the heat

I'm off of work and scheduled a furnace tune for today. It's supposed to happen "sometime between 8am and noon". It is now a little after 9am. So I wait. I guess I'll do this little mid-week debrief exercise:

1. Name one new thing you learned this week

I learned that dogs should NOT eat grapes/ grape products. Who knew??

Someone on NextDoor posted that her dog ate a grape. She was quite worried, wondering what to do on the weekend since her vet office was closed. And I was all, "Dog ate one grape? What's the fuss?"  Well, now I know!

2. Acknowledge someone for a job well done.

I'll give a shout out to Work Study - our student employee at work. She's a military veteran who now gets paid by the VA to go to school. She admittedly is not passionate about being a student, but realizes it's probably the right thing to do, plus it pays the rent. 

In the meantime, she's trying to figure out what to be when she "grows up" while taking general classes. She comes in to work a few hours each week and is a total people-person - has a way of engaging people in conversation and taking their minds off of the stressful testing environment.

3. Describe a good idea you heard.

I didn't actually "hear" this idea, it's something that I discovered while decluttering. So maybe I heard it from some decluttering angel? 

Anyway, here's my tip: I used to keep shoes I didn't wear regularly in their respective boxes in my closet. Dress shoes, winter boots, summer sandals, etc. I decided to get a small shoe shelf and chuck the boxes. In so doing, I unboxed shoes I realized I didn't want anymore. Keeping them in boxes was outta sight, outta mind, and I'd forget I had them. 

Once I shelved them, I saw I had redundant / unwanted shoes that went into the donation box instead. I mean, now many pairs of black business casual shoes or casual canvas sneakers does one need?! 

4. Describe a feeling you experienced.

Sarge told us a story about a time earlier in his life when he briefly worked as a repo man for a rental center. The worst repo he ever did:

They were sent to a home to repossess a large entertainment center, complete with big screen TV and gaming console. When they got there, young kids were sitting there, holding their game controllers and crying. It was right after Christmas.

The mom made a dramatic scene in front of the kids about how she hadn't received her child support check that month, so all that new stuff from Christmas had to go. Sarge said it was almost as if she'd planned the whole thing - buy all that stuff on credit only to have it repoed in order to make the dad out to be the Grinch. 

I doubt the dad was innocent in the whole thing, but Sarge's story just gave us so many feels, and not the good kind. Disgust, anger, sadness, blech. Some people.

5. Describe something that pushed you outisde your comfort zone.

I've not done anything particularly "uncomfortable" lately. After covid precautions lifted enough, I transferred to a local [P.E.O.] chapter, and shortly after that, they asked if I would serve as chapter president when this next year rolls around. I said, "uh, okay?". The P.E.O. year ends/ starts in March, which is coming up. My turn at prez is right around the corner. Uh, okay?

6. How will you apply what you've learned?

Be careful with the grape-dog combo!

scratchings

I've got to head to work in a little bit. Another Saturday rotation. This time, Sarge and I are tasked with showing our new assistant boss - who shall be known here as "Mango" - the Saturday ropes. 

Mango is coming along nicely since starting the job a couple of weeks ago. She s a young fresh university grad, and this is her first "grown-up" job. I was working the late shift with her last night as we were finishing up getting the last few test takers done and out.

One guy finished up and returned his materials, including two pieces of scratch paper. We always give three sheets of scratch paper and must collect all before they leave.

"Did you have another piece of scratch paper?" Mango asked "I've only got two here"

"Oh, yeah. The other one is just in my pocket", the soft spoken man replied

So we told him we had to collect all of it before he could leave, and he agreeingly complied, pulling the folded paper out of his back pocket and handing it to Mango. We have to collect it all because people aren't allowed to take any test questions out of the testing center (other than inside their minds).

The guy was a friendly person, quite chill. Late 20s, early 30s I'd say. He'd come in for a couple of automotive tech certifications.

We tidied up after him as he collected his things and left. Mango opened the paper from Tech guy's pocket. There were no test questions on there, just a bit of writing to quote:

"F**k you b*tch  MotherF***ing b*tch..."

We both emitted quiet guffaws.

"Welp, we probably could've let him keep THAT little love note", I observed

We've no idea who the message was meant for. It seemed rather uncharacteristic since the guy was rather quiet and mellow. To add to the mystery. the "love note" was written in rather elegant, highly legible cursive.

Sometimes people make cute and/or skilled drawings on their scratch paper and we'll keep them around for a while. We were almost tempted to save this contribution.

Nah.

Thank your husband and electric needles.

"Tell your husband 'Thanks!' for shoveling our sidewalk!", he cheered from his driveway.

"Oh, sure, no problem!", I hailed back

Neighbor Guy next door. I noticed during our recent snow storm(s) that no one seemed to be home for a while over there, so when I was out shoveling, I shoveled their sidewalk as well. Tell your husband - pffft. 

And I did tell Magnum, we chuckled a bit over it. I don't hold it against Neighbor Guy. I guess it's "normal" to assume the resident man handles the shoveling of snow. Neighbor Guy is a rather burly manly man himself who takes care of the outside of the house. I don't know him that well, but he always seems friendly.

