Florida v/s Florida State game is today. This will be a big one for the Ex, since his family still lives in Gainesville.
This game pretty much defined our Thanksgivings every year I was with him... Sort of, in the same way, Pennsic or Lilies defines the Summer for SCA folks...
Difference is, SCA folks get to make choices that define the outcomes of those events.
When you're watching football, it ain't in your hands.
And considering that University of Florida has an unbeaten record this year... Well, I'm really glad I won't be near the Ex's house this year. Case in point, here's a quote from the guy who's the UF quarterback about the game:
“Since I can remember watching football, I’ve been watching that game. When Florida State beat Florida in 1996, we didn’t think we’d go to the national championship. I remember my dad made me go outside and cut the grass and rake the leaves. The whole time I was raking leaves, I was crying because Florida State beat Florida. That’s one example of how special this game is. Winning this game helps put a smile on your face, that’s for sure.”—Florida QB Tim Tebow, on the Florida-FSU rivalry.
I remember that year... That's the year my snot-nosed ex brother-in-law would not shut the hell up about FSU beating the Gators and the Ex threw his obnoxious ass into the swimming pool. That's the year that my ex father-in-law and the Ex wouldn't talk to anyone for the next twelve hours after the Gators lost.

You know, I don't think it's that I hate football. I think it's that I got to watch, in extended slo-motion, over the course of anywhere from 4-6 hours, something that I had no control over affecting the people in my life. And I had to buck up and deal with the consequences.
It's just a GAME, for the love of all that's holy.
I hope the Gators win... my girls are spending Thanksgiving with him this year, and it would suck for them if their dad ends up in that piss-poor of a mood.

My anti-social self is not out amongst the massess doing the dreaded "black Friday" thing.
Because really, with my propensity for losing my brain to mouth filter when I get stressed in the midst of crowds, and with everyone else abandoning social skills in the pusuit of mass consumerism and avarice, I see great potential for a very ugly explosion when I tell Grandma to go f' herself if she runs over my foot one more time with the shopping cart.
Just sayin'.
On the other hand, I AM at work, and I AM trapped in ICU hell with country music (bad, MODERN country music) playing on the radio, so at this point, it's trapped in work hell or trapped in shopping hell, and both of them are more or less equal as far as I can tell. I really wish Shania Twain would just die already.

In other news, Shadow's scroll part two is completed, and it looks pretty good at this point. I should be finished painting it by Sunday and ready to start n the multitudenous other things I need/want to get done by KK.

I found our on-line game.
I think it was made for us.
:-)
Vic is gonna have a fit when she sees it.
:-)

Do you all remember that census worker in Kentucky that was found dead, hanging in a cemetery?
And initially it was thought to be murder and blamed on anti-government sentiment?
Turns out he committed suicide. Sad for the family... sad for a lot of reasons.

On another note, I have cardamom cookies firming up in the fridge, a clean house, and it's quiet.
:-)

If there is one more stupid post on pagan v/s Christian crap on the Calontir list I will seriously get the urge to hurt someone.
Who am I kidding? I'm there already.
This year is surprisingly more polite than last year, but c'mon people, you trot out the same damn arguments, the same prejudices, the same biases, every freakin' year. I've gotten to the point where I can almost tell you who is going to reply with what statement, who is gonna take offense, who is gonna try to distract to save thier own sanity, and at the end of it, the end result will be that the Church is EEEEEVILLLL and OMG, so oppressive! The CHURCH stole our holidays!
And so I post this here, because I don't want to feed the trolls.

Look, if you want to think there was a vast, systematically carried out organized plan on the part of the Church to steal pagan holidays, okay.
Prove it.
Document it.
And I'm talking I want the ISBN numbers of the books that you got your facts out of rather than some f'ing Wikipedia article.
Show me the evidence, the letters, the communication that shows that the Church Heirarchy systematically decided with malice and forethought to over-run your stuff. I don't want your THEORIES that you purport to be fact based on the meager evidence of "well, they're around the same time period and there are symbols that they're using are similar so they could stomp us out", I want PROOF that the CHURCH as an ORGANIZATION decided to do this.
And while you're doing that, let me give you my theory, and we'll look at both of them and decide which one makes more sense, 'kay?

