2007.06.21 Solstice.

10:56
Happy Solstice. I'm not entirely sure what I should be doing today, but angst is definitely not on the list. I'm happy, and that's a good thing. I'm feeling better than I was yesterday, and that's excellent.

hcolleen is now the proud owner of a permanent account.

I have crazy paperwork to get through today. At least, I think I do. I'm going through and making sure that all the old stuff is in order, because it does need to be done, and I'm now not sure how much longer I'll be full-part-time here. (I'm going down to part-part-time should I get that other job.)

And. Oi. Ecchi-chan came home with one of those things that one hears. M from writers group has to move. Again. The thing about M is that wherever she winds up going, this perfect little cyclone of dramatics winds up surrounding her. She is a Saggitarius, evidently stereotypically so. We love her because she is our M, but omg, omg, omg, it's probably only a matter of time until someone or another comes up to her and slaps her upside the head for being herself. It's very much at the "we put up with her because she's One of Ours" level, and she's one of those people who we would not be able to live with because she really honestly needs a little ivory tower by herself. Some people never do wind up realizing how they'd take their own actions if someone were acting like that to them, and I think she's on that list.

11:16
I have strawberries. And in case you haven't heard, there's a permanent account sale going on right now. I haven't the foggiest if I'm going to do a news-comment summary again, but if I do, rest assured that it will be cut-tagged so those who are completely avoiding the topic will be able to do so.

11:40
Obso1337 Manager: I'm surprised to see you here.
Me: Why?
Obso1337 Manager: You're not supposed to work on the 21st.
Me: No, I'm supposed to party on the 21st.
Obso1337 Manager: Oh, so you're getting off early and then you're going to party?
Me: Actually, I'm getting off early, going to the interview, and then I'm going to party.

12:29

Chatted with wibbble in between documenting the #1 spreadsheet that my backup now primarily does.

2:11

Ooo boy. Glad I got into this now. There are crazy things going on with some of the job names. No idea what these people are thinking. I'm guessing there was some error on the technical end of things, but there were some very bad job names. They're supposed to pick from the list, not type in the "other" thing, not unless it's not on the list. There was consistent awful on the job numbers. In some cases, it was understandable awful, but in some...!

2:33

A phrase out of an unsent e-mail from gods know how long ago: Please remember to turn in a TPS report every night that any of the jobs that your team turns TPS reports in for runs. This means that even if none of your night shift jobs have run, but a day shift job that you do TPS reports for has run, you still need to turn in the TPS report with that job on it. Otherwise I have to pull the [TPS stats source] for that job, which vexes me and interrupts my day.

Business language is not something that really comes naturally to me.

I'm going through my work e-mail and making sure that everything in there is stuff I need saved. My inbox has gotten very scary. I was scheduled off at 1pm for the interview (it's great that I have a workplace where I don't have to hide that I'm going part-part-time and winding up full-time elsewhere) but I'm going to see what I can do until a more reasonable time.

2:57

Oh, wow. Our floor boxen have one Windows login for the phone goons. It has no password. Yesterday, someone ("One of our illustrious trainees," Snarky Lady said) managed to try a password in there. Three times. Massive lockout, all over the floor. Screaming. Crying. Gnashing of teeth. Consultations with IT. Doom!

Today ruled.

When I got there, trystan_laryssa and hcolleen were already there. I had come up with a writing prompt for hcolleen to write on the board ("Everything was backwards"), and there was a lot of happy fun talking about stuff in general before getting down to business. We had another new person today. I still can't remember hcolleen's friend's name, the one who's very defensive about her writing.

Constance McNeill tackled me in the shower last night. Constance is a new character who just came out of fucking nowhere, and she already has quirks. The writing prompt actually provided me with a viable way of introducing her. I am collecting characters. This is a good thing.

We went around the room and shared stuff. Fun was had by all. trystan_laryssa wound up actually figuring out how to start off some project that she'd been planning to do.

The last hurrah at Cafe Fiat was excellent. The food was good as per the usual, and there was actual chocolate cheesecake -- on the last day we'll be meeting there, figures! trystan_laryssa and I shared the last piece of Double Chocolate and a piece of chocolate swirl.

M wound up tailoring writing challenges to the individual. I am to write a mundane heterosexual affair without dialogue. I may fudge the requirements a little and include some "She gasped loudly, then yowled his name so loudly the neighbors started pounding on the walls" and so forth, but no actual conversation, no actual ... well, the lead-in may well have to have meaningful dialogue so that I can stand to write it and I'll know what the characters are actually doing besides fucking with great glee and abandon. It is horribly difficult for me to write romance that does not include the supernatural, because I write what I know. And I do not do a good job of having romance that does not include the supernatural.

I think that Constance is going to be the one having the affair.

trystan_laryssa explained tabletop gaming to azwriter. Something tells me that azwriter is going to jump in wholeheartedly and do her darnedest to raise her girls as Good Little Gamers. Pocky was also explained. There was joking with subtext, pickles, and whipped cream. All normal good clean fun. trystan_laryssa was not freaked out by us being wild and crazy, because that's what normally happens around our friends...

There was much bus-giggling. trystan_laryssa and I snarked at a particular asshat driver. She wanted to remember my spur-of-the-moment comment, which was something to the effect of: "Who ripped off your dick and replaced it with a stick of pocky?"

I wound up dropping by her place for half an hour or so before catching one of the last buses home. Loren was there. Good filking fun was had by all.