Totes smishable.

Baby!

Adorable!

I can manage to keep up with Facebook, but it's too complicated to manage the site on my tiny phone screen.

Still Loving you all.

I hear that 'tis the season, and this thing is still open, so *dips in toe*

I just finished a pretty stressful week-and-a-few-days where the planetarium of which I am director was broken. One of our two projectors was on the fritz, and after several hours on the phone trying various fixes, they decided that it was probably hardware and the projectors needed to be replaced. (even though only one was broken, they replace both so that they're color matched.) This could easily have been months of down time and upwards of $50,000, but this year for the first time in our almost 6 years of operation, my college foundation found ~$13,000 for a system protection plan. So: hardware replacement covered, expedited service, and we only pay for the technician's labor and travel. Of course, then they weren't going to have a technician available for two weeks, but then one (who happens to be one of our closer friends among the many lovely employees at the planetarium company) was on our side of the country and was able to rearrange travel plans to be here last week. Yay! And then he got almost completely done with the work and we couldn't get the calibration camera to talk to the computer at almost-closing-time on Friday on the east coast. They sent a new camera by FedEx Overnight, but despite asking for Saturday delivery, it wasn't going to make it till Monday. On Saturday morning, we tried one last stupid thing and it worked (because of course it did) and the tech managed to even get a flight home that day! ooooof.

That was quite the saga, but I'm once again super excited that we have the largest planetarium theater in the state and I get to work there wheee! And I bet we're going to be able to convince the Foundation that renewing the service plan will be money well spent!

In June, at the very end of the school year, we finished bargaining the faculty contract. That was a soul-crushing experience that I am not eager to repeat ever again. Thank God I didn't have to teach this summer, so I could recover. Someone else gets to be on the bargaining team next time; I've done my time! The administration, among other things, denied actual numerical facts; demonstrated repeatedly that they do not understand in the slightest what the faculty do, nor do they respect us as professionals; had emotional hissy fits; and repeatedly put in writing their asshole desire to not pay benefits to any of the adjuncts.

Fortunately, we got almost everything we wanted, and I'm now almost being paid what I'm worth. I will definitely never work at another college where the faculty are not unionized. And fuck you, SCOTUS, for ruling the way you did in Janus. Fortunately the hard work we did in our union is keeping almost everyone interested in remaining members so far. #unionstrong!

Yay delurking! I hope that things calm down for you a bit now, Una. Sounds like an eventful summer. That way you spend more time posting here.

Hi Una! Congratulations on the projector and the contract!

Go union! And yay protection plans! I'm glad things worked out, Una, even though it sounds fraught.

(waves hello)

Dang, it's been a while since I posted around here. Things have been going well, although busy with work and depressing with politics. I am now a fully-fledged project manager at work, and am having a grand (if time-consuming and occasionally brain-eating) time of it.

The two cats (Finn and Eddie) are doing well, although it's a bit like rooming with Greta Garbo and Jabba the Hutt. Finn is a nervous mess and Eddie cannot be trusted around unattended food.

In terms of fun time, I've been spending a fair amount of time oil panting, and have recently gotten back into knitting.

Anyhow, I have missed you all and I am sorry to have been so quiet for so long.

Anne! Good to see your update. I generally picture you with knitting needles in your hands after the F2F. Now I will have to picture you with a painter's palette.