Hi! I'm alive! And I feel suprisingly good for this time of year. Must be the food, because I surely haven't been getting enough exercise and rest. Usually we're slowing down a little bit at this point, but not this year. Somehow we're super-far behind. I won't get too much of a chance to slow down afterwards, either, because I'm scheduled out of the office the next three weeks after the 15th. The first two weeks is an interesting job revising the accounting policies and procedures manuals for a large company, and I think that will be fun. The third week is an audit, though, and with the total reworking of the audit methodology this year, I'm really nervous. They're still trying to get someone else to replace me as the in-charge on that one. Company policy is in my favor on that front, so I'm hoping it works out.

I'm planning on taking the rest of next week off. I've got a huge list of things that have been postponed, and I'm really looking forward to getting done. Foremost on that list is cleaning my house. I've never looked forward to cleaning my house so much in my life. The dust and grime have built up, and I'm just disgusted at the filth I'm living in. (I'm pretty sure I'm exaggerating, because I've seen other people's houses in worse shape, but my standards are a little higher than most. Probably.)

I did get my motorcycle out yesterday. Dad and Mom came up to see me, and Dad helped me learn how to change the oil and such. Here's us trying to get the battery back in:



And warming up the oil for draining:



I love the end of tax season. I've got senioritis, or the end of tax season equivalent. Taxitis? April 15th-itis? April 15th is like graduating: a big party, and then a huge sigh of relief that all that work is done, and looking forward to a little goof-off time before having to go back to work again.

While I wasn't updating, I did finish a book that I want to link to anyway, just because I enjoyed it: Fledgling, by Octavia E. Butler. It's a little of the vampire lore I've been devouring lately, but there's quite a bit of social commentary mixed in, from racism to relationships to genetic experimentation. Good read. I'm now on to Aaron Burr, and I'm really looking forward to reading this biography, given my somewhat irrational dislike of Alexander Hamilton. We'll see how my opinion changes with this new dimension of knowledge.