a Friday five

 Another week gone, summer is winding down. I worked in the testing center this morning. The campus is still pretty quiet, but people are trickling in - getting advising, registering for fall, taking placement tests...

• Like many colleges, our enrollment is down because of 1) the "enrollment cliff" - predicted to kick in this year since not many babies were born in the U.S. in 2008. Those few who were born and made it through high school are the age to go to college. But 2) who can afford it/ go into all that student debt? Plus, 3)what to major in since AI is taking away many job opportunities?

And college isn't for everyone. But, our lights are still on.

• In other news, I'm happy to report that the missing kitty from next door seems to have returned. I spotted her yesterday running toward her house when a rainstorm moved in. I notice the neighbors took down the "MISSING" flyers, but don't know where she was during her 2-week adventure or how she reappeared. I honestly didn't expect her to return.

• One of the people I checked in at work today was testing to get her teaching license in "Family and Consumer Sciences".

"Is that what used to be 'home ec'? I asked

"Yes!", she enthusiastically replied. 

She went on to say that there's been recent increased interest among students - kids wanting to learn about nutrition, budgeting, etc. and turning away from getting everything off the internet and social media.

She felt optimistic about her job prospects. I remember taking home ec in jr. high. It was all girls. I wonder if that's changed. She told me she already has a teaching credential for art, but wants to expand her skill set in lieu of budget cuts. 

• Speaking of which, these doodles have nothing to do with anything. I dusted off the sketchbook and pens for doodling during evening TV time like when I was a kid. Just cartoony hooligan stuff.

• Lastly, this morning, I noticed some tidying up had been done at work this week. While preparing for the morning's appointments, I noticed an updated labeling scheme in one of the file drawers.

We do a lot of testing of water professionals. We provide them with reference materials based on whether they are testing for "water treatment" or "water distribution". The materials look very similar, but contain slight differences. 

We used to leaf through a pile and select the appropriate materials. So this morning, I noticed they've been separated into individual folders - "Poo", "Not Poo"

We're nothing if not up on the latest technical jargon.

June bugs

• It was my turn again on the Saturday rotation in testing this past weekend. I don't mind working Saturdays, especially now that the tutor load is light. But it does make for a shortened weekend. I worked with Daffodil, who is still fairly new at the job, but she's pretty much up to speed on everything at this point - thus the "privilege" of being added to the Saturday rotation.

I learned that she's originally from the Denver area, had moved out of state for work after college, then moved back when her boyfriend got a job here. I asked if she'd specifically been looking for part-time work, and got "nope, but after searching for such a long time, I'd take anything". 

Job market's tough out there, y'all. But I don't know what parameters she'd limited her search to, if she was only looking for college admin jobs, since that was related to her previous position. Either way, she's doing well and is a nice addition to our little group.

• We didn't get out to Middle Earth over the weekend, but we are getting some ducks in a row to get to work on the place. 

SOURCE

Our realtor is a former wildland firefighter, and he had trail building tips for us. He even presented us with this housewarming gift, known as a Chingadera. 

At closing, he asked if we'd heard of them, then lowered his voice, saying "do you speak Spanish?"

"Uhm, well, I know "chinga"', I replied.

Translated, chinga dera means "that effing thing"

I guess we can assume that some fireline people started calling it that, and the name stuck. 

• We did get out for a nice bike ride yesterday morning. After a very dry winter, it was nice to see a good volume of water in the Cache la Poudre (locally known as just The Poudre, pronounced POOH-der)  river that flows through town. Some late spring snows and rain helped.

I'd recently decided that I had too many bicycles and did a clearout. I had 4 bicycles - silly in my case. Now I'm down to one good general purpose. Sold two, donated a third. 

One buyer was actually a guy, but he was about my height and had a small build. I felt he was a good home for it.

A nice woman bought the other. She said she had a decent bike, but it was her ex-husband's, and she wanted to purge herself of him.  

Mission accomplished.

Buzz bite, bottoms

Coworker Buzz got bit by a dog a little over a week ago. Apparently, he was just walking along in a park when a rando dog - that was on a leash with its owner - suddenly decided to try to take a chunk out of Buzz's arm.

While the incident ruined Buzz's shirt, it didn't really break the skin, but left a decent bruise. And Buzz seemed pretty shaken up about the whole thing. Such a surprising, unprovoked response from a dog who's "never done that before!"

I commiserated with him with my own dog bite story when I learned of his ordeal a few days after the fact. The surprise of it, the confusion as to how to react. I won't rehash it, but I did (of course) blog about it [HERE].

And it really just grew out of swappin' stories, but that's when I realized that Buzz was pretty shaken up by it, emotionally. Later, as our shift together ended, he thanked me for sharing and talking it through with him. Said it was helpful to talk with someone who understands.

