Let it not be said that i don't know my good friends well! scary JC friend and mentor figure responded almost exactly as i'd predicted, justifying their opinion with deeper reasoning. scary JC friend thinks that promotion is a good opportunity, and i should just go for the earlier one. mentor figure agreed, and elaborated by saying that the difference in compensation wouldn't factor into his decision-making at all, and that if it were him, he'd see it as an opportunity to stand out from other colleagues. this makes me wonder if i'm not being big-picture enough, by focusing more on how much more i can potentially earn now (which also affects how much i can potentially earn in the future), as opposed to looking more capable in front of my boss, and potentially setting myself up for more such opportunities in the future, such as...

during a previous goal-setting/future-planning chat with my lead, i'd mentioned that i intended to take the graduate certificate in IP and eventually qualify as a patent attorney, ideally with the company's support and sponsorship. strictly speaking, patent attorney qualification is not required for this job, but i still want to do it to stick it to my former bosses in the accursed IP firm, to prove that it wasn't a me issue. that's at least another year or two in the making, so not going to think about it too much now. i do think that going for early promotion will kind of help show my ability to my lead, which would/should make him more confident to keep investing in me.

of course, there's a caveat. mentor figure said that he'd only go for september promotion if he felt he was ready. do i feel ready? i'd say kind of, but not really...which makes me think i'm not ready. he also said that it usually isn't possible to make decisions with 100% certainty, and he'd press on if he was ~70% sure. coincidentally, that's about how ready i think i am now...although i don't know if it's my actual estimation, or due to subliminal influence after our conversation. well, my plan is to have a quick chat with my mentor tomorrow or sometime this week, just to get her opinion on my readiness and check if i'm submitting cases too quickly. don't want to overwhelm her, either.

in other news, i went to the gay bar with gym guy yesterday. he closed on a flat, and i'm really happy for him! other things that made my night included my favourite team of staff being on duty and getting to interact with them, as well as making out with cute bartender for a bit before i left. realistically speaking, i don't think we'll end up together, considering he already has partners in australia. i understand that they're in an open relationship, so i still have harmless flirting and whatever M18 stuff he's ok with to nourish my soul. while i do feel a little let down that someone else snagged him first, i'm not hostile or raging about it. somehow, i think that's a sign of growth. another possible sign of growth is that i'm handling rejection better. a guy politely expressed disinterest last night, and i was just like, "cool, no worries". no thinking what aspect of me he didn't like, lamenting the missed opportunity to do stuff with him, nothing like that! might not be an accurate indicator though, because he wasn't particularly attractive to me. might have made it easier to let go.

after a day's rest on friday (MC-less medical leave for the win; my nose got worse but recovered over the weekend), i'm quite excited to get back to work. ideally, the 3 cases i've submitted will all clear, but let's just see what my inbox looks like. nothing on the calendar this coming week except a workshop on wednesday, so that'll mean half a day in the office, including a welcome lunch with any of the newbies who signed up for the slot that a few other colleagues and i also signed up for. i'm also due to meet N and E for a catch-up dinner on that same day. i'd forgotten about the workshop when we scheduled it, so it's a nice coincidence! probably going for a star wars movie marathon with the guy after tuition on saturday afternoon, where i'm hoping to get (and leave) a few more mementos. he marketed it as "cuddling and yelling at terrible plot", which i can definitely get behind. i don't think there's M18 activity involved, which i'm fine with too. would be nice to connect with him on a deeper level!

-random thought of the day: Bought a new fan with climate vouchers!-