Moving right along....

The drive to the new building isn't as long as someone told me it was....so that's good.  I haven't done a trip odometer to see exactly how long it is, though.

Since I make my weekly trip at 10:00, I'm avoiding a lot of traffic, too, so it took about a half hour each way.  I was able to turn left when I exited on Monday, and went back exactly the way I came.  it worked out nicely.

My new space is great!  I basically have a double cube, plus the space that connects them along the back wall of the office.

Yeah, it's in the back, and there are no windows anywhere...just like before.... but it's big, and bright, and there's plenty of space for all of the paper I will go back to dealing with when we return to in person work.

All of the cube walls are 5 feet tall, and permanent.  No modular things like we always had at the old building.

Unfortunately, though, there is no pinboard or anything on the walls to hang stuff on, like phone lists, for example.

Maybe those are coming. 

Anyway, my soon to be ex-boss had I.T. put my work station in the least logical place in my area.  

Instead of in the part that's tucked safely behind a 5 foot wall, she had them put it right next to the document shred bin.  

Everyone in my section will be coming up right next to me to use that shred bin all day....  so.... that's not "covid safe."

I asked I.T. to move my work station to where it really should be, and they said my soon to be ex-boss had to approve it.  I thought that was stupid, but whatever....

She then questioned me as to why I wanted it moved.

REALLY?  

Anyway, as far as I know, she gave the go-ahead, but I don't know for sure yet.  We may have to wait until she's gone.

Since I won't be there full time yet, it's okay to wait.  I just thought it might be nice for me to start to organize the space a bit at a time when I go on Mondays for the usual trip.

In other news, apparently three of my team members are also leaving at the same time.  NO ONE has announced this to anyone officially, though, and one day next week, I guess they'll just stop answering emails and doing their jobs.

It's so aggravating, and, above all, stupid and disrespectful of those of us who are staying.

On Friday, I spent an hour or so reviewing and updating my full job description, including all of the stuff I will go back to doing when back in the office.  I will forward this along to the interim team, as soon as the outgoing team is gone.

This will basically say "Hey, guys...look at all of this stuff I do.... maybe you can utilize me in some way to help this transition, and maybe pay me more!!"

My list of duties is the longest one of anyone else in the entire department.

Not much else has been on my mind lately.  The stress and uncertainty have been overwhelming.  I just want this over with so we can move on.

I am pretty sure that the girl who got my promotion a few years back will soon be my new boss. Hopefully, no one has tainted her opinion of me, and we will continue to get along as well as we do.

She won't be able to handle being manager, but oh well.  My former boss saw to it that I didn't stand a chance.

Anyway, it's a beautiful, spring-like weekend, and we are headed out for a walk in the woods first thing.

There's winter weather ahead for us this week, though, with rain, ice, and snow, followed by double digits below zero.  Whee.

Have a good week, and wish me luck with the job situation, please. 

Just.... wow...

On Tuesday, I went to the office, that I have worked in for 9 years, for the last time.  

There were packing crates and boxes everywhere, and it was a bit of a struggle to find a place to sit to sort my  paperwork.

That afternoon, we got a system wide email that our CEO  (who had just emailed us about 10 days before about some "scandalous, incorrect rumor" that he was leaving) is leaving.  Effective immediately.

I was able to confirm that he was forced out by the board of directors.

There was another rumor, last year, about misappropriation of funds.  Maybe that was true, too, and is coming to a head soon.

Anyway, the next day was uneventful, but then on Thursday, my department had a zoom meeting.  I figured it would be about the new building and what was going to happen with that, since most of us have heard NOTHING about it in months.

Well, as it turned out, that wasn't the topic at all.

The entire business office management team, both in OKC and in Tulsa, is resigning.

We are being left with NO management, RIGHT as we are moving to a new building, during the worst covid surge to date  (current numbers:  301 new cases per 100K, positive test rate 45.5%)

The situation behind this announcement was much clearer, however.  

They are all leaving on the same day, and one of them admitted to us that they are all going to the same place.

This harkens back to October when that bitch, Angie, left to go to work for our local competitor.

She is now taking all of her favorites with her...including someone at my level of the company who she has always liked, and who does very little actual work.

This has also all been confirmed... and Angie, being who she is,  made SURE to make this happen at the worst possible time for those of us whom she does NOT like.

There will be a very special place in hell for her, AND for those who are rushing to make more money at her new company, abandoning us all at once like this.

SO-- that's that.  At least all of the people who have been trying to get me to quit all these years will be gone, and no one that's left will know anything about that.  Maybe I can finally make some headway.