In my case, I chalked it up as a "weird" incident. I went home and cleaned up and that was that. In hindsight, I should've at least gotten a tetanus shot. 

In Buzz's case, Buzz called Boss because he didn't feel "stable" enough to drive himself. Boss drove him to urgent care. At urgent care, Buzz wasn't sure how to get his VA coverage, so he called Sarge - our other veteran coworker - who got him set. He was inspected and tetanused and sent home.

All this to say, don't judge a book... 

Buzz is about 40 years old, single, lives with a roommate. He's a military veteran with a large percentage of veteran disability. I don't know the extent of his disability other than he's got a bad back, but I think a good chunk of it is mental. 

On the surface, he seems pretty resilient. Stocky build, likes to joke around, does martial arts. But deep down, he's kinda vulnerable. And based on the way he discusses things, I get the feeling he regularly goes to therapy.

In other news, I'm still enjoying this little break between spring and summer semesters. Summer session starts next week, and I know nothing of the tutoring load yet to come. I've been using the break to take care of some to-do list things that have been back burnered for a while and do a few extra shifts in the testing center. 

Yesterday, Boss received some batteries he'd ordered. He showed us the underside of the box they were packaged in, so I figured I would share:

In case you ever need to say 'this is my bottom' in French.

watch out

"Wanna arm wrestle?"

Party Girl asked me this on Friday at work. Friday mornings in testing are nearly always very busy, but then things typically quiet down by noonish. We were at noonish. She suggested the arm wrestling to see which one of us could clock out early.

I asked what made her think of arm wrestling, "We could just rochambeau", I suggested.

But then I said she could go early since I had to tutor later so wouldn't be leaving campus anyway. She then admitted she just really felt like an arm wrestle match. So fine, I granted her wish, weird as it was. I don't think I'd arm wrestled since maybe middle school?

I won by the way.

• Speaking of granting wishes, two of my PEO friends and I interviewed a woman who applied for an educational grant. Bottom line, we learned she has too much financial aid already, so is not eligible for this particular grant. I need to draft an email to inform her, so am procrastinating by blogging instead. 
  
  
• We trudged around another property-for-sale in the boonies yesterday after deciding the access road to that other one was a deal breaker. Meego has come along both times, but Wolfgang had conflicts both times, so I meant to take photos of yesterday's site for Wolfgang, but plum forgot.

These are from the listing.

Again, there is some fire damage - from a fire in 2012 - but it's not nearly as stark as the last place we visited. And there are gorgeous views. I think we might put an offer on this one after a bit more research.

• After working up an appetite, traipsing around in those woods, we stopped at nearby Vern's just outside of town. 

Vern's is very popular, known for it's hearty meals and humongo sweet rolls. We'd never been there. It's an interesting contrast to restaurants in old town Fort Collins, which are more trendy, for lack of a better term. 

from Google reviews
What is that little thing below? A wolverine??

The Vern's decor is plentiful taxidermy, dead eyes watching from every vantage point. And there was a lot of camouflage clad clientele. 

Breakfast was delicious. Mine was meatless, which seems rather contradictory upon reflection.

not a minimalist, aliens among us

Thursday was technically my last day of spring break.  Friday, I worked in testing, which 'never' takes a break. Since I filled in for Test Boss on Monday, I had but 3 fun-filled days of spring break. No girls-gone-wild here, but I enjoyed not having to be anywhere at anytime.

Tuesday, I hauled a donation to the thrift store - always a fun time. I browsed the bargains for a while. A few months ago, I was in there on another Tuesday and learned that Tuesdays are Senior Discount day. Then I was smacked in the face with the realization that I'm eligible for the Senior Discount. Egads, when did that happen?!

While I love a good declutter, I've slowly come to the realization that I actually no longer identify as a "minimalist". A while ago, I perused some discussion boards around "minimalism" and "simple living". I sensed a common theme among many participants. 

It wasn't just that they didn't have much "stuff", but they also steered clear of obligations, responsibilities, employment, relationships...

And I thought, well, that's not me.

Recently, I was at the joyful Happy Whisk blog, where she was enjoying a good declutter. I asked her how her hobbies, of which she has many, meshed with her minimalism. She affirmed that she was not a minimalist, but rather

 "I make room for what I love to do".

Marvelous! So THAT'S what I'm doing when I declutter! Hadn't really put it in those words, though.

In work updates, we have a new coworker. "Daffodil" started in late January. She's fitting in nicely, and I enjoy working with her. Other than Boss and Blossom, we are all part-timers. Since I just work one shift a week now, I've not had much time to get to know Daffodil, but I worked with her both Monday and Friday this past week, plus we were a little less busy than usual since the students weren't around.

