Also regarding work: This week I spent 50 hours (including driving time) in a VMware VI3 Fast Track course.  “Fast Track” is a euphemism for “two four-day classes crammed into five days because your employers are too cheap to let you train for two weeks”.  The material and pace were brutal.  My familiarity with the product began in September when I went to VMworld, and I had no hands-on experience.  Thank God I was already familiar with Linux, or else I’d have really been screwed.  As it was, the storage modules cramped my brain.  I don’t do storage.  This was all for my new contract where I’m supposed to be a virtualization strategist, which means that I won’t have to actually install and administer the stuff, thankfully.  Still, I’m strongly contemplating taking the exam for VCP since we got a voucher as part of the class.  The question is, if I pass, do I advertise it?  Not having the chance for a lot of hands-on experience, do I really want folks to think I’m an expert?  If all of this confuses you, thanks for reading the paragraph, but it’s not that important. 

As to interests: my glamour photography stuff seems to have stalled in the last month or so.  (Funny, that.)  I haven’t had much time to edit the two-hour professional shoot I did this fall, and I certainly haven’t had time to pick out 12 different shots for a calendar, let alone book more models.  (Ok, one local model really, really wanted to sit for me, but she just didn’t have what I was looking for.)  It’s looking unlikely that I’ll have a finished product by the new year.  Is January too late to sell calendars?  Does anyone want to buy a NSFW period-themed calendar?

I was supposed to have a photo shhot in Virginia Beach, but that’s gotten postponed twice, and I don’t have a new date for it.  I’m fairly bent out of shape about that.  In happier news, though, I do have a shoot lined up in late January in DC.  It’ll be good to get back behind the lens.  Of course, I can always book time at my local studio for some of the models around who want to work with me.  There are a couple who want to build portfolios, and I don’t mind building mine.  Not all of those would be glamour shoots, one wants to do a fitness/swimwear shoot, and another I think wants fashion.

I’ve been submitting entries to the current Nikon sweepstakes on-line when I remember to.  Yesterday, I looked at their list of prizes they’re giving away every week and noticed that the top prize is for a lens I already own.  D’oh!  Some of the lower prizes are for bodies that are inferior to mine, and then a few decent prime lenses.  I suppose I wouldn’t turn down a 35mm f/2 lens if it was good glass.
I haven’t had much time for racquetball lately, but I hope to fix that during the Christmas holiday.  I’m dying to get back into the court.

I wonder what I’ll get next week at VMware training?

(Oh, and Microsoft - thanks but no thanks for the Virtualization T-shirt today.  I’d be a lot more grateful if you weren’t handing out small sizes.)

- Isaiah 40:5

O DIVINE MASTER,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled
as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

AMEN.

On that topic, I found a metaphorical $20 bill in my winter coat.  When the weather gets cold, and we bring out the winter coats, it’s entertaining to find things in the pockets that we haven’t seen for eight months.  It gets even better when the things we find are money.  Sort of like that, I figured out why my paychecks got bigger last month.  We don’t get raises until the Spring, I haven’t gotten any bonuses, and I haven’t done any hazardous assignments.  Likewise, I’m not expecting any reimbursements.  The number just got bigger.  And then, I looked at the standard deductions and remembered that this happens toward the end of every year.  Sweet.

It sure does help with the holiday shopping.

And really, I’m ok with that.

Offered for your information, as the weather is getting cold.

By Kristina Duda, R.N., About.com

According to research performed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hand sanitizer is considered as effective at killing germs as washing your hands with soap and water, unless hands are visibly soiled.

The main point to remember, however, is that the alcohol content of the handrub must be at least 60 percent to be effective.

To keep yourself and your family healthy, it’s important to clean your hands, especially after you’ve used the restroom or prepared food. Vigorously washing your hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds is still a tried and true method. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be a convenient alternative, however, as you can use them on-the-go–after you have been on public transportation, touched an animal or grocery cart, etc. The CDC recommends both hand sanitizing wipes and alcohol based gels.

Be sure to use enough to cover all surfaces of your hands, including between your fingers, and rub your hands until they are dry.