Well, despite the best of intentions to sleep in this morning, the circadian rhythm of my body refused to allow me to stay in bed any longer and I got up.

Biggest surprise was the discovery that there had been a hellish (odd turn of phrase) frost overnight and though the outdoor taps (faucets) hadn't apparently frozen, there was a powdery white coating on all the neighborhood roofs and on the leaves still lying in the garden. I took a look at the cars and they too were well frosted!  The thermometer needle sat on 0'c (30'f) - I don't think I could stomach going outdoors and raking leaves just yet.

My phone was filled with text messages of Happy Thanksgiving messages so that was good, i guess!

I was tempted to give Charles a call and find out what was what but I think I will hold off until we hear from Eugene's brother.

Just looking out the windows now, the fog that was thick an heavy earlier this morning has moved off into the distance. It is likely to be a brisk but clear day - the perfect PNW Winter's day!

I didn't go in today, worked virtually. Or is that, virtually worked....?

We were told yesteday that we were moving offices again, 4th time in 6 months, this time out to Woodinville. I couldn't be arsed to find the map,  I will likely do it Friday. At any rate, there is apparently plenty of space and although no cafeteria the offices are well appointed.

That said, working virtually worked today, there weren't any meetings and no-one pretty much was in office, the St Louis boys were all out of town. Brian called and had some questions which I answered, or was it an IM, I forget and then there was a volley of emails between he, myself and Rick. In the end we concluded it was all to be resolved through enhanced BP's , not something we want to have to handle programatically.

I went to COSTCO changed out some items I bought and was really suprised to see that there were so few customers, odd, I thought there would be more.  I picked up this splendid wine for less than ten bucks too and nearly polished the whole bottle off.

Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages 2006 750ML  - This brilliant garnet wine is bright and fresh, with ripe, supple crushed strawberry flavors underscored by zesty nuances of peppercorns, gentle tannins and a clean acidity, finishing on a succulent, refreshing note

When i got home i realized I still had the Regal gift card from the previous week so I checked out what was on, online and determined that the only thing on, that I wanted to see, was HITMAN, with this guy Timothy Olyphant  as Agent 47. Based on the computer game HITMAN, it was a disappointment. The film was filled with gratuitous violence and poor acting, the plot was obscure and confusing and some of the actors just altogether horrible.  It would have been ok if there had been at least a little scenery but you basically only got some views of an orthodox church being damaged by a helicopter gunship and some views of the twin spires of Istanbul.  If you  have $7.50 to burn, go see it but don't say i didn't warn you. Olyphant is an interesting actor, he is only a couple of years younger than me, in the movie walks like a ramp model, appears to have skinny legs but well enough developed arm muscles. His shaved head is pretty decent looking but the whole sub theme of skinhead assasins with barcode tattoos, is well, just incredibly implausible. Especially when 5 of them are duking it out in a railway carriage with guns and swords. Olyphant could be the next Dirty Harry though, he has those Clint Eastwood looks and even that CE yawl.

Eugene called whilst I was in the movies, I called him back and we had a natter for some time about the Zim situation, I told him I would see what I could find out, he would do the same.

Harold emailed me, he has a dealer that may be prepared to do some $ deals, I need to find out more information first.

EW phoned to ask if I would be a reference, he also prodded me to find out if I would be over for TG, I said not likely, at any rate he and i chatted for a few and then left it at that.

I want to go to COSTCO before going in this morning, seems they will only open at 11am - damnation - we are also moving office again, 4th time in 6 months, and even further away, this time all the way to freaking woodinville...

GA IM'ed to say that she has has an interview at TMO and that it looks pretty hopeful for her.  KC's folks are visiting, Mother is very unapproving of the current domestic arrangements. KC asked if I would like to come over for TG's we will be having curried turkey! Now that's a novel TG meal. GA also wanted to know if i was coming over, really think I dont want to go anywhere, happy enough just staying at home.

Tried to email Eugene, butteh email turned into a text message and then it was too long - damnation again!  I then had to power up the laptop and the bloody monitor is still not working as it is supposed - what did i do to wreak this wrath!!!?

Well I emailed him, no response as yet, i just checked the exchange rate online though. in less than a month the currency has devalued by 400% - god....no wonder Charles was so miserable....

What a positively entertaining day. I arrived later than expected at work, to discover that all the  venues that I could possibly be in were booked. Eventually I found one and about an hour later Rick arrived and we chatted about a host of things. He bleated a little, he is having such problems with the business users and their lack of comprehension of some fundamental concepts.

A little later in the day I received an email from LB and it contained her resume which I had done some high level edits on the previous day. She is supposed to be having an interview as a consequence. We shall see. Through my breakfast meeting the previous day I determined that all the TMO contractors are to be replaced with folks in TX, that's bad luck and LB is one of them. So this opportunity for her may be very fortuitous. I am confident she can do what she needs to to make a success of it. I was appalled at her comp rate though - she is being ripped off.

The afternoon ended early but not without an email from the WSM, God I wish she would butt out and just .... go away.... she can't - what can I do. Interfering in things from a distance. So i phoned Charles and he sounded thoroughly miserable, told me that the plumbing problems were sorted out but that the state of things were so bad that he was getting his travel documents sorted out and was considering moving to South Africa in the new year. God!  He wouldnt commit any feedback to me, so i couldnt tell what his frame of mind was at all, so I left it at that and phoned Barbara. As the fates would have it, it was her birthday, talk about alignment of the planets! She was delighted and the line was good, anyhow we chatted for a few minutes about a miscellany of things and all tolled she seemed ok but was understandably concerned about the boys. She told me that if they were having issues they should not hesitate to come up to her and they would phone from her place. I texted charles accordingly, I wonder if he got the message? Told WSM to NOT phone Charles, she wrote me back saying she could do what she liked, then backtracked....

Met up with RM last night, had a few guinness and then we parted company and I came home to sort out my cupboard, go through my clothes and do a bit of a purge and sort out a few things in anticipation of MCJ's visit. A pretty productive day on the whole though I find this whole Charles situation very very unsettling