Vesna 'n other random stuffa tumblelog

You are NOT like any other QA or tester I’ve ever met!

In my 20 year career, I’ve only met a handful of testers.  And those, almost all in the last 5 – 10 years.  Prior to that, I spent a lot of time alone, trying to make heads or tails of this testing thing I was doing.  I did some development early on back in the day, but was so issue-focussed that it just didn’t feel right.  I’m not creative like that by nature…and I break better than I build.  My first co-op position was a fluke, and my intro to testing.  I was supposed to be a 4th year dev student.  They weren’t impressed with a 1st year newbie.  So, I tested.  Alone.  I can’t say I knew what I was doing, but I got the job done. 

My second and third co-op terms were with Waterloo Microsystems (turned Hayes Modems).  They had a full on lab with a manager, a team lead, and 6 or so of us testers.  We each had our own station (either Ethernet, Token Ring, or Arcnet), and every kind of desktop on the market (almost) was sitting at each station.  We had modem cards and boot disks, and software to load on, etc.  All from DOS of course.  I found my grove and I loved it.  Each station had a cable hanging from the ceiling that you could hook your headphones up to.  It lead to a CD player and we all popped in our fav CD’s all day long while we worked.  We had a chance to
sample each other’s music and test to our hearts content.  The bug reports were awesome.  They were hand written on a bug report template.  Then they were WALKED over to the developer you knew that was working on that particular area.  You’d stand there explaining what the deal was, and leave the report on his desk.  When he had a fix, the report was walked back to your station and discussed.  Then you’d set up the hardware/software necessary and test away.  We didn’t really write test cases or any of that ‘waterfall’ kind of stuff.  We just tested.  We knew there were things that were important, and things that weren’t, and we just
kind of went by feel.

I LOVED it!  Best work term EVER!  I was hooked!  But, just like a kid thinks that all families do/think what their family does/thinks, I naively thought that ALL software and hardware companies were this organized and valued testing in the very same
way. 

My first full-time job after U of W was with a small group of developers.  This is where I coded.  Well…..I tried…I really did.  I get it and all, but I don’t quite have that passion for it.  It’s too detailed, and you spend too much time looking at the
trees.  I’m a more ‘looking-at-the-forest’ kinda gal.  What baffled me was that there was no testing going on?!  But, as always, I figured that everyone else knows what they’re doing…..’cause obviously they’re older and wiser and I’m really green.  Looking back…I’m not so sure.  I just didn’t have the focus and foresight to put it all together.  I’d come from this wonderful testing world to a dev house without any testing.  Ok, so tech support and the customers were the ones doing testing.  But for the time/money spent on tech support…and the embarrassment of the customers finding the bugs….couldn’t someone be testing BEFORE the thing went out the door and save all this?

I think I remember having conversations about this, and trying to get the ‘word’ out to my managers, but indeed – I was green and naive and didn’t want to speak too much out of turn.  My next job really helped.  I was a developer on a dying product.  The only developer left.  I developed, supported the customers, and tested.  I was still pretty green, but this was an amazing learning experience.  I really had a chance to understand the customers needs and point of view.   I dealt with them directly, and daily.  I did that for about 2 ½ years before I moved on to the new project and became a full on tester.  The only tester.  That was also amazing.  I bought a book and struggled between the way I thought testing should be done, the way it was done by the author, and the way the stakeholders at the company needed it to be done.  What they wanted wasn’t my vision of testing.  BUT, it’s what the client wanted (or *thought* they wanted).  Again, though, I kept most of this to myself because surely everyone else (the author, the stakeholders, and the client) knew what they were doing.

