10:11 p.m. | 2003-06-20 Wrong Turns. I�ve made a little detour lately and I�m now residing in the State of Denial. However, it�s not such a comfortable place when you know that you�re there. That�s what happens when you�re trying to maintain a household while dismantling it, trying to work overtime but needing to take a vacation, and you�re trying to make rather substantial changes in your life at the same time life is throwing you curveballs out of no where. I�m trying to grab the bull by the horns in the midst of a locust swarm. So, when Intern asked me if I wanted to grab something to eat and enjoy a couple of drinks after work, I immediately said yes. Because that sounded infinitely more exciting than working overtime, packing or doing anything remotely constructive. And, I know the importance of taking a moment to breathe. Hell, I�ve been doing THAT all week. Which means, of course, that I�ll be working my ass off for the next two weekends. Not that I was planning to rest upon my laurels or anything, but I think I just upped the ante a little. And yes, I think speaking in clich�s will somehow cement my residence in the State of Denial. Let me just clear all that up. I�m moving in about two weeks and I haven�t packed a box, I have more to purge and I forgot to get some extra boxes. It�s also our crazy-busy season and I need to be working overtime, but I haven�t been because I�m moving. I�m also still training Intern and would really like to show him around town, but I�m really busy at work and I need to get really busy at home. To add to that, we�re on orange-red-mauve or cornflower blue alert at work or something. We�re being locked down on Monday, but it�s �business as usual�. Except it won�t be �usual�. Today, they came and closed all the blinds. And, because they know us well, they fixed it so we can�t put them back up. It�s a strange phenomenon, but we�re like plants or something. We think light is essential to our well-being. We hate it when the blinds are down. This is that. (CI:) (Hippy Chick had today off but she showed up at the office in the afternoon to pick up some files.) Hey Hippy, they are so �onto� to you. Look, they lowered the blinds and fixed it so we can�t put them back up. (Hippy:) What?! (Immediately checking that out.) (CI:) See, they know you too well. So, it�s a little darker at work, but it�s for our own safety. Some folks who are a little miffed about some things are coming to MyTown and they�re going to be exercising their right of free speech. They�ll be doing their exercising near MyWorkPlace so we�re taking some precautions. For safety�s sake, MyWorkPlace has advised us to use the tried but true �Buddy System� when moving about. You remember that from kindergarten, right? That whole �travel in pairs� thing. My Buddy is Intern. I sure hope he�s got my back. He seems to think he�s qualified for that duty. Lets just hope he can leap tall buildings in a single bound, if that�s necessary. Actually, Intern�s pretty excited about it all. Lock downs, secret phone numbers and emergency evacuation procedures do sound quite exciting. However, I don�t need that type of drama right now. Really, that�d be much more convenient during our less busy season. And yes, I�m a little nervous about it but I�m sure we�ll be fine. But you never know. However, since I�m currently residing in the State of Denial, I�ll be busy stopping to smell the flowers, appreciating the beauty of butterflies and keeping my eyes open for unicorns. (Just writing that makes me a little nauseous. Which would be one reason why I�m not a permanent resident of Denial.) Meanwhile, my secret plan � Operation Geek � is moving right along. See, Intern is very cool which seems to compel me to bring out his more �geeky� side. He seems genuinely interested in all the history about MyTown (and everything else) that I throw his way so I�m trying to foster that some. To that end, I brought a book to work today that consists of historical photos of MyTown. Imagine my surprise when this happened. (I:) Oh, this is a GREAT book! I LOVE old pictures like this. They�re just so� um, I don�t know, but LOOK at this! (Pointing to a picture and at a loss for words.) I don�t know why, but I really LOVE old photos. They�re just so� COOL! (CI:) Yeah, me too. Check out this photo. That�s MyWorkPlace back when it was a department store. (I:) No way. (CI:) Way. Look, here�s where you�re sitting right now. (I:) Wow. (Turning more pages.) Hey, nice beard huh?! (Pointing to a picture of one of MyTown�s founders sporting a fashionable beard � for that time.) Hey. What can I say? I�m sitting in the State of Denial and making headway on Operation Geek. At least I�ve been busy doing something, right? your thoughts? seed flower