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Back -- in more than one sense
Aug. 24th, 2012 08:45 amBack from my vacation, of course. August 20 was the first day at work, and I've survived the first week already. Well almost, but I don't expect anything dramatic to happen in the next eight hours.
The Austrian part of the holiday was rather nice, nicer in fact than I'd expected it to be, and I got lots of rest. Lots of sports, too, because I wanted to eat but not gain any weight. I'm happy to report that the strategy was successful.
During the Macedonian part of the holiday I got the critters vaccinated against rabies (and some very nice scratches on my right arm courtesy of Lucius; the two fatties were very well-behaved, though), had lunch with Elena at her place, played some tennis and... *fanfare* got totally and utterly hooked on "Sherlock". Due to resounding praise from lots of people with very different tastes I guessed that it just *had* to be good and ordered both seasons. And OMG I love it. Me re-watching immediately after watching something for the first time is a very rare occurrence indeed, but it occurred.
In similar news, I started re-reading Rothfuss's "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Man's Fear" while in Austria and was just as staggered by how good it is as I was the first time round.
The other "back" refers to the more or less immediate future: my request for a one-year-extension was not granted, i.e. I'll have to leave Skopje next summer.
Since I don't have to consult anybody but myself when it comes to this kind of decision, I spent a goodly amount of time imagining myself going to Vilnius, going to Sofia... Then I tried the concept of going back to Vienna for a couple years (it does feel a bit like trying on clothes), and found, much to my surprise, that it was the best fit.
It's not overly surprising -- when I was in Ankara, I wanted to get away so desperately and I had this image of Skopje fixed in my mind; Skopje, OTOH, is a place whee I'm happy, and the few viable options on the list of postings just don't hold sufficient appeal to outweigh all the hassle.
I'm not intending to remain in Vienna overly long -- as I said, it'll probably be a couple of years, until something comes up that I *really* want -- but am of course aware that this, too, may change. You never know, after all. Contrary to my own expectations, I'm feeling quite happy about the whole thing, so the decision must have been a good one. Apart from myself, there will be another few people whom my return will be making quite happy.
Besides the possibility of getting stuck with a horribly dull job at the ministery, my only qualms were of a financial nature, but a look at my pay slip sort of alleviated those. Of course the salary I'll be getting in Austria is lower, but at least I haven't been working 24 years for nothing: even the regular pay is quite decent by now, and any function-related, additional income will be butter for the daily bread.
The third "back" is about looking back to August 13 and cringing horribly.
Darling![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dickgloucester, I forgot to say Happy Birthday -- it was my travelling day, but still. I hope you still accept a hug and heartfelt good wishes.
That's it for the time being.
Good weekends to everybody.
BTW I'm still giggling about this:
Sherlock, disgusted: "Meretricious!"
Lestrade: "Erm, and Happy New Year!"
*gigglesnort*
The Austrian part of the holiday was rather nice, nicer in fact than I'd expected it to be, and I got lots of rest. Lots of sports, too, because I wanted to eat but not gain any weight. I'm happy to report that the strategy was successful.
During the Macedonian part of the holiday I got the critters vaccinated against rabies (and some very nice scratches on my right arm courtesy of Lucius; the two fatties were very well-behaved, though), had lunch with Elena at her place, played some tennis and... *fanfare* got totally and utterly hooked on "Sherlock". Due to resounding praise from lots of people with very different tastes I guessed that it just *had* to be good and ordered both seasons. And OMG I love it. Me re-watching immediately after watching something for the first time is a very rare occurrence indeed, but it occurred.
In similar news, I started re-reading Rothfuss's "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Man's Fear" while in Austria and was just as staggered by how good it is as I was the first time round.
The other "back" refers to the more or less immediate future: my request for a one-year-extension was not granted, i.e. I'll have to leave Skopje next summer.
Since I don't have to consult anybody but myself when it comes to this kind of decision, I spent a goodly amount of time imagining myself going to Vilnius, going to Sofia... Then I tried the concept of going back to Vienna for a couple years (it does feel a bit like trying on clothes), and found, much to my surprise, that it was the best fit.
It's not overly surprising -- when I was in Ankara, I wanted to get away so desperately and I had this image of Skopje fixed in my mind; Skopje, OTOH, is a place whee I'm happy, and the few viable options on the list of postings just don't hold sufficient appeal to outweigh all the hassle.
I'm not intending to remain in Vienna overly long -- as I said, it'll probably be a couple of years, until something comes up that I *really* want -- but am of course aware that this, too, may change. You never know, after all. Contrary to my own expectations, I'm feeling quite happy about the whole thing, so the decision must have been a good one. Apart from myself, there will be another few people whom my return will be making quite happy.
Besides the possibility of getting stuck with a horribly dull job at the ministery, my only qualms were of a financial nature, but a look at my pay slip sort of alleviated those. Of course the salary I'll be getting in Austria is lower, but at least I haven't been working 24 years for nothing: even the regular pay is quite decent by now, and any function-related, additional income will be butter for the daily bread.
The third "back" is about looking back to August 13 and cringing horribly.
Darling
dickgloucester, I forgot to say Happy Birthday -- it was my travelling day, but still. I hope you still accept a hug and heartfelt good wishes.That's it for the time being.
Good weekends to everybody.
BTW I'm still giggling about this:
Sherlock, disgusted: "Meretricious!"
Lestrade: "Erm, and Happy New Year!"
*gigglesnort*