She is in her late 20's, moved here recently with her boyfriend, and no kids. I'm not sure why she wanted a part-time job, but maybe just took what was available from jobs that interested her. Yesterday, she wore a skirt, and I noticed a tattoo peaking out between the top of her sock and the hem of her skirt, so I asked her about her tattoos. 

She showed us the one I'd seen peeking out - a roses-and-dagger design - and one higher up on her thigh. The one on her thigh is a triangle, similar to [The Eye of Providence], but not exactly. She explained that she and her best friend got that tattoo together based on their interests in "alien conspiracy theories". 

Well all righty then. I'm honestly curious to hear more from her thoughts on that 👽

clocks and poultry

I think I'm still adjusting to daylight savings time. I'm not sleepy when I should be and morning comes too early. Hardships.

It's spring break all around here - the university, community college, and school district. No tutoring for me this week, so I told Boss in testing I was available if needed. To that, he said, "Yeah? Maybe I'll take Monday off, do something with my mom"

So I worked in place of Boss yesterday. The do-something-with-Mom turned out to be locating her tax documents. His mom is not young, and tends to forget things, but still lives on her own. 

While visiting the in-laws in California, much of the conversations were about effects of aging. Stepmother-in-law told us that one of the tests for dementia is to have the patient draw an analog clock.

SOURCE

She was talking about a friend of theirs who failed his clock-drawing test. Later, I was curious as to the result of FIL's drawing. I'm not sure about dementia, but his memory does have noticeable gaps. FIL is an accomplished architect, so I'm sure there was a time he would've drawn an impeccably creative clock.

I mentioned this conversation yesterday to Party Girl, who concurred. "Oh yeah. My dad's clock was all over the place".

Now I feel like drawing clocks... just to make sure I'm still with us.

In other updates, we encountered the resident wild turkeys while on a coffee walk again. Only three were hanging out this time. Two males, strutting their stuff, and one seemingly totally uninterested female.

This guy couldn't get enough of himself. He was all, "look at how majestic I am!". Never mind that the nearby female was fully ignoring him. He begged me to snap a photo.

Once I complied, he raked me in again, "No no, make sure you get my good side as well!"

Fine.

weekend ramblings

I am ready to put the whole PEO officer saga to bed. Looks like we've got enough volunteers to fill the officer slate for next year. Sheesh, you'd think we were asking them to donate a kidney.

In the tumult of recruiting officers, I needed someone to fill a relatively easy job, and I thought of Jan. "Jan doesn't do enough", I thought, "time for her to step up". Jan became my target.

Jan is one of the few people left on the planet who still has a landline phone in addition to her cell phone. I didn't want to bother her if she was away from home, so I called the house phone. Her husband picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm calling for Jan. Is she home?"

"No, she's out delivering Meals-on-Wheels. Can I take a message?"

-----------------------------------------

Meals. 

On wheels. 

Jan was delivering. 

Boy did I feel like a doofus. Told my brain to quit being presumptuous. Of course, doesn't-do-enough Jan got back to me later and happily said yes to my request. Super duper Jan.

-------------------------------------------

Speaking of extra tasks, I worked a long shift in testing yesterday because Blossom needed to leave early. I've mentioned the on-going issues with Blossom's absenteeism. I think HR has gotten more involved, and Blossom actually worked two full weeks without calling off. Seriously, I think that's the first time that's happened in two years.

But since she'd worked last Saturday, she needed to take time off this week so as to not go into overtime. Solution: have me work extra.

Be careful what you wish for.

--------------------------------------------

Speaking of wishes, I've recently become intrigued by these Italian Moka pots. I don't consider myself a coffee snob, but these just seem cool and cute to me, and I strangely want one. 

SOURCE

In college, I had a little 2-cup stovetop percolator. It got me through many a lecture. These days I use an hourglass shaped pour over maker and rather enjoy the daily coffee making ritual. I consider myself a minimalist, so what's up with wanting a Moka pot? Well, I do just want a small one...

Alas, they don't work with my induction stovetop. 

However, we do have a campstove. And a patio. Will = Way.

unexplained

I was in the math center a week ago, happily tuting away, when I looked up and saw a printout posted on a bulletin board. In the middle of the flyer was a photo of adjunct instructor and fellow tutor, Greg.

I thought, "Oh, what's this? We doing instructor of the month or something?"

Then I noticed the "In Loving Memory of"

WHAAT? I was shocked. Friendly, mellow, patient Greg? Passed away??

I had no idea. Neither did many of the others I talked with. He never looked unwell or in any discomfort. He was, I'm guessing, mid 60s, and seemed quite healthy. Loved his grandkids, enjoyed golfing...

