So What’s Up Doc?

So What’s Up Doc?

So now that you know about the lost domain what else has been going on? There’s a 6 month gap from November 2021 to May 2022.  It seems only fair that I explain at least a little.

November 2021 to January 2022

This absence was work related. I tried again (twice) for a promotion at work. This makes 3 tries.  I was passed over again with really bogus excuses. I won’t say what I think of the hires but suffice it to say they are much younger than I. Neither hire has hit 40 yet and I clock in at 71.  I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. 

To add insult to injury not only was I passed over for the promotions but I was told that I won’t get any more raises unless I change positions since I’m “capped out” where I am. That creates an issue for me. How do I change position if you won’t give me the jobs I apply for? It also occurred to me that this was the first and only time in my long work history that I haven’t gotten  a position  I applied for easily. As for the job I’m in, I’ve won every award they have for my position.  I was depressed and angry. Since I make it a policy not to bad mouth my employer I wasn’t in much of a mood to write anything. 

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February 2022 – April 2022

In February I came down with a cold. I coughed and sneezed and wanted to sleep all the time. I was so wiped out I took a week off from work as vacation where the cats and I just snuggled and slept. When I finally got in to see the doctor she thought I had Covid. I had to argue. After all I was vaccinated and boosted. I was still having my groceries delivered and only went out when I absolutely had to. And then I had a mask. 

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Balboa

My doctor’s answer was you didn’t end up in the hospital so your vaccines did what they are supposed to.  But after that happy statement she went on to tell me she thought I had “Long Covid” and that it could be a year or more until I was symptom free. She is just full of good news. If I’m short  of breath walking across my living room at sea level, what will happen when I’m at 9600 ft in Colorado?

 

As if to add insult to injury I developed an abscess under a bridge. The dentist gave me an antibiotic. The pill was big enough to choke a horse but it’s a good thing she did because the root canal specialist can’t see me until May. Without that horse pill I’d have been in a lot of pain!

May 2022

During this hiatus from writing I did attempt to accomplish some things. Because I didn’t feel well the bathroom was a real point of pain. I never liked the wall paper. Not only was it ugly but it wasn’t even put up properly. The cats had started trying to pull it off the walls. So I decided it was time to bite the bullet and update/redecorate the bathroom. But that’s a story for another day! Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

RESOLUTIONS

Last year I kind of let my photography slide. I made a commitment to myself to do a better job of getting out in the field for pictures. I got energized when an advertising agency contacted me on behalf of one of their clients.  They want to use one of my photos for the lobby of a regional bank in the Seattle area.  They plan to enlarge it to 4.5 ft by 8 ft. How awesome is that!?

Right after that friends started asking about Holiday Cards. I explained about my website www.dustyroadsphiotos.zenfolio.com so maybe next year I’ll finally have some orders from there. I started updating my vendor links and found that the most popular links, for single cards, was discontinued.  Plus the birthday cards have been changed to party invitations only. I can still make my handcrafted ones but I’m trying to get as much through the website as possible. I guess I’ll need to reach out to my vendors over the summer.

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So with that out of the way, how many if you have fallen off the wagon already? Old habits are hard to change.

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Aside from the photography resolution above, the only resolution I made was work related. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’d love to lose 10-even 20 lbs but if I do I do, I’m not going to concentrate on it.

The “resolution” I made was a promise to myself to keep a positive attitude at work. After all complaining is just a bad habit, right?

Yes, there are a lot of changes going on around me right now and no I don’t like a lot of them. They make me very nervous.  But I’m not the boss. As long as I keep that in mind I should be fine right?

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So back to work after the holiday and my boss stops by my desk. “How’s it going” she asks. “How do you like your new responsibilities.”

Immediately I found myself telling her how much I hated the new job and why.  So much for not complaining! I started to laugh and told her that the only resolution I’d made was no more complaining and the first time she asks me about the new changes I hit her with a long list of why I don’t like it.

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Luckily she has a sense of humor.

I guess I’ll just keep plugging along. Maybe I’ll get used to the changes. I certainly hope so or it will be a long 10 years to retirement.

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One thing you can always count on is that there will be change, for better or worse, and you will have to learn to deal with it. I can accept my fate and apply myself cheerfully or I can be miserable and make everyone around me miserable too. Not the way I want to be.

So I guess I’d better suck it up and get back on the resolution bandwagon.  My theme song for 2017…Let it Go, Let it Go (the changes never bothered me anyway)

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Bad Blogger

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Yep, that’s me. I’m a bad blogger. Is there a bad blogger award? I certainly would have earned it!

