"Endurance is one thing. Endurance with productivity is even better." -Maya Angelou
Update: I finished Chapter 6 yesterday... which means I'm done, and just in time for the long weekend. Thanks to everyone for the cheering. :) Of course, now this just means I have to start working on another conference submission due 6/15 - and I'm sure I'll have some dissertation edits - but it still feels good. I hope everyone has a great long weekend!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
I got the cart before the horse...
... but the University of Arizona let me walk on Saturday with the May graduates instead of waiting until next year. Officially, I will graduate in August, but whatever. I'm close enough. (I'll finish writing this week or next and defend on June 27.) My mom and Jonathan were kind enough to fly down for my University commencement, but they had to race home to watch my little brother kick some butt in the Utah state championship lacrosse game.
This is a picture of me and my super cool advisor Suzie Weisband. Someday, I'll be half as smart and half as cool as she is. No, really. She's brilliant, wears great clothes, has the best accessories, and has Cake for her ringtone. Oh, and she's a competitive weight lifter and runs marathons for fun so she's always in shape. (Of course I'm a little jealous. I can't finish my dissertation without treats and she churns out amazing research while still looking great.) If any of you want to see the other pictures from graduation, Xavier has been kind enough to post them online here.
For those of you counting (me): I finished Chapter 3 (because I was a slacker and didn't want to do it last week) and updated Chapter 1. This puts me at 92% completion, with 141 pages written and about 12 to go. You hear that? That's me cheering. And that? My car starting - I'm going to ColdStone.
5/21 Update: I just completed Chapter 9, which means I've finished 147/154 pages. (Note: the total page numbers keep changing because they reflect the change from an estimated chapter length to an actual chapter length.) Yeah, that's 95%. And the last chapter is easy enough I can even finish it when I'm in Vegas this weekend. I was too lazy to drive to ColdStone last night (so sad, I know), but I'm definitely indulging tonight.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Today's 'Office Space' moment at work...
For those that don't know, my work life is a lot like Peter Gibbons' in the movie 'Office Space.' If you haven't seen Office Space, I encourage you to do so immediately and then you can feel bad for me properly when you are done reading this post.
In a nutshell, my job is disk hardware test, a fancy way of saying that I follow other people's directions on how to break some expensive, refrigerator-sized machines and then watch them (hopefully) recover gracefully in much the same way a customer would should they experience some sort of problem. In general, these problems stem from some defective code that controls the various bits and parts that make up our wonderful product.
Invariably, at least once a week I'd say, some part of the aforementioned code will break something stupid and the project managers will freak out and "rally the troops" to make sure that whatever magic fixes our Development peers have come up with actually solved the problem. Usually this freak out occurs on a Friday, well into the afternoon when everyone is either one, gone for the weekend; or two, mentally gone for the weekend. Today was no exception.
As if orchestrated by Loki himself, on this particular Friday afternoon, my team leader is out of town visiting family. She is the person who usually gets to bear the brunt of our project manager's communiques and then directs us loyal subjects to fulfill whatever requirements are necessary to shut them up. This means that when today's Test Team freak out bomb went off, there was no one there to keep us drones in line and yes, all hell broke loose.
So there I was today, out in the lab minding my own business putting one of my poor machines through a particularly nasty test scenario. I was out in our raised floor computer lab, staring at three windows of data trying to figure out exactly which four of the 128 hard drives in the machine I need to yank out to meet the scenario's requirements.
Right when I find out what I need to know, the company IM system flashes with a message from one of my test team peers asking me if I'm in the office today and if I'd seen the email we've all received from one of our esteemed project managers. Before I can answer her, another IM goes off from another one of my co-workers asking me the exact same thing. The best part is that both of them are working remotely today from their respective homes and neither of them have the capability to actually execute the test that our project manager wants us to do from where they are. I tell them both that I'm busy doing a test and that I will take a look at the note and handle it, hoping that they will just shut up at this point and leave me alone to finish doing what I'm doing.
