Strange Days
Did my taxes. Big bill. Strangely rewarding because we were prepared for it, and most of the cost of it was due to my short stint on a 1099, without withholding. The requirement to pay quarterly is absolved when you are in the 4th quarter and you pay your full bill by the end of January. Anyway all done, and now we can go back to killing off the debt we acrued in 2001-2002. My cards are almost clear, and I think the wifes will be in a month or two.
She was just offered a permanent position. I had told her the rate I felt was appropriate, and she followed my lead and they gave it to her. I figured they would be the kind of place that asked you what you should be paid, and I have learned to prepare for that. I think she would have taken substantially less. I repeated it several times, discussed why, and explained it in relation to her freelance payscale, and she approached it perfectly really. Whenever you go into a job interview you should be very clear with yourself what you want. Let them fight for their price.
My sister-in-law and brother are on the verge of parenthood. It could happen any time now, knock on wood. I am more excited than I can describe, although aware that this is partially vicarious. I am not sure if I really want a baby most of the time, but I am not sure if there is any way that it can be discussed intellectually. Its a package of feelings tied together with a thread of terror and longing. On the other hand being an uncle is all joy, despite it making me think of my own tragically deteriorating uncle, as he was both a wonderful uncle and also a frightening warning of the frailty of the men in my family, all of whom seem so robust until the bottom drops out. The women on the other hand seem so fragile and yet my 90 year old grandma, dropping away into whatever strange desperate senile world she inhabits, may outlive us all.
She was just offered a permanent position. I had told her the rate I felt was appropriate, and she followed my lead and they gave it to her. I figured they would be the kind of place that asked you what you should be paid, and I have learned to prepare for that. I think she would have taken substantially less. I repeated it several times, discussed why, and explained it in relation to her freelance payscale, and she approached it perfectly really. Whenever you go into a job interview you should be very clear with yourself what you want. Let them fight for their price.
My sister-in-law and brother are on the verge of parenthood. It could happen any time now, knock on wood. I am more excited than I can describe, although aware that this is partially vicarious. I am not sure if I really want a baby most of the time, but I am not sure if there is any way that it can be discussed intellectually. Its a package of feelings tied together with a thread of terror and longing. On the other hand being an uncle is all joy, despite it making me think of my own tragically deteriorating uncle, as he was both a wonderful uncle and also a frightening warning of the frailty of the men in my family, all of whom seem so robust until the bottom drops out. The women on the other hand seem so fragile and yet my 90 year old grandma, dropping away into whatever strange desperate senile world she inhabits, may outlive us all.