Jeez, the anual blood drive is next Thursday, which is also the day of our "Operations Appreciation" event where we're all going to Scandia for most of the day, so I tried to schedule a late afternoon (well, 3pm) appointment to give blood and everything after 2:30 was already taken. 7 minutes after the blood drive email went out. Seven minutes.

We are both having work crisis time in my household as well. Because he is a federal employee, mr. flea is fairly unlikely to be fired, but he hates everything at work so much right now I'm afraid he'll quit. Quit his "dream job" that we moved to Ohio for. ARGH.

My crisis is more "I am bored and considered a cog rather than a valued employee, plus underpaid of course" but my big issue is I am having so much trouble running a family and working full-time. I simply don't have enough energy at the end of the day to manage the emotions of everyone in my family (about to be 12, going to high school, hormones; 9, stubborn as fuck and makes brushing teeth into an hour long fight every night; 46, stubborn as fuck and wants to complain about work nonstop) as well as do the things that need doing like feeding and clothing everyone.

Ugh, Dana.

So the thing I long feared would happen finally has. Yesterday I forgot that I drove to work and took the bus home. Oops. I wonder if I can get an entry ticket on foot and avoid a $48 stupidity tax.

The house two doors down from us was sold to a 27 year old single man who offered 600K all cash. We were trying to figure out why he wanted to live in our neighborhood (which is full of families and kids).

Witness protection!

Sorry about the job news, Dana.

What a fucking drag, Dana. I feel for your husband.

Today we find out Matilda's teacher/class assignment. Since they lump the 4th/5th graders together, and you keep the same teacher for 2 years, this is a bit more consequential than the previous assignments.

On the flip side, we've learned to deal with the trauma of not having besties in your class.

Ugh - one of my friends just discovered that her high school aged teen daughter needs SIX extractions for orthodontia because she has all these baby teeth that never properly came out, and her previous dentist didn't catch it. Plus she'll need extra surgery to guide the adult teeth down. That's triggering all my dental anxiety about Matilda's work. So stressy!

Yikes dana! That sucks, I hate when people do that. OWN YOUR MISTAKES, folks. Although since none of our leaders in Washington do, why should anyone else?

flea, I'm sorry to hear about your husband's unhappiness, but one of my coworkers just moved to your husband's agency here in SF, and seems to like it alot. She says everyone's really dedicated to the mission and there's no dead weight (unlike my agency). Can he swing a lateral transfer to another office without having to move, maybe? Or another agency with offices local?

Speaking of dead weight, holy crap the new contractor they hired to (basically) fill my spot cannot open Outlook. She has been here for two weeks and has done NO WORK. She's got medical issues and family issues and I suspect some mental health issues, but she's done no work at all, that I can tell. I can't even get my work done because she's constantly asking for help with her computer.

The problem is that she's a contractor, and we will cut her loose in a dead moment, with no notice at all, if we decide to. I don't mean her ill, but despite what's on her resume, she seems barely able to feed and clothe herself, much less work at a fairly high level. (She is sleeping in her car in a bad neighborhood until she gets an apartment, and apparently lives on protein bars. I can't even.) She needs help, but we are really not the folks to provide it...

How on earth do people like this get hired??? Padded resume?

Ugh, my sympathies to your husband, dana.

Oh, Dana, I'm so sorry. A little peacetime for recovery for him, and for you, too.

SO sorry, Dana. Hope this is the beginning of a much better things for your DH.