James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

[JDurk]

When we went to Ireland we flew in the Shannon and drove across to Dublin, with stops along the way. We felt spending half the trip in Dublin was a mistake. If we go back, we will most likely fly in to Shannon and go south, and possibly one day in Dublin...

We did an overnight flight arriving in Dublin around 9am, stayed 2 nights in Temple Bar area. First day toured the walking distance spots. Took a train south to seaside town Bray the next day. Definitely need more time there outside of Dublin.

 

[Norm]

When we went to Ireland we flew in the Shannon and drove across to Dublin, with stops along the way. We felt spending half the trip in Dublin was a mistake. If we go back, we will most likely fly in to Shannon and go south, and possibly one day in Dublin...

Why was it a mistake?

 

[Cole]

Why was it a mistake?

Maybe we went to see the wrong things. We Saw Trinnity, Kilmainham Gaol, and other things. I just think there was more scenic things to see in other areas. Too many days in a city for me I guess.

 

[stb222]

Highly recommend Dublin. We weren't there long enough since we were on a tour around the UK that included Edinburgh, London, Liverpool and the Lake District of Cumbria.

We've talked about going back to just tour Ireland or Scotland.

Iceland has been on our radar too.

Yes with only two people it can be relatively inexpensive.

I get the big city tour thing as it has a must see aspect. I will say that the midsize and small towns are a significantly different experience and some of the places you can get to by car only are pretty damn crazy they exist. Like this castle people still live in.

 

[Norm]

Like this castle people still live in.

The entire town of Segovia is like this. You're sitting in a town that was built 1000 or more years ago, and people still live in it. Has it been fixed up over the years? Sure. But people still live in structures that are 4-5 times older than our entire country.

The town of Segovia was still using the Roman aqueduct into the 70s.

Your general point is valid. If you go to Paris, like you can't skip the Eiffel Tower, as an example. But there are a lot of non-Paris things to do in France. We met some locals in Madrid on our last night at dinner who told us a bunch of non-touristy places to go. She showed us pictures of the town she lives in, Toro. It's really a totally different world in some of these places.

 

[JDurk]

Yes with only two people it can be relatively inexpensive.

I get the big city tour thing as it has a must see aspect. I will say that the midsize and small towns are a significantly different experience and some of the places you can get to by car only are pretty damn crazy they exist. Like this castle people still live in.
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All things considered, we did pretty well booking everything ourselves. Only time we used a car was the leg from London to Liverpool to the Lake District then Manchester airport. I didn't drive at all, left that to the 3rd wheel on the trip. I hadn't driven a manual shift car in a long time, let alone driving on the right in the opposite lane. We barely made it out of London leaving the rental place when he almost had a head-on with a garbage truck.

 

[rjr44]

When we went to Ireland we flew in the Shannon and drove across to Dublin, with stops along the way. We felt spending half the trip in Dublin was a mistake. If we go back, we will most likely fly in to Shannon and go south, and possibly one day in Dublin...

Concur. Have done Ireland twice.

First time into Shannon then South, east, north into Dublin.

Second time from Shannon north, east, ultimately Belfast, then south into Dublin.

Both times 3 days in Dublin is plenty.

 

[rjr44]

The entire town of Segovia is like this. You're sitting in a town that was built 1000 or more years ago, and people still live in it. Has it been fixed up over the years? Sure. But people still live in structures that are 4-5 times older than our entire country.

The town of Segovia was still using the Roman aqueduct into the 70s.

Your general point is valid. If you go to Paris, like you can't skip the Eiffel Tower, as an example. But there are a lot of non-Paris things to do in France. We met some locals in Madrid on our last night at dinner who told us a bunch of non-touristy places to go. She showed us pictures of the town she lives in, Toro. It's really a totally different world in some of these places.

When we did Spain it was Madrid, Sevilla, Malaga. We hit some smaller villages in between and those were the highlights. Particularly Ronda and Jerez.

And funny enough, Gibraltar was cool. To go from Spain, to England, back to Spain was a neat experience, and I mean architecturally, culturally, etc. not the odd border hop. And the monkeys at the top of the rock, watch your valuables!

