Day 2 of normal routine

I managed to get up a little after 5 and do a few things before feeding the team.  I was surprised I was in such good spirits considering I went to bed fairly late.  I put the coffee on as I was getting ready for the day, took my daily meds.  The normal start  to the day in our house.

I was able to leave a little after 7 and made it to the gas station like I should have yesterday but luckily it was okay.  I got to the office by 7:30 and chatted with SR.  I found out some stuff “is coming down the pike as for as additional tasks.  I also admitted my regret about not working more.   She admitted it was her first day back to the office too. 

I set up for the day and chatted with some more of my coworkers who came in for the first time.  I found out MC’s mom has been quite ill.    I hope she will be okay, but unfortunately it will be a long road.  I made phone calls to IT and as of now they are working on it I believe.

I have the area committee meeting at 12 pm and I will have to find a place to sit and participate.  We have an Ally meeting with other unions tomorrow I think.  I don’t know…I just wrote up the notes in my Union file on the computer. 

It doesn’t look like I am going to the meetup tomorrow night.  I want to attend that Ally meeting tomorrow night.  I would have found out about it if I could get connected.  I tried even with the suggestions.  They even said use the zoom connection for the phone.  I got so aggravated that I just gave up and went back to work with out even having lunch.

There were some issues about the mail.  We are trying to find out if they were here or not yesterday.  Kilby station was not picked up.  The other stuff in cash bags were the only thing we got.  I sometimes wonder if we all mean the same thing when we say “the courier service” was here this many times.

The rest of my day went into the crapper.  I realized I was scanning documents the wrong way and ended up losing the said files.  I was able to redo some of them that I touched today.  Luckily AC helped out and was able to rescue at least one day.  We were able to get a document access so that I can make the refund scanning  batch sheet.  IT was helpful in getting Java updated and epic reset and now I can access my time card from every place except from the laptop at home.  I took a picture of it and sent it to the guy who helped me today. I gave him the information and will check the email again tomorrow.

I came home by 4:30.  I had my lunch food as snack.  I had relaxed until it was time to get to the gym.  I missed Paiges class but after my session with Alex I stayed until 7:15.  I did thirty minutes on the treadmill and made it to 9k (not exactly the 10K as promised) and became 10Kplus by the time I got to the car.

When I got home the cats were roaming but there was a mess on the floor of my old phone and pictures and pins.  It was the second time today it was on the floor.  I am not sure what was going on.  Either I am being visited by spirits or these two where have a grand old time.

I made dinner, watched a little tv and then started the taxes.  I just finished a little before ten.  To say it was stressful would be an understatement.  Everything I worked on was zooming.  I used Turbotax and it cost me just over $150.  I was getting aggravated every time an email alert, or page alert would show up. There were so many questions they went through I couldn’t answer (like paying stuff from another state) I mean I used chewy or amazon or Newegg but I think they charged state taxes. 

I had FMLA so I think that was correct.  I just don’t know.  There were all the questions about owning the house.  I just don’t know and I didn’t want to call “HIM” or my sister because it was getting late.  I am getting alerts that they have been submitted.    I was really obnoxious and I was cussing and I never know if I am so loud that the neighbors can hear me.    Well one won’t they don’t look like they are around.     Well the kitties seem fine (they spent the last two hours downstairs)

I don’t think I will be going to bed anytime soon.

 

Need to rethink my day

We did our normal routine this morning and I decided to lay down for at least an hour.  JOC and I were supposed to go for a walk at 8:30 and while I was showering and getting ready she sent me a text.  Telling me she would have to bale.  So I have been slow on moving and resorting to watching TV again.

It is overcast right now and 70 degrees out and it feels nice.  The forecast is calling for showers today.  My front yard looks great or at least better but the back yard not so much. I may have said this but I would much prefer that Mother Nature do the work instead of me hauling the hose all over the place.  Besides that our water authority (which is the water company) is asking the residents of the city not to water the lawns right now.  The water has been brown in some areas.

