weekend update

• work: these days, i feel like i'm on auto-pilot when it comes to my job. now that we're past those stupid-hectic first few weeks when banks and countries were failing daily, my relationship to my job is much less complex. i go into the office. i do some stuff. i come home. sometimes (like this weekend), i go into work on Saturday or Sunday or both, but i wear jeans and listen to my iPod the entire time. the best part is that i don't think about work when i'm not there. this might be because a lot of my recent assignments are of the 'keep the lights on' variety. credit memos, stress testing, and relationship reviews are all things i've done in former lives, so the challenge is in getting through the volume, rather than grasping the intellectual nuances. either way, i'm not complaining. being on auto-pilot at my job is exactly what i needed after the six month mess i was in before. quiet time? totally of the good.

• London: most of the initial discomfort with the city has waned, and i'm finding it hard to remember a time when i didn't flip light switches down to turn them on. i still don't understand the cab situation here (why so hard to hail one? why so damn expensive?) or why bars and restaurants are spread all over the city, necessitating the kind of Saturday pre-game strategizing on transport and timing one would usually reserve for the final rounds of The Amazing Race, but in most regards, i'm getting used to things. i have yet to really step out and see the museums and shows and culture. i think i'll try and change that over the coming weeks. but otherwise, life in London is alright. i even started wearing a scarf like a fruity European, so maybe the city is changing me in more ways then i realize.

• the gf: i miss her. it is getting closer to December, when i'll see her again. we went to Paris. i may eventually put up some details on our trip, which was good times. in my absence, she is working out at the gym and watching BluRay movies where shit blows up. in her absence, i am fighting insomnia and watching too much Rachel Maddow. clearly, this situation is not tenable in the long term. December cannot come fast enough.