Category Archives: Getting Shit Done

Work Woes

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So my presentation on Monday morning went fine. Sometimes, the lack of protocol/systems at this place really surprises me though. I mean, the meeting was for University Relations, which encompasses marketing and communications, alumni relations, and development– overall, like 100 staffers. I was told to provide my slides to the project manager last Friday before noon, so they could be assembled and loaded on the presentation laptop. I had asked around earlier for a presentation template (with the logo and colors and shit), and no one knew what the hell I was talking about. Whatever, I sent the file and assumed the few people presenting would just have all their slides combined with a common look/feel. On Monday morning, it all became clear. They just used whatever general design I had selected from PowerPoint! And the person before me just had a series of screenshots. WTF?? Not cohesive at all. No university design layout for the slides! Pretty lame considering that the division handles marcom for the institution!! Whatever. I did my spiel and afterwards, people were nice. I was happy that I didn’t get as nervous as I used to before public speaking, so that was an added convenience. 🙂 

The rest of the week was full of annoyances. Somehow I got to coordinating the schedule for a traveling backdrop around campus. I had to be all nice and enthusiastic about asking people for their participation. I was probably too obsequious considering this is an institution-wide campaign: it’s not as if they are doing ME any real favors. But shit, I wanted to start off with a collaborative spirit. I tried to see the positive side of it all: reaching out to other departments and meeting new people. Some were awesome and super helpful. Others, not so much. I saw some interesting instances of “passing the buck,” plus weird passive aggressive behaviors. Also, I noticed that people do NOT read instructions/emails, so that caused some issues (that could have been avoided).

Long story short, people were making me super misanthropic. Then on Thursday morning, I lost my shit. All week long, I had been connecting person A to person B, person C to person D, and so forth so they could coordinate among themselves with scheduling/transporting/setting up the fucking banner. And yet nearly every damn time, what happened??? They kept contacting ME. I was just so appalled by the lack of initiative and the resistance to getting shit done. When I arrived at the office on Thursday morning, I was so livid, my boss was like “Are you ok? I have NEVER seen you like this.” Here’s the level of incompetence I was dealing with.

  1. I tell the two people: coordinate with each other to set up the banner for Engineering. The morning of, I get a text from my intern:
    Her: I’m at the location, and no one is around.
    Me: Uh, FIND the person you are supposed to work with.
    Her: Do I go to her office?
    Me: CALL HER, or if you can’t reach her, go to the Engineering office and ask for her.
    OMFG, are you serious???????
  2. Later, I get a call. Mind you, there are TWO people now working to get the banner up and ready.
    Her: Uh, we don’t know how to set up the banner.
    Me: The instructions are in the bag.
    Her: There’s nothing else in the bag: just signs and markers.
    Me: They are in the plastic ziploc with the screwdriver.
    Her: Oh yeah. Ok, we have them.
  3. By now, I have lost all confidence, so I start heading over to the site. When I arrive, they are mostly done except the one passive aggressive lady is struggling trying to get two poles snapped together. She’s like handling them as if she had just done her nails or something. And she’s fidgeting with the whole thing while the backdrop is upright. I tell her to step aside, and I lay the backdrop flat on the ground. I twist the two poles gently, and they snap into place. Meanwhile, she keeps saying to me that she works in PR and is the least mechanical person in the School of Engineering. This has nothing to do with engineering skills, lady. More importantly, how the hell are you even surviving in the real world?? Wow.
  4. I then notice the footing of the stand is loose. I mention this to my intern, and she says she doesn’t know how to tighten. Um, you look on the bottom where it’s loose, see the head of the screw, and tighten with a screwdriver. Holy fucking mother of God!
  5. The final straw?? I had laminated a bunch of signs, so people could write with dry-erase markers and hold the signs in the photoshoot. I guess people misplaced the eraser I had packed in the bag. Then, someone ran up to me and said, “There’s no wipe cloth for the signs: what do we do??” AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Are you for fucking real? First off, we are next to the engineering building. Go get paper towels from the bathroom, or here, let me show you this complicated trick: I use the inside of my shirt and wipe the sign.

I cannot even express just how freaking blown my mind was that morning. 1) How are these people college students or worse, adult employees? 2) How are they living in this world? Shaking my head. For realz.

Screwy Sleep Schedule

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So I am back on a program, attempting to get my sleep back on track. The elements for this program include: melatonin, Sleepytime tea, and lavender on the soles of my feet. When I finally do doze off, the quality of rest does seem a step up from before, but I’m still only clocking about 5-6 hrs/night. In other words, I still feel tired all the damn time.

