It's supposed to storm later. I can feel the extra humidity, even inside our hygienically sealed modern office building.

The R.C., who remains bitter about the lack of sunshine, the near-constant drizzle, and the cool temperatures we had on the cruise, was a little bitter on the forecast for rain. Me, I don't mind Colorado rain as much. You only get clouds while it's raining (and sometimes not even then) and it's very rare that even a rainy day doesn't also provide a few hours of glorious sunshine. Also, it beats the heck out of 95-100 degree temperatures.

I suppose there's some work I could be doing at the moment. I haven't really surveyed my desk yet today. I am drinking coffee, a necessary component of working for a living, and letting my mind run through my vague memories of last week to see if anything "urgent" pops to the surface. (It would be more to the point to check my notes and my tasks list, but not nearly as peaceful.)

Okay, guilt is setting in....

Later.... Waste of time. My tasks list consists of something I can't do until Wednesday, something I need to do on the 28th, a phone call I've been avoiding for a month already, something I can't move ahead on until Bernie makes a decision, and an e-mail that Bernie intends to write. Not exactly earth-shaking stuff.

I remember the Mad Doctor popped up at 4:50 last Friday with a letter to go out, but since neither he nor Bernie has seen fit to provide me with the insert that desperately needed to be enclosed, I can't feel much urgency around that one.

Heard from DiamondGirl last week as well. She's not liking the new job. She says she'd rather be back here, fighting with Bernie, than sitting there cutting and pasting all day. (I feel queasy at the thought.... Now that I've browbeaten Bernie into timidity, I'm not really thrilled about the idea of going back to the Bad Old Days.) It never fails to amaze me how little the people doing the hiring know about what any particular position inside a company actually entails on a daily basis. She's had a couple of other interviews, though, and thinks she may get an offer from one that she really likes the sound of.

I'm still on the fence about job-hunting myself. On the one hand, this job is boring and stupid and what work there is neither challenges nor interests me. On the other hand, I'd rather not be out there again, after only five months of employment.

Maybe I've find someone willing to pay me what I like to think I'm worth? (That 20% pay cut still rankles.)

Part of me knows that Bernie really would like to close down the company and admit defeat. But I also know that he has contractual commitments through mid-November, so he can't. Also, if the Latest Hot Project comes through, he could easily regain his enthusiasm for the whole thing, you know? (We had a talk about it one day and I pointed out that owning your own company isn't the joy that people think it is. By now, he gets that, but now he has this fantasy that he can be a "consultant" and then all of his problems will be solved. Whatever.)

One of the things I meant to do (and didn't get around to because of trying to get through my reading backlog) this weekend was to hit the job sites just to see what's out there. DiamondGirl says there's a lot on jobbing.com and, oddly enough, craigslist, a site I've never really investigated.

I should do that.