drainage

Today, morning greeted me clear and cold, far more like fall than the rest of the weather we've been having lately. The sky was gorgeous, clear sun shining into the landscape with a backdrop of storm clouds that undoubtedly dumped on us overnight--which I, mercifully, did not hear.

If you remember me complaining about not being able to sleep due to the noise of the rain, well, we found out the cause when the paint in the corner of my room closest that noise started bubbling, and the paint on the metal rib of the stud in the corner created a gap from the rest of the wall. I called it into the management, and they found that the contractors hadn't finished sealing the roof. Let me reiterate: they left part of the roof completely unsealed. Therefore, the noise I heard was the rush of water being funneled between the roof and the drainspout and down the wall next to my head.

We've been there two years, and yeah, I could've spoken up earlier, but you'd think they'd have noticed the washed-out spot? But then again, that happens in lots of places where it seems to be sealed just fine: I'm of the opinion that they really screwed up the drainage plan for this place.

In any case. It's fixed, the noise no longer happens, but in order for them to repair the damage in the wall, I'd have to completely dismantle most of my bedroom and move it out of my room. Erg.

Then again, maybe there's an opportunity for them to do that while I'm away. This upcoming trip is too soon: I leave Sunday, return Wednesday. Conference time: headed to Rochester for it. The following one's a possibility, though. Though I'm still not confident in it happening, even though I've got ticket confirmations and such.

Unfortunately, there are a few fires to put out at work before I leave, so I should get to those. Like now.

culture

If I haven't mentioned it (and I haven't), I caught Cirque du Soleil last week when they performed locally. And when I say locally, I mean across-the-street-from-my-office locally.

I'm only now getting a chance to listen to the CD version, which is mostly awesome, though it drops into easy listening territory every once in awhile. The show was similarly good-with-one-caveat: fantastic show, few quibbles there, but the venue really wasn't a good one for them. Seating arrangements were weird, with whole fields of seats left empty, seemingly on purpose, and those seated on the floor itself I hear didn't even get a good view because they were below the stage.

I went with L, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it, despite L forgetting his glasses and me my inhaler when I was having asthma troubles. Just a seasonal deal, kicked in by my allergies: nothing to worry about, but still annoying. Happens every two or three years, but I just up the dosage on my maintenance meds and it usually goes away.

On our way out, a man walking in front of us said to the woman he was walking next to: "There's our culture for the month." L and I were rather aghast.

In a couple weeks I'm heading to a conference in Rochester, and the night I return I'm planning to try to catch Elie Wiesel, hopefully with S. This is all dependent upon getting tickets, which I'll find out early next week. If you're not familiar, I'll quote Wikipedia's first few sentences: Wiesel is a "American-Jewish novelist, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of over 40 books, the best known of which is Night, a memoir that describes his experiences during the Holocaust and his imprisonment in several concentration camps."

I enjoy being in a place with access to educational/cultural events.

And with that, I've got to run. I need to finish putting together some CDs and folded paper cases (I love those things) and possibly run to the store before we get on our way to our game tonight, and we need to beat the release of football traffic after the Iowa game around 5:30 (thanks for the heads-up, L).

too busy to blog

As a good (online) friend of mine recently stated (hope you don't mind the paraphrase, B): the ironic bit about blogs is that when you've got the stuff going on to blog about, you don't have time to blog about it.

And so it is over here. Keeping myself busy with three yoga classes a week, for starters. And just in the near-ish future, my usual (monthly) trip to Hershey, then HighEdWebDev (a conference which I thoroughly enjoy) in October, then a supposedly-booked-but-I'll-believe-it-when-I-land-there trip to Hawaii in November.

And with that statement, I've got to run. S just came to drop off CSA veggies and invited me over (after a two-hour-long conversation, but that's normal for us).

photos and Stardust

Finally finished with the Seattle photos. As a bonus, I also finished with my Fourth of July photos (see how far behind I am?). I'm for the most part extraordinarily satisfied with them, which is somewhat unusual for me.

If you haven't seen Stardust yet, go do so. Highly recommended. I'm seeing it again tomorrow night.

yoga, summers, water, mountains, Seattle, work. in (not-so) brief.

I headed out of yoga last night, chatting with S. all the way, after she kindly waited while I talked to our teacher for a bit. She's refreshing: we should talk more, hang out more, but neither of us seem to be able to find the time.

