Sorry, folks, I've been a little AWOL lately - reading but not responding much! It's been 2 weeks on the job - and I think I'll stick around for a while :veryhappy My boss is quite nice - considering he's ex-military, he's a very laidback kind of guy, and easy to get along with. I have had one little problem - I was asked to take over for an analyst who was going to be leaving - we were supposed to do some knowledge transfer over these past 2 weeks ( you know, tell me about the project, his role, what he's done, etc. ) Well, that didn't happen - the guy hasn't been showing up in the office; so all the meetings that I was supposed to have with him never took place; it ended up that the project manager asked the information security folks to give me access to his emails because he wasn't providing what was required (his last day was Friday - he was in the office for about 1 hour, I think). Turns out the emails were only good for historical stuff - Zam had been doing absolutely nothing for a good 2 months! Anyway, I am a bit nervous about jumping in on that project, but the PM came by and said he understood the issue, and everyone would be getting together next week to discuss what to do from now on.

As for the accommodations side of things, I found a place tonight (from craigslist) - just came back from viewing it actually - a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo that a woman has for rent and wanted someone who was willing to stay for a longer term - we agreed on 6 months for the time being (it's furnished so that means that I won't have to spend excess money on things like furniture until I have time to figure out what I really want - Pottery Barn is calling me, though, i have to tell you - I've been looking through their latest catalog!) And she's going to let me move in next Saturday without paying additional rent - it'll be great to move out of the hotel! And that also means that I'll be able to go home and see my kitties soon! And figure out how I'm going to bring them back down here with me. My mom has offered to help pay for me to ship my car down here too - we just need to organize it. So that means that I'll be going back to Windsor around July 4 for a few days, which will be good!

I like Phoenix - the heat has not been all that difficult to deal with, other than a couple of times, I've felt very lethargic; and I have a hat with a wide brim - it may not be very glamorous, but it works. The only thing is that I have to remind myself to bring the bottles of water with me - and to drink them. You don't really sweat down here - and by the time you feel thirsty, it's a bit late, I've been told - you really need to watch the dehydration.

I've not been able to do much touring around, other than in the city - and the mountains seem so close - but after I move to the condo and settle in, I think it will be better all round. There are some fans of DG who have invited me to some of their gigs - and I went out to dinner with one of them this past week (she also happens to work for DG part time), which was very nice as Susan also drove me around the area and told me about different places.

Should be getting my first paycheque around the 26th (can hardly wait as my cc's are getting worn out), so maybe I'll be able to start catching up on the bills.

Ruth