Conundrum.

I love my job. The work is repetitive, but intoxicatingly important. The hours are interesting. I get along well with almost everyone I work with, and I avoid when I can those who would throw me into a black hole, if they had a chance. I kind of like getting a paycheck. The project is fascinating, and I'll feel a lot of pride when that telescope is in space. I'm glad I took the job, but I almost didn't.

Part of that reluctance was my affinity for a life of idleness and uselessness, and part of it was a lack of enthusiasm for leaving our beautiful home for six months. I thought it over and decided, "Nope, I'm not going to accept this job offer. Unless Twila really, really wants to go to NYC." (She was away at the time.)

Twila came back, I dispassionately explained the situation to her, and she said, "I really, really want to go to NYC." So here we are. The thing is, I agreed to stay here for about six months, ending on January 15, 2010. But a few days ago my boss said, "We'd like you to stay here through March."

Oh, oh. "Through March" was not good. Twila, a.k.a. "my life", has to go back to Colorado early in January to celebrate Tax Season. Being in NY has been fun, but mostly because of her. She's the doggone reason I came here! Spending three months without her in this apartment, which hasn't looked as good since I considered the prospect of doing it alone, has little appeal. Now what?

The answer turned out to be, "Why, sure!" An adventure is an adventure, and how many of those do you get? I still had one roll of the dice, and it turned up 7. Twila may fly back here twice a month as long as I'm here, all expenses paid door-to-door by NASA, or however far down the line that falls. They're also going to pay for a garage so I won't have to park outside in the nasty cold and snow.

So, here I'll stay. And the big question now is, what will become of this blog?