i don't visit this thing nearly as much as i used to (or nearly as much as i should sometimes). things haven't been all that busy but i haven't really had the time at work to run over here for a few minutes. or maybe i just don't have anything interesting to say, that could be it too.

setareh was in town (but she's gone again now :( ) so i got to hang out with her a few times. i got last thursday off of work (a reward from the executive director for our work during crunch week) and setareh and i went up to six flags marine world. a local radio station was doing a promotion that day, so you could get in for $9.73 if you got there before 9am. well, we got there at 9:01am and couldn't get in for that price. so, we had to go find a safeway to buy a coke can (coke is doing a 2-for-1 promotion), and got back in line. turned out that the guy behind us at that point had a coupon for $16 entrance, so we got in using that instead. it worked out okay.

it was a great day to be at the park, too-- sunny but not overwhelmingly hot. we did most of the park except for the one newest ride (zonga?), and saw several animal shows too. i was pleased to see that, at both of the animal shows we went to, the trainers spoke about the importance of conservation and what people can do on a daily basis to be involved. it's nice to see that, even in the fabricated habitat of a zoo. i know i'm supposed to be against the caging of animals, but i really think that it's an important educational tool. it's important to be able to recognize the value of sacrificing a few to educate many to save the rest. people feel so much more connected to something they can see or touch, rather than just be told that it's important to save these things.

other than that, nothing much... zoltan came up again this weekend because he had nothing to do, but it was cool to see him. my whole fam went to a bbq buffet at david's near great america for the fourth of july, which was cool since there was a pretty good group of us. we went out on the lawn to watch great america's fireworks after dinner, which was a cool place to see it (except when they turned the sprinklers on! doh.)... went to a quakes game (they tied the fire 0-0, their third tie in a row!) and went to a bbq at teddie's on sunday because he was trial-running his new 'cue. yummy!

let's see... is that it? oh, i'm looking for a new job because this one continues to screw me (and not in a good way). i'm probably looking to stay in the bay area for now, but if the job search drags out for a few months then i'll broaden my search to include some of the out-of-state destinations i've been considering. i need to figure out what it takes to get into environmental consulting, because i think that's my next step out of the non-profit arena. i like the non-profit mentality, but i'm tired of the bureaucracy that we have to go through every day for a little bit of sanity. oh, and my personal value to my current company is going completely unrecognized, so i need to go someplace where it will be. not to be a diva or anything, but this is getting ridiculous and i deserve far better.