Out of sheer curiosity, I take a quick look at the email and see that it's a rather simple test and that I can execute it on one of my other machines and get another guy (who's actually in the office) to do it on his machine and make the issue go away. I tell them both that I've got the situation under control but apparently that's not adequate as one of them starts to tell me that they will drive into the office and do it while the other one asks me if I want to run the test on their machine for them and let them monitor it from their location. I smile with amusement as both of them tell me (in separate chats) that they are trying to contact that other guy that's here at the office today and bother him about the email. I figured that by the time they figure out how to get us all chatting I can finish my test scenario and then go take care of the situation.
However, at that exact moment -- as if scripted -- our collective manager IM's me and asks, "can you sum up what the plan is for the latest bundle that was release to the team, not sure if you saw [the email] yet..."
*facepalm*
Thankfully, I've been a team leader in a past life and know exactly how to shut a manager up by replying with, "I'll get back to you, Teena, and Jason who have all asked for the same thing when I'm done in the lab." It scared me a little that that was so easy to take care of him, but then again, he knows that I'm not a complete idiot.
Five minutes later, I finish my work in the lab, go over to my co-worker's office and take another ten whole minutes to figure out how to get the tests done, who will run them where, and let everyone know that I'll handle the coordination and communication to the project managers and managers. I tell everyone to stay where they are, ask them not to send out more emails, and assure them that everything is under control. Once that was over, I send just the one email out to the group telling them our team has our machines running the tests and that I'll update everyone when we have some results. I walk over to my office, put my computer down, and head back to the lab to get the DVDs we need to do the tests and get started...
By the time I get back to my office I've got another IM, this time from the project manager: "Hi Xavier.... since [my team leader] is out... could you send out the status email on the Transfromations [sic] at the end of the day ?"
*sigh* Dammit.
Next time Nicole asks why I haven't gotten out of bed on a work day morning, I just going to tell her, "I think I'm just not gonna go."
In a nutshell, my job is disk hardware test, a fancy way of saying that I follow other people's directions on how to break some expensive, refrigerator-sized machines and then watch them (hopefully) recover gracefully in much the same way a customer would should they experience some sort of problem. In general, these problems stem from some defective code that controls the various bits and parts that make up our wonderful product.
Invariably, at least once a week I'd say, some part of the aforementioned code will break something stupid and the project managers will freak out and "rally the troops" to make sure that whatever magic fixes our Development peers have come up with actually solved the problem. Usually this freak out occurs on a Friday, well into the afternoon when everyone is either one, gone for the weekend; or two, mentally gone for the weekend. Today was no exception.
As if orchestrated by Loki himself, on this particular Friday afternoon, my team leader is out of town visiting family. She is the person who usually gets to bear the brunt of our project manager's communiques and then directs us loyal subjects to fulfill whatever requirements are necessary to shut them up. This means that when today's Test Team freak out bomb went off, there was no one there to keep us drones in line and yes, all hell broke loose.
So there I was today, out in the lab minding my own business putting one of my poor machines through a particularly nasty test scenario. I was out in our raised floor computer lab, staring at three windows of data trying to figure out exactly which four of the 128 hard drives in the machine I need to yank out to meet the scenario's requirements.
Right when I find out what I need to know, the company IM system flashes with a message from one of my test team peers asking me if I'm in the office today and if I'd seen the email we've all received from one of our esteemed project managers. Before I can answer her, another IM goes off from another one of my co-workers asking me the exact same thing. The best part is that both of them are working remotely today from their respective homes and neither of them have the capability to actually execute the test that our project manager wants us to do from where they are. I tell them both that I'm busy doing a test and that I will take a look at the note and handle it, hoping that they will just shut up at this point and leave me alone to finish doing what I'm doing.