From there, I spent a lot of time changing companies and getting contracts to start QA practices and put process in place.  I got some exposure to various types of testers, managers, companies, etc.  It’s not that people don’t know what they’re doing in regards to testing.  It’s that it’s just not that defined and no one knows what to expect from a tester or a testing ‘process’.  Especially now with Agile… ‘cause you know….the developers do all their own testing, right?  So, on average (and in my experience), you have developers who aren’t sure what testers do (more specifically HOW they do it), managers and stakeholders who aren’t sure what they need from testers (or HOW they do it), and even testers who aren’t sure how what they’re doing (or HOW they’re doing it) impacts anyone else.  I find that old school testers assume everyone knows what they’re doing and how they do it.  ‘Newer’ school testers are busy trying to convince stakeholders that what they’re doing is good (and it is!).  And no one
really seems to be focusing on the stakeholders or the business end of the company with a QA mentality.  Forest for the trees kind of thing.

I am more detached from the work of developers, and even the heads down testers.  I’m all for the process (light version) and all, but I relate more to the client or customer and the EXPERIENCE they have as HUMANS in relation to the software.  After all, that is what the business was made for.  It’s where the need came from, and how the company lives and breathes.  Without this connection, you have nothing.  No amount of test cases, perfect code, Agile processes, exploratory testing, etc. can save you. 

You are NOT developing software…a mindless tool….you are developing an EXPERIENCE that lives and breathes with its users.  I don’t care how great your code is, or how supposedly ‘bug free’ it is.  If end user Bob doesn’t get it in the first few seconds he lays his eyes on it, you are SCREWED!  And Bob is now on Twitter…and LinkedIn…and Facebook…and all the rest of them.  Bob can spread the word faster than your marketing department ever could.

So, in the last year, I’ve been hearing something I’ve never heard before.  Mostly because I’m speaking to passionate stakeholders, I think.  I’ve been getting ‘you are not like any other tester I’ve met’.  I think my experiences really helped…a
proper lab, and great customer exposure.  I see now what they mean too, as I’ve worked with the head down process driven testers who agonize over every detail they think management wants or needs.

This week, I not only heard those words, but heard something else for the first time.  ‘I’ve always been afraid of QA….to hire a tester’.  Not the exact words, but the meaning was there.  The word ‘afraid’ was there.  What’s there to fear?  People who are stuck in processes and want to be closed off in a room with a build, spending weeks writing test cases and reports.  Yeah, if I were passionate about my company (and I am!), I’d be pretty freaking afraid of hiring that as well!

So, don’t be afraid!  Yes, I am different (and weird).  But I’m never satisfied with stuff that just works.  I’m constantly looking for change.  I’m looking for change that removes muda (waste) from every aspect of my life.  And I embrace change in a huge way.  I’ve walked away from many companies because I was looking for change and they seemed to be stuck in a rut.  I’ve walked away from many things in life because of that as well.  I try to make a change, but when others aren’t on board, I can’t wait around for it.  Life is too short.  I’ve thrown myself out of planes, and uprooted my family numerous times (and am in the process of doing that currently!).  Change is GOOD….change is what is needed for the future of technology.  You need to change with Bob.  And if you don’t have your finger on Bob’s pulse (‘cause Bob changes just as much as I do!), you might as well pack it
in.  Sure you can make a few bucks in the short run, but the generation coming up moves faster than your marketing department can predict.  Move with that generation…with Bob….stay fresh and stay on top of it.  I can help you do that…it’s what I love!!

And it’s what worx4you that matters!!

posted 1 year ago

QA and testing crowdsourcing, remote work and other ‘stuff’

So, the more I work with companies, the more I’m starting to see that companies of all sizes could use a QA/testing SME for testing during ramp up time, process tweeking, training, helping hire, tool assessment, documentation, and more.  All this and not having to pay for a full-time employee.  You can call last minute and we’ll fit you in, you can need 5 hours, or 50, and we’re there!  Initially there’s ramp up time the first time out, but once we’ve done an initial needs assessment and get to know your product and customers, we just continue to build our knowledge and come in and out as you need us.