Certainly, my allergies are to blame big time. They’ve been driving me crazy the last several weeks/months. Usually, I’m totally set just doing the nasal saline rinse twice a day. Now, I’ve added oral meds to that, and I’m still super congested. I started running the HEPA filter, and I may have to reintroduce prescription nasal spray. Seriously, what a fucking pain.

Last night, I awoke at like 3:30a and could not fall back asleep. When that happens, I clock in more screen time. Suddenly, by 4:30a, I was super chatty, so I started talking to Bubs (who was still sleeping), telling him about all the latest news and shit I was reading. We then talked about trying a new breakfast place later that morning, like when they opened at 5:30a. As Bubbey started waking up, I got really tired. Yup, story of our lives: we are always on different schedules. Shrug.

I ended up sleeping til 9:30. Then we checked out the breakky spot around 10. Just so-so. At 11, we met with a contractor to review his proposal for renovating our garage. Uh, total sticker shock. I am way too cheap for a contractor. I understand the value of having someone else manage the project and wipe the subcontractor’s asses and such, but fuck. Not for $20k!! Shit. That’s for a bare bones, insulated garage with just electrical and sheet rock drywall!

The good thing about the meeting though is that it finally triggered some action. For the first time in FIVE years, we actually spent a couple hours this afternoon cleaning out the garage. Goddamn, I am a recyclables hoarder, for realz. Tons of product boxes. I finally collapsed everything and separated out the plastic film from the styrofoam from the cardboard from the trash. Turns out, only one place recycles styrofoam, and that shit costs $5/trash bag! My entire car was loaded to the brim with styrofoam. Thankfully, that shit is FINALLY gone. I also posted a ton of crap on the neighborhood list. We’ll see if I get any takers for crab pots and a fireplace tool set and random crap. To be honest, my expectations are way low. I mean, my stuff isn’t exactly in mint condition, and pretty much most people we meet are way neater than J and I, so our crap will likely be too dusty/dirty/old for them. We’ll see though. Worth a try.

Btw, I found my point and shoot camera. Thank goodness. I swear I lose that fucking thing every other month. Need to put a tracking device inside. I really miss taking pretty pictures (kinda requires pretty places), and even though the iPhone cam is impressive, my Lumix cam still does a better job. Just need to find interesting things to photograph.

What else. I booked my airfare and hotel for my social media conference in Miami at the end of April. I’m going to try to hook up with my Mommy Mafia and BlogHer buddies (and maybe my bud N from NC) while I’m there. I also booked tickets for the Women in Publishing conference later this month in Berkeley.

After my work’s one-day campaign is over in mid-March, I feel like I deserve to be inspired again. Hopefully, work will cover the ticket for this conference. If not, whatevs. I’m going regardless.

Tomorrow is going to be another exciting day in the life of the VG. I’m going to be occupied again with homework. Fortunately, this week’s topic is social media advertising, so I’m happy to learn more about it, especially in time for the big campaign. Btw, I was asked to speak at a division meeting on Monday morning about the social media plan for the campaign. I pretty much received zero notice: just a light/casual mention on Wednesday night and then actual rough details on Friday morning. For a Monday morning meeting, mind you. Nice. I’m a little nervous bc it’s a big group, but I’m not too stressed. This ain’t my first rodeo, right? In addition to the social media shit though, I’m coordinating a bunch of other logistics, trying to build buzz and get other departments and influencers involved. Kind of a pain. Super tedious. I’ll be glad when this damn thing is over.

Btw, I keep remembering about special holidays at the last minute. It’s a real pain for social media, bc usually I have content lined up already and then the night before, I’ll realize: Shit, tomorrow is Holi (Indian festival of colors) or like I realized on Friday night that Sunday is International Women’s Day. I know, usually I am on top of that holiday, but fuck man, I am barely staying afloat these days. Finally crafted a post for tomorrow. I’m sad to say, crafting it took forever bc honestly, my once creative brain is like totally dead these days. Writer’s block, burnout, whatever you want to call it. Fucking no good ideas coming outta this head anymore.