Out of sheer curiosity, I take a quick look at the email and see that it's a rather simple test and that I can execute it on one of my other machines and get another guy (who's actually in the office) to do it on his machine and make the issue go away. I tell them both that I've got the situation under control but apparently that's not adequate as one of them starts to tell me that they will drive into the office and do it while the other one asks me if I want to run the test on their machine for them and let them monitor it from their location. I smile with amusement as both of them tell me (in separate chats) that they are trying to contact that other guy that's here at the office today and bother him about the email. I figured that by the time they figure out how to get us all chatting I can finish my test scenario and then go take care of the situation.
However, at that exact moment -- as if scripted -- our collective manager IM's me and asks, "can you sum up what the plan is for the latest bundle that was release to the team, not sure if you saw [the email] yet..."
*facepalm*
Thankfully, I've been a team leader in a past life and know exactly how to shut a manager up by replying with, "I'll get back to you, Teena, and Jason who have all asked for the same thing when I'm done in the lab." It scared me a little that that was so easy to take care of him, but then again, he knows that I'm not a complete idiot.
Five minutes later, I finish my work in the lab, go over to my co-worker's office and take another ten whole minutes to figure out how to get the tests done, who will run them where, and let everyone know that I'll handle the coordination and communication to the project managers and managers. I tell everyone to stay where they are, ask them not to send out more emails, and assure them that everything is under control. Once that was over, I send just the one email out to the group telling them our team has our machines running the tests and that I'll update everyone when we have some results. I walk over to my office, put my computer down, and head back to the lab to get the DVDs we need to do the tests and get started...
By the time I get back to my office I've got another IM, this time from the project manager: "Hi Xavier.... since [my team leader] is out... could you send out the status email on the Transfromations [sic] at the end of the day ?"
*sigh* Dammit.
Next time Nicole asks why I haven't gotten out of bed on a work day morning, I just going to tell her, "I think I'm just not gonna go."
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Hide and go seek
I'm starting to feel a bit like an Internet stalker. I love connecting with old friends through their blogs... and then I decide to check up on their friends, with interesting results. More often than not, I read through a random blog and decide I don't know/care enough to read it again. Occasionally, I find long-lost friends, and a few times, I've found a blog I just love to read - even though I don't know the person. I guess that's why I like blogs so much. It has given me a great opportunity to meet new people and be reunited with friends - and I'm not limited to Tucson.
That's also the reason I've kept my blog public so far. I like stumbling into people's blogs and like it when random people stumble into mine. I try to leave a comment if I've become a regular reader and hope - okay, love it when - others leave comments on mine. True, I had a bit of a stalking problem for a couple of years, but I basically got sick of being scared all the time. (For those of you not in-the-know, I had to file two restraining orders against another U of A PhD student.) I'm sure he has found the blog, but honestly, I don't care anymore. He can read about my happy marriage and my academic progress all he wants - I doubt it's very interesting to him. And besides, as the Dean of Students once said to me, "You realize you could kick his ass, right?"
Dissertation progress update: I finished Chapter 2 yesterday. Yessssss. That leaves me Chapter 3 (working on now), half of Chapter 1, half of the chapter I decided to insert (Ch6 now), and half of Chapter 9. This brings me to 128 completed pages out of probably 155. That's 83% completion for those you counting. I know I am. With some luck, I'll finish Chapter 3 this week and 1 and 9 next week. I'll fill in Chapter 6 as I go.
Employment update: For some reason, IBM corporate has decided to take their sweet butt time with my offer paperwork. My need for a paycheck makes this frustrating, but my dissertation progress helps distract me. Hopefully I'll be working next week.
That's also the reason I've kept my blog public so far. I like stumbling into people's blogs and like it when random people stumble into mine. I try to leave a comment if I've become a regular reader and hope - okay, love it when - others leave comments on mine. True, I had a bit of a stalking problem for a couple of years, but I basically got sick of being scared all the time. (For those of you not in-the-know, I had to file two restraining orders against another U of A PhD student.) I'm sure he has found the blog, but honestly, I don't care anymore. He can read about my happy marriage and my academic progress all he wants - I doubt it's very interesting to him. And besides, as the Dean of Students once said to me, "You realize you could kick his ass, right?"
