tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:17:27 +0000Pragmatic - (prag·mat·ic), adjective. Of or pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations.<br> Heretic - (her·e·tic), noun. Anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/noreply@blogger.com (Jessica)Blogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-8376288856872147573Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:14:00 +00002009-09-01T23:14:09.078-06:00If you own/run a website which maintains my name so that you can "personalize" my experience while on your site or when receiving spam from you, please allow me to change that name when I want to. I recently went to register for the Apple developer program using my iTunes login info and noticed the account had my old name on it. When I clicked over to my profile to change it, I noticed that the http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/09/suggestion.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-4225406995183113910Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:14:00 +00002009-08-31T11:14:40.443-06:00I emailed SiriusXM customer support for a problem with my account and received this response: Thanks for writing to SIRIUS XM Customer Care! At SIRIUS XM, our customers matter - that's why we love hearing from you. We believe we offer the best audio entertainment in the world and we want you to think so too. We are currently experiencing high email volume. Please note that a response to your http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/08/on-hold-via-email.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-7347473232102153230Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:45:00 +00002009-08-19T23:45:28.545-06:00I was talking to my friend Susan the other night about the reunion and how it was the "final frontier" in terms of running into people who hadn't seen me since I transitioned. Then she reminded me that I said the same thing about meeting my Mom's side of the family for Thanksgiving last year. Now I've joined Facebook and I'm finding a whole new layer of people for who this is all brand new. http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/08/final-frontiers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-4155901547784713082Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +00002009-08-17T23:00:00.607-06:00I finally caved and signed up for a Facebook account tonight. I sent out a few friend requests to people who have been bugging me about getting an account recently. If you read this and think we're friends (current or long-lost) look me up and I'll add you. I'm going to try to keep from having a ton of just random people on there, so if I don't approve you, please don't be offended. I think http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/08/facebook.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-5832288682688586772Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:52:00 +00002009-08-15T10:52:24.849-06:00Yesterday was the big reunion of airborne Spanish linguists. Waldo had posted on Thursday about how she was feeling ambivalent about going and I think my feelings were pretty much the same. I really wanted to see her and her family and to attend the dedication of a memorial to my friend Shane who was killed in action 7 years ago but I wasn't very optimistic about the prospects for the rest of thehttp://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/08/somos-familia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-3461559363068178934Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:56:00 +00002009-08-10T22:56:09.978-06:00Sorry again for the extended absence. What was it this time...almost 2 months? Would you believe me if I said it really didn't seem like that long? It's been a pretty busy couple of months. I'll try to catch everyone up as quick as I can... I returned to work at the beginning of July, as scheduled. Well, the first week of the month was mandatory vacation time, so I didn't actually start workinghttp://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/08/am-i-mac-or-pc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-5156156349259744232Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:55:00 +00002009-06-15T19:55:56.212-06:00I'm starting week 3 of my furlough. With all of the excitement last week with my niece being born and my dad having surgery, my job search didn't get off to the best start. I had what I thought was a pretty hot lead but, alas, haven't heard anything from the recruiter in a few days...usually not a great sign. I sent out requests on LinkedIn for a few of my co-workers to write me a recommendationhttp://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/06/week-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-7142604686217408828Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:47:00 +00002009-06-09T23:48:21.988-06:00 Yesterday, we welcomed the newest member to our family, Sydney Michelle. Mom, dad, big brother, and baby are all doing great. It's probably hard to tell in the picture, but she's the cutest baby ever. :)In other good news, my dad had his surgery today and it went very well. It ended up being done under local anesthetic and took less than an hour. His lab tests came back clean so it looks like http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/06/im-aunt-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-7308675671053908554Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:02:00 +00002009-06-03T23:02:39.188-06:00Before I transitioned, I hadn't had a physical since I was in the military. For those not keeping track, it had been a good 8 or 9 years. I'm not sure if I started getting them regularly a few years ago because I'm getting older and not feeling so invincible anymore or if I just actually care about my body now. I'm guessing it's a little of both. With the exception of a couple of spots/moles I http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/06/lets-get-physical.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-7417563010932581718Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:50:00 +00002009-06-01T03:50:54.300-06:00I guess there is some fallout from the google incident with my co-workers...I no longer feel comfortable having my show up. I've removed the embedded players and links to the mp3 files of all of my old podcasts but left the original entries they appeared on up. If you read the description of one of the entries and are interested in hearing that show, send me an email and I'll send you a link to http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/06/show-archives-have-been-removed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-4022566320276524774Sun, 31 May 2009 21:35:00 +00002009-05-31T15:35:41.739-06:00I was at a picnic yesterday that was thrown by one of my (former?) co-workers and learned that someone in my office had googled me up at some point and found out about my past. I'm not sure exactly how many people this information circulated through, but it was at least a few people who I had *no* idea that they knew. I wasn't really upset that they found out - I've always known that informationhttp://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/google.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-651531554389287394Sat, 30 May 2009 03:15:00 +00002009-05-29T21:15:45.921-06:00This is a first for me - I was furloughed today. I wasn't even sure what that meant until recently but I basically have a month off without pay. I keep my benefits (at this point it's only insurance) and am still an "employee" but I can't do any work or use any of my accrued vacation. I am eligible for unemployment, so that's a plus. They're planning to bring me back July 1st but I'm not really http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/layoff-lite.