ION 22 people have requested peer reviews from me so I will be hiding under the blankets until they go away.

Good god. I can't imagine. I don't think we are doing anything like peer reviews this year (we sort of did last year but maybe just in our department) but I haven't read the instructions yet so WHO KNOWS.

I hear you on the recency thing and also which re-organization would you like me to give examples from of how I met the changing goals? Searching Natter for my complaints may actually be helpful.

Recovery~ma for Laura and butt~ma for JenP

ION I am having cookies for breakfast TAKE THAT COOKIE CRISP WIZARD

Sorry to hear about the recovery roughness, Laura. May you feel better soon.

Fingers crossed for your butt, JenP.

I am so thankful we don't seem to do self evaluations anymore. Just tell me if I'm doing something wrong so I can fix it, and let me chug along with a halfway decent work ethic and zero ambition. In five years I want to see myself doing exactly what I'm doing now, for slightly better pay and with more gray hairs.

You are living the dream, Matt. Congratulations!

I am comforting myself with the thought that getting a glowing performance appraisal typically means a 3% raise and getting an ok performance appraisal more like 2% so who the fuck cares (and getting a bad performance appraisal would be surprising at this point). Unless no one is getting raises which we won't find out until after this is all done. Which could happen, we didn't make our revenue plan for the year after all. Which would mean even fewer fucks given + more smoldering resentment, I guess.

I’ve never had to do a self eval, but it sounds like hell. I never have nice things to say about myself.

This week is being difficult. Several relatives with non-Covid health problems, several relatives with Covid, and ltc is being teased at school and keeps coming home in tears.

Yeah I feel like even a glowing appraisal would not keep up with inflation these days. I was shopping yesterday and damn—often I’m like “this seems more expensive?” But don’t remember prices. But like, the bag salads were usually on sale for 3/$10 and now are on sale for 3/$12!! Geez!!

Laura good to see you and good luck with the shower!!

Yeah I feel like even a glowing appraisal would not keep up with inflation these days. I was shopping yesterday and damn—often I’m like “this seems more expensive?” But don’t remember prices. But like, the bag salads were usually on sale for 3/$10 and now are on sale for 3/$12!! Geez!!

Oh, yeah. Everything is ridiculously more expensive these days.

Thanks for the butt, -ma -t and Matt! Writing that sentence is a delight; I love here. Also, appointment went swimmingly.

Laura, I missed your update, because I posted and ran. Recovery hang in -ma to you. I hope the shower went well and makes you feel better. And, yes, sorry for all the bad health news from family and friends.

sj, I'm sorry for your rough week with family health news, too.

I'll just throw this out there: The only thing I've found to help in writing self-evals is large quantities of alcohol. It helps reduce my natural reticence/reserve/whatever and, of course, the pain.

I also have the self-appraisal nightmare due...tomorrow? I think? With the added bonus of so much upheaval and turnover, that we accidentally ended up never setting goals last year. So, good in that I can theoretically just make up goals of things I've already done, but bad in that, like all of you, I have no effing clue what I've done the past year. With the added bonus that the annual reviews have been so uniformly bad (like, literally verging on insulting) the past 3-4 years that I have zero fucks to give about the whole process. I have a new supervisor (started in...November, I think) that I like well enough that I don't want to make his life any more complicated than necessary, but I'm seriously having a hard time caring.

We do not, thankfully, have peer reviews, other than a voluntary thing where you can give someone a "badge" if you happen to be so inspired. Jess, can you just go in and give 22 thumbs-up emojis and call it a day?

Laura & JenP, medical-ma, in whatever form is most helpful to you. With added immunity-ma to Laura's patch.

Much ~ma, sj. That sounds like a rough week. Are ltc's teachers taking action?

In me news, I've been having some ongoing health struggles. I know it's hard to tell since my posting tends to be so sporadic, but I've gone days without reading and weeks without posting 'cuz I just didn't have the spoons. I went from walking pneumonia in October-November knocking me on my ass, then I had a really bad set of side effects from the antibiotics and I've been dealing with that since November. I'm down 30-35 lbs since this all started, which, while I'm glad of the loss, the journey has been super-unpleasant (and none of my pants fit!) I'm treating with otc stuff, because no specific symptoms seemed bad enough to drive me back to Urgent Care. I did make a general appt with my doctor (in February, first available appt), by which time I very much hope I'll be back to whatever qualifies as "normal" and just fill her in on the details of the last few months. And I'm going to ask for a referral to a gastroenterologist, because I think I've been dealing with my IBS or whatever it is unassisted for more than long enough.

I also finally made an appt for my vax booster - I've been afraid to get it while I was dealing with all this other stuff, but I'm starting to feel human again so I'm ready to risk it. On February 4, the first available Friday appt (so I have the weekend in case it knocks me on my ass).