People love a party. The Church, as it began, wasn't too down with that. Nothing like a public celebration to draw attention to yourself and get you thrown in jail because you're in a cult like Christianity was considered in Roman times.
Plus, there's that whole "sober and upright" way of thinking that Augustine of Hippo was pushing. And, well, once Christianity became the religion... lack of rowdy celebrations were on of the things that separated pagans from Christians.
But see, here's the thing. As Christianity spread into not-Roman cultures, the people embraced the religion. But... um... this is sort of boring. When you are a laborer, trying to eke out a living, one of the things you look forward to is your celebrations. (How many of us live for the weekend, folks?) Okay... well, we can't celebrate this holiday, because it's tied to this god. And I was looking forward to it. Look at them over there, having fun.
Well, hey... OUR God is a God of Light... They're celebrating a god of light... I mean, hey, what would it hurt?
The priest says "No".
Yeah, but the priest hasn't been out behind a team of oxen all year plowing. What does he know?
The priest says we shouldn't.
But I'm celebrating MY God, not theirs. The priest also says that God knows what's in my heart, and so He knows I'm doing it for Him, and not (insert whatever deity you choose here).
And so the justification went. I have plenty of evidence that the local priests tried to steer their flocks away from these celebrations, in the form of letters to their superiors. They despaired of it. They looked upon the celebrations as a gateway into promiscuity and vice and hedonism and immorality. (I never get invited to those kind of cool parties... sigh)
Over time, as more locals entered the priesthood, they, coming out of the culture they were now serving, KNEW how important these celebrations were to the people, so, while disapproving on a theological basis, knew that they weren't gonna be able to stop them.
So it wasn't some well thought out plot.
It was humans doing what humans do.
Take, for instance, modern Christmas. In the same way, it has morphed from a High Holy day to an orgy of spending and excess. Is this the result of organized Atheists, systematically trying to destroy Christianity by whipping everyone up into whirling dervishes of greed with credit cards? No.
Or Thanksgiving, a secular holiday... It is a ritual meal that now symbolizes nothing to most people other than a precursor to Christmas shopping and putting up the tree once you pull yourself out of the Turkey coma. How many people REALLY give thanks on that day to whatever deity they worship?
Look, I am NOT saying that pagan holidays and Christian Holidays are not related and don't share commonalities. But if you're saying that the Church intended for this to happen, that it was all part of some "conversion plan" for the masses, well, I think you're wrong. I have evidence based on the writings of the early Church fathers that they didn't approve of these celebrations and would have eradicated them if they could have.
I am just tired of listening to this argument, and people who don't educate themselves relying on often repeated third hand "proof" or supposition to once more illustrate that the Church is EEEVILLLL.

Finished watching "Ghost Rider". Sam Elliot has the sexiest voice on the planet. Period.

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity

• Update your journal with the answers to the questions

• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions (I'll also answer more, if asked)
These are the questions that elasait asked me:

1. What brought you to Calontir?

Well, the ex was working retail, and he was asked to manage a store in Rogers, Arkansas.
He wanted to take the job, so we moved... only to have him loose it in about 10 months. This event sort of was the catalyst that started the beginning of the end of our marriage. It took about another 11 months after that for it to finally die.
I STAYED in Calontir because although I love my mom dearly, and she wanted me to move home, I really couldn't handle the thought of moving back home to that small town and having my every move monitored. (Not by my mom, but by the people who would feel it was their responsibility to report to my mom what they saw me do on a daily basis. Southern small towns... you can't escape the nosiness.)

2. You write about your job a lot, but I don't know exactly what it is you do, except that you work in a hospital. What do you do?

Okay... I have been, over the course of my hospital career, a nurse's aide, a telemetry tech ( the ones who sit and watch the screens that show the patients' heart beats to make sure no one starts throwing a funky heart rhythym and interprets them for the nurses), a Unit Secretary (puts in the doctor's orders, makes the appointments, make sure that supplies are ordered, that all of the paperwork is done correctly and the t's are crossed), and as an Administrative Assistant.
Currently, after the reshuffle at the hospital, I am back to being a Unit Secretary.
I'm in two minds about that.... I like the excitement (it is an exciting job, believe it or not), I like the fact that I've had just about every damn person in the hospital that has to work on that Unit tell me how glad they are that I'm back and maybe now things will get done right...
But there are certain personality types that I don't deal well with. And dealing with them on a regular basis makes me want to throttle someone.