Magnum says maybe it's one of those cancers you don't know about until the end. Maybe?

Still feels strange to think I won't be chatting with him anymore. My colleagues in testing were equally shook.

• Speaking of testing, I worked last Saturday with Party Girl. It was a busy day with lots of annoying little fires needing extinguishing. I didn't get much catching up with her until we were closing up. What's with all these people and their issues? Didn't they know I had Party Girl tea to catch up on??

But I did know that she was in a much peppier mood when I worked with her on Friday and then Saturday than she'd been the week before. Things are not great at her dad's facility, but minisculy improved. She's given her husband the what for, and he's taking note. No more mention of her moving out, making him buy her a house.

In short, he's having what seems to be an emotional affair with a long ago girlfriend - The One Who Got Away - from back in high school before his first wife (Party Girl is wife number 2). They talk on the phone and text regularly. I don't know if she lives nearby, but he should pick a lane.

• Speaking of picking a lane, I'm going to lay it all out with my PEO chapter at our upcoming meeting that people either need to step up and take an office or we don't have a chapter anymore. Sad but true. I'm not going to keep us afloat for another year just so we're in this same boat next February. We'll see how it goes.

But I'll be patient and calm and caring. 

It's what Greg would do.

we got spirit...

1. Nobody is willing to take over as PEO president
   
   
2. HR is telling coworkers and I not to talk sh*t about Blossom's chronic absenteeism
   
   
3. Furnace crapped out after an annual tune-up NOT coincidentally. 

So those three things are at the forefront of my little world. Other things at the bigger world, but we'll keep it at the little one.

• I'm frustrated with my PEO chapter. I've never had this issue with the two other chapters I've belonged to, but it's like pulling teeth to get people to volunteer for offices. We have 7 officers, and we've filled 5 very easily, but the two remaining - including President, which I currently occupy - remain vacant for the upcoming changeover.

We had two members who had earlier agreed to co-preside, but now both are backing out. I feel like those astronauts who got stranded at the international space station when the Starliner meant to retrieve them went belly up. Will I have to call on Elon Musk to bail me out?

•  Boss told us about HR getting involved in the problem of Blossom's attendance issues, and he had to pen an "edict" that we can't talk sh*t about her or ask why she calls off so often. I asked him to clarify what we're being accused of. 

Boss says HR is also aware of employee "grumpiness" from having to pick up the slack when Blossom leaves us understaffed so often. 

"Her absenteeism and our resulting grumpiness are two different issues"

Okay, I just wanted to make sure that we were not being told not to be grumpy.

• We had our furnace annually tuned on Monday. Monday was a warm day, and we didn't really need the furnace, but Tuesday morning, I noticed it would not turn on. 

Fix-it guy came out and eventually determined that the filter Tune-up guy gave me was crap, blocking airflow. The safety features in the furnace told it to shut down. Now it has a new filter, the house is warm, I got a service invoice for $0.00 following Fix-it guy's visit.

I'm not mad about Tune-up guy. He only gave me the filter - which turned out to be crap - because our lame butts didn't have any spares on hand. The crap filter wasn't intentional, just a weird situation... pretty sure.

On the bright side:

• 5 enthusiastic officer volunteers
• Fun coworkers, including Blossom when she shows up
• Furnace working fine, and I learned some furnace stuff

How 'bout you?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hooking up with [John's Writer's Workshop] this week for the prompt:

1. What’s taking up the most mental space for you right now?

flux

It's a sunny Saturday morning after a somewhat tumultuous week. Not too crazy tumult, but the sunny weekend is welcomed.

The week actually started off pretty good with my PEO meeting and wrapping up that President letter. I'm currently working on recruiting officers for the upcoming year because I and others are ready to ride off into the sunset. People aren't exactly getting in line to be next prez. There are two who had sort of agreed to share the job, but neither has answered my message to confirm. Hmmm. They'll come around 🤞

I have a nice batch of dedicated tutees so far and more available slots in my schedule. I'm enjoying not having a full schedule just yet, though. Classes are coming up on their first exams of the semester, and that typically gets the tutor appointments filling up.

I worked in testing yesterday, and it was just a weird day. Fridays are typically busy, and yesterday was certainly no exception. Add several annoying technical issues, and the day was rather "tits up" as they say in the UK. 

In the midst of all that, at one point, a young woman came out of the testing room to turn in her materials. She was absolutely BAWLING, no holding back. I honestly thought she was going to hyperventilate.

"Are you okay?", which seemed like a silly thing to ask, but I didn't know what else to say.

"I PASSED!..." She loudly sobbed

This was happening as we had several people queued up to check in for their respective tests. I don't think the scene helped to quell the overall test anxiety. 

