…when placed under stress. Life’s been very busy of late, as my wife’s been away a lot due to serious volunteer commitments. It doesn’t help these are commitments that require a certain amount of confidentiality and circumspection – there’s stuff she can’t talk about outside her committee. She disappears and has adventures, and I don’t […]

As of 4:30 yesterday afternoon, I’m done working for the rest of the year. Had a really nice holiday luncheon with my co-workers yesterday where we all ate way too much delicious Italian food, then spent the afternoon putting a bunch of things to bed and setting up my out-of-office autoresponder. So now, it’s two […]

Even though the Government is still shut down, I went back to work on Monday, as I’d been, thanks to a broad interpretation of the Pay Our Military Act, determined “essential”, at least until someone makes another decision that I’m not. Who knows if I’m going to get paid for it any time soon, though. […]

So, it’s the fourth day of the government shutdown. I haven’t been to work since Tuesday morning, when I went in for fifteen minutes to sign the letter telling me I was “non-essential” and changing my voice mail to reflect the fact that I won’t be available until congress gets their heads out of their […]

So, it’s looking more and more likely that, barring a miracle before midnight, Tuesday morning I’ll be heading into the office to sign furlough paperwork, then getting essentially locked out until Congress can stop playing chicken with my paycheck. While I’m known for getting occasionally political in this space, I haven’t actually done so in […]

I’m in kind of a countdown mode lately, both working my ass off and spinning my wheels at the same time. That description seems contradictory, but if you’ve found yourself staring down a big change on the horizon with enough time to brace for it and put a few lingering affairs in order before the […]

It’s been that kind of week. Sometimes, you just need a nonsensical post-apocalyptic Avril Levigne video to make things a little better: There’s a hell of a lot of crazy in this video – and for that (and the whole Winnie Cooper bit, and the G’n’R nod, and the baby, and…well…), I salute it.

As you may have heard, though maybe not, as the news seems to have forgotten this story, the furloughs got cut from eleven to six days. As such, today is my last furlough day. Starting next week, I’m back to working and getting paid for the customary forty hours per week. As much as I’ll […]

Yes, I’ve been somewhat quiet lately – heck, I’ve posted little but the occasional song list and some silly pictures for most of the last year. You all know my schedule, so you know what life’s been like for me lately – something has to take the hit, and it seems it’s been the blogging. […]

Picked it up Friday. Very nice. 2013 Toyota Yaris SE. Looks like this: (That one isn’t mine, but looks exactly like this.) Anyway, I like it so far, after only about 250 miles (we took a ride out to Williamsburg on Saturday for a shake-down). Glad this whole insurance claim business is over. It wasn’t […]