rockets red glare, etc

The mud pit behind the house has only gotten worse.  No one seems to have taken the hint that breaking a pipe from pressure might be a sign that trucks shouldn't be driven over that area.  Now two things have happened:  someone in a truck spun their wheels back there repeatedly, and they have decided to remove a tree (a holly) back there without saying anything to us.  This holly survived moving in construction trailers, but apparently was in the way for these guys.

I really wish I knew that they were going to properly repair this area.  Parking lot or no, this is still the closest, most convenient place for us to park, and I don't want a mud pit behind my house.

I'd also like to add that I didn't buy a house that came with a two-inch thick binder so I could have to worry about such things.

I've accepted a job with GiantMediaCo, which I think is how I'll refer to them from now on.  As it turns out, they need a Netflow person, and it looks like I'm going to be that person.  After interviewing there for a total of about eight hours, I'm confident that I'd be as happy there as anywhere.  I'm not thrilled with the salary, but I'm eligible for raises in September and March, even though I'm starting in July.  They have decided to go to an annual review schedule, but instead of skipping a cycle to reach that point, they are adding a raise cycle.

Also, everyone I talked to is very happy there.  Many of them have been there for six years.  I'd like to stay somewhere for six years again.  The fact that it's a mile from my house doesn't hurt either.

Pray for the market to be bad today and Monday so that I get a low strike price.  I actually have a large enough chunk of stock that I benefit significantly from relatively small market movements.  

On our way out to Front Royal last night, we chose to use U.S. 50 since we were driving the Miata with the top down.  We didn't see any fireworks on the fourth, mostly because we went to see a movie[1], but Middleburg had delayed theirs due to rain.  As we were approaching town, all their fireworks appeared before us, seemingly coming from the road it self.  We pulled over in town, and we were so close that we could feel the thump when the rocket left the ground, smell and hear all the explosions and experience burnt paper falling on us and into the car.  

Really, it was the best fireworks experience I've had since childhood.  The serendipity of it all made it extra cool.