The first bits of a thunderstorm were letting loose: I offered to drive her over to her car, parked about a block away, but she declined since she likes having the walk after yoga. Wish I could think like that, but for me, it's all I can do to get there on time. Stupid work getting in the way of my yoga. ;)

While driving home, I watched the rain evaporate off the blacktop as mist from the heat of the day, and when safely ensconced at home, enjoyed the thunder accompaniment. I love summer thunderstorms. It's foggy this morning, and cool, following the storm. I'm enjoying it very much.

There's a summer dish I've been craving since Monday that Dad used to make every once in awhile: a (from memory) really simple cucumber-and-vinegar dish. I meant to call and ask him about it on Monday, but got sidetracked with mom and planning for a trip we've just scheduled for November. Very exciting stuff, but I'm not going to trust that it's real until I'm on the plane. It's that surreal.

The Google (ha) isn't helping me with the recipe either: all of them have either mayo and sour cream, and I don't remember that at all. Dad, check me on this: it's just thinly sliced cucumber in white vinegar with sugar stirred in, right? And then chilled? Is it that simple, or is my memory just failing me?

Summers are always more than a bit nuts for me: you'd think it would be our down time here in Admissions, but it's not. It's cleanup time for some things, plus Spend a Summer Day prep and the six days themselves, plus the new web app going up each year.

That said, I wish I could get some time away to go see the boats my Dad's captaining these days. Take the new Black Point tour, perhaps. That's one thing this area is lacking: I love the mountains, but the lack of large bodies of water is something I miss pretty regularly. We've got streams, occasional rivers, but no convenient ponds or lakes. But maybe I just got spoiled with that big pond at the last place mom and I lived in Woodstock, then the Mississippi in St. Paul, then of course Lake Geneva.

Water's calming, stilling. The soft grandeur of the mountains here have a similar effect, but it's entirely different in feel. Seattle's were much more imposing, but distant. But their water was much more immediate. The Sound, Lake Washington, Lake Union, Green Lake: I saw almost every one of these regularly while I was there, most of them daily. They're spoiled with water and mountains.

I really need to make a fuller entry and notes about my visit there: I've just been so pushed for time lately, and I keep pushing off commitments, which is a problem. I'm not even finished with crunching the photos from the trip. But I took 3,700 shots, so that's kind of understandable. What I've put up so far you can see here. Oh, and Dad? Check out the Ballard and Nordic Heritage Museum sets. Ballard was originally settled by Scandinavian immigrants, so they have events like "Tivoli Viking Days" (I'm not making this up), and they have an actual, honest-to-goodness and still owned by the family Danish bakery and a bunch of Scandinavian foodstuff grocers, plus a bunch of retirement homes that are named for the groups they were either founded by, or primarily serve--all Scandinavian-based names. And you'll see some familiar items in the museum set. ;)

It's really as if Seattle was making a serious play for my attention: the seafood was exquisite, the sushi was the best I've ever had in my life, plus all this Danish heritage stuff? Sold. Y'know? That's another thing I've missed here: there's a lot of Dutch, a lot of German, a lot of miscellaneous Eastern European, in terms of original settlers, but not much Scandinavian stuff at all. Minor complaints, it might sound, but for someone who wants to keep connected to that community, keep the language I learned in good speaking shape, that's a powerful lack. And a powerful selling point for a place that has it.

Now, I'm not going anywhere for a year at least (I'm in a lease, if nothing else), but I have given it some thought, though not anywhere approaching serious, "how would I do this"-type thought. I've got time enough for that. But even aside from all the college friends who moved out there, I also know a couple that recently moved out there from Madison, so I should have all the practical advice on how to do it right and well if I should need it.

And I have friends there. Not only the college clan, but folks I'd known before only online, who I met when I went and spent two pretty full days with and became almost immediate fast friends. They're some of the most immediately awesome people I've ever met. You know how you start liking people more the more you get to know them? Not these folks. Right off the bat, they were far too cool to be true. But enough raving about them. The point is that making new friends is one of the most scary parts about moving. With Seattle, at least, it wouldn't be as much of a concern for me.

Done raving about Seattle. Dax and L. keep teasing me that everything's better in Seattle, since I keep naming things that are. I've had to chastise them that no, not everything is (I can name a couple things off the top of my head that are distinctly better here: traffic being a big one), it's just that the things I remember best and thus talk about are.

Back to the here and now. I smell like peaches this morning, due to my peachy BPAL Chaos Theory I got last year at this time. I'm really glad I put it on this morning. I tossed on my off-white cardigan, and the danger of leaving cardigans in my office for when I need them is that they start to smell like my office. But that's been the case with every office building I've ever known: they have a building smell, and after all day in it, that building smell will cling. But maybe I just have a sensitive nose.

