1. Up extra early to do some air monitoring on a school bus (have to ride along). This is real industrial hygiene and it is very fun. I get to have all these instruments and no one except for me knows what they are for, exactly so I can make shit up (which I am wont to do around adults but with all the kids, gotta be careful).

2. Going to Tucson Friday-Monday. Wife's mom died over the summer but her birthday was this weekend so we are going to walk out on the desert and spread her ashes. Plus, Tucson in July, done that once and that is quite enough.

2a. Happy to see that redvixen has popped in.

1) First exam of the semester is over. It was a total hand-cramper (33 short essay/definition questions), but I rocked it.

2) 4-10 more inches of snow expected in the next 24 hours. Shit's getting really old. We're forecast for highs in 50s this weekend and I half expect the meltoff to flood lower lying parts of town.

1. Slept just fine last night but feel totally unrested. ("Did you sleep well?" "No, I made a few mistakes.") It's making me cranky, which is hard because I have to interact with people nonstop all day long.

2. Working lots of overtime. Not fun. With that and the weather this is a tough time of year, so I'm trying to distract myself by planning a drive to Florida this summer with my sister.

1. One of my newer friends is leaving NYC to move to Sydney tomorrow and I am bummed. I'm finding it more and more difficult to make friends as I get older, so another one gone is depressing.

2. Enjoying the above-freezing temperatures of the last few days.

1. I had a great evening last night chatting with my cousin. I manage to catch her every now and again on Facebook Chat, and we always have a great time. We talked marriage, babies, life, vacations. We have lots of fun plans!
2. I'm jonesing to plan a thousand summer beach trips.

1. I picked up Angry Birds for the PC the other day. We dont play computer games much in my household, but this is totally addictive. The kids are loving it way too much. Frankly, I like it too. I should probably nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand.

2. My wife's old CRT monitor died a couple days ago. She'll be upgrading to a flat screen today. Woohoo!

1. I'm waiting for a return call from a girl I want to take to a Valentine's day banquet. This is the first time I've ever (potentially) had V-Day plans and the suspense is killing me. Like they say in Fight Club, everything else in my life feels like it's had the volume turned down.

2. I got a nice little ego boost when I told an acquaintance she'd be in one of the comics I drew and she quite literally squealed in delight. Even though nobody has yet complained I'm never sure how it will go over.

(redvixen) Glad to see you around, girl!

1. I have the flu, an honest to god flu. My hands feel like balloons as I type this.
2. I have health problems, but am "generally" healthy. I realized that I haven't even had so much as a sniffle in over a year and a half.
3. Somehow, someone managed to sneak me the flu. Trippy. It sounds like someone is banging muffled cymbals right behind my left ear.

PS - Gaspode, I feel you on the friend front.

My Epiphone Dot guitar should be delivered on Thursday.
Life continues to get better now that I am on SynThroid. I have kicked Xanax and the antidepressants.

Is this a good time for me to introduce myself, and
ask if anyone has seen the "focus" knob for my brain?

This is a great time dorgla. Hello, if you are anything like us, your 'focus' nob fell off long before you found this site. You can achieve some facsimile of focus occasionally pressing your 'snark' button while randomly twiddling your 'bunny' whammy bar.

1. Making solid plans to head to Chicago sometime in the next three months with my best friend and eat at Alinea. So. Excited. This year's new year's resolution is super awesome.

2. Despite today's snow, I'm starting to feel very springish. Hooray! I just need to make it through these next two weeks, and then I'm homefree.

2a. Just realized I left my bread doughs out instead of popping them in the fridge. Uhoh.

1. I'm glad I got a new project at work, but having to retype over 50 pages is driving me batshit since it's so cold in my house that my hands freeze up after about 30 minutes and I type even worse with my gloves on. (The office might get up to 65F. On a good day.)

2. I think that the medication/therapy/woowoo is starting to help a little bit. Of course, I've also noticed that this tends to coincide with not talking to members of my family. And when I'm more active. And when I've accomplished something/feel competent. So family? Here's a macro just for you. (Language NSFW)

1. I'm feeling good about things right now - work is going well, Lucy and I are getting closer (she lets me pick her up and cuddle her now - only for a minute or so, but it's a start), and I've detoxed from starchy/sugary carbs and am back into my healthy eating plan.

2. I'm going salsa dancing tonight, with a neighbour. She met her husband at this club and thinks it would be a good place for me to perhaps meet a nice man. I can't dance, but there's a class for beginners. For the first time in ages I'm going to wear a skirt and heels. Eeep!

1. Hi, dorgla!

2. I need to stop catching up on Metachat and go to the gym, buy cat & human food, fix my clogged printer, vacuum the rug.

Crap, that's supposed to be so cold in my OFFICE. Not that my house isn't cold, but it's at 68F consistently.

