I think it's just a way to get people to quit so they can reduce headcount without paying severance.

Cynical but apt. If they reinstitute more lenient work from home rules in a year we'll know it was all driven by reducing the headcount el cheapo.

It's travel day for me and Matilda! First time flying into Burbank Airport and I'm kind of looking forward to that. We're staying in Pasadena since that's near the two colleges we're touring (Pomona, Pitzer - both among the Claremont consortium), Glendale (where my friend Josh lives) and San Gabriel (near where my friend Rio lives).

We're leaving Friday morning so this is a bit whirlwind, but there's a good chance Matilda will be going to college in SoCal so it could be a more regular route.

I'm looking forward to seeing Josh as he's getting close to the end with his cancer. He's lost more than 50 lbs in the last six months (and he was only 185 to start with) and he has to have fluid drained from his body weekly. Really want to be there for him, but also his wife and daughter (who is a senior in HS). He was such a huge help to Jacqueline and me during her treatment.

Lots of mortality in my face in the last week. My niece messaged me yesterday because she's struggling with the anniversary of my sister's death.

I took Pastor Bea to see the mother of one of Matilda's friends who is nearing the end with cancer. (Not Lola, mother of Isabella, who I've mentioned before. This is Astrid, mother of Angelika, who has been dealing with cancer for five years).

Astrid and Pastor Bea are both German and poor Astrid burst into tears when they spoke to each other in German. She's very gaunt and her husband Anthony doesn't have nearly the support that JZ and I did. Plus Angelika has already gone to college.

And the father of one of my closest friends, Alison, died after 9 very hard months of dementia last week.

This is what comes of living into your sixties, I suppose. Though a woman chatting with me at Alembic was shocked to find out I was not in my fifties, so all credit to my sadistic Korean skincare ladies.

First time flying into Burbank Airport and I'm kind of looking forward to that.

Such a cute wee little airport!

This is what comes of living into your sixties, I suppose.

Ugh. That is a lot of loss. At 70 quite a few of my generation are gone. That was a big thing with my mother. She was in her 90s when the last of her lifelong friends passed and she said the hardest part was not having anyone who remembered the things she remembered.

I’m on the way home from Colorado. My poor throat still feels raw. When I get home, I plan to drink some tea and nap until 2025.

Great trip, though. It was fantastic to see my college roommates and my brother and SiL.

Yay for great trip, Steph!

Oof, that is a lot, Hec.

Jess, I'm glad that was only a dream. That would, indeed, suck.

Cereal:

My poor pup! She has seasonal allergies, and they have been really bad lately... I thought she had gotten her allergy shot two weeks ago when she was in for a med dose titration test, but I misread the line item. She hasn't gotten it since 7/31! Poor noodle. Two extra weeks of unnecessary itching. Bad dog person, I am. Also got her distemper vax while I was there, in keeping with our general vax theme here.

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All the vaxes. Skinner got his Lyme and kennel cough a couple days ago. The vet tech told me the best way to keep the dog's nails trimmed. He takes his to the tennis court and tosses balls frequently and running on the hard surface keeps the nails trimmed.

Honestly? When I was young and kind of outside, imagining the Working World and all? I never thought it would be so much like a feuding family trying to paper over its flaws for the public.

We're safely tucked into our hotel in Pasadena.

The lobby has a Foosball table! Woot!

Matilda and I are about to go out to dinner.

College tours tomorrow.