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-3711087819353520499Fri, 29 May 2009 04:07:00 +00002009-05-28T22:07:20.785-06:00Well, tomorrow is a big day at work. After failing to win the Philippines contract the company is going into survival mode and laying off a ton of people. I've heard anywhere between 50-60%. I have no idea about my job and whether I'll still have it at the end of the day. Even though I've complained plenty of times about the hours, pay/benefit cuts, and stress, this has been, by far, the best http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/my-last-day-of-employment-for-now.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-875864393467124548Fri, 29 May 2009 03:25:00 +00002009-05-28T21:31:07.722-06:00Another video I caught over at Pam's House Blend and thought I'd share: How would you feel?http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/defenders.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-6242830141991210231Mon, 25 May 2009 05:48:00 +00002009-05-24T23:48:41.820-06:00In case anyone was wondering, I made it back from my short vacation last week. :) The trip was awesome - I headed toward southwest Colorado with no real destination in mind. The first day, I visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It was a place I'd been to a looong time ago (I was probably 11 or 12) and had been meaning to visit again for quite a while. The canyon wasn't quite as http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/tour-de-four-corners.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-3556330562267175202Thu, 14 May 2009 05:00:00 +00002009-05-13T23:08:38.342-06:00Today is the one-year anniversary of when I had The Surgery™. I thought I would do something special today to mark the occasion but it's past 10pm and all I've managed so far is to start writing this post. I'd hoped to go out to dinner with a friend, but she totally flaked on me. This is someone who has stood me up repeatedly in the past, so I shouldn't be surprised that she did it again tonighthttp://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/one-year-ago-today.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-140848250308634019Wed, 13 May 2009 06:43:00 +00002009-05-13T00:43:55.663-06:00I was just talking on the phone with a friend when I mentioned, out of the blue, that I was having a massive craving for cheddar cheese. Turns out that as I was telling her this, she was getting some food out of the fridge and happened to be holding a block of cheddar cheese. This was totally random...we hadn't been talking about food at all. It kind of freaked me out, but in a good way.http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/synchronicity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-128463281737035986Tue, 12 May 2009 18:24:00 +00002009-05-12T12:24:58.642-06:00This video was temporarily posted at The Bilerico Project a few days ago but has since disappeared. In case you missed it: Fuck you very much :)http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/my-new-favorite-song.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-6004815184949168398Tue, 12 May 2009 03:14:00 +00002009-05-11T21:16:35.541-06:00Ok, so there has been *one* thing I've found time to do over the past few weeks...  My dad and I went to the range tonight and I think I shot pretty well. This is around 250 rounds of 9mm with about 20 rounds of .45 from between 7 and 15 yards. Here's another picture of the same target to give some size perspective:   I was wondering if skilled women shooters were called marksmen, but as it http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/markswoman.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-1765079064569974513Mon, 11 May 2009 06:30:00 +00002009-05-11T00:30:16.652-06:00I guess I put that we'd reached the end of my current project in quotes for a good reason in that last post...we're not quite there yet. I was supposed to have a four-day weekend the week before my last post to make up for all of the weekends and holidays I've had to sacrifice so far but ended up working 2 of the 4 days. My plan was to take Monday and Tuesday of this week off and get out of town http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/not-really-end.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-9194160056777251264Wed, 06 May 2009 05:32:00 +00002009-05-05T23:32:55.423-06:00Ugh. I'm not keeping up with this blog very well lately, eh? I keep thinking I'm going to get a break from work and then more stuff comes up... We finally got to the "end" of the project I've been working on since I started with my current employer last September. This whole time, we've been working toward submitting a bid on a brand new system for the Philippines. This is a BIG contract. They http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/05/catching-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-4107876545474148843Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +00002009-04-22T18:00:09.014-06:00murderAngie Zapatahate crimesIn a surprisingly fast deliberation, the jury in the Angie Zapata murder case found Allen Andrade guilty on all counts - first degree murder, bias-motivated crime against a transgender person, aggravated theft, and identity theft. He was almost immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As far as I know, this is the first time someone in the U.S. has been http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/04/justice-for-angie.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-2194592802924182932Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:18:00 +00002009-04-21T00:18:48.998-06:00odds and endsworklifeWork has been brutal the past few weeks and I can't remember the last day off I had. I actually got off work before 9pm tonight so figured I'd better post while I have a few minutes of free time. There's been a lot going on lately that I've wanted to post on but I'll have to go with the short versions for now... The Angie Zapata murder trial started last week about 50 miles north of here. Thishttp://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/04/odds-and-ends.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-7573132941835341461Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:27:00 +00002009-04-15T00:27:40.431-06:00lifetaxesIt's after midnight, so it's officially Tax Day. Despite having filled out everything in my tax program, I haven't pressed the button to transmit it all to the IRS yet. I don't usually procrastinate so much on filing, but this year I've been hung up on a certain medical deduction. If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you'll know what I'm talking about. The validity of my deduction ishttp://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/04/tax-day_15.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1530464075831699830.post-6269494822804422423Sun, 12 Apr 2009 03:43:00 +00002009-04-11T21:51:38.188-06:00worklifeI overheard a couple of conversations during breaks yesterday that got me thinking about a little linguistic anomaly. In the first, I heard someone talking about how she worked for Marriott, the hotel that shares a courtyard with the building I work in. In the second, I heard someone say they worked at the Marriott.One person was a uniformed hotel employee, the other was not. Can you guess which http://www.pragmaticheretic.com/2009/04/working-for-or-at-man.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jessica)1