power of speech

but first, some linkage:
new ice age theory triumphs
nystire suggests we enter spot dressed in tinfoil
i love slashdotters
no really, i do
and transformers
the pope says we're going to hell
awwwwww [the video. the video!]

so today started off with lots of meetings about my future in the armed forces (another direct translation from the hebrew [כוחות מזויינים / kochot mezuyanim] is the fucked forces, but nevermind). halfway through i had a sudden burst of inspiration / genius: i can bloody well take a vacation!

the kid, piles and i took off to the firing range. from the moment before getting on the bus, piles was wildly flapping his gums in a most offensive manner, and i just saw red. and not just that of his gullet.
no, as usual i didn't resort to physical violence, but months of aggravation just came out and i really ripped into him. the argument (alright, my stream of verbal abuse) continued until halfway through lunch, when i managed to calm down slightly and figured out a way to get something positive out of it all.

but i did *want* to beat the shit out of him.

our range-time flew by. the three of us are seconded, so technically we belong to that base: some poor artillery sod actually admitted to not serving there when asked, and they threw him out. hee hee.

i spent the afternoon helping out the mongoose and figuring things out with my TL and our welfare officers (damn, but the new girl's foxy - and only eight years younger than me).

-- tool - right in two has caused this posting to be paused for a couple of minutes --

i got a call-back from a guy looking to hire c# developers for a big statistics and data-mining company... i handled the conversation exceptionally well (it's nice to be interviewed when you have a job and you're not under pressure), and it gave me just the edge i needed when sunshine called two minutes later.

granted, it was to cancel our date for tonight, but i'm very proud of how i handled the conversation.

i had a long and interesting chat with one of our civilians on my way out, then came to work and sat with nql on the php project for an hour or so. it seems like i'm well on my way to finishing under time (granted, i haven't actually done much work tonight), and nobody touched my pc so it was ready for testing when i got in.

i'm not really surprised that i understand what's going on - it's not brain surgery (or rocket science, thanks nystire) - but i do have that oft-misplaced feeling of achievement. and the feeling that i'm typing too fast for my wrists to keep up.
*massages wrists*

my stress levels will drop considerably if i can wrangle permission to take a vacation right now. pray for me!