Ok, well we’re losing an hour of sleep tonight, so I should get to bed early. Yes I skipped a post on Friday night. I’m wanting to keep up with NaBloPoMo, but no promises. Every day is a gamble. 🙂

Difficult Phone Conversations

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Last week, I left three messages for the shed people. No call back. Now almost three weeks after a repair dude was on site fixing the door that the initial crew installed all crooked, I was pissed. So yesterday evening, I called and left a nastygram voice message. Now, mind you, all this shit is the toned down version, bc today I am a much tamer and calmer person than I used to be. Still, I was clearly annoyed about having left multiple messages without any reply. Finally, early this morning, I got the call back. No apologies, just more questions on what was wrong. Ugh, your warranty guy said he was going to report back to you. WTF? Apparently, nothing was written in the notes. More fucking half ass bullshit. The good news though? A repair dude was dispatched today, and the shit was finally done. Jesus F-ing Christ. Sometimes, I’m just so appalled by how much ass wiping is needed. Whatever. Checked and off the list.

After I got to work this morning, I had a vendor call. I don’t know what exactly was going on, but I felt like I kept getting asked the same questions about big picture university social media strategy. When that call finally ended, I was so irritated. Like, if I were a smoker– even a social smoker– I would have been jonesing for the cig. Thinking about it later, wtf. I mean, I’m spending my time giving the vendor all this info helping him shape his higher level sale; meanwhile, what am I getting out of this? I mean, we have a contract, and no where is there any discussion about how the current contract is providing me with any value. Maybe I just needed time to think about the conversation and later articulate what I was concluding. So I shot back an email asking them to demonstrate and justify the value of their product. We’ll see if the vendor steps up.

If you can’t already tell, I’ve been feeling stressed again lately. There’s a big campaign coming up soon, and I guess I’m just unsure what to expect. And then honestly, it’s not just all about work. I’m also having my usual inconvient life musings and mullings… My boss has been telling me all week not to stay late and to go home. I suppose she is noticing the fatigue in my face. Me and my zone though. I can’t be stopped.

I turned in my 13th homework assignment for class tonight. Lots of cramming. I am still learning a lot, but I’m really not fond of the format and platform the teacher uses to administer the class. I find the system super difficult to navigate and organize. Plus, I can’t tell you how many times I replied to questions or classmate feedback only to have my shit disappear, bc the goddamn thing doesn’t autosave!! Argh. I have more homework due this Sunday, and then next week is finally THE LAST WEEK. Thank fucking god. I want my evenings back. Yuki and Singtrix have been neglected for far too long. And I want to start up craft club again. Just in time for spring I hope.

Starting Anew

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Ok, so I got a good bit of venom and negativity out of my system with that last post. Thanks for letting me vent. I’m starting fresh now. Did you know March is NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)? I actually participated in this way back when in November 2013. Writing a blog post every day for a month was quite a challenge. Apparently, now the promo happens every month, but there are different themes. March is news, with prompts like this. Eh, so many rules to follow. I like to freestyle that shit. We’ll see if I can up my posts this month.

As things are already, I’m still taking that social media marketing class. It’s eight weeks total, with homework due Wednesday and Sunday nights. I actually just turned in my Week 6 homework a day early. Yup, I am on that shit! I actually wanted to have all of tomorrow free, because it’s Bubbey’s bday on Monday. Hopefully, by the time he awakes tomorrow morning, I’ll have an outline planned for our day. I know, I’m cutting it close, man! 

Today was a fun day. My buds in Fremont had us over for lunch and chilling at their new house. We hung out, cooked, played with their two little boys. It’s pretty funny, because I don’t have an affinity for kids and yet lately, kids have been seeking me out! My coworker has an 8 y/o girl. She came to my office last week to sell Girl Scout Cookies. I bought 5 boxes, and then while she was waiting for her mom to wrap up, she came back to my office and sat in the chair across my desk… and just sat there looking at me. Naturally, I felt compelled to start talking to her. Meanwhile, I had some cookies on my desk, which I offered. She proceeded to eat the entire sleeve that I had just purchased from her!! 

Funny. But uh, it was weird. I was thinking to myself: “Hey kid, you know I’m not into kids, right???” I mean, I don’t hate them or anything. I just don’t feel like a natural comfort around them.

So anyway, at my friends’ house today, their first born had me all out in the rain playing with him! Granted, he and I are pretty familiar: when I wasn’t working, I hung out with his mom regularly, so he’s comfortable with me. I followed him aboard his “ship” (i.e. the park) and we traveled down a chute to check on his legions of workers in the ship bowels (i.e. we stood on the storm drain and pretended to go down the chute) . Then he had me gather sticks and leaves to make weapons. That boy. He’s quite imaginative, and admittedly, I got sucked in.

