It's weeks since I last uploaded a journal entry. I guess it's almost two weeks since I wrote one. I hate doing that. It just seemed so hard to do, not knowing what I was going to do about all the work-related entries.
I finally broached that topic with Brian a few days ago. Monday evening, I think it was... I asked him to promise to try to keep what I was going to tell him confidential, then gave him the rough outline of our project. It definitely is in the field of interest of his employer, and he's surprised that we're getting into that, but he believes that he can keep the knowledge "compartmentalized".
For my part, I'm going to try to avoid going into details of the work. Suffice it to say that it's going very well, and I'm extremely busy, but very excited about it. Last week I traveled up to Vancouver with Dale for a preliminary meeting with the customer. It's a long flight for a two-day trip, and I think I'll be making more of them.
I had wished that I could write during the flight, bring my journal up to date and perhaps polish up another story I'm working on, but I was sitting with Dale, and I really didn't want for him to see that...
I've been considering again signing off from the journal. I know I talk about it, but never do it... and always it seems like the journal is something coming between me and Brian. Or more accurately, something coming between me and a normal life. If I can't talk about work, I can't talk about a whole realm of my life. Being anonymous, that was supposed to never be a problem. I hadn't envisioned this.
Anyway, the jury's still out. Perhaps if I try to keep things more general I'll be able to talk about work enough to feel that I'm giving a full picture.
Today was beautiful.
Usually there's a day or two like this in February, early, and I think maybe we've seen the last of winter, but then it returns with a vengeance. But since it's already March, I'm guessing that Spring has really arrived.
There is a little off-season fair close to Brian's office. When he told me about it setting up, it was a "can you believe they'd bother, in all this rain?" comment. But perhaps they have better fortune tellers than the TV weathermen.
It's just a few rides on a tiny plot of land, but it seemed so appropriate when Brian called me that I skipped out of work early and headed over there. Of course, after that drive at rush hour, I needed some relaxation.
We rode a few - maybe most, it was so small - of the rides, including the one like a small Ferris wheel with cages that turn over. Does anyone know what it's called?
I hope the weather holds until the weekend. St. Patrick's day is imminent, and I feel like celebrating.
The weather still can't make up its mind. Yesterday was pretty much an all-day downpour, this morning was clear but with a very high wind, mild and pretty (if windy) this lunchtime, and this evening the wind had moved to coming from the north, and cold.
Brian called to invite me to join him for lunch, at a Bennigans in a mall, about halfway between his office and mine. Mary and Mel were with me. I'd tried to bring Vince, too, but he's on some kind of liquid diet. ("Best kind," said Mary.)
The parking lot is crowded. "Must be because of the weather," commented Mary.
"Yeah," I said, "it's so nice outside that everyone had to go to the mall."
Mary laughed. "Well, this is Texas," she said. "Anytime it's sunny, you head for air-conditioning. It may only be sixty, but it's force of habit."
I was a little surprised to see Julie with Brian. He told me later Rob had invited both of them, and then had to bow out at the last minute. I'm glad she came, if she'd been too uncomfortable to come, I'd have not been too surprised. And she did seem uneasy at first, but grew more relaxed.
Bennigans has a party next weekend, for St. Patrick's. Well, they would, of course, being Irish-themed. "Blarney Bash," I think they call it. Maybe that's what we should do Saturday.