1. SNOWMAGEDDON!!! well not really, just a lot, but business as usual in these parts. The mister and I rode our bikes to work in the snow this morning and it was like being in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon! we even saw a dude riding his bike in SHORTS!!! seriously wtf?! It's exactly 5°F! His legs were purple!

2. I bought myself one of these as my very own Valentine, in that luscious red. It is gorgeous, and more important, it writes beautifully. I may have to start sketching and/or journaling again. I was never a pen snob before, but Boss has enlightened me in the Way of the Fountain Pen.

2a. I made bread! For like the third time in my life!! And it actually came out amazing!! it's all-white bread tho because I am still a rookie baker and the thought of attempting wheat bread still makes me twitchy, especially at high altitude

hi dorgla and welcome! focus is sorta overrated in my book. I've not found the focus knob on my brain in years, no make that decades.

redvixen!! nice to see you here again! *hugs*

RedVixen, good luck to you; I hope you win without a horrible battle.

Dorgla, welcome, it's an excellent time to introduce yourself. Brains have a focus knob? Hmmmm, that would help.

My job, it just keeps being horrible. There are lots of personalities, currents, pissing contests, and lots of work. The latter is the only part I want to deal with, but that is not an option. I must slog through all sorts of crap. Call me Sisyphus.

I am going to invent a new soup for dinner - stuffed cabbage soup - beef, cabbage, tomato sauce, a little rice; what's not to love. I'm too lazy to make cabbage rolls, much as I love them, so soup it is!

1. Was reminded again today how lucky I am to have really wonderful people as co-workers. We get grouchy with each other sometimes, but we've all worked together so long we're like an only-mildly-dysfunctional family.

2. Still feeling kind of "in limbo" since my mom's death. Suddenly I have all this extra time during my days, and nobody that needs taking care of. Some of my friends that are around my age are dealing with the whole empty-nest thing, and wow, I can empathize with that a lot more now than I ever could before.

(And I didn't even see theora55's post when I wrote item #1... wasn't rubbing it in, theora!)

1. I'm sick with a terrible cold. My head feels like a giant ball of pain.

2. I fell from my bike last week in a spectacular fashion. I hit my head on the concrete. I am fine. I was running my dog at top speed. She stopped abruptly. I crashed to the ground. I was stiff for days.

3. Have you seen the movie, Entre Nos? It's really good.

Hello dorgla! Welcome and let us know how to do it when you get the focus just so.

Many updates:

1. Signed up for Bay to Breakers (the 100th running!) and have nailed down most details of vacation/trip to it in May. And am diligently training. Also signed up for Valentine's Day 5K this Saturday, drawn by the promise of free brownies at the end and the perfect length for my scheduled long run that day.

2. Diligently practicing my guitar an hour a day. Love the lessons, love my guitar, can't believe that with this much practice I continue to sound like an utter noob.

3. Bought a Kindle. Geez, what was I thinking not getting one sooner! I take it with me everywhere. Even the bathroom. Love my Kindle.

4. Having fun dreaming up surprises for the Bear for V day.

1. Voluntarily went for a run yesterday for the first time in my life. The last time I ran was probably high school and I *hated* it even though I was very much in shape then. I've started Couch to 5k as a way of getting back into shape as the other the stuff I was doing started to bore me and it's too soon for long hikes.

2. Really struggling with motivation this year (since January). I went to the doctor for the first time in four (?) years and they found enough stuff to send me in for tons of scary tests, with the result that I don't seem to have too much wrong other than a huge Vitamin D deficiency and a thyroid thing. I've been using this as an excuse to do little that is useful though and I need to get my gumption back.

Thirding you, gaspode, about having a hard time making friends at this point and it's compounded by having moved back to Portland where I mostly hang out with people I knew when I was a teenager. Really need to find people who want to do stuff.

1) In Toronto for a course this week. It's nice to be in the city and not leaving the next day (as is my norm - come for a show, then go home) but dammit, this course is not that great. Booooo.

2) Met a girl a week and a half ago. Liking this girl. Girl seems to be liking me. Woooo.

I feel ever so welcomed! The focus came in briefly despite the knob being on back-order. Gone again, probably for the rest of the afternoon. Msali, there
is, alas, NO lack of functionality in the "snark" circuitry.

Bearwife, I feel your pain. Different instrument(accordion) but same feelings of ...well, you know. ;)
I suspect we both just need to keep piling on the mileage.

I like it here. I may post again someday. Cheers!

A while back I posted asking for advice trapping an escaped domestic bunny who was living near my office. He didn't make it; I found a few clumps of fur and all his internal organs in the grass last week. Curiously, I found no bones, skin or meat and the viscera were intact and undamaged. I have no idea what happened.

workerant, a lot of predators eat all but the guts and (sometimes) the inner organs. I suspect a cat.

dorgla, you are right about needing more mileage. I'm not telling my husband about you -- his favorite instrument is the accordion. Who knows what he'll encourage me to study next!

