Yet... another... category four kill storm

You may be wondering just where the hell have I been?

Monday, yesterday, today, and Friday I am Catering Girl. Faithful and loyal sidekick to Catering Man. Preparing Crab Duexelle Mushroom Caps and Canapes. Wrapping baskets of tastefully assorted crackers. Skewering artichoke hearts and chicken strips, breading them and making them shine as only a handmade appetizer can.

He's had no business for weeks, and now -- boom. Holiday parties up the ying yang. They changed their policy where they won't cater anything smaller than 50 people, so all the jobs are bigassed. The smallest one was tonight, and it was a favor to a customer who only needed hors d'ouevres for 30, and they only needed them dropped off, no serving staff or anything. So that's easy money for Cateringman.

I hadn't worked for him for weeks, and forgot everything. Today I screwed up the premixing of salt and pepper by using hand cracked black pepper instead of table grind.

Duh?

Anyway. It's been fun working again, and I'm nowhere near as sore as I was when I started working for him this past spring. I missed Lisa and Chris. The dishwasher Hodgie makes me laugh my ass off. Mr. Mysogynist is gone -- he took a job as a regional sales rep for a company based out of Texas, so he moved. Chris and I have a side bet on when he'll come back after the sales weasel money dries up and the company goes out of business (like the last one he worked for).

Cateringman will keep us all busy for a couple of weeks and then whamo -- it'll all stop until April. He's going to Aruba for a while, and then Tuscany for most of the month of March. Must be nice, eh? [grin].

He deserves it though -- he works hard running the business and riding my ass about not wrapping things tightly enough or not chopping evenly enough. The business has grown like mad, thanks in no part to me, and he deserves a big break.

Yesterday I cut my left thumb to shit, for the first time in months and months I injured myself at work. I was fine chopping scallions for the pasta station, and had the bunch of scallions pinched together tightly in my left fingers... chop chop chop chop. Ouch, God Bless America!!! I clipped the inside of my thumb (closest part to the index finger) with the butt end of the knife, which in Cateringman land is just as sharp as the tip.

I'm hardcore though. I busted ass and worked through the pain. And seeing as I've been saving the world in time for the buffet to be served, I've been a tired little girl. I was grumpy when I got home. Doug let me take a nap in the bedroom (normally he retires to the boudoir but this time stayed on the couch and watched TV and snoozed) and he ordered pizza. So effectively I had the night off from being mom. A beer and "24" later I felt a bit better, but I slept like the dead last night.

There hasn't been much to report. I have no witty anecdotes, haven't done any Christmas shopping. We still don't know if Doug's parents will be coming up to join us for Christmas or not, so I don't know what to plan for the holiday. It's kind of frustrating, because I have 2 weeks to pull Christmas out of my big fat ass for everyone.

I still haven't heard from the college job. I got called by a recruiting agency who found my resume on Monster.com and wanted further info on where I was looking to work, salary requirement, etc. So that was kind of nice.

---

Friends of ours got a new dog. They already have a schnauzer, and had a bulldog too but due to some aggressive behavior problems and somewhat unpredictable biting they gave him up to some folks in New Hampshire who would be better equipped to deal with him.. Both of them were devastated, to say the least, to give away their baby. He was a good dog -- but something recently screwed with his mind and altered his perceptions of small people (ie kids...). Seeing as they were bummed, they decided they needed another puppy. This is Carrie's Christmas Present:

Meet Axel.

I had suggested Figgis as a name. A friend of mine named her dog Figgis (a Boxer) and it is just the funnest name to say. "C'mere, Figgisssssss" it just sounds so funny. But they changed their minds when they met him. He is SO CUTE! I can't wait to go get some puppy love from him. Look at that little face, and that nose. Oy. To die for. Love him. Eat him up yum.

Not that my dog isn't good enough or something... Jack rules. And he's still a puppy so he's still got that puppy sweetness about him. New puppies and new babies just make me melt.

So a special welcome here to Mr. Axel. Be good to your momma and dadda, wouldya?

---

Speaking of being good, right now I'd like to draw attention to my sister. She hates when I do this... but I feel the need.

I was talking to Aaron and he said that he didn't have a camera to take with him to Antarctica. If I were working full time, I'da bought him a camera that day, but I am concerned with our finances over the next couple of weeks and months, so I couldn't just run out and buy him one. And I didn't want to LOAN him my camera, because I use it all the damn time. I'm lost without it.

So I called my sister.

She has a digicam, and she doesn't use it too too much. I figured she may be willing to loan it to him.

Not only was she willing to loan the digicam, but she also told me she has an Advantix camera so he can take cool panoramic shots of Antarctica where he'll be, so she threw that in. And, she is throwing in a couple rolls of film.

AND she offered to have him send her the film to get it developed where she goes because she's got some super discount dealie thing.

So, let's recap here -- sister asked for small favor of loaning camera. Returns with far more than expected response in the form of two cameras and some mother fucking film. Goes beyond that with offer to develop for discount.

She is, by far, the NICEST PERSON EVER. I was floored by her willingness to help out and her total givingnessnessness. She Rules.

So all bow down and worship the kindhearted, wonderwoman -- Linda!

I know I will.

---

Another class four death storm is approaching, although we may just get a mixy rainy thing out of the deal. A bit further inland and northward they should get a fair amount of weather. I've got to go get the laundry out of the basement and get dinner started before this next killer storm hits. I bought dogfood (so the dogs won't eat our carcasses immediately when we're all frozen to death) and bread (so we can have peanut butter and jelly in the post-storm power outage). We'll see if we survive.

Amy told me that she wanted to go with me to the grocery store next time I went so we could sing and dance in the aisles together... I would have brought her, but to be honest my back hurt, and my thumb was throbbin' and I didn't dance or do anything to shame my daughter...

this time..

Naptime

Mr. Garfield emailed me and told me it is okay to nap, based on my comment at the end of the last entry. Naps are something I used to always take. When I was at the Oregon Extension in 1988, 3pm became the official time of "all those worthy of the name student" to curl up on a couch with a book and a couple friends and then fall asleep. Whoever woke up first was the dinner maker. Doug's roommate Andy started this tradition, and we used it many times through that fall semester, sleeping on the couch like a pile of puppies.

I think of Andy whenever I do get a chance to nap. Which isn't too often. I miss Andy sometimes. But that's a story for another day...

