365 days of being a writer: day 184

Day two of technical writing was a whirlwind.

At one point, after talking with some very knowledgeable engineers, I was washing my hands in the bathroom and I imagined that this were to be the rest of my life: drafting word docs in a decent office where I am respected and my judgment and skills are important. The money would be enough for one good trip a year. I could go back to getting my toes done and join a gym... It was tantalizing the way a cigarette can be during a really shitty day--though I am over 7 years quit--a temporary balm that can't get close to the beating pulse of what hurts. Why isn't the respectable life good enough for me, again? Just who the hell do I think I am, anyway?

Later, I went to the Desert Botanical Garden and learned about the reclamation of a stretch of what used to be known as the Salt River (but the city of Phoenix renamed it in 1967 to Rio Salado). At one point there were over 1000 tons of tires piled up in its dry bed, along with all of the other crap people throw out. Now, there are now over 500 acres and over 5 miles of trails through reclaimed desert riparian environment. On Saturday, I will be walking around the preserve, in the hopes of seeing burrowing day owls, black-necked stilts, and the rarest of the rare: a scarlet tanager. And then I remembered why it can't end in a cube for me.

The second half of the year will be more difficult than the first, I suspect. I'm actually using my brain more (starting almost exactly at 8 am, for example, I was tasked with localizing two manuals for electrical equipment (for Australia), proofing a 40 page project plan, and finishing up a release notes template--all for technology that is completely new to me) which means I am more tired when I get home. I plan on taking more vitamins and insinuating some exercise to try and combat that. Past that, we just do what we can, right? Try to be nice and get a little better each day.

My newest review is up at Xenith: Lost and Found: Adolescent Obsession. If it makes you think, leave a note for me on Xenith, will you? Goodnight, sweetest follower--whoever you are--and to anyone else reading.