I swear, I've got so much shit going on this week, I might as well be working.
Though really, I feel that way less because of the actual amount of work and more
just because of the psychic pressure involved in knowing I have things scheduled
for every day of this week. Between that and getting up early for rowing again,
for the last couple of weeks I've been clenching my teeth in my sleep. I finally
dug out the mouth guard I bought to help with that (it's a small soft rubbery
thing, that fits over my upper teeth). It helps a bit, though I wake up with my
teeth feeling all funny after sleeping with it.
This morning I rowed
a single, but had to wait ten minutes just to check that the coach (have I nommed
him yet? If not, he can be AussieCoach) didn't want me to row something else. No
fault of his, but I'm starting to get tired of the whole idea of rowing programs,
and having to wait for other people. Maybe I'll drop out and just row by myself
once Rudder and T2 go back to rowing the double.
href="http://mechaieh.diaryland.com">Mechaieh reminds me that I briefly
mentioned going to Korea, and hadn't discussed the whys and wherefores. (Is that
redundant?) Rudder has a conference in Seoul on the first week of February. He's
traveled enough for work to have built up a huge cushion of frequent flyer miles,
which he keeps for situations like this. So, I can get there for free, our hotel
is paid for the duration of the conference, and I have the time available. (Unless
someone offers me a job soon -- hey, it could happen!) Also, he's got a cousin in
the Army who's stationed near Seoul, and has his family out there. Basically,
there's no reason not to go. We'll stay just under two weeks, spending most of our
time in Seoul, fitting in an overnight hop to see temples in Kyong-ju as well as
day trips to the DMZ and the Folk Village, and spending the last few days staying
with the cousins.
Korea was never on my list of must-see-before-I-die
places, but everyone I know who's been there really likes it, and it's got some of
the oldest temples in Asia. Also, I've never been to Asia at all and Rudder's
never been on the mainland (he's traveled to Taiwan for work). I'm a bit nervous
about going someplace where I won't even be able to guess at words from their
English cognates (as I could in Germany), but the hotel people will speak English
and having local family will help. Also, Rudder and I have made this a principle
of our lives: "When an adventure throws itself at your feet, grab it and hop on."
You wouldn't believe how many people we've met who turn down opportunities that
have been given to them, with no strings attached and all difficulties smoothed
out -- people who didn't want to go flying when we invited them (I understand fear
of heights or lack of interest as a reason to refuse, but not laziness), people
who didn't take great jobs because some change was involved, people just too
stolid to appreciate wonder when it sidles up and introduces
itself.
But I could still end up not going if a job suddenly came
through. In a burst of impatience yesterday I called the HR person who arranged
href="http://dichroic.diaryland.com/smreq.html">my interview last week. She
told me they hadn't given her a decision yet. I don't know whether to consider
that good news, exactly, but it's way better than, "I didn't call you because we
hired someone else"!
Later: an hour and a half after writing the above, I got the "We're making someone
else an offer" call. Blahsuck.