“What’s new with you? :)”

The conversation’s been going on for over two months since then, and I’ve discovered some new things, namely that I love this girl named exquisitely_me and she loves me back. The gossip was a-flyin’ when Facebook had the hot scoop around the end of March, it was the first to report that…

“Daniel is in a relationship with Diana Kotyk.”

I fell completely off the map for about eleven days starting back on the 9th of this month, the last bit of communication being a tweet that said…

“Diana is going to be in my arms in five minutes tops!”

I did manage to get off one little blurb during that time, that read…

“I am having, without reservation, the best week of my life.”

My perfume reviews have been on pen and paper, shoulder to shoulder with Diana, over a vial of fragrance, or perhaps a verbal review (also known as an ‘opinion’), soft words of like or dislike, learning, exploring, and expanding knowledge of the art. She’s encouraged me to get back into writing, though, so I trade comfortable seclusion for another round of writing for the masses.

In love. That’s where I’ve been, and in fact it’s the locale I write from even now, dear reader.

EDIT: Ooh, also, my bottle of Palisander arrived today! It’s pretty damn tiny for a 75mL bottle. D: I’ll take their word for it though. Also the 2.5mL atomizers got here today, thanks Sally at Accessories for Fragrances. If you ever need decanting supplies she’s very highly recommended by not just me but many of the Basenotes crew.

What does this mean for the blog? Not much, the delay in content has less to do with real life and more to do with the fact that I’m waiting on some atomizers to get here so I can transfer the new Bond samples into spray bottles instead of vials. I also have some content to come for the website proper, which sadly you guys won’t be able to see as it’s for private use. :P

The re-design and WordPress upgrade are on hold while I look into some possible compatibility bugs, my comment spam eater (the amazing Spam Karma 2) averages 10 to 20 blocked comments daily and I don’t really want to lose that protection for an upgrade that extends me personally no extra functionality.

So there’s your status for the moment. Monday begins another chapter in my life, I should also have the atomizers by then and we should be business as usual starting then or Tuesday.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I wore Thierry Mugler Cologne and got some flak for it. Too strong, they say, and I’m inclined to agree with them. I took a shower when I got home and it’s still there; that is some tenacious stuff.

Okay no that’s all I’ve got in relation to Ice Cube. Today just went about as well as I could ever hope for a day to go. Woke up with no pain or stiffness in my ankle, got out of bed refreshed and sat in front of the new 32″ monitor (the computer hasn’t acted up in almost a week now), some Brian Eno playing as the creative juices stirred and I found myself completely caught up on my reviewing. Well, so I say, I’ve still got a bit over 30 reviews to go but I’m caught up in the niche experiment.

I’ve been in the process of trying to move up within the Office Depot company; it’s been unsuccessful but not for lack of effort. I’m currently in what’s considered a Level 1 position, and the next step up is (surprise) Level 2. One of the major conditions for working at the store I’m at currently is that I would be able to be promoted to this Level 2 position fairly quickly. Sure enough, about a month into my tenure there a spot opened up. I was told, yup, we’re all set, just gotta key you in for it. Fast forward to a week later. Nothing. Fast forward. Nothing, it never happened. The position simply isn’t there now, they chose not to fill it at all.

That wouldn’t have bothered me too much except that I was continually being led to believe that I was getting this position. If you’re not gonna do it, tell me you’re not gonna do it. Combine that with the fact that the manager in question is not what I consider a model leader (I’m wording this carefully), and it becomes pretty clear what my course of action was when I saw another Level 2 spot open up in another store in Louisville.

Turns out it’s just a bit further out, and the staff there is arguably the most highly respected in the city. Their store manager has a tremendous reputation with every manager I’ve talked to, and one of their department managers and I used to work together back at the Paducah store.

I visited the store for the first time today, it is about 5 miles further but the roads and traffic are such that the time difference is negligible. It’s also easily the nicest looking store I’ve ever been to, pictured above. Talked to the managers and everything went fantastic, I think I made a good first impression. Decided to leave and let them discuss it, went home and cooked lunch, gave them a call back around 3:30.

Here’s the situation in a nutshell. My current manager has the opportunity to match this new store’s offer; that is, either I get the promotion and raise here, or get it there. It’s entirely up to my current manager. If he realizes my worth he’ll keep me but I don’t think he does. In all truth I’d be happier at the new store so no great lost, I take a great deal of pleasure in proving people wrong about me.

Something about today’s given me a much-needed spark that’d been starting to fade. I’m more upbeat about tomorrow, confident in what I need to do and really just a hell of a lot happier than I was a week ago. Now I can only hope that everything goes as expected.

Wish me luck.

Rather than be hungry, I came up with a solution.

My food was goddamn delicious.

Oh, and I can ride my bike to UofL, takes about 5 minutes.  I couldn’t find a parking space and walk from the lot that quick!

But, among the things left to pack up is this computer, so I am unplugging.  The next blog entry will be from my new place in Louisville.

See you then.

And I’m getting sick.

And I may or may not sleep tonight.

Or tomorrow night.

This does put pretty much everything I’ve worked for over the past two months at risk.

*headdesk*