Yesterday was a day-long meeting about this year's budget proposal. Let me repeat: Day. Long. Meeting. Wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, though. Though I drank far more coffee than I usually do (the usual amount being zero).

I was also by far the youngest one there. I noted it and thought it was weird, but I don't think anyone else noticed. Except for at lunch, where I had mentioned yoga, and then everyone at my table leapt in to describe their various back problems, sciatica, neck injuries, etc. One guy's back had seized and he had collapsed while walking up his block, just laying there until some stranger helped him. Carried him to his truck, drove him to his house, deposited him in his bed. When he still couldn't move, he eventually called 911. Bizarre. Makes me none too keen to get older. ;) But I guess that's a good reason to be starting yoga before I need it for physical therapy or some such.

I'm debating going to classes three times a week rather than my current two. I love it, it makes me feel awesome and I can tell I'm making progress. I'm still amazed at a few things I can do that I certainly wouldn't have been able to before starting (or when I was in that down time before I picked it back up again). It's just a time issue. As is everything, it seems.

Speaking of which, I should really get to it.

not famous, but getting there

So I was contacted by the representative of a production group in New York: they want to use one of my flickr photos in a documentary.

The show is called "Dead Art," and focuses on the art of cemeteries. (This is the same company that produced "Cannibalism: Extreme Survival," on an amusing note.) The episode the shot will be in is about New Orleans. They want the shot because it captures Metairie, Greenwood, and St. Patrick's cemeteries from above.

Done deal. Papers signed, going to get a copy when it's been completed.

dinner tonight

For as uninspired as "Wilted Greens with Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar" sounds, it makes an awesome meal. Especially with just a touch of crumbled bacon. Just smashing.

Reminder to self to tone down the garlic and red pepper a bit next time so you can taste the greens better, though.

reading/location, clothing/money, vacation/weather

I've been reading more of late, after having gone months without picking up a book. I mean, certainly, I read every day even without the books, but not reading for the sake of reading, really. So now I've finished Indecent and gotten through all but the postscript in The Natural History of the Senses (and yes, that's a postscript, not an afterword, or so it's labeled).

I think it's the location thing. When I'm at home, there are a million other things to do. All this reading was done either at the club job (it's always a slow start) or at a diner I've been going to with relative frequency of late, mostly due to having errands in that area of town daily for awhile now.

Errands that mostly involve clothing: dropping off donations of my old clothing that I need to purge from my closet, and getting drycleaning and repairs done. Which ran me $100 in one shot, I might add, though that included a few suits and my old North Face jacket which desperately needed a thorough cleaning and some miscellaneous other pieces including a bunch of silk, some of which needed special attention.

It takes money to look professional. It takes money to do a lot of things, which irks me, but what are you going to do and all that.

On the up side, I've got a bit of vacation coming up (finally) after a conference I'm going to in Seattle, and I'll be taking the opportunity to stay there for a bit afterwards. And since Penn State's flying me out anyway, and coming back after that bit of vacation is actually cheaper than when I would have flown back, the flight's covered, at least. Minor victory.

And I scheduled my birthday and the day after off to enjoy Arts Fest. I don't usually take time on either, but I think I'll enjoy having the time for both. And now I'll be able to stop dealing with how I'm going to wedge in the time I have to either take or lose for awhile.

It's been stormy around here: a bit of a relief, actually, from the high temperatures we'd been having. During one of the more violent bouts that I Tweeted, a microburst occurred just a block or two away, taking out power lines and stopping traffic on one of the main arteries that runs beside campus.

And on that note, I have to run: one of my three meetings today starts in a few minutes.

Blue Band clips

These came up in conversation with my Dad, so I just want to link them here for him:

This is the Blue Band's version of Thriller that's been watched a ton. They're in "costume," so to speak: this version is far more about the choreography. Their rendition here isn't musically very good at all, frankly.

This version is far too short, but shows them off much better: the players themselves are actually dancing, and it's far more together musically.

Here's one made about all their different fashion appearances not so long ago (though I can't find the one I intended to share, I might add). Other finds: their trombone players just screwing around and doing a pretty good rendition of "Low Rider," a better view of one of their full performances, and the traditional entrance of the drum major.

jazz time

I've had "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" stuck in my head all day.

