This and that

I just sent my finished SSHG promptfest fic off to the mods. More revising wouldn't have made it much better, I think.

There isn't any real reason for complaining about the weather, since we've been having spring practically since the beginning of February, but these days it *is* a little unpleasant. We're getting the tail end of whichever front is currently determining the weather further up north, and this means a chilly but southerly wind, which is strange. You can see extremely far into the distance, and everything is overly defined and bright. And I get headaches.
Also, the annual trouble with sleeping during the warm season has started again -- let's hope it won't become too awful. Last night I was up from 2 to 3.30 a.m., and deactivated the alarm when I went back to bed, but all I got was another hour of light sleep and strange, hectic dreams. Oh, well. I suppose I'll survive.

Today I also have to go to lunch with a guy from an Austrian moving company.
The thing is, most of the bigger movers have good contacts with the Foreign Ministry, so they know exactly who is moving and where, and once the information gets out they start circling like vultures. I do of course understand that everybody wants a piece of the cake (which, in some cases, is pretty substantial), but what I don't understand is why this guy has to fly to Skopje, merely to have lunch with me. 1) we have to get three offers from different companies, and the cheapest one gets the job. 2) Considering that, what's the point of having lunch with me? Still, on the off chance that they put in the best offer (I'm going to prevent that, because I know which company I want to use -- not this one), how awkward would it look if anybody found out about the trip and the lunch?
It's not a big "bribe", but it certainly wouldn't look good.
So I have to pay for the lunch -- a fact of which the visiting guy is still blissfully unaware -- and it makes me grumpy. I'll try to look on the bright side, i.e. I get to eat something nice, but... yeah. Not quite what I wanted.

I may have warmed a very tiny bit towards the Ambassador (or rather, to be honest, I've simply discovered how best to use him, and thus humour him on occasion -- it's hardly my fault if he's so easy to manipulate), but sometimes all I can do is roll my eyes and bite my tongue.
Case in point: Stefan, our police attaché, is leaving Skopje and being transferred to Sofia. The Ambassador gave a farewell reception for him, and even though Stefan suggested that he would like the whole Embassy staff to be invited, the Ambassador shrugged this suggestion off, saying it "wasn't appropriate". Just to be clear: there were neither high-ranking politicians nor police people nor diplomats on the guest list. He merely is reluctant to contaminate the reception by inviting such lowly people. Just, eurgh.
But of course he will come to Ana's (one of our local staff) wedding on June, 9. I sincerely hope he won't suffer too much if he has to share a space with us worms...
Anyway, if he offers to give a reception when I leave -- and he'll certainly offer, because that's just what you do -- I'll decline politely, because I want to have my own thing, organized and paid by myself, with people *I* want to invite. If I'm lucky, and I think I am, I'll be able to do it while he's away at the yearly Ambassadors' Conference in Vienna. Hehe.