And a team meeting has been scheduled for 20 minutes from now, presumably to discuss the department meeting, which we sure as hell need but I don't know when I'm going to be able to have lunch...

There were actual PEOPLE in the office today! I'm so used to being alone ... our top two staff members were in, along with a representative from our new tech support company. It was strange.

Oh, wow, Toddson!

My town is currently a maze of different detours of construction projects, and every time I pass a group of construction workers and cops talking to each other without masks on I get angrier and angrier.

I get that. We have a roundabout going in about half a block from me. Hardly anyone involved is wearing a mask. And on one hand, it's very physical work, and wearing a mask might be difficult in those circumstance. On the other hand, when COVID came in, they really hadn't done much. Halting construction would have been a much better choice, I think. I don't recall anyone crying out for a roundabout to begin with.

I got my oven to light.

That's great! Yay for more hot food.

Say, did anyone else get an Amazon "holiday wishbook" in the mail?

Not yet, but someone in our building left it out for any takers in the mail room... I noticed there are stickers, so I almost took it, because stickers. Then I realized I'd probably get one or five in the mail.

Hope things are going well, -t, and that you're getting some useful info.

I went to the doctor this morning for a blood draw, then I went to grab a coffee afterwards. Just as I was leaving the coffee place, the doctor's office called me... "Um, we didn't collect enough blood... can you come back?" Ha! That's a first. I went back and bled more for them. They were very apologetic; I thought it was funny.

Fingers crossed for good outcome for you, -t.

There's a chance of a semi-promotion/bit of a job change for me in the organization. I'm not clear on all of the details yet and waiting to hear more, but it looks promising and interesting (better yet: I asked for that opportunity, more than once). So I'm trying to hush down the "don't betray your current department that you love!" voices with the "staying in a mostly-safe place where you are loved with little challenge and a bad salary when you can do better is not a good career move" rationale. Because I f***ing love my job, but I also want a challenge.

Why would I still like a professional challenge in 2020 and when I'm in grad school is another question altogether that makes me question my sanity a bit.

Well, I guess I know slightly more but mostly I just don't know what's going to happen. They say there are no plans to cut positions but they always say that. And even if that is true, it looks like a pretty big change to what the point of my job is and it seems like it is moving away from the parts of it I like best. I'm really unhappy about all this at the moment but I'm also very hungry, so that is probably coloring everything. Time for shower and lunch.

Sorry for not actually responding to stuff y'all are posting - I am thinking responses as I read but I can't hold them in my head long enough to get them out through my fingers

Baby Panda! growing!

Oh jeez, -t, I hope things look better after a shower and lunch, and mostly I hope that it's not as bad for you as it sounds!

Hope things turn out in a better-than-you're-currently-expecting way, -t!

Best outcome~ma, Shir!

Glad you weren't traumatized, Jen!

Not to be all mememe but you reminded me of when I donated blood last weekend, not in a good way. But I've been wanting to vent somewhere, so thanks! The nurse/phlebotomist was ticking me off in little ways by the way he was speaking to me, then something went wrong and he HURT me. I keep trying not to think he was subconsciously punishing me, but the thought is still there. Good news though: when a patient/client goes from joking around to stoically silent to making that quick indrawn hissing breath of pain with a few tears in a very short time frame, 2-3 better nurse/phlebotomists rush over and make things better. And if the tears keep flowing because you're frustrated and pissed off in addition to the pain, the fact that they still think you're in pain kind of helps to get extra solicitous treatment. So, I managed to finish my pint and get outta there, and I know who is not going to touch me ever again.

On a related note: what have we decided is the appropriate response when someone apologizes, but you're not gonna say "It's OK" because it's not, at least not yet?

Also, I'm leaving work early today to go to the dentist because I have to get a new crown. I'm planning to take my ipod and listen to music (one earbud only) because it helps me to remain chill while it's going on. Last time, the dentist was kind of a jerk about the ipod. So I'm stressing about the dental work and because I'm afraid the dentist is going to be a jerk. I am just not in the correct brain space to put up with another man being a jerk right now, y'know?