Some of the things we can do both on site and remote:

-Offset the test team on ramp up time

-All the things that the current team doesn’ have time to do like:

·   test case writing

·   tool assessments (automation, test case management, bug tracking, etc)

·   regression testing

·   functional testing, UI, you name it

-Training and coaching existing team members

-Helping hire

-Documentation/Tech writing

-Establishing processes that match environmental needs

-Help with transitioning to Agile teams

-Test plan/strategy writing

-etc. etc. etc.

Too much to list…and probably much I would miss if I tried to list it.  I know there’s value in this because we ramp up fast and get it done well, and on time. 

As a full timer, there have been many times, between projects, that I have sat around with my testing team as they’ve twiddled their thumbs.  I was surprised that this was ok for corporate.  The wasted time and money.  I did what I could to keep them, and myself, busy, but for very small testing projects, there was really not much more they could have done during this time.  We used one of these times to overhaul our methodology to exploratory testing, and that was great!   But other times, I watched moral take quite a dive with everyone.  Then there were times when I watched individuals on other teams waste their time on reports they thought management needed or wanted.  They agonized over the color scheme, column sizes, and a lot more.  As a business owner, I wonder now what that translates into cost?  Cost in time, money, creativity, moral, etc. etc. The energy spent on these useless reports.  Precious time and money lost that could have been spent on testing.  I’m not saying the reports are useless.  I’m saying that they weren’t done efficiently.  There was a LOT of muda.  And I can’t stand muda!!  It really all boils down to wasting life on things that don’t matter.  And I want to make the most out of my life…and help others do the same…

Is having a full time employee worth the overhead?  Sometimes it is.  But I bet there are quite a few times when it’s not.  I’ve seen it with tech writers, and I’ve seen it with QA/testing.  I’ve even seen it with some developers on small projects.  To save time, money and be super efficient, you need to assess your needs and come up with a solution that worx4you.   That’s where we come in!!!!  :) 

posted 1 year ago

Corporate vs Passion…is it possible to inspire full time employees to their full potential?

Recently, I was lucky enough to enjoy an evening with former co-workers. I am very grateful for this, as I very much respect and admire a great number of the individuals that were there. They are, by far, the most laid back, funny, intelligent, and just plain awesome people I have had the pleasure of working with over the past 20 years. I’ve been away from the corporate environment for going on two years now. After not seeing my former co-workers for this period of time, and after two years of growth, exploration…and finally….beginning to ‘find myself’, it was incredible to speak with them again - outside the corporate setting and to really see them in a new light.

This started me thinking about their work environment, and remembering what that was all like. I wonder how much of their time is spent on their passions or following whimsical ideas, or moments of creative inspiration they are all incredible capable of? How much time is spent in meetings? Corporate processes? Time sheets? Dotting their i’s, crossing their t’s? Waiting for Friday afternoon or lunch? Trying to get rolling on Mondays? Constant interruptions? How many of them jump out of bed at 4:30 am because they can’t wait to get rolling on all the ideas dancing about in their head.  So much talent and time wasted…..

I won’t go on about workplace passion.  I’ve ranted about it in a previous blog.  I wonder if it’s possible to inspire this in old-school corporate.  I don’t think it is.  There’s a company in town that prides itself on hiring people with the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’.  Sounds pretty.  In the end - they’re still making someone elses dream come true.  The new 37signals book, Rework, goes on about everything I’ve taken issue with in the old-school corporate setting.  I think the old model is broken, and it’s time for change.

A new found friend of ours is always on about urban sprawl, and going back to the village and such.  As much as urban planning has to do with it, businesses also have to change.  Going ‘green’ is a great pr campaign.  What about changing how you do business to inspire passion, and perhaps building a village?  All this will naturally move us away from sprawl and bring us back to the village.  A couple of ideas here:

1. everyone living out their passions as independents
2. picking and choosing your clients only based on whether or not both your passions are in line

If we all did that, we’d naturally find people we want to share our passions with.  Products would be richer, customers would be happier, and life experiences would be incredible!  And we wouldn’t be spending so much time on the muda that drives us to dread Mondays, and look forward to Fridays like they’re some kind of oasis.  For what it’s worth, Fridays and Mondays mean nothing to me anymore.  It’s just another day of passion.

