Cold and wet today. It's getting sucky out, like winter's coming. Hey, wait a second...

I just started reading the third Harry Potter book, "...and the Prisoner of Azkaban", and as always I'm impressed by how easy Rowling makes it look. These aren't brilliant books, but they're brilliantly entertaining. And while the stories aren't original, they feel original...simply (or not so simply) because of the attention to detail. She cares about her world, her mythology, and her characters, and that's what makes the Potter novels work. I look forward to reading the rest of them.

I have about twenty-one vacation days left this year, and I need to waste eleven of them before the New Year. Doesn't sound too difficult, does it? Well, uh, it is. When you're struggling with deadlines, it definitely is. I've had continuous deadlines for the past, oh, eight years? And taking out that much vacation-time feels like a freakishly alien concept to me. But I gots to do it, and I gots to do it cheap. Usually that means staying at home. But it'd be nice to actually go somewhere. Still, taking a week out to just write might be a good idea. Not the best way to relax and kick back, perhaps, but I'd like some time to focus on work other than work. If you know what I mean.

It's highly unlikely, however, that I'll actually be able to take any time off whatsoever, at least until we're getting closer to Christmas. I might be able to pull off a week in mid-December, but I don't count on it. There just ain't enough days in the week to get everything done.  ¶ 23:37