IF, that is, the company doesn't utterly collapse now.

The board is meeting this coming week to discuss making Angie's former assistant the CEO, and our IT guy the COO. Should be interesting.

As for the business office?  We are in limbo. I am guessing that the person they call the trainer will be made out manager.  

Gods help us.

In some ways, I am ecstatically happy, in others, I am severely angry.  I mean... how DARE they do this to us?  Can you imagine being that greedy?

I sure can't.

But... Okies will be Okies...and this fits the profile.  I'm sorry, but it's true. Time and time again, I have seen it.

That myth that Oklahomans always go out of their way to help others is absolute crap.

Yesterday, I drove to the new building, which is 25 miles away, and got myself a route, so that I can stop worrying about that.

I will go to the new building tomorrow, like usual, to pick up and drop off paperwork.  My soon to be ex boss called me Friday and asked if I wouldn't mind staying to unpack my desk.  There will only be one other person there, so I said yes.

Anyway, last weekend's zoom yoga therapy appointment was canceled.  This has happened about 5 times since November, either by me, or by the therapist. 

It's been rescheduled for 10 this morning, but I never got a confirmation from her about that.  

That being said, I am off to take my shower.  

Have a good week, and please keep me and my co workers in your positive thoughts.  We have a rough time ahead.

Meta-versary

 As a survivor of metastatic breast cancer, I am what's called a "metavivor."

Today marks the beginning of my 8th year of survival, as on this day, in 2015, I sat, utterly terrified, in the chemo chair for the first time.

I'd heard so many stories of people who were not able to tolerate chemo...I knew a few of them personally...or who actually ended up hospitalized, or even died, from their first treatment.

But, here I am, stepping into a new year, which is 6 years past the average survival limit for stage 4.

I am, however, far from average.....

In other news, Arya kitty never came back.  She is probably dead, under the house across the street.

Her companion, Luke, now our eldest feral, has been coming around for his meals, though.  I hope he is staying in our shelters, instead of going under that house where her body, most likely, is.

It breaks my heart to think about that.

We do our best for them, though.  On some levels, I think they know this.

We had another extreme cold snap, with 50 mile per hour winds, and deep cold.  The great part is that a friend sent us a heated cat shelter just in time!

We set it up on the back patio, and Silver has started to use it.  She was in there when the wind was cold and raging yesterday.

The weather should be more moderate today and tomorrow, though.  I am off work tomorrow for Martin Luther King Jr. day, but Dave has to work.  

We might try to get out to a park this afternoon, after being stuck inside since Friday evening, with that cold wind going on outside.  You know that I get cabin fever if I can't get outside!

With this three day weekend, I have been cooking, and will do more tonight and tomorrow.  There will be lots of delicious left overs for the coming week!

The covid numbers continue to astonish us, and keep us locked down.  14,403 new cases, state wide,  yesterday. No numbers released today, yet.

Keep in mind that Oklahoma has a population of 3.9M.    Of course, the most populace county is the one we live in, so the numbers here are the highest.

The schools closed Friday, due to illness across the spectrum....kids, teachers, and other staff.  Just saw this morning that this will continue through the coming week.  Parents are suddenly caught in the middle again, after return to work mandates have come down from employers over the past several months.

Speaking of that, with the high covid numbers, I emailed my boss and asked about how to proceed to get a medical exemption for return to work, which was originally scheduled for a week from tomorrow, at the new building.

She said that the return to the office has now been delayed to February 8th, and that I would be allowed to stay at home until the numbers go down sufficiently.

I am thinking I will still make the one trip a week, to pick up and drop off work, at the new building, but I won't be required to stay there to work.

This gave me a tremendous sense of relief. However, I do hope that they will extend the deadline further, for everyone's safety.

Dave's office has officially removed their return to the office date from the calendar, and has extended work from home for his entire team indefinitely.

You'd think that the ambulance company would do the same.

Anyway, I have a 10:00am zoom appointment this morning, so I had better get going.

Have a good week, and stay safe and well. 

Locking down

 This past week, the covid numbers in Oklahoma jumped from 32 per 100 thousand, to 103 per 100 thousand.

Positive test rate more than doubled, from 13.2% to 31.9%.

SO. We are back to having our groceries and pet supplies delivered, whenever possible. 

We DID go out and run a couple of errands Friday evening and Saturday (and people are not wearing masks, in general), to stock up on some things, but, for the most part, we will not be going out in public, or hanging out with friends, any time soon.

