• About
  • scribbles
  • Tribute to Rose

Rajalary

~ The adventures of Richard and Julie Lary

Rajalary

Monthly Archives: April 2008

Goldakevtch

28 Monday Apr 2008

Posted by rajalary in Cat Diaries

≈ Leave a comment

My name is Goldakevtch. Julie named me after Golda Meir, a former prime minister of Israel, because I’m rather large with wild gray hair. Kevtch is Yiddish for crabby, which is my usual state-of-mind. Who can blame me?
 
When Julie was having her house built in Sherwood, Oregon, she saw me wandering across the weedy lot. Many months later, after her house had been built, she spotted me. Stupidly, I let her pick me up and drag me into her house. Being semi-feral, I bit, clawed, yeowled, kicked, and did everything possible to mutilate her.
 
I hated people. My previous owners allowed my fur to get matted. Underneath the mats were open sores. Julie immediately brought me to the vet to be shaved and given antibiotics.
 
Because my hair is very fine and thick, it tends to knot and mat very easily. Living in Texas made it worse. Well, I never got used to brushing. I still bite (hard) and claw whenever I see a brush. So periodically, Julie has to cut out the mats.
 
Happily, I’m back in the Pacific Northwest so I can keep my thick coat for most of the year. I need it for lounging on the deck and ocassionally venturing onto the grass to catch a bug or two.
 
 Golda looking swanky 

Where Did April Go?

28 Monday Apr 2008

Posted by rajalary in Seattle

≈ Leave a comment

I can’t believe that I haven’t written for over a month! My excuse, like everyone’s excuse, I was busy!
 
April was unusually hectic with the start of the final three months of Microsoft’s fiscal year and Rich and I throwing ourselves into finishing the flooring at our Kirkland house. First, a comment or two about my job. While I was thrilled to have been hired by Microsoft, the job description provided during the interviews bore no resemblance to the actual job. Instead of doing a three-year strategy, I’ve been doing content management for a 4,000-page website!
 
The silver lining (and it’s a huge lining) is that I work for Microsoft whose slogan is "Your potential. Our passion." Within a few months of starting on the job, I created a Powerpoint presentation that showcased how the website could be revised. This document became the starting point for the transformation of the site. I’ve seen written several other strategy documents and created numerous mock-ups of potential templates and navigation scheme.
 
In spite of my recognized strategic vision, I’m still stuck in the weeds. Not a problem. In late fall, I entered a contest and became a seed finalist for one of my ideas. This idea provided the groundwork for collaborating with an engineer. Together we wrote a Microsoft ThinkWeek paper, which a few weeks ago was reviewed by Bill Gates. Okay, he reviews about a quarter of the 400 or so papers.
 
The paper also provided an opportunity to pester the Microsoft Health Solutions Group, where I’d eventually like to work. For the past few months, I’ve been doing informational interviews with the group and feel optimistic that after I complete a year in my present job (July 2, 2008), I’ll be able to transition to a better role… possibly with the Health Solutions Group. Yeah!
 
The best news, however, is that two weeks ago, Rich finished putting bamboo flooring in our four bedrooms, hallway, living and dining rooms! That means that last weekend, we were able to bring most of our furniture down from Mount Vernon! We’re months (years) away from finishing everything we want to do, but at least, I get to unpack my collectible, lamps, pillows… pictures… and everything that’s been boxed up for nealry two years!!!!!
 
Check out the finishing of the floors:
 
Dining Room Taping the last few boards
 
 

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • November 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007

Categories

  • Cat Diaries
  • Computers and Internet
  • Coupeville
  • Entertainment
  • Family
  • Food and drink
  • Gardening
  • Health and wellness
  • Hobbies
  • Holiday
  • Home Improvement
  • Invocations
  • Microsoft
  • Motorcycle accident
  • Mount Vernon
  • Movies
  • News and politics
  • Politics
  • Puget Sound Islands
  • Rich Lary Realtor
  • Rose's Writings
  • Sailing
  • Seattle
  • Texas Life
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Rajalary
    • Join 108 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Rajalary
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar