I am in my apartment. It has a lock! THe lock is brand new!

What a very exciting thing! I was a little nervous they would put the old lock back and/or forget to leave the key.

Woo Sophia! Congratulations on having the inspection scheduled, I know you'll be glad to have that behind you

I think I am finally beginning to calm the fuck down! I really think the therapist helped, even though it almost felt like we just really chatted. I even told her about you guys the first time, and then she asked me about it again. And we talked about Good Omens a bit too.

I kind of wonder if she wrote the fic with the therapist (only because the therapist Crowley visits is in Rochester NY!) But I am sure that is not the case, and I had to stop reading because I didn't want to think about her thinking about me.

I think the loss of one on one meetings with my old boss Sue, which were a joy, because she is the best boss ever, is one of my biggest problems. One on one meetings with my new boss a) never happen, because somehow I was never invited to them on my Outlook Calendar and b) if they do are just him giving me projects that I don't quite understand. And his advice is terrible. Anything he tells me to do about a situation is terrible advice. And he can't plan for anything in a reasonable way, so it is all last minute and slap dash and not enough time. And he is both very macro level, which is sort of fine, and then extremely micro level (like wanting a word table instead of excel). And frankly, we are probably too much alike (except for I can make a plan). And Sue and I were like the perfect team because we had different strengths but shared values, and this all started with her trying to get me more money and a higher level

They are actually thinking of making another, more Sue-like person (but less uptight, so sort of even better) the director of our little team, and I love meeting with her and also the other member of my team, both who are faculty members, give great advice, and praise me. I am a praise hound. We are all sort of frustrated with him because he is so visionary, but he literally cannot read people and just plows over them and also he is so disorganized and triple booked and misses important things. He needs a keeper. I do not want to be his keeper, and he has no admin specifically for him, because he is not a Dean, just a director.

Also, none of us technically report to him, because our school is weird and the only people who can have direct reports are Associate Deans and Administrators. So all the admins who work for Program Directors "get their work and direction" from the Program Director, but report to the Administrator. The faculty and I report to the Associate Dean.

Oooh, I hope you get your Sue-like director, Sophia. Your current boss sounds like not necessarily a bad person, but very much a disaster of a manager.

Autocorrect can be evil ... or highly amusing. It depends.

As, per example, the email I just got from one of my doctors, who wants me to order him a new set of surgical loupes: I'm getting a new set of lips. They came out with a new design that allows you to see better.

I am in tears of laughter about the new set of lips!

My new person is actually very kind. He does not do any of the things that my terrible person managers did. He is just not a good manager and shouldn't be managing things. He is encouraging of my continuing education, but he also just inadvertently makes everything harder by being a terrible communicator and totally disorganized. His wife is the writing center coordinator, and I just always think- I am so glad I am not his wife! Although multiple people mix us up (his wife and I) because we are the same age, have long brown hair, and are "funky" dressers).

Also, there are no new mice caught, but Petunia continues to stare at the stove. I now have nothing they can get into, because I bought a container for the pet food. Are there rodents, or just a memory. There are some online recommendations to det out a bunch of glue traps and turn on your stove, which seems like I would need to lock Petunia up for.

Well, I rarely got mice INSIDE my old apt, but Devi would watch the stove for hours. The complex had a mouse problem & they'd come up the gas lines to explore, but rarely came inside my space.

Just keep things well sealed & hopefully Petunia's presence will keep them gazing from afar.

So I landed on an interviewing committee today. One of the candidates was severely injured in a training accident a year into his military service. Why should I even be allowed to know that? Because when your service ends Sep 2001, followed by a big gap, everyone is gonna notice. He literally sends in resumes with a "discharge & medical note available upon request" to HR. That's just gotta suck.

Sorta a reverse of my work friend who was at CantorFitzgerald. People see her dates, the 2 yr gap, and just don't blink.

Today at work was very frustrating and I am really ready to be moving on. Also I am getting very tired of trying to my work and check another person's work and train them on new things.

I think I am doing it the best way possible though, we are working in our respective locations (45 min apart) and sharing screens and calling when needed and IMing when a call is not needed. We both have two screens, so I can kinda be doing some other things while walking her through tasks or following her work to catch any mis-steps.

Anyway - I am putting this out into the universe - I want to find a new job in the next 6-12 weeks. Toward that end - this weekend is apply, apply, and then apply some more. But tonight is wine.

Sophia - I am glad the house stuff is getting all resolved, glad the therapist has been so good, and sorry the job situation is frustrating.

Askye - I am not sure I could handle someone who is that inconsiderate of others and wasteful (I mean do you all have the money to be paying crazy expensive heating bills?). And also will not do anything about the anemia which might resolve the house temp issue. She is really putting Matthew in a bad spot, if he seems unbothered by it or just unwilling to attempt a compromise or a solution - that would be a big issue for me also. Sorry it is so tough.

My brother is doing very badly today. He has 2 friends there now, and I've talked to them both a couple of times. I've urged them to take him to the hospital, and if he won't let them drive him, to call 911. They want to respect his autonomy, and I said "Frankly, I know this phrase gets used as a cliche, but he is not in his right mind. He's not capable of making a decision in his own best interest right now."

They texted me about 30 minutes ago to tell me they're still trying to reason with him. I am not lying to you; this is the text (you can tell they all went to the same hippie school that my brother went to): "We're still in process with him, he's moving through phases of refusal but is opening up to the possibility of being driven to the hospital."

Because, see, if I were to convey that sentiment, it would go like "I'm about to beat his ass because he's being a dick about going to the hospital so that he doesn't die."

Oh, jeez, Steph. Is his wife involved in this conversation?