rangersyl

Does anyone else ever wake up with a headache? Half asleep and groggy this morning, I knew it was going to be a trying day. Whether it's caused by neck pain or sinuses, or shades of both, I can never recover clarity and energy when I wake up with a headache. Even if I take something that relieves the pain, there really is no going back.

So, de-headached but groggy and irritable, I went to work and immediately stumbled into a minefield of a turf war. No one ever really comes out of a turf war looking good, so the big decision is whether or not to fix bayonets and charge. After consultations with a mentor, a peer and an employee, I decided that it was time to fix bayonets. This was a rather public battle because of the Power of the CC:

The situation was pretty ridiculous -- without going into a blow-by-blow, it was caused by someone who is so insecure in themselves that they felt compelled to assert authority over me regarding furniture color.

Seriously.

The smoke hasn't exactly cleared, but I called in an airstrike (i.e. my acting boss) so I think the matter is resolved. Time will tell how the burned bridges will pan out. Sigh.

In other news, I'm taking a photography class. I've resisted buying a super duper telephoto lens because I've told myself that I needed to really learn how to work the camera before I spend that much money on a lens. Most of my bad shots are operator error, and no point in shelling out even more money when the limiting factor is the photographer. So as part of my bargain with myself, I need to learn how to use the camera and rely less on luck and persistance.

This is a big step for me, because I've resisted enrolling in classes because I dread the inevitable 'instructor and rest of the class evaluating your photographs'. Which may sound strange because, well, I have a nice camera and take a lot of pictures, and have managed to snap a few pretty impressive shots. But it's a whole different story if you're turning in your work, so to speak.

Anyway, our first assignment was to take low-light photos using variations in ISO. After trying in vain to snap low-light photos of my cockatiel I decided that I needed to go somewhere I could line up a lot of different pictures. It was off to Disneyland yet again!

When the time came to evaluate photos, I was nervous and hid. But the instructor looked at my work and singled out my night shot of one of the Tiki Room Tikis! He liked it! Other people marvelled at my skill! Happiness in spite of groggyness!

So I passed the first test -- and even after two classes I'm learning a lot.

Not a bad day, chalk one up to perserverance.

Still don't want to look at my email tomorrow, though.