Yesterday afternoon. Interview. It was a momentous occasion, in that I got to drive the truck solo down the infamous highway to a west of Boston suburb (must find easier alternative route to Watertown instead of taking Rte 128. Could take Rte 1 to Rte 16 and cut across that way, but not sure it'd be a good move...)

Driving the truck is a pleasure. I cranked up Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds "Live at Luther College," and rocked down the highway. Found the location easily enough. They are a start-up company and a friend of mine works there, so he got me the interview.

This company is starting to grow, and needing desperately to pull people into the fold. I interviewed not necessarily for a job, but to figure out where my skills would fit into this growing company.

They basically said they'd want me to be doing web/print writing for technical documentation and user training, which sounds fabulous to me. They liked the samples of the work I brought. They liked me and told me they'd want me to come back in and meet the two chief dudes, one of which I met in passing and the other is out of town.

They are very flexible with work schedules. Most of the employees work from home or come into the office for a few hours a day. Others come in first thing in the morning and stay until all hours, working and working. Quite like Microserfs.

(In fact, I couldn't help but think of Microserfs when I was interviewing with the first guy because he kept talking about Look and Feel for web design. Look and Feel were the names of the gerbils or hamsters or whatever small furry they had at the Oop! offices in the book. I laughed. Look and Feel).

Anyway -- it'd be a dream job for me. But there is one problem.

They don't have money. So the employees are currently working unpaid...

The way it works is everyone keeps track of his or her hours, and are granted future stock in the company when the company goes public OR they are bought by a competitor.

Scenario 1 is: when the company goes public, and person A has 50,000 shares of stock, he can sell that day to make some money, in part or in full, whatever he needs. Or, he can just hold on to the stock and wait and see what happens (me, I'd be selling 25,000 shares that day so I can pay my bills!)

Scenario 2 is: if and when the company is bought by a competitor, they will arrange for all the stock granted to date to be converted to the new company's stock and given to the employees right then. So then everyone will get paid. So if say Microsoft buys them, person A gets 50,000 shares of Microsoft right then. If the company keeps all the employees, they go on the Microsoft payroll.

So there are no salaries as of yet, until they sell several versions of their software and service out in the world and established, with income to pay people before the IPO. They have one customer they are doing an installation for right this minute, another that was just signed up, and two more that are in negotiations. They aren't using Venture Capital funding (VC) but are using Angel funding, which I know nothing about. I don't know how it works. I don't know what the deal is with how the investment gets paid back. I just know they don't pay money.

They have about 15 people working there, for future stock. My friend has been there a year. The founders -- three years, with no pay. I asked the guy interviewing me how people make their Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab Truck Payments if they are not getting paid.

His answer -- most of the people there are married, and live off their spouse/partner's income. Others who are single and unsupported by another individual's income have sidejobs that they do in the form of consulting, contractor work. So they sometimes scale back what they're doing for this company for a few weeks, still working on their projects of course, but they focus on the moneymaker for a while. And the owners have no problem with that. They know what they have to do to get the company going, and they're very close to their big launch, and they seem incredibly willing to work with anyone's situation.

So.

I'm sure they want me to work for them. I'm sure I'd succeed and do a very super excellent job. But. I have a truck to pay for, and not enough Life Energy to be a mom, work a side contracting job, and work for these guys. Hmmm.

The college I applied to work for sent me a letter letting me know they'd received my information and are putting me into the interview pool, and they asked me to fill out an optional EEOC form (are you white and male? yes? seeya!) and requested my transcripts. So those are en-route. I'll keep you posted there too.

What else to report -- not much. Can't really think of anything. I had something on my mind that I was going to write about, but can't recall what. I'm sure it will come to me when I'm not able to access this machine. I have work to do for CM and MF today, and more cateringman menus. They liked the menus I made and then came up with other ones that they weren't going to put into the format I designed, but then thought better of it.

Post-birthday report

Random stuff, not really a cohesive entry today. First things first.

Yesterday as I was driving home from lunch with my old boss, I saw the swan out in the pond near my house. He used to come hang out down closer to my house, but he seems to be very happy over closer to the big part of the pond. I wanted to get a picture of him. So I turned around, parked, got out and went to see if I could get him to come closer.

There were dozens of Canada geese in the pond, they were all trying very hard to be the swan.

He didn't want to come close, but I watched him for a long time. I watched all of them looking for food, sticking their long necks under the water, with their duck rumps straight up in the air. The swan is huge, so he was pretty impressive to watch in this process. And... they stay under a good long time. I was impressed.

The really funny part was that when I parked my car, two ducks came from the opposite side of the pond and followed me across the road like puppies. They were very unique. There were no other ducks in the pond that looked like them, and I've only ever seen ducks like them at the Topsfield Fair. The Canada geese and the mallards didn't like these two at all, and kept harassing them. Sigh. Intolerance in the duck world.

So here are two pictures from my Swan and Duck watching experience.

---

I'm in MF's class right now, working from home.

I wish I had broadband, because I get no visuals at home on CuSeeMe, just audio and text. It's better than nothing, and my only real purpose here is to zap the unsavory interlopers out of the room, so I don't really need to SEE anyone... just be here. I had to stay here because Jessie had a half school day and band practice after the half day... so I had to pick her up in the middle of class. It was either work here or go down there and try and arrange for another parent to get her. I didn't want to deal with the hassle. So I stayed home. It all worked out well. I abandoned the class for 10 minutes. People came in. The students asked them to leave. No one was given a hard time. Peace reigned and all was good in the world.

---

Birthday report -- well. It wasn't a Barenaked Ladies concert with a celestial event following, but... it was nice.

I kept Geoff home because of Grandparents' day festivities at his school, and we went up to see his best friend Pete in Maine. Hanging out with Marcia and the kids was very nice and relaxing. They have some snow, so the kids got to sled... it was icy and fast, and they really liked it. Geoff fell asleep in the car on the way home after crying for the first half hour that he wanted to move there and live near Pete and "my girlfriend Mary. I want to marry her and live in Maine forever..."

Dude, you're already married, twice!

Mary is sweet on him too... which makes it extra cute. They'd make a nice couple... in 20 years. Gah. I can't imagine that far into the future... so I'll drop that line of thought.

