I like my job, but I hate that it takes up all my time and energy. I'm online now, as I sit here writing this, trying to finish a presentation outline and working on an end-user support inbox that's up to 500+ emails. I've got three people to help me, but two of them are new, and the other one has been shang-hai'd (wow, how DO you spell that?) to work on other stuff. I'm sitting here writing this out, on a blog I've made no entries for since freakin' January, and I'm feeling guilty that I'm not still immersed in work crap.
Sigh.
A few thoughts:
You thought the Village People were bad? (Well, okay, not BAD precisely, but bad enough that gays and straights alike hold a soft spot in our hearts for these guys. So bad, anyway, that they've become iconic. More on that later)
Well, here's Gregorius, with his gosh-golly-durn best rendition of YMCA.
(Hint: I'm imagining a big plastic globe in front of me. Now I'm giving it a spin. My finger jabs down. I've chosen the country I wish to carry onward the torch, the banner as it were, for our beloved Village People.
It is NOT Finland...)
Okay, back to seriousness for a moment here. Sorry, but I must. Everything's a struggle lately. Work was bad for a while - we had a manager that, while the nicest person in the world, had no clue how to actually manage people. All kinds of weird shit became my fault, or Samantha's fault, or James' fault, or Eleni's fault. You get the point. There was an emphasis on bureaucracy that bordered on the comical and made all our jobs harder. There were other things I don't care to try and elaborate on. My job consisted of responsibilities for two or possibly even three.
That boss has gone, and we have a new boss, not quite the same as the old boss. He's a young guy, but very good at what he does, and at least capable of listening when we talk and believing that we can't be at fault for things we have no control over. The atmosphere has eased a bit, and may ease further as time progresses. We will have to see. I'm still doing the job of possibly three other people.
I'm probably being stupid. I'm staying for what I can learn. They're paying for me to take XML and HTML classes. I've learned a lot about online publishing. I guess that's worth it.
On the home front, as it were - I've started following the San Jose Sabercats. Yah, yah, I know, how "Prole" of me, and when we go to the games, it really does jar lose an awful sense of being anesthetized by smoke, mirrors, fireworks, extremely loud rock music, and a borrowed sense of glory when the Sabercats score against the other guys...
The first time we went with our neighbors, I thought it was going to turn out to be like pro-wrestling. You know, as in FAKE. It turned out, on the contrary, to be amazingly good football, condensed into a smaller space. The game strategy is a bit different - there's less time spent running the ball and more emphasis on passing. A few of the rules are different, but for the most part, it has all the best of football with none of the bad stuff, like freezing your ass off or sitting in the rain - games are played at the HP Pavilion, which is an extraordinary place - there's not a bad seat in the house.
It's usually Elise and I going - we have our tote bag of paraphernalia that we take: the huge ass cow bell for making lots of noise, the gold pompoms so Elise can be a cheerleader, the huge foam Sabercats claws (one for each of us), and our earplugs, because you do NOT want to go to one of these games without earplugs.
Other news: Money is still very tight. Jeff is going to be taking classes in Electrical Engineering, but he has to wait for a DC class in the fall. Meanwhile, he's still painting miniatures as fast as he can, and we're managing to pay bills, but we have no leeway whatsoever. Last week I was at Whole Foods buying groceries with Elise, and the transmission on the truck starting having problems. I couldn't get it to stay in 2-wheel drive, and had to drive home at 35 miles an hour in 4WD. That was not amusing, and Lord knows, I'm scared to death to take it to the mechanic.
Ummm. What else? I'm seeing an acupuncturist now. I fell on my right knee almost exactly a year ago and it's still not healed, so I can't walk to the lightrail without getting very stiff and limping. Still got a bonespur on my left heal, and last week I had a back x-ray that revealed I have the beginnings of arthritis in my lower back. I'm on medication for pre-diabetes, I get migraines all the time, and I haven't been able to lose weight in months.
The acupuncture has helped, it really has. I have more energy now, and I feel better, but still...
When did I get this freakin' old? What the hell is going on? I've had to let go of some plans - I guess I won't ever be going back to finish my black belt now, and I'm not even sure how to keep going with Weightwatchers since I really need to exercise to lose weight, and I can't walk, can't ride a bike, can't do anything that involves bending my knee, and now can't even kayak because the truck is busted and I need the truck to carry the kayak.
Sorry. Whining, I know. This is just the latest incarnation of my mid-life crisis, and I really have no idea how to deal with any of it.
And now my daughter Elise is hungry. What a little bottomless pit she is - growing like a weed, 7 years old, and she never walks anywhere she can run. I've entered her in a kid's race - Pat's Run - which she's going to run with her cousin Katie.
Okay, if I don't get her some breakfast, she's going to rise like a volcano. Ciao!
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