I also had an interesting revelation today. I realized that as we and our friends are getting older, more and more, we all prefer to cook and entertain at home. It’s such a big shift from our 20s, when the thing was to go out. Like I remember in Shanghai, we had these friends who were an “older” couple (i.e. in their late 30s/early 40s), and they would always host elaborate dinners at their house, with dishes made from scratch and lots of fancy wine. J and I always felt so out of place, like who the hell are these swanky people? Why don’t we all just go out to eat at the restaurant? Now, more than a decade later, we’re like those people. I’m not exactly sure what’s changed. Maybe we have a different take on value? Maybe we’ve had far too many mediocre restaurant meals that it doesn’t make sense to go out and blow money on another dud dining experience? I dunno. Maybe there’s just something more comfortable/lower key about hanging at someone’s house. Partly, I like having my uke/Jenga/karaoke/liquor cabinet all in easy reach for me and my guests!

Ok, well clearly turning in my homework gave me a second wind, and now all of the sudden, it’s 2:15a. Time to hit the sack. Still no idea what I’m planning for Bubbey tomorrow. Guess I’ll figure it out after I wake up. 🙂 After my whole tirade, turns out I’m a slacker myself!

 

Flakes

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This past week, I found myself getting really annoyed with people. About three weeks ago, we purchased a shed to help move crap out of the garage and you know, de-clutter our lives. So John did the research, and set up the delivery. We had expected the shed to just be a pre-fab: you know, the truck would arrive and the crew would just unload and set the thing where we wanted on the driveway. Done in like 30 minutes. Nope. A two-person crew arrived and spent an entire day constructing the damn thing from boxes of materials!! WTF, really? Fine, whatever. J was working from home that day, so not a huge deal. Done in one day, right? Nope. Turns out, the sales dude didn’t include our shingle specs and paint colors in the order, so those materials weren’t part of the shipment. Ugh. So the guys had to return a second day with the roofing shit and paint to complete the job. They arrived early the next day, so J talked with them briefly and then he went off to work. The day after that, in the daylight, I came out to inspect this cute new shed, all specially sized to fit alongside our houseboat. J and I aren’t even picky when it comes to house/construction details. Half the time, we couldn’t give a shit about aesthetic imperfections as long as stuff works. I always give this example to illustrate how laid back we are about house shit. Years ago, I organized a group to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Our assignment for the day was to paint the bedrooms. Well, the leader assigned us to paint INSIDE the closets, and he kept saying, “Treat this house as if it were your own. Do a good job; take pride in your work.” Blah, blah. I mean, we were totally game with doing an awesome job on the walls that were visible, but inside a closet?? Does it really require THREE coats of paint in addition to the primer?? I mean, honestly speaking, J and I probably wouldn’t even paint inside the closet for our own house!!! Who the hell cares? No one sees that shit. I mean, yeah, maybe a coat to prevent moisture or whatever, but multiple coats? Total overkill.

Similarly, I had a handyman onsite last month. He cracked the lid to my toilet tank. It was white. He offered to replace it, but it required another trip from Los Gatos. I was like, “I really don’t care about the crack line. I put a box of tissues on top of the lid anyway. Just crazy glue it.” J was concerned the crazy glue wouldn’t really hold. In the end, I saw my neighbor disposing of his old toilet, and I just took his lid. Mind you, his toilet was brown, not white. Whatever. It’s just not something that bugs me or J. There’s a lid now. Done.

