The first time I entered today's date into a new record on our computer system, it took me a moment to place WHY the date should mean something.

This would be the birthdate of the one person I could honestly have called a friend, from my job at the bank.

I've long since lost contact (he was downsized right before I got engaged and, at the time, had no personal e-mail address). I have *a* snail-mail address somewhere but after six years, who knows if it's still accurate? For all I know, he wants to put the whole "worked for that @#$&@(#*$& disloyal bank" experience behind him... and after being downsized by them myself
a few years later, I could easily empathize if that's the case.

But anyway -- whatever JJR is up to these days, I hope it involves having a nice birthday. He was a decent sort and deserves it.

Oh, and while I'm at it... so far this week, I've gotten to ALL the submissions in our departmental inbox first, except for two. And while I was in the midst of printing one out today, H apparently found it and started printing it, too. But I did get the submission entered before her printout finished, so she discarded the extra copy she'd printed.

But that means that H is looking in the inbox for submissions again. Have I mentioned recently that I don't intend to sit back and be rendered "redundant", without trying to demonstrate otherwise?

I hate this freaking economy where people can work their tails off and feel, at the end of the day, as if no one who matters to their job longevity cares about their efforts one way or the other.