the trick is to keep breathing

Reasoning:

1. I make amazing money for my age and I should take advantage of that
2. I am in a good position: owning a house already, partnered but legally single, no dependents
3. I need my goddamn health insurance so cannot quit
4. I don't completely loathe what I do yet (it's more like a bipolar disorder relationship).

Plan:

• live well but frugally for the next 15 years
• enjoy the shit out of the next 15 years well but responsibly
• take good care of self and health
• pay off house
• save well
• retire at 50.
• become actual hermit
• spend rest of life writing and giving the world the middle finger
• become millionaire
• replace body with wheels
• profit

15 more years at my job gives me the new plant I want - covers everything from engineering to actually flipping the switch to development projects - as well as turnover to build a dynasty (not that I am arrogant BUT I AM but really it's to protect the years invested in the place): I'd literally hit the peak of my career then leave. and, if I work it right, lots of company buffing of my 401k.

50 will be a bit old on my poor broken body, but it's still an age you can do most things: travel, hobbies, open a bar with your friends, etc

The counter-thought is "take your break now" but I'm not in any kind of position health-wise to do so: need insurance, so need (a) job; this job has good/decent insurance; not good at traveling right now; too much house debt to really call off the paychecks. Trust me, it's tempting to toss everything and run to the woods, but it isn't a good place.

But working towards something makes the working seem slightly more palatable

1^0 edit I FORGOT TO MENTION what I want to do with my millions: I want to be a patron of the arts and sciences.

One of the things that sticks out in my memory from my Germany trip - touring an old palace - it's so weird that this was significant - but I was doing the headphones tour of Queen Sophie's palace and there was so much discussion about how royalty and the well-off were patrons -- of arts, sciences, literature, voyages, anything they wanted. It is this weird mindset - and ok I know that historical context etc life was NOT A MAGICAL BETTER BACK IN THAT CENTURY - but in our evolution to what we are now we have really and truly lost that spirit? Rich people don't go and support artists they personally think are cool anymore, or host salons for neat artists to get together, or sponsor someone to write a symphony or a novel, and --- there's something about that concept that really appeals to me.

So after my job and my novels and my millions, I plan to become a patron of the arts and sciences. If you can wait 15 years, you all get first dibs.

2^0 edit im not even drunk guys, seriously

I think I've been too scatterbrained to mention this lately, but I am getting really excited, so I want to make this announcement:

This Friday I'm flying out to spend the weekend with justira, renay, and owlmoose.

Ira I know quite well; Nay and KJ I have never actually met in person, and I'm not even sure I have words to describe how excited I am. Nay has been my (creepy/creeper -- I'm not sure we've ever confirmed who was creeping on whom first, back in the days of Selphie/Irvine on ff.net; I still insist it was me) friend and co-fan and co-mod for years, and we've never met in person; KJ and I have had fandom- and friend- and cute-cat-story-overlap for a long time and kind of just rolled into a really neat friendship that way, and actually almost met up once already (sad truth: I was vomiting).

They are some of my favorite online people, some of the most interesting and awesome people I've met online, and I am beyond thrilled to be finally meeting up all together.

So if this corner of the internet implodes on itself on Friday, you'll know what happened. I definitely don't have words. I really just want to pour !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and ASL;DK;LASDK;LASKD;LASKDSA and italics all over this entry.

Well, we basically owned this race. Our goal was to come in under 4:00 - a pretty challenging goal, honestly, and I had been pretty worried going into the race... but every single team member showed up and tore it up on the road. Our final time: an ass-kicking 3:47:21. That's under a 9 minute mile pace. Everybody beat their goal time significantly, and together we basically shattered our overall goal.

It was a pretty exhausting and emotional day. :)



As you can see in the screencap, we placed 116/753 - top 15% - in our division (mixed M/F team), and we placed 208/1110 - top 18% - out of all the relay teams. That's ridiculous.

I'm so proud of our team.

(And I came in at 71.4 minutes for my leg, meaning I ran 7.9 miles at a 9:02/mile pace. I have absolutely no idea how this happened.)

ff_exchange

Check the poll :)

\O/

LJ spam. As of tonight I has a katmillia in my house.

TUBBY IS PLEASED.

WHEEEEEEEEEEE

At this point I am seriously, hard-core pimping my birthday presents because they are all freakin' awesome. Apparently I hang out in the totally cool corner of the internets!

I have been spoiled today.

I want to say "It is like Nay gave Irvine head for my birthday!" Because she DID and it made me LAUGH with snark and it was HOT all in ONE and that was FREAKING AWESOME. IT IS SEIFER/IRVINE, right there, and Seifer's all sober because you know he's been planning it for a while and Irvine's all drunken-mind-wandering hot and OK I will stop rambling now just go read it. I LOVED. WOULD READ AGAIN. PROBABLY WILL BECAUSE IT'S HOT.

AND THEN NIKKI WROTE ME MORE AND THEY ARE ALL BASICALLY <333333 I will summarize them for you here!

THIS is Irvine/Seifer wandering home, and groping each other, and otherwise being hot

THIS! Is Rydia, a couple snapshotty views of her life and her childhood (SQUEEEEE) and it's sappy and bittersweet and punches you in the gut like it should, because Rydia doesn't belong and I LOVE seeing fic that deals with this

and THIS is probably my favourite of all of them - it gets an extra star - this one hits everything I like to see in FF8 fic with Squall-Ellone-Laguna dealings. JUST READ

By this time tomorrow, at least hopefully, katmillia and I will be checked into our hotel room stop those dirty thoughts guyz and will be happily waiting for lassarina to get out of work and join us for a weekend of TOTAL AND COMPLETE RIDICULOUS FUN. and also porn

Katy/Rina/Sev? My OT3.

Expect a very photo-heavy post early next week.