At lunchtime today I went to hear a speaker who was giving a talk on a new technology my company is using. It was a heavy-duty technical presentation aimed at the most senior technologists in the company. As I looked around the room I realized that of the 15 or so in attendance, all were men. I have no idea why there aren't any women in these roles, most of which are technical architect positions. It's not that they aren't smart enough or capable enough. The work is challenging and well-paying and allows you to work on the newest technologies. Maybe they just aren't interested in this hard-core geek stuff, or maybe they're intimdated by the men, who do not tend to suffer fools gladly. Or maybe they don't feel as if they're given sufficient opportunities to advance in these type of roles.

Life just isn't much fun right now. Work is a tedious, stressful grind. Home is a wreck, in every possible use of the word. Rebecca is serving out her second suspension in a month and we're looking at new schools for her. Caitlin is in complete meltdown mode. Even the cats seem foul tempered as they shed their winter coats in fistfuls of fur. I keep trying to focus on the good things, but I seem to have misplaced them. But, we're not in the middle of a hurricane, we didn't get saddled with the cat/dog combo we applied for, and the deer didn't eat the lilies this year. Things could be worse.