Timelies all!

Health~ma to all who need/want it.

Which includes Mr. S, who has an ear infection. And me, to a degree, as I have a cold that is mostly annoying.

I have learned that the new person in our lab is a) only in our lab 3 days a week(the other days she doing stuff for her old lab and b) temporary. How long she'll be here, I don't know. I just know we're all exhausted from all the work we have to do. (Possibly unpaid if the CR isn't passed)

I FOUND MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE! Took many boxes apart, etc., but it was actually in an envelope sticking out of the hallway bookcase. Sheesh.

I FOUND MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE!

Ta da! I never did find mine which add a whole 'nother layer of stress to getting my passport to go to Japan.

Everybody raise your hand if you know exactly where your passport or birth certificate is!

raises hand

I recently had to track my birth certificate down as part of getting a Real ID and proving that I wasn't nefariously trying to renew someone else's expired driver's license. It would have *really* been a pain trying to get access if my mother and I didn't have a joint account, as apparently the expired license wasn't considered valid ID by the bank whose safety deposit box it was stored in.

🤚

:raises hand:

I had to order a copy of my birth certificate so I could replace my passport that was in the purse that was stolen. (It was also needed to get my new work ID, to replace the one that was also in that purse)

raises hand

I was a bit panicky a few years ago when I got my real ID since I am on my fifth last name, but it's all good now. I will absolutely renew my passport well in advance of its expiration.

raises hand

Everybody raise your hand if you know exactly where your passport or birth certificate is!

I am terrible at this so my friend Maria has everything! I have to get a new Social Security card, though maybe sooner rather than later.

raises hand

I’m at a private university, and my unit still has an active DEIA group. Right now we’re more concerned about NIH funding than anything, but I expect the Eye of Orange Sauron will eventually turn there.

Public university, and we're still having weekly DEI corner presentations at our office's morning all-staff huddle. Every week it's still there feels like something to celebrate.

Though we also now have a hiring freeze, a freeze on almost all travel and training, and restrictions on setting up advance budgets (allowing grant spending while we're waiting for all the formal paperwork to come in). Also, the last email stressed that the university had no plans for furlough periods at this time, which seems ominous because it's the first time I can recall that being even a theoretical option in my ~20 years off-and-on of working there.

In better news, after months of sending out job applications and barely a nibble, Dylan has three screener interviews between now and early next week.