WTF homeownership this week.

I've got to trash the current filter on the shopvac. I've definitely got a mold reaction going from last night's action (and that filter had only been used for dry stuff previously, but they aren't kidding when they tell you to replace often.)

hackhackhack

I have a new boss who started this week. I'm meeting with him later today. Usually my team is super low drama, especially compared to our counterparts. But of course he's starting right when I've been doing some (justified) shit-stirring.

Including dealing with an employee who has gotten herself into a bizarre tangle, but who also came to me to say that she feels she's been stymied and retaliated against when she tries to advance her career and that as a woman of color, she is certain that if she were a "white dude from Dartmouth" it would not be happening.

And you know, the current situation was not caused by her but was escalated a bit by her being a little naïve. But her overall complaint, I can't say she's wrong. Some of the things that have been said to her and the reaction she's gotten for career moves are utterly against our firm culture, and I think she's right about where some of it comes from. So I've got a whole bunch of meetings with the head of HR going on. Because this shit needs some attention and I can't believe I'm her first manager who has taken this forward.

Good Stuff? This little girl's parents are deaf. She wanted them to be able to understand her school holiday concert. [link]

(She can't quite keep up with the lyrics of Rudolph. Also, she signs "Rudof." And seems to not remember the sign for "history" at the end of the song, tries to figure out how to spell it, and ends up at something like "hsre." Which just makes it all the more adorable.)

Buns should be toasted whenever possible.

Hence the popularity of heated seats in cars.

Wow, brenda, that's a lot to contend with. Good luck to you.

...I hate emergency service call windows. Basically, I'm stuck at home all afternoon. I guess I'll go out this morning and buy bleach and shopvac filters and deal with that. After I go next door to use the bathroom.

A neighbor at an apartment I used to live in came home after a weekend away to find that his toilet had erupted. As in volcanicly. Over his all-white, carpeted, bathroom. ew

Since it looks like I will be working Sat and Sun, I asked for today off. Dad and I are headed down to see Grandma for a couple of hours around noon. I HAVE A LAZY MORNING WITH NO CHILD!

That's in addition to the stink I've been raising about desk space (our area has been cannibalized by other parts of marketing so you have to get in at like 7 to get a desk), the pursuit evaluation process (no one is being held accountable for the amount of pure crap we are chasing), and my team being strong-armed by higher ups into taking on a nightmare project that we are specifically not supposed to have been involved in.

That's like 3 years worth of shit-stirring for me.

Okay, sanity check. Emailing with my father about food issues for an upcoming visit (my stepmother cannot have sugar; I am not sure why but I asked if she could have splenda in baked goods.) He replied that she could have splenda, but in general they were on a very low fat almost vegetarian diet, for cholesterol level reasons (actual cholesterol level stated seemed fine), but they do indulge occasionally. An example of "indulgence" was eating grilled salmon...

That's crazy, right? I mean, I am not a doctor, and my father IS, but I was under the impression that grilled salmon was rather healthy in general, and had "good" fats in it. My idea of an indulgence would be, like, beef wellington.

Sympathetic ughs for meara and sarameg. House woes suck.

I'm glad you'll get to see your grandma, msbelle.

I woke up anxious and stressed out at 2 am and never really went back to sleep. Now my stomach is all in knots and I'm still anxious as hell, AND I need to get cracking on the day. And somehow not collapse at 3 when I need to pick up the kids. Ack! Plus I'm feeling like a bit of a failure as a wife, for not being there for my DH because I'm too wrapped up in my own stuff right now.

Such a case of the don't wannas right now.