I got several emails (Thank you Amy, Carrie, Virginia, Tess... you so rock) and different online cards from people. I took a nice nap when we got home. Then Doug took all of us out for dinner at Stripers Grille in Salisbury, right on the Merrimack River across from Newburyport. If you're familiar with the area -- it's a great little place to eat, the food is awesome, and because it is on the other side of the river you get the view of pretty Newburyport... all lit up and New Englandy. It's a very nice place. When we got there, Geoff told the waitress it was my birthday and she gave me mad props.

There was a large table filled with partiers, celebrating an older woman's birthday there too. When they brought out her cake, Geoff protested. "Hey! They didn't say the right NAME! It's my MOM'S birthday," and he was mad. We laughed at how cute he was.

I went to the bathroom, and when I did the waitress came over with MY cake, unrequested by Doug -- it was her idea. And she was all "Uh, where'd she go??!!" because I spoiled the moment by needing to pee (vodka and cranberry juice drinks makes me gotta pee when I gotsta pee). So she got my name at least, making the singing part easier, and then they came back around to sing to me when I got back.

I put a napkin on my head. I was so embarrassed. Geoff was thrilled that I got sung to, and that we had cake. It was all very nice.

When we got home, I put the kids to bed, I got a call from my mom so I returned it and we chatted. I got a call from my sister, so we chatted. Doug fell asleep and then I remembered I had a meeting with cateringman in the morning and hadn't finished the menus! In fact, I was less than halfway done with the menus! And it was 11pm!!! Aw crap.

So I went into the study and finished the menus. I got to bed after 1am. I was shagged out tired yesterday. The meeting went well and they accused me of partying too hard for my birthday. I let them believe that. I didn't want them to know I'd stayed up on my birthday WORKING for them... they'd call me a nerd.

---

Yesterday I had lunch with my former boss, and a friend from the Marketing group who got laid off in June. We had a wonderful time, and it was so good to see him. I keep in good contact with my old boss, but some of my old pals I've been out of touch with since my layoff.

I went and bought myself a new winter coat (Kohls was having a 50% off sale. Wooo!) and got some stuff for Geoff -- he needed a new coat and sledding pants. I got the first of Jessica's Christmas presents but she went into my room and saw it on the bed. I got her a Simpson's Chess set. So there goes 20 bucks that was supposed to be part of Christmas for her.

My bedroom should be SO off limits!

---

Tonight we're going to look at a new truck. We've been thinking for a long while that we want a truck, but have the family to sit in it. So. We're looking at a Dodge Ram pickup, extended cab. Seats 6. Great payload area for the dogs and gear (we'll obviously get a cap so the dogs aren't just... floating around back there, waiting to jump out and get killed. Decent mileage (18city/20hwy).

We don't want a minivan. An SUV is out of the question because that won't keep the dogs in the way back. And there aren't any decent sized station wagons that seat more than 5 people. No one makes the way way back seat anymore. And the middle seat is virtually useless in the front if you manage to get a car with bench seating... so going with the truck is where it's at. With 0% financing right now, we can trade in the Saturn and have the same ballpark payments that we have with it if we buy now.

This of course puts a crimp in Doug's Big TV Fantasy(TM). He wants a bigassed mother 36" TV for the built-in, and even picked one out. It costs like 1400 bucks or something. I forget how much. It's expensive. We may have to live with the pimpy TV for a year longer. Unless I get a job in the next couple months. Which I'm so hoping for. Then, we pay off all our debt, buy the truck, buy the TV and finish fixing the stuff we need to fix! Money -- it's helpful.

I've sent out resumes to head hunters. I'm dying to hear back from that college I just applied to. Yesterday was the deadline for submissions. They probably have an internal candidate already hand-picked and the advertisement and I'm not going to even get an interview. I have an interview tomorrow with a company in Watertown, which is SO far away, but it's a writing position that I'm really hoping I can make part time or flex time, and work from home. They are a young software company and a friend of mine works there. He is working for next to no money while they sell the first round of their product. They need a few more clients before they can give everyone who's been there since the start some serious money for sticking with it. But, they need training documentation and tech support manuals. So... that's what I'd be doing.

I'm sort of nervous, feel very under qualified. I have to dig out my tech writing samples. I'll probably have to go with the engineers to installations to work with the training process and then have stuff written for training afterwards, so this could be more of a pain in the ass if it doesn't pay well to start. I'll let you know.

Plus, if they give me this job, at very little pay... what do I do when I get the call to interview for the other job? What if I get the job at the college that I really really want? What if I walk away from a company that ends up with a great IPO and I miss out on gajillions of dollars? Meh.

I don't want to think about it. I won't get either job at all. In the long run... all that matters is I get the dishes done today, and the laundry folded. After this class is over. And a nap. Yeah. A nap.

I'm old

Staining the built-in

We survived the storm.

Now, all the bread I bought will get moldy. Fudge.

---

The weekend was a mostly stay-at-home event due to that weather. Jessie spent the day at a friend's house (the "K" girl who was in my group for the field trip earlier this year, the slightly odd one). So it was quiet around here, and I got Geoff's room completely cleaned up, again.

Sunday was sort of rainy and icy, and all seven members of the choir, plus the organist, the pastor and six parishoners turned up for church. It was kind of sad. The roads weren't that bad. But Sunday School was cancelled (the Sunday School director obviously had worse roadage near her house than I did...) which was why there were no kids and hence no adults in attendance. Our 10am service is all families and a few older single people.

We all stayed after church for coffee. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I went... normally I'd be wrestling with Geoff or Jessie'd be whining in my face that she wanted to go to her friend across the street's house for the day.

Football watching was fun. We almost had skin failure when Tommy Maddox of the Steelers was shown splinted up and being hauled off the field with an obvious back/neck injury (nearly jumped online to email Leatheregg, Chadster, CJK and Smitty all at once screaming my head off). But I restrained myself. I almost started crying when I saw him there, they flashed over during the game they broadcasted here (Bills. yawn).

He's got an amazing story -- He is this year's "Kurt Warner" in "amazing stories" kinds of ways. He was an insurance salesman, wanted to get back to football... He sent out letters begging any NFL franchise to give him a chance and the Steelers got him. He's had a great year so far stepping in as the QB for the struggling Kordell (although I love him, he just isn't ... performing as well as last year). It would so very suck to see the guy lose his ability to walk, lose his career... lose his second chance at everything. Sigh.

---

Today -- I finally got Home Improvement Project #2 - the built in cabinet - just about 100% completed.

Yes. I stained the bad boy. Holy cow it was a bitch and a half. Four and a half hours, 1.25 cans of stain. My hands are a mess.

