Holding you in my thoughts, Tep. I hope he answers the next call.

Unfortunate crosspost. Can you call his wife, ask if she has a number of someone who is physically near him who can check on him?

Hopefully the friend has already arrived. I'm sorry. Wish we could do more to help.

Talked to him. He sounds bad. He said he really needs to sleep. His friend is there, but he wouldn't give the phone to him. He asked me to call back in an hour, so that's what I'll do. Fuck.

I'm so, so grateful that you're all here. Thank you. I don't know how to make a heart emoji, or I would.

Can you get him to call his wife, maybe? I am so sorry this is happening and ultimately he is not really your responsibility or his wife's, or his friend, but his friend can do things like call for help if things get really bad.

Also I am so sorry this is happening. This must be so stressful

Oh, Tep, I'm so sorry. I hope this is just the low point before it turns around.

In the meantime, take care of yourself however you can, and know we're here.

{{Steph}} I hope you get some more solid news, soon. And ~ma for your brother.

{{JZ}} I feel you. I'm an admin in the radiology department of a med school attached to a university hospital and event coordination can be a real bear. Fortunately, it's the part of my job I really enjoy. It's all the rest of my job that I hate. I'm actually interviewing, tomorrow, for a new job as strictly an event coordinator for the universities undergrad admissions office. Having good notes for a major event is a necessity. Keeping up with any funding changes can be the hardest part; people will be thanking you to high heaven in the future.

Here are some baby red panda pictures, for those who need them.

The baby red pandas were a help.Thank you for them.

I'm also having one of those ... well, it's been longer than a day, although my computer died this morning - completely dead - and the tech support people are supposed to come and take it in to see if they can resurrect it. Meanwhile, I had to find another computer - this one's at our front desk, so I'm receptionist for the day. (I have an old tower computer, but that isn't working either ... also, a guy who sits near me had something for lunch that smells remarkably like what my high school cafeteria's food used to smell like, so I need to be away from my desk and him until the smell dissipates.)

At home ... the building I live in - have lived in for over 30 years - has been sold. I wasn't sure it was going through, since about three months passed with no word and then, Oct. 1, we had a whole new management group in with all new rules. I'm looking for another place, but I don't really take home that much and there's little chance of getting a raise ... ever (last year they passed a rule that if any one thing was marked "needs improvement" you couldn't get a raise ... and I had several and will probably continue to have at least one). So ... I'm trying to find a place I can afford that is more or less conveniently located. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get all those years of accumulated STUFF cleared out. I've donated about 12 bags of clothing and more than 25 bags/boxes of books ... and there's more. In addition, I got a notice that I MUST get a Real ID ... and, since my ID doesn't expire for another year and a half, I need to call and make an appointment (by tomorrow) to go in and get it early ... only I won't have a new address until 2020, so I'd face having to get a new ID, then go in and get another one when I had a new address ... with a $47 renewal fee. My arthritis has gotten worse and I'm not allowed any kind of painkiller that actually works - I'm allowed Tylenol, which does nothing for me.

All of these are things I can manage, but I'm just sitting at the front desk on the verge of tears.

But thanks for the baby red pandas. May I offer a video of therapy dogs on Capitol Hill ... I could use a snuggle with one of those big fluffy ones.