seasonal existences.

so apparently, i missed the equinox. spring has sprung, etc. passover and easter fast approacheth.

i would also like to point out, that it is only now, a week after the change of the seasons, that the benefits of daylight savings time are apparent. idiots.

acquisitions.

i need a new messenger bag. well. i guess i don't need one, i just want one. the one i have falls down on one major feature (no pocked in the flap) and one minor feature (no pocket for my ipod).

unfortunately, my real problem is that i have a pretty strict feature list when i look for a bag, and i don't think anyone makes one that i want *sniffle* the ideal bag would have/be the following:

- just big enough to carry an 8 1/2 x 11 notebook
- a cellphone pocket
- an ipod pocket
- a pocket in the flap
- a detachable key clip
- clip fasteners... no magnets. and definitely no velcro!
- a zippered pocket for holding pocketknife/zippo
- pockets for pens

i think that's it.

*sigh* still searching...

deep breath.

so they called me yesterday morning and tendered a formal offer. full-time position, not much money, but benefits, which, insofar as we have them now, we are paying for entirely out-of-pocket.

it is a job in the church office; they need someone who is more qualified, although possibly less convenient. the position is a little bit of everything (partly because they rolled 2 part-time positions into one, so they could offer me benefits): DBA, content creation, project management, phones, email... fwoomp.

it'll mean buying a second car, which could suck. but it will also mean getting rid of a job that sucks my will to live and offers me no respect or advancement potential at all. we're going to run some numbers, but in the end, i feel pretty good about the change.

of course, the timing is working out such that i'll be thrown into a church office full in the throes of its post-easter chaos. whee!

fwee.

second interview tomorrow, 10am. i've never had a second interview. this is weird.

and nervewracking. i shall now commence to run around screaming for a little while.

also, if anyone could tell me why the OpenSSL people have four RSA ciphering functions instead of the usual two, i'd appreciate it. it's bothering me.

odd traditions.

after walking home in a sleet storm, i can't not have a cup of earl grey tea. specifically twinings earl grey. it just makes me feel warm and comfortable somehow.

i am not sure this is a tradition anyone should really have to develop. that i have says... something about me, but i'm not sure what.

progress.

so yeah. i had that job interview on tuesday. i have absolutely no idea how it went. she was very friendly, but equally non-committal. it was left at, "we'll be in touch, and there are other people you need to talk to."

so, um...i guess it went well? i dunno.

posturing.

it's 7:30am. it's grey outside. i am sitting at my computer with lights turned on that didn't have to be turned on friday morning at 7:30am. how, exactly, is switching to DST 2 weeks earlier supposed to save energy?

look, i don't know what romantic nostalgia holds sway in the halls of the capitol, but the 21st century american life does not, in fact, follow the solar day. our workdays and schooldays aren't starting later so that we don't have to turn on the lights this morning that we were turning on in the evening last week. there is no valid argument for the industrial world. and as for the agricultural world, cows don't care what human clocks say. my cat is quite confused this morning.

i'd say i hope they pass a law this week and change DST back to what it was, but having gone through the mess the last couple weeks with computer patching, it seems a pity to waste it.

more winter.

snow today. having started late, it appears winter is going to hang on, and nevermind what the damn groundhog said.

although, i always wondered: if he sees his shadow and that means 6 more weeks of winter, is that the upper bound? if he doesn't see his shadow, could it be anywhere from 24 hours left of winter all the way to the realm of the white witch?

i hate march. fucking schizophrenic month. it was nearly 60(F) on saturday.

job interview on tuesday. 4pm. eeeeeeeeeee.

cookies.

happy purim. i have made hamentaschen.

does anyone know any other use for poppyseed filling?

in like a lion.

or something.

march is, without a doubt, my least favourite month of the year. still no breaks from work, no major holidays, just the last grey, wet slog of winter. even the equinox doesn't help much; it's still wet. every year i become more and more convinced that march will be the month in which i will someday kill myself.

on the other hand, this march may not be so bad. i may be getting a new job. at least, i have an interview in 2 weeks(ish). more news as it happens.