A week gone since my last entry, good lord. I suppose I've been busy. I started a new job, unpacked a few things, sorted out the usual utilities and accounts. I have to say my opinion of the new job is not high. I had a dreadful weekend beyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurf
Sorry. That was the youngest cat's contribution. I have removed her from the keyboard and set her to exploring the boxes near the desk. It does express how I felt the night before I started my new job. Definitely a touch of beyuuurf. I loathe first days of anything: school, work, conventions, anything where I have to be at least marginally perky and sociable. I hate not knowing the routines and spending hours saying "okay" as many different ways as possible. I slept badly. Dreams of murder, blood, anger, with lots of disturbing noises. The noises were probably just the new house noises seeping into my dreams. Didn't matter; I wouldn't have slept well in any case.
The first day was as horrible as I feared. The rest of the week was utterly normal. I rather like everyone at the office, and I'm quite sure they are happy with me, which helps me relax. It's just that I hate being a corporate agent and although I understood the work to be more on the leisure side it definitely isn't. I dislike corporate travel. A lot. What's worse is the airlines are still screwing the passengers while trying to cut out travel agents who are advocates for the travelers. Penalties for changing tickets have gone up by a third. Carry-on luggage allowances have been halved. We're starting to charge fees in order to make any money at all. And everyone's complaining. I'd like out by the end of 1998. But before I leave, I'm wangling a trip to either the Galapagos or Antartica at a hugely discounted rate. Mmm, discounted travel.
On the personal side, it's so good to be home. I am practically swooning from the beauty of the autumn hillsides. There aren't many trees but the ones that do shed their leaves are doing so in shades of scarlet, bronze, and golden yellow. The live oaks and eucalyptus stay a wonderfully dusty shade of sage and dark green. The hills are covered in burnt honey-colored grasses. It's so good to be surrounded by beauty again! It's inspired me tremendously and I've already made a start at personalizing my garden. Yes, I like gardening. Yes, I'm going to talk about it in this diary. No, I don't know much about it and I don't know the Latin names of anything. I garden for the same reason I like to bake bread, and keep lots of pets: I am a domestic little person at heart. I bought rosemary, peppermint, and lemon balm, and set them out into a sunny corner of the container box where they're thriving. I want to put in lots of herbs and replace a few flowers. The fleshy pink begonias are history, blech, as are the sickly nasturtiums. I intend to have an herb garden, a shade garden, and wildflowers.
Oh, there's more to say, but it's time for the Stanford women's volleyball game. Back after a refreshing time of watching other people get sweaty and athletic.
