It’s almost Thanksgiving, so let’s get some giving of thanks out of the way.

I may occasionally seem unhappy with my job, and it’s true. Of course, if it was fun all the time they wouldn’t call it Work, would they? But let’s be clear about one thing: I’m very, very thankful to have this job. Mind you, I’m thankful to have any job, but things worked out better than I could have expected.

For years I complained that rarely did anyone in authority come to me for advice about technical things before implementing something new and potentially disastrous. One of the things I wanted most was to be asked for my input. Well, my new boss seems to be thoroughly serious about soliciting my viewpoint on things, from how the business should present itself to which service offerings we should provide in the future. I was a bit late getting out the door this evening at the end of my workday because we were discussing anti-spam platforms.

Feeling like I have some say in things, even as I recognize that the boss’ decision is final (as it should be!), goes a long way toward making me feel like I’m in a healthy, positive environment. Sure, I’m surrounded by triple threats (guys with certifications, years of experience and hefty brains), but maybe I can hold my own after all. And even if this turns out not to be “the job for me,” at least in the meantime I’m in a fairly good spot.

For which I’m intensely thankful.

Failing better inspiration, I’ll fill today’s posting requirement by reminding the world that I, yes I, have the best children ever.

That will be all. Thank you.

The Internet has been almost unavailable at our house all day today. The firewall’s been flaky (to put it nicely) and, at the moment, only wireless devices can get online. I don’t have a laptop anymore, but the roomie has two at his disposal so he’s more-or-less set up okay at the moment.

My brilliant idea to get at least one of my machines online again involved plugging in one of those old Orinoco wireless cards through an add-on PCMCIA slot. Well, the idea was good but SonicWALL doesn’t like those cards. (Nobody really does, so this isn’t as surprising as you might think. The cards are crap.) My next idea was to borrow the roomie’s LinkSys PCMCIA card out of the laptop he’s not currently using, but that’s a CardBus device and my add-on slot adapters don’t “do” CardBus. You can’t even plug a CardBus card into said adapter, as they’re “keyed” to prevent that sort of thing.

But wait! I bought an actual PCI 802.11g card for the downstairs anime computer a while back, and since that computer is now at the kids’ place (and wired into their network directly), the card has been sitting in a drawer. Huzzah! A bit of screwdriver work, a software install, a reboot and some swift kicks to the configuration software and…

…I’m able to write this post. Go, me! (And I’m in slightly less danger of failing NaBloPoMo, to boot. Whew.)

I nearly forgot to post, today.

So, how am I doing? Better. Not great, but better. I didn’t get much sleep last night and I’m not completely over… whatever the heck it is that got me.

There’s a nice weekend ahead, though. The kids are coming over for an all-day visit tomorrow, and I fully expect to veg out most of Sunday.

I was going to write something more substantial, but I’m afraid that my brain is still made of mush. So, all I can say is… LOOK, BUNNIES!

I don’t like missing work. It messes with my sense of responsibility, for starters. There are things that need doing, dammit! I especially dislike being Mr. Sick All The Time, which is a title I haven’t worn since the dark latter days of my Oregon Stamp & Stationery gig, and which at this rate I’ll be wearing again. I’ve only had this job since July and I’ve already been sick twice? We’re not amused.

If I sit (or lay) still, I’m generally okay and feel mostly normal. Moving around, however, is no fun at all. I’m weak, disoriented easily, periodically dizzy nearly to the point of nausea, and now my stomach wants to cramp up at odd times.

(I apologize at this point to random strangers coming in from NaBloPoMo. You really don’t want to hear about my health woes, but at the moment it’s all I have going on. I know.)

So I’m going to rest, rest, rest, drink plenty of fluids, yadda yadda. Whatever has got me had better finish with me soon; I have work to do and people to see!

Well, I don’t know what’s going on, but I know what isn’t: I’m not feeling any better than I was yesterday afternoon. It’s not that I feel actively sick, but rather I’m frequently dizzy and slightly nauseous (especially if I get up and move around) and have a hard time concentrating, and I’m occasionally a bit feverish.

If I’m not feeling better in the morning, I’m probably going to stay home and kill ants all day. (They’re upstairs now. Oh, let me tell you how delighted I am.)

In totally unrelated news, this marks the halfway point of NaBloPoMo. There’s a chance, slim as it may be, that I’ll finish this thing…