Not Even Remotely

Nature Twinning Part 7:

Apartment Red Trees--Wednesday, 10/25/17

I was initially planning to wear this outfit with a black blazer but I wasn't feeling the structured look that gave.  I would have switched in a black cardigan, but surprisingly, I don't have a nice long-ish black cardigan for fall/winter at the moment.  So I tried this beige one and was pleasantly surprised by the result.  After a year or so of only wearing long cardigans with dresses and more recently skirts, my eye has finally adjusted to the look of a long cardigan with (relatively skinny) pants.  Now that I'm on board, watch that combination go out of style in a month.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $9.00

If you're talking October and maroon, the fall color in Coldville is where it's at.

In my neighborhood (Oct 2016)

Crane at Simmons Aviary--Thursday, 10/26/17

Given how much I like the burgundy birds and cream/dark green rabbit utility blouses from Loft, it was a no-brainer that when I was looking to add a few new blouses to my fall wardrobe that I ordered several of the new utility blouses.  Well.  They have changed the cut of the blouse so it is now smaller in the bust and doesn't fit me right any more.  When I took them to a local store to return, the very thin and small-busted young clerk said that she too was disappointed by the new utility blouse style and hopes that they return to the classic cut soon.  If you're not fitting a bigger middle-aged woman like me or a thin young woman like her, I'm not sure who the new blouse is made for!

Luckily, I hit pay dirt with two other blouses, including this elegant dark green one.

*Dark green smocked cuff blouse (Loft), $26.70

OCPW: $29.53

You might expect black and green to be a common zoo color combination, but I found upon looking at my photos that it really wasn't.  But I like how this African crane brought in the gold of my tassel watch into the picture with a fringe of golden feathers on its head.  Nice touch, birdy.

Henry Doorly Zoo

Giraffe Eating From Ground--Friday, 10/27/17

This is my third new pair of jeans for fall, so I now have black, dark blue, and medium blue straight leg options for work, in addition to the dark blue skinny jeans that are still in reasonably good shape after 60 wears but that were not going to get me through to next summer's bare legs season on their own.

*Straight leg jeans (JCP), $17.50

OCPW: $31.69

The pattern of this reticulated giraffe must be what happens when my scarf and white jacket are blended together.

Indianapolis Zoo

In other news...OK, remote (or sometimes remote) developers, do you agree or disagree that physical proximity is important for your work? 

I've done a fair amount of collaboration on dashboard development, and it's felt like a huge boon to have my colleagues in the same office.  Well, really, that's been true of basically everything I've done at my current job from day one--it's been easier because everyone in my department is in one building.  I'm not kidding when I say I think I got up to speed on things about twice as fast because I share an office with another analyst who has a lot of organizational knowledge (she's been working there for 16 years) and domain knowledge.  I think it's too bad that colleagues in different but related departments are NOT in the same building...and not just because I hate driving across town for off-site meetings. 

Why does physical proximity feel important for my work?  Partly it's the convenience factor (because it's just easier to discuss things when people are looking at the same screen, and we don't have a great way to do that long-distance), but also something more fuzzy.  The people I see every day, I build stronger relationships with, so there is less of a psychological barrier to stopping by/calling/emailing/Skyping them about something that perhaps isn't critical but that would be helpful to get input on.  It also sometimes is necessary to keep an eye on my supervisor's office so that the moment he returns from a meeting, I can pop in and ask/remind him about something important.  The ability to hunt people down and get answers from them is a benefit not to be under-appreciated.