no need to run

it's even hotter and more humid than yesterday... and there i was, in uniform, hurrying in the blazing sun to buy something and get on the bus in time to organize the rest of it... but the bus took forever to arrive, and the antsy, irritable driver* scraped someone and it took that much longer to get home.

so i'll have to organize it tomorrow. oh, well - that kinda screws up my plans a bit.

* we stopped to pick up some people, and he turned around and began yelling at me for getting on at the back. i thought he was talking to someone else, so i turned around to make myself useful... only this aggravated him more. he got up and clambered over, calling me "kid" the whole time (i found it quite complementary, actually), and i actually laughed when i realized it was me he suspected :P

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i woke up this morning to regina spektor, who makes great music! i especially love the calculation, but laughing with is the best video i could find.

today was definitely an improvement over yesterday, possibly helped along by my TL being on holiday, and definitely helped by a lot of chocolates (a lot) and excellent cakes at my ex-team-mate's daughter's farewell. and maybe by my achievements with my side-project (which impressed a number of people). and of course, without any doubt, it was improved by the vote.

every half-year our SC harasses us to vote a "person of the period" (like "person of the year", or "person of the month", only less inspired). this period was no exception, but i came up with a plan. i told everyone we need to vote for him, which would be our most ironic response possible. it's a way to poke fun at him, which we all need because - as i said yesterday - we can't really do anything about his being a miserable, pathetic failure.

the guys thought the idea was cute, but not serious. we have a lot of talkers around, so i can understand that... what they didn't expect was for me to send our SC a response with everyone else bcc'd -
"i vote for you! for your incomparable performance, for representing in every way possible the success of our projects - when i think of success, i think of you!"

incomparable? definitely. representative? our projects have all been sloppy and behind schedule since he took command. hysterical laughter could be heard throughout the section, and a number of the guys have joined in...

even better was his response... he thanked me heartily ^_^

i ran into a buddy from last year's course, and heard that the personnel situation of their side is almost worse than ours... our chain of command is headed by people who need to be beaten within inches of their lives with clue sticks. lots of clue sticks. wielded by us.
one of the more painful examples that he shared with me is that now all office doors are to be kept closed at all times, and access to offices will be granted with a keycard only. you want to see if your friend next door is available for a chat or a cup of coffee? send him an email, or knock and hope.

while on the topic, i caught up with the academic studies officer for a two-minute "tough, bye" conversation. it appears that it's not the end of the world if i choose to study without permission, but it is against regulation, the direct result of which is that if anything happens to me while i'm on campus i'm not insured. what a load of crap.

oh, and still on topic - we were unable to rescue lunch with sweet-chili sauce, which usually works on everything. it looked like kebabs. it probably wasn't.

i had a terrifying experience this afternoon - i thought it would put my evening plans on hold (but they're not, the french aerobic instructor is going to call me later for a drink). gco called me, and as i answered the phone something got into my eye. i don't know what it was, all i know is immediate pain and my eye opening and shutting uncontrollably - whatever it was seemed to have caused a scratch on its way, and for the next hour or so i was in pain every blink unless i held my eyelid at an awkward angle.

i was expecting it to stay that way for a lot longer, but i'm thrilled to say that while my eye's still uncomfortable, it's not stinging anymore ^_^
it got better just in time to go and celebrate by hogtying someone, then soaking him with water. this is the usual, but at the end nystire pulled out a finishing touch - a bucket of rancid wine. i didn't see that coming.

i did some grudwork on the horrible, primary project before the end of the day, and our exercise session went well (although it was quite a sweaty one, a pity that our air-conditioner's on the blink).

now to play with the gimp again (i'm enjoying all the graphic stuff), and then eat and nap before going out tonight.