I hate the twice yearly "resets" from daylight savings time - it really messes up my circadian rhythm especially in the fall! I find it hard enough to adjust to gradually shorter days, and then all of a sudden it's pitch dark at 5pm, making it feel like the middle of the night when I leave work.

After months of virtually no social life, the past few weekends have been pretty full, between family birthdays, a cousin's wedding, a friend's baby shower, an aunt visiting for the wedding of her nephew (no relation to me), a very quick visit with one of my lifelong best friends who was in town on business...wish I'd had more time to spend with my aunt, who had been staying with my mother 4 miles from my place, but there were so many "family of bride & groom" activities that her evenings were filled to bursting! Did get to see her the evening she arrived, and the Saturday morning before she & my mother went to the wedding. The dinner with my friend was great also...we see each other so rarely, and don't manage to call/write/e-mail as often as either of us would like, but when we do connect it's like there was no gap at all. I just really miss having a friend in the neighborhood to just "hang out" with...where I live, friendships tend to be "situational" -  you have your group of friends at work, at church, in various activities, but whom you generally see only in that particular setting, and only in groups. Don't get me wrong, the groups are great, but for an introvert like me it's hard  to deal with groups ALL the time, and to make that one-on-one connection.

I'm glad I've found FT - even though we're not hanging out in person, through your blogs and Forum posts, I feel I'm getting to know a lot of you! FunTrivia ROCKS - lots of cool people here, and mental stimulation that I don't get from work.

Well, that's all for now!

Hi everybody! I finally got around to setting up my own blog after several months of "lurking". I really enjoy reading your blogs/forum postings/chat postings - it's cool to get to know people from all around the world, and get so many different viewpoints!

I've been a trivia buff all my life - in elementary school was the weird little kid who read the dictionary and encyclopedia for fun (actually I still do) - so it's great to find a site where I can connect with others who enjoy trivia too. FT is such a high-quality site, with constant improvements (thanks, Terry!) - just what I need to keep my brain stimulated when work gets too boring.

I've been playing quizzes for a while now. Who knows, I may even try creating some!