Supervisor Bob sent out an email to the staff recalling us to work on Monday.  He did say some of us will be moved around to follow social distancing requirements.  This will be very interesting.  I am wondering if I will still have my scanning desk.  I have a feeling the first few days I am back will be focusing on the mail and later on the scanning.

I played some Words with Friends this morning and this guy from NY started chatting with me.  I guess I decided to play against him and I am now feeling like I am breaking a rule I made. I mean I play with my male cousins so that’s okay but if they use this as a way to get dates they will be in one huge disappointment.

 A woman named Moriah from NY joined the finding friends for Women Meetup group contacted me.  We chatted this morning.  I asked her if she was attending the meetup tomorrow night but she said no.  I am not sure what she meant the assignment. So those alarm bells are starting to go off like they did a few years back when some very odd women wanted to chat with a few of us on a few different platforms.  I get really uncomfortable when People od that.  A few men somehow got to comment on group activities.  It’s a group for women.

I have been debating whether or not I should go and do my grocery shopping now or wait a few more days.  I have enough meals (fish stuff) but I still need sides.  I am not big on making salads but eating them I am.  I also need milk and cream for the coffee. Black coffee doesn’t work for me.

I chatted with DO today about the holiday and diet.  He keeps asking what Alex believes is good.  He wants me to eat to survive.  Not everything has to be enjoyed.  I think he understands now.  He suggested oatmeal when I told him I haven’t had cereal.  He asked me what recommendations Alex make for diets.  (I think I wrote that two different ways to mean the same thing). 

I went to the committee meeting this afternoon.  What I have found out is my colleagues on my team are objecting to having to return to the office.  They can’t do their job from home and they feel they should be able to.  Committee members feel these people should come in and do their job.  BV is urging compassion.  I am guessing they (those who don’t want to come in) feel it’s not safe to go into the office.  There will be social distancing.  I pointed out this is the same issues that started back in March.  BV says that future contracts will perhaps one day have to include working remotely.   From what can gather they will be talking to those people in our area about the choices they have or what the path will be taken.

It’s been a couple of hours now and I reviewed what I have to do for class tomorrow and it’s going to be a pain the ass.  I am going to have to go to it an hour earlier and whatever I needed to print out I won’t be able to.  I want to be able t make sure I connect to whatever soon.

The cats were annoying me and I yelled at them.  They wanted to get fed and its not their dinner time or wasn’t.  Now they won’t get near me (I also tried to catch tiger and she hissed at me)..I have been trying apologize to them like they would understand and right now they are running from me.  I am probably acting stupid but I am not feeling very appreciated by them right now.

 

 

 

 

We go back to work

Some of us will be going back to work in 9 or 10 days.  There will be many who will be working from home still and those who like me will be sporadically in the office.  The union was able make arrangements with the Uni to continue to pay for those who are home past July 10.    As I said previously I made sure to let the union stewards know I am ready and willing to go back to work.  One was afraid that if I didn’t I would have to go into the pool or find another job within the university.  I don’t know if I will be sharing my desk with someone as there are some changes coming down the pike

Two departments will be merging another will be outsourced and the Customer/Patient service is safe.  Accounts receivable (claims department, follow up, cash posting and some others) are fine.  There will be some that could be asked to retire.  As its two people I have worked with one for nearly my entire career in YM and another for the last three years are going to be moving on.  ChristinaR is going to the academic side of the chemistry department and PM is planning on retiring.

There was discussion on the entire university but I wasn’t focused on that during the meeting yesterday.  We will keep on top of the changes and to be sure things are done right.  Contract negotiation preparations are starting and surveys will be going out to the masses to see what we will be fighting for. The two top ones are Job security and of course the benefits.

I did let the committee know that I along with the rest of the team haven’t had many meetings regarding updates or staff meetings in quite some time.  He would send out general emails regarding pay, time, and work related emails (few and far in between).

