Happy belated birthdays, late December babies!

We survived the extreme Christmas cold by handing out with my unbelievably cute 8 month old niece (and my brother and SiL).

I absolutely need to write down by master password in case of emergency, because I have biometrics enabled on ALL of my devices, and counting on my loved ones having access to my right index finger probably is not a fantastic backup plan.

You can always call your credit card if you're going to be traveling, so they expect you to be spending a lot of money somewhere else. Which I absolutely did not do, so my first purchase of my father's gift was declined.

Dana, I’ve always done that when traveling.

I feel like flu brain fog is finally lifting. ltc is finally 24 hr+ fever free and I haven’t had a fever for days. Today is also the day we rescheduled the deep cleaning of the house for. So I have to keep ltc occupied outside of the house for 5 hours. So far we have gone to the diner, dropped off expired prescriptions at the pharmacy, and now ltc is getting her hands and nails painted at the salon. We’re all masked up just in case, but ltc’s pediatrician assured me we’re no longer contagious without the fever.

You can always call your credit card if you're going to be traveling, so they expect you to be spending a lot of money somewhere else.

I used to do this, but my bank now has a message in the automated menu that says "If you're traveling you don't need to tell us" so I don't anymore!

UGHHHHH it's annual review season and I've got SO MANY peer review requests this year. I tried explaining to my grandboss how difficult it's going to be to get through them all (28!!!) and he was like "Oh, but each one only takes five minutes" and like...dude, maybe that's true for you? But for me each one of these is like being asked to poke out my eyes with a sharp stick? Giving meaningful feedback is the worst and this is why I have resisted being made a people manager my ENTIRE CAREER. I'm flattered you think I'm good at everything, but the reason you think that is that I have curated my job to only contain things I am good at EXCEPT FOR THIS which I can't avoid and it's AWFUL. fwump

I used to do this, but my bank now has a message in the automated menu that says "If you're traveling you don't need to tell us" so I don't anymore!

Same! And now I'm like, are they tracking me via chip? DO THEY ALWAYS KNOW WHERE I AM??!? Yeah, I might be a little paranoid. But, like... why the change, Chase? Huh? Why?

{{{Jess}}} I'm so sorry, that sounds like a nightmare. Giving meaningful feedback *is* the worst!

When I tried to pay for my new catalytic converter with my debit card because my insurance company had already deposited my claim money in my account (living in the future is AMAZING sometimes) I discovered that I have a limit on how much I can charge to it in a day. My credit union was super nice about getting around it (they needed something in writing authorizing a higher one time charge but they accepted an emailed photo of a scribbled post it note) and I'm sure I had known about it but never considered it an issue because it was a higher amount than I could really imagine wanting to spend.

-t, I've had that happen, too. But I was able to request a temporary ceiling raise through my bank app, so that was helpful. (I love USAA. One of the reasons I married Matt, ha! Kidding. I could get bank accounts as a "partner," but now I have access to All The Things; it IS a nice side benefit of being official, though.)

I am having a nice sort-of-working-but-also-chilling week. I read about 100 pages of an actual book yesterday. It was pleasant. My brain was like, "What is this information coming in via text on a page thing? It's pretty cool. I kind of remember liking this...)

I have thought recently of trying a social media diet. Not because I find it trying... I really only do FB, and my page is pretty mellow. But I do feel like reading a book more and scrolling less could have some benefits. I'm pondering the easiest way to do it. I suppose taking FB off of my phone would be an excellent start.

I have a lot to do but it is all tedious fiddly stuff that I would so like to put off to some mythical future time when I will be more in the mood for that AND I am not really under much time pressure to get it done immediately but I am trying very hard to buckle down and do it. Oh, but I haven't had coffee yet, so I'd better take a break and make a cup. Honestly, that might help with the buckling down. I am so much more haphazard about coffee when I am at home than when I am in the office.

My phone is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Yay!

I’m glad you and ltc are feeling better, sj.

UGHHHHH it's annual review season and I've got SO MANY peer review requests this year.

OMG, 28?!?!? That is a nightmare. I forced myself to do four last week!