So, I start a new job on Monday.  Total time unemployed will be two weeks.  Given that I got almost four weeks of severance, I think that that new bike and wheel set may be in my very new future.  The work should be very interesting, the office is only slightly further away than my old office (that is to say, fifteen minutes instead of ten), and I'm even making a little more than I was at the old place.  So.  I'm very happy.

End of gloating.

I'm in Austin until Sunday; I was initially coming up to visit my folks and interview for a different potential position; now it's just visiting.  I'll be helping Mom with some gardening projects and trying to get some fishing in as well.

I've succumbed to the Scrabulous craze.  Just watch, Milton Bradley or whomever owns Scrabble will finally succeed in shutting it down now.

There's a minor flap in Houston right now about the superintendent of schools getting a $75k bonus on top of a $300k+ base salary.  I would understand if most of the arguments were about whether or not he deserved the bonus, but most of the negative arguments are variations on what one forum commenter stated baldly: "it's insane that a public servant should make so much money".  Personally, I think that one of the reasons most of our public institutions are so messed up is that we don't pay competitive salaries to their leadership.  I don't know if $300k+/yr would be enough for me to deal with the pressure and criticism that guy has to endure.  Anyway, that's my take on it.

Anna Paquin's constant accent changes as the voice of the main girl in Castle In The Sky are really, really annoying.