I had a job pre-interview with a woman at a contract house wishing to present 6 people to a hospital helpdesk for 3 job openings. It will be a 10 month contract as helpdesk.

Next week, if the hospital likes what they get from this woman, I will be interviewing in front of a panel of hospital helpdesk personae.

Wish me selection-ma and interview-ma that I get the call and get through the interviews.

Meanwhile, the contract house discussion was supposed to be a short 15-minute pre-screen and turned into an hour of chatting and discussion and basic geek talk. I'm assuming that's a good thing.

If I could request some -ma - life-ma, I guess - for a dear friend of mine who has found herself in a situation that she needs to extricate herself from, though part of her doesn't want to have to.

I don't want to go into details, as I promised I wouldn't say anything to anyone about this. I know, I know - semi-to-wholey-anonymous internet board, but a promise is a promise.

Thanks, and -ma for anyone out there who needs it from me.

Buffistas, I owe you an apology. I have joy that I have failed to share with you, joy that is partially a result of -ma that you have shared.

It is my joy to inform you that Jacob Treebeard, my friend's infant boy, is home from the hospital, with full recovery from his infection. They still don't know (will never know) what the problem actually was. But they did not have to do terrible invasive surgeries, they did not have to transplant bone marrow, or really anything drastic at all. But he has recovered from his life-threatening illness, and is happily at home. We, of course, are praying for his continued health.

Thank you for your prayers and vibes. They do make a difference.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!

After asking for "a few thousand more", they offered me precisely what I'd been hoping for, and so I have arranged a job to start next Tuesday!

Of course, this means that I will likely be scarce around here for awhile, what with having to do actual work and shit. But YAY!!!!

Oh, and I hereby officially pass on any jobma to the next needy cantidate...

Ack - felt too guilty to leave my computer complaining up here after many people have far more serious issues going on......sending all the -ma to people who really need it!

My dad was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia today, so please send some health-ma his way. He doesn't have any symptoms besides a high white-blood cell count, and it could be years before other symptoms occur, so everybody's pretty calm. They're just going to monitor him closely for the next while.

It's still quite a blow to absorb.

I just heard from my mother that my best friend when I was in my late teens has a large mass in her right breast and was told by her second opinion doctor that they needed to operate immediately. Knowing the way information is filtered in my family, I'm 99% sure they mean cancer and not a mass of unknown malignity or benignity. Her mother died of cancer at the age of 55. Her mother's sister died of cancer at the age of 60. My friend is 50. I would very much appreciate all the ~ma you can send toward Judy in northeastern Montana.

My dad is scheduled for surgery on Feb. 13th. He's having a tumor removed from his thigh. It's encapsulated, so it's not a big cancer worry, but it's the third time he's had this happen in his leg. He's also in his 70's, and at that age, no surgery is really considered minor. I'd appreciate some ~ma. Also, I'm going to have to to some schedule juggling and moving to free up the 13th and some time after that to be down in San Diego and help out while Dad is off his feet since Mom has to use a walker to get around. So I'll need some schedule~ma and understanding work~ma.

Nora Jean was born on January 28 at 1.30 in the afternoon weighing 8 lbs. 3 oz. The Blue Eyed Boy is very impressed with how "tiny" she is.

She has a round little punkinhead, very wise eyes, and an extremely poor sense of timing - who'd choose to come into the world on a day with -40 (Celsius) temperatures and -50 windchill!

Going dark grey to black for the next little while, as we all adjust to the new family member.