Without signing a contract as a kept employee, we leave ourselves open to experience new and wonderful passions that others have. Best of all - we leave ourselves open to HELP others with their passions, and not be enslaved and coerced into making their passions a reality.  And they will do the same for us.  This would help corporations as well because the quality of ‘work’ (passion) they would get from people would just be insane!

When you’re no longer wasting time on muda like which desk you get, how many weeks of vacation you’ve negotiated, your title on your useless business card, you’re free to actually HELP and do the passion you are meant to do.
We could do this in our communities, and possibly already do here in town.  Although, I’m seeing start ups being pressured into running business the old way.  Maybe everyone should use Rework as their business model.  Maybe more people should write books on how their business model doesn’t follow the old-school ways.  Sir Branson certainly did…and WOW!  He really rocked my world.  

Being a polymath is a wonderful thing.  You help when the passion hits you, and move out (and on) when it’s gone.  Passion rarely happens between 9 and 5.  Or during the stand up meetings, or in the board room.  It happens when you’re charged up about life…and LIVING life…not chained to a desk.

Corporations need to set their people free.  New businesses need to follow their heart and not worry about VC’s and doing business the old way.  Just because it’s been done that way for the last 50 years, doesn’t make it gospel.  Read Branson, read Rework….these are great starting points.  Most of all, follow your heart.  These guys don’t have all the answers, but they are far closer than typical corporate dysfunctionality.

Social media sites are the bomb - check out Gary V’s CrushIt.  Spectacular!  The collective consciousness I found on Twitter (and I mocked it regularly before I was blown away by the power of it, and the amazing people on it!) blows my mind.  What we could accomplish as humans is unimaginable if only we could tap into the collective conscious and cut out the muda.

Speaking of passion – this post is lacking a bit today.  It’s a Saturday, and all three kids are home from school….they’re breaking into my thoughts with incredible speed and precision.  Not to mention the fact that today is not a work out day, so my brain isn’t in typical overdrive.  The thoughts are there, but the passion is less than stellar. 

Regardless, I hope I made some sense.  I’ll probably revisit this topic when the passion actually hits me and I have some peaceful reflective time.

‘Til then…..zenfully….Namaste

posted 1 year ago

Books I Have Read in the last 20 Months

I have never been one to read much.  I have always been in love with the sciences and maths.  English classes were so confusing for me.  I needed cut and dry facts.  Things that were subjective really threw me for a loop.  Reading between the lines was painful (and still is).  Possibly another reason I don’t get along with people who speak in double entendres.  If I have to try and figure out the meaning for something behind some elaborate riddle, I’m not going to try.  Time and life is precious and I want to gain knowledge as quickly as possible and move on to the next thing.  Playing these games of ‘you know what I mean’ is just too much time and life lost.

I spent my teen years reading Stephen King, and purchased a few useless self help books in my university days.  Then I spent a few years throwing myself out of planes, getting married and having kids.  Becoming pregnant started some book purchases….the usual What to Expect, etc. etc.  I had to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do with these little human beings that had made their way into our lives.  I had no experience with kids, or friends or family with kids….so books it was.

Since then, there were a few purchases here and there.  Mostly for books on software testing.  All quick references and not really ‘reads’ (much like the baby books).

‘The internet’ was the beginning of it all for me though.  It allowed me to learn the way I actually learn.  Not sitting down with a book and reading straight through (stressed out that I wouldn’t be able to memorize or understand all the facts), but reading something of interest, stopping when I had questions and going off on tangents with those questions - opening up new searches to follow those tangents until I had the answer and then going back to the original read.  Getting an iphone completely shifted that into overdrive.  Anything that ever came to mind was searchable in seconds.  And I didn’t have to just take one persons word for it.  I could find different points of views and form an opinion based on tons of info (as opposed to just my teacher or profs opinion).  I now research on insane amounts of topics every day.  All day.  Everything and anything that pops into my head, my husbands head, and my kids heads.  I can’t get enough.  I can’t learn enough.  I wish I could download every thought and idea anyone has ever had into my brain.  I would sort all those into categories, and form opinions based on how I think and feel about topics, and how logical it all seems to me.