After deliberating with my sister via long distance about whether or not I'd need them, I bought gloves and started the project at about noon.

The gloves were pimpy-cheap and my fingers popped through the fingertips, so I ended up tossing them. And yes, Linda, there was polyeurethane in the stain, so getting the stain off my hands was a party. The interior of the shelves was the hardest part. I made a big big mess.

It looks great, but I can't take a picture of it because I loaned Cateringman my camera so he could take some pictures. Plus, I'll get more email that says "your tv is still too small and pimpy in there..." Yes. I know. But it is the only TV I gots!

---

I applied for another job that I really really want, this time it is at a community college here in the Commonwealth. The position is exactly what I did at the college where I used to work, but it pays 12k more to start than I was earning four years ago. Which ain't too shabby.

I am perfect for the job, yet again. I want the job... yet again. I'm not getting my hopes up.

I sent my resume, portfolio and transcript to them via email. I asked all my former bosses/friends/cheerleaders for letters of recommendation. We'll see what happens.

---

Tomorrow, Geoff doesn't know it yet but we're taking a little trip up to see Wayne and Marcia in Maine. Geoff's school does a "grandparents' day" every November. Last year I ended up going and picking him up because he was SO distraught that his grandparents weren't there and everyone else's were. We're not running the chance of him going through THAT trauma again for a day of grandparent worship. If it were a Friday or a Monday or something, I'm sure my parents would come up for the weekend. But a Tuesday is a tough request from people who live 5 hours away. Doug's parents are 12 hours away in the far west of PA, so we never even ask them. So tomorrow will be a special day for Geoff and mommy, and his friend Pete... and I'll enjoy not having to sit here looking at the ceiling, which is Home Improvement Project #1, and it still isn't complete. It's close. But not complete.

---

I got some cool email about the roller conveyor. My friend Mr. Garfield shared his stories with me. And Tanager told me there's a conveyor roller slide at a park near Coolidge Corner in Boston. She also indirectly told me I had a fat ass... which made me laugh.

I'd share their emails with you. But I accidentally deleted them because I was on the phone with my sister and was distracted. I thought I was deleting the two pieces of spam I got today... but it was their emails that went down the tubes.

Enough. Dinner's in the oven. I'm gonna relax a bit, kick it in front of my beautifully stained home entertainment cabinet, natch!

Career Changes

Yesterday I worked like MAD on CM's website. Five hours and I finally ironed out all the mistakes and problems with the navigation. Holy crap was that a mess. My big fear now is that everything will break when we go to give it to the high school for their history department site and I'll have to fix everything again. Dreamweaver has been doing all kinds of crazy crap lately on me -- coding links to point to my C drive, to the root directory of the college site when I don't WANT them linked there. I was very frustrated yesterday, and now that things look fixed, I don't feel better... I'm nervous.

He just sent me a boat load more content, so I have a ton of work to do today. I haven't called catering man to see if he needs me this week and to be honest -- I'd rather not work for him with all this webstuff in my bag. I'll call him tonight, I can probably work for him Friday.

I also have a lot of work to do on MF's site, this week and the next four weeks are lacking content and need some sprucing up in a big way. I also have to find out from the students if they don't know how to create a powerpoint presentation, and make myself available to them to teach them, because their final projects are 50% of their grade and I want to make sure they know what they are doing. I will reserve the lab down at the college some night if they want me to. So much to do.

I extended my unemployment 13 weeks, which is nice but I'd like to not be on unemployment anymore and have some kind of real income.

Last night I got a phone call from an old friend. The woman Doug and I worked with to buy this house, S, is a buyer's broker. We've kept in contact over the last 6 years, but hadn't talked for about a year. She just had a new baby, and was calling to let us know the life update for her and her husband (who, by the by, is a contractor and has done a load of work on our house).

We were chatting about me getting laid off and not working full time, and she told me I should look into getting a real estate license and coming to work for her.

Now, normally, I'd cringe at the thought of being a real estate agent. But a buyer's broker is something totally different than a real estate agent.

Real estate agents work for the seller, want the house to sell for absolutely the most money so they can make the biggest slice of pie, and have little care about what a buyer wants. Our personal experience with real estate agents was pretty negative until we met S.

A buyer's broker works for the buyer and does things that the real estate agent will not do. For instance, S went to a planning board meeting on our behalf when we were trying to buy this house and there was a problem with the property line. The listing broker for the house didn't give a crap, and certainly the seller didn't want to put that much effort in. S knew that unless we went before the planning board, unless SOMEone went before the planning board, the house would never get sold, or in our case bought...

We never would have gotten this house if she hadn't been on our side. The same goes for the real estate agent who listed and sold the house next door to us twice in the last six years. She was a bonehead, and I just can't get into why.

Buyer's brokers don't make a lot of money off the sale -- they have to split the commission with the listing broker, so real estate agents hate buyer's brokers because they do no work whatsoever to show the house and only get half the money. They feel ripped off for doing no work. But last year, S worked six months and made over 50,000. She told me that in this market working part time and doing something else part time (in her case, parenting) she's still making money. But it isn't about the money per se. It is more about doing something fun and challenging.

She said that her job changes every day, with every client, kind of like doing web design... and that's what keeps it fresh and interesting. So that appeals to me greatly. She's made great friends with people and has kept in contact with people like us. The office where she works is going to be losing an assistant broker soon because the woman just found out she's pregnant with twins (sound familiar, Chad?) and will be going on bed rest at 20 weeks. So the timing could be perfect if I wanted to step into it. I'd have to take a weekend class, and then a test, and pay for a license.

With houses selling around here for $400,000, 2 to 4 percent of that is pretty nice. I may just have to look further into this.

---

I got a nice email from a college friend who said:

"I did celebrate Samhain as I have for many years.. I would like to you to know I remembered Clayton not only for You but for me, he always made me laugh and that is something I need to do more often.

"As I threw the corn into the fire.. " I honor you Clayton, for your gift of Laughter.""

And that made me feel pretty good. Knowing that someone actually read what I said, didn't get mad that as a Christian I'm wishing people a happy Samhain (honestly, I fear people who read this journal sometimes. If they are from my college past and are all hyper-evangelistic, they now think I'm going straight to hell because I'm tolerant of other beliefs, read homosexual blogs, I swear and had a heroin-addicted friend). But the person above who emailed me went to my same Christian college and she herself celebrates the ancients. Good for her. I honestly believe -- good for anyone who celebrates their faith in nonviolent, non-oppressive ways. May I continue to celebrate my faith in Father, Son, Holy Spirit in a way that may inspire others when they've been scared by the overtly zealous in the past.

