An Open Letter to All Inquiring Minds

This blog's definitely been thin on entries, and even thinner on actual life updates. You can blame, in part, life at The Big Red School on the Hill.

I can, however, offer a quick breakdown...

1
Work: Job is still good. It has its days of course, but thus far the major benefits (steady pay, insurance, and a golden ticket to a lot of community activities) still outweigh the occasional pain in the ass. Even the fact that didn't get a shot for a position that most people (at work) think I had a better than even shot at getting. I should've at least (so I'm told) been a sure-shot for an interview. Welp, never got one, which is okay really, because it was one of those situations where I had absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain by trying.

2
The Wife: I spent the weeks before Thanksgiving helping recover from, as a friend put it, "A hot oil treatment to the face."

3
While this is usually the time of year when I would bitch about the general inconvenience of the holidays or the idiocy of taking time off from work to engage in activities that are generally more tiring than the job you get paid for only to have to return to said job at the end of it, I'd have to say that I've been pretty good about keeping to the routines I've set for myself.

3
The writing: Keeping me busy. Freebies out on teh Intarwebs here and there. The goal for '08 is to have more paid stuff.

4
Training: was pretty dismal in '07. No yoga this past summer, just some classes with a local kung fu instructor who I happen to work with. My sparring impressed. My bow-legged horse stances did not. I've resolved to at least go back more frequently after the New Year, and hook up with a local FMA guru--the one who suspiciously eyed my sticks at a seminar awhile back.

Okay, now I'm going to collapse.

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"Walking on, walking on broken glass"

Anyone know the number of a good ambulance chaser? I'm kidding! I kept those jokes to a minimum, as I could tell people were nervous around me at work. A tempered glass window shattered and fell on me, resulting in superficial cuts to both my hands. It sounds worse than it is. After a few minutes, the cuts didn't even warrant a Band-Aid, although I got one.

That's the nice thing about working at the university health center. The speedy attention the center already pays to workplace injuries went doubly so for me. It's not what you got, it's who you know, and I knew darn near everyone I came into contact with. Authorized line-jumping rules!

That's not to say I didn't wait. I wasn't howling in pain, so I had to wait just long enough for the whole process, including filling out an accident report, to eat up the rest of my morning until it was time for lunch. Of course, I had to repeat the story about twenty times and quell some rumors that took mere hours to spread, everything from me slamming said window in a mad tirade, to some random student doing it, to the whole thing simply breaking on its own due to an act of God. Yeesh.

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Jackpot!

I just found out that I won lottery entitling me to purchase a gently used, five-or-so year-old Dell Inspiron 8000 laptop for $50 from the IT department of my place of work.

But the choice: Keep it for myself as a backup server (Hey, 20GB of hard drive and 900mHz processing is nothing to scoff at) or give it (docking station and all) to my computer-less sister.

Or, sell it to one of the five people at work who've made me offers and gouge the hell out of 'em...?

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Topical Solution

1
Happy Asian Pacific-Islander American Heritage Month... lots to be... um...proud of...yeah.

2
It's only been three days. Is it weird to love my new job so much? One downside: another damn email address to keep track of, even though it's supposed to be for bid'ness only.

3
Divisive Supreme Court, my a$s, what with both of these important unanimous decisions in the Court's recent docket.

4
The most encouraging rejection letter yet said, "This one came close..."

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Back to the Mines

Last Thursday and Friday were my first two days of employment, conveniently at the start of a pay period, at the New Diamond Mines. It's all been orientation and observation. Everyone I've met seems openly glad to see me come aboard. They've been needing someone to fill this position for quite awhile. Their eyes get even wider when they know about my background in the mental health field.

So far, they seem to be going to great lengths to make sure I'm properly oriented and trained. I'm very fortunate about that; too many places nowadays are willing to not only throw you into the thick of it but to lambaste you for "not knowing any better."

It's a civilized gig in a civilized place. Very PC, too. You can tell most of the folks practice the lingo even though it isn't second nature. Someone asked me, "So what does your...partner...do?" It's also strange when someone talks about GLBT stuff, almost like he or she doesn't want to embarass someone they just met while simultaneously expecting them not to be embarassed.

It's been two days but for all intents and purposes, I'm in familiar surroundings. I've been wanting to work in the field again for awhile without doing the sorts of in-the-trenches stuff I used to do. That's not to say I don't miss it. But for now I'm content to overlook the battlefield, serving tea to the generals, instead of serving in the trenches. Still, there's an enjoyable sense of familiarity with an old dream. But there are other dreams to be had now.

Speaking of which, The Wife wrote:

Anyway, I got a call earlier this afternoon from the OTHER school on the hill, pertaining to a job I applied for weeks ago. The job is an adjunct faculty position teaching screenwriting

We have become what we have beheld and joined the ivory towered halls of academia. Well, she has, really. I've become more like an oompa lumpa, so to speak.

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"What Is PC Load Letter!?!"

To all you republicans, that helped me win
I sincerely like to thank you
Cuz now I got the world swingin’ from my nuts
And damn it feels good to be a gangsta

Geto Boys, "Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster"

I got the gig! I start the day after tomorrow!

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