And now, I don’t stress out about not having facts memorized.  Because I have them with me ALL the time!  In my pocket.  I can always just say ‘hold on, let me check’ if I screw something up and someone calls me on it.  Or, if I’m not 100% on board with what someone is telling me, but they seem so sure - I can look up the facts right there.  If only I could have an account like that of the events in my life and things I have said/done.  That way my memory would always be spot on!

Even with all my online reading/research I have somehow started to actually read books for the first time ever.  Non-fiction.  Fiction feels like a waste to me…like the tv, video games, etc….escapism.  Which is something I’m trying to escape.  I want to learn about the real world…not escape.  I’ve spent enough of my life escaping.

So, the fact that I’ve started reading books has really surprised me.  It started off with one or two, and it’s just snowballed in the last 20 months.  So, I sat down and made a list.  Now 3/4 of the books have been read only in the last 6 months.  I have also always been a slow reader…lack of interest, or trying hard to memorize or understand what I’m reading.  I would read every word and have to reread sentences and paragraphs because my thoughts would wander and ask questions.  And then I would be lost and have to start again.

So here’s my list:

• Aug ‘08 started everything with Stephen Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. - what a simple and logical eye opener.

• Boost Your Immune System Naturally by Beth MacEoin - reintroduced me to focus on health again.
• Magnificent Mind at Any Age by Daniel Amen - awesome read!

Not much reading here until after March ‘09 where I took and wrote my Personal Trainer certification.

• Green for Life came next and was given to me by my first business partner at the start of my fourth business venture.
• Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher - started it, but didn’t finish lol

March through August ‘09 really had me interested in business and I went nuts listening to Tony Robbins CD’s and really wrapping my head around some of these incredible concepts.  I feel I need to mention this here.  Even though I wasn’t reading here, everything I learned opened me up to concepts, ideas, and really got me excited about learning with passion for the first time in my life.  I scanned through a few books here that were borrowed from friends and the library, and some old business books I had from previous ventures.  Then I got into:

Richard Branson:

• Screw it Lets Do It - BLEW MY MIND!  Read it faster than I’ve ever read anything in my life

• Business Stripped Bare - stopped 1/2 way through to start my 5th business venture: worx4you

• Autobiography - have only scanned through it since I was busy getting worx4you up and running

Since Dec. ‘09, things have gone a little nuts.  Three clients signed up with four product releases, running a remote sub-contracting team, not to mention working from home with three kids.  You’d think I wouldn’t have time for much else.  On the contrary, I’ve been even more inspired to learn and read and do more.  So, along with our typical online research/reading, the books since December have been read with (for me) insane speed:

• Agile Testing by Lisa Crispin/Janet Gregory - not cover to cover…strictly reference, but wicked book :)
• Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk
• Grow Younger, Live Longer by Deepak Chopra
• Clean by Alejandro Junger
• Food Matters by Mark Bittman
• Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (also have How to Talk & about 1/2 way through)
• Rework by 37 Signals (Jason Fried)
• The Decision Tree by Thomas Goetz - just started
• Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra (just purchased, haven’t started yet)
• Quantum Enigma - just ordered and waiting for it to arrive

That’s it so far.  When I looked at the pile from the last few months, I was personally shocked.  This is not the Vesna I know!  I’m pleasantly surprised and very inspired by all of these books.  Every one of them has meant quite a lot to me and made huge differences in my life.  I appreciate every author mentioned here (and hope I’ve spelled names correctly! :) and they’re incredibly inspiring ideas and words. 

Thank you for the knowledge and inspiration!!

posted 1 year ago

“Treat others as you would have them treat you” is, in my opinion, a load of cr*p!

