Cool Tool - Xobni

Hey folks... thanks for continuing to check in. I've got a lot to talk about, with the whole move to Cambridge and all, but I wanted to take a moment and mention a really cool tool that I saw last night. It's called Xobni (inbox backwards), and is an add-in for Outlook. It analyzes your e-mail interactions and provide a whole host of cool information. Check them out at their website.

Dark Irony

On Tuesday, my wife and I adopted a two week old parakeet. The little guy (or girl) was still too young for seed, so it needed to be fed using a syringe. As the baby nibbles away at the tip, you slowly force food out and fill the crop. My wife took care of that part while I would hold the bird.

Yesterday we attended my company picnic. As the baby still needed to be fed every four hours, we asked a friend of ours, who is very familiar with baby parakeets, to take care of him for the night. Unfortunately, things did not go as well as we hoped. Last night, the baby bird's crop became aspirated. This is not uncommon is small birds, but it is, unfortunately, fatal for the bird. We found out this morning that the bird had expired. We had only had the bird living with us for four days, but we had really come to love that bird. The way it would nap in our hands, and pace back and forth at the front of the cage to get us to take him out to be with us. The way it would go nuts when it saw the syringe and knew that it was going to get fed. We are both sad, but are grateful for the time that we had with this bird.

So, I restarted this blog with a post on unexpected loss, and then hoped to change the tone. Now, I feel that I've come full circle.

Change for the better?

As many of you know, my wife has been working at the aquarium. She is an exhibit interpreter for the temporary "Birds of the Outback" exhibit. She's really enjoyed the job, and working with the birds. It's been quite an experience. A few birds have passed away, but some babies were also born this summer. There have been good days, and bad. Occasionally a bird will get hurt, on its own, or by a careless child. Every day has been something new.

Now that the summer season is over, it's time for the birds to go home, so she's busy helping them get ready for their flight. (Apparently, these birds travel by plane.) This has been tough for her as she's really become quite attached to the birds. Many of them have names and personalities, and caring for them has created a special bond.

Last night my wife approached me and said, "I've been thinking." She wanted to know if I would be OK with bringing one of the baby parakeets into our home as a pet. I wasn't quite sure, but I quickly said OK. She make plans to pick up a cage the next morning.

When I got home tonight, there was a tell-tale chirping coming from the living room. Our new pet was here, and my wife wanted to introduce me. I have to admit it... the bird is a cutie, and I'm pretty excited. I'll be interested to see how this works out.

Dealing with change

This past year has been dynamic. In June of 2006 it was announced that the site that I work in would be closing. Just shy of celebrating my fourteenth year with this company, I found myself without the firm foundation that I had found so comfortable. Change had come, and had come fast. But that's not the piece I want to talk about today.

Last night I received a phone call. It was the Plant Manager. She wanted to know if I could come back into work. Without hesitation, I agreed. She then broke the bad news to me: one of our colleagues had died.

My role, as the IT manager, was to open up his accounts and try to obtain information about a next of kin. This only took minutes, and we were able to give his sister a call. I went home to get some dinner and relax.

So, I started this rant wanting to talk about change. Over the past year, I have dealt with reorganizing and restaffing my team, interviewing for new jobs, and decommissioning systems. It's been emotionally difficult and stressful. Last night, I dealt with the loss of a coworker and friend. Suddenly, I feel like I have perspective. My job has been tough, but what this colleagues family is going through is tougher. It's hard to see how good you have it some times.