balance in the force

today's summary is pretty uplifting, even if raising my arms is now a chore. i began the day by getting my driver's license, which makes me three for three in three countries! it was a grim day in the office and rainy, but just as i was leaving the skies cleared a little and the world turned bright yellow - i stepped outside and a giant, solid-looking double-rainbow that reached down to the ground on either side took my breath away! my first boxing class in a while was killer but very satisfying, and in addition to reserving a ticket to go see some of my classmates fight in two weeks i was followed until the metro by a cute girl from the gym with a hebrew name who, unless i grossly misunderstood, has invited me out on the weekend.

hah!

---sunday:

why did the whole city smell funny over the weekend? i went to godmother's for a very relaxed cup of coffee, then travelled through the drizzle to my favourite chinese restaurant for a delightful lunch. on the way i passed a beggar with a sign asking for money for food, and was glad to find a clif bar in my pocket - he seemed grateful, and i prefer handing over something nutritious instead of cash.

i headed to bnw's for a most enjoyable evening; the comic cover's pretty much done and it looks great :)

i left just after the rain stopped, travelled the long way on the metro to collect my thoughts regarding something that bnw pointed out was problematic with the comics, hurriedly chugged a smoothie and took a melatonin tablet to prepare for an early morning: it worked!

---monday:

there's nothing quite like the joy of getting up before the sunrise on a chilly day. after that, i *had* to pass this driver's exam :P

...

no, beautiful woman sitting next to me on the bus, "musk and falafel" is *not* a sexy scent. it was overpowering :(

---i was quite nervous for the exam, and that wasn't helped by my getting a car with a finicky brake pedal. expectation is also a big factor, as a co-worker who took the exam recently told me that when he got out the lot and onto the road his examiner turned him right back and passed him without doing the whole route. *i* had to do the whole route. which wasn't an issue, of course, i know how to drive well - except that when you're experienced keeping your hands at "10 and 2" and not crossing them on sharp turns demands a heck of a lot of concentration.

i was feeling pretty confident, though, until i misunderstood where to turn in to the lot on our return, and proceeded to enter the 20kph zone doing 40. when my examiner cautioned me i was sure that i'd blown it! i parallel parked liked a champ, parked the car back where we picked it up and was unbuckling when he turned to look at me: "alright, you passed."

whatever else he said turned into "blah blah blah"... just kidding, i got it all but that's how it felt nonetheless :P

---i've got a new thing in my cubicle, a note on the whiteboard that lists the things i hate today. last week's included microsoft accounts, our sister company and the tel aviv municipality. today's? avast!. it appears to have been responsible for all sorts of crazy malfunctions i've been frustrated by of late - including the microsoft accounts thing - and when it began to interfere with my work today i lost the plot. the option to "add to exclusion list" didn't work, they make reporting a false positive a bitch, and their interface is so crap that i couldn't figure out how to temporarily disable the damn thing.

so i tried uninstalling, which proved complicated. i filled in their survey because i was only too happy to tell them precisely why i was uninstalling and had to clear the form and start again because what i said couldn't possibly be as constructive as it was amusing to the intern who bore witness to the whole fiasco.

i don't know if windows defender is really doing its job, but my overall computing experience has improved dramatically.

---after a day of mindless grudwork i went through a resume of a guy we're bringing in from ontario to interview: *this* looks like a guy being brought in to replace me. i'm okay with that, now that i've made my peace with everything.

i was right not to stop to photograph the double-rainbow, as i barely made the metro on time.

i'm suffering jump-rope arms but feeling really good about today. now to hurriedly make dinner and eat before crashing.