I got a Job!

I expected the phonecall to take at least a week. But here it is, less than 24 hours after an interview that went altogether far too well. The very nice man at the end of the telemaphone informs me that he needs references, and that he'll contact me about salary soon. Of course I fall to pieces and start thanking him profusely - he's gone before I really embarrass myself. So I have a job! Whee! It's a Systems Administrator post at the University of Michigan Business School. I get to manage ~6 Sun Enterprise 250s, a couple of Redhat boxen and some NT boxen. Sound like the perfect job for me, really.

At that moment I get an email from kurtthepope asking me if I wanted to go out with him, clampe and cmdrtaco. (yah yah, namedropping). I respond enthusiastically without realising that a) my wife and I don't have money, and b) that I really should celebrate with my wife. It's too late for that, however, and the damage is done. So now I'm feeling fairly awful about upsetting katyana and I find a poor reason to flee the scene of the crime; I'm supposed to work tonight at Blockbuster so I walk there to convince someone to work my shift. No one's answering their phones in some cruel twist of fate so I now have another inconsequential tiny thing to obsess about.

Dana, I'm sorry I thought of my own pleasure before thinking of you. I'll make it up to you, I promise.

Which brings me to my recent studies. I've been reading Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. This book talks a lot about awareness of one's emotions, the ability to empathize with people and other such important life skills. It's amazing how much control I can exert over myself in an argument, how valuable it is to keep the larger picture in focus over the heat of the moment. I'm not saying I think I'm the greatest emotional genius diplomat ever, but I've surprised myself a few times recently. So I wholeheartedly recommend that book.

I'm also pondering the overwhelming drive in many people to exert their superiority over others. I see it in the boyfriend of a friend as he tries to remind everyone that he lived in Seattle, that the body modification 'scene' is so exclusive. It's so apparent in conversations overheard in Denny's, where men tell each other about how their sports teams are better, or which equipment they have for their hunting escapades. It's kinda sad that so many people's words to each other are laced with such overtones.