Am curious if we’ll manage to hang onto the new hire that started at the end of September. Kid got their degree in May, has up-to-date certs, obviously has a current resume’ in circulation. (Clearance won’t have gone thru yet, which might be the only way we hang onto them.)

I am choosing not to question why half of dev team suddenly has synchronized regular days off.

(Normally avoided for emergency coverage reasons.)

Very tempting to sneak back downtown & comb the streets for the lost ring someone has posted fliers about.

I could buy SO MANY strawberry croissants w/$150. (AND restock the Strategic Caffeine Reserves afterwards!)

Today I brought my own can of fancy canned coffee specifically to avoid gazing mournfully at the coffee shop while I walked past it. This is a very temporarily solution though as I only have so many canned lattes in my Strategic Caffeine Reserve, but I suppose it IS what said reserve is FOR.

(Fortunately turns out when the vending machine guy restocked, he left all the expired stuff on The Magic Free Table & my essential coworkers hauled these goods to our wardroom. So I’m medicating w/slightly expired* Dr Pepper)

* fizzy sugar water doesn’t go bad & no one can convince me otherwise

Me, at noon walkies: I don’t need lunchtime coffee, I have tea at my desk & need to strictly control discretionary spending until paychecks resume.

My Brain, 20minutes later: Pull the migraine lever. No the BIG one.

Bosses are so happy to have us back that they brought cupcakes.

This is good since I was having trouble justifying whether I could buy my daily lunchtime coffee while not being paid, given said coffee also serves as my We Do Not Bite People incentive/reward.

Happy Halloween!

Enjoy some glamour shots of the ghostly fox spirit sculpt in daylight.

As promised, photos of the ghostly spirit fox sculpt, glowing fiercely in the dark.

Mom also asked I paint one of her favorite scallop shells above a bathroom window, so I stood on the edge of the tub & did my best to make it symmetrical. Works well enough; there’s a lacy curtain that will cover the very bottom of the shell once it’s put back in place.

Final seagull, this one over a large patch above a sliding glass door. Wanted to have a little interactivity going on between him & an existing dog cutout on the same wall, so he’s a big fluffy frigatebird, aloof, out-of-reach, & unbothered.

Second room given seagull accents/patch covers. Their size & poses, even the degree of mottling in their plumage, was very dependent on the size & lumpiness of the patch they’re meant to hide, which let me have some fun varying them & giving them a bit of personality.

After 6-7 stenciled fish, I was allowed to freehand a seagull. This was a nice break from entitling above my head, but resulted in requests for MORE seagulls, so now there’s a flock of them in the house.

After 2wks searching, we were pretty sure there were only 4 hidden beach duckies.

But we were all deceived, for there was a 5th duckie!

Found while moving furniture while a door & window were being worked on, so he couldn’t stay in his original room, but we found him a fitting hiding spot nearby.