Additionally, I could tell that Party Girl was a little off her game. It was so busy from the get go, that I hadn't really checked in with her. When things quieted down a little, she sat with Boss in his office for a few minutes with the door closed.

A little while after that, she looked over to Boss, and said, "Y'know, I think I'll just go now", although she had a couple hours left of her shift, and we were still fairly busy.

I did manage to catch her in the break room as she was packing up. She closed the door and gave me the Cliff Notes version of her current life situation. In summary

• The facility where her elderly dementia dad lives is not meeting his needs and is not able to increase his level of care
• Her husband is... well, I'll just say there are marital issues.

She said she wants her husband to buy her a house (as compensation?) so she can move out. This so she can move her dad in with her, quit all her jobs (she also tutors) and take care of her dad full-time.

And I'm thinking, was it that recent full moon or what?

We've also got a situation at work where Boss is chastising - for lack of a better word - all of us unreasonably IMHO. I have thoughts on a rebuttal that I would normally bounce off of Party Girl, but now is probably not the time. 

So, back to sunny Saturday.

feels like

Happy February! It's not that I necessarily love February, but nice to know we're a little closer to spring, days are getting longer, bit by bit.

Last weekend was FREEEEEEZing cold. Today, it's forecast to be in the high 50s. Magnum and I plan to bike to some coffee shop in a little while. This to say, that I am not yet caffeinated while posting this, so bare with.

• This week felt like a productive one. Tutees are starting to fill my schedule at the college. So far, I have a couple of returners from last semester, and the rest are newbs.

• I worked yesterday in testing with Kitty. A little toward the end of the shift, Work Study stopped by. She was on campus for a class and found "everything is closed on Saturday!" Well, everything but us. She'd come by to use our microwave.

She told us that last week was her final week working with us. I'll miss her, but I'm happy to see her go because (1) we don't need a work study in testing - there is not nearly enough for them to do because of limitations in what the testing world allows student workers to do, and (2) I think her new (non work-study) job is a better fit for her. So I'd felt it was a waste of funding and a waste of her talents to have her in testing, but she'll be missed.

• In entertainment news, Magnum and I recently finished watching the Netflix series [Katla]. Watched it? It's "Nordic Noir" based in Iceland, and that's all I will say. I really liked it, although it can be dark and disturbing at times. Now I want to visit Iceland. 

• The [P.E.O.] year is wrapping up. As such, I'm required to write the year-end "President's letter". I had it pretty squared away, but was having trouble with a satisfying final paragraph. Not gonna lie, I asked chatgpt for a little help, expecting it to return something bland and/or irrelevant. But damn, I liked the suggestions and went with them, paraphrased. 

And speaking of not trusting the internet, I just checked my weather app to see about our bike ride. It says it's 38 degrees and feels like 52. Uhm... what?

Whatever, coffee's calling.

closed for the day, turkeys in trees

Traditionally, the college has not closed for MLK day, likely because the first day of spring semester is the Tuesday after, as is the case this year. Our state community college system (something like 13 colleges) got a new chancellor a few months ago. She sent out an email declaring today a "chancellor's holiday" since it was not originally a holiday on the schedule.

"...it is important that we honor Dr. King’s legacy on the day our nation reflects on his life, courage, and lasting contributions... This observance aligns with our commitment to inclusive excellence and service and reflects the values we strive to uphold in our work and in our communities."

Nice. Couldn't have said it better. 

Shortly after we received this message, we were told that Great Grandboss (Boss's boss's boss) said testing, alone, would stay open on MLK day. To that, I thought, "PFFFFT, did he not read the email?"

Now, it doesn't affect me directly either way. I'm typically not scheduled to work on Mondays, but it's the principle of the thing. Great Grandboss's reasoning is that some students might need to take a last minute placement test - emphasis on LAST MINUTE.

C'mon, they've had a ton of time to get their ducks in a row. So somebody above Great Grandboss overrode his attempt to override the chancellor, and the entire campus, including testing, is closed in observance. And from what I've learned about her, I do like this new chancellor, even though I'm not really sure what chancellors do all day, honestly. And Great Grandboss has been a bit on my sh*tlist ever since [that time he totally botched my name]. 

Speaking of ducks in a row, how about turkeys in trees?

Magnum and I were on a coffee walk when this flock  (I counted fifteen) of wild turkeys was partying it up in one neighborhood. We snapped a few pics when I noticed two of them in a tree. See them? Since when do turkeys fly up into trees? 

I mean... I assume they flew. 

HR logjam, diversions, over here gagging

I've got extra shifts in the testing center again this week. Our new coworker was scheduled to start last week, but they have to make it through all the HR onboarding tasks. Since everything came to a standstill over the winter break, nothing happened with the onboarding, so the start date was pushed out two weeks. So... more shifts for me, which works out nicely since tutoring has yet to begin. 