And honestly, I rather enjoy shoveling snow. As long as it's not bunches of it, wet and heavy. Magnum does share in the task, but for the most part, especially before he began working from home, it was one of my chief duties. It's only fair since he brings home the Lion's share of our income. 

My coworker, Sarge, is in a similar boat. His wife is the main earner for his family, so he picks up the "house work". Yes, out there clearing the snow, etc. and also doing most of the cooking and shopping, driving the kids around... Equity and Inclusion, we're on it!

I went for a sloggish run this morning. Recall I've been off the running while dealing with a fritzed foot. It's been feeling better, but then I caught a cold, and then we were hit with an arctic blast - neither conducive to start running again.

This week, I had another appointment with the physical therapist, and he somewhat "assigned" me to go for a short run-walk this weekend and report back. Felt pretty good actually, though a bit cold and I had to deal with annoying ice in several places. Plus being out of shape *huff puff*. But the foot held together.

We did the dry needling thing at this last appointment. It felt... interesting. I didn't watch the process at all - first hit was in the outside of my calf while I laid on my back, second was in my lower back/hip while I laid on my stomach, so I didn't exactly have a view of either anyway. 

But he inserted (I think) two needles each time, then added electric stimulation to the needles, so there was this pulsing going on in there - like in [this youtube short] I found. He did that to the areas for about 2 minutes each. 

It felt neither amazing nor painful, but it was a very gentle feeling. Like the cat when he prods me to let him under the covers.

places to go, people to see

Work was closed yesterday because of the weather. There were no classes scheduled because of the holiday, but "other stuff", including us, had to shut down.  I snagged this pic of my neighbor clearing snow with his leaf blower as seen through our frosty front window.

The sub-zero temperatures make for very fine, very powdery snow, so a leaf blower works quite well as a snow blower. I went out a little while later and cleared our snow the old fashioned way - shovel.

Today, the college is on a delayed start, so I have an extra hour this morning before heading in. The university and school district are both fully closed for the day. So much for peer pressure. 

I got the automated call last evening about the delayed start, the robotic voice stating,

All campuses will be on a delayed start for Tuesday 1/16/1924...

and I'm thinking what the heck kinda automated messaging service are we using that, 24 years into it, doesn't realize we're in the 2000's now?!

I think I was pretty productive despite all the cabin fever. After my big winter break declutter, I got going on a digital declutter - cleaning up and organizing files and getting rid of old crap. It was, strangely, nearly as cleansing as clearing the physical stuff.

My laptop's telling me that it's -14F and partly sunny. I'll leave the house in about an hour and the outlook then is for -3F. But by the time I get off work, we will hopefully be in the mid-20s. Above zero!

That sounds downright balmy!

so... what're you wearing?

Greetings from the freezer. I know we're not the only ones stuck in an arctic blast. 

Today we enjoyed some psychologically warming sunshine, and I noticed a reading of 12F on our thermometer earlier this afternoon. Strange how 12F seems so warm.

Yesterday, after I got home from work, we decided to test our outerwear on a 2-mile walk in 3F. We only got a couple inches of snow, so drifts weren't a factor.

So we bundled up, and I'm happy to report the gear did its job.

For reference, I wore:

• leggings under jeans under windpants
• turtleneck under hoodie under gore-tex parka
• balaclava under ski hat under goggles under hood
• wool glove liners under insulated trigger mitts
• two pairs of socks under water resistant hikers.

All performed wonderfully, and I remained quite cozy toasty, although I wouldn't want to make a habit of this. 

freezing and delinquency

I'm psyching myself to go in to work in a little while. My laptop says it's -10F outside right now. But clear. I'll latch onto "clear". Today's high is expected to be 3. Three whole degrees.

Forecast is for us being in the deep freeze for the next few days. I'm looking forward to Wednesday. It's just as well I'm scheduled to work this Saturday, because the weather outside is frightful. 

Earlier this week, a guy came in from Wyoming with a couple of teenage boys. He's been in before with one of the kids who is working toward his GED. I had assumed they were father and son. So, this week they were back along with another teen, and I thought maybe the guys are friends and arranged to take their tests on the same day so as to carpool.

Turns out that's sort of the case.

So we got them going on their tests, they were sitting a couple of seats apart while doing different GED modules. A little while later, a woman who was in the room taking another exam came out for a bathroom break and told us the two young guys were whispering and giggling.

"I've been a school teacher before, and I'm over it", her words.

Party Girl went in and gave the GED boys the what for, saying if they continued, we'd have to cancel their tests. In the meantime, Boss went out to the waiting area to let "Dad" know they'd been warned once, and if there's a next time, they're outta there.

So Dad says, "Tell 'em they get a RED DAY for today" and, "If they get kicked out, they'll have to discuss that with their probation officer".

Ooh, I finally put 2 and 2 together. We occasionally get these kids from a juvenile center in Wyoming to take their GEDs. They always come in with a nice adult person - some sort of escort/guardian. The kids are typically very polite - "please, thank you, yes ma'am/sir..."

