Crossed Fingers

I had a suprisingly good day at work yesterday! Deb (my coworker) and I got along great, and I didn't mind any of the bitching or slacking off like I usually do. Part of the reason is that I've removed a source of stress that I was under earlier (being ruler of the world is a LOT of hard work!), but I think the bigger factor was that instead of working like a slave, I started working at a comfortable pace, taking breaks when I needed one. Basically, I was happy and relaxed internally for the first time since I started at that job, and that made all those external aggravations not even matter. Of course, it was also a huge help that Lisa (the boss lady) wasn't there, so instead of everything being a little drama production, things simply got done. Honestly I thought I respected Lisa because in our interview I thought we saw eye to eye on issues like honesty, bluntness, maturity, etc... but it turns out she's one of the biggest hypocrits I've ever known. All of my past bosses have taken it as their solemn duty to protect their underlings from the "wrath from above" and to inspire them and teach them to work better. She sees her duty as to BE the "wrath from above", and she neither inspires nor teaches at all. She's also not honest or blunt about anything, and talks about her employees behind their backs with her other employees. However, I find that I am typing all this, and recalling instances of this behavior, with very little anger compared to what I would have been feeling early this week. I am actually quite confident that her return won't be able to entirely break up the newfound sense of peace I have with this job, although no doubt she'll try.

In other news, I'm currently acting as understudy to Kemper so that I may finally learn both strategy and how to play strategy games. As part of my homework, I will be reading 3 different translations of Art of War by Sun Tzu. The 3 I have selected that I found available for free online are one by Giles, one by the group at Sonshi.com and one by the Literature Network. If you know of any other, or better, translations available online, please let me know.

As for Kemper's comments about my surprisingly quick surrender... I would like to point out that since I simply wasn't having any fun being the ruler of the world, there was no logical reason to hold on past the point at which I realized this. To do so would have been foolish, and invited disaster for both of our plans. I am very happy with my decision and content with what I have gotten out of the deal, he can ridicule me all he wants but I ask him to remember that as one of his Generals, my reputation going into battle will be an important factor. Perhaps he should keep this in mind ;)

On another note: David is on his way to Boston as I type this, so I've got the whole apartment to myself until Monday. It will be a great opportunity to get some cleaning done, and I know that I'll need something to do as a break from admining the =1stCPB= DoD:S server this weekend (anyone who wants to can download and play DoD:S for free this weekend, so we know our server is gonna be crazy full of nubs and asshats). If I didn't know that he'd kill me, I'd take this opportunity to sign him up for that local fencing club we found, and get him some starter equipment... but he's still trying to pay me back for the tablet I got him for Christmas. I guess I'll let him slide this time ;D Or maybe I can find something sneaky but cheap..... *ponders*