I've had an afternoon of being stressed out about various commitments, but being efficient enough to get them done. And it occurred to me (because of the song) that if I'm not enjoying them, I shouldn't do them. This is a hobby, not an obligation. Though in this case hobby becomes obligation, especially when either money's exchanged or someone's sending me something in the mail, assuming I'd also be sending them something. But the vast majority of the worst of it will be done after tomorrow.

I'm sure it means something for me professionally too, weirdly enough. I had the fortune to have a Friday entirely clear of meetings. Normally, I'd take that as a vacation day, since they occur so rarely, and that's the best time to do so, but there's far too much to be done for that to happen this past Friday.

But I got so much done. It felt fantastic. And that's why I sometimes go in on weekends, just to be able to get stuff done. I can't do it during normal business hours sometimes.

Jazz has been in my head pretty steadily for about a week. It started with my co-DJ-in-crime playing "Scatman" last Sunday. It's an old pop song with a jazzy bit to it, with the chorus repeating "I'm the Scatman." My co-DJ-in-crime questioned the lyrics, referring to the toilet humor definition of scat. I had to tell him about the other definition and what it was used for. Ever since then, my brain's been flipping jazz tunes out of the depths at me. It's as if my brain radio's gone entirely static except for the jazz stations. I should really just burn some to CD. That usually purges the problem right quick.

"Right quick," I might add, was picked up from a co-worker who moved up here from--Georgia? South Carolina? somewhere like that--the south, anyway, pretty recently. I'm working with him pretty closely these days and end up picking up his terminology. "Pull the door to" I never got until he explained it, for example.

In any case. Off to make some carrot ginger soup for dinner.

fresh

Just visited Tait Farm to do the CSA pick-up thing. And on the way back, over Nittany Meadow Farm, the masses of clouds had slices in them, allowing beams to come through. Gorgeous.

I picked up some mint and lavender plants while I was at Tait, and realized while walking back to my car that growing plants and fresh things make me happy. Not that I didn't know this before, but it was notable then.

Now, out of my monkey suit. Though this particular monkey suit garnered me two compliments today, and my hair at the meeting I wore it for garnered two more. This suit's one of my better combos: "spiffy," as J. put it minutes ago. It's got a very subtle pinstripe in coral, and a matching, almost shocking solid coral lining which you can see pretty well at my cuffs when I raise my hands or arms at all. I was amazed that I managed to find a matching coral blouse, but I managed to. It's a good look, if I do say so myself.

The hair's my new favorite 'do: my version of a French twist, the proper version of which always fails because I have too much hair. Instead, I get a bit of a knobby bit at the bottom, but it still looks decent for awhile--until I get too many flyaways, anyway. But the whole thing I've got anchored at two points, only one of which is usually visible. No bobby pins.

I got another appearance compliment earlier this week: the colleague in question called it my "mystery woman" look, for some reason. It's a long wool skirt, soft pink shirt, and funky/romantic jacket with slightly puffed shoulders. I like it quite a bit (picked it up at Target on sale: don't tell).

My project for this weekend is an annual tradition at this point: writing the Free Comic Book Day article for the guys at Comic Swap, to be put out in the Centre Daily Times next week. Deadline's Monday. I could say that it should write itself by now, but it won't. There's always something new, and I certainly have to change it up each year. I'm skipping the staff's favorite picks this year for that very reason, I think. But they've got a guest artist coming in, so there should be plenty of other things to cover.

Off to eat before people arrive here.

Virginia Tech tribute and email

I'm writing since Dad nudged me to post, and to share the following:

Here's the email we just got here in admissions regarding Penn State's Virginia Tech tribute during the Blue/White game last weekend. We'll be sending this on formally, but I thought I'd post it here as well:

To whoever reads this letter,

Hello, my name is [name edited for his privacy], and I am sophomore and student at Virginia Tech. I did not know of any other way to contact the university, so I decided to write this letter to you all in the admissions office. You do not even realize how much your tribute at the spring game has lifted our spirits. I am dumbfounded by your regard for the well-being of the hokie community. I was not present at the game, however, I was able to watch the proceedings later on youtube.com. A few of my friends attend Penn State University, and I have talked to them with regards to the spring game. I want to express, on behalf of the entire Virginia Tech community, our gratitude for your display of support. You all have exhibited, through your support of our school, the character of your university. Never would I have imagined that the students and alumni of Penn State would be wearing maroon and orange and even cheering "Let's go HOKIES!!!"

On behalf of the entire Virginia Tech community I would again like to express our sincere gratitude for the way you have lifted our spirits on campus. You all deserve praise for helping us through this catastrophe, and I hope that this letter has illustrated our thanks to you.

