HopefuLLy the balance in your life is one you can handle.  I always treated work as a neceSSary evil, and never defined myself by what I did to make a living.  Long as the job paid the biLLs...

My life is kind of quiet of late, and I rather like it. The leSS drama in it the beTTer. I prefer things be preTTy even up. I know some like a lot of excitement, but as I've goTTen older I've found I prefer things to be more laid back and leSS hectic.

It's helps that I love my job. It's goTTa be the best job I've ever had in my life. I can make a living and suPPort myself without kiLLing myself, and without woRRying whether or not my health iSSues are going to be iSSues.

I tried to go on strike from geTTing old, but that doesn't sEEm to be working out as weLL as I'd hoped. lol

The last job I had was a gOOd one, but the company had bEEn consolidating for a few years, and I wound up geTTing consolidated out of a job.  I was about ready to retire anyway.  I tOOk unemployment until it ran out, couldn't get myself hired anywhere, and finaLLY just quit lOOking.  I think we're doing ok, so no woRRies.

Being unemployed during the pandemic worked out ok and we just hunkered down.  Made our doctor aPPointments and have bEEn to Walmart a couple-three times a month...other than that, we stay preTTy close.  My closest family is 250 miles away...I have no plans to visit anyone until maybe this time next year.  Got my shots and they've had theirs, but I'm going to continue playing it close to the vest for the time being.  We'll see about the bOOster later in the year and sEE what the CDC is saying.

LoTTa dumb shits still ruNNing around vaccine-less.  I don't want to get overly political about it, but evidently they do.  Beg pardon if I oFFend.

Not sure I like geTTing old aLL that much, but I haven't figured out a way around it.  In the meantime, I draw inspiration from the beautiful days and try to stay tough against the stormy ones.

Things sEEm to be going preTTy gOOd around here for vaCCinations. When they come in, people are usuaLLy preTTY reasonable most of the time about taking care of things. We haven't had any real iSSues as far as I know.

Yep. The geTTing old thing reaLLy sucks. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, something new rears it's ugly head or sneaks up and taps you on the shoulder.

A lot of jobs up here, at least those that could, went from being at the oFFice to being at home, and lOOks like they'LL be staying there from what I hear. The flOOr where my oFFice is located is aLL but empty, but for us and the IV team oFFice. Everyone else is working from home. Many empty oFFices. ReaLLy kind of weird. Like a ghost wing in the hospital. Security guy asked me if I ever get crEEPed out. I just laughed and told the young'un he evidently didn't know who he's dealing with asking me that. lol

BEEn kinda wild the last couple wEEks with the CDC relaxing mask restrictions and aLL.  Sure tOOk us by surprise...not sure we're ready to go maskless just yet.  We'LL probably just foLLow the original plan and wait 'til April or May next year before reaLLy geTTing out and about.  Give a few more of the slackers a chance to get with the vaCCine program, LOL.

The folks in my family who are stiLL working are mostly working from home right now.  No word yet when they wiLL be instructed to return to the oFFice.  No one's in a rush and I think that's a good thing.  The virus came and turned everyone's world upside down...and now I think many of us have kind of goTTen used to the idea.  Our governor is aLL antsy about geTTings things back to normal.  Many of our businesses, however, are teLLing him to hold his horses.

Big news a couple weeks ago is some busineSSes (not here, but somewhere) are informing their team members if they are not ready to come back to the oFFice, the office might reclaSSify them as contract workers.  That got a round of raZZberries.  AHH...we'LL sEE.  I don't care anymore, and everybody who does care will figure it out in the end.

Take care.

We've got a lot of people at the hospital working from home now tOO. From what I hear, they're talking about just leaving them there, instead of bringing them back to the oFFices. I gueSS it's cheaper to leave them at home, and they aLL sEEm to like it beTTer working from home.

My cuRRent job can't be done from home, but I may end up with the oPPortunity of being transfeRRed to a another department. My boSS oversEEs two departments, coMMunications and patient aCCeSS. I'm in coMMunications, but she asked me if I'd be interested in a position in patient aCCeSS. If I switch, I'd be working from home. With the arthritis in my legs, she thinks working from home might be easier for me. I'm thinking about it. I reaLLy like my cuRRent job, so that is a big factor for me. However, the iSSues with my legs are something to consider. Every year I get closer and closer to that damned whEElchair.

