quick RL update

I didn't mention it yesterday, since I had planned on posting fic first, but there is quite a bit of commotion going on at my workplace this week. One of my team-mates is retiring - and since they're not planning on hiring anyone new in her place, we're all just gonna be pulling a bigger workload from now on. So, instead of being an "occasional helper" on the stuff she used to do, I will now be one of the major contributors. So there is a lot of "last minute" training going on - for everybody, really, since no one comes close to her level of experience (she's been with the company for THIRTY-EIGHT years; can you even imagine that???... working at the same place for so long?...). And there is overtime. And I haven't even touched my "regular" work in days. And the boss is sort of running around like an energizer bunny, tossing new projects this way and that... lol.

On the fun side, we're doing our best to send her off in style. We had a casual lunch out last week, just for our team; and yesterday was a big party at a fancy Italian restaurant, with the company president, the data operations department head, the HR manager etc. The whole thing took at least three hours, and it was sponsored by the company, so there was basically no limit on what we could order (they pay us next to nothing, but at least we get lavishly fed for free every once in a while... lol). We had appetizers (like shrimp and bruschetta and goat cheese and toasted garlic bread and olives), then we had soups or salads (my spinach salad with nuts and tangerines was so poetic I am going to dream about it), and then we had the main course. I ordered roasted salmon with Sardinian couscous (much bigger than regular couscous, as it turned out, but smaller than orzo), spinach and calamari in a spicy tomato sauce. Mmmmm... (lots of garlic too) And then some people had desserts. I wanted to, but my stomach wasn't willing to cooperate anymore.;) Of course we couldn't have wine, since we were coming back to the office afterwards - but it was a joyful experience anyway.:P Tomorrow is the final "goodbye cake" function for the entire company - with cards and gifts and flowers and speeches and group pictures and all that junk. And then most of us have to come in on Saturday to actually get some WORK done.:P

This is just by way of explanation, in case I get a bit behind on comment replies and stuff. I'm trying to keep track of it all, but the next few weeks might be crazy, and it might so happen that the only thing I feel up to in the evenings/weekends will be skimming flist and reading porn.:P I still feel inspired to write, but I have to watch my sleep schedule (7 hours a night, minimum) or things are going to get ugly.:/ At any rate, I'm always here (LJ-land, that is) in spirit.:D