Yawn.

So, I'm bored out of my mind at work. My direct supervisor D., doesn't seem to know what to do with me. He's a really nice guy and I feel kind of bad goofing off so much, but I've also done all I can to drum up work for myself. I work here because of *his* supervisor, R., for whom I worked at a previous job.

I've talked to R. and he definitely wants me around because he put my job on the org chart, an important step in any bureaucracy, but especially significant for a contractor. I have an unusual combination of skills and very specific experience, and basically, I'm being kept on retainer. If I get another job, then I'm unavailable for a *long* time, but I think R. is well aware of the fact that I'm not busy right now. I know that most people would just love this sort of thing, but it really bothers my midwestern work ethic to be doing nothing.

I've quit jobs like this before, make no mistake, but I've gotten lazier in my old age and I've decided that I'm not going to pass up a good thing this time, even if I feel a bit bad about it. I know things *will* get interesting here, and I know that they are pleased as punch with what I've done so far.

He's seen me on diaryland over my shoulder. I sincerely hope my employer isn't reading my diary -- it would just be weird. I don't think he knows my name over here, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out, if he decides he's curious some day.

Oh, and I'd have plenty to do if someone would get a Sun service call placed for me. My development server seems to have come out of the box bad. This time would, in fact, be ideal for all the fucking around that needs to be done to get that Netra to the point where it does what I need it to do. So, in a way, it's kind of their fault that they are wasting this money while I sit and twiddle my thumbs waiting for Server Ops to do their thing.

Hell, they haven't even replied to my mail. Maybe I should write someone else over there. If I don't hear from them today, I will.

So, something Ed said last night is bugging me. I have some nice German fabric shears that I bought in when I was in art school. At the time, they cost a lot of money for me (about $70, I think), but in the time in between that has become less money. At the same time, I have gotten used to the way they feel in my hand. They are very heavy, however, and I wonder if that's really necessary. They are like any tool -- once you get used to them, you want the same one all the time.

Well, that's proving to be a problem. I would have to take them some where far away and inconvenient to get them sharpened (something they need pretty badly right now) because Chesapeake Knife and Tool, which is in every damn mall around here, has conveniently decided to suspend their sharpening services until after the first of the year.

So, what he said was "yeah, but what's 3 hours of your time worth?" I keep thinking of that, and I think that when I go to G Street to pick up my custom zippers, I will be shopping for some new shears. I hope they are still having their 25% off sale, but we all know that a lack of a sale won't stop me anyway.

This paragraph will be left unwritten so that I don't rant about the election.

How 'bout those Euros and their cattle problems? Really makes me wonder what American ranchers, who all use animal protein in their ruminant feeds, are doing for all of you that eat meat. The EU has much higher standards and they are in a panic over there. You might want to keep that in mind before you eat that steak.

It's not that I have anything against meat-eaters on principle. I've, in fact, found my foot slipping on the rocks at the edge of the slope that is vegetarianism. The vegans are over there on the ridge trail, the lacto-ovos are tromping around in the brush but are on solid ground. Me? I'm just trying to find a foot-hold.

Anyway, if I were you, I'd think twice before eating any beef. CJD is seriously awful disease, and I find it alarming how much it resembles "early onset Alzheimer's" symptomatically.