All in all, I can't complain.

First things first: Amazon shipped out my copy of White Night today. I should have it by the middle of next week. <3 <3 <3 (I have ceased to have the fortitude to wait for the paperbacks, and have deemed it a series I want in HB, anyway.)

I finally found a replacement part to fit my vacuum, and repaired the beastie for the low low price of $2.82 (plus tax). It's amazing what a little thing like a belt does for your vacuum cleaner's functionality...

Meanwhile, there is that grad school thing. I did well on my second seminar presentation in Wetlands, and now have just three big projects hanging over me like the executioner's axe this April. The biggest issue is my prospectus. I've decided my problem is that I'm facing it as one large project, instead of assigning myself small tasks to do. So this week I'm going to focus on getting a basic outline done and some literature searching. Turn-of-the-month means that the end is in sight. I'm seriously burnt out, but I can hang in there for thirty more days. (I wouldn't turn down a personal shoulder-Kiki to bounce up and down and urge me to stay good, though.)

At DEQ, they've hired a new employee and put her in my office - she and my former officemate both work in U.S.T. (Underground Storage Tanks), so it makes sense. As a side effect, they've kicked me out of my old office ... and set me up with one other guy in the conference room, instead. He and I now share what is, functionally, the single largest piece of office space in the building. It is awesome! Who says contractors get shafted?

ALSO: YOUR DAILY DOSE OF SCI-FI. Except transgenic organisms are real now. Holy glowing firefly tobacco, Batman!