 

[Norm]

Focus on London

This is what I do on conference calls - some conference calls. Before you get too excited let's set the record straight. This is a paint by numbers kit that I bought online. In no reality do I have this level of talent. I merely take my time when painting this so it doesn't look too bad. I'm sure someone with a more steady hand would do a better job. I do my best.

This is the 3rd city I have painted, after Rome & Paris. I didn't intentionally paint the first 2. They just came with whatever kits D bought and I happened to grab those 2 from the packs we got. Then I decided to paint all the European cities I've been to, in the order I've been to them. So I ordered a Brussels, an Amsterdam, a Barcelona, and a Madrid. I also ordered a Taipei as this is the other non-North American city I've been to but that can be a someday add-on. Technically I've also been to Dublin & Zurich but those were for layovers so they don't count.

Anyway, I do this because it helps me focus. I've found that when I'm on conference calls I get bored because most people are extraordinarily long-winded. And when that happens, I tend to do other things on the computer, like check MTBNJ and so on. Doing this helps keep me occupied but also allows me to focus on what those people are saying. I have a table directly behind my desk so when I need to look at the screen, I just spin the chair around and look.

Does this make sense to anyone else? Do those of you on calls all day have issues paying attention to what people say at times? Or is this just me? I do not classify myself as having attention issues. I think I'm just old and at a point where you can say, "I am cold," as opposed to, "So I woke up this morning and it was 34 degrees out, and..." then goes on for 3 minutes just to say they were cold.

Anyway, London.

 

[Red Mosquito]

Does this make sense to anyone else? Do those of you on calls all day have issues paying attention to what people say at times? Or is this just me? I do not classify myself as having attention issues. I think I'm just old and at a point where you can say, "I am cold," as opposed to, "So I woke up this morning and it was 34 degrees out, and..." then goes on for 3 minutes just to say they were cold.

Yes. And some days I just cut them off and finish the sentence, because I have actual shit to do. I guess you can say I think I’m just old and at a point where I don’t care who thinks I’m an asshole!

 

[MissJR]

Where do you buy your paint by numbers kits?

 

[Norm]

Where do you buy your paint by numbers kits?

We started on Amazon but I am now in a Fuck Amazon phase of my life, so I only use Amazon for purchases that I have no other recourse for.

I have used all 3 of these in the somewhat recent past:

Number Artist
Craft by Numbers
FiguredArt

My suspicion is that each of the above 3 companies are all in the same warehouse in China somewhere. They all have the same ordering/automated email/tracking email script. The China companies are all slow boat so they can take a while. But I guess at this point I'd rather throw a few bucks at some peasant in China than help send Katy Perry into outer space.

Anyway, those are a few but I think there are plenty more, almost all surely in that same warehouse.

 

[Norm]

Snowbird

Latest art project below. This is the next step, and 12th sign, of the apocalypse ski hill project. I have 8 more left to round out the collection, with a projected 5 new hills coming in 2026. We have a Colorado trip planned which will be an assortment of 5 different spots out there. We have the dates set but I forget what they are. Anyway, this is the next-to-last of the Rockies spots, with only Snowbasin to go. I've left these 2 to the end because I didn't have especially good days when I was out there. So they get let into the club later than the fun places. That was also my first trip out west so I was still pretty green. I should be able to give all those hills a 2nd chance in 2027.

These signs used to take me a few days to do, but now this is a day project even working very casually. I've learned enough not to make too many mistakes when painting the first pass so the touch up takes much less time. This was supposed to get me to the next city scene, which is Brussels. However, that one is still in transit from that pesky warehouse in China. Allegedly it's supposed to arrive between this Friday and next Friday.

I found a model car, a '57 Chevy Bel Air, in the cabinet this week. I may do that just to give me something to glue together. I don't know if the model car scratches the same itch. I guess we'll see. I'll need to go buy some glue for that.

My left knee isn't happy. I'm taking some time off the bike to see if it gets better. Today is day 3 and it's getting better. I may give it a week. Or not. We all know I am impatient.

