Giggling like a goose reading catchup this--oops, noon. Some of you are COMM'ed. Some of you are COMM'd twice.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. So far, so good. It's a high 50ish brilliantly sunny day here. Nature laughs at the winter olympics in BC, yes, she does. The committee should have considered the US midwest-to-east this winter.

I may ditch duty the rest of the day and go drive around looking at pretty trees and mountains and lakes and bays and, and, and. And maybe cake, later on.

BT, congrats very much, go you! Also? Laura's right. Ryan's all cute now, and good for him. When he climbs behind the wheel of a car? If you don't already suffer from insomnia, you suddenly learn the intimate realities of it. But that's years away yet. Enjoy your grinning little man standing on his own two feet. And for goodness sake, pictures, please!

Sending headache-begone vibes to smonster, and be-well vibes to anybody feeling sub-par. Trying valiantly to shoo sunbeams eastward, but the solar powers keep insisting they don't work that way.

ETA: Seska, go you on the one down. Forward, and excelsior!

Another job rejection from a place that interviewed me. I was kind of expecting this one -- they interviewed at least 80 people for three positions, and didn't actually ask any questions. During the 15-minute interview, the only actual question I got was "Are you a US citizen?" Everything else was the interviewer telling me about the program.

During the 15-minute interview, the only actual question I got was "Are you a US citizen?" Everything else was the interviewer telling me about the program.

That doesn't sound like an interview to me.

That doesn't sound like an interview to me.

Of course not, if you HATE AMERICA.

Wait, hating America will get me out of answering questions at job interviews?

I have no idea how those eighty "interviews" got them any useful information at all about narrowing it down to three people. A few minutes into the interview, once I realized what was going on, I noticed that he'd pause and say, "Is that OK with you?" after describing each part of the program, and I started answering with, "Yes, in fact, I have experience with something similar at ..." and throw in something about my teaching or research. He seemed annoyed at being interrupted, though.

Happy birthday, Bev! I forgot in in my bitter.

Also, am totally agreeing with sumi. If someone tried to hit me with a wet branch right now, I'm afraid I would defoliate them rather violently. Unless it was a branch made of ecstasy and valium and money or some shit like that that.

I am so misanthropic today, I have gone past the "anthro" and and working on the molecular-level hatred. Misatomy?

OVER. WINTER. NOW.

The big fluffy flakes earlier were kinda pretty though, and they didn't accumulate.

Happy birthday, Bev!

And heaps of congratulations to bt and Jilli, and felicitations upon their employers for recognizing their awesomeness. Hil is definitely next. Or Stephanie. But preferably both.

I'm staying far, far away from the frozen, bitter Midwesterners, except...Erin, could you do me a favor? Could you concentrate all your misanthropy into a scorching deadly laser beam of loathing and direct it at my sinuses?

You winter haters make me sad.

However.

In addition to my normal 60+ hour a week workload, I'm now being asked to go take several days to deliver a training program to people in another part of the company.

In CANCUN.

(I said yes.)