Tag: work

Wednesday August 5th, 2020

I set the alarm for 7:00am and was downstairs closer to 7:20 am. I did exercises, then rushed to be at a dentist appointment by 8:00 am. Upon returning home, I had time to stretch, clear dishes and write in my journal before clocking into work by 10:00 am.

At work, we had a “good-bye” lunch for our head of technology over Zoom. He’s really good, and my coworkers and I are all sorry to see him leave.

Yesterday, I called V, a work friend currently furloughed. (Actually I have posted pictures of her kumquats on this blog.) We discussed the departure of our supervisor. She speculated about the usual work politics issues, particularly given the current re-structuring our company is experiencing. She told me something I had no idea about, however. From an artist friend, she heard one of our business units is requiring digital artists to show up in person and work in the building. Actually, another work friend said he’d been offered a job at this business unit. He debated whether or not to take it for that reason. Moreover, she’d heard that the digital artists were given letters claiming they are “essential workers” that must be on-site. Given that our business unit is a rather large team of digital artists working from home, that’s simply not true.

According to V, the client who hired this particular unit pressured them into keeping the artists on-site for “security” reasons. Basically, they value the secrecy of their story, or the look of their characters, etc., above any risks working on-site poses to the health of artists and their families.

I don’t know what to say about the skewed values and lack of ethics at play there. From my perspective, it’s “bully” behavior. The effects house could refuse to work that way, and then the client would have to find someplace else to go. And if others are equally firm and ethical, there would be no where to go. That is one of the lessons of karate: you have to stand up to bullies. If you don’t, they’ll keep bullying.

Spider Lilies

Okay, on a less sad note, last night’s story from “Zen Flesh, Zen Bones” was a good one. An emperor convinces a Zen monk, Kakua, known for being elusive and shy, to preach at his court. The monk appears before the emperor and his court. He takes out a flute, plays a single, brief note, and disappears. All the more reason to insist we do what we can to preserve life: it is over too soon.

Monday July 6th, 2020

This is my second week of one hundred repetitions for my daily exercises.

At work, a friend had told me about a comic character called “One Punch Man,” who really does seem inspired by Masutatsu Oyama’s karate teachings. In theory, One Punch Man claims to have gotten his super powers by doing one hundred push-ups, sit-ups and squats, plus running for 10 km a day, for roughly a year and a half. That comes up if you just Google “One Punch Man,” under “how did One Punch Man get his powers?”

Here’s a link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Punch_Man

Though my requirement for push-ups is technically sixty, given that everything else is one hundred, I’m trying to get in a hundred, even if I have to do forty on my knees. If I were not doing push-ups on my fists, the requirement would be one hundred. H, who promoted to shodan last year, did do one hundred and advised me to go with doing push-ups on my fists.

I did do exercises before work and after work. That went well in the morning, though I did not leave myself enough time to do my usual ten minute write. Evening exercises were a different matter. My back-right thigh is still stinging some, so I did squats without alternating punches. I did try to work in some punches around fifty repetitions, and it just hurt. Most likely, the hip-twist I do while punching at the top of the squat is somehow messing with that sore muscle.

During my lunch break, I jogged for twenty minutes on the treadmill, with a warm-up and cool down. I am hoping that, on Wednesday, I’ll be up for jump rope intervals again, but not today.

Work is also worrying, given the lack of work at work. As I mentioned earlier, my company does visual effects for live action, which is not happening at the moment.

I was also saddened to learn on Sunday that one of my cousins unexpectedly lost her younger sister. She had the burden of informing her father and the rest of the family of their loss. These kinds of events remind us to be grateful for the family and friends we have and for our own health.

On a lighter note, one of the stories in “Zen Flesh, Zen Bones” reads like a joke. Soyen Shaku, the first Zen Master to teach in the United States, would take a nap every afternoon. This is according to his students in Japan.

One day, they asked him about it. He said, “I go to Dreamland to meet the old sages, just as Confucius did.”

One hot afternoon, the students, children at that time, also took a nap. Shaku scolded them upon finding them sleeping. The children answered, “We went to Dreamland to meet the old sages, just as Confucius did.”

“What was the message from those sages?” asked Shaku.

“We asked them if our schoolmaster came every afternoon to meet them, and they said they’d never seen any such fellow!” answered one wise child.

Monday June 8th, 2020

I did do push-ups, sit-ups and squats this morning. During my lunch hour, I called a friend and ran on the treadmill for twenty minutes. After work, I did my second set.

Mondays are my “get going again” days: Saturdays will often include karate and a walk or a run, but I do not do push-ups, sit-ups and squats unless we do them during class. On Sundays, I do try to rest, but rest, admittedly, will often include yard work, laundry, and taking out the trash.

This morning, I wrote in my journal that I was not looking forward to work. Dealing with one of the new folks in our remote office had felt weird last Thursday, and I dreaded picking up that interaction today. I thoroughly documented what I needed to do in order to solve the issue, but I also believed the problem had a straight-forward solution.