3. You are given control of $100,000 with the stipulation that it isn't *yours*...you must donate it to some cause or charity. Just one. What do you choose, and why?

I'd probably have to find one that dealt primarily with helping abused and neglected kids.
The way I look at it, Kids have to deal with the hands they're dealt and the choices of the adults that are around them. They don't get to make choices. If the parent or adult in their lives aren't protecting them, or aren't capable of making the right decisions to give the kids a safe, loving home, then someone needs to. They need someone to love them and give them a chance.

4. What are the best and worst things about being a parent?

The best thing is the unconditional love you get from your kids. The faith they have in you that you love them more than anything. That trust.
The worst thing about being a parent is seeing your fears, your inappropriate coping mechanisms, transferred to them. The worry that no matter how good a job you try to do with them, you will fail and psychologically damage them. Being scared that they will repeat your mistakes in life based on what they've learned from you.

5. What have you found to be the hardest thing about being a peer?
Two things... Being diplomatic is a biggie. If you haven't noticed, tactfulness is not really something I excel at. :-) Unless I try really hard. Then I get a migraine. :-) So I've learned to be very tactful on the fly in public, and then I call Shadow or Fionna when I get home. :-)
The second is that striving to be a Laurel is a very very inward focused activity. You are obsessed with what you're doing, what projects you've got goin' on... its very much a me me me me thing.
Once you're a peer, you've GOT to turn that focus outside of yourself. You have to notice other's work, other's behaviors, other's interactions. It's sort of hard to switch gears like that after 12 years.

Under 14 hours.
Finished page one.
Tomorrow I clean house, Tuesday I will work on page 2.

My project paranoia is showing.
After researching for literally weeks, I started on Shadow's scroll last night.
It will be two parts, with one page containing the text and the historiated initial, and the other being a "carpet page".
I actually blocked out, lined out, did the calligraphy, and drew the initial on the first page in UNDER SIX hours.
With no mistakes, first time through.
Okay.... do you have any idea how RARE that is? How "OMG, never be able to do that again in my entire lifetime"rare?
It...just...doesn't...happen.
At least to me.
It probably has to do with the fact that she's probably one of my dearest friends in the world. Probably that I've ever had in my life. So I hyper-focus, because I want to do a good the best job I can.

This made me start thinking about "commissioned" work. If I know the person, if I like them, everything falls into place. If I don't know them, it takes a while for the ideas to flow, but I can do it with some minor issues.
If I don't like the person, I can't do it. Everything will be a mess. It stresses me out. 99% of the time I will turn those down, unless the person who asked me to do it is a friend and really NEEDS to get it done. In that case, I'm doing it for the person who asked, and not the person who's gonna get it.
It might be subconsciously I fight myself on those.
I think it's more likely that any artist has to put part of themselves into what they create. The more you care about someone, the more you are able to give of yourself in that way... mainly because you already trust that person.
If you don't like them, chances are you don't trust them, and so you have essentially a creative block against creating something that contains any essence of yourself. So it just doesn't work. Everything looks flat, you run into more problems, you physically end up creating more problems yourself... and the issue usually is that there's nothing you're willing to put into it that would "breathe life" into it.
Anyway... I'm gonna go ahead and get back to painting... Lots to do.

I've been following the Walmart Racism Arrest story that took place in Kennett, Missouri.
No, not because of my obsession with Walmart and the love/hate relationship I have with it... But because Kennett is my dad's home town. It's about a 30 minute drive from where my mom lives. I have been through there, literally hundreds if not thousands of times, because it's between where my Grandma (my mom's mom) lives in Malden and where all of dad's family that I still speak to, my aunt and my mother live in Paragould. I've shopped there.
So anyway... Yeah, I know the people in that area, you could say.
Yes, it is a POOR community, where an income of 65,000 a year puts you in the upper .5% of the community. Yes, it is undeniably "redneck". These people are descendents of sharecroppers. The whole town is surrounded by cotton feilds, soy beans, rice and sorghum.
( Random thoughts, probably a trigger or two for some. )

Because, despite every thing, I have nothing I am particularly enraged about, I thought I'd just post random weird stuff.

1. What's odd about the way you sleep?
All closet doors shut.
Bedroom door shut and locked.
All mirrors covered. Or turned to face the wall. ALWAYS. If I have a choice, I will have no mirrors in my bedroom at all.

