Looks like I'm being "adopted" by no-doubt well-meaning coworkers who are concerned that I'm so quiet during the day. They keep coming by to say howdy and to ask if I want to go for out for a smoke (but that's just Skylla, who'd better start buying her own) and whatnot. (Either they're being friendly, or they were assigned to check on me at random points during the day to see if I'm working or not.)

I don't come to the office to make friends. I have plenty of friends. I come to the office because if I show up and look really busy, they give me money every two weeks.

I'm working, people! I was hired to do a full-time job even before they added on an armload of other stuff, and now I'm doing a significant percentage of Penelope's full-time job while they interview for her replacement.

Also, I'm on a diet and that makes me cranky. Down 3 lbs, 7 to go. Grrr.

So, I'm knee-deep in the first newsletter and being grateful that Penelope had it almost done before she abandoned ship to take a better job for more money. (I think it's important for you to understand that while she sent it to me 95% "done," around here, "done" means I've gotten 40 emails about it so far today. I shudder to think what producing one of these from scratch must be like.)

It's not the coding--even though Penelope forgot to send me the "template" and I'm using an old copy of the newsletter and learning Front Page at the same time--it's the content. Two hours into this and I'm already seeing why a bi-weekly newsletter and a handful of other "communications" documents are a full-time job. This thing is supposed to go out tomorrow, it was supposed to go to TeamChaos yesterday for approval, and I'm still waiting on content from--wait for it--TeamChaos! Thank goodness Vela is as good as her word. She's taking point as much as she can on forcing content out of people. I'm staring at my draft and mentally double-checking everything I do so I don't commit some ghastly faux pas.

But right now, I'm eating lunch, so I don't have to worry.

Under the heading of "does a body good," I can't believe I missed this jewel from Keith Olbermann last week.

President Bush has resorted anew to the sleaziest fear-mongering and mass manipulation of an administration and public life dedicated to realizing the lowest of our expectations.

Heh. Sometimes I honestly think I stopped politiblogging because I was running out of non-profane words to use to describe my bone-deep fury with not only the willful stupidity of the Bush Administration but the determined blindness of most of the "mass" media and the American public.

Mr. Bush, at long last, has it not dawned on you that the America you have now created, includes "cold-blooded killers who will kill people to achieve their political objectives?" They are those in — or formerly in — your employ, who may yet be charged some day with war crimes.

Such a satisfying thought, but it will never happen.

Four hours later....

For ten minutes there, I thought I'd run into the brick wall of my own limitations, but it turned out to be a lack of information. I'm going to need an ftp client to upload these newsletter files to the right place is all. Whew!