I am not in the right frame of mind to be cheerful and interested for a 7AM meeting.

I hope that you can get away with just being present and no one insists on cheerful & interested.

job~ma, Zen. Even if they don't hit your dept, it will change company culture.

Oof, good luck, Zen.

Holy cow, I am not in the right frame of mind to be cheerful and interested for a 7AM meeting.

I would literally never be in that frame of mind. I guess I should be grateful that our folks in other time zones mostly accommodate us here.

Hello New Natter!

Yikes Zen, job~ma.

Eating leftover pizza for breakfast and catching up a bit. Heart warmed this morning by loving thoughts in email and on line.

I am never happy for the 7AM meeting, but this morning I was just not able to deal with the stupid little things that I'd normally ignore. I was mostly a seething, silent pile of resentment.

But! That's done, and the packers are here.

I continue to get Trump campaign emails, and they are so second rate compared to the Clinton campaign! This morning, they are offering "a free personal gift from Mr. Trump" with my donation, but no indication of what it is! The Clinton campaign constantly asks for my input on bumper sticker slogans, wants me to buy merch, offers me "free" buttons, etc. but it's all very specific. How do I even know if I want the thing Mr Trump wants to send me?? (Spoiler alert: I don't want it.)

I am in New Orleans and stuck in all-day meeting that started at 7:30AM, yay!

It was a Natter thread ago but belated thank you to Nora for all the suggestions of restaurants nearby. Looking forward to trying at least a few of them while in the city.

Vonnie, I didn't get the chance to weigh in, but the food at the convention center is also pretty darn good, considering. At least it was last time I was at a thing there.

My brother is reading me stuff about 30 people showing for a Kaine at some event in West Palm Beach as evidence that I will be shocked when the throngs of Trump fans vote him into office. And he isn't even voting Trump! He is going for the 'Constitutional' candidate. Just a huge Hillary hater. I ignored him. Best plan.

I've probably said this before, but god damn am I grateful my dad is in the VA system. I just don't even know what we'd do otherwise. Well, I do know, because I doubt he'd be alive. Aside from the (no or minimal) cost issue, which is huge, the way that they manage and plan his care is a godsend.

With all his various issues, I think about if he had to be the one staying on top of scheduling his appointments, making sure to follow through when they recommend he see a specialist, or a physical therapist, or change a med or whatever. He's a man of a certain age - he'd put it off or forget or delay or whathaveyou if he had to proactively manage it himself. Or it would fall to me or my sister, who aren't exactly on top of this shit ourselves, and we'd be trying to plan and schedule based on his probably vague recollections of what some doctor or nurse might have told him and just no.

And that's not even counting things like transportation - when he was having radiation for prostate cancer they picked him up and drove him home every day for six weeks. He's just gotten approved for regular pick ups for his PT and other appointments now so he doesn't have to drive the hour back and forth from where he's currently living.

It's not the nicest place in the world, and sometimes there is certainly some bureaucratic slowness to the process. But damn, everyone should have this.

The packers have been here for an hour and a half, and they have packed the kitchen, the garage, the speakers, the breakable tchotchkes, and the lamps, and they're about to do the few framed pieces of art we have. I think we can maybe take a deep breath and relax.