These days

Again with the work work work. Really not enjoying this. Floating from one problem to the next. One conference call to another. Phone calls from Executive Administrators calling in favors for their boss. Phantoms still swirling through the network. The gaming floor packed to the gills and a routine query on a guest's account hangs the dataflow for two thousand plus machines. Suddenly everyone is affected, distracted from their revelry. Waaaay too busy to have such delays. So again with the Executives calling. The culprit? A hung SQL procedure. Nothing within my reach. Had to summon reinforcements. The DBAs released the seized up bits. And there was much rejoicing among the patron hordes. Just another day for your friendly neighborhood network ronin.

On the home front, Meg had her kindergarten recital today. I videoed it with the HD camcorder. Will downcode the footage this weekend and post it for posterity. She was absolutely amazing. Right in the middle of the stage. Loud as spring thunder. At times she was one of the only kids who knew all the words to the songs and all the motions. And I could see the other children following her lead. An amazing performance. Further solidified my theory that she's destined for a bright, flashy future. In some form of limelight. She's a stellar, shining star that drowns out everything around her. The light of my eyes. My little princess. My lovely Meg Bear.

Not to be outdone, Liam has learned his backwards alphabet. Spent a day studying. Now he's flawless at it. And quick. A gift, I told him. I'm thirty seven, and he's already able to do something I've never done. Told him there is nothing he can not do if he puts his heart and mind to the task. He proves it to every day.

(Of course, knowing that her brother has picked up her knack, Meg has raised the bar. Now whenever she hears Liam recite the alphabet backwards, she does it, too. But Meg does it faster. Blindingly fast. In one breath. Each letter barely audible as she tears through it. She's a fierce competitor. Plays for keeps. Howls when she doesn't win. At anything!)

Further away, my buddy Ron found out he is still in the running for a local IT gig. I'm carving off a piece of my karma and beaming it his way. Ron's the type of guy who would give you the last cigarette out of his pack, or buy you a sandwich with his last dollar. So I hope he lands this job. And if my feeble karma can help, it's the least I can do.

And again on the job front, the Teutonic beast, Kimmer, also received some good news. One of those companies up in Atlanta, GA, accepted his resume and a manager is peeping it. More of my weak karma is en route to him. I'm gathering bones and glass marbles to conjure the spirits of my dark computer gods, so that they may also lend their aid. He's a complete villain when he's unemployed. Lives on bile and widow's tears to keep his rage alive. Going on something like the fifth month of his Anger Diet and I'm tired of him knocking my jaw loose during the full moon. Some villains turn into a fuming wolf under such pale light. Kimmer turns into a silver-backed mountain gorilla and gnaws off the limbs of orphans. A wretched sight. It probably made me sterile seeing it. In the meanwhile, between campaigns, he has opened a tattoo shop. Pressing ink to help ease the burden of his pain. Needling the pigments deep into strange flesh. Watching the blood puddle on the skin. Oh, that's Kimmer. A throwback to the last Ice Age when pulling hair and baring fangs were acceptable forms of communication. These days, he's all stabby. At least until he draws a corporate paycheck again.