Anyway -- I just thought I'd share that little email from J. Thank you J. You rule.

---

What else -- ah yes, today being election day I will simply encourage readers to do one thing today -- go and vote. I don't care who you vote for -- go vote.

We live in a society filled with the "I don't give a shit"ness types who don't go out and vote but continually complain when politicians aren't doing the right thing or their taxes get raised or proposition 2 1/2 overrides do or don't get passed.

You cannot complain if you don't participate. As Homer Simpson says, "Don't blame ME, I voted for Kodos."

I don't care WHO you are or what you think -- if you do not take an active role in picking your world leaders, from local representatives to the president -- I don't want to hear your whining.

The Onion recently had a funny article about a guy who votes in EVERY election. His coworkers think he has a problem. He thinks it is his civic duty and an honor as a free citizen to vote in everything, from electing the town dog catcher to electing the governor. It was a very funny article, poking fun at overtly active voters but also poking fun at people who think voting is a waste of time. Unfortunately, it isn't archived on the web, but trust me -- as usual The Onion hit the nail on the head.

Alright. This entry has taken me a long time. I'm going to get showered, go vote, eat food, and sit back and watch who ends up being my governor tonight in probably the too closest to call election in this state since Bill Weld got elected. Go vote, damnit. And have a great day.

Autumn is an Ache

I'm not depressed, angry or sad about not getting the job or anything... just so you know. I've gotten email from complete strangers and friends I've made through this journal, and am touched that people care. Not getting the job kind of bummed me out, but not enough to quit writing and crawl under a rock. I simply have been busy doing a lot of nothing, all of it not in front of this computer. So that is the reason for my absence. Thanks for asking.

---

I inadvertently caused my sister a great deal of home sickness with the above banner picture.

She is in Florida, where there is no fall, there is no snow. And there in the picture is a combination of the two. It hit her hard -- she isn't going to see fall at all this year, and may get to see snow at Christmas if she's lucky.

I didn't mean to drive her into a great sadness. It was just a picture. I printed it for her on my new printer, color glossy and the whole 9 yards, and I am going to get it framed for her. I'll give it to her and it won't be a Christmas present, like I thought it would be. It'll be a just for no reason present. All nice and ready to beautify a wall wherever she lives for the rest of her life, be it north or south, east or west.

We did a geocache on Friday afternoon with one of Doug's co-workers. She was so interested in geocaching after Doug explained it to her that she ran out and bought a GPS and she and her sons attempted what they thought would be a nice easy one. Turns out the guy who put this one out there also put out the one that skunked us on our first attempt (thanks, Fismo!) and so they couldn't find it. Doug, being the seasoned geocacher, figured he'd walk right up to it.

We couldn't find it either. There was another cache in the same area, by the same guy, and so we went and found that one easy as pie.

After we split up to head our own way home from Doug's friend and her son, we realized our error and think we know where it is now. Unfortunately, after work caching is now done because of frigging daylight savings time. We'll have to cache on weekends or holidays, until the snow comes. So far we've found 31, and have only had to revisit two of them to find them. This has been a fun hobby, and we're not done yet. I'm just hoping the snow holds out.

I know exactly where we are going to put one when we're ready to put one out there. I just hope no one beats us to it.

I took the kids to the one that Ivy, Jamie and I did on Monday because we all needed a walk, Doug was sleeping, and it was so easy I knew Jessica would be able to find it in a second, and she did. We left the house at 3:50pm, finished finding the cache and got in the car at 4:45pm, and it was already too dark to be walking in the woods. It broke my heart. Just a few months ago the sky would have looked like this at 8pm. We've lost three hours of light, and it's only going to get darker. I hate it.

It doesn't matter to me that it is lighter in the morning. I'm not a farmer. I don't get up at 5 to plow fields. This is stupid. It should so be abolished. Stupid daylight savings time.

Anyway -- I did grocery shopping, we did church, we watched football. It was pretty much a weekend away from the computer and I needed that. Unfortunately, I've got a project to finish for CM, and have some more work for MF to do this week. I can't believe it is week 9 of the semester already. There are only 15 weeks. Gah!

Wayne and Marcia are coming by at about 11am with the first set of pieces for the built-in entertainment center. Wayne did a ton of work on them this week, and it's all falling into place. The bottom is the hard part. The rest of the piece, above 36 inches, is shelving and he'll be able to build that out quickly. Doug and I need to pick a stain for it, and then I get to stain it.

I'm actively looking for a job, and sent out about 20 resumes in the last 48 hours. I'm contemplating contacting a head hunter. Professor CM is hoping to create a grant-funded position for me to work at the college again. I'd take it in a heart beat. He wants a 2 year grant that would pay between 40 and 50 grand annually. I don't know if grant funded positions come with W4s or if they are 1099 contractor positions, so if I got such a job and the grant didn't have my taxes withheld I'd only make between 20 and 25 k in the end, which would kind of suck. But... it beats getting no money. And it'd be working for him. Which would so rock. I miss spending time with him on a more regular basis. Not only is he funny as hell, but he inspires me and we have so much to talk about workwise. He's such a techno-whore, and he keeps me feeling fascinated by the net. I have been lacking that kind of spark since getting laid off. My boss at my last company was always thinking of what the web could do for what she wanted... and I'd research it and find out. We were a good team.

I miss that kind of work relationship. I don't get that here at home. Not to dis home or anything -- I love being here. I just miss a more concrete intellectually challenging work environment.

Speaking of home -- dishes call my name. Have a great day... and here are some dogs to make you smile (they even fit in with the color scheme of the page!) Check out Jack's tail on the back of the couch... it's so furry and cute. Kinger looks as if he's mentally communicating "Please get him off of me!" to me. But the two of them were cuddled really nicely together before I came in with the camera and Jack got all excited to have his picture taken. He's evil, but cute.

and the winner is....

here are a couple of you who are checking this journal on a five-times daily basis to see if I got the job. So, without much further adieu --

I didn't.

I got email today from the woman who would have been my boss had they picked me, letting me know they are going with a candidate who currently works for a company like Blackboard or WebCT, who is a former educator.