Let me explain…..

I think I read something in an S Covey book at some point that said something about treating people as THEY would like to be treated, not as YOU would like to be treated.  For the first time in my life, that made sense.  What a self centered thing it would be to treat people as you want to be treated.  As if they are all like you?  Have your needs?  Have your experiences and understandings?

I’ve struggled with that saying in the past.  I saw someone use it the other day and it’s been nagging at me.

Treating others as I would be treated has been my struggle in dealing with women my entire life.  I have no idea how to treat other women, or perhaps I haven’t attempted to learn how to treat them?

I have spent my life surrounded by males.  A brother, friends, at university (for mathematics), male-dominated sports (skeet shooting, skydiving, snowboarding - back in the day), a male-dominated career, and now a male-dominated house hold (a husband and three sons).  I was a Tom-boy and played with Tonka trucks, fell out of trees, and scrapped with boys until they grew too strong.  To this day, I shy away from ‘typical’ girl-stuff, or perhaps protest it all too strongly.

I’m not a typical girl.  I don’t like flowers or gifts, or decorative gold things.  We don’t exchange gifts and I refuse to even remotely acknowledge Feb. 14 or mother’s day, etc.  We treat each other with love and respect day in and day out.  I do not need forced marketing days to have somone I love and respect waste money on that stuff.  I’ve never worn make up (three times in my life, and twice in complete tears of the entire processs) or heals, or carried a purse. 

This is just my nature.  I think I understand why most women are not like this, and I respect them for their choices and all.  But I have had few ‘good’ dealings with women.  Business and personal.  I’ve tried - and continue to try.  But, I’m constantly messing something up somehow.  I feel like I’m walking on eggshells and can’t just be myself when I meet another woman.  I’m worried about being misunderstood and having my words taken out of context, and eventually hurting their feelings.

This comes from treating them the way I want to be treated.  I want raw honesty.  No double meanings or anything (my brain is too simplistic for this - especially when emotions are involved), just honesty.  I WANT to be told I look fat.  Otherwise I’m just living a lie, and will take no course of action to change that and better myself. With honest responses, it’s easy to chart a course of action.  It’s easy to come up with solutions, or fix misunderstandings.  Without honesty, I waste time, energy (and life) trying to ‘figure it out’.  In my male-dominated world, there is raw honesty.  And if there isn’t, it’s pretty easy to figure out the meaning behind things.

So, I have learned, I should NOT treat women (or people in general) the way I want to be treated.  I need to treat them how *they* want to be treated.  This means taking the time to understand what each individuals needs are.  Not what your needs are and projecting them on to someone else.

**Note: there are women I get along with and understand out there, and who are a lot like myself.  My example is just with generally meeting women on a day to day basis.

posted 2 years ago

Excitement, Passion, and Hard Work

I certainly had excitement for my work in the past (whilst employed by others). I had passion and worked hard as well. Deep down though, I couldn’t wait for lunch, the end of day or Fridays. I detested Mondays as much as the next guy and it seemed to take forever to get down to business on a Monday after everyone caught up on the weekends events. Friday afternoons were also a wash. Not to mention the days before and after holidays.

I am shocked (and pleased!) that I DO have the passion and hard work in me that I always thought I had. I did however, think there was something wrong with me that it wasn’t coming out in my work as I expected.

Being self employed (again, but in a much different light) has upped my excitement, passion and hard work to a place I had never imagined! I attribute this not only to pride of ownership, but to the wonderful people I am meeting. Not just the opportunities that lay ahead, but the excitement, passion and hard work that I see THEY have. I am a victim of my environment and am aware of that. EPH is catchy…as are lazy Fridays, blah Mondays, etc in the work place. I thank all the passionate people I have met over the last few months. I have caught your disease and embrace it!

