Women's Room - come talk

[Guest]

Awesomeness Mary!!! :w00t:

I have expressed it before but think it is worth re-emphasizing .. I think women typically DO have to work harder to estabish the same level of credibility for one reason or another when it comes to the working world; success is its' own reward.

JR

 

[TouchDown]

We had the same stupid stereotypes when I was growing up. All the men would go into the livingroom and BS, while the women stayed in the kitchen and chatted around the kitchen table.

Funny thing, I always hung out in the kitchen, much better food.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I don't really have any extended relatives anymore other than my in-laws. When the universe aligns and my folks are there with my in-laws and sis-in-law, it's kind of a free for all. No real clicks form.

A lot of it depends on who is hosting the gathering. Which, now that I think about it, has always been me as neither parents have ever been to the other's house. I tend to hang out with whoever is lurking around the kitchen, as I am generally the one making dinner, doing dishes, fixing drinks, etc.

If it's just me at the in-laws, I tend to hang out with my FIL and watch sports and the wife goes and helps her mom out.

I don't even really remember get togethers as a kid at this point. They were few and far between and rarely memorable.

 

[snickerd3]

growing up, when it was the whole extended family (aunts/uncles, great aunts/uncles, cousins, grandparents etc..) the old men were usually outside or in the basement smoking and drinking while they played pinnacle or cannasta. everyone else was where ever there was room. My sister and I were usually the bartenders for the card games, we would usually make 25/50 cents a run.

 

[csb]

We've got bundt cake!

I can only guess what this is homage to...

 

[snickerd3]

anytime i hear bundt cake I think of the scene in my big fat greek wedding where his parents bring a bundt cake to the party at her parents house and her mom and aunt are trying to figure out what a bundt cake was...they later brought it back out with a mini potted flower in the center since it was missing the center of the cake.

 

[Ble_PE]

anytime i hear bundt cake I think of the scene in my big fat greek wedding where his parents bring a bundt cake to the party at her parents house and her mom and aunt are trying to figure out what a bundt cake was...they later brought it back out with a mini potted flower in the center since it was missing the center of the cake.

That is exactly what I thought of when I read this.

Off topic: This is probably my wife's favorite movie and she has already told me to be sure to take it to the hospital when she is in labor so she can watch it.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I've never seen that movie. I was just trying to suggest a reason for hosting the meeting.

 

[snickerd3]

That is exactly what I thought of when I read this.
Off topic: This is probably my wife's favorite movie and she has already told me to be sure to take it to the hospital when she is in labor so she can watch it.

The wedding scene at the church where the grooms side is near empty and the brides side was full is basically what happened at my wedding.

 

[Fluvial]

We had the same stupid stereotypes when I was growing up.

My parents' parties were not like that at all. My mom was a big women's 'libber' (as they used to call them); the ladies and the men all congregated together and talked about everything under the sun. When I was small I used to sneak in there and listen to the conversations. They had many friends who were also professors, so a lot of the subject material went right over my head ... also more than a few from other countries, so lots of exotic-sounding accents.

One exception was when my Daddy was working at NASA in Huntsville during the summers. He and the other engineers would hang around outside and drink beer sometimes. I wonder now what cool things they were talking about (this was the era of the first Apollo missions).

 

[snickerd3]

My parents' parties were not like that at all. My mom was a big women's 'libber' (as they used to call them); the ladies and the men all congregated together and talked about everything under the sun. When I was small I used to sneak in there and listen to the conversations. They had many friends who were also professors, so a lot of the subject material went right over my head ... also more than a few from other countries, so lots of exotic-sounding accents.

My dad's side of the family was more like that. My grandma (post-widow period) and her sisters were very big women libers. My grandma's sister who is a nun still gets arrested at protest rallys. They all think nothing of just jumping on the train/plane with just their toothbrush and change of clothes in their purse and going to whereever the mood strikes them

 

[Katiebug]

I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that girls of my generation really were encouraged to be anything they wanted to be. In the mix of my Barbies, I also had Legos and science kits and all kinds of things.

Me, too. I was a Lego junkie as a kid...I had several Rubbermaid totes packed full of Legos. I had an erector set, too. My parents raised me with the belief that I could - and would - be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up.

When I was a little girl, I wanted more than anything to be an astronaut. I hope that commercial space travel is an option before I'm too old to try it...I would love to go into space, even just once in my life. I considered going to NASA after college, but even if I could get selected as an astronaut, I'd exhaust much of my 30s in getting trained and trying to get into a flight rotation. I'd much rather become a mom, to be honest. I'll never be an astronaut, but I do find my career very fulfilling anyways.

I have a question - are any of us members of Society of Women Engineers (SWE)? Some friends of mine started having a monthly lunch and, little by little, most all of my female engineer colleagues have been invited. We are kicking around the idea of joining SWE and having a little Jackson group.

I am not a member of SWE anymore. I belong to ASME but never attend meetings; it seems very much like an old boys' club (literal on both the "old" and the "boys" aspects). I joined SWE for a while but the meeting schedule always conflicted with my grad school schedule and it just wasn't working out. My employer doesn't pay for professional memberships, and I can only afford one (ASME).

 

[Capt Worley PE]

One exception was when my Daddy was working at NASA in Huntsville during the summers. He and the other engineers would hang around outside and drink beer sometimes. I wonder now what cool things they were talking about (this was the era of the first Apollo missions).

Ask your dad if he knew Ron Barlow. He worked for NASA at the time under von Braun. He was my supervisor for a while and a great guy, but he passed a few years back.

 

[maryannette]

When I was a little girl, I wanted more than anything to be an astronaut .... I'd much rather become a mom, to be honest. I'll never be an astronaut, but I do find my career very fulfilling anyways.

Katiebug, that is the key. You have to find YOUR fulfillment. What works for some does not work for all. There is no such thing as "having it all". You just have to choose the balance that you want to have.

 

[Fluvial]

Ask your dad if he knew Ron Barlow. He worked for NASA at the time under von Braun. He was my supervisor for a while and a great guy, but he passed a few years back.

I will ask him. These three summers he spent at NASA were 1966, 1967, and 1968. That would have been during von Braun's time there.

 

[Supe]

Kind of funny that you're mentioning this. I was watching October Sky yesterday in my hotel room.

 

[snickerd3]

Kind of funny that you're mentioning this. I was watching October Sky yesterday in my hotel room.

as long as your weren't watching vanilla sky...

 

[csb]

I'm in the same boat...I don't belong to anything because dues are ridiculous and I can't justify the perceived benefit against the cost. I think eb.com is a much better engineering community and it's free.

And Mary is so right on picking what's best for you. I used to think that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but there is no way I would have been happy doing that I now see.

 

[tymr]

Wow! It was like that for me, too. I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. I was not allowed to run the electric model train - only the boys could. I didn't understand why. I now have my own electric train set - G scale. It takes a long time for attitudes to change. Be patient. It IS getting better.

Yes, I agree, times have changed. I was actually referring to myself when I said not much has changed. I love running equipment even though I've been promoted out of it, and I chose not to have kids. If I had it to do all over again I'd still do what I do.

 

[Dleg]

Mary, on that G-scale train set, are you saying that size matters?