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I should be making the effort and commitment to post regularly. That’s what all the “how to blog” books and posts say and I used to do it too. But then I started working full time. Well I always worked full time. It’s just that some of my work didn’t keep me busy all day. Not true of where I work now.

When I first started this job it was seasonal. I’d work 10-12 hour days for 3-5 months then things would slow down but things are changing in my work day world. The work load is being redistributed so that we’re busy all the time. My work load is a 12 hour day but there is no overtime so it’s crammed into 8 hours.

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That means it is non stop go! go! go!  all day. Plus I have to work from the  office so I’ve added a commute to my daily duties. By the time I get home my poor brain is mush and the thought of facing a computer is overwhelming. I become a couch potato. I can’t even stay awake to watch mindless TV!

Well, a vacation is coming and boy do I need it. But that also should give me time to find interesting things to share with you.

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I feel a stirring of excitement to get back to the printed page, the blank screen and put something there.

Soon, very soon!

Pretty Penny

Friday was another really busy day at work so it was nice to have a little comic relief.

One of my co workers has a pet pig.  Having grown up on a farm I am not a fan of pigs, big or small, but I had to admit that “Penny” is adorable. We’d all heard about this pig and seen pictures but finally Nicole brought her in to meet us all.

When it was my turn Penny was hiding under the conference table. I began to chant “Hi Pretty Penny Pig” and she headed right over to me. Nicole laughed and said now she could see why I was called the animal whisperer. (I didn’t know that but I take it as a compliment)  Penny had run away from everyone else. I guess my animal lover reputation is still safe for another day!

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Penny followed me around off and on all afternoon. She soon figured out where the dog treats were kept in my desk drawer and occupied herself trying to figure out how to open the drawer. Although she wasn’t successful she came close. Pretty smart little thing.

At lunch she came trotting along behind me. As soon as I sat down at the table she tried to climb up on my lap~ Nicole was horrified but the rest of us thought it was funny. By afternoon the little pig’s adventures began to wear her out. Nicole wrapped her in a blanket and Penny immediately fell asleep on Nicole’s lap.  Of course we all made Pig in a Blanket jokes.

Mostly she had a cute little oink when she vocalized but when Nicole and Ryan tried to get her harness on it turned to squeals. You would have thought she was being murdered! For a little pig she had a big set of lungs.

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She was certainly a happy little thing. Her little piggy tail never stopped wagging. She’s about 5 months old now and Nicole expects her to weigh in at about 45 lbs when she is full grown. Nothing like the big old sows we had down on the farm.

Penny’s a cutie pie and I hope Nicole brings her for a visit again soon.

 

 

 

 

Things Keep Changing

Hi Everyone.

There have been a lot of changes at work and more on the way. What makes it hard is that a lot is just speculation right now. Makes for a very uneasy feeling. The biggest change is that we all have to work in the office. No More working from home. Its back to the daily commute. Eventually they were planning to morph my job (listing coordinator) into more of a hybrid where I handled both listings and buy side. Now they are re-thinking that. At the moment there are only 2 of us in the Boston Office that do my current job.

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I think a lot will depend on how they can cover vacations. Right now my co-worker is on vacation so I’m holding down the fort. It isn’t too bad. The exception is she has one very high maintenance agent. The first day I was covering I had 18 emails and 3 calls from that 1 person. Ugh! Thankfully none of the others were that bad.

On the home front Rocky seems to be adjusting to being an only cat. He is eating well and playing. He is becoming very attached to his “baby” a toy he has had forever. He carries it around crying at the same time, a very mournful meow. I wake up with it tucked next to me in the bed.Rocky 001 copy

He’s also turning into a lap cat. We have quality time every evening for 30 minutes to an hour. I just love that. For 15 years he wouldn’t set foot on my lap, now as soon as I sit down he’s right there.

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The last thing on my mind is Hawaii. I keep meeting people that have been or want to go. I love comparing notes. The most recent conversation centered on the Island of Kauai. That is the island of choice for the  friend I just spoke with. I don’t think my time share has a resort on Kauai. I still love the Big Island but we’ll see how Maui stacks up after this coming vacation.

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Well busy day today with errands and chores…laundry, grocery shopping, eye doctor (annual exam), hair cut etc. Tomorrow I’m driving to New York to take my Mom to lunch for her birthday so I don’t know if I’ll have much chance to get back for another update this weekend. We’ll just have to see how the time goes.

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