I always come in second place to someone with exceptional skills. I like that I am close enough to be in the running, but hate that they don't say, "Ya know... this one has a lot of potential and we can pay her less than the bloody farking expert. Let's pick her!"

Alas. I'm going to start looking hard for a new job. I don't know if I'll hear from the college again on a different job that they anticipate an opening for. I wish Prof CM would quit his job and start his own company for us to run and kick ass on. I wish he'd write a 2 year grant funded position that would make me a job instantly doing all kinds of cool technology stuff for him.

I wish a lot.

Sigh.

Well, I'm not too down on the situation, so don't pity me and get all schmoopy on me. It'll all work out. It always does. All things work for good. And we're on that track.

---

We geocached yesterday afternoon. The snow melted and contrary to what the weather said it didn't rain after all. It was a gorgeous day, and we made good use of it. No ticks picked up. Cache found. Life is good.

We're caching tomorrow afternoon with one of Doug's coworkers. She's the ESL teacher in his school district, and he had told her about geocaching a month or so ago. She ran out and bought a GPS, but didn't get mapping software to go with it and was confused because she couldn't figure out how to get from her house to the waypoint. Why is the screen blank? What is going on??? So he took her GPSr (Garmin Etrex) and figured it out pretty fast. We'll use our GPs to show her how it is done (she was kind of frustrated and he doesn't want her to turn negative on it, because it is just so much fun) and he explained to her that the GPs is only part of the gear needed to go. She needs a cable to attach to her PC, she needs mapping software (our cable and software aren't compatible), so she understands more now.

It's fun teaching people stuff.

Here are some foliage pictures (by the way, I printed the un edited copy of the banner today on my new photo printer and it looks astonishing. I'm such a freakin' artist!

post-interview, babies

You are all dying to know about the interview. I've gotten a ton of email. I can't believe that people ... are interested.

The interview went really well. I was interviewed by only part of the search committee, the faculty decided not to show up and the CIO had to rush off campus for something. So instead of 8 people I interviewed with three. I had a lot of fun. One of the guys interviewing me graduated with me. I thought he looked familiar, but I didn't know his name until we got on the alumni topic. He's been there for a year and is really happy.

The job seems like it will be hard. A good part of me wants to work only for professor CM as he is continuing to make contacts and sell his ideas to local school districts. Another part of me knows that I need to be making some serious money in the next 4 month time frame. We'll see what the future holds.

I could see myself doing this job easily. It is the first job I've interviewed for that I can actually envision being in without saying "Oh my GOD! I am so lame! How did I talk my WAY into this job!!!"

So that's a good sign, right?

Today -- follow up cards to the interviewing staff thanking them for their time.

Alright. This was a quickie. I have to get Geoff ready for school and I've been goofing on this for an hour now with my joys in playing with Photoshop. Snarf...

First things first... an email from Chad that I didn't expect to get this morning:

Our new arrivals are here a bit early but in good health.

We are happy to announce the birth of Jacob Michael XXXXX and Jadon Tyler XXXXX at 5:38 and 5:39 respectively on October 9th, 2002.

Jacob is 3 pounds 12 ounces and Jadon is 3 pounds 7 ounces. They are currently in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Medical University of XXXXXXX. They will remain there for one week and then they will be brought down to the step down unit.

As of now, Jacob is doing very well and Jadon requires help breathing from a respirator, but that condition was expected and he is doing very well. Both are expected to be fine.

Mom is recovering nicely after a c-section. Her water broke some time on Tuesday and she would not dilate past 3 centimeters, so in order to prevent risk of infection, the doctors opted to take them out. Remi will be allowed to come home on Saturday. The twins will be in the hospital for at least four weeks.

Dad and grandmom are exhausted from attempting to sleep in hospital chairs while Remi was given drugs to help relax. I guess that's only fair because she did all the work.

I will write more later and provide pictures on my website sometime in the near future. For now, I'm going to bed a happy guy.

Wow. Shocker. I totally didn't expect this one. Great joy, great praise and thanks for a good delivery for these little guys. They weren't due until ... oh, December? So send them good vibes, hearty prayers and mojo to be able to do what twins do these days and make it home in a decent amount of time. I love his line about being exhausted from sleeping in hospital chairs while Remi got drugs to relax... hardly seems fair, eh? Snarf! Funny. Way to give me a good laugh.

And I whipped this up for them quickly this morning to welcome Slash and The Bus to the world. If I'd had more time today, I'd have made little Steelers Jerseys for their bodies. Yuk Yuk. As is, I had to quickly grab a picture of a newborn and just slap the heads on. It didn't come out too bad. I love the hand position on the kid's body (I used just one and flipped the second one horizontally so they'd look good.

New Sink, job interview

The plumber is here. He's doing his plumbery thing. Geoff is all over him. Fascinated. It is all I can do to keep him from talking the guy's ear off about tools, where our sink is going, and Spiderman.

Anyway.

I am glad we'll soon have a new sink. And I'm glad I had a professional come in to do it. When he removed the cold water pipe, it busted in half. The drain pipe crumbled in his hands.

The guys I work with at cateringman's were all "Go to home depot, buy a factory second sink for 40 bucks, install it yourself. How hard can that be?"

Um, yeah. Plumbing and the residents of this house do not mix, friends.

There are two home improvement items we don't muck around with. Plumbing and electrical stuff. No way. Electrical stuff scares the bejezus out of me. Plumbing is easy enough to screw up and have an instant catastrophe on your hands to deal with.

I must say here though that I am very proud that my husband made do and did the work he did for as long as he did to prevent us from calling a plumber in immediately. He tried very hard. Did a great job.

Well. Today is not just groovy new sink day, it is interview day! As Spongebob Squarepants says: "I'm READY!!!!"

I'll be using the groovy new sink to brush my teeth and apply makeup over, and then I'll be off to sit in front of oh... 9 people or so, and make my case for why I'd be an asset to this institution of higher education.

I feel like puking already.

I don't know why I'm nervous. I normally never GET nervous before an interview. I interview very well for the most part. I remember to amazing detail the interviews I had for my last company and for the last college I worked at... even what everyone was wearing.

Let's see if I blank on this one or puke on the conference table. I'm sure it's been done before in history.

There really isn't much of interest to report in my life right now. I did get thank you notes from the girls (even my own daughter) that I chaperoned. Which made me smile. K. wrote me that it was the best field trip she's ever been on because she learned so much and I was so smart. Hey. Truer words never spoken, eh? cough gag.