I'm about to finish another book. This will be number 4 for the year. It's all part of my staving off doom scrolling and social media. Who knew it could be so easy?

I often think I should just chuck the f4cebook account, but it is useful for some things. We don't have a good source of local news around here, so I follow the local law enforcement pages for news I shouldn't ignore. Then there's marketplace, which has come in handy, damnit.

In other diversions and despicables, we'd been watching Peaky Blinders, which is really well done IMHO, but with much violence and darkness and repulsive characters. I finally threw in the towel in the last season. I just googled the ending and decided, okay, no need to watch anymore.

I'm like our cat, Napolion, trying to hide in my mug. Okay, he was actually going after the dregs of my tea. 

I can't imagine he actually wants it, and he does have plenty of water bowls for pets to choose from. I think he's just asserting his alpha-ness and displaying his lack of respect for boundaries...

...and clearly I let him, snapping a pic instead of shooing him away. 

He kills mice with that mouth. Such a jerk.

the here and now

It hardly counts, but is that... is that... snow??

I headed out to the gym this morning, and bits of snow were sort of just spitting at me. It's been doing that for about 3 hours now, and this is the current grand total of  accumulation around the uninviting dog run.

"JANUARY 8TH!", another gym goer exclaimed to me as I prepared for the bike ride back home.

I looked up from my preparations to see a young guy standing there, "FINALLY!"

Our mild winter so far has been on many people's minds, so this parking lot exultation was actually not weird.

So far, it's been a good week to get back into the swing of things after the holiday break. I opened with Boss on Monday after the testing center had been closed for a week and a half. Sheesh, it was like Y2K happened, but 26 years late. Seemed like every computer platform needed CPR to get going, but we were eventually back in business.

It was nice to be back and to catch up with the coworkers. Assistant Boss Blossom was out again for the first three days. Looks like she made it in today. I've mentioned her abysmal attendance, which has been a problem since she started. We feel she's taking advantage of Boss's friendly demeanor with all the time off she takes, but that's between the two of them.

Meanwhile, Sarge wants a full-time position after Mrs. Sarge was replaced by AI and laid off from her full-time job. Sarge would be great as Assistant Boss, and I know he'd snatch it up if it was open. But there's no opening because that's Blossom's job - that she is so often absent from. 

I honestly feel that, if this were a private sector workplace, that switch would've been made a while ago. In fact, I think all of us at work know that... except for maybe Blossom. 

ANYWAY, just venting. I'm off today and trying to be productive. I have already completed two books for the year, shooting to read 26 as I mentioned. My goodreads incentive graphic...

Ahead of the pace! I will say that the two books I read were not great, but at least I finished them. The book I'm reading now, I find pretty engaging: [The Listeners]. It's my fave book of 2026. So far - so not saying a whole lot at this point.

... not even a mouse

Christmas Eve. We've made it passed the winter solstice, the days are getting longer. Feel it??

We had our white elephant swap holiday party on Monday at work. We're a relatively small group - 8 staffers in total - and one had already skipped town for the holidays. So 7 of us plus one toddler got together for the rip roaring time. 

We actually gathered in the testing center while it was still open for the last hour and a half. There wasn't much business going on in there at that time on the Monday of Christmas week.

There was plenty of good food (no booze allowed on campus), and the swap was pretty fun, nothing outrageous. I don't get excited for presents, but I'd say I did pretty well with what I ended up with: two cat themed teacups, a cat themed bookmark, a sample of handcrafted soap, and a coupon for a local chocolate shop. Blossom revealed afterward that it was her contribution. 

I like the Japanese style cups, no handles. They hold maybe 4 or 5 ounces and go nicely with my teapot

I suspect that Party Girl was drunk or at least tipsy. She was acting rather weird, talking about stupid stuff and being more touchy-feely than usual. At one point, she got on the ground and tried to crawl into a large gift bag?  I don't hang out with her outside of work, though, so maybe that's just the way she is, but I still suspect some booze was involved. She's not secretive about her daily drinking habit.

So now the break has officially begun. Campus is closed until after New Year's.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to be productive and have something to justify my existence at the end of each day. We're staying here for the holidays this year. I've got my food fixings, so shouldn't have to be anywhere near a grocery store until after Christmas. 

Last night, while I was somewhere between asleep an awake, I sensed the cat doing his typical midnight zoomies. At some point later, I was awakened by what sort of sounded like rain drops or sleet spitting against our window. 

