2007-09-27 - 9:01 p.m.

So Jo flies in tomorrow morning. And the day after that I turn 30. I can't believe how quickly time has passed since New York. September in particular has been insane, what with having to learn a new job and get a full appreciation of what my boss actually does. I'm still freaking out about having to make budget-related decisions- I guess it comes from experience but my boss's analytical mind astounds me, each time he's answered a question posed by one of my soon-to-be reports (or anyone for that matter) I try to imagine whether I would have thought of half the scenarios he has- how often am I going to make a decision without having thought all of it's implications through (not for want of trying- I just figure there'll be stuff I don't know that I don't know).

I'm a little overwhelmed by it- particularly since in a little over 2 months I'll be going overseas again and I'm not sure how settled I'll be in the job at that stage. The time I'm going overseas is kind of an important time for end of year reviews and the like, and I'm not planning on handing over that part of my job to anyone. So I'm going to have a shitload of reviews to do in a very short time. And the fact that I've only been announced as acting "until the end of the year"- I highly doubt that they will start the formal process of filling the role until well into January at the absolute earliest, but I don't actually know that. What with my holidays, I really hope it doesn't happen until February, and I hope that when it happens I'll have been doing the acting role long enough (and well enough) to be at unbackable odds to get the permanent role.

But what can I do about it until I'm thrown in the deep end next Friday (my boss's last day is next Thursday). For now I've got 4 days off with Jo before I have to think about it again- and my 30th is in that time. And I'm very much looking forward to that.

Anyway, I'm sure that for the next week-and-a-half I'm not going to get around to writing in here so I should stay up to date with what I've been up to since I last wrote. My 7 straight days of work took me up to Wednesday 19th, when I went to Trivia, as has been the case on many a recent Wednesday night. The next day I'm sure I slept in, before doing a small amount of shopping, including some exotic liquors, both for myself (Brazilian Cachaca) and my boss (Chilean Pisco Campanario). Made dinner for myself and Nathan, and tried making Caipirinhas, something I greatly improved upon the next night. Friday night Lucy and I had a couple of drinks at home before heading up to Newtown and having dinner at Thai Pathong. After dinner we headed to the Townie, where we met up with Mark. Lucy left at about 11.30pm and I saw Mark and I crashing and burning before too long, but then the entire extended trivia mob (Rowan, Nick, Ken, Davina, Chris, Clair and Lachlan) rocked up- they were farewelling Ken before he headed off into the wilderness (or the Northern Territory as the case was). They all eventually left and it was back to Mark and I- and we stayed until about 3am before calling it a night.

I was up reasonably early, considering my late night, and went down the road for Pho with Nathan. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching DVDs, before heading to Beverly Hills for my boss's farewell at a German Restaurant. It's always scary when the tired and hungover feeling only goes away when you start drinking again. I didn't drink *that* much but between the steins of dark German beer and the ludicrously sized entrees and mains I thought I just might explode. But I didn't- instead I got a lift home and was probably in bed by midnight. I initially thought it would make sense to have a big Saturday night after getting a head start at dinner, but I already had my Townie fix on Friday night and appreciated he sleep.

Sunday I was very productive- took a bus into the city and bought myself a couple of work shirts for when I have meetings to go to, a suitably business-like belt, and a new work bag (my other one had virtually fallen apart but now I'm not so sure whether I made the rigt choice for my new one- there was a cheaper one that in hindsight might have fitten more inside). The shopping trip was very in-and-out, I was back on the bus and home again less than two hours after setting out. When I got home I gave the bathroom a thorough clean, and as I was finishing that task, Nathan dropped by. We went for our usual walk (no running this time), and I ended up cooking him dinner again that night. We had this "cook-off" idea where we both bought a whole rabbit from the butcher, and would see who made the better meal. Mine on the Sunday was a little rushed, and he won hands down with his effort on Tuesday- but more on that later (maybe).

Quick summary of this week- work Team Building/HR Exercise on Monday and Tuesday in Cronulla- caught the train both days so I could have drinks after work and bond further with people. Stayed at Nathan and Kellee's place after the rabbit sequel on Tuesday. Jo's friends Jen and Tim (from San Francisco but Brisbane born and bred) are staying here tonight and did last night as well, and work has been crazy as already mentioned, and I'm sure there's going to be stuff my boss forgets to tell me (and probably a shitload of stuff he forgets to transfer from his computer that isn't on the network, but I guess I'll just have to deal with that).

That's all I have for now. But I won't be slowing down for a while yet.

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