End of the day and...
Oct. 30th, 2008 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayAfter being frozen and depressed about seemingly another day of pointless nothingness, I'm feeling a bit better this evening.
My supervisor finally handed over the bit of the manual on Oracle Warehouse Builder that tells me a little about how to do things in it rather than just advertising the features. Yay. She 'forgot'. I have this feeling about her...
It was definitely more of a process thing than a "here's how that thing works and why and what it does", but at least it's a start and I was able to start putting that information into practise to work out how to make the small change request that was assigned to me. I need to see someone else tomorrow to find out how to test it (and every 'expert' in the building keeps telling me that they don't really know how to use it and are you sure that full outer joins really exist in relational databases?) but at least I got to do something, it might be useful and I got to learn something and put it into practise.
Surely there must be some better documentation on Oracle Warehouse Builder than this 'manual' (pah!) and odd queries dotted around cyberspace. Anyone?
I also got to have lunch and a chat with a couple of other programmers that I think I'm going to like. Er, L is from China and C is from India. I fail at making friends with the natives. We were swapping 'OMG, how different is Canada?' stories and I was getting recs for actual decent Chinese and Indian restaurants. I knew they were hiding out there somewhere. I also got a rec for a store that does a fair bit of importing groceries from around the world. I have to take the kittens to the vet this weekend, but possibly next weekend I might spend the afternoon in the city investigating. There are a few odds and ends food-wise that I'd like to find sources for. Can you believe that nobody seems to have heard of double cream here? Eeep! Hopefully this place might at least be able to recommend a source even if they don't stock it. I refuse to accept that whipping cream is the thickest cream I will be able to buy here. And someone here must stock Yorkshire Tea...
Anyway, the upshot is that I was feeling much happier when I got home. I listened to Chris Evans while I made supper, watched the first episode of Archer's Goon while I ate and then spent the evening cuddling with my kittens in my armchair. I'm still feeling better now and I'm actually going to try sleeping without my knock-out tea tonight.
It's amazing how much it can get you down to be miserable and lonely at work. I think that previously I've been able to vent to Mum about it over supper each night and she's usually found a way to cheer me up. Now I've got to learn how to cope with this kind of thing without her input and it's been harder than I'd imagined. I have the sense that this will be the week that I'll look back on as my wobble week, the first time when I've asked myself whether this was the right decision, and feel proud of myself for getting through. My work is going to be interesting when people finally get around to training me and I can communicate with people at work if I try!
My supervisor finally handed over the bit of the manual on Oracle Warehouse Builder that tells me a little about how to do things in it rather than just advertising the features. Yay. She 'forgot'. I have this feeling about her...
It was definitely more of a process thing than a "here's how that thing works and why and what it does", but at least it's a start and I was able to start putting that information into practise to work out how to make the small change request that was assigned to me. I need to see someone else tomorrow to find out how to test it (and every 'expert' in the building keeps telling me that they don't really know how to use it and are you sure that full outer joins really exist in relational databases?) but at least I got to do something, it might be useful and I got to learn something and put it into practise.
Surely there must be some better documentation on Oracle Warehouse Builder than this 'manual' (pah!) and odd queries dotted around cyberspace. Anyone?
I also got to have lunch and a chat with a couple of other programmers that I think I'm going to like. Er, L is from China and C is from India. I fail at making friends with the natives. We were swapping 'OMG, how different is Canada?' stories and I was getting recs for actual decent Chinese and Indian restaurants. I knew they were hiding out there somewhere. I also got a rec for a store that does a fair bit of importing groceries from around the world. I have to take the kittens to the vet this weekend, but possibly next weekend I might spend the afternoon in the city investigating. There are a few odds and ends food-wise that I'd like to find sources for. Can you believe that nobody seems to have heard of double cream here? Eeep! Hopefully this place might at least be able to recommend a source even if they don't stock it. I refuse to accept that whipping cream is the thickest cream I will be able to buy here. And someone here must stock Yorkshire Tea...
Anyway, the upshot is that I was feeling much happier when I got home. I listened to Chris Evans while I made supper, watched the first episode of Archer's Goon while I ate and then spent the evening cuddling with my kittens in my armchair. I'm still feeling better now and I'm actually going to try sleeping without my knock-out tea tonight.
It's amazing how much it can get you down to be miserable and lonely at work. I think that previously I've been able to vent to Mum about it over supper each night and she's usually found a way to cheer me up. Now I've got to learn how to cope with this kind of thing without her input and it's been harder than I'd imagined. I have the sense that this will be the week that I'll look back on as my wobble week, the first time when I've asked myself whether this was the right decision, and feel proud of myself for getting through. My work is going to be interesting when people finally get around to training me and I can communicate with people at work if I try!
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-31 02:08 am (UTC)You've just moved to a new place. It's inevitable that you should have some doubts now. But from what you've said so far, I suspect you'll be happy there. You just need some time to adjust and meet some new people. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-10-31 03:48 am (UTC)However, after paying $13.99 for creme fraiche, I found out that you can make it with buttermilk and whipping cream. If you strain it through cheesecloth, you'll have a slightly acidic double cream (50% or so cream). Someone suggested 1 tbsp buttermilk and 1 cup heavy cream, shake them together for a minute in a sealed jar, and then leave it wrapped in a heavy towel for about 12 hours at room temperature.
I haven't tried any of these, but if you're desperate, it's worth a try until you find a better source.
You're dealing with Maritimers, yes? They're a little more reserved: give them time.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-31 01:10 pm (UTC)It will get better - home sickness always hits, and anywhere is probably better than the UK right now ...
no subject
Date: 2008-11-04 01:05 am (UTC)Yeah, I think last week was just a bad week and I was about due for it. Things are getting better already so it's just going to take time.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-04 01:09 am (UTC)Apparently there is a double cream by President's Choice (the store brand for Atlantic Superstore, I think that's Loblaws for you?) so I'm going to try to track that down. Doesn't look like the milk fat is as high as the British stuff, but it's higher than whipping cream and may work in the things that I want to do. I can only try!
Heh, the Martimers keep telling me how insular and unfriendly big city folks (i.e. Toronto and Vancouver) are! It's perception, I think. Certainly everyone here is much less reserved than British folks are and my inviting myself to sit with a group at lunch has paid off far better than it would have in England.
Thank you for the advice and encouragement :-)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-04 01:12 am (UTC)Thank you!
I'd expected to have the home sickness hit earlier so it was weird to get it nearly three months after I moved especially at the stage when things were just starting to fit together. I'm feeling much better today and I had a good weekend. Hopefully last week will be the low point ad things will continue to get better.
I seem to get a mixture of channels coming up from the States (Boston mostly) and Canadian channels that are taking their program feeds from the US and putting in their own links and ads. Actual Canadian content is pretty low :-) It's quite nice getting things like Heroes and House first rather than needing to always avoid spoilers!
Ironically, I can torrent here where I couldn't when I lived in the UK :-)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-04 06:41 am (UTC)"the Maritimers keep telling me how insular and unfriendly big city folks are..."
Har! Definitely perception!
No problem re advice and encouragement. My pleasure. I'm glad that things are sounding better!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-11 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-11 04:07 pm (UTC)But Canada has always had that combination of American channels and Canadian channels showing American programs. I suppose which channels you get depend on where you are.