Outta Here!

Bye folks! I'm spending the eve in Richmond for a hockey game and some quality time with Turtle and our friend (who doesn't have a blog alias yet). Don't forget to set your clocks ahead! (If you live in one of those areas that does observe Daylight Saving Time.)

Times Like This

Have you noticed that for a month or so, I've been in a generally good mood? I mean, I haven't had a real work rant for a while, I've even been mostly getting along with WAM (who, by the way, apologized yesterday for snapping at me about that task I hadn't had time to do). Well, I'm sorry to say that I just have to rant.

I am the kind of employee who rarely asks for days off. I hardly ever take sick days, I never ask for time around Christmas or New Years (when everyone wants off), not even the Friday after Thanksgiving. I tend to take a day here, a day there, and maybe a few spanning a weekend to minimize my time out of the office as much as possible.

Last year, I had such a great time during my short visit to Goldentree Wands headquarters in Idaho that I've been saving up my PTO and planning to take as much time as I could get when the season rolled around again this year. The office has allowed people to go away for months at a time before, so I had no reason to believe that three weeks would be an issue, especially if I asked for it four months in advance.

Maybe it's my fault that I didn't consider that two of the people in my department, but not in my group, are pregnant. And apparently there is one other person who has been approved for extended leave during that time frame that I asked for. This means that the one who otherwise never asks for this kind of time off can't have it.

I don't get it. As far as I can tell, the three people who will be out are not in my group. I'm so swamped with my work, I don't have time to help out other groups, so how does them being out really make a difference whether I am or not?

There are several purposes for my three week trip. The first is that I can go to Utah and visit my aunt, which I've only done once. Then there's GoddessFest, where I'll be offering Reiki again, and on top of that, it will allow me to finish my Reiki Master level and actually complete my training. We're trying to plan a few outings here and there and I'm also going to be checking out the local job and housing markets. I really need that time that I want to take.

Conceivably, I could cut the trip to two weeks, eliminate visiting my aunt in Utah and come back to work right after I get off the plane like a zombie. It won't make much of a difference here at work if I do that. Or, I could always say that my last day of employment would be when my vacation would start anyway. I know, that's extreme, but if OBC would hire some people to replace the ones we've lost recently, then we wouldn't be in this position. I wouldn't be in this position. Cutting my trip short is only going to make me bitter and resentful.

Then again, four months should be plenty of time to find a new job. I'll update my resume and send it to Manpower or something. Post on a few internet sites. I'm still waiting to hear back from that job I applied for last month (which is started to not look very hopeful as that deadline is less than two weeks away). Or, I could up and move to the area I'm thinking of 2 years in advance.

I hate being put in this kind of position. I am not owned by the place that rents my time, but I can't make plans without their approval. Why, oh, why did I not win that lottery?!?!

Slow Down!

When its cold enough to snow, it's probably cold enough to freeze. Yesterday's measly inch of snow wasn't so bad, but this morning was COLD! There were areas around here in the single digits (and single digits as in 1°). And it was foggy, really foggy. So, fog puts moisture in the air, moisture in the air puts moisture on the roads, and moisture on the roads with a whole degree of temperature makes ice. Lots of ice. Ice everywhere.

You would think that people would notice the ice or know it may be out there, but no, that would require logic. And as a result, people were crashing up their cars left and right and backwards and all around. We were actually doing really good this morning, left early with time to clean off my car, until that ...person... crashed right before my exit on the Beltway. This blocked the two left lanes of the Beltway a good, I don't even know; maybe 5 miles. We slowed to a barely moving crawl, and I ended up 45 minutes late.

Thanks people who can't drive on ice!

Ugh, Ugh, and More Ugh.

I've been having generally good days for a while now. Today was not so much.