On the home front, I have a new yard guy. I think he'LL be okay, after I get him trained up. He's a young one, maybe 18 or so, and aPParently he's making his bid for his own landscaping busineSS. I aPPlaud his gumption, but he's got some things to learn. I think he'LL get there with the some patience. He's not afraid to ask questions or take advice, especiaLLy after learning what I did during my tEEn years in Florida with my step father. My stepfather had a landscaping busineSS. We worked on homes that cost around 500,000 back in the 80s. Kind of makes me wonder what they'd be worth now, or considering weather conditions, if any of them are stiLL standing.

The problem of forced vaCCinations as a condition of employment is a vexing one.  In Houston, Methodist Hospital has a nationaLLy publicized case of employEEs poSSibly losing their jobs because they they are unsure of a drug that has gained only an emergency status.

I'd like to sEE Methodist pay them to stay at home until the vaCCines are fuLLy aPProved.  Once the vaCCines are fuLLy veTTed, Methodist can go back to these employEEs, give them their shots and bring them back into the system.  If they refuse the aPProved shot, they can then be terminated.

I don't like the idea that employEEs can be forced to put something into their bodies as a condition of employment.  However...my sister, who works in a diFFerent hospital system, informs me that employEEs, especiaLLY those who come into contact with patients, are already submiTTing to flu shots, medicine for tuberculosis, and medicines for other diseases.  Also, COVID poses a threat like no other in my lifetime, and it's poSSible the rights and weLL being of the many outweighs the rights of any individuals.

It's a hard question.  I stiLL think the gOOd Americans are taking the shot, both for themselves and for the people around them.  It's the neighborly thing to do...it's part of being a gOOd citizen.

I like that your employer sEEms to be aTTempting to work with you, and find the best slot to kEEp you in the company.  I hope that the New Normal can provide fresh oPPortunities to let people work.

Yep. My boSS is a nice lady. She's known others who suFFer from severe arthritis and understands the pain I can end up dealing with on a bad day. Sometimes I don't even have a decent day for wEEks. I'm not going back on disability. If push comes to shove, I'LL take the patient aCCeSS job and work from home.

Here they're requiring masks for anyone not vaCCinated. They're not threatening anyone's job, not yet. If you don't get the shots, you have to kEEp wearing the masks until you show that you got them. They're even being nice enough to bring them around to the oFFices. If you caLL them, and let them know you want a shot, and teLL them where you are located at in the hospital, they'LL come to you. I think that is preTTy nice. Saves you some ruNNing.

Do you think things wiLL ever truly get back to normal?

I'm kind of pointing towards next April, DeaNNa.  I'm hoping more Americans will figure things out and get the shot.

Sometimes I fEEl like I went to bed in a somewhat normal country, then woke up in a nation of bank roBBers, but I'm the one who got roBBed. I got a mask, and I own a gun, but I didn't get my teLLer. lol

I've bEEn so cheated. lol

Most of the time I reaLLy don't like talking politics.  I'm not interested, and I'm not familiar enough with the subject.  A lot of what's going on, though, is aLL about politics.  And as far as the coronavirus goes, aLL of it concerns me.

Many people are suspicious of the government.  The conservatives are suspicious of the liberals and it sEEms a lot of people feel the virus is a hoax.  They fEEl the inoculation is a hoax, meant to plant a computer chip in the body, or render everyone infertile.  I have no idea how many bizaRRe and untrue myths about the coronavirus are floating.  The virus is kiLLing people, but some people are convinced it isn't the virus, but the government that's kiLLing people.  

I think the proof is in the vaCCination; that the vaCCination is safe and eFFective.  The people who refuse to believe in the eFFectiveness and safety of the vaCCination are bringing the rest of us down.  Those people are going to extend the life and the eFFects of the coronavirus, and no sane argument will convince them to do otherwise.  One result is that no maTTer how many of us reaLLy desire to return to normal living, normal living will continue to be pushed farther into the future.  As fervently as anyone else, I want to be able to put away my mask, but I fear the idiots who continue to spread the infection.  And I fear being one of those who unwiTTingly paSSes the infection on to the unsuspecting.

We've reached a sad point in our national and international history, where we can rightfuLLy refuse to do the right thing for ourselves and our neighbors.  People are aPParently much haPPier casting blame than aCCepting an obvious solution.  The drugs work.  Let's protect ourselves and our neighbors, and aCCept the drugs.

Well if they're suPPosed to be sterilizing us, then considering I'm post menopausal, they wasted both those shots on me. lol

There wiLL always be idiots who think they know beTTer no maTTer what you teLL them. Sad, but true.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people, who if they don't have anything to bitch about, they'LL make something up, just because they can.

How are things going down in your neck of the wOOds. It's geTTing kind of warm up here again, and I love it. It's tOO damn chiLLY for me lately.