2. What's odd about the things you eat?
I can't eat ice cream straight. I have to cut it with milk. It's too rich or something, I guess. Makes me slightly nauseous if I don't.
I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with frosted flakes or plain Lay's potato chips on it for the crunch.
I eat salad for breakfast.

3. What's your phobia?
Cockroaches. Heights. Collapsible gymnasium bleachers. Any steps I can see through (like metal ones). Sewer grates (I blame Stephen King for that one.). I also intensely dislike the autumn, but only because that's usually when big upheavals happen in my life.

4. Are you superstitious?
Very. I can't help it. I've tried not to be, but my mind is like that old Discovery show "Connections". I see patterns of cause and effect everywhere.

5. What's the weirdest thing you've ever witnessed?
The night the Angel of Death, or the Grim Reaper, or what ever you want to call it, walked down the hallway at the hospital that I work at.
You see, our hospital is sort of laid out like a spider web. It's confusing as hell. In the center of the web is the nurses station. There are four halls coming off of that center, with the halls forming an "X". There are ten rooms down each hall. That night, at 3:09 am, we had a death of a man we had just admitted 15 minutes before in the first room (which would have been positioned on the upper right hand branch of the "X". Two minutes later at 3:11, three doors down and on the same side of the hall we had another. Then ten minutes after that, at 3:21, one of the aides discovered a DNR patient who had passed, once again three doors down (and now starting on the hall that would be the bottom left branch of the "X") and on the same side of the hall. Finally, at 3:33, at the very last room, on that same side of the hall, we had another code.
None of the patients survived. Two were codes, two were DNRs. The ER doc who we had to call up to pronounce asked us WTF was going on... I still don't have an answer to that one. No, none of the nurses were taking care of all four patients. None of them had been in all four rooms. It felt seriously weird at the time. Especially when I was mulling it over after the fact and realized that those were our west to east hallways.
But then, all the best ghost stories come from hospitals, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most bizarre things I've ever been a part of.

Mah head es doing the "esplodey esplodey" thing today.
Barometric pressure migraines suck.
I am looking longingly at the bottle of Jim Beam over the fridge, and wondering if that will help...
Nah, probably not.
Although, it is, according to "Fionn's Rules for Drinking",**** technically late enough in the day to start.

****Fionn's Rules for Drinking (Written when I was 22, so give me a break, okay?):
1. Never START drinking before the hours have gone into double digits, military style. (i.e. You can start at 1000 hrs, but not 0930 hours.) To START drinking before 1000 hours means you have a Drinking Problem.
2. It's perfectly okay to CONTINUE to drink while in single digits, provided when you started you were in doubles. (i.e. If you started at 2000 hrs, and find yourself still drinking at 0600 hrs, you may as well keep going, 'cause that hangover is gonna be a bitch. Put it off as long as you can)
3. Never mix any Cream based anything with anything. No Irish Cream with a Jack Daniels chaser. The results are messy.
4. No spicy foods beforehand.
5. Always bring a scrunchy for your hair. You may be surrounded by people who don't like you enough to hold it for you.
6. Never drink when angry. It won't help. Never drink with someone who has issues with someone else at the party. You won't be able to help them, either.
7. Never drink when lonely, especially when lonely in a group of people. That way lies "The Walk of Shame".
8. Never drink with someone you don't trust implicitly.

Got through yesterday without killing anyone.
That, in and of itself, was a miracle.

