Medium Dawn Felagund of the Fountain

It took me two-and-a-half hours to get to work this morning. And that was the start to my Monday.

It took me two-and-a-half hours to get to work this morning because I-95 going north was closed. I don't even take I-95 to work, but all the people who do were being detoured onto my road and they all decided that they needed to block traffic to cross the highway and make an immediate left turn. So it took me two-and-a-half hours to get to work because some idiot needed to get into the left lane.

People are so amazingly and audaciously rude sometimes that I am astounded. Between this weekend and today, I have received more than my fair share of proof that a significant portion of the human species are blathering, ignorant idiots.

Then, work was annoying. It was one of those days when things **RANG** and **BEEPED** and **RANG S'MORE** at me all day. The phone, the fax, the Nextel...I can't stand strident noises, and ringing telephones are top of that list. Nextel alerts are even worse. I literally flinch if I hear someone in public using a Nextel direct-connect. That annoying little chirp-ring! reminds me of cheerleaders in the morning.

(Apologies to any cheerleaders out there.)

Then, on top of that, the agency is putting Johnny the Boss through hoops to get me promoted to a higher classification. Which *gasp* seems pretty reasonable considering that I've been in this job for two years now without a raise and am doing twice the work I was hired to do. (Amazing as that sounds, given how little I seem to actually do here, it's true.) The good news is that Johnny declared that he was officially pissed off at them for it, which means that he's going to dig in teeth and claws and refuse to relent. The bad news is that it furthers the proof that I can't pick jobs that actually fairly promote their staff.

( Mini Story about The Piece )

The State isn't much better. Our "cost of living" increase last year amounted to thirteen cents per hour for me. Or seven dollars per week. Gasoline for my car went up that much in one freaking week...and they wonder why we bureaucrats are a lazy, disgruntled bunch.

Still, at least, this time, I have Johnny the Boss and his super connections befitting someone of that name, and it's nice to have someone willing to advocate for me for a change, not having to threaten to quit or write angry letters and get myself all worked up while the bosses sit around and twiddle their thumbs.

Nelyo's is looking better and better, right now....

(On a positive note, I did get some books from the library about online business and will be studying a chapter per night. It's not a lot, but it's a start and better than nothing.)

A happy Winter Solstice to everyone! I like the Winter Solstice: not only does it kick off the holiday season, but it means that the days have no choice but to get longer and brighter. No more mushroom feeling, going into work when the sun is rising and leaving after it has set. And it is finally officially winter, although it has felt like winter in Maryland for weeks now. But it feels rather ridiculous, to me, to be shivering in 18-degree weather while it's still autumn.

Normally, I do drabbles when the seasons change, based on the themes and feelings associated with that season. I'd love to do some winter drabbles and hope to do one or two at least, but I've still got holiday stories to finish. So that's my priority at the moment. But, as usual, those of you who are inspired to do winter drabbles, I would love to see them! And hopefully, I'll have a little something to give back.

A few announcement-type things: (It occurs to me, sometimes, in ten years, how I will look upon these sorts of posts.)

To mirien, tuxedo_elf, and tabruan, I got your cards yesterday! All on the same day! Wow, and thank you--what a wonderful surprise to come home to. *hugs to you all*

Now, before I give my next bit of news, I would like all of you to recall that, until recently, there was only one posting of AMC per week. And you all survived. So....

I'm not going to be posting on Friday for this one week. I'm taking the day off to do holiday things and have lunch with my husband, that kind of stuff. My apologies, but AMC will be back twice per week next Tuesday.

If it's any consolation, the very next day, I will unlock twenty-odd holiday gift stories, so if you're really that hungry for something to read, that should keep you occupied for a good week or two. :^P

( Other Random-Type Things )

ssotknapsack, you should be happy! NaNo's over and, look, I'm LJing again!

( Felak's Rambly Life )

Eru.

Yes, you heard the agnostic say it. Eru.

Oh, and: WTF?

Okay, that sounds more like me.

