Unabridged

I’m sure you are all on virtual tenterhooks so allow me to set you at ease: Amazon and their designated delivery partner (UPS I think?) did in fact come through, and The Wise Man’s Fear was waiting on the front porch when I got home yesterday. I got pretty close to the end of the first novella in Full Dark No Stars on the way home last night, because the Metro slowed down to 15 mph aboveground for “safety reasons” (I really don’t even want to know) and thus the ridetime was extended. Didn’t find any time to read last night but I did return to the novella over my coffee this morning, and then I threw both books in the car, so that when I got through the morning rush hour traffic on 66 I could finish the last 10 or so pages of the King novella in the Metro parking lot, and not have to lug two hardcover books in my workbag all day. Started Wise Man’s Fear on the Metro and the first 30 pages are, as I expected, delightful.

Anyway, it occurred to me today that at one point towards the end of last year I was telling myself that, when the weather got nice in the spring, I would start going for walks on my lunch hour on Wednesdays – specifically walks across the nearby Key Bridge and into Georgetown, where I would be able to reach the doorstep of a local comic book shop with a reasonable amount of time. I figured this would be a good way to get some (relatively) fresh air and sunshine and exercise midweek while also allowing for a dependable, recurring release for my lingering geek-out needs. But I guess that’s not in the cards anymore, because the agency is moving offices this month. I used to work in the neighborhood we’ll be moving to, and unless a new comic shop has opened there I already know there aren’t any within walking distance of the new digs. Alas.


But as if to balance things out, I did get some unexpected good news this week: Ms. Antisocial is leaving! I’m not sure exactly under what circumstances, whether she requested that her employer transfer her to a different contract with fewer interpersonal hostilities and was given just such a dispensation, or whether she just up and quit, or what. Of course I’m not sure, because she certainly isn’t going to be forthcoming about it and I’m not about to poke the wasp’s nest by asking. But on Monday I overheard Ms. A. talking with the de facto office manager here at the agency, and it certainly sounded like they were talking about end-of-employment arrangements like handing over hard drives and ID cards and things like that. Then yesterday I distinctly heard Ms. A. tell someone on the phone “Well after this Friday I won’t be here anymore.” So honestly that is a big relief. I don’t harbor any particular ill will toward Ms. A.; I think she’s definitely a bit off and, consciously or unconsciously, decidedly rude and unpleasant to be around, and on the one hand I’m sympathetic to how difficult that must make her entire life, but on the other hand I’m not too keen on having to put up with her difficulties any more than is absolutely necessary. Apparently after Friday it won’t be necessary at all, so woo-hoo to that.