But when I became more awake, I realized it was the cat licking his chops. It was juicier sounding than his typical bathing. So I switched on the reading light to find the mighty hunter at the foot of the bed, digging in to the remains of a mouse. *GAG*

Magnum got up (better him than me), scooped the departed mouse into a bag, and that was the end of Napolion's Christmas feast. Apparently the zoomies I'd heard were not just a training sesh.

So today, I raise my cat teacup in honor of the mighty mouser, Napolion. 

cards and kitties

I had test center duty today with Kitty. Now, it's mid-afternoon, and I feel like just lazing about the house. It's grey and drizzly out, so good laze-about weather. Taking a cue from the cat.

Like me, Kitty is reducing her work hours in the testing center for this upcoming semester. Her daughter is now a toddler, and Kitty's parents are returning to their permanent home in another state after renting a place here for the past year to help with childcare. 

A week or so ago, Party Girl expressed her sadness about Kitty's situation. At first, it seemed to me that Party Girl was sad that Kitty had a daughter, and I thought that's not a sad thing. Kitty gushes over her daughter. 

But after clarification, Party Girl is sad for herself that Kitty is cutting her hours. She's not sad for Kitty, she's sad that Kitty won't be around as much

I too am sad not to work with Kitty as often as before, but was surprised about Party Girl's reaction. Despite her nickname - which she herself came up with - Party Girl is a very conscientious and thorough worker, dotting every I, crossing every T. She can be quite judgy of those who don't have her work ethic, even documenting transgressions for the bosses to sort through.

At first, Party Girl was quite judgy of Kitty because, truth be told, Kitty is the opposite of conscientious and thorough. Oh, and she'll probably show up about 10 minutes late for her shift. Every time.

But Kitty is just so dang likeable!

I mean, she's late 30's, laid back, doesn't seem particularly ambitious or goal driven. She has a bachelor's degree unrelated to the job, and I get the sense that she went to college for an experience/ adventure to enjoy, without a real end goal in mind. Now she's continuing to go wherever the flow takes her, in this case, with a toddler in tow.

Side note: we're pretty sure the daughter was a "surprise", the discovery of which prompted a shotgun wedding. In true Kitty fashion, all is seemingly going quite well. 

Today at work, I don't remember how the subject came up, but I mentioned that I'm familiarizing myself with tarot. I bought a deck a few weeks ago and have started to learn the cards. It's not the Woo Woo I'd thought it was, but a rather fun and interesting diversion.

"Oh yeah", acknowledged Kitty, "I took up reading tarot during the pandemic while living with my grandma. We got tired of doing jigsaw puzzles".

She went on to tell me she often does readings for her sisters and some friends. Apparently, they attribute high credibility to Kitty's readings, almost giving her "life coach" status, which feels a bit ironic to me.

But I have to admit, Kitty does always seem to land on her feet. 

work it

I've made it through this first week of winter break. There's more free time on my hands and I'm trying to use it wisely. A little recap

• I had "The" talk with Boss. I've mentioned contemplating staying or going from the testing center. Pros and cons are pretty balanced, and every end-of-semester, I contemplate some more. Boss makes our work schedules a semester at a time, so it was time for another fresh calendar.

This semester, he's facing a few scheduling challenges from all us part-timers. As per usual, he asked for our availability for spring, and also to let him know our maximum and minimum number of preferred hours. 

I listed my minimum preferred hours as "zero", which prompted a one-on-one. I explained that he should feel free to "take me off the schedule" if it's too much of a hassle for him to work around my tutoring schedule. The word "quit" was never uttered by either of us.

He said he didn't want me to q-word, but he's hiring a new person to fill some gaps, and wants to be able to offer a decent number of hours to the newb. He was actually quite relieved that I was happy to reduce my already meager hours.

So, bottom line, I'm scheduled for a whopping ONE shift per week plus the Saturday rotation in testing for spring semester. The best of both worlds, I feel. I'd originally thought I would need to work at least two shifts or nothing. More available hours for tutoring while still keeping my foot in the testing door, and I'm happy with that outcome. 

• We got together with Wolfgang and Meego yesterday for our monthly breakfast outing. There was a short wait list, so I gave the host my name and party of five. Duh, we're a party of four. I was either Freudian slipping missing Chaco, or my brain is mushy from the downtime. 

• Speaking of menopause brain *ahem*, coworker Party Girl was complaining about trying to find pants that fit.

"If they fit my waist, they're too big in the butt. If they fit my butt, they're too tight in the waist. It's this &%#!  menopause body!"

We were working with Blossom and Kitty. I told her to stop scaring the young ones.

Merry Christmas.

 

compress, de-

This past week was an exhausted drag into fall break. Yeesh, Thanksgiving is a late one again this year, and it's been felt at the college by both students and staff. No classes all next week, but campus is open through Wednesday.