There were emails from Administration and the union with future plans for the rest of the summer and for the fall opening.  I still need to read through them but I am confident I will not be asked, told or begged to be moving from the current job I have.  That being said I am hopeful that will not be the case. 

I have to admit some of the emails that the Administration has sent out I haven’t read completely because they are not specific enough for me.  I sometimes think I am an idiot or lazy not to really read through some of them.

So I don’t know what happened yesterday but my sense of time went completely down.  Alex had to send me a text about our session at 6 (I thought it was at 6:30) I also thought I signed up for a class afterwards and I can’t find it now.  I was so tired yesterday.   We talked about the exercise I did, the walking and he encouraged me to either come into the gym or do more walking.  He says especially if it is only one way on the boardwalk. 

I didn’t do very much but I was tired. I tried to write an entry which merged into this one.  I watched TV.  I don’t think I walked at all.  I ate lunch and of course I went to the gym.  I was home by 7:30.

Today was my infusion and it went fine.  I fell asleep for a bit and left by 10.  I headed back to home and checked on the cats got some more coffee and then headed to JOC’s house.  We went for an abridged version of our walk.  She told me what she has on her foot (some inflammation and is on that Voltron cream).  We were finished by noon and we talked about tonight’s meetup.

 

The rest of the afternoon I tried to do some writing and watched TV, and cooked the roast for an hour and half. 

As the day passed it got cloudy around 3 another thunderstorm was coming through.  It would start until about 5:30.  It was a light rain but I wasn’t going to take a chance so most of us had to cancel out.  It had been thundering since then and started lightening just before 9.

I was able to go to walk a shorter one than lunch time.  The sky was blue and gray it was beautiful.  I got back at 7:30 and been watching TV and about to clean up the kitchen.

Sky is underneath my bed.  Tiger is sitting in front of the TV as I write this.  MY hope is she will come upstairs when it’s time for me to go up.

Well my hands and my shoulder are acting up again.  I took Tylenol earlier this evening and it hasn’t kicked in.  I better get the dishes done and go to sleep.  I have an exercise class to go to.

much warmer than

It is much warmer than yesterday morning but not quite ready to open the windows yet.  It is supposed to get to 73 and partly sunny skies.  It’s already 55 and not even 7:30.  It is definitely going to be the day to go walking.

I had some weird dreams again.  I dreamt Godzilla was in New Haven.  I could see him over the buildings but it wasn’t in the center of town it looked like it was State Street.  The only thing is it didn’t really look like New Haven.  I kept going into this dark glass building.  I remember seeing him fall and then get up again.  I have had these dreams before.  Of course when I wake up Sky is sitting down and looking down at me.

I haven’t done very much today.  I had a zoom meeting at lunchtime for the union.  We are doing well on the survey and BarbV will be helping me this afternoon via phone to see what I can do better.  We are almost to our goal and we have until Friday to get them complete.  I thought I would be reprimanded for the volume but I also expressed my feelings about when I do these.  I feel I don’t comfortable doing while others are working nor do I like doing it when they finish work for the day.  Nor do I like doing while they have time during their down time with the family. 

WE are considering the possibility of taking a stand to the recent racial problems that was sparked In Minneapolis.  They are not suggesting going out of state but demonstrate here in the state.  I was concerned the whole “outsiders instigated the rioting and looting”.  Many are still angry about that whole situation.  I learned that the other three police officers were not charged yet.

I am not sure I want to block traffic on the major highways but I will do what is necessary to stand up to this horrible event.

The class that the Supervisor emailed us about yesterday has been rescheduled and I will be taking it two days before we return to work.  I will have to call IT tomorrow and get a VPN number (not excited about this). 

I will be attending the YM Town Hall tomorrow.  I rsvp and hopefully will be able to focus on what is important. 