They don't normally come in more than one at a time. Maybe they were going for efficiency this time.

It was then that I realized the boys were dressed the same: matching khakis, matching grey pullovers, even their black under armour shoes matched. 

Yeah, so up until that point, I guess my Situational Awareness was not quite up to speed.

Anyway, they completed their tests without further incident. Afterward, I was cleaning up their scratch paper and such. One kid had completed the math module, and his scratchwork showed much adeptness. Being a math nerd myself, I'd say his scratchwork indicated that he rather enjoyed himself. 

The next Elon Musk?

midweek check-in *YAWN*

The new assistant boss FINALLY started working this week. It was a good 2-month process from the time we stopped taking applications to getting through the hiring process to actually getting a person in house. She's fitting in nicely while we've been training her up. Classes start up again next week for the spring semester, so we'll be running on all cylinders shortly.

I've been feeling a bit restless with the downtime from tutoring and hoping my tutor schedule fills up nicely with the start of the new semester. I did get a lot of decluttering accomplished during the break. And I'm sure I can find more to purge. Seems like there's always more.

In other projects, I really want to get started on painting most walls of the house. EVERY wall is "rental white", as our house was a rental when we first moved here. Seems like a good after-purge project.

I'm off work today and have a few errands to take care of. It's crappy windy today, but wind seems to be the main weather phenomenon without rain and snow and whatever else the east coast is getting. I was reading reports of high risk for downed power lines and power outages in some parts of the country and thinking how we don't typically have that problem. Our powerlines are underground, so power outages are usually caused by some freak thing like a squirrel getting into a transformer box.

Now I probably just jinxed it, and our power's going to go out... Well, we do have a lot of neighbor squirrels.

Let you go

I've taken today and yesterday off of work since I'm still dealing with this dang cold. I feel okay, actually. I'm sure I could perform my "job duties as assigned" just fine, but I'm still a bit congested and scratchy and don't want to sicken my coworkers. Our work setting is an open "corral", so not much for social distancing. I explained to Boss that I wasn't quite fit for humanity just yet.

As such, I've been feeling a bit restless while holed up at home. But The Great Declutter of 2024 has been going quite well.

On Monday, I tried to drop a couple of bags of donations at ARC,  but they had stopped taking donations by the time I got there. Fine, I drove over to Goodwill, which turned out to be closed for New Year's Day.  So I came back home and scheduled a pickupplease.org truck. They're coming next Wednesday.

In the meantime, I've been working on filling up more stuff for the truck. I think I've gathered about all I care to donate right now, and the rest of the crap is going in the trash, unworthy.

I'd thought myself a minimalist, but still had much to answer for. For example:

• Handfuls of panty hose?? I rarely wear panty hose. Much of it must have been from my corporate working girl days 27+ freaking years ago. I've been schlepping that along each time we've moved?
• Extension cords. So. Many. Extension cords.
• Cinch sacks - from employee orientations and road race paraphernalia, cinch sacks are/were the handout of choice for so many. Be gone!

I also happily sold a couple of items through Marketplace: a fully waterproof backpack we hardly ever used and a double-wide computer monitor I haven't used since downsizing to just a laptop. Both items sold quickly and went to, I believe, good homes. 

• I met with a young "dude"  at a pizza place downtown to exchange the backpack. He plans to use it for rafting - perfect.
• A young dad met me in a nearby parking lot for the monitor. He said he has the same model already, so now he'll have double-double! 

Everybody's happy.

Lastly, I've been chipping away at this 1000-piece puzzle from step-MIL that we started on Christmas. Claude Monet. 

So much sky. So much water. So many pieces look alike. I hate/must finish it!  

Damn you, Monet!

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Linking up with [John] for Mama Kat this week for the prompt:

1. Share something that you worked on this week.

moving on

Okay, holiday season is over. Time to get on with the business of getting through the winter. 

The break was nice, but I was ready to get back to work yesterday. As it was, we only gave four, count 'em FOUR tests the whole day. And it was only for two people because one guy did three tests. Talk about easing back into it. 

Boss had closed a bunch of things down, however, "just in case", so it was expected. I'm off today, but the schedule looks to be back to normal now.

New Year's Eve and day were non-events here. I think I was in bed by 9pm on Sunday. Plus, Magnum was down with Man Flu. Now, a few days later, it appears that I've contracted it as well. It feels like... a head cold.

Anyway, I "worked" with Sarge and Boss yesterday. We did a bit of tidying and updating things with all that free time. In discussing our New Year's reveling, theirs was as boring as mine. I mentioned my start of "The Great Declutter of 2024", and Sarge talked of painting his basement. Party animals, I tellya.

We did talk of "the old days" when we could go into work the following morning after a night of drinking. In my younger days, I'd worked at a hotel restaurant. Some mornings, the sight of the empty booze bottles from the bar the night before could make things a bit rough. Sarge told us that he'd worked on a garbage truck for a while and recalled collecting garbage while hungover. Ugh, yeah, that would've definitely been worse.

Now, here we are, cleaning house and painting basements. Did our younger selves see this coming?