DLand - Oh Fortuna!

I was pretty depressed this weekend. I think work just got me down. And financial woes. I started thinking about taxes and fixing the Jeep and .... ugh. But today was a good day. High of 60, reasonable service calls at work, and FLOWERS! Julie and Annie at one of my sites sent me flowers! I was starting to think all my clients were just losers and lived to whine about the job I do for them. But out of the blue this beautiful basket of wild flowers came. Yippee! I've been on a high for the rest of the day. :) Thanks to Julie and Annie, I feel like I'm wearing a gold star sticker on my shirt. I thought about taking them home but decided to keep them at work so they could cheer me up for the rest of the week.

Sean went up to MD for the last time today. He had come back to work his last day in the Navy and to pick up a few odds and ends around our house. This visit of his gave Jer and I the opportunity to re-meet Zach. I know that we've met him before, but it's all a blur. So we all went to Pizza Hut and Zach charmed our waitress into free wings and breadsticks. And we compared horrible jokes (Jeremy has a full portfolio). Overall it was a good evening given my mopeyness all that day. I have a small inkling (sp) to try out going to Jillian's for their dance night one day. Zach deejays there and it sounds like it could be fun. I'm just not up for ape posturing and drunken carousing. I only like to carouse with people I know. But it could be fun. I'll see how adventurous I feel later this week.

The Jeep should be finished by Friday. Brian the mechanic is fixing it this week and agreed to let Jer help. I'm not sure if the price we're getting is because Jeremy is helping or despite Jer helping. But I'm leaning towards the fact that he's really being of benefit to Brian. Chuck is the other fella there who seems real charming and intelligent for a man with no front teeth. Doesn't seem to bother him none. So I should be very pleased with the cost of fixing this vehicle ($250 for engine and $400 for replacement plus some parts here and there). It could have been much worse. And I think I'm also supposed to be excited about the fact that we'll have a spare 258 straight 6 to fix up and sell. So if any of y'all are itching for a spare CJ engine from 1983 just let me know.

Sean and Rachel also interested me in this dude named Hevia. He's a spanish bag pipe player. It's actually very nice to listen to, similar to the modern Indian music I heard long ago and Huggins and Chin's Thanksgiving dinner. Rachel and Sean say it's because there are lots of Arab influences in spanish music. Or something like that.

Oh, the other excellent news is that Jeremy has two interviews for *librarian* positions for the City. I could call him Conan the Librarian. They're both for public libraries and deal with children. The pay is not outrageous, but the benefits package is very solid (which would allow me to ditch the $450 a month Cobra bill we pay now) and the job is pretty reasonable. He could do much worse. He's actually very well suited to both positions so we'll see if he does well. One interview is on Wednesday and the other has not be scheduled yet. I'm crossing my fingers and I'm sure he is too.

Finished Tokyo Suckerpunch this weekend. It was an overall good read. The ending kinda became lack-luster for me a bit due to my insane depression, but I was still chuckling to myself despite it all, so I guess that bodes well for the book. Overall I think Isaac Adamson did an excellent job on his first novel. It really was a refreshing version of Japanese culture after reading Memoirs of a Geisha last year. Very different books indeed. I think I'm gonna start on Amber Spyglass this weekend. I have already read the first two in rapid fashion, so this will be a good switch. I still need to finished that tangible ghosts novel, but hate the feeling of guilting myself into reading something.

Went whale watching on Saturday. Didn't see a single stinkin' whale but did see about a dozen dolphins and had fun riding the bow of the ship like a roller coaster. It was Jer and I, a bunch of old people from some yacht club and a mom with her daughter who was the cutest thing on two legs. She had long flowing blond hair that wasn't in tangles (which is amazing for a 4 year old) and she just squealed and giggled and we bounced along the waves out to sea. It made me want to squeal too, but I held it in for the sake of the old people. I probably shouldn't have. It really was very fun. We met a guy who should be able to set us up for a charter trip this spring (maybe late March or early April) for about $350. He seemed like a fun fella. I was all jealous of his dark green Carhartt hooded jacket out there. They tell you to dress WARM out there. I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. My most prized recent purchase of late has been a pair of knock-off brand Carhartt bibs. For those not from the farm, these are the dark tan pants that have zippers up the legs and in the front so you can have a quilted pair of overalls to wear over your regular clothes. I get cold really easily and these things rock! My ass was all toasty while these Jewish mothers were retreating to the cabin for half the trip. I think I'm gonna buy a Carhartt jacket in a bit so I can have a nice warm jacket to go with it. I'll be stylin'. The jacket I could probably get away with as a regular coat, if I can keep it clean. :)

So like Ignatius would say my cycle seems to be spinning upwards.

"Oh, Fortuna, blind, heedless goddess, I am strapped to your wheel. Do not crush me beneath your spokes. Raise me on high, divinity."