Busy doing nothing

Somehow a week has flashed past since I last blogged, though it hardly seems possible. I've been running fast just to stand still, it seems, going flat-out to little visible effect.

I am surprised by how little I have been eating since returning from Canada. My mother fed us four or five times a day, some of those were snacks but there were always at least two multi-course meals. Well, I get through the day on a small breakfast, a moderate lunch and a few cookies with tea in the evening, and cannot say that I feel hungry or deprived. On the contrary, I still feel that I am eating slightly too much of slightly the wrong things.

The Münsters presented a contract for my fulltime employment, which had a few oddities. The pay, for one: 23% more than I am currently getting, for 100% more hours per week (though that would include health insurance, pension and unemployment insurance). For a second, the statement that "up to 5 hours unpaid overtime per week" may be required—without limit in frequency or total. Well, I've been there before, and that means that every week would be 45 hours long, i.e. that I would get 23% more money for 125% more hours: quite unacceptable. So I made a counterproposal, which they are considering.

G and U went through the phases of denial and unreasoning rage and are now trying to negotiate. They presented a suggestion whereby they would pay me half of what the Münsters are offering, for not-quite-half-time permanent work in their office (based on the presumption that the office will soon have work). This is kind and flattering and very sweet, but leaves me exactly where I was last year when I advertised my services and ended up at the Münsters: I would still need to find some other work to fill those hours here, because I cannot live on that half-time job. It would be grand if the Münsters would agree to keeping me on part-time for the remaining hours, even at a lower rate of pay, but given the Münstermeister's expressed desire to have my colleague and I in his physical offices I very much doubt that they would agree to it.

On top of that, it's almost summer here. I ate a salad for lunch at an extremely un-chic restaurant with outdoor terrace by the Feuersee, and found that quite wonderfully refreshing. I have decided to do that once a week for the rest of my time here, or the rest of the summer, whichever ends first.

I am also spending too much time, too late at night, in Second Life. Much of that is doing good deeds: helping friends set up a shop, writing scripts and advising them on merchandise, but the rest has been just faffing about, talk and dancing and timewastery.

That's all for now, the weather is breaking and I am tired. Shabbat shalom, my dears.