So back to the shed. When I looked at it, the front door wasn’t even aligned. It was so fricking crooked that the door rubbed all around the jamb and didn’t even shut securely. Inside, under the roof, there was one panel that was riddled with nails poking through. Like poking through to the point that the rough particle board was flaking underneath. Then, scattered all around the shed on the driveway were nails and chipped hardware bits. WTF?? On the outside, the shingles were misaligned with the roof line and unevenly laid. I mean, as untrained as my eyes are, this was a fucking hack job!! Not only that, they pulled out our hose to check for leaks in the roof, and they didn’t even wrap the hose back into its storage pot. They fucking left the hose in a half-ass jumbled pile AND the water was still on. Seriously, who works like this??? So yeah, overall, shit job. I was pissed, but I knew flipping out was not going to help. Plus, J had really put in a lot of effort and time researching the shed and coordinating the logistics. Maybe the guys were newbs, or they were having a bad day? Whatever. So I call the customer service dude. He sends out a warranty service guy to take a look the following week. Dude comes and fixes the door. He claims the nails are ok and just need to be snipped on the bottom (uh, then why aren’t they poking through EVERYwhere rather than just that one panel?), but he admits that the shingles need to be completely redone. He’ll tell the service rep, and they’ll schedule another repair trip. That was two and a half weeks ago. Since then, I have left 3 messages. I always get the goddamn answering machine, and on Friday, I got some lame auto message, “We are having technical difficulties.” Again, WTF. Finally, I dial into the sales line, and I actually talk to the guy who SOLD J the unit. Yeah dude. You sold us the unit. This has been a bad experience. I explain without getting nasty about it, and he promises action/follow up on Monday when the customer service guy returns. We’ll see what happens on Monday. But come on people!!! Do your fucking job. No, I don’t expect 100%, because your job is probably really shitty and pays crap, but Jesus Christ, give me more than 20%. I have definitely softened my stance since my younger years when I was always ready to rumble about bullshit customer service. Now? I just expect companies to be upfront and responsive. And show some damn effort with making things right!

What else. Oh. Also on Friday, I had a second meeting scheduled with the ergonomic specialist at work. I’d been reading a lot lately about how my work and the sedentary office environment are basically going to destroy me (blind, arthritic, deaf, remember?), so I started standing at work. Being the cheap bastard that I am, I pretty much just did my own makeshift standing desk using multiple reams of paper and a cardboard box. Long story short, the expert came a few weeks ago. She took pictures and told me flat out that my setup was “horrendous.” So she readjusted by adding more paper, etc. I showed her the desktop gadget/appliance I wanted to use to give me sit/stand capability. She went back to research and work on the quote. Two weeks later, still no quote. She emails saying the measurements might not work for my desk, so let’s meet to discuss. Really? How about just put in for a bigger table? Is another meeting really necessary? Meanwhile, I’d been feeling really tired all week long. Partly due to seasonal allergies. Partly due to shit sleep. But I have interns come in M-Th. Since they don’t come on Friday, I considered taking off just to rest. Well, ergo lady could only meet Friday. Fine. Let’s just do it. So our appointment time rolls around. Ten minutes late, and no sign of her. I email saying, “I have us scheduled to meet now. Are you ok?” No reply. One hour later, I call her mobile. She answers like it’s an ordinary day. “Uh, were we meeting today?” Totally clueless for like 15 seconds. “Oh, oh, yes. I’m sorry. I had an emergency this morning and forgot to call you.” Um yeah. Our meeting was 1:45p, so you had all morning to work out your situation and no fucking call? And my friends know: I’m already the most gullible person in the world!! She didn’t even SOUND convincing. Honestly, I imagined her lounging around somewhere on vacation. Fucking A. I mean really, should it take TWO weeks for me to get an email just to schedule another meeting? What a slack ass. Fucking annoying. I would probably have better luck just buying what I need, figuring out myself how to jerryrig it, and then putting in for reimbursement.

The thing is, I get that work sucks. I mean, I’m not exactly in my dream job in paradise. But do your damn job, or if not, get a different job where you will do work. For fuck’s sake, people.

Valentine’s Day Foiled

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Some days, I really wonder if J and I are being secretly taped for a bloopers show. On Friday, the boss let staff off work an hour early. Awesome. I thought I would go home to do some solo singing on my karaoke machine, but as soon as I got on the road, I decided to do the more responsible thing and hit up Costco instead. Surprisingly, Costco was ok when I got there around 4:30p. I went through the line, and then as soon as I got done checking out, I realized I had forgotten some key items. You see, I noticed this week that my post-NuWave procrastination had carried on long enough so I was determined to make my signature roast duck in the convection oven of our new range that evening. I’d picked up the fresh duck, but I’d forgotten the roti, which is an Indian bread that I use to wrap my Beijing duck. Since I was already going back in the store, I figured I would also try the new Hawaiian poke bar (where they sell long slabs of Ahi tuna!), and I also eyed a beautiful glazed pot of bamboo: Chinese New Year is next week after all. In the end, going through the store for those three additional items really cost me, because by the time I got back to the checkout line, everyone and her mother had come to Costco for that after-work run. Ugh, the cost of doing business.