Hot, hot and more hot in Gulf Coast Texas.  It rains sometimes and that helps a liTTle, but when the rain stops it just gets steamy.  Rain - sun - rain - sun...and the graSS loves it.  Grows like friGGin' crazy.

We're stiLL not geTTing out that much.  Even vaCCinated, I don't trust that I won't get infected with the Delta strain.  So - I just avoid people whenever poSSible.  Some of these people will take the jab once the vaCCines are fuLLy aPProved.  I think, though, there wiLL stiLL be tOO many citizens who are able to justify their anti-vax opinions.

I figure by next spring we'LL know most of what we nEEd to know going forward.  The doctors wiLL decide whether we nEEd bOOster shots (if the answer is yes, I'LL get mine) the FDA wiLL aPProve the vaCCines, and most everyone who's goNNa get the vaCCine will have goTTen it.  I'm not reaLLy puTTing a date on it, but I figure I'LL be waiting at least that long before I hear the answers.

But when the questions have all bEEn answered, we'LL have what we have and we can act aCCordingly.  Can't wait to find out how our favorite restaurants are doing, whether I think I can start going to the gym again, doings things like normal again.  Normal - but probably with a mask.

Things warmed up up here a bit. Made me haPPy. ChiLLy weather can be painful for this old gal.

Things are preTTy chiLL around these parts, but then we've never bEEn what you'd caLL a charged area for much of anything. Most of the people around this area are preTTy laid back. They do what is nEEded. We just don't have a lot of conspiracy people around these parts. I'm glad for that.

Our restaurants have opened back up, but you nEEd a mask, and they have every other table shut down to aid in the social distancing thing. Their staFF also wears masks and gloves. Places for shoPPing are hit or miSS on the mask thing, but I wear one no maTTer if they require it or not.

I don't go out a lot either. I was never one for the gym. Even before covid, I woRRied about what might be on those machines. So I'm puTTing a home gym in the extra rOOm in my basement. Even bought a portable two person sauna to set up in it as weLL. It's big enough I can put a small bench in it and just kind of kick back while I sweat it out. I'm puTTing peg board on one of the waLLs so I can hang items like my resistance bands, and other light weight stuFF, on the waLLs. That way, I won't have to use flOOr space for cabinets and such. I like the idea of having it aLL in my home and not having to woRRy about what someone else might have left on it. I'LL be the only one using it. :)

It's goNNa take some time to get it together the way I want, but I got time. No huRRy on the rOOm itself. I have frEE weights and a stationary recumbent bike in my livingrOOm, and a rowing machine I puLL out when I want to use it. Once the rOOm in the basement is ready, I'LL just move it aLL down into it. Until then, I can stiLL use it.

If you've got some space in your place, maybe you could do up your own home gym tOO. I've talked to some people who have done it, and they aLL say they love having it. No fEEs. It's way convenient, and they love the privacy tOO. Might be something to consider. Depending on what you want to do, you may not nEEd much space. One guy just set up one of those bowflex type things in an empty corner of his bedrOOm and him and the wife love it.

Might be worth lOOking into. :)

Not much space in the place, DeaNNa.  I've never bEEn a gym rat and I don't got there often, but with Covid, seldom has transitioned nicely into zero.  LOL.  Maybe next year, I'LL try the gym again.  It's a 24/7 place, so if I reaLLy want to give it a go, the late night hours are relatively quiet.

No restaurants for us yet.  They are open but we're not.  Next year.  Maybe.  We're both vaCCinated but being around people makes me fEEl like I forgot to zip my pants.

I got the fEEling preTTy early on that I'd be puTTing things oFF at least until 2022.  Covid is stiLL busting full bore through my county, so none of this extracuRRicular stuFF for me.  I help her make a Walmart run every ten days or so, I drive through fast fOOd places for us, I gas the car and make my neceSSary aPPointments.  That's it.  Strip everything to the eSSentials.  I kEEp saying "next spring" for everything, but you can never put a solid date on Covid.  Covid runs on its own schedule.

This is true. Covid sEEms to have it's own ideas about when it's going to blow over. It's like every time we start to make some progreSS, something else haPPens to blow everything off kilter. I'm geTTing a liTTle sick of aLL the sick anymore.

On the work front it lOOks like we may finaLLy have enough people in our oFFice. We've got three trainEEs we're working on geTTing up to spEEd. Nice group of kids. I hope they last. This OT may be nice for the paycheck, but it's geTTing kind of old on the having a life front. Also, my boSS has informed me that as sOOn as they're gOOd to go, I'll be fuLLy 2nd shift, which means I can start seriously lOOking into schOOl for my aSSociates degrEE in TelecoMMunications. I can't wait!