First, I didn't win the near $400 million lottery. That would have been nice.☺

Also, WAM got wind of a task that I'm supposed to complete that I haven't had time to do. Instead of discussing it with me, they couldn't wait to run over and tell the Acting Supervisor. Now, it really doesn't hurt anything that I haven't done this yet, so there's really no point in rocking the boat. I did 101 jobs yesterday to try to catch up (I'm still very far behind) so the last thing I will tolerate is any of management thinking that I'm not working. If WAM is so concerned, maybe WAM should do it.

Snow started falling sometime in the morning. They were saying 1-3 inches, and it's so cold everything that falls with stick. Through the day, it didn't look so bad, so I decided to go ahead and work my planned overtime.

MISTAKE!! I misjudged this one, I admit, but it's still no fun when it takes 2.5 hours to drive home.

How's that for Wednesday?

I'm a Planner

I have to plan things in advance. It's not that I don't like doing things spontaneously, but, how can I say this? I don't have a whole lot of friends (that's not important anyway) but I am very close to the few I have. They all like to take entire days of my time (ie, we can't just get together for a movie in the evening, it has to be shopping and dinner and a movie that takes the whole day). This isn't so bad, really, except I don't get a whole lot of 'me' time as it is. And if I don't plan, plan, PLAN, I may end up double-booking.

Despite my best efforts, this weekend managed to get quadruple-booked. Gees, I think it's even more than that.

First is Saturday. Miss Luna needs to go to the vet for her annual shots. This is way overdue and is not negotiable.
Then, Turtle wanted me to visit her in Richmond for a charity hockey game. Hockey isn't my game, going to Richmond would include booking Sunday as well, and my aforementioned date from V-day will be there.
Monty wanted to catch dinner and The Number 23. I thought that we were going to do this last weekend. Apparently, we never actually mentioned dates to each other, so this is how this happened.
Or, I could have dinner with my grandmother and aunt on her last night here.
On Sunday, I have to take my Aunt to the airport. Or see that movie with Monty. Or drive home from Richmond. Or play a board game with Fox since I missed his annual birthday game (it's the more involved, all-day games that he and some friends get together to play).

Of course, a lot about Sunday depends on what I do on Saturday. If I don't go to Richmond, then I'd join my aunt for dinner, so Monty's movie is out. Fox already gave me leave to go to Richmond instead of his game, so that won't be done. Technically, my weekend in Richmond could start on Friday night, except Miss Luna needs her shots.

Are you confused yet? There's Turtle (and V-date), Fox, Monty, and my mother (who goes with the cat and my aunt) who want a piece of my time this weekend.

So it would seem that going to Richmond is the thing that will get done. Two people want me there, and another doesn't mind altering our plans so I can go without feeling like I let someone down. So, I can leave after Miss Luna's appointment on Saturday morning. If I drive down with my friend, we'd be back pretty early on Sunday because he has to work. That would give me time to take my aunt to the airport and then maybe take in that movie with Monty. And I'll do the game with Fox another day.

Anyone want to trade schedules? This will be another one of those weekends where I don't do anything for me.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see Turtle in Richmond. But at a hockey game is not how I enjoy spending my time. I'll have to bring a book to read or write or something.

I bet you're wondering why I don't just tell some of these people no, right? It's the guilt-tripping. That's really a rotten way to make someone spend time with you, but most of my friends do it. They try to convince me of why they are more deserving of my time, or how much more important their plans are than any other plans. I hate hearing those arguments, so I end up squeezing every ounce possible into my schedule just so I don't have to hear them complain about why they were the ones left out. Yes, it does make me resentful. And tired. And resentful. Maybe if everyone was more understanding about plans, it wouldn't happen. You can see I'm already resentful and the weekend isn't even here yet.

Overtime this week, booked solid for the weekend, probably overtime next week too. And my next vacation is not nearly close enough!

Overtiming!

While it's hard for me to do, I really like doing it. And it's not just the extra money. I get to use my overtime hours to catch up a few things in my own work and when that's done, I get to help out another group who really really needs it.

The difficult part of working overtime is that I only have some two hours once I get home before I have to get in bed and do it all again. That's a touch annoying, and why I don't put in some overtime more often. See, it's not about the money!

