back--to what?
March 06, 2006, 7:01 P.M.

Well, I bent the ear of FormerBoss (who will always have that name here, even if I have additional former bosses) when he came in this morning. Having had time to deal with all the emotional shit, I was able to present myself as cheery and optimistic about it, which always scores major points with management types. He has a way of giving me a heads-up on what's going on, without coming right out and spilling the confidential stuff. But this flummoxed him, and he had no idea it was coming. And when discussing the new position, he pretty much said it would look good on my resume.

Meaning: I'm gonna be needing my resume before too much longer. Yeah...well. I kinda knew that.

None of this becomes official until tomorrow at the earliest, so I got to enjoy at least one final day on the team I've called home for the last five years.

Even after meeting with my new boss, I'm still way up in the air about what the new position entails, but at least I feel better after talking to a close friend who has worked for this same boss I just got stuck with. She assured me that someone of my personality type would have very little problem working for "The Terminator".

My personality type (at work, anyway) being come in, sit down, work hard, do it quickly, do it right, and don't make waves.

I'm not so sure, myself--about me, or my new boss--but I'll take my friend's word for it.

What choice do I have, really?

Another thing I missed--well, let myself be talked out of--was going to see Avenue Q at Wynn. Too many things we wanted to do, not enough time to do them all. But they just announced that the show is closing, so I won't get another chance. Kind of a bummer. I'd really wanted to see it. I guess it never caught on with the LV crowd, and it certainly wasn't a good fit for Wynn, a hotel that's way too stuffy and expensive for the GenX/Y target audience.

Speaking of Wynn, though--we took a little stroll through the place, and I have to say that it is the most tactile casino I've ever visited. Ruched silk wallpaper, silk bobbles on the draperies, railings and sinks and everything a pleasure to touch. Maybe because the owner is blind, AND a control-freak?

Spouse loved the big windows overlooking the outdoor waterwall, with its three nude figures in the pool below.(Spouse and I promptly named them "Adam and Eve and Betty"). I was impressed by the fact that the gracefully curving grand double-staircase was actually a gracefully curving grand double-escalator. I'm such a geek.

What I did squeeze in? Reading! I bought "The Time Traveler's Wife" when we laid over at St Louis on the way out on Saturday. I'd finished it by Tuesday evening. (I didn't think it was perfect, but it was most assuredly compelling!) And I read all of "The Magnificent Ambersons", before the end of my vacation!

I loved that about The Orleans...I could take the elevator down, cut across one corner of the casino, and pick up a cup of excellent coffee, and then cut back towards the elevators, cut out the poolside doors, and park my fanny on the little patio next to the pool area, to read and enjoy the warm weather. I didn't have to stay holed up in my room if I wanted to enjoy a book, and I didn't have to walk 60 miles to get some fresh air, and I didn't have to spend all my time in a dark and smoky casino. I spent quite a bit of time out there, while Spouse was gambling or napping.

What else? Beading, of course! I not only shopped for beads, I spent quite a bit of time pawing through my haul, and gloating over my acquisitions. And I even spent a little time working on a DNA spiral in my hotel room.

In fact, I made it a point to enjoy myself by relaxing and doing the things I like to do on this trip. And Spouse did, too. I think that after ten years, he may finally be over the need to maintain a frenetic pace every time he goes out there.

Most disapointing sight? They have placed an enormous and ugly advertisement for Hairspray directly onto the Pyramid at Luxor. Along with two smaller ads, for vegas.com and Las Vegas Magazine. Tacky, tacky, tacky! It looks ridiculous--downmarket and lame.

Spouse and I took some time on our last day and visited the Tropicana, to take in �Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition�. I have to say that I�m very glad I did, despite having some misgivings about the whole idea of such an exhibit. However, I found it to be presented in a solemn and respectful manner, and with the exception of some of the gift shop items*, in very good taste.

RMS Titanic, Inc.(the company with the salvage rights) is the presenter of these exhibits, as well as the conservator. I was teary-eyed several times as I toured the exhibition�little things like a pair of men�s pajamas, or a little china dog that had belonged to a living, breathing, person--set me off.

So did the recreation of a third-class passageway�complete with gated and locked stairway. Chilling. I had shivers going straight through me.

It was surprisingly educational, too. I would have thought I'd read every fact there was on Titanic, but I had no idea, for instance, that they actually had automatically flushing toilets way back in 1912! Or that the reason they did was because most of the third-class passengers didn't know what a flush toilet was. Fascinating stuff to a Titanic buff like myself.

Really--anyone who is interested in the history and tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic should make an effort to catch one of these traveling shows. Everything Spouse and I have been reading about all these years was made suddenly and completely and tragically real.

*A liquid motion paperweight, containing a little Titanic--and an iceberg!? I'm sorry, but that's just tacky.

264 lbs
A combination of bum leg, vacation eating habits, and a righteous period bloat conspire to put me right back at the 264 mark. Time to go straight again!

And in other health-related stuff, did I mention that the doctor decided to keep me on Wellbutrin for another month, at least? I told him I didn't think it was helping, but he said to keep giving it a chance.

My problem is, the winds of fate seem to do a lot more to blow me off course than can be corrected by a couple of pills a day. Last month, it was my fall, and now it seems to be my work that's attempting to override any good I may be getting out of the meds.