An Aha! Moment in the Land of Bloody Noses

As I was sitting on the couch this morning, coffee cup in hand, Gussy brushed past me, nudged my hand and I noticed a smear of blood on my hand.

What? I turned Gussy around and yes, there was the Telltale Smudge.

This confirms it for me. I have got to get the humidifier working. Antibiotics are pointless. Phoebe mews like I'm killing her and then spits out the pill, anyway.

It gets me that this was my first suspicion and it turns out to be the likely culprit.

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Tired Becs is Tired

Maybe not so sad, but still exhausted and still not interested in doing much more on my days off than equipping ma maisonette with the essentials of living.

I realized during my time at OmniPharma, I shoved aside everything but work and my few social obligations. And I see where that got me.

Yes, it's true, my velocity is usually something along the lines of Prissy moseying down the street to find Rhett Butler, the hem of her skirt in hand, mumbling "Got to tote de weary load". That's unfortunately where I am most of the time. I don't think going much faster will get me much, but that's just me.

Yeah, I give up on any time away from the house. It would mean cleaning it so the petsitter wouldn't be thoroughly grossed out. I haven't had a good petsitter since MD moved to the Great Frozen north and I'm afraid she was poorly rewarded for her efforts.

MD really was the last person I trusted with my cats.

And seriously, where am I going, anyway? My passport's expired. Paris may as well be the moon.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Oh, yes. So much the better place...

The first day at OmniPharma has left me bleary eyed and exhausted. But that's what it's like when you have a real job that you can really do.

The Commute
Seriously? It wasn't that bad. I missed an exit and had to do a Jersey U-ey, which means driving eight miles out of your way. I left the house at 6 and was there by 7:15. If I hadn't missed the exit, it would have been an hour. I liked that I got there just as the sun was coming up. OP is on top of a mountain, so I watched the sun rise over another mountain range.

The drive home was that much easier. I was on a road I felt a little more comfortable with, so began listening to a book on cd of The Count of Monte Cristo. The drive home felt all downhill and none of the trucks tried to kill me, so I think that was a good day.

The People
I met two people, two Indian guys who contract for the same company I do. We had a moment when one of them (I swear, his name is SheerKhan, like the jaguar in The Jungle Book and the other one's name is Chopra. I swear.) said, "We'll give you plenty of reading material to take home tonight."

"I'm not authorized for overtime yet," I said and they looked at each other. "Do you guys work unauthorized overtime?" Another look that meant they do. I sighed. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Maeve, my boss, has agreed for me to come in at 7 am and leave around 3:30 pm. I love her.

Why It's Better
- Even the Ukrainian security guard can spell my name properly.
- Although I have a little windowless cubby hole to sit in, it's still better.
- It's better because this is what I do. In four hours, I'd come up with a use case-to-requirements tracking scheme, edited the living daylights out of two big business requirements, reported my findings to Maeve and met with her approval.

Not once was I made to feel incompetent, bungling, at a loss. Not once. It was like putting on my favorite pjs and slippers.

I know there will be days when the rain is hellacious or it'll snow. I know there will be moments when Maeve will make me crazy. From the beginning at TRU, I felt like a total loser and that's no way to live and it's certainly no way to be happy.

There's no such thing as perfection but this will do for now.