Arontius of Bygelswade

.....The past twenty-four hours have been interesting. Some highs and some lows, and some just absolutely frustrating things.

.....Work has been something of a zoo. With the Shipyard about to unroll their new management system, the rumor mill has been into overdrive. The rumor rumbled again yesterday that I, and my work, was about to be rolled into the Miscellaneous Work Code, Code 360. I could hum this tune in my sleep as I know it well. But I've had at least three different people stop me today to ask about it, so the chatter is louder than usual. The mid-level boss has heard nothing though, and the Big Boss has said absolutely nothing. So, since this rumor has happened a number of times before, we're operating under a 'Business As Usual' attitude. But it sure is frustrating to have all these people talking about what's about to happen, and hearing nothing official.

.....Something funny, actually. There is a guy at the Shipyard who is really, as in REALLY, into all things Star Trek. He's been blanketing all of the bulletin boards with advertisements to get an enthusiasts' group together. Not sure if it is a literary group? Or people getting together so they can travel to conventions together? But it does look like fun. :-) Not that I could make the time for something like that these days, but I find it rather cool to think that in such a blue collar and industrial world like the Shipyard, that there are people interested in things other than golf, cars and boats. :-)

.....Yesterday started the December Death March towards Serjeantry Trials on December 10th. We basically have something scheduled every single night through the Trials. Thankfully, things slow down a notch after that. Just have to survive the next twelve days with some resemblance of sanity intact.

.....Which is difficult! Monday nights are not good nights for me to start, and the evening started off with news that TBT and I had upset someone because we hadn't adequately recognized a recipient or two for all the hard work they've been doing for the past several years. Sigh! Of course, this didn't come straight to us, this came through another, for which the proper response should have been to ignore it until complaining person either came to us in person or we confronted them.

.....But the whole thing frustrated me incredibly as all the names involved were people I knew well, and who I thought would actually come to me or TBT and tell us what was on their minds! Sigh! And, you know, it's pretty easy to e-mail recommendations to us. We've been pretty free with our e-mail contact information. Double-sigh! I think we've done a pretty good job of acting pretty swiftly on every recommendation given to us. The people in question are good people as well. If a recommendation had been sent us, I bet they would have received something by now.

.....I'm doing my best to get it out of my system and let it go away. There is really nothing to be done about it until approached, unless I want to approach them and I'm not sure it is even worth it, to be honest. I suppose also I could go to the person being complained about as not having received the proper recognition and find out if they are actually feeling left out or unappreciated and find out how to make it right. Although we've been doing a pretty good job of singling these people out for recognition on e-mail and in our reports, but scrolls are the proper coin of acknowledgement.

.....Sad, in a number of ways. I was doing a little looking around on the OP today out of curiosity. Dame Gwenllyn of our retinue was last awarded our Baronial Service Award back in 2003, and was awarded our Baronial A&S Award back in 2006. That's fully five years ago. And because she is part of our retinue, and a good personal friend of ours, she is probably going to receive very little from us for the remainder of our tenure because of the perception of favoritism. She's someone who has kicked hind end in the doing and being for us as Baron and Baroness. We owe her a lot, and she deserves a lot. We'll have to think of some good way to thank her before we step down. As well as take a look around us closely to make sure those working alongside us, doing our real grunt work, are aware of how much we appreciate them and all their help.

.....All the information presented wasn't BAD, per se, just really frustrating. I did my best to shake off the frustration as we made our way to the Serjeantry Testing of the evening. Last night was Practical & Domestic Sciences and Games. The Practical & Domestic Sciences started with a show-and-tell session for various activities such as sewing, riveting, knife sharpening, and the ever popular starting of a fire without a match. Both candidates did very well I thought. Then it moved into the lecture portion. Wherein they spoke of various aspects of their persona and where that persona lived. There were questions on animal husbandry, crops, domesticated animals, dealing with various illnesses and injuries, and a number of other practical issues. I tried not to delve too deeply as most of the topics are also fair game for the Persona Development Q&A at the Trials themselves, and the candidates will most likely field detailed questions there. Both were able to come up with reasonable answers to all the questions. It was easy to see that Madrun had gone really deep into her research! She was coming up with a myriad of details! Her Persona Development Q&A will be vastly entertaining I think.

.....The Games portion went faster. Madrun and Jahnkin set up and played each other chess while the rest of us watched. They would have continued for hours if we hadn't put a stop to it. :-) They knew the moves well, and had basic strategies and tactics down. They set up and played Nine Man's Morris. Then described several others. Madrun showed off some stuffed leather balls she had sewn herself and described several games from her location and time period. It was really rather fascinating. Most of the evidence she had came from illustrations of the time period, but all of her suppositions were grounded rather well.

.....The testing went on for easily two hours. After two nights of pre-Trials testing, I'm glad that we decided to start the testing early to get some items out of the way. It is easy to see why some Trials end up going on all day and through the night. I was also somewhat relieved that we were down to two candidates. I am sorry that Caedmon and Helen had to drop, as it would have been fun with more candidates. But with us 'testing' the system, it was probably a good thing we ended up with only two this time around. I think that having the Trials take place during the summer next year will help a lot. Although I still think some pre-Trials testing is warranted. There is a lot of stuff to do in support of the Trials!

.....Saturday will be the dance portion of the Trials. Both candidates will dance, and lead dancing. I think they'll be ready for it.

.....Next Monday will be the last Pre-Trials Meeting. We'll finalize the Quests for both of the candidates and Sargent Alaricus so that the individual Quests will be announced at the Trials themselves. I like where the Quests are going. I hope the candidates end up appreciating them as well by the time they are finished.

.....Reminders for myself: Tonight is the regular Tuesday Social. Wednesday night is the Toy-For-Tots Championship at Fight Practice. Must remember prizes!!! Must also remember gift(s) for Aquaterra Baronial Succession!!! Thursday night is the Business Meeting. Friday night is the pack up for Yule Feast on Saturday. Saturday is Yule Feast itself. Must put together a 'to-do' list for Yule as there are still a number of things to finish in support.

.....It's busy these days!!!! :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.