I've got two and they're driving me slightly crazy some of the time. My old buddy Herbie (compliments of an old lady who went into a diabetic coma and couldn't take care of him anymore) died a while back and I wound up picking up these two abandoned kittens. I'm learning that a mature cat acts... better. That being said they're both cute when they're NOT getting on my nerves and destroying my furniture. Both are mackerel tabbies, the darker of which is named Naja, the lighter, Shani. Yes I picked the names.

I was challenged, not explicitly but challenged nonetheless, to write a complete short story. I'm doing this, complete at under 10K words, and I should finish it tonight or tomorrow. I'll post it when it's ready.

I'm also doing research on the time period in which my main writing project will be set (1847) and of course I've been burning up the phone lines talking with the woman. I know she reads this (she's told me so) so I suppose I should be careful what I say here regarding her... and having said no more than this, I'm sure I'll catch some flack the next time we talk. Yes hon, still working on your collar, no, don't ask me about it. I sent you an email in which I wrote down some of the most important unwritten rules of military life. Read it, learn it, live it. I promise it's good advice.

I continue to get a steady stream of job offers without a payoff, but I've resigned myself to a near term future with MacB. If another job comes up, fine, great, I'll still make the effort to interview and all that noise, but I'm no longer in the mood to pin my hopes on every cheerful "anyday now" I get over the phone. I've also decided, mostly for financial reasons, to delay CISSP testing until the Fall.

Other than that I picked up ARMA 2 and I've been playing that on and off recently... it's like the calculus of first-person shooters. Took me four hours learning how to take off, nevermind fly, a helicopter. I've not given up yet though, because I really like the idea behind the game, so we'll see.

See you on the field.