Took Three Days to Catch Up Here
Good morning. Just me. We’ve got only about 15 minutes before work, so this is going to be pretty short. We had a couple of surprises in that both Macadam and Jacob ended up calling before the end of the night. In each situation I had gone to bed, but was happy to wake up for the call.
Macadam had his last official day at work on Friday, he had spent the weekend with his other relatives celebrating the day, and was optimistic about looking for a new job. He said he would like to work in the same field, but he was considering sales and management. I was pleased that he was going to get out there right away. It seemed that he had created a plan for himself that even included a couple of job fairs this week. I think he was ready for the change, but felt he was going to sorely miss his friends. He said he had had good friends when he worked for UPS and he lost them. We’re hoping the best for him. He also talked about that he refinanced his house so he would not have any debt. I think his house payments are like $150 a month more, but he isn’t paying out on other things like credit cards and car. I will always worry about him with credit cards, because he seems to run them high and then needs to scramble to pay them. Probably a lot of people do this and I had at one time as well. But one bankruptcy will wean you off of that. It was 9 years ago now, and it still makes me shudder … NO CARDS!
Jacob had officially finished his school this year. He thinks he did pretty good. There was definitely a crunch period where he had papers and tests, but he maintains a pretty cool head. He had a female friend, he was a little worried about because I think she went kind ballistic. I know he would have tried to calm her, but he isn’t the type to take over other peoples problems. I think he felt bad for her though. He talked quite a bit about how we saved him with the library resources from our University. He was sooo amazed and it came at a time it really counted. We gave him back the credit for opening his mind to the possibility. He confirmed that we were going to maintain the service next fall. He thought he really might want to use it again. He also allowed us the time to show him a few things of what we’d been doing. And, that made me feel terrific. He’s such a good kid. He will be staying with his father a couple weeks from what I understand then going back to school to work there over the summer. I liked that plan a lot, though I know there won’t be much money involved. It at least establishes him in his own place and I think he really needs that right now. And, he said he was going to Texas next week for his cousin’s graduation from high school. He will be going with his Grandmother. I was very glad to hear that she had considered him in her plans. Jacob was on a plane once at 1 ½ years old, but hasn’t been on one since. I think he’s going to like it and I know he’ll be good company for her.
Well, that’s about it … hopefully, we’ll be back to the other computer soon … feeling a little shaky, but more brave than not. I think we can do this. And, I do like the morning drive.
Work
Good morning again. We’re here.
We need to be very productive today, because our boss is already reminding us of what has to get done. Basically, nothing can come in the way between finishing what we need to work on with the Tech part. I’m not sure where we left off last time, but I have things here at the desk that apparently we’d been working on. So, we’re going to take a look at that first.
YAYYYYY!!!! Someone did the work thing ALLLLLLLLL day long and is now home! YAYYYYYY!!!! We did good work today. We stayed with the technology report all day. J It started as another companies structure that was 87 pages long. We’re a much smaller company … So far, I’ve shrunk it down to 33 pages, but that was a lot of going through things to get that far. Officially, we’re on page 21, so about 2/3rds, but we’ve got mostly just reading and editing this last part is their suggestions, which we’ll sift through tomorrow. Another good day like this and we should finish it tomorrow.
Oh dear … we’re not getting too far here are we? Good morning! We’ve only got about 5 minutes before we head out. We got stuck with thoughts on work and the tech plan last night, so didn’t go to bed until about 9 pm, then we woke up late at 6 am. Wow! 9 hours??! Yeeks. We were then messing around with an idea we’re going through about getting a memory stick for the center. I think they’re also called mini-flash drives. It might be that it’s a whole lot easier to get DVD’s … we’re trying to figure out how to best back up the data at the center. We have a memory stick that came with our Dell, but it is only 64 MB. I think you can get them now days up to 16 GB. The idea would be weekly to save data from the Administrative team and the secretary to one stick. But, I need to work through before going through that much expense. Hmm looking now … Maybe if we capped the budget to around the $100 mark. We can cat an ACP EP for 4 GB at a cost of $109. Just have to figure out now how it all works. Fairly sure that a DVD isn’t going to take that much memory.
We better get going though …
Hmm. We don’t seem to be doing very well in posting. I believe this is my third morning on the same post. Then too, we added a little yesterday at work, but forgot to navigate it back to the right computer. Maybe today is the lucky charm. We’re up earlier than later and that should help.
We had a little difficulty yesterday in that we spent almost the entire day working through the issue of backing up the computers. I don’t worry about the home computer, because anything of relevance has been posted on line. We ended up with a USB flash drive that is 8 GB.
The Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Mini Flash Drive is a versatile storage solution compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems. High 8GB storage capacity and total portability.
