Being seen

 Well.

I went to the office, like usual, last Monday.  I picked up my work from the cube of a co worker who had a terrible cough.  She keeps insisting that she's testing negative, but she's been coughing like that for two weeks.

For some reason, our hanging files cart, where our incoming work is placed, is all the way inside of her cube.  It used to sit out in the open, which I think is how it should still be.

Anyway, I went to my desk, and did my sorting, scanning, and printing.  Filed away my completed work, turned off my computer, and got ready to leave.

As I was leaving, the interim person (they're not even using the words supervisor or manager,  but they're calling her "liaison"), and one of my co workers, were in a small office, both without masks.

I had not seen my co worker for a long time-- two years -- so I headed that way to say hello.  NO, I did not enter the office!  

The "liaison" had a mask hanging from her ear.  The co worker had hers in a box she was carrying.  I later found out, she is getting an office, and was bringing some things from her home office back to the building.

As I approached, my co worker (let's call her E) said "OH!  I forgot my mask!"  She put it on, and we said hello at a distance.  I waved at the "liaison," and left.

Tuesday, "liaison" goes home sick.  

Wednesday, she emails us that she doesn't feel well, and will be working from home.  

Then, that afternoon, she texts me to tell me she's tested positive for covid.

By the end of the week, two more people are out sick.  Probably with covid.  One is an older lady who works in the office, instead of at home, because she is "high maintenance" (does lots of things incorrectly, and has lots of questions, despite having been with us for several years).

SO... E starts texting me Wednesday afternoon.  

SHE is FINE... no symptoms, but she was worried about me.  I told her I was fine...and reminded her that I had stayed distanced, and was wearing my KN95, as always.

Then, she texted me again on Friday, checking in again.  We are both still fine.

We chatted about being in the building, and about how we are currently feeling about it.  

She had gone on Thursday, but felt so uneasy that she left by 11, because a different co worker was there (who goes once a week for a full day), was not wearing a mask, and was walking around talking to people

During our text conversation, I told her that I was worrying about having to go Monday (now tomorrow), to do my usual exchange. But if I don't bring work home, I will not have enough to do. Period.  

Then.

On Friday afternoon, the Safety department called me.  The safety department is a new thing, and I had, quite honestly, forgotten they exist!

Anyway, the safety coordinator, who is also a registered paramedic, and a friend, asked what I do when I am in the building.

He said that E had emailed their department head, concerned about ME having to go to the building right now, as well as some others (one is that older woman, who is now sick).

My heart filled with so much relief, and a feeling of being supported -and SEEN-that I almost started to cry.  I'm almost certain that my ex boss would have wanted me to go ahead and come in.  

But she's gone, and they listened to someone at my level of the company, because she had no reason NOT to advocate for me anymore.

That's a wonderful thing. You have no idea.... 

Anyway...

He stated that they want to fit test me for an N95 mask the next time I am there...but that, well, I really shouldn't come in next week, and should work from home, without an office trip.

I pointed out the fact that I will not have enough to do if I don't come get my work.

Then, he suggested that my work could feasibly be delivered to me.  I assured him that there is no protected health information in what I bring home 90% of the time.  There can't be.

I told him to go see the coughing lady in my department, and that I would email her to give her the heads up that someone was coming to get my paperwork.

I texted the "liaison," and notified her of this development.

At the end of the day on Friday, the safety coordinator himself came to my house with my work for next week.  

Granted, I couldn't exactly give him the completed stuff to take back, but to have my work brought to me, so that I am not worrying about having NOTHING to do after about 10 am every day next week...well... that was a HUGE relief.  Almost MORE of a relief than not having to go to the building.

While he was here, I asked him why there are no hand sanitizer stations in the new building, he said they are coming.  I really think they weren't ready for us to move in, but we were out of time to vacate the old building.

Anyway, he said that they were going to send out another covid safety protocol email to our department, because, apparently, some people, including our "leadership," forgot. 

Everything.

He also said that he will be happy to continue to bring me my work as long as necessary (as mentioned, we are also friends, and he honestly cares about me and Dave).

Hopefully, it won't be necessary for very long, because I have come to rely on my trip to the office to give me some time out of the house, and it helps the feeling of isolation that has been so strong.

SO. That's that, and I can't express in words how this has lifted so much stress away from me.

Yesterday, I made a batch of beef, barley, vegetable soup, and took it out to Mustang for a friend recovering from hip replacement surgery.

Today, Dave is going to Costco first thing, and then later, we hope to go for a woods walk.  I surely could use it, and the weather will be nice enough.

More potential nasty weather later this week, but as long as it's not ice, I don't really mind. We need the moisture!