I called the eye doctor to reschedule my visual field test and exam for the 29^th.  I am not sure if that will conflict with the meetup for that night. 

The weather turned from a warm and sunny day to a gray, chilly, and a little rain here and there.  It is supposed to rain tonight.

 

Not What I was expecting

Yesterday was the union protest at the commencement.  It was discussed on the news all weekend but by the time I left for work is when I found out it wasn’t going to be just a silent vigil.  IT turned out to be a long march from the union office all the way to Broadway and then back where we greeted the graduates and applauded.  Quite frankly I am annoyed because this is not what we were told and we should have been told.  By the end of the day my ankles were swollen and my legs hurt.  There was a de-briefing  lunch at the union hall today.  I decided not to go because i could still feel my ankles against the shoes.  It took me awhile to get home yesterday too.  I don’t remember that happening last year. For the record 20 minutes in the garage and 15 to get out of the city.

 

Last night was the creative writing contest reception at City hall.  Before I got there I had to stop and get more cookies and get gas or I would not have gotten home I think.    It was still crappy out so the end of the day was dismal and wet.   I got to the city hall past 5:30 and everyone was setting up.  Really it was already set up for us which is nice.  We took pictures and eventually the event began.  The mayor came as expected and we got to chatting.   There were 21 winners and all of them showed up.  We even honored our three graduates with the Presidential Volunteer award.  The only two things that made it difficult was the fact I collided with a grandparent of another winner because neither of us were watching where we were walking!  My leg was not cooperating either.  It was achy and stiff.  I couldn’t wait to get home to take something for it.

 

When I got home the kitties were waiting for me.  I gave them their night time kibble and cleaned the litter boxes and then I went to bed.  They eventually followed actually SKy did not sure where Tiger slept.

 

Unfortunately I didn’t fall asleep fast enough to learn there had been a terrible explosion in London at Ariana Grande’s concert.  Twenty two people were either killed or injured.  It is being tagged as Terrorist attack.

 

The week started with rain and we have had a nice cloudy day with no rain but getting more by the end of the week.  I don’t have a problem with that but what I do have a problem with is how freaking cold it's been!    I haven’t turned the heat up once in the last several days but the house has been cold I had to wear long sleeves and or sweaters.  Today is a little better but i haven’t turn the fans back on yet either.  I don’t remember May being so cold.  Not even last year.  I would like it a little warmer please!

 

I am not doing anything outside the house tonight i have to do a little bit of pen paling to a new pal who is right here in CT.  Actually she lives in the next town and about 15 minutes away.

 

Tomorrow is another story.  AFter work I will head over to the hair salon and get the ad from Karen and then bring it to SHaron.  I will then pay her for the dinner next week and for my portion of the 4th District ad.

 

I will have a phone session with Courtney the health coach tomorrow.  It's been a couple of weeks since we last spoke and we were supposed to meet tomorrow but the Angel hair thing came up.

 

THursday is the scholarship presentation at Foran.  The coordinator of the event contacted both Chairman Rich and I about who is presenting it and will we have the checks.  I didn’t want to be responsible for getting the checks there but Rich said he would.  I also will be presenting it alone this time.  I am very nervous about it.  WHen I talked with Liz she reassured me I would be fine.

 

Friday is the start of the long weekend.  I don’t have any tentative plans for that night.  IF it is raining I probably will call it an early night and curl up in bed and watch TV with the kitties.

 

Saturday I probably will order my groceries for that day and in the afternoon head over to Liz’s for a short visit.  I Have a birdhouse for her from the club and I want to give it to her.  When I talked with her on the phone she was telling me how Nelson had really over did his activities on Sunday and got sick.  They hope to recuperate this weekend so I know I won’t be staying long that day.

Sunday is the normal activities.  Quiet in the morning (and maybe cooking) and bingo in the afternoon.   The city's Memorial Day parade is that afternoon so it would behoove us to avoid the center.