Sincerely,
Your fellow hokie
[name edited for his privacy]

(I give you permission to print this or publish it however you want. I just want to make sure that you all realize the impact that you have had on our school.)

The tribute he's referring to is on YouTube. You can watch one version (though there are others) here.

old family photos

Quick note: late to the club job.

Dad, Anni's album photos are now up here.

weather, office change

On Tuesday, it was almost 80 degrees here. This morning, I found a dusting of snow upon leaving home. A dusting, sure, but still.

Just switched offices: new one's bigger, but the desk makes my wrists hurt. I'll be rectifying that shortly, though. It also suffers from the same heating problem my office-before-last did: it's longer than it is wide (three windows again!), so the heat builds up in it pretty quickly since the heaters run the length of the windows. It needs some work (like a paint job: there are nail holes everywhere), but I like it. And I have a staff assistant in my area now, which has both up and down sides.

Off to fix the desk situation.

yoga conference

I've been eyeing the Yoga Journal Grand Geneva Conference ever since I noticed its existence last night, while paging through Yoga Journal. Wish I could go, but it's a. expensive and b. falling at a really inconvenient time, work-wise. Hopefully they'll run it again next year: it's a good excuse to a. do yoga (and potentially expand my practice of it, as all I've got is from one teacher. she's fantastic, but I absolutely could be missing something) and b. visit family. And maybe by then I'll be able to afford it. :P

career arc

Since I wrote this all up in an email anyway, I figured I'd share it here. The old friend I sent this to was asking about my route to my current job. There are a few edits for clarification, otherwise it's all intact.

Originally I was looking for writing in an academic context, preferably tech-related (but "soft" tech writing rather than "hard" tech writing--error messages rather than technical manuals). I'd also had some interest in academic advising, which is done by professionals at Penn State as well as faculty. Admissions is where I ended up.

Admissions counseling itself wasn't (I feel) the main thrust of my old job (it's technically only supposed to be less than a quarter of our jobs): it was more about marketing writing, really, and that was okay with me. I got to dabble in all sorts of things, which was also ideal for me. I eventually became the go-to person when it came to virtually anything done online--because really, I live it, and very few others in the office do.

The new job is as close to ideal as I think I'll get: a good combination of writing and tech, a lot of leadership and project management, a sprinkle of teaching (I'll also be running our internal training) and instructional design--and all of it circling around our use of electronic communication, which is where my interest really is. I'm working on our email communication, helping redesign our website, I've checked into student blogging (we're not going to do it), I've produced podcasts and videos. You get the idea. And there's more to come.

[Advice was dispensed here about stepping stones when it comes to careers.] The writing position I started in wasn't ideal, but it was getting there, and now I've pretty much gotten there. So yes, I'm absolutely happy with the way my career has shaped up thus far. Somebody going from Admissions Counselor/Writer to Assistant Director (in a new Assistant Director position, at that) in two years is absolutely absurd, especially at Penn State. So I'm pretty proud of it, actually.

Working late, Admissions meanderings

I'm tired, and just stopped doing more work stuff. In this case, poking about (and trying to sign up for) the Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium, among other things.

As much as I leave my work at work a lot of the time, a lot of the time I don't. Not entirely sure where the healthy balance is there yet.

Also just read an email response from our head honcho (consider that shorthand for Executive Director/Associate Vice President*, both of which are titles he holds) telling me essentially that my work hasn't gone unnoticed, and that he and the rest of Admissions are expecting great things out of me, especially considering this new position and its new role. Admissions to this point has never had anything like this--one person driving and shaping the office's vision in how we communicate with students, tech-wise.

Though, I might add, it has desperately needed it.

And, as my former boss (now an equal) pretty much said today, I came in at a time when they were tech-hungry, and I filled a void, one they may not have realized needed to be filled. Though a college friend's worst insult comes to mind: "You fill a much-needed void." I know that's not the case here, but the thought still amuses me.

I need to stop thinking about work now. I have a forced day off tomorrow: one I have to use or I'll lose. I have a month of vacation saved up. A month. I could leave for that long. Technically. It'll never happen, and it kind of shows you how little vacation I've been taking (stretched thin? me?), but it's a pretty cool thought.

Work = off. Bath = now.

*Whoa. I just realized that technically, he's my grandboss now, at least for awhile. Freaky.

Music, voice, and job developments

I ought to just commit to writing here after yoga every Tuesday, because it seems like I almost always have something in my head to put here afterwards. I blame the brain-expansion.

