One more week down, and the work slog continues, in part because Schumer indeed did fold (though it remains to be seen if he’s as capable of 4-D chess as the red hats claim TFG is), and the shutdown was put off, at least until at some point in the summer when the debt ceiling runs out again…

All through the weekend, there were rumors in the usual places of VERA/VSIP being offered in my Department, though I’ve yet to see anything official. That said, I ran a bunch of speculative numbers based on conjecture and existing statute (if such a thing even matters anymore), and determined that it makes a heck of a lot more financial sense to keep plugging away five days a week until such time as they decide to kick me to the curb, or some other new weirdness happens (like, say, this executive order, which might sound like a good idea, until you read more deeply with my kind of professional experience and realize it’s a shitshow that will just cost more long term, and likely further endanger my career…).

I have been playing the boss again this week, and bumping up against implied vs. direct authority, because this neat tool we’ve been building the last most-of-a-year is ready for prime time in terms of logic and queries and report displays, though the output is only as good as the project data that the PMs feed into it, and so far, they’re not really doing it, and their bosses aren’t really pushing for it. it’s frustrating. That said, the CIO wants it demoed to her next week, and if somebody’s project shows up as overdue simply because they forgot to update schedule dates, I expect the big boss coming down on them will motivate them rather quickly.

So, yeah, that’s work. In other news, I sat for my yearly eye exam, took the dog for a couple of long walks, and splurged on myself by buying a pair of tickets to the Aimee Mann/Jonathan Coulton show in town in June, because I needed something to look forward to, even I was unsure about my financial future, and the tickets were remarkably inexpensive.

Sometimes you just need to do some nice things for yourself.

I am going to do something else nice for myself this weekend; apart from the usual chores, the Lovely Spouse and I going to hang out with our hooligan friends at the home opener for The Richmond Kickers, drink a few local brews, and shout all the fun nonsense from Section O with the rest of the Red Army.

As for that unpopular opinion in the title? I spent some time this week listening to middling-period early 80s KISS this week while refreshing queries, and in spite of Gene calling it a “shitty album,” I kind of think Unmasked is one of my preferred KISS records (mostly because of the Ace Frehley tunes, and his guitar tone throughout), along with Dynasty…long live Disco KISS.

Listening to that sort of thing likely informed the selection generated by the algorithms this week. Lots of 70s and 80s prog and hair metal, and a record I got way too enthused for back when it came out in 1991, and even though I still enjoy it, it’s not as great as it probably could have been, especially if there were more pinched harmonics in the guitar solos (which is probably another unpopular opinion)…

1. “Goodbye Love” – Geordie
2. “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'” – Helix
3. “Thrive” – Ȧelsund
4. “Kashmir” – Lez Zeppelin
5. “High School Confidential” – Rough Trade
6. “Games People Play” – Alan Parsons Project
7. “Inside Out” – XYZ
8. “Five Long Years” – Colin James
9. “Don’t Close Your Eyes” – KIX
10. “I Don’t Love You Anymore” – The Quireboys
11. “Ballad of Youth” – Richie Sambora
12. “It Doesn’t Really Matter” – Platinum Blonde
13. “All Lips ‘n’ Hips” – Electric Boys