Dissertation progress update: I finished Chapter 2 yesterday. Yessssss. That leaves me Chapter 3 (working on now), half of Chapter 1, half of the chapter I decided to insert (Ch6 now), and half of Chapter 9. This brings me to 128 completed pages out of probably 155. That's 83% completion for those you counting. I know I am. With some luck, I'll finish Chapter 3 this week and 1 and 9 next week. I'll fill in Chapter 6 as I go.
Employment update: For some reason, IBM corporate has decided to take their sweet butt time with my offer paperwork. My need for a paycheck makes this frustrating, but my dissertation progress helps distract me. Hopefully I'll be working next week.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Oh, the memories
I've been tagged. So blame Tiffany for the potential lameness that follows.
20 years ago. I was 9 years old and living in Rexburg. I think I was in the third grade - yay Mrs. Mickelson - and loved reading. Wait, I still love reading. I had a massive crush on Andrew Hartvigsen, which pretty much lasted through High School. (Actually, I think I even wrote "Nicole + Andrew" on the back of Mrs. Mickelson's orange chairs. Such the graffiti artist.)
10 years ago. This would have been the end of my first year and the start of my second year at Ricks. I played varsity volleyball until I broke my feet. I changed my major from Psychology and Family Science to CIS. My dad had been in a snowmobile accident and wasn't really the same after; so I didn't go home as often as I would have.
5 years ago. Living in Hawaii, in a crappy marriage. At least I got to live in Hawaii. I was working with fun people, not getting to the beach enough, and filling out applications to PhD programs (aka scheming a way out of said marriage without moving home and working at the Gap).
3 years ago. I was through with my first year of my PhD program here at Arizona and was about to get a High Pass on my Core exam. (Booyah.) I filed for divorce - again - and this time it stuck. I also went back to work with IBM/Tucson in the performance department. I still miss those guys. Later on this year, I met Xavier and thought, "It's really too bad I met him now. He's a nice guy, but I'm definitely not dating anyone anytime soon." Famous last thoughts.
1 year ago. I was heading off for four months in New York with IBM's T.J. Watson research lab. Sans perfect husband. PS That's a really long drive. Both ways. I settled in on a dissertation topic and passed my comps, becoming a PhD Candidate. (Booyah.)
So far this year. After my research internship ended in December, I stepped away from IBM to concentrate on the dissertation. I've interviewed with some great places, but succumbed to the crappy academic job market. I've made some great progress on my dissertation and have some projects in the works. I had white trash tenants in our extra house, so we've cleaned and repaired and scrubbed and are trying to find new tenants. And I haven't worked out nearly as much as I said I would on January 1st.
Yesterday. I finished Chapter 7 of my dissertation (Booyah) and started on a conference paper due Thursday. I also decided I need to start working out again and will do the mountain until I get a jogging route figured out on this side of town.
Today. I didn't wake up and do the mountain this morning. But I hope to get my conference paper finished up and start working on Chapter 2; hopefully I can get it done in the next week or so.
Tomorrow. More of the same: writing and more writing. I'll also be showing the house to some prospective tenants.
This year. Rent out the house. Finish the dissertation and get the PhD. (Booyah.) Have a party to celebrate the end of the PhD. Start with IBM/Tucson as an intern, and decide whether to stay there for a few years (if possible) or go back on the market. If I go back on the academic market, I'll be filling out a lot of applications and going to Toronto in August (for AMCIS - early interviews) and Paris in December (ICIS - first round interviews). Hopefully I'll also be going to CHIMIT and LISA conferences in San Diego in November; the hallway tracks are great. Hopefully, I'll be some kind of gainfully employed, so we can go on a vacation. I need me a break.
