January 6, 2005 Resolutions By "resolutions," I mean "things that have been resolved", not "things I want to do in 2005." First of all, thanks to everyone who responded to my query about webspace. I got some great advice, and at least two people offered to host me as xingcat.domainname.com (or .net) for free, which I totally appreciate. However, the ever-wonderful Ceej wrote to all her spies sponsorees, telling us not to panic, that she has a plan in action, and though we'll have to change our domain name (for those of us like me, who just keep the tilde with spies.com and haven't bought their own domain names yet), everything will be kept exactly the same. She's going to be charging for this service, but she totally deserves it, because I've been living here on her dime for six years, and it really is time to pay some of that back. I'll be sure to let y'all know when this happens. And I have finally registered my own domain name (you can probably guess what it is), so I'll most likely ask Ceej if I can use that on her space. I think that's totally cool with her. I just have kept myself as web-unsavvy as possible all these years. Trooper went to the vet today. It snowed all last night, so I had to get up super-early to shovel the driveway and get him to his appointment on time. I checked him in and was told that I could pick him up after 3pm. Waiting for that time, I ran a couple of errands, then got struck with the notion of cooking something. So I baked some brownies and made Delmonico potatoes to go with dinner, both of which were excellent. I picked up Trooper at around 4pm. The vet techs had all fallen in love with him. Apparently, he woke up from anesthesia and started wandering around the office, unattended. I guess they had him on a blanket on the floor rather than in a cage. Anyway, they finally noticed him checking out the place, and decided that since it was a slow day, the office was his to roam. By all reports, he made friends with everyone along his travels, though when he came out to the lobby, he passed right by me and went into the area where they sell the pet food. I'd like to say it was because he was disoriented from the anesthesia, but Trooper's relationship with the family has been hot and cold since we got him. He finally recognized that I was the guy who'd take him home, so he stood by my side, leaning on my leg while I forked over hundreds of dollars for his care. When we got home, he was pretty unstable on his feet, especially on the kitchen floor, which has been giving him trouble lately anyway. He ate well, though, and did okay when we went outside to scrape down the driveway. I expect he'll be back to his usual self by the morning, or at the very latest, tomorrow evening. It's not officially official yet, but Stephanie got the job with the Consulting Company! I tried to be sneaky in the way I asked my boss about it, but was pretty clumsy in my execution. I hope she accepts the position, because it would mean that she'd have a very good job with people she knows already, and I'll get someone on both weekend days that I know I can rely on. My manager makes the call to her tomorrow, so I haven't said anything to her about it yet. So just about everything that was up in the air has been resolved. I go back to work tomorrow, and while I'm not jumping up and down at the prospect of a full week's work, I think it'll be good to settle back into the routine again. I'm feeling especially motivated for some reason. I expect if I lie down, it'll pass, and I can go back to being the just-decent-enough employee that I have been for the past year or so. So I want to know if I'm terribly gauche, or what. I'm sure The Fabulous Robert would have an answer to this dilemma, but I don't want it to become a column for him (I have some questions for his column that really need his advice, anyway). Today, I shoveled out Sean and Heather's driveway while they were out at work. Heather comes home before Sean, and has been feeling pretty terrible lately, so I thought it would be a nice surprise for them when they got back from work. Honestly, I did it because I was feeling in a generous mood, and I wanted to do something nice for them. Honest! I didn't even let them know that it was me who came by and shoveled them out. However, I thought Sean might figure it out, and maybe give me a call thanking me or something. Maybe they didn't know it was me. Maybe they didn't notice the driveway was cleared (we had some freezing rain after the snow, so it might be a good assumption to make that the driveway simply melted into ice), but I felt disappointed that I didn't get a call from them. Generosity isn't about getting praise, I know. I would like to think I'm the type of person who would do anonymous acts of kindness, but some part of me still wants to be acknowledged for what I've done. Which, in a way, doesn't make me very generous at all. Whatever my feelings are, selfish or no, the driveway got shoveled out, and I'm pleased with that. Or else next time I'll simply leave a big note saying that I've done this thing for the next person I want to help out, complete with phone number and e-mail address so that I can be praised. I think I really need to get onstage again. I'm expecting applause where it's completely unrealistic.