I worked in testing today with Sarge. It was a, thankfully, smooth and uneventful day. I have no tutees next week because of the break, so I'm in loaf mode since clocking out this afternoon. 

This week also featured another birthday for me. I've had a few now. Coworkers bestowed this card upon me.

For my birthday last year, I was given a piñata (empty). He still lives at the testing center, and we named him Felipe'

Here is Felipe', last year during December finals (he doesn't normally have reindeer antlers) guarding a few beverages - his designated job.

So it'll be a small paycheck next round, but I'm looking forward to the time off. No major plans, but I'll think of something. 

I also noticed the adjunct faculty whiteboard has been further adorned with decompressive thoughts, now that mid-semester is semester's end.

I'm hoping to get in some loaf time with good books - currentlly reading [The Wedding People] and am see-sawing on its goodness or badness - some nature time, and other chill pursuits. Tidying, that's always fun.

What's on your whiteboard?

fall favorites, big hair

Happy fall, we made it through another summer!

With that, I saw there is another question posted on the adjunct instructor room whiteboard at the college: "What is your favorite thing about autumn?"

The first thing my eyes noticed is that the "super pretzels with cheese シ" is still there from the earlier question... or a carry-over?

I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures and am still getting used to the dark mornings and earlier sunsets. Time to break out [the vest].

In other news, coworker Sarge's ducks? One of them has become a woman. Sarge's family isn't sure which one, but they've been getting one egg per day, started last Sunday. I imagine the other two ducks will get in sync and start earning their keep very soon. Exciting times.

This reminded me of many years ago, when I worked as a 2nd shift quality inspector. I had three female coworkers and one male. The man's name was Rod, poor guy. 

We all worked very closely together, and when we weren't slaving away, we just shot the breeze, etc. as coworkers in a small lab will do. The result - all us "ladies" got in sync, yaknow whatIm sayin'? Yeah, we were all "laying eggs" together. 

I found this old grainy photo from that era. It was taken with a Polaroid. Back in the day, before digital cameras, if we needed to take a photo of something "top secret", we'd get out the Polaroid.

So we had someone take this photo on my 21st birthday :P. Yeah, not a whole lot of supervision on 2nd shift...

Anyway, there's three of us egg layers. The fourth was probably out sick as I remember her having a fair share of sick days.

The long suffering Rod is the moustache in the right rear. Our supervisor is on the far left, and the other guy is my boyfriend of that era - a lab technician. We'd met at work, neither of us having stalked the other to the workplace.

Boyfriend's a nice guy, just not big on smiling for pics, apparently. Rod was also a very nice guy. Sheesh, he had to be.

Besides the Polaroid and our big hair, I notice other blasts from the past. Mainly the cigarettes and ashtray right there on the table. I've never been a smoker, but all three other ladies were, so along with their cycles, I got plenty of secondhand smoke. 

Ah, the good old days.

pastry partiality?

On Thursday, I walked into work and was greeted by this diabetes abbondanza in our breakroom.

We were a relatively small staff of five people total scheduled for the day, so who was supposed to eat all those donuts?

Okay, so Sarge had brought in the bag from Lamar's, which was really nice of him because he happens to have celiac disease, so is gluten free - which donuts are not. He bought them for the rest of us cohorts.

But Boss had brought in the box. He explained that it was a nursing test day, so he brought them for the nursing students. 

Quick background: the ADA requires colleges and universities to provide alternative testing for students with approved disabilities accommodations. Those are the students we serve at the testing center in addition to the non-student testers completing professional licensing and certification exams.

So yes, some of those students are in the nursing program, but we serve all accommodated students from every program at the college. So when Boss said he brought donuts for the nursing students, I thought, "hmmmmm...", but didn't comment.

I think Boss's heart is in the right place, but I felt it was wrong of him to offer donuts only to nursing students as we had other students coming in and out for tests. We do see the nursing students quite often - they take a LOT of tests throughout a semester - but I feel it's wrong to single them out like that because;

• what message does that send to the non-nursing students? Blatant bias? And for what reason? They're program is not worthy?
• what about the non-accommodated nursing students who take their tests in their classroom? Only accommodated nursing students deserve favoritism? And again, for what reason?

I'll note that most accommodations are for disabilities that are not obvious. The majority of accommodations are for dyslexia (extra time for tests) and/or ADHD (extra time, plus maybe a private room). Some are English as a second language (extra time).

So I let it go. But I think I might mention it to Boss... that his bias was showing... in case he's thinking of doing it again. And I don't even know the motivation for the bias. I know he meant well, but he has had times in the past where he didn't consider the "big picture"

After all these anti-bias trainings we're required to complete each year -  am I overreacting over accommodated-nursing-student-donuts??

Who even knew that'd be a thing?