Nonetheless, I got home and did a whole spread: salad, the poke, and my duck. After the longest 85 minutes ever, the duck turned out just so-so. No crispy skin and I dunno, just not as good as with the NuWave. Maybe I didn’t get the temps high enough? I dunno, but I was disappointed. Not only that, now I have to do another test run to get it right in time for Chinese New Year! Overall, the dinner still came out nicely. We also enjoyed a bottle of red wine. Afterwards, J did some work while I sang on my Singtrix.

As much as I want to master Lana Del Rey, I just can’t get the damn pacing right. Fucking rhythm, bane of my existence. J says Torn (Sixpence None the Richer) and The Way I am (Ingrid Michaelson) are better fits for my range. But those songs are so much less edgy and less badass. Sigh. I’m such a wannabe.

Around 10p, J’s sister and beau dropped of their dog. We’re watching him this weekend. The last time we had him over was Christmas, and I won’t go over what happened. All I’m gonna say is, he’s not allowed on the couch, and I’m not going to put up with any crying and whining. At the end of a seemingly long day, we hit the sack Friday night past midnight. I actually felt some anticipation for Valentine’s Day.

So as life would have it, none of us (including the dogs) got out of bed on Valentine’s Day until about 1p. In the middle of the night, J got a major case of diarrhea. Consequently, he was dehydrated, got a migraine, and suffered through sweats and chills. I awoke briefly when my alarm went off at 8a, but dang, my throat was sore as hell. Yeah, pretty much we decided then and there that V Day was cancelled.

The rest of the day was pretty much shot. I walked the dogs at the park in the afternoon, but other than that, I stayed home all day. I did homework reading and laundry and then we watched tv. The most disturbing thing from all of this? What the fuck gave him the shits? We ate all the same stuff, and I was fine. He says he just had some beef jerky earlier that day at work. So basically, it sounds like I slaved over making a nice dinner and then Bubs got the runs. FML.

The weird thing is, I had no issues. Then again, I don’t know how food poisoning works exactly. I mean, maybe he ate a bad piece of the poke tuna or a piece of duck was undercooked? I honestly don’t know. I had even used a frickin’ temperature probe!!

Whatever. Figures. While everyone else is getting their love celebration on, we’re holed up at home with issues. I swear this kind of shit only happens to us. On the bright side, it is a long holiday weekend, so I suppose Sunday can be a do over. I just have to make sure I get my homework done. Yes, I am in Week 4 now, and I am still meeting deadlines doing my homework. I can’t be helped. It just is what it is. Factor that shit in, man.

What else happened this week. Oh, my work friends and I hit up a play in downtown SJ. There were like 20 people in the audience, so that was a little awkward (though more for the actors than for me), but the play was good!! The story was about two programmer friends who both loved the same woman (she was married to one of them). Anyway, it hit on several interesting themes: the intersection of genius and madness as well as friendship, infidelity, love, neglect, attention… I was reminded about how loneliness can creep in even when you are in the physical presence of people. Human emotions and needs can be so complicated.

Beginner Shred

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Wow, a week later and I am still doing the Beginner Shred. Sure, Jillian Michaels’ plan calls for ten days straight on workout 1. I’ve stuck to the workout, but on a “modified” schedule, which is fine with me. I’m not aiming for buns of steel or anything. Of course, last night I did the workout, and this morning I awoke fucking paralyzed. WTF. Ok, not paralyzed but definitely “temporarily disabled.” Somehow, I managed to pull a muscle between my shoulder blade and spine. I didn’t really feel anything yesterday, although I suspect it’s that damn Superman exercise where you get on your belly and lift the front and back ends off the floor. I hate that shit. So uncomfortable, and now my head-neck mobility is totally fucked. Oh well, another day of rest for me!

Last week was pretty much a blur. Can I just say, I am so damn sick of home repair! On Superbowl weekend, I had a handyman over to fix a leaking toilet (among other tasks). Overall, he did a great job. The new latch on our gate works like a charm, and the guest bath can finally run the shower without all the water spewing out the tub faucet. And for the leaky toilet, he replaced the flap and made all the adjustments. All seemed good but then a few days later, I heard the toilet refilling with water again. So while the toilet doesn’t leak like it used to, it’s still leaking very slowly. Sometimes I wish J could just fix the damn thing, but he lifted the lid and poked around. No solution. I know, being all feminist and shit, I should just take care of it myself but goddamnit, I really don’t need one more thing added to my list of to dos. So I’m pretty fucking cranky about the leaky toilet. It really is a conservationist’s nightmare, and if this continues, that valve is just getting shut off. No more bullshit, man. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, we had a legit plumber onsite to rework the gas valve for our new double-oven range in the kitchen. Of course, as our timing would have it, we didn’t realize the toilet was leaking until after he had gone. And for his task, he said he was going to recess the electrical outlet in addition to modifying the valve. Well, he recessed the outlet like 1/2 an inch, so the range STILL protrudes an inch out of line with the cabinets. WTF? Another trip is required, because he says he needs a different receptacle box or whatever. I text him to ask if he can come next week. No reply. Fucking A.

