Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Meanwhile, at the Bat Cave....

The best way to summarize the rest of July, August, and September is to say that nothing and everything happened.

I moved to new digs in a "cool" part of town.  Yes, I feel old and kinda wallflowery, but workmates are making me go out into the neighborhood and ignore the fact that everyone else is (or at least acts) 10 years younger than we do. And if one of them can do it while sporting yoga pants, anyone can!  Some day I will be more like her, I promise.  Until then I will sip on my tea while wasting waaaaay too many hours on facebooking/redditting/getting lost in the google stream as I listen to my rowdy neighbors laugh into the wee hours of the morning.  (Don't they work?  But I refuse to be the old lady yelling out my window for quiet.)  Or my upstairs neighbor POUND his way across his livingroom into the kitchen? Bathroom?  If I had to put money on this, I'm going to say the condo I'm renting is the same design all the way up and down.

This is my first place all on my own since that horrible MIL unit I rented in grad school.  I think I've definitely moved up in the world since that $400/mo piece of illegal architecture where the walls didn't all quite meet, there were raccoons in the attic/crawlspace that would make the whole place shake when they were getting it on, and if there was any kind of street work happening within a 10 mile radius, my shower (which was barely wide enough for my hips) would not drain.  I know, that is exactly the picture that is painted when I say I had a Stanford education.  I will admit, it is one of the many experiences that have made me the person I am today.

At the work front, we went from four to two.  Not because we downsized, oh no.  More like bad timing as the two lower level assistants fled to better positions.  I don't blame them, I didn't last very long in those same positions either, I just moved up instead of out.

In the middle of temps and hiring processes, I fled to Hawai'i for my older brother's 40th birthday.  10 days of no work was glorious.  He and my SIL had never been, so, childless, we got to know Oahu (I'd only ever been to the Convention Center for school stuff when I lived on the Big Is.) and they got to know the Big Island.  I got to see my friends and my Irish Rose...now with a new name...that was a little painful.

She had been stripped down to a bare hull by my ex, apparently, by the time she was sold...twice I think? But her new owner, a Peruvian, has made her beautiful again.  He and his wife are going to set sail any time now, and it fills my heart that my little baby is no longer stuck in a storage shed rotting away.  Because you already know me, you know I haven't gotten around to downloading any of my pictures from my trip.  So I am going to post a picture someone sent me of her:

My former Irish Rose, moored in Reeds Bay, Hilo, HI
A few years ago, when the hull was for sale, I almost bought her.  But it was going to be for purely sentimental reasons.  I knew I'd never be able to get her back in the water, not without bankrupting myself.  So for her to be sitting pretty in Reeds Bay again?  My hear swells with pride.  My little girl is all ready to go out and adventure again.  I'm so glad I got a chance to see her and wish her new owners much luck and many fair winds.

And now back to reality.

Yesterday marked my fifth year with my company.  I celebrated it at a going away party for the person in HR who I worked with when I was  temp at the same company.  Yes, double-amusing for me.  This is now officially the longest I've worked anywhere.  Before this was my four years with my undergrad college library; but can I say four years if I only worked 9 of the 12 months?  Meh, let's say yes or my resume looks super spotty.  Either someone in the right place is reading my blog, or I'm more transparent than I think I am.  Every time I'm ready to jump ship my job seems to change just enough to keep it interesting.  I hope that's a continuing trend as it just hasn't seemed like so much time has passed!

And now we're all caught up.  Sort of.  I only gave myself 30 minutes to think, sort, ramble, and proof this post, and I've run out of time.  But I'm still here!  If I can get back here more often I'll relay a tale or seven about Hawai'i.  Especially if I can get myself organized enough (don't laugh too hard) to get the pictures downloaded.  Until next time...