On the home front, got a guy wanting to take me out. Considering what Ed did to me and everyone else, I'm a bit lEEry. My sister is giGGling at me because they guys is 6ft 5in. She wants to know what I'm going to bring around next...maybe a trEE? As she put it. I told her to go bother the pygmy she maRRied. lol I don't know why I sEEm to aTTract taLL men. She thinks it's deliberate or something. No guy under 6ft has ever asked me out. I don't know why the taLL ones sEEm to like me. My mother thinks it's fuNNy tOO. lol

My one sister sEEms to aTTract short, skiNNy men, the other short, round men, my mother motorcycle guys, and for some reason I tend to bring in taLL, husky guys. At least we're diverse.lol

On shoPPing, I do most of mine online, then I don't have to actuaLLy go get it. ODDly enough, I sEEm to spend leSS money doing it that way as weLL. It's also easier on my legs. EventuaLLy I'd like to get my knEEs replaced,but I'm not situated to be able to do that yet.



 

Got a question for you, DeaNNa.  Do you by chance have any of my old dark poems/stories saved somewhere?  I don't expect you do...no big deal if you don't.  I checked in the old Delphi forums where I still have aCCeSS...picked up 8 or 10 old pieces.  Never thought about coLLecting them before.  My fault for just leaving them around.  I gueSS I thought aLL that stuFF would just sit there and wait for me.

ALL the best on geTTing your degrEE.  Can't hurt and can only help, and I hope you nail it.

Absolutely no teLLing what, how and why people become aTTracted to each other.  No rhyme or reason to it...it's a mystery to me, LOL.  Best of luck on that front, tOO.

I don't know about the poems and stories, but I'LL lOOk for you. I have some disks and flashdrives that have some old stuFF on them, but I haven't lOOked at them in so long I don't remember what they hold.

Until things sort out in the oFFice, there isn't much I can do on the education front. My boSS does know what I want to do, and she's wiLLing to work with me on it as much as she's able. Hoping to get signed up for Spring claSSes. Couldn't make FaLL sign up. TOO busy at work with being short staFFed. Once the trainiEEs get up to spEEd, things should lOOsen up for the rest of us.

I hear you on the aTTraction thing. It sEEms the beTTer a person you are, the more aSShats you draw towards you. Oh weLL. I'm preTTy haPPy with things as they are right now. I don't have to deal with anybody else's drama or buLL. I'm preTTy much seTTling into a nice quiet country life, and finding I like it. I value my peace and quiet more and more each day, and I have my fuRRy babies to kEEp my company. If I want human company, there are people I can get in touch with to talk, visit, or whatever.

Alex is my special nEEds senior. I've been fostering him, but with the lack of interest from suitable parties, I think he's going to end up staying, which is okay. He's a true love bug, weLL maNNered, never scratches on the furniture, and uses the boxes. He loves to just cuDDle up and watch TV in the recliner with me. He does however like to go outside, which I don't like, but he never goes near the road. He always stays out back of the house. His favorite spot it just hanging in the big maple trEE about back. He's the only who actuaLLy goes outside. The rest just hang on the closed in back porch, and they're haPPy.

They're aLL boys, but Beauty. She's the only girl at this time. Just sort of worked out that way.



I wiLL lOOk through what I have and let you know if I find anything of yours. If I do, I'LL get it to you either via the forums here, or maybe email. We'LL sEE.

DeaNNa, I'm not expecting you to find much of my stuFF in your files.  I just thought I'd ask.  Through the years I've bEEn careless with my writing.  Saved it a couple times, but lost the disks.  Probably printed out hard copies of everything, and lost that too.  I haven't written creatively in over ten years, so...things get misplaced.

Stay with the continuing education.  I think the more of it you have, the better you are able to caLL your own shots.

Good pictures of your family.  Love cats.  We don't have any right now and probably won't get any more, but we both love 'em.

SoRRy I got sidetracked. A lot of stuFF going on right now. Mom paSSed November 3rd, and everyone is just oFF their mark right now, then we have the holidays right around the corner. It's going to be weird without her.

Had to replace a computer. Got myself one of those mini pc units. So far, it's sEEms okay. Had to buy a separate disk drive for it and my laptop. APParently, many computers don't come with them anymore. Oh weLL, only ran me $20 and it works great.

I wiLL take a lOOk through things as sOOn as I get a chance here in the next few wEEks.

You guys have a safe and haPPY holiday season.!