gonna crash!

holy crap! too much updating required: how did i survive the day?! i'm gonna be dreamin' tonight! [or at least, i had better, that was a lot to take in]

1) waking up after four / five hours to walk to the clinic and discover that i'd been had when i walked out of the gates on the 1st of the month. i have to keep an eye on my bank transactions, now :(
at least i have an appointment to see the doctor in the morning. it's amazing - the army makes all the little things so difficult that one really learns to appreciate them when they return to normal. in uniform, i could wait a week before being able to see someone :S

1.5) it appears my blog archives are screwed. i don't get it.

2) i was given a couple more days to find a tenant, and it looks like i'll be getting in touch with the landlady in the morning.

3) coffee with urchin, while waiting an hour and a half for her groceries to be delivered. she has amazing siamese cats, and i could definitely fall in love with the female who's absolutely gorgeous and loves being played with. they do shed a lot, though.

4) the shuk (flea market, middle eastern style) wasn't actually so bad. i found what i was looking for, and urchin bought amusingly striped red specs and then blamed me :P

5) i was stressing over the quote, and the only person whose advice i could trust (my old boss) wasn't answering his phone. the client was pressuring me for an answer, so i sent off what i'd done. an hour later the old boss called, and informed me that i'd underquoted by a substantial amount :(

he gave me some good tips, though, and explained to me how to send a corrective email. at least i haven't signed anything, and i got out of it without looking too stupid.

6) the guy sharing an office with me today had me listening to houston project (mutual friends). the stuff they didn't tamper with to get on the radio? it's actually really good.

7) i made great strides into learning flex today. after a couple of hours and a fair amount of success, the guy i'm supposed to be replacing came down to do a knowledge transfer - he was shocked that i've mastered flex so quickly, and that i displayed such an in-depth understanding and familiarity that he's got nothing to teach me outside of the project structure.

and here i thought i was farting around - i haven't even been taking it seriously :P

8) to qualify that last statement, i spent a fair amount of time going over the specs for another system and putting in my two cents' worth... when the project's a go, it looks like i might have a place :)

8.5) i received a phone call from the guys that made the best offer so far: the penny only dropped just now that they needed to push for a response, because even if they pick somebody else the timing's going to be really, really tight for them. and i'll be on my way soon. *sigh*

9) the knowledge transfer was crazy - i got most of it, but it's all so complex (but elegant!) that it's definitely going to take a while before i get comfortable. at least he didn't manage to surprise me with anything 8D

10) i was exhausted, and hadn't eaten anything substantial the entire day. i slowly slid home while chatting with my mum*, changed for the blade and then went to pick up a shuwarma (i'd been locked on since before walking out the office)... i was supposed to be sitting with singer for a final touch-up, but there was such a long queue that i'd only have twenty minutes, and we decided to postpone.

* quote of the day: now that i'm back to being a civilian, with civilian problems?
"i'm out of the fire and back into the frying pan"

instead, i sat outside the cinemateque, and when i was done did a round to pick up a cooldrink and dessert before people began to show up. i have to admit that the transvestite / transsexual at the counter caused me to do a double-take - i just couldn't be certain until he spoke :P

the evening was highly social and loads of fun, and we finished it off with excellent frozen yoghurt before calling it a night.

11) why do my lounge lights flicker at random intervals?

12) my tongue ring is managing to slip... i need to get that checked tomorrow.