Son of the Return of the Revenge of the Cavalcade

You know how when your friends get a new significant other they drop off the face of the Earth for at least three months? No, I didn't get a new significant other, but I did get a new job, which I LOVE. So I've been gone for seven months. But now I'm back, and I have this crazy notion of posting every week from now on.

After all, I may not know everything, but I DO have an opinion on everything. And hopefully a sense of humor.

After spending five LONG years at a Big, Evil, Corporation working for a boss who was, well, a bigot Irish Catholic who had four kids in five years, I spent fifteen months looking for another "real" job. I assumed that "real" meant a good paycheck, benefits, and a lot of misery. But after fifteen months of being "Long-term Unemployed" (PC to English dictionary reads: "bum"), including a three-month stint working at a bathhouse in Berkeley cleaning rooms and folding towels to prove to myself and to the Universe that I really, really, wanted to work; I got this new job.

If you've ever watched the show Bones, you know that sometimes a group of weird people with different quirks can come together under a good leader and make for an entertaining hour of entertaining claptrap under the thin pretense of science. As it turns out, sometimes this also happens in real life, although the group I work in actually do real work. For the first time in my life, I'm not even the craziest one in the bunch. And I love it. I finally feel like, at least part of the time, I can stop worrying about the bad economy and office politics, and just ENJOY my work, relax, and let the magic come out.

The magic hasn't come out for me like that since MIT. And every time it does, I feel the need to warn my boss that he shouldn't expect it all the time. And he doesn't, but sometimes he does give me a look like "Wow. You HAVE been holding out on me!" when I have a particularly good day.

So now I'm bringing home a paycheck, bigger than any paycheck I've gotten before, and I got a "Winter Holiday" gift from the company, and a bonus, a REAL bonus, and I'm stunned, confused, and damn grateful. Apparently all the claptrap about "You just need to find the right fit" isn't just something HR people say to get rid of you when they don't like you. There is a place for everyone somewhere in this world, or at least there are places we can make for ourselves. And I've found mine.

Sir is now a househusband, and I have the chance to "pay him back" for all the time he supported me financially. Although since we always supported each other emotionally, no one's keeping score. This is what marriage is supposed to be about. Supporting each other through the bad times. And buying each other presents!

We've been married 2 1/2 years now, and we've already been through richer and poorer, sickness and health. And I realize that those things don't affect my happiness nearly as much as you would think, because we have each other and that has a lot more to do with how much I enjoy life than the "details". Meanwhile, the courts are still fighting over Prop 8. I know that if we weren't legally married our relationship would be the same, but I'm still very, very, glad that we were able to wed legally.

I always thought Tales of the City was right: There are three things you need to be happy, a good relationship, a good place to live, and a good job. And the Universe gives you two out of three at a time. Well, maybe I was good in a past life, because right now, She's blessing me with all three.

Thank You!