 

[Cole]

My left knee isn't happy. go buy some glue for that.

 

[Carson]

 

[Norm]

A New (York City) Beginning

Today I did something I haven't done in a while, which is to wake up dreadfully early and make my way into NYC. As it turns out, there was a NYC expansion dropped into the Zwift world yesterday, which I rode. I thought it was a great addition and look forward to riding more of the new roads. Today I didn't ride in the city. In fact, I didn't even work in the city. What I did was have breakfast in the city with 1 of the founders and a sales rep from the new org I'm moving to, which starts Monday. That said, I consider today my first day on the new job. My laptop came this afternoon. And I setup a few "exit" interviews for tomorrow. I've jumped off this ship and have started ascending the stairs to the next.

These guys are based in Chicago which is where I'll normally see them, more than likely less than 2 weeks from now. But they were in the city for an event yesterday, and we linked up today before they flew back to Chicagoland. It was a good breakfast.

This week has been sort of like watching water boil. It's been about the longest week of my time here. Obviously, I'm so done. But I've been going to meetings and giving my opinion and pretty much repeatedly been reminded why I'm leaving. I told a coworker today that over and over it strikes me this week that I clearly made the right decision to leave. They're trying to follow me out the door, by the way.

I'm also somewhat irritated with the fact that this org is so dreadfully dysfunctional. I know I shouldn't care; this is soon-to-be history to me and if I'm being honest, I'll check out of this place and won't have super positive memories of the overall, even if I did make a few friendships along the way. I tried, was ignored, and left when it made sense. Live and learn.

I was back home by lunch, which gives you an idea how quick the trip was, and how early I woke up. On the way out I saw this bodega. Some of you may remember this from the cross days. I did not stop to have one, however.

 

[iman29]

A New (York City) Beginning

Today I did something I haven't done in a while, which is to wake up dreadfully early and make my way into NYC. As it turns out, there was a NYC expansion dropped into the Zwift world yesterday, which I rode. I thought it was a great addition and look forward to riding more of the new roads. Today I didn't ride in the city. In fact, I didn't even work in the city. What I did was have breakfast in the city with 1 of the founders and a sales rep from the new org I'm moving to, which starts Monday. That said, I consider today my first day on the new job. My laptop came this afternoon. And I setup a few "exit" interviews for tomorrow. I've jumped off this ship and have started ascending the stairs to the next.

These guys are based in Chicago which is where I'll normally see them, more than likely less than 2 weeks from now. But they were in the city for an event yesterday, and we linked up today before they flew back to Chicagoland. It was a good breakfast.

This week has been sort of like watching water boil. It's been about the longest week of my time here. Obviously, I'm so done. But I've been going to meetings and giving my opinion and pretty much repeatedly been reminded why I'm leaving. I told a coworker today that over and over it strikes me this week that I clearly made the right decision to leave. They're trying to follow me out the door, by the way.

I'm also somewhat irritated with the fact that this org is so dreadfully dysfunctional. I know I shouldn't care; this is soon-to-be history to me and if I'm being honest, I'll check out of this place and won't have super positive memories of the overall, even if I did make a few friendships along the way. I tried, was ignored, and left when it made sense. Live and learn.

I was back home by lunch, which gives you an idea how quick the trip was, and how early I woke up. On the way out I saw this bodega. Some of you may remember this from the cross days. I did not stop to have one, however.

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From Sept 2022-Aug 2023 I spent 13 months at one of the most dysfunctional places I have ever worked. The clue should have been the 29 hour escalation call I was on on my 3rd day of working there. I took it in stride as part of the job being in IT Operations until I found out this issue was something they have been having over and over again for the previous year. And yes I found the root cause and they fixed it.

Over the next 6 months I realized I was the only one who GAF and decided I had enough and left for the current job.

Best decision I made for many of the same reasons you posted. I was hired for my experience. I highlighted all the gaps and made proposals for how to fix them. Deaf ears.

Good luck in the new place hope it works out better.