EP Memory Mini Flash DriveThe Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Mini Flash Drive is a versatile storage solution and is compatible for both Windows and Mac operating systems! Great for storing and transferring your MP3's, digital photos, games, Microsoft(R) Excel, Word, PowerPoint(R) presentations or any personal files from your computer.
The USB 2.0 interface is blazing fast with speeds up to 40 times faster than USB 1.1 and storage capacities are available up to 8GB (gigabyte).
USB 2.0 High Speed Interface (USB 1.1 Compatible)
True Plug-and-Play connection for hot swap function (Driver required for Windows 98/98SE)
Compatible with Windows 98/98SE/Me/2000/XP, Mac OS 9.0 or later
LED indicates when drive is in use
Includes neck strap
UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface), OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface)
Integrated USB Transceiver Dynamic feedback control, stable slew rate, independent external loading
Supported Operating Systems: Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Mac OS 9.0 and Higher, Windows 98 (SE) (Driver Required)
LED in Flashing Mode: Device is Connected and Inactive
Data Retention: 10 Years (normal operation)
Data Transfer Rate: 480 Mbit per second
Read/Write Operation: 1,000,000 Times (normal operation)
Reading Speed: 23MB Per Second Maximum for Dual Channel
Writing Speed: 20.0 MB Per Second Maximum
Software Installation: None - USB Plug and Play Technology
In real life it is about the size of a cigarette lighter and weighing in at .3 oz. This one holds the equivalency of about 2 DVD’s, which is actually pretty substantial. I looked at my documents from work yesterday and after a lot of typing over the course of three years, we’ve used 1.2 GB with our “my documents.” I don’t believe the other Q, secretary or Sr. uses that much room, especially because at this point I have the oldest computer. BUT, I didn’t want to worry that in a year or two I’d be out of space. I loved this one other that I was going to order from Canada, because it also saved applications, but in the end it wasn’t big enough at 2 GBs. I have an updated copy of my work files at home and that uses up 2.18 GB with 7,019 files and 208 folders. AND, don’t get anything at COMP USA. They cost slight double the price I got it for … YEESH! In general you can get these devises for as little as 64 MB, but at that price it’s like giving them away, because you can get 128 MB for $12-15. The baby ones companies give away for promotional, which is great, because it allows people to figure out how cool they are. It runs like $27-30 per GB. I think that a GB is 1,000 MB. And, they come in TONS of models and shapes. I did not do much research on memory cards, because I wanted the ease of plugging into a USB. I liked this particular one, because you did not have to utilize any software to use it and it looks sharp. I also liked that it came with a neck strap. Hehehe We don’t have any jewelry. That’s really convenient if you are traveling or are away from your desk, because it can plug into anyone’s computer. I was also looking at the less expensive Sony micro vault at 8 GB. It was promoting that the USB could swivel at 180 degrees, but I was afraid because it only tucked into itself that it would pick up dirt or “stuff” and that the swivel would eventually tire and give out.
I know that I have to be careful, because my mind is getting stuck into things and I’m having trouble getting out of it. It was the same last night … our friend was over and as we lay in bed we were still going over the purchase, and then later after he left, we checked the email before going to bed and Macadam had sent a resume to check. He did a great job on it and we made a few small improvements, but it was hard to put down. We kept in our editing mode for quite a bit, just like we are going over now the purchase. I’m not sure if we should have, but also while we were out getting memory for work back-up, we got a memory card or whatever they call it for our camera. I would really love to be able to use it for the trip and beyond. I have loved so much using the web cam and it has encouraged me on forward. I got a 1 GB card where before I only had the one that came with the camera at 12 or 16 MB. That was terrible! Now, the other big deal is that we’re going to need locating the directions that came with the camera. I haven’t loaded pictures from camera to computer before. I would REALLY like to be able to take pictures. Again it is more like me stepping further away from the computer. Of course, we’d still be rushing back to it, but it would be cool. Hmm, we’re also going to need figuring out batteries. I think that part confused us too. Hmm, I wonder if TJ would be able to help here? Maybe we’ll have to ask her to baby-step it with us. Pretty sure we ordered the right card this time.
Hmm, V’s signed on, but he seems preoccupied for the moment. We’re going to have the new Q assistant on the job for the next two days YAYYYYYYYYY!!! She’s been doing nothing but Qnotes for the other Q for the last two days, so we’re going to break up that pattern. We’re brining in three programs today. We are going to install on her computer the Lotus Organizer, Paper Tiger, and Snag-it. I hope they all load ok. Never sure how many times a company will let you d/l. BUT, I’d like her to use all three. I know she has enough space on her laptop, because I have all three on our laptop. Never quite sure on the smaller machines.