This brings me to ponder how the heck employers can create this for employees? If I’d felt even a fraction of this while employed…WOW! I can’t recall wanting to wake up at 4:30 am to up my productivity level. Or hardly being able to sleep thinking about the awesome things I’ll be doing on Monday morning. Or seeing every escapism tool (tv, movies, mindless internet surfing, etc) as time wasted when I could be living my passion. and taking action to eliminate every escapism tool from my life because I want to be more productive!! Who AM I?! I don’t even recognize myself! It’s unreal! How can employers get employees to feel this? There must be a way?

Wow I’m pumped! Must do yoga, meditate and head to the gym before the rest of the planet wakes up.

Life is good. I am thankful to all I have met and everything they have taught me. I could not be where I am without them.

posted 2 years ago

Lots of eye openers and aha moments this week.

Trying to put together the testing in an agile environment thing in my head.  I have a much clearer view of what I want to do for biz owners.  Also, incredibly clear on the fact that I love start-ups.  Wow….didn’t really expect that, but it’s really nailing it in with each start-up I speak with.  My first client really opened my eyes, then the AC and today just pretty much solidified it.  I am thankful for all those events because I had really given up hope.  Nice to be free from waterfall.  Although - I find I’m still resorting to old habits at times, but that’s ok.  Habits are broken one step at a time.

This business thing remains a mystery, but I love learning about it now (never thought I would say that!).  It’s so challenging and I don’t know the first thing about it, but it’s fun so far because I love learning and being thrown into things I know nothing about.

Other ramblings for today….I think we might be switching clubs.  Tried out CL for a week.  We didn’t like it at first, but there are some good points.  They open at 5:00am instead of 5:30, so we get an extra 1/2 hour to the morning.  No waiting for machines because there’s more than one of everything.  This really helps when I’m doing circuits.  There are some amazing muscles (NOT muscle heads) there…!  I want I want!  I’ve got definition back now…but I’d really like to cut at some point.

On the food front, we’re at a stand still.  We need to move forward, but I think I’m going to leave that for Jan.  Just being able to maintain what we’re doing (and yes, bringing the VitaMix on our trip with us!) is enough right now.

posted 2 years ago

Agile Testing…So many things to learn now that I’ve broken free. My brain is full…

Keeping up with work, the kids & family, nutrition, health and trying to learn more and more about testing in an Agile environment….yikes!  Thank goodness we’ve cut out time wasters like t.v., etc.  Need to revisit Covey’s four quadrants and keep pushing to only work on quadrants 1 and 2.  Need more time to work on Agile testing, marketing, and more social networking type stuff……ok, enough…back to work! 

posted 2 years ago

Just contacted a naturopath in town for appointment in the new year. Thanks @benjaminbach!

We still have a way to go.  Must kick dairy products, get the kids off of turkey/chicken (they’re actually not liking it lately, so yay!), and kick our weekly ice cream fix.  The dairy is just an irrational fear of not getting nutrients, etc. (which is a crock logically), especially for the baby.  The ice cream is a horrible habit that seems almost as powerful as the alcohol and cigs (way back in the day)…in fact, possibly more powerful.  Or maybe we’re making it more powerful, because the kids certainly don’t care if they have it or not.  In fact, they give us what for whenever we buy it!  It’s definitely us.  Out of all the horrible things we cut out, this is definitely the worst, and final, frontier.

From there, I think it will be a no brainer to head straight to raw.

I spoke to a woman at the gym this morning, who’s 80 year old mother-in-law just went raw and no longer needs glasses to read!  Good for her!  And I thought we were starting late…goes to show you, it’s never too late!  What a wonderful story to hear.

posted 2 years ago

Software QA, Health, Life….?

I’m not sure what I’ll be rambling about here.  I have in mind to keep it to Software QA and health/fitness ‘stuff’.  I’m pretty outspoken and strong willed with my opinions, but that in no way means I’m right!  In fact, I love to be challenged, and a debate.  It’s the only way to learn, grow and expand.  Present me with facts and prove I’m right or wrong, but please don’t argue semantics…it’s a waste of time and energy :)

posted 2 years ago