I tag: Kelly - I'm still getting to know her and would love to know more. Julia - we lost touch for about 10 years there and I'd love an update. Jill - gosh, lost touch since Jr. High, so she's in there, too.
20 years ago. I was 9 years old and living in Rexburg. I think I was in the third grade - yay Mrs. Mickelson - and loved reading. Wait, I still love reading. I had a massive crush on Andrew Hartvigsen, which pretty much lasted through High School. (Actually, I think I even wrote "Nicole + Andrew" on the back of Mrs. Mickelson's orange chairs. Such the graffiti artist.)
10 years ago. This would have been the end of my first year and the start of my second year at Ricks. I played varsity volleyball until I broke my feet. I changed my major from Psychology and Family Science to CIS. My dad had been in a snowmobile accident and wasn't really the same after; so I didn't go home as often as I would have.
5 years ago. Living in Hawaii, in a crappy marriage. At least I got to live in Hawaii. I was working with fun people, not getting to the beach enough, and filling out applications to PhD programs (aka scheming a way out of said marriage without moving home and working at the Gap).
3 years ago. I was through with my first year of my PhD program here at Arizona and was about to get a High Pass on my Core exam. (Booyah.) I filed for divorce - again - and this time it stuck. I also went back to work with IBM/Tucson in the performance department. I still miss those guys. Later on this year, I met Xavier and thought, "It's really too bad I met him now. He's a nice guy, but I'm definitely not dating anyone anytime soon." Famous last thoughts.
1 year ago. I was heading off for four months in New York with IBM's T.J. Watson research lab. Sans perfect husband. PS That's a really long drive. Both ways. I settled in on a dissertation topic and passed my comps, becoming a PhD Candidate. (Booyah.)
So far this year. After my research internship ended in December, I stepped away from IBM to concentrate on the dissertation. I've interviewed with some great places, but succumbed to the crappy academic job market. I've made some great progress on my dissertation and have some projects in the works. I had white trash tenants in our extra house, so we've cleaned and repaired and scrubbed and are trying to find new tenants. And I haven't worked out nearly as much as I said I would on January 1st.
Yesterday. I finished Chapter 7 of my dissertation (Booyah) and started on a conference paper due Thursday. I also decided I need to start working out again and will do the mountain until I get a jogging route figured out on this side of town.
Today. I didn't wake up and do the mountain this morning. But I hope to get my conference paper finished up and start working on Chapter 2; hopefully I can get it done in the next week or so.
Tomorrow. More of the same: writing and more writing. I'll also be showing the house to some prospective tenants.
This year. Rent out the house. Finish the dissertation and get the PhD. (Booyah.) Have a party to celebrate the end of the PhD. Start with IBM/Tucson as an intern, and decide whether to stay there for a few years (if possible) or go back on the market. If I go back on the academic market, I'll be filling out a lot of applications and going to Toronto in August (for AMCIS - early interviews) and Paris in December (ICIS - first round interviews). Hopefully I'll also be going to CHIMIT and LISA conferences in San Diego in November; the hallway tracks are great. Hopefully, I'll be some kind of gainfully employed, so we can go on a vacation. I need me a break.
I tag: Kelly - I'm still getting to know her and would love to know more. Julia - we lost touch for about 10 years there and I'd love an update. Jill - gosh, lost touch since Jr. High, so she's in there, too.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Writing a dissertation...
... is relatively boring. But don't tell that to my advisor. Apparently she liked writing hers. She might be crazy. Or she might not remember - it was years ago. I got divorced only 2 years ago and already think "it wasn't that bad." (Yeah, it was.)
