Lighten Up

I couldn't sleep last night so tinkered with my blog template. Learning HTML and CSS piecemeal by changing parts and seeing what blows up is one way to pass the time. Reading makes me sleepy; reading template tag F.A.Q. pages doubly so!



Over the weekend I continued to prepare for the trip home. My severance runs out in two paychecks and, as has been noted here several times, I'm only allowed to stay while I'm earning. I can't wait to get back to those familiar surroundings. By depriving myself of them for a period I've come to appreciate them much more.

I woke up feeling surprisingly sober and refreshed this morning, despite only five hours of actual zzz-ing. I go straight to e-mail to read that a potential vacancy in Seattle has been filled but they'll keep me in mind for the future. Never mind. Visions of the beach in Brighton. I can almost smell the sea now.

I went to my old place of work and caught up with a bunch of people. Real live people are of a novelty for me lately - not counting the staff at Subway! Lots of people openly looking for work. Two new leads: companies that had slipped my mind but are in good cities. Use of a printer. Lots of people having a bad year. It wasn't pure schadenfreude but it's reassuring to know that you're not alone in life not always going to plan. To be honest, I usually set achievable goals so my American adventure has been a strange, new experience for me! We made plans to fly me home. I got some DVDs back from a bad borrower. Kyle offered to send me discs of Battlestar Galactica from his TiVo so I can keep up with it when I'm no longer here. Kyle rocks. Literally no-one said an unsupportive word to me all day (and I'm far past caring about what anyone says behind my back).

I went to the mall "after work" on the possibility that my day could get even better. As I passed a certain store, the woman who works there walked out in front of me. We got a quick coffee before she went home. We established that she had not in fact crowbarred in a reference to a boyfriend when I stopped by the store to ask her out two months ago; it was just a story and the guy in it was just a friend. We're going for drinks tomorrow, though just as friends on account of the fact I'm leaving so soon. I told her to be original because everyone else says no. (I'm channelling Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 2 now... a bad omen.) She promised to either not cancel the "date" or cancel with such an amazingly convoluted story that it would still feel original. She's almost as funny as I am.



Finally, my legal advisor called me back. Long story short, I can stay here 2-3 weeks longer than we've always assumed possible, and still transfer my visa with little hassle. I was pessimistic about my chances of landing something with only two weeks left but five weeks is another story.

Next time I feel a bit low, I'm gonna lighten up my blog colour scheme again. (You may want to purchase some sunglasses. If you get together and buy bulk it will be cheaper.) When I put a smile on the avatar at the top of my sidebar, then you'll know I've really lost the plot. This was long, but it's been a good day and I wanted a record of it. Have a good evening, all.