An extended "would you rather" response

It was amusing to me yesterday morning at work when I checked a friend's blog and found this "would you rather" question of the day: "Would you rather understand quantum physics or the opposite sex?" Had it been any other day I would have said quantum physics hands down. But after my encounters last weekend I say opposite sex. It started on Saturday when I was stunned by an "I love you." It wasn't lustful in any way but it was something I did not expect to hear. Nor did I expect it to come from that person. It was a nice thing to hear... just not a common thing one gets from someone who is not a family member or a significant other. Or maybe it is common and it's just me. Either way it was a complete surprise.

That night I went to a party in the Boston area at a friend's place. I knew 3 of the 5 people who lived in the house and only a handful of others who were at the party. So I'm standing there and this guy comes over and we start chatting. He seemed quite nice and we talked about work, where we are from, and where we went to school. He went to school in upstate NY and as I am asking him a question about it he walks away leaving me standing there holding onto the rest of my sentence. No "goodbye" or "I'm getting a beer." Just gone. I close my jaw and then pop in some gum.

Maybe half an hour later I find myself in conversation with another guy. We end up chatting away for about 3 hours. Bathroom breaks were preceded with a "don't go anywhere I'll be right back." We had a lot in common and just talked easily about work, school, music, growing up on the cape, Boston, and beer. (He turned out to also be a huge fan of Abita and before finding a local place that sells the stuff, he had it shipped to MA from New Orleans. I was impressed!) Anyway, before I knew it, it was 2:30 am. He gave me his business card with his cell number on it and told me to call him or send him an email. Not long after he left I find out he came to the party with his girlfriend. Jerkface.

The next evening a man surprised me when seemingly out of nowhere he began helping brush the snow off my car. I graciously thanked him and wished him a safe journey home.

So, opposite sex, congrats on completely confusing me.

Oh Bother

I've recently been taken off a project at work that I not only spent a lot of time working on, but really enjoyed. I had spent a great deal of effort and time "housekeeping" on this data analysis project and finally got it all cleaned up, setup a template and completed an analysis of the first year; the fun part! Now, we have the second year's data, and thanks to my previous work, it comes all ready to be analyzed. But then I'm told by the project manager that I am no longer going to be working on this project, someone else is and so I am to show her everything I've done and hand the fun part (my words not hers) over to someone else.

It has actually upset me more than I initially thought. I really liked working on the analysis side. It was such a relief once all the data was cleaned up, and in a terrific software program ready to be played with. And, to add insult to injury, even though I have been taken off that portion of the project, I must still be a part of the crappy side of the project. While I believe this is the result of trying to divide work and even out the tasks to be done, it would have been nice if I was asked or still somehow kept involved. No one had mentioned about the quality of my work; but of course that is also something on my mind.

It's just frustrating.

Errr, I haven't posted in a while... I probably should.

One of my photos from Prague is being used for the Schmap! Prague Travel Guide. It is not the best photo from my trip nor my favorite but it fits its purpose: