Hmm. We actually have a staff art competition. I think I might be fired though :)

The frustration level must be off the charts, Sophia. Any possibility of a face-to-face with someone who can change things?

Cashmere- family can be maddening at the best of times & now: actually dangerous. I hope you & your father are recovering nicely.

-t I just had my 1st shingles shot yesterday. So far a sore arm is the only reaction but I am dismayed that it actually seems to be more sore today than it was yesterday. I must admit, I did take some grim satisfaction in Kavenaugh coming down with co-vid.

Am having a very loungey day. We’re having in-person church for the 1st time since March 2020 tomorrow. I saw one of the neighbors’ chickens again yesterday. My cousin who has chickens tells me that they can fly enough to fly over fences. (Think it might be a barred rock.)

Started taking the anti-hormone pills. So far, so good. Sadly, the freckles on the left boob are fading. I found it personally amusing to have one freckled & one non-freckled breast.

Sophia - your situation confuses me with its bureaucratic tangles. Are there other people in different areas who are doing a similar job that you can check in with? If so, I feel that you should band together to raise the profile of these problems!

Thanks Sumi- this is so inside baseball, but the system was set up to only accept University email addresses. The other schools had issued University email address to their students in this situation, but in the past didn’t use them or even tell the students. They solved this problem by communicating the email addresses to the students so they could comply. Our school has not issued university email addresses as a specific policy. So we either need to do that or UHS needs to reprogram. Neither IT will do that until told they have to by a higher authority. So what I am actually working on is getting someone in IT to issue the emails, because that seems easier.

It was Porchfest here today (which means lots of local musicians playing all around), and Jon B usually sets up on his porch, but I didn't see him on the list this year. Talking to neighbors, somehow this all came up, and come to find out his kid is in the same class as my neighbor! I forget what grade, but definitely bigger than I would have guessed for Jon's kid.

Timelies all!

Went to the Renaissance Festival today. Mostly did what Mr. S wanted to do. It was nice weather for a day out.

In other news, my dad is home. My mom is either in a hospital or a rehab center, since all the time being bedridden has weakened her legs and she needs to regain her strength.

Talking to neighbors, somehow this all came up, and come to find out his kid is in the same class as my neighbor! I forget what grade, but definitely bigger than I would have guessed for Jon's kid.

I saw Jon and the AWB this summer! Definitely not a toddler anymore. Then again, we tend to refer to Jessica's son as "Baby Dylan" (because that's what Matilda called him) and he's taller than I am now.

So glad at least one parent is home, Sheryl! Is your dad doing okay on his own or does he have family/other helpers with him?

RenFaire (one of the two last surviving offshoots of the one true original just reopened here for the first time since 2020, and I miss it terribly but won't be going; nothing to wear, no time to put anything together, and far too many ghosts.

Today is the day that all of Zmayhem slept in until 10:30, and we're all still a little logy and I for one am ready to crawl right back in and go for another epic 11 hours. But I have an editing project and I'm waiting for a phone call from one of the priests about the graveside gathering next Saturday (following which we will stop by to visit the other family members interred there, and then go out the gate and down the street for ice cream at Fenton's, a.k.a. the ice cream parlour from Up), and Hec just reminded me that we're still behind on What We Do In The Shadows and had also planned to rewatch Over The Garden Wall, the most autumnal cartoon we know of, so I guess I can't quite collapse just yet.

quiet night on Natter!

I'm off to SLO for a few days with a friend, and I'm not bringing my work phone because there's something wrong with the secure software and I can't read my email. YAY.

Now to pack and walk the dog and clean the kitchen and go to the gym before I leave...