here's a neat-o email forward i just got from a friend.

it's interesting being a pm now. in some ways, i lose 'cool points'..especially with other tech people. i'm starting to work on things with people who don't realize i have a tech background..and then talk to me like i know nothing at all...or just assume i'm asking a dumb question. interesting. on the other hand, i work with people who know my background and ask me technical questions that no other pm would normally be able to answer. i'm having an identity crisis at work. plus it's late. i can't believe i'm still here.



i'm moving. still trying to grasp the concept that i made that decision today. see, i live in an old house. i love my old house. i really do. but i miss some of the standards of modern living. for example, it'd be nice to open up my paper roll-up blinds without worrying about it rolling out and hitting me in the head....or washing my dishes in warm water because it takes too much brainpower in the evenings to find that certain 2 degrees that my kithen faucet handle needs to be at in order to get warm water...or being able to park someplace where my car doesn't get stolen in the middle of the night, only to be found in federal way a few days later without any seats. plus, i miss having a balcony and view. so i looked around this weekend..and found a cool apartment at a brand new place just a few blocks from me. it has a balcony, a roof top deck and it's oh so new. if all works out, i'll be in there by september. it makes me sad, though, because i love where i live right now. it's so charming with the stained glass and clawfoot tub. most of all, i have cool landlords. this last weekend, i ate dinner in the park and played frisbee with them...they're such sweet people. they definitely made it a hard decision for me. but--as phoebe and fred say--this new apartment is probably "more along the lines of my urban chick personality" than my current place. ha!



had lunch with thomas yesterday...saw him for the first time in months. he looked good. it was nice to see him smiling and giddy like he was when i first met him...as compared to the stressed out and seemingly unhappy guy i was dating near the end of our relationship. i still can't figure out what really happened between the two of us. oh well.



i think gilia's back from brazil. must have lunch with her.

i'm getting a lot busier at work now..which is good. it kills me to just sit there and not do much..and not be able to do much since i'm still training. this job change has been interesting. the hardest thing is to restrain myself from making quick changes to the codebase..like if i see something really easy to change that needs changing, i'd rather just do it myself. but instead, i have to make a request..and wait a few days before it gets implemented. i'm sure i'll get used to it...plus, there are so many things for me to learn.



sadly, a lot of people i know at work were either laid off or given 3-week notice last week...including my ex, matthew. [sigh] i hope this is a good thing for matthew..knowing how much he often disliked the policies at this company, and the way that they treated editors.



the days have been absolutely warm and sunny here in seattle. i just want to go out and play all the time.



i finally heard from thomas...which is nice. hopefully, we'll see each other soon. should be interesting as i'm afraid that i'll just be overwhelmed by feelings of sadness when i see him.



susan left last week to go on her big research trip and visit home for the next two months---boo! so sad. i've been hanging out a lot more with her lately...will miss her and can't wait til she's back!



oh, and i moved at work...back to an office, which i share with 2 people. the nice thing is that it's on the corner, so we have 2 windows. i sit right next to one where i can get a partial view of the central district. whoopee!

check out the dancing club spiderman that jimmy sent over to me.



my parents have been in town for over a week now, leaving today. we went up to vancouver over the weekend to visit relatives...and meet relatives that I didn't know existed..like 2 second cousins--marilyn and aaron. it was fun talking to marilyn a lot and learning more about my family. some relative of ours worked on a huge "Lee Family Tree" report, that dates back to the 1st generation. I'm in the 27th generation. Crazy huh? I was so happy to see that because my family tree starts getting really complicated at my grandparents level. See, my great grandparents were all into the multiple wives/concubines thing...so I often meet relatives who are like "I'm your grandmother's brother, same father, but different mother!"...and another "I'm her sister, same father, but another different mother!". It's finally all drawn out.



i can't decide if i really want to buy a place or not right now. my problem is that i prefer urban living...thus, a condo is probably the best within my price range. but i don't know what kind of investment that would be for the timeframe that i have. so in that sense, a townhome or house would be best...but i'm not crazy about living away from the city too much. [sigh] i might just keep throwing my money at rent. who knows.



at dinner the other night, my parents whipped out a $20 bill to show everyone the conspiracy and coincidence with 9/11. weird. it just cracks me up to see that come from my parents of all people.