1. New glasses! Mindblowing. I really let it go too long - putting on the new ones made me realize that a) I haven't been able to see in ages and b) I've been squinting more or less nonstop. So that is awesome. Also they are purple. With little swirly things on the sides.

2. Tree guy came on Sunday and took down most of the big old cherry that has been threatening to fall on my roof since I got this house. Phew. Now I will not lie awake listening to the wind in dread.

2b. My wife just called and she's getting a piece in the online newyorkeronthetown.com! Granted it is not the New Fucking Yorker, but it is sorta connected, sorta. I am thrilled for her.

1. Worried about lay-offs. Our fucking mayor is scaring the shit out of us with his dire predictions of as many as 20,000 teacher lay-offs this year (that's about 1 in every 4 teachers). Even under those circumstances, I'd generally be fine, since I have 9 years seniority (and I'm in good standing), but the fucking mayor, fucking Bloomberg, is up in Albany pushing to change the seniority laws. He argues that the new, younger teachers (he actually says younger) are "the future of New York City schools." Never mind that any study ever done on the subject shows conclusively that more experienced, better educated teachers get much better results with students than newer teachers. In fact, studies indicate that teachers generally hit their optimum performance at about ten years. Children first, my ass. Future, my ass. Half of new teachers leave within five years nationally, and it's even worse in urban districts. What the mayor's going for is CHEAPER, not better. Fewer long-term teachers mean lower salaries and lower pension costs. The formula's not hard to figure out. Who the hell's he think he's kidding? Sonuvabitch. I'm so sick of the teacher bashing I can't even tell you. And I have over a 90% State Regents exam pass rate, thank you very much, far above the city average of about 60% and the state average of 70%, and that's at a high poverty school in the Bronx. But the changed law would put me at the mercy of my incompetent, vindictive principal and assistant principal. They might keep me, because I get them such good results, but they might not, since I cost thirty grand more than a new teacher, and because I fought them when they were trying to suspend kids who didn't have the money to buy school uniforms a few years ago, which chancellor regulations forbid them to do anyway. He's friendly enough lately, but at the time my principal wrote me an "unofficial" letter threatening to fire me, so who the hell knows. I tell ya, the mayor must like lawsuits. The "last in, first out" seniority lay-off law is there for a very good reason; it lessens the chance of favoritism, sexism, racism, ageism, you-name-it-ism, from entering into who goes and who stays. You can bet if they lay me off with my record I'll be suing the sonuvabitches up the wazoo. In the mean time, I'm trying to put some extra money aside while we can. I won't even let myself buy a lousy chicken lo mein, let alone a vacation or iPad. Fuck.

2. I need a drink.

Jesus, Pips, that sounds like some serious ass :(

Pips, the union will win that battle. But have a drink anyway.

Argh, Pips, that sounds ulcer-inducing.

You're right about experienced teachers vs. newbies... I can't believe anyone would try to argue otherwise. Crazy.

Appreciate the support folks. Ulcer-inducing is right. No use worrying so, really, but I can't seem to help myself. If I'm not careful, my hair'll fall out.

1. Doing battle at the moment with the monster that is our legislative process, trying to get something into parliament that is a done deal and has already been agreed to by everyone, but we still have to go through the whole protracted process of providing justification why it should be done.

2. Just got an urgent request to write a response to a letter sent to our minister. Nothing unusual there, except that the letter was written by the person who sits in the office next to me.

I swear this place is like a scene from 'Yes, Minister' sometimes.

1) Today was a low pain day! Yay!

2) Aw, man, oh man. Checking on the horses before bed, saw a skunk in the barn. Also, smelled a skunk in the barn. Looks like it's either just hiding under, or possibly taken up residence under, a leftover piece of a completed project that's waiting to be junked when I have the time. Now I get to figure out how to junk the project piece without making the skunk spray ME or the barn, or start by driving the skunk away first...passively, peacefully, you just don't wanna be here, guy.

It's obviously not intimidated by my gang of feral kitties, as we spotted it while almost the whole crew was in residence.

Seriously overworked and overwhelmed at work this week. Things will be tough until March 1st, but the worst part is tomorrow through Friday. The threat of layoff is hanging over me too, in spite of all of the superhuman work I'm doing.

However, I just gave one of the cats some catnip, and I'm taunting the other one with a feather, which thrills her. Both of these things make me really happy. And tonight, my therapist -- after I'd shot down all of her attempts to make me think positively -- said, "Well, at least you're not a caveman and no one's about to throw a spear at you."

And that's the thing that finally helped.

So god help anyone who comes into my office demanding anything tomorrow. They're going to get the "come back later or I throw a spear at you" speech.