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End of another week - I walked to the grocery store - which is approximately 1.1 miles round trip. I needed to get out of my apartment after being cooped up in it all day - with the people working in the kitchen.
See picture below the cut for how they kept me safe. Besides wearing masks, they covered everything with plastic and construction paper, and sealed me off from them with plastic. I put on my noise cancelling earphones - plugged into some 1980s and 1990s rock via Apple Music and went to work. I work very well listening to music. Been doing that since grade school. I tried Billie English's latest album and Beyonce's - but both were too mellow, they couldn't compete with the banging. No, I need Jon Bon Jovie screaming out the lyrics to Living on a Prayer, or Aerosmith or AC/DC or Deborah Harry.
( kitchen taped off for electrical rewiring )
Overall it went well - except when they interrupted my conference call to inform me that they were turning off the electricity in my apartment. Which was kind of amusing in that the participants on the call determined it was over and took off. It was a call with the rail yard about various outstanding change orders and a signal hut. I negotiate construction and consulting services agreements for a Railroad, and manage the contracts, among other things. It's a difficult job to explain to folks. Requires a lot of critical thinking, analysis, resourcefulness and creativity.
Anyhow - the unfortunate and somewhat anxiety inducing side-effect of turning off the electricity was losing wifi. Yes, I lost the wifi while working remotely at home. And couldn't get it back for over an hour, could have been far worse of course. ( how I got my wifi back and the work in the kitchen )
Where I want to be at the moment - the coast of Maine. It's a photo I took in August 2010. I'd like to go back to 2010 and then jump to a different timeline.
Mother: You're brother is considering a side trip to the coast of Maine, because your sisterinlaw needs to get into the ocean. He's doing fine, she's climbing the walls.( Read more... )
Crazy Workplace
Boss: There's still no news regarding the labor negotiations between your union and management. I'm as worried about this as you are and promise you that I will inform you all - the moment I find out anything. As of now, the current "telecommuting" agreement between the Union and the MTA expires as of midnight on August 3. Any questions?( Read more... )
Instead of in Maine...I'm here, feeling as if I'm going round and round..with the painted ponies going up and down...
This is the carousel in Dumbo, Brooklyn - which I took a picture of ages ago. And no, I'm not actually there - but I am in Brooklyn. So close enough, I guess. Now I have Joni Mitchell's Circle Game stuck in my head...specifically the chorus.."and the seasons they go round and round, and the painted ponies they go up and down, we're captive on a carousel of time, we can't go return, we can only look behing from where we came, and go round and round in the circle game" - frigging song is an ear worm. Although fitting.
New York vs. the Coronavirus
There are days in which it feels as if NY is the only one fighting the virus. This was one of them.
Today, our erstwhile Governor, who has kind of gotten fed up with the epic fail of Federal Government in regards to "testing", decided to try to provide the knowledge he had obtained on testing to the public at large via an Op-Ed article in the NY Times.
Let's End the Wait for Coronavirus Test Results, Here's How - State's Should Look at NY Strategies
( Read more... )
New episodes of my soap opera return Monday, so that's something to look forward to at least. Interesting tidbit - the actress who plays Sam on General Hospital had to be briefly replaced because she had a breathing issue with her mask (turns out she's claustrophobic or something similar). ( Read more... )
I've decided to start streaming The Mandalorian on Disney +. It looks like fun and escapist enough that I can focus on it. My inability to focus on reading and completing a book - is similar to television shows. My brother is having the same problem. Neither of us quite understand why.
I can't watch anything that requires much focus or thought. And I have no interest in analyzing it. I loved Last Airbender for example, but I've nothing to say about it. I did love it enough to pick up the comic book graphic novel "The Search" which explains what happened to Zuko's mother. Comic books I can read - they don't require much attention - caveat I can read action comic books and superhero comic books.
The hardest part about this year is holding on to my faith. It takes a lot of mental and emotional energy to do that - I think. Leaving not a lot of room for other things. I think my brother and I are oddly enough, both coping with this in the same way - through meditation. He's doing it with gardening, I'm doing it with long walks through a Cemetery, sharing my thoughts and photos in an online journal, and meditating each morning. Also working. My work - or ability to focus on it and multi-tasking helps as well.
How do you cope with a pandemic? Any way you can think of - that doesn't harm anyone or anything else. First do no harm, is my motto. Or at least try really hard not to. Sometimes we can't help it - clutzy elephants that we are - we're likely to step on a squirrel or two in the process.
