Since I occasionally relish the power to be had by cutting to the chase, I will say right now that this update involves a kitten. Yes!

See? But you'll have to suffer though some other news first before we get there; sorry.

I wish I'd been able to hold in the woe-is-me blog angsting (blangsting?) of my previous post for just two more days, because on the following Monday we were finally able to hire another full-time person in the office. As a direct result of this, my job instantly became less frustrating and more enjoyable, and as a direct result of this, my private and social lives have awoken from hibernation as well. It’s been nice getting back into the hobbies I unknowingly dropped over the past few months.

I briefly had an opportunity to give one of my biggest passions, web design, a much larger focus: my friend Laurie tipped me onto a part-time coding position that opened up at the web design company she works for. Even though there wasn't much designing involved, I was excited about the possibility that I could work that job a few days a week after my normal office hours and make some extra money doing something I really love. Unfortunately, the jobs had the same business hours. If I hadn't taken the promotion to Asst. Manager, I might have been able to drop down to part time and work both, but as it is there was simply no way I could accept the offer. Being so fresh out of college and still in the process of figuring out my next step, I know I'm fortunate to have the job I do and that keeping it was the right choice. But I'm only 24. At what age does chasing one's dreams finally begin to outweigh secure stagnation? The longer I go without knowing the answer, the more it bothers me.

Now, about that kitten! On a freezing day about two weeks back, I was going to check on an apartment when I saw this tiny, emaciated kitten hunched sleepily under a staircase. When my coworker and I went to pick her up, though, she hissed and bolted. In the end it took almost twenty minutes for us to get her: she put up such a ferious fight that I had to throw my coat on her and roll her up in it to keep her restrained. We got her back to the office and set her up with food, water, bedding and some litter in our supply room, but she found a tiny nook to hide in and if anyone came near her she hissed, growled and spit until they left the room. Most of us, myself included, thought she was too feral to ever settle down, but I continued to go in every hour to check on her and talk to her, give her more food and clean out her box. To my surprise, on the afternoon of the third day I gingerly attempted to pet her (albeit while wearing the thick leather gloves the maintenance guys leant us) and her hisses gave way to a scratchy purr. She continued to gradually warm up to me, and after a few more days I took her to the vet on my lunch break to get her all her shots and tests ($54... erk). They estimated that she's about two months old, which is amazing considering how tiny she is.

These days she lives in the office, spending the night in the supply room and most of the day out in the main office with us. I've fallen completely in love with her and often end up carrying her around cradled in one arm, where she loves to sleep. Lately she's even taken to standing by my ankle and meowing at me until I pick her up. The vet asked me to bring her back in early March to get the last round of her shots and another flea treatment. As soon as she's in good shape and has no more fleas, I'm going to take her home and slowly introduce her to Pharaoh. I was actually debating adopting a female kitten before we found her, because I think he'd enjoy having another cat to play with while I'm gone. I've been told that cats of different genders can typically be introduced more peaceably, but we'll see if it really plays out that way soon enough.

One final and more frivolous note: I upgraded my 17" CRT monitor to a 19" Gateway flat screen yesterday and the difference is akin to having a napalm explosion focused directly into my eyes. Is this a normal reaction? Because I'm fairly certain I could use the light coming out of this thing to guide rockets back from the depths of space. If I get accostumed to it, I'm looking forward to having all this extra screen space for my graphics work. Otherwise, if you don't hear from me again in a reasonable period of time, please check my bedroom, where blindness has probably left me groping futilely for the door.

Oh, and since the kitten doesn't have a name yet, suggestions are more than welcome.

Thankfully, my sister is now mostly healed. Other than that, I don't feel I have much with which to generate a post. I think it's a combination of the nonstop tedium of work and the chilly weather we've had lately that's made me so goddamn listless. It looks like we'll be hiring another full-time person at work soon, though, so maybe then I'll have some spare energy to live my life again.