Lessee:
Work is going really, really well. I love it. I’m getting to do all the things I’ve always dreamed of doing–leaping in and learning a new market, a new technology, and getting to build strategies. I’ve been reading like a maniac and interrogating a lot of my new coworkers on their understanding of our technology and our market–after a month, I feel like I’m finally getting my feet under me. Best of all, it looks like I’m getting free rein from up above to do exactly what I want to do–analyze the market, determine our strategies and best sales potential, and then go out and try to get deals. It’s a wonderfully complex and interesting problem, and I feel really, really, really lucky to have stumbled into it at just the right time. I’m ecstatic.
(It is now occurring to me–after years of swearing otherwise–that I might really enjoy running my own business…something to tuck away and think about. We’ll see how this one goes. 🙂 )
Snake: Isis is doing much, much better–she’s breathing a lot easier, and is generally looking better. Unfortunately, the culture came back as pseudonomas, which is a nasty and hard-to-eradicate bug. So she is on another week’s worth of injections. I feel so bad about it–I know she hates getting the injections, and that they sting like crazy–but there really isn’t much choice: we have to get the infection. I’m just hoping she doesn’t decide that all humans are evil and start biting. I dont’ think she will–she’s a very calm snake, all things considered–but it must be a horrible experience for her.
I’m going to try handling her some more this weekend–just so she doesn’t associate being picked up with being jabbed with a needle–and also feed her. I feel so guilty about the whole thing, even though it’s exactly what I need to do. It’s just that there’s no way to explain to her why we’re doing it. It’s always hard with your “kids”.
Along those same lines, I get my cats back soon! I’m flying out to Maryland on Dec 3, and am returning on Dec 8 with my cats!!! They have been living with my brother’s wife for two years now, and I absolutely hated not having them–but while I was unemployed, there wasn’t a chance of being able to get them back, I couldn’t afford a place for them. I adore my cats, and I have felt just awful about not being there for them–especially since I promised Sweetheart I would always be there for her. But Tara took fantastic care of them (for which I owe her infinite thanks–you couldn’t possibly believe how much I adore my cats)–and soon they will be coming back home for good. I’m ecstatic.
Meanwhile, in the continuing bizarreness of my ex’s life, Rob was going to come down tonight (as he has for the last week and a half) to help me inject Isis. But he didn’t make it today. Why? Well, just as he was trying to leave for Southern California for Thanksgiving, one of his chameleons went into labor. She gave birth to a bunch of live babies…and while that was happening, one batch of eggs started hatching! (Six months ahead of schedule, too.) So he is up there frantically constructing cages for the new babies, to hold them while he’s away. Chameleons aren’t that smart, and mom will actually eat the new babies if they’re where she can see them. (I’ve seen one do it.) I’m amused. Rob’s other ex (I’m the ex-wife, she’s the ex-fiancee) is coming by to help me instead.
I’m not sure who the livebearing chameleon was, but the eggs that hatched were for Chameleo lateralis–the carpet chameleon. They’re gorgeous little critters, like tiny jewels–adults maybe three or four inches for body + head (with the tail curled), and the colors are bright and beautiful–like tiny Persian carpets. The adults can live in surprisingly small cages–I’m vaguely considering whether I could sneak one in and keep it in my office. Probably not, but I think it would be pretty cool. At the moment I have an orchid or two there, but would really like a small terrarium. (Yeah, I know, it’s not very corporate, but you have to draw the line somewhere.)
Fiber! I almost forgot about fiber. I have finally reached the point where I’m ready to start a new project. I’ve been doing some sampling, and my base yarn is going to be at least 1 ply of a brown cashmere/silk mix that I bought from Woodland Woolworks. It’s pearly gray to pale tan spun up–looks beautiful in itself, but I wanted to add a little soft fuzziness to it. I tried 1 ply black angora and 1 ply cashmere/silk, and that looks OK, but I really want something with more sheen, to match the silk. So I have started asking around for black satin angora. I think the idea is to do another ring shawl, except this time in a ghostly, slightly haloed silver-gray–kind of a “ghost” shawl.
And, last of all, a friend (in fact, my former boss) just sent me a CD of photos of French rugby players in the nude (“Dieux du Stade”). Gorgeous black and white photos, very artistic, and woo boy are those guys hot!! I definitely have to get the book and at least one of the calendars. If you want to find it, search for “Dieux du Stade” (which I think translates to “Gods of the Stadium”). I don’t know how they managed to get the French rugby team to pose in the nude, but Great Mother, they’re gorgeous. Never let it be said that I turned down eye candy. 🙂
Nonetheless, I find it very amusing that my former boss, the very proper cut-no-corners Boy Scout-pure corporate exec, is sending me porn. My good moral example is clearly having an exemplary effect on him. Soon I will have him running around in body paint and a tutu, and my job on Earth will be done.
(Don’t worry; I don’t think that will happen in my lifetime. But there’s always hope. 🙂 )
Tien
