Evaluating.

I spent a significant portion of today doing evaluations -- my own so that others can evaluate me and those of junior associates. I hate doing them so they take me forever. I've spent at least five hours on it. Filling out my skills chart. Planning my my career development and/or writing my own reasons to be fired for failing to fulfill it, regardless of lack of opportunity. I hate the whole process for many reasons, in case its not obvious. For one trivial reason, it reinforces just how bad my memory is. I can never remember what I spent the last year doing. I always have to look it up in my submitted time to job my memory. Sad to know that the memory -- the first to go -- is already going. I barely remember high school at this point and college is starting to blur.

As part of my evaluations, I've done a little personal reflection. First, short term reflection on the weekend: Saturday was super, starting with spin and yoga and continuing with Football Day where my Hook 'Ems did me proud on opening weekend. Today was tv-filled, between catching up on my DVR, watching Weeds via Netflix and some really awful B movies. Second, medium term reflection: Its been about a month since I first acknowledged my malaise and a little more than two weeks since my kneecaps were diagnosed. On the plus side, my not-cute braces are helping; the popping is getting better and the pain is easing up. On the minus side, the malaise still lingers but things are getting busier at work so I have less time to wallow. Despite the malaise, I've been busy enough that I can't believe how time flies. Its September and summer is meteorologically over. Anyone in Chicago will tell you that we didn't really have a summer at all. And, I haven't had any time off since 2006.

Conclusions:

1) reviewing people, including yourself, is no fun;

2) its probably a bad sign when you've seen at least part of Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus twice and can't turn the channel; and,

3) I need a vacation somewhere warm, tropical, and where they will bring me drinks . . . although after Mega Shark, I'm not sure I'll be going in the water.