A link to a zoomable version:

Even that just took me 5 minutes to get through. Wow.

Catching up on work email is taking forever. I'm working bottom up and top down, and then keep getting shot to the middle by calls or "have you heard from XYZ?" emails at the top, or just boss-needing-stuff.

We fucked up on something, and it really truly was my manager's fuckup, and I have no idea if I'm to step back and let her get run over, or what. I suggested what I thought was a solution that met every requirement, and she shot me down without telling me why it wasn't a good idea, and when push came to shove, she didn't implement the other idea anyway.

And boss got reamed for that. But once she said no, pressing her further was impolitic (I would have said unpolitic--thank you Opera, for saving my face), so how much blame should the rest of us shoulder? The only person that could have overridden her didn't know what was going on. Which, again, was not anything we could do anything about. But she took a call on her off day when I was in the shower (it was before 8), so it's all very confusing--it could have been me in her shoes--it should have been me. And what would I have done?

Actually, probably caved to the business request she denied--because that's my failing. But we wouldn't be in trouble then. Well, not for this. But we're not allowed to pal around with the business anymore, because their boss is mad at our boss.

So yesterday I took the day off with my sister and we toured three eldercare residences: all about the same size, with room for a dog and professional staff trained in care for people with dementia & psych issues.

They were all nice enough, although the middle one was much more institutional-feeling: the first and third were like residential hotels or nice apartment buildings, with a lot of community space and so forth.

We liked the 3rd one the best, though: it's got a marvelous holistic philosophy, with a strong focus on respect and dignity for their residents. The community manager we met with did something that nobody else had, which was ask what my mother was most proud of in her life, and promised that that would be a means by which they would engage with her.

It's only about 12 minutes away, without traffic, in a busy neighborhood with a lot of shops nearby. There was lovely art on the walls, some of it the residents' own, either collected or made by them. And the food looked excellent.

It looks really promising, and my sister talked to my folks today, and Mom is willing to go see the place on Friday, so I'm going over there today to drop off a check (to hold the really lovely apartment they showed us) and warn the liaison not to mention medication management or dementia care...

So many lies we have to tell! But it's for her own good! Sigh.

Still, things are looking up. But that said: HOLY COW so expensive to get this kind of care in a facility this nice. ($9K/month!) I'll never be able to afford it myself, it's entirely funded by the Cold War and my dad's years as an engineer for a military contractor.

ita, Denzel is almost qualifying for silver fox. (More like salt and pepper fox.) [link]

Fingers crossed, Consuela. It sounds great.

That sounds super, Consuela!

That sounds great, Consuela!

Oh, wow, Consuela. That sounds really promising. I really hope it works out.

Here is the group pic of all of us on the morning of my sister's birthday: [link] . The lineup goes friend, friend, university friend, cousin, me, cousin, her, university friend.

Sue, that's HOT.

Cute!

What'd she think, ita !?