Oh, and speaking of Spongebob... what the hell is the deal with people running around saying he's gay.

All of the Boston Talk Stations yesterday were on this story, and it was way over the top.

The news reports I heard initially said the show is popular with gay men. Which is fine. So are the Powerpuff Girls.

And surprise surprise people. Both are popular with people with senses of HUMOR. Gay or straight. Duh!

The discussion warped to "Spongebob is Gay."

How does one wander to that conclusion automatically. Really. Does it MATTER if gay people LIKE the show a lot and think it's funny? And does that automatically make the character and storylines "gay?"

Millions of people gay and straight are SBSP fans. Myself and my husband and my kids totally included.

If you need to categorize him, I actually think Spongebob is more like an evangelical than a "gay" person. Look at his personality:

• He is kind
• He is lighthearted
• He is very very genuinely happy in a life-loving way
• He is enthusiastic about everything in life... his work, his friends, jellyfishing, karate...
• He is annoying to those who don't understand him (ie Squidward)

I think that someone somewhere along the lines read too much into an episode that aired recently. SB's "sexual" role sort of comes into play when he and his buddy Patrick find a lost sea scallop who needed a home.

They "adopt" the scallop. SB assumes the "mother" role, cleaning, caring for the baby, wearing himself out to maintain the household. Patrick shuffles off each morning to "work" in a tie and a hat, with briefcase in hand, and returns home dog-shit tired and ready for a beer.

By the way -- Patrick's "job" was sitting in over his own apartment watching TV. He came home exhausted on a nightly basis, because it's hard watching TV all day. Sometimes the remote control falls on the floor and you have to find it. And all the clicking around the dials... wears a guy out, ya know.

So they weren't necessarily being "gay" in the sexual sense. I believe the writers were more or less just illustrating how parenting works, and they were dangerously close to ending up like Paula Cole's "Where Have all the Cowboys Gone" song.

I suppose the creators would have been better suited to pair up SB with Sandy Squirrel, but SB and Patrick are such good friends, and their relationship is funnier than that of Sandy and SB.

I didn't read "sex" into the relationship for that episode personally. Did you?

When "The Lion King" came out, no pun intended, everyone was insistant that Scar (voiced deliciously by Jeremy Irons) was homosexual. He was "single" and had a British accent and was evil, but charming all at the same time.

I mean, when I was watching the movie, I didn't think immediately about the stupid lion's sexuality. Same with Timon and Pumbaa. Everyone says THEY are gay. First of all -- they aren't even the same species. I can see how Chip and Dale, the chipmunks of Looney Tunes fame could possibly be "gayish," again with the whole English accent and proper grammar thing. All gays are SO proper (snarf) aren't they?

"Oh, do let's invade the duck's cellar and get all the acorns!"
"Indeed, dear sir! Invade is such a rogue term! Let us stealthily procure said acorns under darkness of night. After tea."
"Very well then, after you."
"No, I insist -- after you..."

---

I read a great book that looks into the creation process of comics and the possibility of underlying homosexuality. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. It was a fabulous story -- about two cousins, one is gay but quite closeted. Together they build a comic empire, and the gay cousin ends up getting dragged into testify in court against his will that all the comics are gay propaganda stories. Pairing men and young boys into exciting relationships. The wearing of tights. The riding one seater motorcycles together...

It's a horrible situation for him. He created wonderful stories that had nothing to DO with HIS sexuality... but others interpreted his personal life as being broadcasted through the characters to children across the country. His empire crumbles. It is... sad.

I highly recommend the novel if you're looking for something to read by the fireside this fall.

Anyway -- Spongebob isn't gay. But if he was... I'd be alright with that. He's a nice guy. I think Squidward is gay. But that's a whole nother analysis for another day. Guffaw.

I'm going to go hang out in the living room now. I'm sure I'll post later or tomorrow about my interview. Just remember. Good vibes/mojo/prayers my way for 3:15 p.m. And hope I don't barf on things.

And, I'm going to use my new sink. More later...

ain't she purdy?

New Sink, job interview

The plumber is here. He's doing his plumbery thing. Geoff is all over him. Fascinated. It is all I can do to keep him from talking the guy's ear off about tools, where our sink is going, and Spiderman.

Anyway.

I am glad we'll soon have a new sink. And I'm glad I had a professional come in to do it. When he removed the cold water pipe, it busted in half. The drain pipe crumbled in his hands.

The guys I work with at cateringman's were all "Go to home depot, buy a factory second sink for 40 bucks, install it yourself. How hard can that be?"

Um, yeah. Plumbing and the residents of this house do not mix, friends.

There are two home improvement items we don't muck around with. Plumbing and electrical stuff. No way. Electrical stuff scares the bejezus out of me. Plumbing is easy enough to screw up and have an instant catastrophe on your hands to deal with.

I must say here though that I am very proud that my husband made do and did the work he did for as long as he did to prevent us from calling a plumber in immediately. He tried very hard. Did a great job.

Well. Today is not just groovy new sink day, it is interview day! As Spongebob Squarepants says: "I'm READY!!!!"

I'll be using the groovy new sink to brush my teeth and apply makeup over, and then I'll be off to sit in front of oh... 9 people or so, and make my case for why I'd be an asset to this institution of higher education.

I feel like puking already.

I don't know why I'm nervous. I normally never GET nervous before an interview. I interview very well for the most part. I remember to amazing detail the interviews I had for my last company and for the last college I worked at... even what everyone was wearing.

Let's see if I blank on this one or puke on the conference table. I'm sure it's been done before in history.

There really isn't much of interest to report in my life right now. I did get thank you notes from the girls (even my own daughter) that I chaperoned. Which made me smile. K. wrote me that it was the best field trip she's ever been on because she learned so much and I was so smart. Hey. Truer words never spoken, eh? cough gag.

Oh, and speaking of Spongebob... what the hell is the deal with people running around saying he's gay.

All of the Boston Talk Stations yesterday were on this story, and it was way over the top.

The news reports I heard initially said the show is popular with gay men. Which is fine. So are the Powerpuff Girls.

And surprise surprise people. Both are popular with people with senses of HUMOR. Gay or straight. Duh!

The discussion warped to "Spongebob is Gay."

How does one wander to that conclusion automatically. Really. Does it MATTER if gay people LIKE the show a lot and think it's funny? And does that automatically make the character and storylines "gay?"

