Thursday, June 01, 2006

it's not about the smile you wear, but the way we make out

I've been feeling particularly in love with life recently, which is ironic since I have more work than I can possibly do, to the point that I now have separate to-do lists; one is on paper for the really large, important tasks, and the other is on my computer, for the smaller, 'must respond to these emails, like, yesterday' tasks that I try to do when I'm bored with the big tasks. I always seem happiest when I have multiple to-do lists going at the same time. Chalk it up to a combination of extreme masochism and a desire to feel important.

Tonight I actually left the office at 6:30, ran to get my absurdly expensive sunglasses, and then went out for dinner with my teammates to celebrate the presence of one of our teammates from California. I had to run and get my sunglasses because I didn't have them with me, since I'm usually outside for a grand total of two minutes per day, and those two minutes are usually rainy. However, the past couple of days have been utterly gorgeous, and since we were taking a twenty-minute walk to get to the restaurant, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to wear my sunglasses without having to interrupt my stylishness with a rain shower. Also, I love how long the days have gotten here; we left dinner at almost ten p.m., and it was still light outside, which I absolutely adore. The solstice is still three weeks away, and so the days are still getting longer. It's rather funny that I'm going to the Southern Hemisphere for a vacation in July; it really should be the other way around.

I need to book my tickets for South Africa. Tonight, I discovered that I can save $600 by leaving here Wednesday instead of Thursday; but, that would mean I would have to entertain myself alone for a day and a half. Normally this wouldn't concern me at all, but I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into as a single traveller in South Africa before I book my tickets. In all likelihood, though, I would just spend a good portion of the saved $600 on two nights' worth of hotel rooms and perhaps some luxe spa treatments (preferably without the breast massages that are endemic in the Indian subcontinent). But, as Vidya pointed out (and this is a shout-out to her, since she has trouble getting mentioned when I'm not in the same country as her), I would get more 'bang for my buck' by spending money on hotels and spa treatments rather than airfares, so we'll see what I decide. Of course, she also pointed out that I could go out exploring, and then when I got home she would draw me a bath and charge me $50 for it, and I don't think I will take her up on that offer. But, in general, her logic is quite sound.

I also need to decide what I'm doing this weekend. I'm definitely staying in Dublin, since I leave for Berlin early Monday morning. However, I heard that there is a taxi strike this weekend, which puts some dampers on my plans to shop my heart out on Saturday; I love walking into the city center, but I do not love walking back with several bags' full of my own selfish materialism. If I'm going to waste money, I want to go all the way and wallow in my decadence by taking a cab home, dammit! Besides, a cab is infinitely inferior to taking my own car home, since the cabs here have a noticeable dearth of sunroofs and Bush cd's. Surprising, eh?

I should really go to bed, since I should really get up early tomorrow and try to accomplish a lot of stuff, so that I won't have to work this weekend. I can't work late tomorrow night because I'm going out for drinks to celebrate someone's impending maternity leave. You can tell how little I think of the ability of the Irish to remain sober, since I got an email from the expectant mother saying 'let's meet at Ocean Bar (a lovely place overlooking the canal near the office) and have a few drinks to celebrate my maternity leave', and I actually asked one of my coworkers whether that meant that the woman was also going to be having a few drinks. Apparently the woman is being quite diligent in her sobriety; however, she did say tonight that she can't wait to be able to drink something alcoholic, even if she does just have to slip it in right after feeding the baby so that it will get through her system before the kid wants to be fed again. I heart the Irish! But, I heart sleep more...goodnight, everyone!

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