July 24th - August 5

It’s been awhile. I have been up to so much lately I have been feeling down. The other day I had to vacate my desk and take several deep breaths out in the hallway. The software changeover that I hinted at in early May, and which the department has been putting off for 6 months, is finally here. Today is officially the last day we can go back into the old system to do our job; we are required to be totally independent of it by Monday. Thank God and his many schoolmates that it is the weekend.

This entire week has been a buffet of stress-related tasks. With our end-of-summer presentation coming up this Monday, I was pressured by Sachin to meet for one hour everyday to practice. This unhappily coincided with the busy work week of the summer thus far. The end of all real thought hangs like a convicted criminal, just days out of reach; after the presentation on Monday, I refuse to waste time on ideas or conscious reflections through the remainder of my time here.

In the middle of the week, just as I was beginning to reflect on how busy I had been lately, a nice gentleman from some neglected corner of the office materialized out of the air and informed Erica and I that we would be working on a new project. As we were acquiring the necessary information to do our jobs, the question came up as to who had taken care of this project before. The answer was no one. Of course, the follow up question was whether or not anyone would use the information we would gather. The answer was no. I narrowed my little snake eyes in a visible disgust and vowed never to trust again.

The roommate and I are burrowing over to the western coast of Michigan for Coast Guard weekend. After we whale-watch on Saturday, we will be attending a conference on the evaporating concept of monogamy in the spirit community titled Ghosts, Gods, and Fast Women: The Lure of the Mormon Lifestyle.

Just finished the presentation and overall things went over with the swiftness of a slamming file drawer. I talked at a pace nearing the speed of light, but I think my demeanor and class-act will win the judges over and they will give me a good score. My joke was one of only two on the day that got a laugh out of the judges table, the other being one Greg told, which I gave to him. I’m thinking they should hire me as a speech writer for the CEO or at the very least offer me a severance package never to stab their ears with my horrible humor ever again.