Normally I don't sing in the car. Today, however, I was belting out Splashdown's "Ironspy" both before and after class. I noted that afterwards was much stronger than beforehand: in that case, I suspect it's the navel work we did, which made me feel and use those muscles much more once I rediscovered them (as I do virtually every time I do yoga, I might add--but between times, I forget about them again. yet another reason to start practicing daily).

You may not know this about me, but when I was younger (starting when I was about eight), I took voice lessons for years. Performed a lot of Phantom and Les Mis when they were all the rage. But, of course, I realize now that I've nigh-forgotten the breath technique I learned then to support my tone.

Then again, there's probably a lot of random nonsense you might not know (Dad, you're an exception, of course). Like that I went to modeling school as well. I might add that I was far too young to do so--nor did I have the appropriate body type. But my mom put me through it anyway.

All this aside, I also realized that I no longer have the same memory triggers with music that I used to. Automatically, at least. Perfect example: Splashdown I first got intensely interested in when I was dating N, so logically one should conjure memories of the other, right? Not so much anymore.

I think it's that I've achieved enough emotional balance that music no longer acts as an immediate trigger. I can let my mind drift to it, but if I don't want to or don't think of it, I don't. On the one hand this is a very good development--certain songs no longer upset me. On the other hand, it's not so great--some of those triggers are what made me enjoy the song in the first place.

As an abrupt left turn, I need to call Uncle Len tonight. Hopefully I'll remember to after this. I also chatted with my ex-grandboss over this past weekend, and as a mental note I need to remember to email him after the Windows Media Player-friendly version of the podcast is up. I don't know what to call him in here anymore, since he's no longer my grandboss. Perhaps just by his initial, as I do most everyone else, which is P. His initials are P.S, which prompts the joke that if he ever created his own university, its shorthand would also be PSU. It was good to talk to him again: hopefully that'll continue now that I won't be seeing him virtually every day at work.

Speaking of work, it's official (to me, anyway--paper signed and all: the announcement has yet to go out to the office, but that'll happen soon enough). That really important day this past Friday? Was my interview for the assistant director position that had opened up in our office. I'm now an Assistant Director for Undergraduate Admissions: I believe my internal title will be Assistant Director of Electronic Communication, meaning I'll be managing any online delivery of information/messaging, internal and external. Which is, I might add, something I've been doing (much of, not all of) anyway, though as only a small part of my former job's description thus far (I've been going above and beyond, as is my wont with things that interest me). It's exciting: new office, new title, new salary, new conferences, new responsibilities, new opportunities. I've been getting management advice from friends and mentors, some of it coincidental, some of it after they found out. I'll do fine, I know I will: I've been doing this stuff already, quite frankly going outside the limits of my job description to do so.

I'm looking forward to these changes, all in all.

daily triumph and big day tomorrow

My one, teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy triumph for the day. The student podcast I helped produce is up on iTunes (please note that you can only listen with iTunes for now: it's free, but we're working on alternatives).

Big day tomorrow. Wish me luck.

leavings

I'm freshly back from yoga, having those pleasant stretched pangs that let you know you've worked.

Today was grandboss's last day with us. Having that in the past tense seems weird--the time between his announcement and his departure seems to have flown past.

I can't even say I have mixed feelings about it, because I don't. I'm going to miss him. I looked forward to his face more than anyone's when I went to work. I mean, it's not like it's "goodbye, goodbye forever" or anything. He'll be over with WPSU doing more than just volunteering now. But it won't be the same, of course.

He had (has!) my respect, loyalty, support, friendship. And trust. Above all. And I enjoyed his company. And I just don't have that complete package with anyone else at work anymore, and certainly not to the same extent. He had more of an influence on me than anyone else I've ever worked with.

If he hadn't encouraged it, I don't think I'd be pursuing the path I am now. And without his support, I'd certainly have been cut off from a lot of things I enjoy about work.

When I told D. and S., S. immediately responded with "oh no! He's your advocate!" And that's true. He was. So not only was he someone I enjoyed working with, but he was someone in a position of authority that could make things happen when it came to my job.

And I'm going to stop there. Abruptly. There are things happening at work that I don't want to talk about yet, even if I could, which I can't. And this sounds horribly catastrophic, but it may be a very good thing. It may also be a very bad thing. Right now, I'm in a "time will tell" state.

Please forgive me if I'm scarce. Negotiating change takes a lot of my headspace, and I need every inch at the moment.