Does absence make the mind curious?

I was reading through and realized I hadn't posted in a while. Last time I posted, I was still living in beautiful Boston, still working at the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard. Since then I've been layed off from that job, gotten a temp job, had that end, collected unemployment, gotten another job (contract & grant-funded), had that end, gone back to collecting unemployment and moving back to Syracuse to stay with my parents. (No job + not nearly enough saving = not enough $$ to pay rent/buy food/etc.)

Not really sure if anyone reads this, anyway, but I figured an update was long overdue. And I'm glad to share the news that I'm now employed again! Granted, it's not in library science - but it is an admin position, so I'll be able to keep using my computer skills. And save up for grad school. (There is no way that I'm going to go the student loan route again - I'd still be paying the thing off while collecting Social Security! That, and I've been taking a great course - "Financial Peace University" - it's about being smart with your money, becoming debt-free & living on a cash-only basis. Scary, I know, but actually doable.)

The thing I feel really good about is that the person I'm replacing is retiring - no scary "our last person quit unexpectedly & without warning" stories at all. I'll be starting May 16 and, luckily, will be able to shadow her for 2 weeks. Hopefully that will give me a chance to get some of the basics down - who needs help with the copier, who prefers things "old school", who (if any) need to be told an earlier deadline 'just in case' - that kind of thing.

In the meantime, I'm slowly getting re-settled in my hometown. Re-learning how to not drive like a Bostonian, and that traveling more than 4 miles by car is not some Herculean, hours-long drive. (In Boston I drove to work for a few years - home & work were a little less than 3 miles apart, and I'd have to allow at least an hour for driving. And that's if the weather was nice...)

I'm also working on some stories, but I don't want to share too much at this point. Mainly because plot ideas keep cropping up that make me think about story events differently. Suffice it to say, it's looking to be young adult fiction and deals with alternative history. At least, so far. (Ask me in a month and that may change...)