Somehow the mini-flashmob actually happened at the office party which is one day before the office moves. I'm the fattest person.

[link]

Yeah, I'm very worried about the next election here in the U.S. Trump will be impeached but not removed for a very clear-cut abuse of power. I think he's very likely to win the 2020 election too. At that point there's no check on his power. I'm be more concerned if he wasn't clearly an idiot, but it's still really bad.

Teppy! ! instead of hugs, because. A couple really good points. First, it is so helpful that you have the medical understanding to keep from the total freakout. Still scary, but you know enough that you can be more objective.

He decided last night was a good time to google information on rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease. And the info he found (from reputable sources) said that people with RA can have double the risk of heart disease, which stressed him out. And I had to remind him that statistics that sound scary really often...aren't. Because he is otherwise so incredibly healthy, AND with zero family history of heart disease and a vegetarian diet and over 30 years of sobriety, his pre-RA risk of heart disease, while a nonzero number, was still vanishingly small. And when you double vanishingly small, it goes to "Well, I can see it on the horizon if I use high-powered binoculars." IOW, even with RA, he still has a lower risk of heart disease than I do, given my family history.

And that made him feel better.

Second, go Tim for being so mindful of his health that he is the best possible candidate for the procedure. It makes a huge difference.

Part of it is luck -- having no family history of heart disease is pure goddamn gold. But not smoking or drinking and being a vegetarian (and cutting WAY down on sugar consumption because of his RA) definitely has paid off.

I have to say, when we got off the elevator and saw the big sign that said "Heart Institute," all I could do was shake my head and think, in a million years, I would have expected that it would be *me* needing to go there, and never ever Tim.

If I end up the only member of our family who doesn't have a cardiologist (it's looking like my brother may have a wonky valve that's bicuspid instead of tricuspid), I will laugh until the end of time.

Lots of ~ma for Tim. I'm glad you were able to alleviate some of his stress.

Work is over. Effective immediately. I handed over phone and company credit cards and was walked out.

All is not bad though. They did do right and are giving me a severance package. Also looks like they are going to pay for 3 months of COBRA (I need to get clarity on that). I sent one email before I left and will not lift another finger for them. Half-finished projects - oh well - figure it out. I'm sure they will be fine. No one is irreplaceable and there are a lot of people who can fill gaps if they are asked.

I am not happy, but I am free, so now I plan a move.

Oh, that's great if they will pay for some COBRA. That's such an expensive part of changing jobs. It's awful that you get hit with a massive new expense when you end a job.

Sucks that it wasn't on your terms, msbelle, but it sounds like the sooner you are rid of that place, the better!

Steph, keeping you & Tim in my thoughts. That's got to be scary.

What the hell, msbelle. Severance and COBRA are good, but sounds like they handled this really badly.

Onward to Baltimore, msbelle.

Wishing health-ma to Tim, and No Freaking (on the dance floor) for Teppy.

After several arduous weeks we got Matilda's application into School of the Arts. I had to prompt her paragraph by paragraph to get her through her essay, but in the end it was really good and entirely her own words and thoughts. And she got all the way to the final edit on her student film she's submitting and her computer crashed and ate a full day's work, two days before the application was due. But after some freaking out all around, we got back to it, her teacher let her come to class an hour early and she worked through lunch and got it done yesterday, and I submitted it in person.

Now we wait to find out when her audition time will be. For the film program it's a 4 hour workshop that involves an interview, a written and a group exercise. That'll be in early February but we won't find out until April if she gets in. Also several of her closest friends have also applied to SotA and there's no way they'll all get in (it's very competitive). So there are all sort of potential pitfalls to negotiate.

That said, I really loved her 90 second movie.

Nice flashmob, Gud!

I'm sorry work decided to be asshats about things, msbelle. But the COBRA stuff is good.

School of the Arts~ma for Matilda!