Star Wipes

The weekend goes by much too fast. On Friday, we went over to Brandon and Elena's for dinner. Brandon is an old friend from high school. They have a daughter who is about nine months older than Ellie, and a brand new son. So Erin was pumping them for information about what it's like having two kids, what's different, what's hard, easy, etc. I think she's a little anxious about our new addition, who is currently bouncing around her insides like a pinball. Apparently Owen has been a lot more active than Ellie. I'll be happy as long as he sleeps through the night. I got off easy with Ells. She only wanted Mom at night, so even when I did get up with her, I didn't do much. I have a sinking feeling that's not going to fly with this next one. So I'm crossing my fingers that he'll be a good sleeper.

I'm still enjoying work, even though it has slowed down some now that we're nearing the end. I've spent the past several work days honing my PowerPoint skills in preparation for my final presentation (what does it look like if I have each letter drop in separately?). There's still some things to do to finish up the actual project, but I've stalled out because I don't have the necessary computer privileges. In both of my internships that has been the largest obstacle keeping me from getting things done. I don't know if it works the same way outside of ExxonMobil, but it is a Pain (with a capital P) not only to get things set up, but to get them set up right. I could have finished this project in half the time if I had the right resources available from the start. I think some of this was due to key people taking their vacation around the time I showed up (another big problem with summer internships).

I have to give this presentation three times to three very different groups of people. I present to the HR people who basically rubber-stamp approved my hiring, then a group of upper-level management, and finally to a mixed group of engineers from the plant and the research facility (the people who actually care about the stuff I'm doing). I asked if I should prepare three different presentations and was told to just give the same presentation to everybody. I think I'm going to get a lot of blank stares. Basically the only people who understand what an applications engineer does are other applications engineers (which is good for job security, but bad if you're ever trying to get a point across). I just hope I can convince people I actually did something of value this summer. Now, should I star wipe to the next slide or have it spin in like a pinwheel?