act casual friday

i got up early (by my standards), struggled out of bed for breakfast and caught the bus to the metro to work. the friday atmosphere was palpable: everyone was more relaxed and chirpier than usual.

botswana (the dude who worked in botswana) came to my cubicle for a chat, and it turns out he's big into skiing. he's a well of exciting information about the snow opportunities that are coming!

i began the day automating an ugly task with perl; it didn't take me too long, and the big boss was well impressed with my efficiency. the two of us debated database design for a while, eventually coming to a satisfactory compromise; by then it dawned on me that the morning had somehow abandoned me.

i took a brisk walk through the drizzle to pick up a few commensal boxes, and returned to have lunch with moonlighter. why do i call him that?

---because i discovered, during the course of our conversation, that his second job is publishing comics. my jaw hit the table when he shyly told me why he wouldn't be in the office all the time.

so... he's a comic artist, and he's involved with a large group of comic artists, and he appreciates my concept from what little i pitched, at least enough to give it a look and to give me some interesting advice.

what the hell are the chances?!?!

---a little later, aota asked me if pg and i are happy with montreal. that started a discussion with her and moonlighter that covered winter clothing, ice rain and snow season, including the idea that the extreme cold brings everyone together and that other idea that people here have problems, just not real ones. i mean, shit, that's twice in one day that i've been told that i'll be able to go snowboarding every day after work if i so please.

let's just say that my submission of our apartment application was accompanied by a smile.

i spent the afternoon struggling with a mysql server that didn't want to communicate, eventually compromising (phpmyadmin) and leaving with the most basic of test pages in place and a general sense of what's coming next.

it looks like my experience working with mmf was worth something after all.

i left the office late, having arrived early, but with a sense of inner peace and excitement i walked out into the beautiful, wintery air puffing clouds of breath and sinking myself into tim powers - on stranger tides while psychedelic rock accompanied me on my metro ride home.

dinner, x-men and now... it doesn't matter. i'm happy.