Post-Thanksgiving

After a wonderful, revitalizing Thanksgiving Break, it was back to work. And work I did: Writing tweets, drawing up site maps, making handouts and doing some research for a new project. On Friday, I did a little more monkey work (and I'll have some more of that for Monday). Normally I'm opposed to monkey work, but it's nice for a Friday.

I've met a bit of a struggle this week... The classic Mac v. PC scenario re-emerged. Being design-conscious, I greatly prefer to work in an OSX environment, but the rest of my colleagues are trapped in Microsoft Office. Needless to say, I use iWork (but not only because it's more beautiful). Anyway, I've been hitting a few speed bumps in converting between filetypes—you know, the kind that aren't supposed to happen—so that was a bit stressful. It's one of those things that isn't too big a deal, though, and once I realized that, it was all better.

Another thing that irked me this week was when Sarah said we should consult the creative people for their expertise in some design concept or other. I resented that, although I tried not to show it. I know that my role within LC is not creative—I'm a strategist and planner—but I know that I'm design-savvy and capable of doing the simple things we had been discussing. With my eyes closed. Why should I go bother someone, asking them questions I already know the answers to and begging them to do some work that I could do in the time it'd take to explain what I had in mind? This is still not resolved—just sidestepped for the moment. I know I need to respect my role here, but I want to show everyone that I am capable of doing more than my job description (which, incidentally, is semi-nonexistent) dictates.

The last thing of note: Paul sat down and had a talk with me about Poland. "Do it. Don't even think twice about it... And don't think for a second it'd jeopardize your chances here," he told me. That was a comfort. One of the biggest mental battles I was fighting was regarding whether I'd stir up dirt with Laughlin by leaving (although I think I knew deep down that it'd be okay). "Wow, if I were in your shoes, I'd go in a heartbeat. Actually, I'm really jealous." That made me feel better.

I'm still partially unsure about going to Poland next semester... I'm mailing in my documents on Monday. For now, I think I'm going unless some unjumpable hurdle comes up, but it's still not 100-percent confirmed.