I've been renting the HBO series "Band of Brothers", and when I think about what those guys went through I feel ashamed at my own meager suffering. I had this same feeling when I watched Adrien Brody in "The Pianist" last year. I felt ashamed for worrying about getting laid off, when the pianist character had to worry about staying alive.

My film history teacher is your typical political left wing college professor. He was denigrating the actions of the US in World War 2, especially after he'd seen Robert MacNamara in "The Fog of War". MacNamara was the one who ordered the fire bombing of Japan, and my film history teacher was ranting on about that.

And I'm sitting there thinking, okay, the Nazis bombed London, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and Robert MacNamara is a bad guy. I'm not about to defend Robert MacNamara, but come on. You can't single him out, and not talk about the Nazi bombings of Europe, the Final Solution and the Holocaust of the Jews, not to mention how many chinese people the Japanese army killed. The Chinese still bear grudges against Japan for those wartime atrocities.

I wouldn't mind that my film history professor was a left wing political radical so much, if he could argue his position logically instead of taking the moral high ground. What, like he doesn't think that the people in the class don't know their world war 2 history as well.

Of course no one in class says anything back to him. Why even bother? It's so not worth it. Why argue with someone who doesn't base his opinions on logic? The film history professor only softened his world war 2 stance when one of the guys in class brought his dad to class. He wouldn't have dared spout that illogical world war 2 anti-US rhetoric against someone who looked like they could have been a young soldier defending the country during the second world war.

Why he does it to us his class is so disrespectful, like we're so uneducated that we couldn't argue his butt into the ground if we felt like it. But it's a night class, who has the energy to argue with a left wing political nut? When he starts his political ranting, people just sit there frozen and no one talks and we pray that he shut up and just start the movie. This is a film history class, and not a platform for him to spout his illogical anti-US drivel.

And I sit there thinking, well, now I know why people don't want to fund public education. He wouldn't be so bad either, if he could just argue his opinions logically and use facts. I could respect him for that, because I would know he respected me enough to make sure his arguments make sense. But he doesn't do that, and he talks to us like we don't know anything about anything. It's kind of like getting an education at the DMV.

Wow, I'm like freaking out! Changing jobs is so stressful! I thought moving apartments and grandma dying suddenly last year was stressful, but this is one is right up there.

This is my fifth job in 13 years. When I was changing jobs every two years, the whole process was stressful but I was so used to doing it and it was happening so often that I think I became used to it. I've been at this current job now for four years, and it's kind of frightening to think about leaving.

The current job sucks and has majorly sucked for a long time, but I was used to it. Now I'm going to have to start over, and although I'm not looking forward to it, I am, sort of looking forward being in a new place and making new friends and doing new things.

So I just talked to the medical consultant I've been working with since 2001, another ex-boss, and he was really bummed I was leaving. He said he's going to call my new boss tomorrow and talk to him. That was nice. I don't know what good it will do, but it is sweet that he wants to call. He said he's going to recommend that I continue to consult with the company for as long as possible, because I helped to develop the product.

The medical consultant, he's a gastroenterologist actually, told me he knows someone high up in management at the new company, and that he'll put in a good word for me with his friend. Isn't that sweet?

This doctor is really nice, tough and a little difficult to work with, but really, really fair. He doesn't get along with too many people, so I think he is truly sorry to see me go. I'll miss him too. This guy was really smart, and despite his sometimes gruff manner, very, very easy to work with and for.

So I resigned from my job today. My boss was really nice about it, and I'm not one to burn bridges so I offered them my consulting services until they can hire someone else. I told my boss, "I don't want to leave the company in a lurch, and I want to make my departure a win-win situation for everyone." My boss thought it was a good idea, and we're going to go over more stuff tomorrow morning.

He was so weird too. He said "I was just thinking it was working out fine that you were working at home in San Francisco", and I'm thinking "yeah right". But I said, "You know if the new job doesn't work out, I can always come back right?". And he laughed and said, "Sure." I think he was glad to see me go, but he wasn't going to say that either since they still need to me to get some work done.

It would be so much fun to burn some bridges, but it's not good karma and I may need to come crawling back to them if the new job doesn't work out.

I start my new job on March 17, St. Patrick's Day. It's a 30-day contract to perm arrangement, but I've spent every day since last Wednesday talking to my new boss that it feels like I already know her very well. I really like her, and I think that's a good thing.

But I am freaked out! This job hunt thing has been happening so fast. I just started applying for jobs on February 6, and by February 27 I was offered a job. A friend who's a recruiter in Silicon Valley told me that I should feel so incredibly grateful that I was able to get a job right away. She said it's a very tough job market out there. I even got a 6% raise in pay, and that's a miracle considering the horrible economy right now.

And I am so grateful, but I'm dizzied by the speed of the events. I don't think what just happened will sink in right away, probably not until I'm in my brand new office building in downtown San Francisco.