400 years ago today Galilei Galileo presented his newest invention, the telesocpe.
Galileo’s telescopeThe original design Galileo came up with in 1609 is commonly called a Galilean telescope. It uses a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece lens. Galilean telescopes produce upright images.
Galileo’s best telescope magnified objects about 30 times. Because of flaws in its design, such as the shape of the lens and the narrow field of view, the images were blurry and distorted. Despite these flaws, the telescope was still good enough for Galileo to explore the sky. The Galilean telescope could view the phases of Venus, and was the first to see craters on the Moon and four moons orbiting Jupiter.
My manager resigned and is now an Associate Professor with PJC. When he announced his resignation three weeks ago I saw an opportunity to move up and began marketing myself to his boss, his boss and his boss. Most of my life I have said “They can’t tell me ‘no’ if I don’t ask.”
On my manager’s last day, Friday a week ago, I had no word on if I was going to get the promotion or not but I had been given an important project that needed a quick resolution. While this seemed to indicate positive things for me it was also the kind of project that would be given to me because I can excel with it. I did excel with it.
This past Monday I was told that I was getting a promotion but not to a management position. It was decided the management position would be vacated and a new team leader position created. I am the new team leader at the help desk. Then I was told not to tell anybody until the final details had been worked out. I began taking notes of all I did, how the team was doing and other projects I knew were coming.
On Wednesday the new position and my promotion to it were announced. The gates opened and the work began flowing in. I am seeing new challenges every day and I’m doing my best to meet them successfully.
Here is the part I found unusual. I did not receive a raise with the promotion. Going with my idea of “Can’t say ‘no’ if I don’t ask” I asked about compensation for the additional work load. I was told a raise would be considered in 90 days because the policy with this company is to earn the reward. I thought I had earned the reward already but this is how the company does things. I’m ok with that. In 90 days I will have proved myself one way or the other.
Because I’m still an hourly employee I will pick up a little additional overtime. I have been issued a Blackberry Storm and will receive the laptop next week. 24/7 access means there will be calls and issues to handle.
I have a new set of challenges ahead of me, plenty of learning opportunities and the desire to succeed. Time to celebrate with a Sam Adam’s Irish Red.
I am currently reading The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and came across some good astronomy. Starting on page 77 of the book the author describes a total solar eclipse. It is a wonderful job of expalining the eclipse, why it happens, and the effects on the earth (shadows, etc…).
If you are a horror fan be sure to check out the book. If you are a science fan at least drop by your local book store and read pages 77-79.
