Matilda came home from the second day of school and I had to learn about 17 new names because she was sassing everybody (especially boys), making jokes, talking to the teachers, connecting faces to Zoom classes last year, smack talking in basketball and working really hard to pronounce everybody's name properly (not always easy in San Francisco where we don't have a lot of Bob and Linda).

And I realized that she's going to be one of those social glue people at this school.

I was reminded of the first SAIEW and somebody wondering online if we should have some icebreakers. And Cybervixen said, "We don't need no stinking icebreakers! I am the icebreaker!"

I just ordered a plastic sleeve for my vax card, so thanks for the reminder. I also have it backed up to the cloud. The only people (aside from those personally concerned about my health) who have wanted to know about my vax status are my employers. My university arranged for me to get my shot and, in a flash of competency rarely seen in large organizations, shared those records (with my permission) with the section of the university tracking vax status. So it’s been surprisingly friction free on my end.

I’m pleasantly surprised by my university’s response to COVID overall. It’s private and extremely well funded, so it doesn’t have to deal with a state legislature before making choices. There are higher ups who can say, “We don’t know,” which isn’t always the case. They’re flexible where it makes sense to be. They’ve come down hard on well connected students who think that means they don’t have to follow the rules. They’ll throw money at problems that money will solve. As evil overlords go, they’re doing all right.

The hospital asked me to bring a copy of my vax card, but then noone asked for it. They did ask me whether I was vaxxed, and they did a rapid Covid test (negative) prior to a little local anesthesia slice and snip thing I have tomorrow. It was negative, which I expected.

That sounds awesome for Matilda! Yay.

Good to hear Matilda is making the most of HS life. I hope they have a nice safe year. They have a MUCH better chance of that in your school district than the ones in Florida. They are having a predictably horrible show of it so far.

Sounds like Matilda is really doing great.

I'm kinda hungry, but I think its best to wait until my wife is out of the house to get some lunch. I already screwed up and made her angry because she went to the store and asked me what I wanted to get for dinner and I couldn't think of anything. It's really hard for me to switch from work and respond without making a mistake. I think she wanted me to grill something for dinner and I didn't pick up that I needed to respond by suggested something to grill. Sometimes I'm just stupid.

Not stupid, what is stupid is getting angry at someone for something so entirely insignificant in this life.

I have to plan my meals for a week because it is more than my brain wants to deal with after working all day to make a decision on what to eat. Then I either get curbside pickup or send Brendon to get groceries because I hate to shop. Cooking I enjoy. Deciding what to eat is a real chore for me.

That doesn't sound like a Gud screw up, that just sounds like a thing that happened.

I am so fed up with work today. This re-org has been in transition for so long that I have passed through all the stages to acceptance and circled back to anger

Gud, I too, have difficulty when asked out of the blue what I need from the grocery. (I also set a rule that if you don't put it on the list, then you can't complain about not getting it when I go. Telling me doesn't count! Hi, swiss cheese brain!) If your wife wanted you to grill something, she could have easily said so instead of believing you could read her mind and then getting huffy because you couldn't. Really, I can't see anything you did WRONG. She didn't get the answer she wanted because she didn't ask the question she actually wanted answered!

Anyway, random: Does anyone know anyone at Hopkins SAIS? or who was there fairly recently? I would like gossip.

Yes, if it were not for my lists I would be incapacitated completely.

Now a reasonable scenario would be, "hey dear, how 'bout you cook burgers on the grill tonight? I'm going to the store now; would you like me to pick some up?".

Gud, you will never be able to do the magical correct thing to make her happy. Even if you get the "right" answer, she'll just keep moving the goal posts. It's always a trap.