Millions of people gay and straight are SBSP fans. Myself and my husband and my kids totally included.

If you need to categorize him, I actually think Spongebob is more like an evangelical than a "gay" person. Look at his personality:

• He is kind
• He is lighthearted
• He is very very genuinely happy in a life-loving way
• He is enthusiastic about everything in life... his work, his friends, jellyfishing, karate...
• He is annoying to those who don't understand him (ie Squidward)

I think that someone somewhere along the lines read too much into an episode that aired recently. SB's "sexual" role sort of comes into play when he and his buddy Patrick find a lost sea scallop who needed a home.

They "adopt" the scallop. SB assumes the "mother" role, cleaning, caring for the baby, wearing himself out to maintain the household. Patrick shuffles off each morning to "work" in a tie and a hat, with briefcase in hand, and returns home dog-shit tired and ready for a beer.

By the way -- Patrick's "job" was sitting in over his own apartment watching TV. He came home exhausted on a nightly basis, because it's hard watching TV all day. Sometimes the remote control falls on the floor and you have to find it. And all the clicking around the dials... wears a guy out, ya know.

So they weren't necessarily being "gay" in the sexual sense. I believe the writers were more or less just illustrating how parenting works, and they were dangerously close to ending up like Paula Cole's "Where Have all the Cowboys Gone" song.

I suppose the creators would have been better suited to pair up SB with Sandy Squirrel, but SB and Patrick are such good friends, and their relationship is funnier than that of Sandy and SB.

I didn't read "sex" into the relationship for that episode personally. Did you?

When "The Lion King" came out, no pun intended, everyone was insistant that Scar (voiced deliciously by Jeremy Irons) was homosexual. He was "single" and had a British accent and was evil, but charming all at the same time.

I mean, when I was watching the movie, I didn't think immediately about the stupid lion's sexuality. Same with Timon and Pumbaa. Everyone says THEY are gay. First of all -- they aren't even the same species. I can see how Chip and Dale, the chipmunks of Looney Tunes fame could possibly be "gayish," again with the whole English accent and proper grammar thing. All gays are SO proper (snarf) aren't they?

"Oh, do let's invade the duck's cellar and get all the acorns!"
"Indeed, dear sir! Invade is such a rogue term! Let us stealthily procure said acorns under darkness of night. After tea."
"Very well then, after you."
"No, I insist -- after you..."

---

I read a great book that looks into the creation process of comics and the possibility of underlying homosexuality. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. It was a fabulous story -- about two cousins, one is gay but quite closeted. Together they build a comic empire, and the gay cousin ends up getting dragged into testify in court against his will that all the comics are gay propaganda stories. Pairing men and young boys into exciting relationships. The wearing of tights. The riding one seater motorcycles together...

It's a horrible situation for him. He created wonderful stories that had nothing to DO with HIS sexuality... but others interpreted his personal life as being broadcasted through the characters to children across the country. His empire crumbles. It is... sad.

I highly recommend the novel if you're looking for something to read by the fireside this fall.

Anyway -- Spongebob isn't gay. But if he was... I'd be alright with that. He's a nice guy. I think Squidward is gay. But that's a whole nother analysis for another day. Guffaw.

I'm going to go hang out in the living room now. I'm sure I'll post later or tomorrow about my interview. Just remember. Good vibes/mojo/prayers my way for 3:15 p.m. And hope I don't barf on things.

And, I'm going to use my new sink. More later...

ain't she purdy?

I am a Gen X'er

The past few days have been a flurry of work, work, housework, running kids around, and more work. I've been at cateringman's for three straight days. I'm off the hook today and tomorrow, today being Thursday and I must work with prof MF on her class so that means I can't possibly dedicate myself to working for him (he understands, his wife is a colleague of prof MF so he knows how much work I'm doing over there). Tomorrow I'm chaperoning a field trip for my daughter's class.

Hurricane Isidore should hit right as we are getting on the busses. We're heading to Portsmouth NH, and it's a mostly outdoor trip, so I'm wondering if they will postpone it.

If they don't, I'll need a good rain hat.

Anyway -- back to my life. Which is what this is all about, right?

I finished reading Microserfs, which I started this summer while in Chicago. It was on Scott and Sarita's bookshelf, so during the three days we spent there I read about three quarters of it. On Monday I took Geoff to get a new pair of glasses because his current pair was just constantly popping out the left lens. They actually gave that pair back, which they usually don't do, but the manager of this particular lenscrafters has been really good to us, and he's cool... so he handed them to me and told me that I should keep them as a back up just in case of emergency.

We went to the bookstore while waiting, and I grabbed three Douglas Coupland books. Microserfs, Generation X and Miss Wyoming. I wanted Girlfriend in a Coma but they didn't have it.

So in finishing Microserfs, I'm noticing that I think it will be a perfect novel to incorporate into the class I'm co teaching with professor CM this spring on Technology and Society.

I just started reading Generation X... and Amy, if you are reading this -- I think Coupland agrees with you twenty fold on your passionate life stance. You should check it out. I'm about 70 pages into it, but I think that what you and I both feel about a passionate life is a by-product of being born after 1960 and before 1970. It's not just your opinion -- I think the majority of people who at the time that particular book was written were were called "Twenty Somethings" feel.

Dave, the guy I knew from Oregon who went kinda crazy, carried "Generation X" around like a Bible. He quoted from it and Nietzsche all the time. I was reluctant to ever read the book, simply because I thought it would be a whole lot of crazy bullshit (just because Dave was crazy). But I finally broke down and am reading it... and enjoying it. But it does make me feel sad and empty.

And I know I'm never ever taking another McJob again as long as I live anyway. My resume has grown up enough to mean I won't have to. I've got that requisite 5-10 years experience at something. I guess that's because I had kids early and got forced into a settled mode, as opposed to so many people I know who work jobs to save money and then travel all over the place. They are perpetually poor, but they've seen the entire world. My friend Sara has been to India twice, is currently studying advanced yoga education with some swami yoga dude in like Nepal or some crap... but she works on an apple harvest farm every fall and doesn't own a car. She house sits for people, and teaches yoga, and makes more money than I do.

I don't know if she pays taxes.

It's funny because we're well into our thirties now. When does this lifestyle stop?

Well. I don't have enough time to continue pondering the status of an aging Generation X... I'm off to do the professor MF thing. Perhaps a little more later. There is other stuff on my mind, but I just don't have enough time in the day to really slam it in here.