The weather was brutally cold for a couple of days this past week, and this weekend is unpleasantly chilly and, of course, windy.  

I miss my hot tub!!!  But, I hate getting out there when there's high wind.  

It's not likely we will even go out walking anywhere today with this cold wind, but I am going stir crazy, so we'll see.  I do have ear muffs and a parka now!

But, then, there's also the heel tendon pain, and the hip pain, that have started up again, thanks to the hormone blockers.  

It's not been bad, just annoying, and keeping me from taking walks on break time during work for a couple of weeks.

It's also been a month of no dance classes, due to the studio having the floors re-done, and our usual winter break.

Anyway, and sadly, the deep cold we had this past week seems to have been the last straw for one of our older feral cats.  

She wasn't doing great leading up to the cold snap, but now she's clearly suffering from some kind of system failure.  

These poor cats have such a hard life.  We do what we can for them, and they know that our yard is one of their safe spots, where they can get food, water, "scritches and pets," and shelter... but it's still a hard life.

This poor girl has lost so much weight, and has visible signs of illness. She's eating voraciously, and drinking water, but is suddenly so very frail. She can barely walk.

We hope that she will just go to sleep in one of the shelters, so that we can see to her burial.  We'd much prefer that, to her dying under someone else's house, or in their garage, and ending up in a trash can.  

She is the one we call Arya.  She's our huntress... the one who leaves us gifts (rodents, birds), to thank us for our hospitality and love.

Fans of  'Game of Thrones' will recognize the name, and understand the reference.  She's our Murder Kitten, who taught little Silver how to hunt, after Silver's mom abandoned her in our yard.

Yesterday, Silver was cuddled up with Arya in one of our shelters, keeping her warm.  Dave and I sobbed in each other's arms after feeding her and watching her struggle to move.  We do grow to love them, as they love us, in the only way they can.

New neighbors have moved in next door.  So far, we have not met them, or even seen them.

We don't have much of anything to do today.  Our house is still pretty clean from Christmas, and we did most of our regular weekly chores yesterday.  

I'm not even going to cook anything today because we already have a fridge full of left overs from cooking projects yesterday, and earlier in the week. 

So, there will be plenty of time to do yoga (which I desperately need, with so little exercise happening lately)...and maybe I can have some quiet, spiritual time as well.  

I'd like to try to do that every Sunday, because it really helps my overall attitude, and Sundays are when I am most likely to have the time and headspace to actually "check in."

It's been working out well for the past few weeks.

Dave has an errand to run (we're out of one of the chemicals we need for the hot tub), and then he will go out to the shelters-- to see if Arya has passed.  We have not seen her yet this morning.

I think I will start my day with a nice, hot bath.  Soaking in hot water really does help my aches, and if I do yoga right after I get out, it's easier.

I have my monthly injection, and bi monthly port flush, tomorrow afternoon.

Wishing you a safe, healthy week.

Welcome 2022

 We've had another quiet New Year celebration at Dragons' Roost.

It was really an un-remarkable week between holidays, other than there was a zoom meeting on Thursday afternoon, during which they announced that my office will return to in - person work, at the new building (that is 45 minutes away), on January 24th. 

In the midst of a covid surge.

Yay.

Of course, we are hoping that sense will win out again, and that we will get another delay.

Dave's company delayed their return to the office already, but they didn't just spend millions on a newly- renovated building that now needs to be filled with people.

Dave still doesn't have a definitive answer about if he will be forced to return to work in the office or not.  Given the fact that the only difference for him has been that he now sits at home instead of in a building full of people, (because his entire department is officed in Tulsa), there's no logical reason for him to have to go back to the OKC office.

Anyway, I guess time will tell.

I DID have a dream last night that they gave me a promotion -- and an OFFICE.  HA..HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Due to the covid surge, we are returning to having our groceries and pet supplies delivered, and will not be going out anywhere, unless it's good enough weather to take walks.  

We did our errands on Thursday evening, and there were so few masks on people that it was mind boggling.  

The level of selfishness, willful ignorance, and disregard for others in this area is mind boggling.  It's just the Okie way, I guess.

We have no plans for today, as it is deeply cold outside.  We narrowly escaped a New Year's ice storm, and got a tiny dusting of snow before the temperature dropped into the low teens with sub zero wind chills.

It should get above freezing today, though, so the deep cold will only have lasted for about 24 hours.

I am jealous of my friends and family back home, who were predicted to get a New Year's Day snow storm.  

Hoping that we all have a year of good health, prosperity, safety, and love in 2022!