i insert these codes for the cataclysm - ever since i had the vision, use my magnetism

I could really get used to being unemployed. It's quite interesting how much easier it was to wake up this morning, given that I only slept for six hours last night - but instead of dragging myself out of bed late, pulling on a sweatshirt, and heading to work, I woke up early, blowdried my hair and took time with my makeup, and put together a reasonably fashionable ensemble in time for a 9:30am meeting with one of the directors at my place of work. The meeting was more of a chance to say goodbye, more than anything else, and also an attempt to keep the connection alive and let her know that I might be interested in chatting with her about available positions if I choose to come back. But, given that when I mentioned my desire for work-life balance, she said 'maybe you can treat the next six months as the 'life' part, and then come back for the 'work' part', I think I would be insane to come back to something with her team!

After that, I spent some quality time with Gyre. He gave me a set of horoscope dice; he has a set that we used to roll every day when we shared an office, and now I have my own to take to Iowa. They are 12-sided; one die has all twelve horoscope signs, and the other has twelve possible outcomes (such as luck, love, financial success, etc.). We rolled ours simultaneously, and we miraculously rolled each other - I rolled an Aries and 'no love/rocky road ahead', while he rolled a Virgo and 'friendship' or something similarly nice. The chances that we would each roll the other's sign are small enough that we were v. entertained. However, I paid for the entertainment by getting caught at work by Laura, who was mortally offended that I came in without saying hi to her, and then also ran into Riki, whom I'd run into on Monday, thus confirming his belief that I am still there all the time. Then again, when I asked Gyre what's happened while I've been gone, he replied that I'd only missed four working days. Ridiculous, huh?

The rest of the day was lovely as well. I went to Cafe Borrone for a late lunch, and spent the afternoon hanging out there with Vidius Chandicus. She had work to do, but I was so lazy that whenever she would focus on her computer, I would just close my eyes, lean back, and enjoy the sunshine. After we parted ways, I came home, took a nap, and then went back to Menlo Park for dinner with some of the former Mafia kids - Shedletsky, Joanna, Jasmine, Michael, Sean, and Brendan, who seemed to have some sort of terrible plague and spent much of the dinner looking like he was dying. The rest of us had a great time, though; it's hard to believe, but I hadn't seen Shedletsky and Joanna since August or September, and it has been several months since I've seen Jasmine and Michael as well.

Vidya wondered what I will blog about when I go home - she speculated that I only chronicle the minutiae of my day because I know my parents read this, but they will know all the details when I'm home and living with them. However, I mainly keep this blog for myself; I like rereading what I've done. And, if my readers are lucky, my blog will get more interesting, since I'll have fewer details to write about and so can focus more on the absurd aspects of life. But, only time shall tell - for now, I should go to bed, so that I can wake up and perhaps actually accomplish something tomorrow. Goodnight!