Keeping up with the times

Why do newscritters keep on referring to Rangoon (that's "Yangon" for you junta symps) as "the capital"? Didn't any of them get the memo? I don't think this is a minor detail either, since the uprising of 1988 (not to mention colour/flower-coded people power revolutions elsewhere) was a major factor in the decision to start afresh in the wilderness, Abuja-style.

Also: suck!

EEEEEK!

I mean, Egad! There's a mouse on my desk. At least, I hope it's a mouse. I don't want to see the insect that makes that much freakin' noise. After all, I'm not easily spooked by critters, but the rustling was SO LOUD I felt that at any moment the printouts would part and I'd be face-to-face with the hairy beast.

I hate to admit that there's enough loose paper piled around my workspace to provide cover for a rodent, whatever its size. That said, my money is on not the desktop but the No Man's Land, the ruelle between the sides of the desk and the wall. It's one of those old-fashioned monsters that comes with a backing; that is, if I were to kick forward, my steel-tipped boot would hit not the partition but a panel on the back of the desk. Anything that falls behind that is effectively lost to human ken, and I'm afraid a number of paperslides (beginning in my predecessor's day) have begun the slow work of filling it in.

I can't even remember what I was going to post about any more except that it had something to do with how productive I've been today--a sad reminder that the only true motivators in my life are lust and anxiety and there's very little about my daily work that can inspire much of either. But I'm filled with nervous excitement and that's got me striving to see how much I can deal with before I go. Something tells me that my priorities have just shifted a bit...