Two in one week? Gasp! I'm quite shocked, finding myself back here before a week has passed. Well... maybe not shocked after all. I've been itching to get to writing again. This, despite the fact that I have absolutely no time to do so. Unless I quit reading 3 books a week and all those webblogs and the ebay listings and the Sunday Comics and crossword puzzle... but we all know that's just not going to happen. So what I think I will do is start sketching out what I want to write, so that when I do force myself to take some time, I will not just stare blankly at the screen for hours on end.

Deceptively simple little plan. Sigh. I'd like to make it work, but I still haven't gotten around to digging up my OS 9 so I can access all my writing from the last 3 years. Which, by the way, includes a 125,000 word fantasy novel and 30,000 words on a... I guess suspense thriller is the best catagory for it, but since it is mine it includes a wee smidge of slapstick and plain old in-your-face absurdity. I miss them, but I am stuck.

More thoughts on the new boss: My old boss says he thinks she will last 3 weeks. I have a slightly varying opinion. I think she will last two months in her current state and then will either mellow the frik out or will run screaming from our evident mediocrity. I still don't like her. I'm not sure it's possible to like her. No one else in the building can stand her. I know this because they all told me. I do'nt even have to ask. They come up, ask "So, what you you think of your new boss?" and I say, "I don't know yet, but..." and they just jump right in with what they think. And it ain't good. No sireebob. I talked to Jen, my boss's boss, about my doubts. She said that "J" had a lot of energy and we'd milk it for as long as possible. I think that Jen may have doubts as well. I understand that there weren't a lot of qualified applicants, so it may have been a case of chosing the lesser of many evils.

All I have to say is - We Shall See.

First Impressions: So... met the new boss yesterday. First impressions? I came in the office, she failed to make eye contact and did not say hello. Second impression? She called me Katie. I am never Katie. Okay, well, for maybe 3 people I am Katie, but they get special dispensations because they know me and they are just plain silly enough to be able to get away with it. People who do not know me never get to call me Katie. It's simply not done. Also, when I corrected her, she did not apologize.

This does not bode well. Perhaps I'm being difficult because I don't like the idea of working for a woman. Does that seem odd? Most of my upper level bosses are women, and that's fine. But to work directly for a woman doesn't sit well with me. Why is that? Maybe because men are generally more straightforward than women. Women bosses tend to have something to prove, whereas men tend to be more comfortable with the idea that they have a right to be in charge. I have a lot of people tell me that I think and act more like a man than a woman at work... and at other things, I guess. Why? I don't play games. I always say what I think. I don't take anything too personally... (Except someone disrespecting me by calling me by the diminutive without explicit permission).

I'm not overly interested in a power struggle, and I feel like the new boss lady sees me as a threat to whatever new things she wants to introduce. I'm not, I just want and deserve some respect because I do know my way around the place and I've outlasted 5 other co-managers. I've also trained 3 of those managers, and will no doubt be training the two new ones. Ignoring me and then getting my name wrong is not going to make that more pleasant for either of us.

To give her the benefit of the doubt, it was her first day -- she'd met about 50 other people and toured the property all day before she finally met me. I can understand if she were too tired or burnt to focus by that time. So we'll see how she does on her third impression. Can't wait. Right.

Ahhhhh, Vino: Drinking and Americans: Admittedly, my observations these days are a wee bit wonky due to the fact that I live in freaking Mormon Central where most of the inhabitants don't drink at all. The rest of the non-Mormons drink a bit more than normal as a consequence... so I either see people stonecoldsober/on a sugar high from too much soda, or slobbering, puking drunk. Have they none of them heard of a Happy Medium????? Oops, I'm ranting again...

Part of the reason that we American Heathens do have only a glass of wine with dinner in restaurants instead of a full bottle is, 1: the drive home (leave home without the car, what?) 2: increasing penalties for drinking and driving 3: the fact that restaurants here more than double the price of the bottle... my favorite Chianti is $19 in store ($15 back east) and $40-50/bottle in the restaurant (when they have it) 4: wine lists around here are...hmmm... the word pathetic comes to mind.

When I travelled in Italy, we wouldn't have dreamed of not having a bottle of the house wine with dinner. But there, the house wine is actually drinkable, tasty even, rather than a vinegary melange of bitter grape juice. Excuse me while I float back to memories of warm nights passed outside some restaurant near the campo... food, wine, espresso, and marlboro lights. Back when I used to smoke, that is. Cappucino only in the morning, but 1pm counts if you've only just gotten out of bed. Espresso and a cigarette for lunch, a little... nap... in the afternoon, an evening walk, and then browsing the restaurants for dinner. In the evenings, sometimes a foray to the corner pub for a Chimay blue. Damn but that was an awesome two weeks.

Anyway... the folks back East tend to have more european patterns when it comes to eating and drinking... well, at least to drinking. Here in the West, especially California, the health patrol seems to have gotten the best of the general population's tendencies toward vice, and so... while many of us have well-stocked liquor cabinets and wine cellars at home, drinking in public has become less common.

Damn, and now I'm craving a smoke... American Spirit was my brand right before I quit 2 years ago... that or Bali Shag roll-em yourselves. Evil, evil memories. Mmmmmmm.

What is it about weddings... that seems to make me sick? Actually, I'm sure it's just the fact that I have to fly and I pick something up from the recycled air on the planes, but honestly, I could do without. Devan's wedding was beautiful and I wouldn't have missed it for the world, of course. They got married up on stage at the Detroit Opera House -- where Elizabeth works -- and not a single mention of God in their ceremony. Not that I particularly object to God, but after the last wedding we went to, where the bride and groom seemed to take a back seat to the big guy... well, let's just say I believe in balance.

Anyway, I'm now coughing, hacking, miserably not healthy. And to make things more fun, while I was gone the other assistant manager was fired for sexual harrassment -- a totally BS charge made by two women, one of whom was on the verge of being fired, and the other of whom is one of those people desperately in need of attention. Yes, Darren has a tendency to make little comments, calling people sweetheart and even, yes, "lovemuffin", but honestly, anyone who can't see how ridiculous it is to interpret that anyway except that he's got the maturity level of a five year old... I think it's sick what happened. Sick sick sick sick sick.

I, and one of the other women I work with have experienced real, damaging sexual harrassment. This didn't even come close. This was a case of two women who had a grudge against a man, taking comments that were never intended on a sexual level to bring him down whle elevating themselves. I'm so pissed it almost makes me forget the pounding, cough headache I have.

Alrighty, I'm going to focus on happier things now before I make myself worse.

I feel like a moose is standing on my shoulders... blech

Trying not to laugh to hard... So, Jay and I have our computers in the same room, usually we aren't here at the same time because only mine is hooked up to the internet. However, right now, he's uploading digital photos onto his computer... talking to both the camera and the computer while doing so. Threatening them, actually, it seems. Hee hee.

In less amusing news - I feel like crap. And I get to go to Detroit for the weekend because my best bud from high school is getting hitched. Crazyboy. Which reminds me, I really must make hotel arrangements.

Okay, um... going now before Mr. Talkstohimself looks over my shoulder..

Ta!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I guess. Mine was fairly lame -- worked from 3pm yesterday until 1am this morning, came home and had a nice Bombay and tonic (heavy on the Bombay) and drifted into another night of restless sleep. I woke up crosswise on my bed, the covers twisted and tangled around my legs. I can't wait until Jay gets home so I can have a peaceful night's sleep. Well, and a few other things, too, I suppose. hee hee.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to finish everything I have to do for class tomorrow night... "wasting" time here probably isn't helping. Alright, alright, I'm going, I'm getting to work, quit nagging me. Blech.