I know that I’m going to want her to be learning the programs today and scheduling out the list of things I would like for her to accomplish in an average week. I want her to get a feeling that she has some control over the week and can work independently. The Paper Tiger is because I’m going to want her to adding clients from the file to it. And, the Paper tiger is so that we can send back and forth things through the email. I would prefer that she had the same AOL to make things more parallel, but I don’t know if she wants to budget money toward it … it would have to be on her own. I think though she could get it for the $16 price and I know she has had to let go of the email she’s used to using from school. I guess that is really no big deal. I’d like also to get her started on Annual reports. BUT, I think she is going to be gone all next week, so I might want to wait and start her the first of June. The first staffing isn’t until July, but she’ll want to be making out a schedule. Hmm, I should write to the parents too and let them know that she’ll be working with me, so they are not surprised to get contacts from her. Maybe we’ll come up with a correspondence that includes both our signatures. That will help the parents adjust.
Ok … so. Maybe we are going to need spending a little time on her learning what she has to do with each of the assignments before she attempts to schedule them. Looking over her schedule now. I believe she said that she’s pretty caught up with the Qnotes. We will confirm that today. I will also have to check which day she’ll be working with the other Q, since we are going to need her available for Tuesday meetings. Hmm, shoot or was that Wednesday meetings. Darn forget. Maybe have to check with the other Q and see … she’ll remember. Maybe it was Wednesdays we were trying to schedule the meetings. I think Group 3 switched cooking over to Tuesdays so they could get out on their outing on Wednesdays when they had the extra staff. She doesn’t have that extra staff now, but I think she kept Tuesdays for cooking. That schedule sometimes conflicts because both are done in the staff dining room. Looking at the schedule now … I think she’s pretty heavily been scheduled into the Annual process. It includes a set of three reports, one from the Qnotes and possibly the chrononotes, the ICAP development of client goals, some client observations, and reviewing the case files. I think in order that goes.
Review case file – send request letters and confirmation of meeting – 4 hours
Report #1 – Annual agenda and review from Qnotes and chrononotes – 1.5 hour
Report #2 – Update from previous year – 1 hour
Observation (2) half hour each – 3 hours
ICAP – 1 hour
Review Performance Analysis – 1 hour
Develop client goals with the client - .50
Develop client goals with the DSP – 1.5
Gather appropriate paperwork for meeting - .50
Annual meeting – 1.0
Report #3 Annual report – 1.0
Report #4 Goals and Objectives .50
Qnotes – 3
Q Chrononotes – 2
Goal Work 3.5
Reading Families – 3
Staff training 1
Teacher Skill Training 1
Organizing 2
Ok, I think that works out. So basically
Day #1 - Monday
8-8:30 Organize .50
8:30-9:00 Q Chrononotes .50
9:00-11:30, 12:00-12:30 Q notes – 3
12:30-4:30 Case review - 4
Day #2 - Wednesday
8:00-8:30 Organize .50
8:30-10:00 Report #1 Annual Agenda and review 1.5
10:00-11:00 Annual Meeting 1.0
11:00-11:30 Q Chrononotes .50
12:00-1:30 Observation 1.5
1:30-2:00 Report #2 Update from previous year .50
2:00-3:00 ICAP 1.0
3:00-3:30 Complete Report #2 Update from previous year .50
3:30-4:30 Teacher Skill Training 1
Day #3 – Thursday
8:00-8:15, 8:45-9:00 Organize .5
8:15-8:45, 9:30-11:30, 12:00-1:00 Goal Work 3.5
9:00-9:30 Q Chrononotes .50
1:00-2:00 Staff training 1
2:00-3:00 Review Performance Analysis 1.0
3:00-4:30 Reading Families 1.5
Day #4 - Friday
8:00-8:30 Organize .50
8:30-9:00 Q Chrononotes .50
9:00-10:00 Report #3 Annual report – 1.0
10:00-11:30 Observation 1.5
12:00-12:30 Develop client goals with client .50
12:30-1:00 Gather appropriate paperwork .50
1:00-1:30 Report #4 Goals and Objectives .50
1:30-3:00 Develop client goals with DSP 1.5
3:00-4:30 Reading families – 1.5
Pshwoo … that was tough … I think it will all work out fine, but I didn’t allow her to schedule as I had figured I might. Probably better though, because she didn’t know the proper order, or conflicting schedules … like when to work with clients and DSPs. I think we’ve covered all the basics. I will need to figure out today which days I have available from now until she starts full time July. I think I have her for 6 or 7 days and she starts Monday July 3rd, she’ll have off July 4th, and begin again July 5th. That means the other Q does not get her that first week, but then I’ve missed a day too. We’ll try to schedule her first staffing for July 5th. That means we really need to start preparing for the first one now.
Hmm. Ok. Let’s see if we can get this one posted … Catch you later at work!
posted by Ann Marie @ 5/17/2006 06:49:00 AM
Comments: 2
