Our company is in the process of being acquired by another company. The merger transition will be July 1, and orientation meetings have already begun.

The good news is that I will still have a job. The bad news is that the new company has no sabbatical leave benefit.

This continues the annoying trend of my never receiving the rewards of long tenure with a single company. Just before I reached 5 years with our first parent company, which would have entitled me to a week of extra vacation and a bonus, we were acquired by our current parent. As a result, I got nothing—no tenure bonus program, and the extra week of vacation doesn't come until 8 years.

Then, with the current company, I finally discover the ill-publicized paid sabbatical leave option, available every 5 years, and it is denied.

Now, with the new company, still no extra week of vacation, still no tenure bonus, and now no sabbatical either.

Mergers suck.

I am so looking for a new job, so if you know of any good leads, let me know. I can do pretty much anything in the technology sector, and I'm a fair hand at photography, design and music as well.

Highlights of the weekend:

film worship

Set up all the connections to the new HDTV & progressive-scan DVD player. It's astonishing how good 70mm films like 2001 and Akira look in 43-inches of progressive-scan HDTV glory.

If anyone is in the market for a new television in the U.S., I highly recommend UEC Web as an alternative to buying a new one. They have refurbished Hitachi televisions for 50% off or more, with a 30-day warranty that you can extend by additional years for extra cash and still come out way ahead.

I'm not a rabid TV fan, but I love movies, and this is worth it for the movie experience alone. "The Man Who Wasn't There" looks touchably brilliant.

sushi!!

They really should dedicate a table to me and my friends at Pango, the new sushi & tea bar in downtown Austin. Saturday night, we made yet another of our many frequent trips there for dinner, in a party including the angry robot and Sei Shonagon.

The unagi (barbecued eel) nigiri was impeccable as always. Definitely in strong contention for the best unagi in Austin. Unfortunately, Bruce and Karin ordered the Unagi-Don (a big box serving of unagi over rice and other accompaniments) instead of the nigiri, and had quite a long wait for it. It seemed to go over well when it arrived, though. Luckily, they ordered edamame (soybeans lightly steamed & seasoned, yum!) to keep them sated while they waited.

In addition to the unagi, I enjoyed some amaebi (sweet shrimp) nigiri and a Philadelphia roll, which is a really tasty concoction of smoked salmon, cream cheese, and avocado. Like a bagel with cream cheese & lox, minus the bagel.

I also tried the house iced coffee for the first time, which according to the menu is based on a family recipe from Taiwan. It's definitely a different, more gentle taste than the typical American iced coffee. It's both less bitter and less sweet. Overall, it was the sort of flavor that appeals to a tea fan like me, as one might expect from a bar that specializes in tea. I generally don't drink coffee except on rare occasions, but this was good enough to potentially convert me.

Overall, a typically delicious night at Pango, as always.

(Brenna, next time you are in Austin, you must go there!)

comedy!!

After sushi, Sei (Karin) and the robot (Bruce) and I went over to the Hideout theater to see the We Could Be Heroes improvisational comedy troupe. We were in luck, as our friend Peter was performing that night. He's been working really hard at improving as an improviser, and it showed. The show that night was an elimination-style game called Micetro (kind of like Survivor! for improvisers), and he tied for the win before losing the tiebreaker by a narrow margin of applause. Way to go, Peter!

belly dancing!!

Sunday night was the big performance of Karin's belly dancing troupe at Marrakesh. She and several other girls in my circle of friends & acquaintances have been studying for the past couple of years with Cara Bowen of Austin and Karen Barbee of San Antonio.

You may think you have seen belly-dancing before, but unless you have seen it performed in its native culture, chances are very slim that you have seen anything approaching the level at which these girls are learning it. Cara and Karen are very accomplished dancers, and it was clearly evident in the show that they are excellent teachers who are proving very successful at transferring their knowledge to their students.

The show was a lot of fun, and the performers all seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, despite the difficulty of performing incredibly long choreographies that rely on fine distinctions between muscles I am not even aware of in myself.

Karin will be in another upcoming show by Karavan Studios in San Antonio, so if you live in the S.A. area, I highly recommend checking it out. Details here.

to sum up

I had a really great weekend! My only regret is I should have taken pictures at the belly dance show. I'll be sure to bring back some pictures from the Karavan show.

Unfortunately, now it's Monday, and there's a long week ahead. :(

Maybe I'll go to Pango again tonight. Sushi always makes me feel better! hee!

When I moved into my current apartment over a year ago, I didn't have a sofa anymore. I thought at first that I would acquire one, but I ended up finding some nice big floor cushions for a good price and made the conscious decision to orient my living room toward a lower point-of-view.

I now have what I call "The Un-Couch" -- a pile of floor cushions, floor pillows, and assorted other pillows that rearranges to provide seating, laying, or lounging support for 2 to 4 people, depending on what you do with it.

It's even organized neatly around a little faux-Japanese rug with dragonflies on, which I found at Target.

For a long time, I've been growing increasingly pleased with my floor-based lifestyle, but I've also discovered some pitfalls.

1) Outside of Japan and its surrounding neighbors, it is virtually impossible to find a good size low-lying table appropriate for eating or working. Unless, of course, you want to spend several hundred dollars or more. As a rule, American coffee tables don't work -- they tend not to have space for legs to protrude beneath them.

So far, I've resigned myself to eating meals at the dinner table, or sitting in the solitary chair with a small folding table. If I could only find a good floor-oriented table, I could sell off the dinner table and open up a lot of room.

My mission now is to find an importer that carries a kotatsu at a reasonable price. If you haven't encountered a kotatsu before, it's a brilliant idea -- a low, wide square table with a heating element underneath. In the winter, you put a big futon blanket on that skirts around the edges and keeps your feet warm and toasty under the table. Next best thing to a fire in the fireplace. In summer, ditch the blank and heater and just use the table. If anyone has a lead for finding one in the US, or getting it here cheaply, let me know.

2. Technological doodads are invariably designed with a chair-seated audience in mind. For example, my new rear-projection television (just arrived today!), which is noticeably dimmer when sitting or reclining on the floor / UnCouch than when sitting in the chair. As a result, daytime viewing of darker scenes includes distracting on-screen reflections of objects in the room. If I sit in the chair, no such problem. I suppose I should have got an old-fashioned glass-tube, but this one was an incredible deal. It's 43 inches and HDTV for only a shade more than I almost spent on a 32-inch Sony Wega to replace my 15-year-old ancient 21" RCA.

3. Renting an apartment with carpet is not such a bright idea when attempting a floor-based lifestyle. Things do spill. Constantly. Luckily, my carpet is very short and easily cleaned. Still, it makes the whole wooden-floor / tatami mat Japanese aesthetic make a lot of practical sense when you think about it.

4. If you have a cat (or other pet) who sheds copious amounts of hair, little clouds of it will be constantly migrating around the room to annoy you and get in your food / mouth. You had better love your pet.

5. If someone moves out of the apartment next door and you are suddenly invaded by ants, they will take advantage of your proximity to their floor-based domain to bite you with greater frequency.

So I'd definitely recommend it as an option...something different to do with your living room. And I hope that some of the information above will help you avoid some of the more annoying situations I've encountered.