Busy at work...
Monday and Tuesday 8 hour days, Wednesday and Thursday were 12 hours.
Then Thursday night to my mother's to Help with Tasha's wedding.
Arrived about 1 am. Up at 6:30. Whirlwind trip to Walmart for food (I did a lot of the cooking for it) and to pick up supplies because I also did the bride's hair and makeup.... Did a test run on the bride's hair.
In and out of Belk's in 45 minutes because the girls had no dresses appropriate for a wedding. Yes, although a lot of people don't realize it, you do not wear dresses that you would go clubbing in to a wedding. You also should not wear unadorned black (too funereal), or white (because that's the bride's color). Both are just tacky.
But the girls found decent dresses, and I found one because, well, all of my dresses are black. Got a cute suit in Navy blue... very retro-40's style.
Home again, began working on the tarts, the lasagna, rolls, tiramisu, and salad for the rehersal dinner, as well as the truffels. Done at 6, everything up to the church. Served dinner, home again. Cleaned up the kitchen, rolled the bride's hair, my daughter's hair and mine. In bed about 1or 2.
Up at 7. Made the sandwiches, finished the truffels, cut the apples and oranges, sent Hans to the store to get my mother A DECENT set of knives that actually cut something and veggie trays. Cut up cheese cubes, realized I hadn't seen the sliced cheese to go on the sandwhiches, so I plated that. Made the meatball and sausages.
Did the girls' hair, did the bride's makeup. Ran to the Church and dropped off the food. Helped the bride into her dress, did her hair, left to go home and get ready myself.
15 minutes later, back up at the church, at this point exhauseted.
Sat through the ceremony, back out to the reception hall. Set up the food. Reception lasted a while.
Cleaned up, took down decorations. Back home, cleaned the bathrooms which were a mess from 9 people getting ready, did the dishes.
Sat up and talked to mom. In bed about midnight.
Up at 8, spent time with mom.
We left there about 5 to get home, back at 11:30.
12 hour shifts today and tomorrow.
Guys... I'm whupped. I don't know if I can make it.

I have been affiliated with the military for almost 3/4's of my life:
A dependent child from birth through 19.
Active duty from 19 to 23.
Wife of active duty from 21 until 27.
Wife of a retiree from 36 until forever.

There is a list of things I have learned, some of you may agree with, some not.  These are just the things borne out in my experience:
1.  Home is where you make it.  It has nothing to do with blood family.  It has to do with connection and spirit.
2.  No news source will ever get all of the story.  On anything.  No matter what their political bent.  You only think you get the truth.  You get as much of the truth as someone else thinks you can handle.  That is not conspiracy theory, that is reality.
3.  Stupidity and poor judgment is not dependent on education, ethnic background, gender or position in society.
4.  Moving and leaving your family and friends will not kill you.  You survive.
5.  You can, in fact, survive almost anything.
6.  Staying in touch with those you leave will be harder than you think.
7.  If you make the effort, you can adapt to any situation.
8.  Adapting is unconscious in all but the most rigid of people.
9.  Change is inevitable.
10.  So is loss.
11.  Living out of a box for three months while waiting for your household goods is only fun if you are under the age of 10.
12.  You will never be able to fit all of the crap you brought with you from home back into a duffle bag when it is time to go home.
13.  You can live on cold canned ravioli and M&M's for weeks if the alternative is the contractor-run Mess Hall in Saudi.
14.  Nothing will scare you as much as seeing the building you lived in, on the side you lived in while you were deployed in Saudi Arabia blown to bits... even if you hadn't been there in a while.  Except maybe being there when it happened .
15.  Nothing is sexier than a 97 foot long 12 foot high helicopter.  NOTHING.  You can keep your bikes and your V8 classic cars..

Just reading the specs gets my heart going.
The MH-53J Pave Low III heavy-lift helicopter is the largest, most powerful and technologically advanced transport helicopter in the US Air Force inventory. The terrain-following and terrain-avoidance radar, forward looking infrared sensor, inertial navigation system with Global Positioning System, along with a projected map display enable the crew to follow terrain contours and avoid obstacles, making low-level penetration possible.
Yes, I am a geek.  And it was the most awesome helicopter in the US inventory until it was retired on September 27th, 2008.
16.  You will inevitably find yourself talking to the only other military person at a civilian party... even if you've never met them before, and had no clue they served.  It's radar.  75% of the time you'll like them.
17.  Bil always carries his squadron and AFSOC coin.  I just got lucky and nailed him without them at Lilies.  I can never be without MY squadron coin around Bil.  Bil thinks it's funny that I pulled a coin check on him.  :-)

The Calontir list... oh for the love of sweet baby jeebus.
I have this letter that I want to post, but I'm holding off because I don't know if I'm so tense over everything else in my life and I'm just looking for a target (which is, given my personality, entirely possible), or I really am that chaffed by what's going on.  No, I'm not upset.  Not really even irritated.  Just chaffed.
( The letter that I may or may not send.... )

It has been one year and one week since I got my Laurel.  It has been seven years and one week since I became a member of this glorious Kingdom.
I've been thinking about how things have changed since then, how they have stayed the same, and what has been the most difficult thing for me to do.
( Introspective navel-gazing )

