- Well, I *was* going to go outside and practice taiji jian, but it's raining, so that's out.
- I volunteered to be a/the project manager for Bull Spec, and Sam told me he's interested and gave me a long list of things he wants to get done for the magazine. I'd been thinking more along the lines of "making sure he gets the magazine out in due time and setting deadlines" and shit, but that works, too. I could do both. (I'm not the person who's going to do the tasks; I'm just going to make sure things happen in a timely fashion.)
So today, I'm going to sit down and sketch out some project plans, then email Sam back so we can get together with Melinda, who's been handling the advertising & stuff, and talk about things.
- Put laundry away.
- Have a celebratory beer for Hertha's 2-0 win over VFR Aalen this morning.
- Do some more research for the massive Berlin travel planning spreadsheet (which has grown and become more detailed since I posted it whenever that was). I really like planning things; this is why I should become a project manager. Clearly.
Also, project management is a very portable skill, and if I get the PMP certification (which requires 4500 hours/3 years FT experience if you have a college degree), it's apparently globally recognized.
And I just really like planning shit.
- I volunteered to be a/the project manager for Bull Spec, and Sam told me he's interested and gave me a long list of things he wants to get done for the magazine. I'd been thinking more along the lines of "making sure he gets the magazine out in due time and setting deadlines" and shit, but that works, too. I could do both. (I'm not the person who's going to do the tasks; I'm just going to make sure things happen in a timely fashion.)
So today, I'm going to sit down and sketch out some project plans, then email Sam back so we can get together with Melinda, who's been handling the advertising & stuff, and talk about things.
- Put laundry away.
- Have a celebratory beer for Hertha's 2-0 win over VFR Aalen this morning.
- Do some more research for the massive Berlin travel planning spreadsheet (which has grown and become more detailed since I posted it whenever that was). I really like planning things; this is why I should become a project manager. Clearly.
Also, project management is a very portable skill, and if I get the PMP certification (which requires 4500 hours/3 years FT experience if you have a college degree), it's apparently globally recognized.
And I just really like planning shit.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 05:04 pm (UTC)From:Also? Project planning tools are your friend. MS Project, OmniPlan, etc. Use them, love them, keep them updated.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 05:19 pm (UTC)From:The class I'm taking doesn't talk about software, and I've never done any formal PM, so thanks for the rec! Omniplan is expensive, so until I get some income, it'll be on my eventually list. (If I had an iPad, it'd be cheaper. But I don't have an iPad...) Google turns up some free ones, but man OmniPlan looks shiny.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 05:24 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 05:30 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 06:53 pm (UTC)From:I'm a visual person, and like gantt charts and calendars when I'm planning things out. Maybe Gantt Project (http://www.ganttproject.biz/) would work for you for that....
no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 07:17 pm (UTC)From:I'll try this Gantt one, since it's free! If I ever get another job, I'll get a new laptop & the shiny OmniPlan because shiny.
Er, it says it's cross-platform, but the download link only talks about XP and Vista. Um?Oh, nvm, the OSX download link was hiding off the front page. :Pno subject
Date: 2012-09-16 06:46 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 07:19 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 06:35 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 08:12 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 08:38 pm (UTC)From:But let's move on to the rest of the post: project management does sound interesting. I thought about that as well, but my self confidence isn't that up to the level it should be for a job like that, so therefore I decided against it. Is it something you could really do? I'm unsure due to the "Which requires 4500 hours" part in your post.
Berlin plans: Awesome! Have you set yourself a date for it yet, or is just planning so far for the time you happen to come over?!
no subject
Date: 2012-09-16 09:15 pm (UTC)From:4500 hours of experience is a lot, but that's just to take an exam. You don't *need* the exam necessarily to work. I pulled out my calculator, and it's just over 2 years of full time work (40-hr weeks). But I'm currently doing it part time, so unless I get one of the clinical trial coordinator jobs I applied for, it'll take me a bit longer than that to get enough hours to take the exam. (I'm tracking my hours spent working on the convention, and once I've talked to Sam, I'll start tracking hours spent organizing his magazine projects.)
We have a lot fewer Ausbildung requirements here than over there, though sometimes it can be hard getting your foot in the door in certain places. If I build enough experience doing random unpaid things, maybe someone will realize I can do it for real.
Berlin: we're not exactly sure on a date yet! The original proposal had been to take a family trip over at Christmas, when his parents like doing things as a family, but Ben thought it would be nice to go sometime when it isn't freezing, cloudy, rainy/foggy, and gets dark at 4 pm. So he proposed summer as an alternative. I put a bunch of things together, he emailed his mom, and she'll get back to us when she's finished the grant she's working on at the moment. (Don't know when that'll be.) I expect we'll talk about it in detail when we're all together at Thanksgiving (late November), but probably not firm up dates yet. Maybe which season and what year...
Have you seen my ridiculously obsessive spreadsheet? Are there any sights you think I'm missing (as a resident)?
Ideally, I'd like to go out a day or two ahead of them so I can meet all my internet friends who live there, since I figure there won't be enough time while I'm dragging the in-laws around and they wouldn't be interested in, say, hanging out at a cafe for a few hours, then moving to a different cafe/pub for a few hours and meeting a bunch of random Germans.
I'd also ideally get one of my old phones unlocked & pick up a German pre-paid SIM and use that to SMS people where I am. And call ahead for dinner reservations if necessary, etc. There's a guy who has put together a convenient table of what carriers' rates are and where to buy SIM cards to get the best deal. Useful!