 

For Memorial Day head back to Liz’s for a small picnic or something in the afternoon and get ready for a short week.

 

I can hear tiger and sky running around making noises upstairs and things falling to the floor.  They had an opportunity to come into my old room while I was updating the pen pal files and they took it for about five minutes.  One of them totally missed the box today.  I had cleaned it out thoroughly this morning and did it again when I saw the pile of crap on the mat.  I guess this means I have to wash it completely out again this weekend.

 

Well it is now 9:30 and i need to get going to bed....Be safe and sound..

Cinco De Mayo Day 2017

Happy Cinco De Mayo Day but is it really for us?  I was just watching a video on the History channel site and it explained it’s to remember the battle of Pueblo.  Where the French were beaten by the Mexican rebels there.  I only covered a little bit of info or trivia here but there is a lot more t know.

Today is my long weekend.  I put the time in at the beginning of the week when I discovered how much time I needed to take or lose.  So I quickly put in for last Wednesday and today.

This week has been very busy and very gratifying all the same time.  Work has been great and Wednesday night was my long term service dinner at Schwartzman hall attached to Woolsey Hall in New Haven.  Jim came up that afternoon to attend with me and we had a great time.  We took Uber to and from the event. 

There was so many people and we were given name tags and a yearbook with everyone who was honored.  Some people were listed with no pictures.  Some of them I have worked with personally and some I have met over the years.  The food was great and the President of the University was there but had vocal cord issues and had to have the provost take over now and then.  Jim really enjoyed my coworkers and the union reps who were there too. 

We were really impressed with Uber and the drivers.  I have to say the fares were a reasonable but $20 at a clip might not be something I need to shell out all the time.  Maybe once in a while.

The weather has been windy for the last few days today its raining and expected to be heavy at times.  That’s okay I am not going far today. I do hope tomorrow is better because I would like to go wash my car.

I actually have the rug cleaning crew coming around 12:30 and I still have stuff to move out of places and not a lot of time to do it.  I am hoping the kitties are both upstairs so that they won’t come down when they arrive or afterwards.

 

Saturday Doings

My intention originally was to go to the mall and go walking.  However, this morning I woke up and my neck was bothering me and that is causing a slight headache.  I also looked around and need to do some stuff here.  The usual household stuff, laundry, paying bills, clearing out stuff, and of course get to the pen pal letters that I haven't had the energy to do at night.

Friday was fairly busy or it seemed busy to me.  Since my Guardian Angel had the day off I was to gather the outgoing mail around the floor.  That didn't take long but I did it a few times even though she had reminded before she left to do it once.  I had a lot of the refund mailings to do and still haven't done it.  I had also the EOB sorting which I don't think got done either.

We had the Labor Negotiations update.  Negotiations don't start until the beginning of Spring but one of the first things we will be working on is keeping the 986 jobs in the union.  One of the things is to continue to get the University to recognize GESO as workers instead of students which would make our our numbers stronger.  I don't know if anyone in that world would see this but I still don't see how this will help.  NO matter how it is explained to me it just won't work.  The administration or management are not filling the jobs that have been made empty due to attrition and retirement.  I just don't know how to explain it.

Oh and we didn't get our W2's as promised yesterday.  The deadline was supposed to be the last business day which was yesterday.  This has a lot of people justifybly annoyed and frustrated.  I think Siduri was spot on.  As the fact that many in the IT have been laid off.  Hopefully it will be ready come Monday.

My sister and BIL invited me to the movies last night and I jumped at the chance.  We saw Star Wars:The Force Awakens.  it was good.  I can understand how some didn't like it and some did.  We all agreed that the original cast looked rather worn (aka like shit).  Some parts of it reminded me of the 2009 Star Trek (the ones with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban).  Ironically a preview for the upcoming release of Star Trek Beyond was on too along with one about Cats.. It had me laughing hysterically along with Zootopia.  We got home by 10 and i was in bed shortly after that.