Today is HOT ENOUGH FOR YA Day.

Wow, it's amazing how well Katrina knows me, considering we've actually seen each other in person less times than I have fingers. But she hit the nail right on the head-- what was making me sick was the prospect of having to work a nine-to-five job in a stuffy corporate environment where coffee breaks are scheduled and types of acceptable footwear are mandated by office policy. I thought I could do it. Heck, I got so caught up in convincing my prospective bosses that I could do it and wanted to do it that I ended up convincing myself. But I could barely sleep, I was so busy trying to talk myself into the proper mindset; and finally I made myself sick spazzing out about the whole thing.

 
You know how bad I've been feeling? Yesterday I told Dean I wasn't going to take the job, and I instantly felt about 80% better. I've even been forgetting to take my medicine on time, but aside from the occasional sniffle and feeling of tiredness, I'm okay. I no longer feel as if a pair of anvils is pressing down on my shoulders. I have enough energy to play with my daughter again, knowing that I'll be able to play with her every day instead of coming home an hour before her bedtime, too pooped to pay her proper attention. That alone, I think, is worth at least half the 60,000 peso salary I'm giving up.

 
There's another job opportunity I'm looking into, actually. I'm sure the pay will be much less, but it's a lot closer to home, both literally (as in across the street) and figuratively (more writing than administrating). I guess this just goes to show that, contrary to what I'd previously believed, I'm not willing to do anything for the right amount of money. I just wish the Inner Nikki had found a way of telling me this without having to resort to physical incapacitation.

 
Thanks to everyone for the concern! I felt the love... 

 

TRIVIA QUIZ
What is the bird that barks?

 
answer to Thursday's question
Okay, this infinite perimeter thing is pretty neat. Contrary to what some of you guessed, it has nothing to do with high or low tide, and everything to do with fractals. The basic premise is that any measurement of a coastline is necessarily inexact, given the irregularity of terrain. You simply cannot measure every nook and cranny of every cove and inlet; it's practically impossible. But if you did have enough patience-- and a long enough tape measure-- you would find that the more accurately you measured an island's perimeter, the longer that perimeter would be. The more detailed the measurement, the larger the final figure. And since the level of irregularity of the rocks, outcroppings, isthmuses, and whatnot is infinite down to a microscopic level, the perimeter of an island may be considered infinite as well-- in other words, it would only get longer the more precisely you measured, and you could never measure it precisely enough to stop measuring. Is that funky, or what?  

 
And is 'isthmuses' a word? (I just checked, and it is. You can also pluralize it as 'isthmi'.)  

 
infinitely informed: Xtine, Charles, and Dean