The extra dough is nice, though. If I can keep this up, I'm going to have this year's trip to Boise paid off before I even get there! That's WooHoo worthy. WOOHOO!

Brunch and Hats and All That Jazz

I'm usually the person who tells everyone when there's anything of note in the sky. It was very odd, last night, almost everyone was beating me to it! My grandmother, my aunt, my uncle. Everyone knew about this eclipse.

I think my family was a little disappointed because it was so dark. Hello?! It's an eclipse! The very nature of the thing means it will be dark! Of course, that made it too dark for pictures. It was an awesome deep red though.

Then we went to the monthly brunch, I bought a new hat (knit cap, to help keep my ears warm in the cold wind). Then we came home and went shopping again. We never made it to the grocery store yesterday, you see, and needed a few things for the week.

I think I'll be working some more overtime this week. While it's sometimes very hard to do, extra cash will help fund this year's trip to Boise. July seems so far away!

Always Fun Times

Shopping was this morning, and in a little while my mom and I will head to the airport to pick up her sister. I love it when she visits.

It's actually been pretty warm today, though they say it will get colder this evening. As long as the clouds stay away so we can see the eclipse.

Did you know there is an eclipse tonight? The moon will rise about when the sun sets (full moons just do that). On the East Coast, it will already be completely eclipsed upon rising. If you're in Europe, you can watch the whole thing. If you're on the West side of the Americas, you'll see the end of it when the moon rises. It should be a nice reddish color. Doesn't that sound like fun?!

Case of Fridayitis

Have you ever worked a job where your energy and production is just down on Friday? I'm going to assume that most people have and know what I'm talking about. Welcome to Friday!

I'm all here, and doing work. Albeit, I was a little late because ten vehicles did a paint exchange on the Wilson Bridge. But I can't seem to find a groove today. Maybe it's because I was late. Or because I couldn't muster the energy to get up and exercise this morning. Or because the day started out rainy and gloomy and I can't see the blue sky from my desk. Or because it's Friday. Or because my aunt is coming in from Utah tomorrow, and there will be a full moon and a total lunar eclipse and Mercury is in retrograde.

Who knows!

I think I need to ask again to move to a window seat. I think Boss² forgot.

At least my day is already halfway over.

My Hero, Our Hero

Let me tell you a little about Ted.

He is a young man I have never met. On September 20th of 2006, there was a post on a forum that I frequent asking for some healing energy and prayers for Ted. Ted was 14 and in the hospital fighting leukemia for the third time since he was 12. He was in a special hospital in Minnesota, miles away from home in Chicago, waiting for a stem cell transplant from Europe.

Over the next few months, Ted received radiation therapy. The cells in his mouth did not regenerate because of this, he had a fever and an infection. He was totally sedated with a pulmonary hemorrhage. His body did start to recover and produce its own white blood cells, but then his kidneys started to fail from all the medication. He received white blood cells from his mother to help him heal. They started weaning him off the ventilator and the meds that kept him sedated. He got another lung infection and a bladder infection, but was moved out of ICU. An oral infection caused the tissue along his gum line to die. Halfway through December, his leukemia was in full remission.

On December 20th, Ted turned 15 and was back in ICU with another infection. He apologized to his family for them being in the hospital with him at Christmas. They managed to relieve the pain he was in, and replaced his dead jawbone with a titanium one. By the end of January, he was still cancer-free, and the doctors were talking about sending him to a hospital closer to home for recovery.

February 22nd, they found bacteria in Ted's lungs. In a matter of days he was on a ventilator again and fully sedated. His parents signed a do not resuscitate order. Yesterday, his pain ended.

Ted won his fight. His cancer was in remission and he is now free of the pain of his long battle. This child had more strength and courage than anyone I have ever known. Even from the distance that I was, I saw his amazing ability to be selfless. I know the next path his soul will take will be incredible beyond words.