In other news, Marty is getting me up in the middle of the night again. Last week, he started panting crazy at like 2a. I could not calm him down. I don’t even remember how he finally settled in the end. Maybe he wore himself down and knocked out. The day prior, my bud K gave me some calming droplets to add to his food or water. I tried it that evening, and he calmed down pretty soon after. But man, on Thursday, nothing worked. Every time I feel sleep deprived, I think about my new mom friends and I try to conjure strength and patience. But shit, I get so dang cranky and irritable. Whatever though, at least I don’t take it out on poor Marty. (I just take it out on others!)

So a storm moved in late Thursday. Wind gusts and lots of rain. I had J put in a rain chain (we wanted to try using that instead of the decrepit downspout). When he got up on the ladder, he discovered a bunch of ponded water on the front left of the house. Ponding over the eaves portion (not main portion) of the roof. Uh duh. That’s why we have all those dryrotted beams. What a fucking pain. It’s really stressing me out. I had the handyman take a look last month, and he turned down that work saying it was beyond his skillset. Then, a construction crew who worked on my neighbor’s beams said they were interested. I asked for a quote and the journeyman said he wanted to meet the following weekend. Well, he never got back to me. Flakes!!! Now I have emailed my other neighbor’s contractor, and hopefully that guy can come out and take a look. At this point, I just want shit fixed. I don’t even care about price (desperate times, desperate measures)… No more goddamn dilly dallying. For realz. On Monday, I’m also going to call the Day Worker Center. Last year I saw some flier from the Center, saying they have skilled and trained workers available for all kinds of home repair, gardening, cooking, cleaning, painting, etc. Time for action.

Endless Hustle

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Midnight already. WTF? This week has been nonstop action once again. Yup, apparently, the excitement over here is off the hook. Life and times of the VG. I noticed today that I am starting to ignore my body’s triggers again. Need to pee? Wait, I’m in the middle of something. Hungry? I’m busy. OMG, how self-important can I be? Yeah, saving lives with social media. Whatev.

Today I noticed a different sensation though: I sat so damn long (on my bouncy ball even!) that my butt went numb. And on top of that, the office is fricking freezing. I brought in my mini space heater, but that shit is too damn small. Suitable at my last job where I was living the cubicle life, but now that shit doesn’t crank enough heat. I really might have to bring back the old school hot water bottle. My bud K though might really shit her pants. Oh well, I can’t be stopped. Time to kick things into high gear!

So I had a meeting yesterday with my boss. She was asking me a ton of blunt questions again. It’s funny because, as someone who values directness, I have an appreciation for the Inquisition. That said, being on the receiving end is a little weird. I mean, I answer truthfully (no surprise there), but at the same time, I try not to come across with just neutral and negative feedback, i.e. NO POSITIVE responses. She asked me what I like most, what I like least, if I’m having fun… I hope that all my communications workshops and social intelligence training enabled me to walk that thin line. Basically, I gave this vibe: I’m ok for now, i.e. I’m not lovin’ it but I’m also not actively looking to leave. Who knows how she read it.

Ok, so this week wasn’t ALL work. After an 18-month hiatus, Sasha Fierce made an appearance. Holy shit. My toupee emerged from her box for a new office debut. I wore my hairpiece most of the week, and because I’m a dumbass who CANNOT lie to save my life, nearly everyone who commented about my bangs was told the truth. I know, some of them probably would have preferred a lie. But really, why should fake hair carry a stigma? I know, even with hair extensions, I cannot fib. What compels me to be so damn forthcoming? I dunno! I mean, I just think fake hair is funny. When I first stumbled on these amazing creations with P in the beauty supply shop, I just could not believe how easy they were to clip on nor how natural they looked! Jessica Simpson and her dude Ken Paves know how to do it up, man!