But anyway, some days are exciting - or at least less monotonous. Today would be one of those days. I'm happy to report that I have just finished Chapter 7, which also means I've finished about 80% of my dissertation (if you count completion by pages). I have 107 pages done, and figure I'll hit around 135. If you're going by chapter, I have four done (plus both Appendices) and about three to go. I say "about three" because I have two full chapters to write (one lit review = requires thinking, one conclusions = part BS), a half of another chapter (lit review), and maybe half of another chapter (intro/motivation), depending on my advisor's thoughts on what I've given her already. Hmmm... and I decided I might add another chapter in the middle, but only to formalize work I've already written up and make it easier to report my results. So we won't count that right now; I could write and format it in a day.
For those of you who have asked, this is what my dissertation will look like, by chapter
I'm sure you all will tire of hearing me whine, er... talk about, my dissertation. Sorry, Charlie, but that's what you get for reading my blog the last month or two of my PhD career. But think of it this way: you'll also be sure to get an invite to the party.
On a different topic, I will soon be employed with IBM here in Tucson as an intern. This will let me stay in Tucson for another year while I work on getting research out. We'll decide later if I decide to accept a full-time position (if available in this crazy economy) and stay put for a few years or try to extend the internship for the year (if I get a post-doc, I'll still be considered a student) and go back on the academic market next year. I'm just happy - and sleeping - knowing I'll be getting a paycheck. As a bonus: it's with IBM.
But anyway, some days are exciting - or at least less monotonous. Today would be one of those days. I'm happy to report that I have just finished Chapter 7, which also means I've finished about 80% of my dissertation (if you count completion by pages). I have 107 pages done, and figure I'll hit around 135. If you're going by chapter, I have four done (plus both Appendices) and about three to go. I say "about three" because I have two full chapters to write (one lit review = requires thinking, one conclusions = part BS), a half of another chapter (lit review), and maybe half of another chapter (intro/motivation), depending on my advisor's thoughts on what I've given her already. Hmmm... and I decided I might add another chapter in the middle, but only to formalize work I've already written up and make it easier to report my results. So we won't count that right now; I could write and format it in a day.
For those of you who have asked, this is what my dissertation will look like, by chapter
- Introduction. This includes the motivation for the study and the outline for the rest of the dissertation. (Guesstimate: 7 pages. 3 done.)
- System administrators. Who they are, demographically, what kind of peeps they are (hint: technicians-as-brokers, service providers), where they fit in organizations, communities of practice, etc. Basically, lit review for my peeps. (Guesstimate: 10 pages. 5 done.)
- Work practices of sysadmins. Why studying work practice is a valid methodology. Their work environment. The work they do and how their work can be classified (wicked problem, real-time/distributed supervisory control work, knowledge work). Lit review for the work my peeps do. (Guesstimate: 10 pages.)
- A usability study. Preliminary findings that relate to sysadmins information needs in the tools they use. (22 pages. Done.)
- Work practice: Implications for tool design. This is the theoretical foundation for the rest of my dissertation, which is one big study. (24 pages. Done.)
- Methodology for the theoretical model proposed in Ch5. (20 pages. Done.)
- Data analysis and results for the study outlined in Ch5 and Ch6. (23 pages. Done.)
- Conclusions, limitations, implications, future research directions. (Guesstimate: 6 pages.)
- Appendix A: Methodology for structured lit review I use in Ch5. (5 pages. Done.)
- Appendix B: Correspondence with sysadmins as part of my research. (5 pages. Done.)
I'm sure you all will tire of hearing me whine, er... talk about, my dissertation. Sorry, Charlie, but that's what you get for reading my blog the last month or two of my PhD career. But think of it this way: you'll also be sure to get an invite to the party.
On a different topic, I will soon be employed with IBM here in Tucson as an intern. This will let me stay in Tucson for another year while I work on getting research out. We'll decide later if I decide to accept a full-time position (if available in this crazy economy) and stay put for a few years or try to extend the internship for the year (if I get a post-doc, I'll still be considered a student) and go back on the academic market next year. I'm just happy - and sleeping - knowing I'll be getting a paycheck. As a bonus: it's with IBM.
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