Day #134 - anyone have good news?

Currently watching storm clouds form on the horizon and debate coming through my area. They already came through once, but didn't do all that much, and it cleared off. This is their second go around.



That's the view outside my window, in case you are at all curious.

I wish the storm clouds would make up their mind- they are making me edgy or the chocolate I ate today is, or various things I'm trying really hard not to think about are. I'm dreading the staff meeting on Wed. I desperately want good news. Just a little. Doesn't have to be major. Something along the lines that yes, you are telecommuting until January 2021, would be lovely.

Ugga Bugga.

Family

I contacted my brother - who took the opportunity to invite me up to his barn. I'm thinking my mother pestered him into it. (She does that.) ( Read more... )

Also called mother. I'd accidentally called her this morning at 7 AM, when I was hunting my headspace app on my phone.
( apparently my father is seeing people again )

Crazy Workplace

A friend from Transit and I determined that the whole "return to work" phrase came about because there's a lot of folks who couldn't work from home - so they were sent home with pay, but weren't working. (The lawyer in me wants precise language - also she agreed 100% with my annoyance regarding that catch-phrase.) That was the weird thing about the lock-down - half the folks were bored at home and the other half were working.
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It's too frigging muggy and hot out to take a walk, so I'm just posting pics from the last walk I took.

My soap opera (General Hospital) comes back with new episodes next week - after being on hiatus since March. Apparently their workplace went out of its way to make things safe for the actors and crew members. It's been showing reruns since roughly May 23, which is unprecedented - soaps never show reruns.

There's a lot of unprecedented things going on at the moment. It's getting hard to keep track. And my country appears to be on fire and there's zip I can do about it - except watch. It's like watching a horror film and knowing that it is real, but you can't do anything. You can't escape it, you can't turn it off, you can't get out, and you can't turn the channel. And even if you do ignore it for a bit - there it is, back again.



My father keeps telling my mother that he wants a vacation - he wants to go out.( Read more... )

I tried to watch the Mayor of NYC today, but fifteen minutes into it, I began to understand why so many people, my brother included, despise him.
( Read more... )

Oh well, at least I'm somewhat busy at work and getting things done. That's something I guess. And I'm very grateful for this lap-top which has been such a trooper during the crisis. All I have is a MacBook Air, a wireless keyboard and mouse, a lift-up lap top station (it lifts the laptop so the screen is at eye level. Good wifi. An Iphone. And noise cancelling earphones. That's it. Nothing fancy. I'm waiting to see what crazy workplace is going to do, before I start investing in anything else.

I'm tired. Can't think of much else...so I'll leave you with...

(no subject)

1. The Rise of Dismal Science Fiction - which of course, I can't read at the moment. There's a lot of books and television shows that I can't read or watch at the moment.

Apparently, I'm in the minority in this.

2. At 88, He's a Historical Rarity - the Living Son of a Slave - apparently the Washington Post is letting me read their articles again in the hopes that I'll subscribe. (Nope, can't afford it - already subscribed to the NY Times.)

( excerpt )

3.You can stop cleaning your mail now

( excerpt )

Be nice if we could move work and school outside. Maybe I should move into my brother's barn. Probably be freezing in the winter. Also it's too close to the post-apocalyptic book I wrote - where the protagonist moved into her brother's loft space. And - he has horrid wifi/internet access, which is crucial for what I'm doing.

4. I think I have a mouse, at least I hope it's a mouse.

Me: I think I have a mouse. I saw it run across the stove.
Mother: The stove? That's a bit high up for a mouse, they are usually on the ground.
Me: Well, it was big - so I hope it's not a spider.
Mother: I was thinking a cockroach.
Me: Too big and it moves more like a mouse.
Mother: Have you had mice before? I know in the last apartment -
Me: Yes. I found three dead ones. Used mint - they hate it, and steel wool, which didn't work as well. Mint worked better - but actually what killed them was the paint job. I'm not afraid of them, I just find them startling.
Mother: Yes, I'd prefer not to have them show up in my bed in the middle of the night. Our cats kept doing that. I was always having to chase them down and get rid of them. Your father never did - it was always me.
Me: You were also saving all our pets from the cats, the hamsters and the gerbil. Poor things.
Mother: Always in the middle of the night.

Me to Brother via texting: I have a mouse. Can I borrow Piper to get rid of it? (Piper is the cat.)

Bro: Oh, Clover (the other cat - which may be the pic above, they look alike to me) brought us a mouse in the middle of the bed at 4AM in the morning. I threw a towel over it, scooped it up and threw it outside. I'm a pro.
Me: Maybe I should borrow you?

5. Per the Governor's newsletter ....tonight.

We have exciting news today. The Eastman Kodak Company, a storied New York manufacturer based in Rochester, was awarded a $765 million federal loan under the Defense Production Act. This loan will allow Kodak to create a new business unit, Kodak Pharmaceuticals, dedicated to producing pharmaceutical ingredients that are essential for vital medications. New York's long-term support for Eastman Business Park helped allow the company to take advantage of this opportunity. Today's announcement means 300 direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs for New Yorkers. More importantly, it will help ensure that America can provide for our own needs in a pandemic like this one. Never again do we want to rely on shipments from China or elsewhere in order to get lifesaving medical supplies. It is not just a public health issue—it's a national security issue. This is a great step forward and a great business opportunity for New York.

That's nice. I'd rather they gave the money to my agency. But admittedly it would be a drop in the bucket at this stage. Maybe I should quit and join Kodak Pharmaceuticals as a contract administrator. Honestly, if you work in medicine right now, in any capacity? You're golden. That and technology.

Here's what else you need to know tonight in our on-going and seemingly ceaseless coverage of New York vs. the Coronavirus (and apparently idiotic Americans who can't get their act together)

( Read more... )

The world is doomed.

Brother's Barn hidden behind the trees - taken last fall, before all hell broke loose.