The only thing is, the wig has always needed a trimming. Because I’m awful with cutting hair and I’m too lazy/cheap to take that shit with me to the salon, I just wore my bangs straight out of the box. With the original length, I had to clip those fuckers way far back on my crown so I could still see through them side swept. Def a little bit off. Enter my bud K. Homegirl has been cutting her own hair in between cuts for ages, so she’s freaking experienced. She even had legit shears– for cutting hair, rather than crafts and school supplies. Anyway, she took me downstairs to some super secret solo bathroom (instead of the multi-stall one on our floor) and snip, snip, snip, voila! My bangs are super badass now. I think next K will be tasked with braiding. I am dying to try the fishtail. In fact, I have purposefully kept my hair long so that I can put in braids. The time has finally come. Yup, it sure is fun hanging with someone who knows about hair, clothes, and makeup… let the experimenting begin! Muhahaha.

Friends with Kids

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We are meeting with a handyman tomorrow morning for a long list of home repairs that we have been procrastinating for years. Depending on what he’s comfortable doing, the work might expand to something big involving electrical rewiring and such. We’ll see. The guy actually works for my former employer, and he did some repair work for my uber meticulous friend M, so he’s automatically competent, qualified, and trustworthy in my book. Haha.

Our friends J and J just popped out their first kid this week. H was a 9 pounder! Shit, man. We’re waiting to hear from the parents on when they are ready for visitors. Interestingly, I recently came across this article on HuffPo. The read was actually kinda eye-opening, not so much because what she said was new but rather, her statements carried a resounding familiarity. Her description about conserving energy and hunkering down in survival mode was almost word-for-word shit I’d heard from my friend J. After hearing his excuses for well over a year, I admit, I grew increasingly annoyed and dismissive of his reasons. Now that some time has passed, revisiting this topic doesn’t seem nearly as irritating. I still think losing touch (at varying degrees) with our friends with kids is inevitable, because that’s just how the cookie crumbles. As my friend once said, “We live radically different lives, yo.” I’m just not going to take it personally anymore.

In other news, work is going ok. My latest BFF/coworker had her last day on Tuesday. It sucked to see her go. Such is life! Thankfully, I am feeling more settled and less stressed about work these days. I’m still trying to keep that new perspective about work-life balance and such. Oddly, my boss keeps asking me if I’m having fun. Haha. All I can say is I’m feeling better than I did initially. I’m not gonna lie: I wouldn’t call it “fun,” BUT I’m feeling ok. She’s probably just feeling a little paranoid because my coworker left. For now, I’m all in.

That said, man people piss me off with their asinine comments on social. I did a post about the 7-11 store next to campus reopening, and some asshole complained that “as an alum,” he was disappointed to see such an endorsement, blah, blah, blah. Well asshole, I’m not a big fan of 7-11 either, but you know what? The kids fucking LOVE 7-11. I posted months ago about the store while it was under construction, and it got a shit ton of engagement, so newsflash: ou’re not the only person in my audience. I was so annoyed 1) because he pulled the power card (I’m an alum, so my opinion matters more than anyone else’s) 2) if you don’t particularly like a post, who the fuck takes the time to actually complain (??) and on Instagram, of all platforms? Some people are so lame. Whatevs.

Fast Car

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Goddamn, another week is done. This one actually felt fuller than most, maybe because J and I are, you know, trying to “live our best life” and all that bullshit. Yup, still going strong after that swift kick in the ass from the parentals.

We donated my old car to the food bank. I was thrilled to learn that the Camry we gave them 4 years ago is still running. The org is planning to replace the tires on my Honda and use it internally. I love when I find reuse opportunities for our old things. Reuse is so much better than recycling. Meanwhile, I am having a blast driving my new fast car! I mean, I probably just drive it normally, but because the engine is an upgrade from my 4-cylinder, I feel like I am darting all around town with renewed vigor. Haha.

I started singing again with my new karaoke system. The Singtrix system is pretty cool in that I can play YouTube karaoke files and also regular music files (it can take out the voice part). Right now I am listening to Lana Del Rey nonstop, because I’m determined to master a song or two. Yeah, I know, whatever happened to the whole “enjoy the moment and don’t worry about technicalities” mindset? I dunno. I suppose in some way, this is how I have fun… building skills and such. So yeah, right now I’m in OCD mode with singing. Sometimes after I crawl into bed, I play the YouTube karaoke files on my iPad and just sing along… without my mic and SingTrix system. J is now calling me Doobie Del Rey. Haha. Historically, these intense periods of mine tend to be short-lived, so I might as well take advantage and hit the iron while it’s hot. I’m making decent progress too.