7 am - Saturday 22nd June 2002

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? (Or myself for that matter)

Well, according to the time/date stamp there should be no way in hell that I should be up. As it is, I am struggling to the surface of consciousness dragged upwards by the buoyancy of my cup of coffee. There are three reasons I am up this early, or rather two reason which smooth the path to the third. 1) My boss wants this paper, 2) My boss wants another presentation in two weeks, and finally, the end to these means 3) I want to spend as much time with Allison as possible when she arrives.
At the moment I tend to thing about my job in two ways, either "I'm totally going to leave come October 31st", or "Maybe I might stay". It really isn't leaning overly towards staying, I love the friends I have made down here and I enjoy the chemistry I am working on, but I loathe the weather and I can't stand the management "style" of my boss. He himself is not a bad person, but he sucks ass when it comes to managing people.

10:50 am - Well, this morning demonstrates my naievity, for a moment I considered staying here, but I'm not going to put myself through this kind of abuse for another year. I just have to keep an inane smile on my face for another 132 days.

10:35 pm - So, I'm reading "When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses" and page 67 has the following lesson

"What all smart new graduates should pray for is that their first job be with a dumb leader who has created a miserable culture. That's how you learn."

Oh yes, tell me about it.

11:10 am - Sunday 23rd June 2002

It's the kind of day where the humidity is so high that gills seem like a good idea.

I've finished the current set of changes to the paper, but I'm not going to hand it over straight away, there's no point in making extra work for myself. I spent 2 hours at the computer this morning, trying to get everything done before the others came into work on their talks. I found it hard to believe, but my boss was in his office before 9 am on a Sunday morning, I know he has a wife and a son, and yet he prefers to be at the office.
One of the downsides of my imminent surgery is the fact that I'm not allowed to taken any aspirin or ibuprofen. They both act as blood thinners, and so I have a permanent stress headache.

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