Here’s what happened: the documentation helped to bring everyone onto the same page; and the artist in the remote facility turned out to be much easier to deal with, even kind. I think he is new, and just unfamiliar with the workflow. The problem, itself, turned out to be more thorny than I’d expected. By the end of the workday, I felt like I had a working solution, however.

While writing this morning, my mind wandered back to issues we’d run into with organizing the martial arts club. I wrote, “The whole cat-herding aspect of community organizing is tiring.”

Later today, I thought of the Sisterhood at my family’s temple: they are primarily ladies above seventy, along with a couple pre-school mothers and me. Nevertheless, they hold monthly meetings, plan and cook multiple Temple holiday meals, host an annual yard sale and and often raise, during that sale and throughout the year, a good deal of money for the synagogue. Now, you might argue that, because many are retired, they have time than working, middle-aged adults and teens in school. However, they have their issues; our former president is living with a slow growing, incurable cancer. Despite this, she attends meetings regularly and does as much as any other member. The Sisterhood women often care for spouses, or grandchildren, or elderly friends. They are busy. Yet they get so much done.

They inspire me. So, our dojo community is full of smart people and none of us are over seventy or fighting cancer. We can do this.

Friday May 8th, 2020

Today I was more focused than yesterday while doing my exercises. I did do twenty extra push-ups on my knees, “chest-style,” after doing the forty “tricep” ones on the floor and twenty on the matte on my toes. I tried to imagine what it would be like to get through sixty on my fists on the floor. That’s where I need to be by August.

I also filled out two job applications on-line with two of the larger tech companies. One has a games division in Orange County, and the other has an R&D facility–for some kind of virtual reality or animation-related group in Northern California. I didn’t initially realize it was for Northern California, but given the situation with the coronavirus, I am hoping I could work from home if I am considered. Fingers crossed.

I felt optimistic. I revised a cover letter for one of them. On paper, I look good: three degrees, and I have twenty years experience. My portfolio is nice, and I’m outgoing and creative. I interview well, too.

So why do I need to try so hard to convince myself I have a chance? Granted, these places are probably long shots. I’m older than their typical candidates. My education is in literature and not computer science. Not too many women are able to stick it out in my field, let alone advance. In some ways, I’m lucky I’m still working. Whether those companies look at me or not, I just need a decent job working with nice people.

Actually, given I’m still working during this pandemic, I’m very fortunate. One of my coworker, the friend who gave me the fruit last week, texted she was given notice of hiatus. She has a week left to work. So really, I’m lucky right now. I probably have two weeks, possibly more.

My best friend from high school, Leilani, called and we talked for nearly an hour. She is taking graduate classes on-line now. Yesterday, she had a frustrating experience with her step-son. He was supposed to stay with his father and her this past weekend, but instead, he asked his mother for permission to visit his girlfriend. He basically put his mother in the situation of telling her ex and Leilani that he would not be coming over.

Leilani chastised him for disappointing his father. She worried that she was out-of-line for doing this, but the kid is eighteen years old. He wants to be treated like an adult, and legally, he is one. I told her that, by dressing him down and letting him know he’d upset them by cancelling their plans, she was treating him more like an adult. Grown-ups take responsibility for their actions, and deal with the consequences if they disappoint people. She did treat him like an adult.

Karate class tonight, seven p.m. over Zoom. I’m looking forward to it.

Thursday April 9th, 2020

The Back Log

I did push-ups, sit-ups and squats last night and this morning. The second set of thirty “chest” push-ups on the matte were hard, so I did at least the last ten on my knees. I also messed up the Japanese count. Hoping to go as low as I could, I added a couple at the end.

Sensei texted last night, asking how I was doing with exercises. I told him where I was at. He texted back that he’s been practicing the gong. I think he was both serious and kidding at once. My favorite art professor, Don Evans, did that a lot, too.

I need a shower. It’s easy to put that off or skip it when you’re not going out. I’m cooking Joey’s breakfast eggs while I write. The eggs require checking. I just cut the heat under them and covered them. We still have Indian vegetable pouches from Trader Joe’s. I took those with a bit of oil then add beaten eggs to congeal it and give it more protein. We have maybe six pouches left. We’re trying to only get food through delivery. D’s still pretty worried about exposure during the pandemic.

The governor of Arkansas was on the news, defending his choice not to require residents to shelter in place, as most of the other states have done. He says it is “recommended,” but he’s leaving the “choice” open, which means employers, like my sister’s, can ask people to go to the office. She lives in Arkansas.

In my sister’s case, her employer has asked her to go into the office. She has no health insurance and is really worried about contracting the virus. Even if, in theory, the federal government covered health issues caused by the virus, it is not clear they would cover complications, etc., not solely due to the virus. Also, if you are not able to get tested and prove the virus is behind your medical problems, then that kind of federal “help” will not help. Bankruptcy and possibly serious long-term health issues are not things my sister is willing to risk. She has told her employer she is caring for an elderly family member.

Aunt D will back her if she needs it. I hate that both my sister and my aunt have to make these kinds of horrible “choices.”