( Busy, Busy, Busy, Busy.... )

I should warn people now of the impending doom that is NaNoWriMo.

If you want me to do beta or review work for you, send it now. If I have it already, then I will have it finished by 1 November. If I get it close to November, you probably won't see it until early/mid-December. By then, hopefully, I will have been released from the Spring Grove Mental Hospital. Maybe they'll let me beta from there? Although typing will be hard in a straightjacket.

I will continue to read my flist. As for comments, I will probably make less and make less sense. But I'll keep up, I swear.

The drabble of the day will be suspended until December.

I will do my best to keep posting AMC. I think I have enough chapters finished to post through November, but I'm getting to some of the chapters requiring total overhaul, and if one of those appears in November, then it's just going to have to wait until December to be rewritten.

I will, of course, continue managing silwritersguild. *cuddles fandom baby*

Oh, and I should mention! To those of you out there who write Silmarillion drabbles or do Silmarillion art: allie_meril and I will be leading a discussion of The Silmarillion for the Henneth-Annun Yahoo! list, starting in the new year.

I am building us a small website, where we will display amateur artwork and drabbles pertaining to each chapter.

I would love for any one of you to submit your work. Please email me with links or copies (whichever is easiest for you) at DawnFelagund@comcast.net and/or Allie at allie.meril@gmail.com.

We are looking for canon shortfic (probably 200 words max, although I'd consider longer stuff). No AU, no slash or sex of any kind, nothing above a solid family-friendly rating. Pieces should pertain to a canon character or event of The Silmarillion, so OC-intensive pieces probably won't work as well. (Unless it's one of those gems from the perspective of a "random soldier" or something. But if involves your OFC having wild, hott sex with Maedhros, while I'd love to read it, it probably won't fit what we need.)

Okay, I think that's all I have to say for now.

*breathes*

Good night :)

...and it's not even over yet.

First, there was the usual beginning-of-the month stuff for work: stats, maitaining the vehicle fleet information, all that jazz. On top of that, we just switched from paper records to digital records. Now, when we receive a warrant, the warrant is scanned into the computer. When the case is closed, the notes and review records and body receipts and everything else is scanned in and tacked onto the file. The rest is shredded. (Except the original warrant, which is sent back to certain interested persons.)

It makes life a lot easier for me, as it saves me from running up and down the steps to the file room, and it keeps my fingers from being hacked to bits with file folder papercuts. But it takes some getting used to. I've had to revise my routine completely, and while I'm finally getting it down, the beginning of the week was a little rough. I like to sharpen my routine to maximum efficiency so that not a single moment is wasted, staring at the screen, when I could be doing something else. (Yes, this is really fun for me! I am immensely proud of the fact that our original grant allotted fifteen minutes per warrant run, and I can do it in three.) Well, the routine is finally getting sharpened, but at the beginning of the week, I spent most of my working time, watching pages scan.

Plus, it seems that Teh Elfland has been full of business lately. Not that I mind! But this has distracted me from focusing on the betas/reviews that I have to do. I finished a batch of stories for Antithesis Common a moment ago; Jenni, your beta is next, and it's coming, I promise. (And I love you for your patience with me--however do you put up with me?)

And then there was some question of whether I was going to continue my RPG themidhavens (I am) and one of my online friends is missing now for more than a month, having me worried.... It's just been lots of little things, but they've all added up.

I had skating last night and had a marvelous practice. Bobby's back to playing hockey a couple of times a week and so is on the proverbial cloud nine about that. And we have a long weekend with nothing to do but go to the Capitals game on Friday night. (My first pro hockey game; should be fun!)

So--long story short--things have the potential to be looking up. I am in (literally) the last days of AMC, as well, so maybe that will be finished this weekend too.

I can hope :)

I had inservice training at work today. Which was good in some regards and bad in most.

( All Work and No Internet Makes An Unhappy 'gund )

( Word of the Day--demagogue )

( Sparking Oaths )

Okay, off to bed and a (hopefully) normal day tomorrow.
~MDFotF