Have a good week! 

....into the unknown....

 So. That's that.

We have no management at work now.

I deactivated them all from the websites I manage, and they left us with very little direction or idea of how to move forward.

They. Don't. Care.

My boss gave me a few new tasks to add to my already-long list of tasks.  HER boss gave me something that only she has done since taking over for the VP who bailed in October.  Prior to that, the VP had been the only one to do it.

I am sure I am up to these, but they are highly detailed.  I will get used to them after doing them a few times.  They are only done once a month.

On the day after my boss left (she exited 2 days before everyone else for some reason), I sent my full, up-to-date job description to the interim CEO and COO.  One of my co workers did the same.

Just my way of saying hey, this is all that I do, and all that I have done over nearly 9 years ...let me help with this transition. 

I made sure to include the major projects I managed, back before my Project Manager title was stripped away.

Those of us who remain have been communicating with each other pretty regularly.  I've talked to a couple of co workers in the past few days, after not speaking to them for 2 years due to us all working from home.

The culture of secrecy and cronyism will now stop.  We will see to it.

Unless, of course, the interim CEO is a mole for Angie, the VP who left, and who created this chaos intentionally.  

She was, after all, brought into the "white tower" of upper management by Angie, because they were besties.

So. Time will tell.

In other news, we had a beautiful winter storm, that spread over 2 days, this past week.  

The world was blanketed in thick snow.  Unfortunately, it was so cold that I could not get out and enjoy it.  

Just like last February, the snow was followed by a deep freeze.  Not as cold as the one last year that killed trees and animals and people.... but -4 is too cold for me to go for a walk in the snow.

Especially when the deep cold makes my tendon pain flare up severely.

Sigh.

The snow stopped by Friday after work, and I was able to get out and shovel.  That was fun, but I had to limit myself because of pain.  I really wanted to get the porch and steps cleared, and tracks for the tires of the car, at least.

The minute I was finished, Dave escaped the house, and went to the liquor store.  That was the first time either of us has been out in a while now.  Other than my weekly trip to the office, anyway,

Now, all of the snow and ice is melting, and almost gone.  And, miraculously, so is my pain. It's weird how it flares up in the deep cold.  I guess the tendons shorten or something.

Today, I feel fine!  I mean, there's still pain, but it's manageable. 

Our feral kitties have re-appeared.  Even though we have shelters, they never stay here when the weather is like it was.  

We tucked the heated shelter under an additional shelter that we fashioned out of a folding table, draped with a blanket, and protected by sheets of plastic.  

It needs to stay dry, because it's got an electric heating pad, and it's not water proof, only water resistant. We had planned to purchase a small tent or something, but have not done so yet. I'm afraid that a tent would have collapsed under the weight of 8 inches of heavy snow, anyway.

Our little Silver was using the heated shelter every night, but when the storm came, she disappeared, along with the others.

I think they either go under that house across the street, or into the storm sewer system under ground. We've seen some of them go down into the sewer openings at the corner. 

They must feel that they are safer there, and they're certainly safe from the terrible winds....but there is no food.

Most of them are now accounted for, though, and Silver is back in her little, warm house.  

There's another that's gone missing since the previous really cold weather, and we're a bit worried about him.  But, he's also one that comes and goes, so we are hoping to see him again some time.

We are grateful for the moisture the storm brought, as we have been in a severe drought.  I think the last time anything fell from the sky to nourish the ground was October.

Dave's birthday is this coming Tuesday.  I got him a chain saw... HAHA... It's what he wanted!

I forgot to order a box of brownie mix with the groceries, though, so maybe I will suggest that we order dinner delivery or something.

He doesn't really care about birthdays for himself, so we'll see.

The positive test rate in Oklahoma is "down" to 35%.  

This is big progress....  Yeah, Illinois is at 8%, buy contrast... and my family and friends back home are back to doing things normally.  Like going out to celebrate birthdays and stuff.

Sigh.

I am feeling more relaxed since Friday, with the completion of the mass exodus.  I've finally slept well this weekend.  

We have some stuff we want to do around the house today, and I need to get back to focusing on my meditations, and such.

It should be a good day, and the roads will be dry by the time I have to go to the office tomorrow.

Although, now, I am pretty sure that I can dictate when I go, since the micromanagers are all GONE!! 

What a tremendous relief that is.  It was like a huge weight lifted off of me when my boss clocked out for the last time.  AHHHHH!!!  

Going forward, we will make it a much better place to work.  Provided we HAVE a place to work.

But that is not something I need to get back into worrying about just now. 

Have a good week, stay well, safe, and warm!

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!