Marvelous snowflakes.

Yes, I know that sounds terribly geeky of me. Big surprise, neh?

But I was driving around on Christmas, going to the movies, and I noticed the falling snowflakes which were melting on the windshield. For the first time in my life, I saw with my naked eye, the classic 'snowflake' crystal. Then I realized that I was witnessing that old science trope that "all" snowflakes are different. Each one was a little, beautiful marvel, each slightly or significantly different from the one before and the one after. And even the slightly 'broken' ones were amazing.

If I weren't in a line of traffic, I could've stopped and watched the snowflakes for a few hours.

A Christmas alone.

Warning, whine mode on. You have been warned.

My first ever major-holiday season alone, in fact. Perchance old hat to some of you, but brand-spanking new, to me. And 'twas not that I intended to spend it alone, it just worked out that way. Not surprisingly, it sucked.

Yes, I could have traveled to the folks' house for the holidays, except that I abhor fending off all of the other travelers whilst spending too many hours cooped up in flying inefection incubators. Plus, I'm effectively broke until the divorce goes through. I could have said to work "Ah, screw it" and gone with my hosting friends' to her mother's place, except that I've already missed two other grant application deadlines.

I did spend five hours at work, and then nearly four hours at RotK, which was worth it. After I got back to the friends' house I was miserable for a while until I got some food in me (I could have picked something up on the way home except that I wasn't in the mood for Chinese, Chinese or, for variety's sake, Chinese). Then I called my folks, followed by a friend in CA. I'd already opened this year's swag before I went to work, all four pieces of it. Well, not counting grandpa's oddity (a box of hand-made mallets. Oookay then.) which was interesting, to say the least.

Yes, it sucked, but I survived it. I don't know that I'll want to do it alone again next year, given that Christmas-to-New-Years is normally, for me, the big time of relaxation and spending good time (usually) with the family, however that is defined, and getting to see friends I've missed for so long. Not so much about the gifts, but about the traditions that my family had established, new habits that I was working on within my new family, and so on, that I enjoy and look forward to so much. Missing out on those was what really hurt.

Okay, whine mode off.

Rassafrassa Construction!

So I work in the Comprehensive Cancer and Geriatrics Center on the U of M campus. The only reason that matters for this GRIPE is because that building is right between the two halves of UM's biomedical research monstrosity (although they like to call it a campus). The research side is to the west, the medical side is to the east.

Why is this important? Because I am actually listed as an employee in Urology Surgery, I have full after-hours access to outside doors on the medical side, and not on the research side. And the UM monster is engaged in not one, but four (!?!*&(*(^!!!) construction projects due south of my building. Which blocks off all outside access to the medical doors from the easily-usable parking lots. And I can't get into the research doors UNTIL the UM officially comes back off of winter break, which will be Thursday morning at the earliest.

SO. My choices: park in the med lots, or stay in my current lot of choice. I'm either stuck with fending off the nurses and doctors and all those highly self-important type A muckity mucks who feel that they can run into me, in order to secure a parking spot. Or I get to walk outside, through a fifth, unsecured construction site, on the far end of the monstrosity, in order to get to my parking lot of choice.

Ain't life grand?