So, it's Friday afternoon, and you're bored at work, counting down the seconds until you get to leave.
But how, pray tell, to pass the time and alleviate the boredom?
Dude, I bring you:
PEOPLE OF WALMART:  THE WEBSITE
How did you ever get through your work day without this site?
Funnier than LOLcats, snarkier than snark....
You know you want to look.  Really.  If only for the proof that YOU aren't as fashioned challenged as you thought, not all gay men have taste, and some people really WILL wear that in public.....
And, well, mainly because it's funny to laugh at other people.
No, I'm not a nice person.
(And I swear to God, I saw that woman on the main page Halloween night, wearing the see through black tights with her ass hanging out.  SRSLY.  I had to cover my daughters eyes.  It was like watching creamed corn in a water balloon, to steal a phrase...)

So I left work early, and did what I needed to do, then took a nap.
Still tired though... or maybe just drug out.
Part of what made dealing with this work thing so hard was that I got a call last night from Hans' mom, letting us know she's having a heart cath, and so I was particularly stressed. 

So here's what happened before I left for the day.
Went in and talked to my current director after I posted.  They will be opening a new rehab unit and were looking for a secretary/aide.  Now, I started out as an aid in a rehab unit.  And by rehab I mean post-surgery, post-CVA, strengthening unit, NOT the drug/alcohol kind of rehab.
So I talked to her about that...
She was shocked, because she didn't know that I had been trained to do that.  Yes, I am indeed multi-talented when it comes to hospital work, I wasn't just talking out my ass.
Anyway, the upshot of it is that they have already hired a secretary and can't really take back the job offer from her.  But knowing how often people change jobs on average, it could only be a matter of time.
The funny thing is, there are a lot of people upset about this.  My current supervisor, S., was in tears over me leaving.
The guy they are giving the Registry department to, K., is upset because when he agreed to take over Registry, he was thinking that he would be getting me as well to run it for him.  J., the guy I will be working for, is thrilled.
So then I went to talk to J., the director of PCCU.  I wanted him to be really clear about the shit that had gone on before, and why I left in the first place.  So I told him, "Look, I left because in my spare time, I did things to help out the nurses and aides.  Then they began to rely on me to continue doing those things, even when I was too busy with my own work to do thiers.  And then they would cop attitudes with me when I couldn't/wouldn't do it.  I don't mind people relying on me, that wasn't the issue.  I didn't hate being a secretary.  I hated the extreme lack of cohesiveness between the team members, the selfishness and the attitude.  That will not happen again.
I'm excited about coming back down to PCCU... It's going to be a challenge again, because I had gotten things to a point on that unit where they would run SMOOTHLY.  Everything was organized, and it stayed that way.  After being down here and doing your inventory, I KNOW you need me back, if only to get rid of the waste that has accumulated from people ordering too much shit.  I know what kind of chaos there is down here right now.  Cleaning it up and gtting it running smoothly again is going to take at least 6 months.  And I know I can do a job that you and the nurses are going to be happy with.
But I won't let them abuse me again."
Then I disussed my issues with coming back into a job where I was in charge after being gone for 18 months, and how that might affect his other secretary, C.  For the time I've been gone, he's been the main person.   And he might resent my coming in and "fixing" things.
J. didn't foresee a problem with C., basically because when I went through and showed him the thousands of dollars worth of waste that had accumulated during inventory, I guess he decided that the Unit needed to be streamlined again, no matter what.
So that's basically the deal as it stands right now.
Carla is having her cath tomorrow, and I can't fix that, We'll just have to pray and wait for the outcome.
My job is not being cut because I am incompetent, that was made very clear.
Is it an optimum situation?  No.  Is it what I want?  Not really.  Can I go in and make a difference for the better on that unit?  Yes.  Am I good at that job?  Yes.  Are the nurses going to be happy I'm back?  I would say a majority of them will be.  Does that make me feel good?  Yes.  Will the Registry nurses be upset that I am not working with them?  A majority of them will be.
No pay cut, and I think I will once more recieve an additional dollar an hour differential for working on PCCU which I lost when I left.

So although I'm not thrilled, I'm CONTENT.  And hey, that's the important thing, right?  There are reasons to be excited about it, once the shock wore off.