I leave you with flowers...taken in 2018 in Tacoma, Washington Park.
See picture below the cut for how they kept me safe. Besides wearing masks, they covered everything with plastic and construction paper, and sealed me off from them with plastic. I put on my noise cancelling earphones - plugged into some 1980s and 1990s rock via Apple Music and went to work. I work very well listening to music. Been doing that since grade school. I tried Billie English's latest album and Beyonce's - but both were too mellow, they couldn't compete with the banging. No, I need Jon Bon Jovie screaming out the lyrics to Living on a Prayer, or Aerosmith or AC/DC or Deborah Harry.
( kitchen taped off for electrical rewiring )
Overall it went well - except when they interrupted my conference call to inform me that they were turning off the electricity in my apartment. Which was kind of amusing in that the participants on the call determined it was over and took off. It was a call with the rail yard about various outstanding change orders and a signal hut. I negotiate construction and consulting services agreements for a Railroad, and manage the contracts, among other things. It's a difficult job to explain to folks. Requires a lot of critical thinking, analysis, resourcefulness and creativity.
Anyhow - the unfortunate and somewhat anxiety inducing side-effect of turning off the electricity was losing wifi. Yes, I lost the wifi while working remotely at home. And couldn't get it back for over an hour, could have been far worse of course. ( how I got my wifi back and the work in the kitchen )
Where I want to be at the moment - the coast of Maine. It's a photo I took in August 2010. I'd like to go back to 2010 and then jump to a different timeline.
Mother: You're brother is considering a side trip to the coast of Maine, because your sisterinlaw needs to get into the ocean. He's doing fine, she's climbing the walls.( Read more... )
Crazy Workplace
Boss: There's still no news regarding the labor negotiations between your union and management. I'm as worried about this as you are and promise you that I will inform you all - the moment I find out anything. As of now, the current "telecommuting" agreement between the Union and the MTA expires as of midnight on August 3. Any questions?( Read more... )
Instead of in Maine...I'm here, feeling as if I'm going round and round..with the painted ponies going up and down...
This is the carousel in Dumbo, Brooklyn - which I took a picture of ages ago. And no, I'm not actually there - but I am in Brooklyn. So close enough, I guess. Now I have Joni Mitchell's Circle Game stuck in my head...specifically the chorus.."and the seasons they go round and round, and the painted ponies they go up and down, we're captive on a carousel of time, we can't go return, we can only look behing from where we came, and go round and round in the circle game" - frigging song is an ear worm. Although fitting.
New York vs. the Coronavirus
There are days in which it feels as if NY is the only one fighting the virus. This was one of them.
Today, our erstwhile Governor, who has kind of gotten fed up with the epic fail of Federal Government in regards to "testing", decided to try to provide the knowledge he had obtained on testing to the public at large via an Op-Ed article in the NY Times.
Let's End the Wait for Coronavirus Test Results, Here's How - State's Should Look at NY Strategies
( Read more... )
New episodes of my soap opera return Monday, so that's something to look forward to at least. Interesting tidbit - the actress who plays Sam on General Hospital had to be briefly replaced because she had a breathing issue with her mask (turns out she's claustrophobic or something similar). ( Read more... )
I've decided to start streaming The Mandalorian on Disney +. It looks like fun and escapist enough that I can focus on it. My inability to focus on reading and completing a book - is similar to television shows. My brother is having the same problem. Neither of us quite understand why.
I can't watch anything that requires much focus or thought. And I have no interest in analyzing it. I loved Last Airbender for example, but I've nothing to say about it. I did love it enough to pick up the comic book graphic novel "The Search" which explains what happened to Zuko's mother. Comic books I can read - they don't require much attention - caveat I can read action comic books and superhero comic books.
The hardest part about this year is holding on to my faith. It takes a lot of mental and emotional energy to do that - I think. Leaving not a lot of room for other things. I think my brother and I are oddly enough, both coping with this in the same way - through meditation. He's doing it with gardening, I'm doing it with long walks through a Cemetery, sharing my thoughts and photos in an online journal, and meditating each morning. Also working. My work - or ability to focus on it and multi-tasking helps as well.
How do you cope with a pandemic? Any way you can think of - that doesn't harm anyone or anything else. First do no harm, is my motto. Or at least try really hard not to. Sometimes we can't help it - clutzy elephants that we are - we're likely to step on a squirrel or two in the process.
I leave you with flowers...taken in 2018 in Tacoma, Washington Park.