Great thoughts of Fleeting substance

Well that was far more rapid than I though it would be.

My security clearance is in, rather-much faster than I expected it to arrive. Good thing all around, evidently. This gets me cleared to work on some projects that are evidently pretty neat, if not…well…classified. I’m still working on unclassified stuff at the moment, but there’s really no way to know when. That’s up to higher-ups who decide what I’m going to be working on, when to transition, etc. I actually rather like it that way. I don’t really have a preference for what project I’m going to be working on, as I don’t really know the difference between them anyway, I haven’t been here long enough. And if it’s someone else’s responsibility, I just get to do what I’m told. Perhaps it’ll be up to me eventually, but this suits me fine for now. All this moving around lets me see lots of different things, I like variety.

As for what I can and can’t tell you…well…I actually don’t know yet, because I won’t get briefed until Thursday, but chances are that at some point someone will ask me something that I won’t be able to tell them, at which point I’ll say: “Sorry, can’t say.” Then we both move on with our lives.

One strange thing I’ve noticed, just being on the outside of the security clearance, is that these projects have code names, but that most people don’t even use them. Classified knowledge is tricky stuff, and evidently one of the sticking points about names is that you can have a bunch of separate projects that are *actually* interrelated, but you aren’t allowed to make that connection at an unclassified level; so people don’t even use the code names. Things get referred to in nebulous terms like ‘the project’ and ‘the other project’ and ‘one of the things Trung is working on.’ It’s tap dancing, essentially, but it’s evidently required. Probably something I’ll get used to, sort of a less-knowledge-is-better kind of approach.

Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you if I’ve had a good day or not, but we’ll see after the briefing, that may get classified too.

Also, thank you to all of the people that have volunteered their time to tell people scathing details about my personal life. And if you didn’t get interviewed, don’t despair, I may get put in for another security clearance eventually, and who knows, perhaps you’ll get interviewed for that. Think of the possibilities!

Also, within 2 minutes of hearing this news, I also learned that I got a bonus for being such a darned good employee. Weehaw.

I continue to chip away at the masters degree. There’s a project for my Estimation theory class (the hard one) that I’m working on with a co-worker by the name of Cherise. It’s due December 2. We’re starting early just to get it over and done. And because we’re not really sure how long it’s going to take, and if we get hung up, it’ll be nice to have the extra time.

I bought a couple games this weekend. I finally laid hands on a game I’ve been eyeing for a while: ‘Call of Duty’. I wasn’t convinced that it would be playable on my old computer. Not only does it look super-fly and super-smooth on the new one, but it’s a ton of fun to play.

Also, GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS. Those of you not familiar with the Grand Theft Auto line of games are certainly scratching their heads at this point. Let me just say that it’s a great game in a series of great games and I’ve been enjoying it immensely.

My drum-practicing time has been suffering a touch due to the nature of my strained time, but it’s still as fun as hitting anything with sticks is likely to be.

And, of course, TKD is always a blast. I think I made a breakthrough on my fast kick yesterday. I tried something a little different and it felt great. Yay for that.

Halloween weekend was quite nice. Plenty of ‘veg’-time, which is always essential. Derek and I finished up, with several co-workers and friends, a music video that we’re entering in a contest to win as much as $15,000 or as little as $0. It was a bit of a pain to shoot, but at least I got to do my own stunt work. Heh. It’ll be up on www.zerothpower.com in a few days, so look for it there.

I also went to a Haloween party on Friday. I went as the ‘White Ninja’, Derek went as the ‘Black Ninja’. No epic battles, but much fun was had. Derek DD’d for me, too. Quite kind. I met a lovely young lass there too, and got her phone number. We’ve chatted for a bit, but both of our schedules are pretty strained, so don’t look for any blossoming romance. And no, this isn’t the *only* interesting female I’ve met in the past several months, it’s just that my parents seemed to be worried about me, and I thought I’d supply some evidence that I am, in fact, getting out to meet people and be social every once in a while. Just not as often as I like. Bloody classes, and all.

I should think about signing up for the next round of them, too. We’ll see.

I’m still working on my story, too, but I need to sit down and iron out some story details before I can go too much farther. And strained time. I’m just saying that holding your breath for the next chapter might not be the best way to plan your breathing, is all.

AAAAAnd I’m teaching classes again. Even more this time. There’s a new round of new hire training classes coming up, and I’m going to be teaching the SNR class, my MATLAB class AAAAAnd the ‘Radar Basics’ class. Because they asked me if I could, and I can, and I enjoy it. So there. So yay for that too. Those will start rolling around in just a few weeks.

Okay, nothing else! Looking forward to upcoming vacations and seeing family members and the like, classes suck, hope you all are enjoying yourselves.

Consider yourself loved,

-N