Aims, John Hodgman is running around Ann Arbor today. If you see him, give him a noogie for me.

I sure will!!

Hey GC, how are you feeling? You and DW looked absolutely radiant in the shower pics.

Thanks, Laura! I'm doing pretty well. Uncomfortable, which I know is normal for 8 months PG, but nothing crazy.

No day off, but I am working from home. I also get to see Shanie today! Woot!

I also get to see Shanie today!

One of those fancy 3-D sonograms?

Btw, Aims, i'mglad you mentioned your leg pain. I've had pain in my left hip/butt on and off for a few weeks and I'm thinking it must be the sciatic nerve, thanks to your description. And Steph's stretch helps.

so the project i was working on went really well. i've been rewarded by being asked to fix a larger project that has had 3 different owners and yonks of history. and told 'do not listen to what person x has to say on the matter, we like them, but they can't see this straight anymore.' (said comment gave me managerial hives.) I have a month to develop a project plan and do a user experience study, etc. so i start talking to the major players, gathering data, and then take a day off to go to a conference. It should be said at this point that I admire X a lot, to a lot of 'i'm not worthy' ends. While I'm gone, X gathers the tech people around on that day and starts a conversation/action plan about what tech developments will be needed. When i come back and try to follow up with what was said, i get varying answers. I try to involve x in the conversation about possibilities and get a whole lot of 'because you had this success you are the perfect person to carry my idea forward and anything else you try will wind up in disaster.' I suck at this part of the people palindrome. I'm 90% of the way decided that there are too many ownership issues involved, that I should go ahead and submit the user ex doc and get out, rather than spending the next 6 months fighting my way upstream. Or, I could put x in a box with Hil's advisor and shut the lid.

And yet? This is the kind of work I want to be doing, and there aren't many other places I can do it.

People-skilled hivemind, do I have alternatives?

posting just to make it in the top 50.

Did I make it?

Yes.

eta: Ooh - so did I.

One of those fancy 3-D sonograms?

Yep. He was in a bad position last week so I have to go back so they can look again today. Hoping to get some nice facial shots!

Ugh, Sox. Maybe speak to the person that hired you? Let them be the bad guy? Icky situation for sure.

And Steph's stretch helps.

The piriformis muscle (which that stretch is for) is largely a butt muscle. So "piriformis syndrome" (which sciatica is a big symptom of) is basically a pain in the butt.

Based on all of that, I think an *excellent* name for a professional dominatrix would be Mistress Piriformis.

t /rim shot