Tempus fugit
The Visitor Firehose is nearly done. I really like having visitors! Especially since my calendar turned out to be not quite so jam-packed as I expected, so I've had a free weekend sometimes to clean the house and be on my own for a bit. It's been a good balance of "people I know well but hadn't seen in a while" (e.g. stolen_tea) and "people I don't know well and was delighted to get to know better" (e.g. ovrclokd and thebroomecloset). Right now a friend from SF is in Puerto Rico, but I've got a break right now since he went to Vieques yesterday after spending a couple days here. He'll be back sometime next week, leaving on the 18th. And then that's it for visitors for a short while! In mid-May, a bunch of my Burner friends from SF (themassivebri et al.) are renting a vacation house in Luquillo so I'll get to see them (I promised them a big party), and cipherpunk is coming back in June. That may be it for visitors. It's already getting hot. Everyone on the mainland has started posting about spring finally arriving.
In two weeks, I'm going to Southern California for a long Easter weekend and am very excited about it. I'm hoping to go to NYC over Fourth of July weekend because my sister is starting a nursing program at Columbia's nursing school in June. I'm really happy for her. She's going to be so good at nursing. Her move means my parents will have to take care of Natasha for the summer until I move back to California. She's apparently been a handful lately, but they're fond of her anyway (if not as much as my sister, the cat's primary caretaker, is).
The federal budget crunch has been a source of stress. My last day got pushed up to August 26 (from September 9) because I'm no longer allowed to have a paid overlap with my replacement, who officially starts 8/29. I think we'll each end up volunteering a week (him starting early, me ending late) so that I can train and pass the torch to him. And then there's the possible shutdown if the budget runs out after tomorrow. We have two weeks' reserve funding if tomorrow comes and goes with no budget, but after that I dunno what happens. I think my boss and I keep working? Maybe they'll tell us what the hell is going on soon. Fuck Congress. I swear I have no faith in any branch of government anymore except my own. And that would probably not be so much the case, either, if I didn't have such an awesome boss.
Otherwise, life is quiet. I fell off the long-run wagon after the half-marathon and have been sticking to 5Ks. Lame. (Though I've managed to make a couple fluke PRs on the treadmill, at least.) I have lots of books to read and have gotten through some of them. My boss has given me kudos on the last two things I finished, and it's funny how much a couple compliments are such a confidence booster. (Hey maybe I'm actually kinda good at my job after 19 months!) I did a big spring cleaning to the apartment last weekend and that was awesome. I finally got a haircut a couple weeks ago. I see my friends. I talk to the cat. I'm boring. And that's fine.
In two weeks, I'm going to Southern California for a long Easter weekend and am very excited about it. I'm hoping to go to NYC over Fourth of July weekend because my sister is starting a nursing program at Columbia's nursing school in June. I'm really happy for her. She's going to be so good at nursing. Her move means my parents will have to take care of Natasha for the summer until I move back to California. She's apparently been a handful lately, but they're fond of her anyway (if not as much as my sister, the cat's primary caretaker, is).
The federal budget crunch has been a source of stress. My last day got pushed up to August 26 (from September 9) because I'm no longer allowed to have a paid overlap with my replacement, who officially starts 8/29. I think we'll each end up volunteering a week (him starting early, me ending late) so that I can train and pass the torch to him. And then there's the possible shutdown if the budget runs out after tomorrow. We have two weeks' reserve funding if tomorrow comes and goes with no budget, but after that I dunno what happens. I think my boss and I keep working? Maybe they'll tell us what the hell is going on soon. Fuck Congress. I swear I have no faith in any branch of government anymore except my own. And that would probably not be so much the case, either, if I didn't have such an awesome boss.
Otherwise, life is quiet. I fell off the long-run wagon after the half-marathon and have been sticking to 5Ks. Lame. (Though I've managed to make a couple fluke PRs on the treadmill, at least.) I have lots of books to read and have gotten through some of them. My boss has given me kudos on the last two things I finished, and it's funny how much a couple compliments are such a confidence booster. (Hey maybe I'm actually kinda good at my job after 19 months!) I did a big spring cleaning to the apartment last weekend and that was awesome. I finally got a haircut a couple weeks ago. I see my friends. I talk to the cat. I'm boring. And that's fine.