She's a smooth operator...

I have spent the last two days brokering a relationship between two warring and uncommunicative parties. It required me to lay out a common language for the two parties to actually communicate and share information with one another; involving the expertise of others on how to ensure a successful union; and at times, craftily manipulating both without their awareness.

Pretty good for someone who is getting over the plague.


What could she possibly be talking about, you may be asking.
Let me translate for you who do not know about the fine art of international negotiation...

Trying to make a PC and a Mac talk to one another is close to impossible.
First of all, Microsoft is nearly incompatible with Apple. Outlook doesn't like Entourage, even though both are Microsoft programs. Outlook doesn't like Apple Mail. Or Address Book. Or iCal. Microsoft Outlook, actually, hates almost everything and everyone. That means having to use another program to take what Outlook has (which is everything, because once you start using Outlook it controls your email, your calendar, your contacts, your tasks list, everything). But, once you have that program talking to Outlook it doesn't mean that program will happily talk to Microsoft Entourage (a mail client primarily for Macs). No, no, no... that would be too easy! That would be too civil. Instead, first program must now speak to program number two in order to get one piece of the original information. The information must now be split between three other programs and they really aren't talking to each other. No, it's like having two feuding 12-year olds-- one plugs up her ears as soon as the other begins speaking, leaving about half the statements to float into nothingness.

Given all of this (and given the fact that I managed to conquer some/most of it), I consider this a pretty successful weekend.

TAKE THAT plague.

//

And to give another update on the hamster, Belly is running furiously in her wheel, stopping every so often to check her increased strength by stretching all the way towards the top, to see if she's gotten any closer to the top of the cage where the opening is.
Clever little bastard.