phyncke

Well now that Hanukkah is over, I thought I would do a real update. I know that is a flurry of posting but it is not really an update. I am doing pretty good here.

I have been recovering from a work related injury. I injured my hip by lifting too much at a major event I did in September. My first worker's comp claim ever in all my years of working. I have to say the University I work for handles things well. I did PT, got an ortho consult and things have gone pretty well. I think this is a sign of my age and I have to realign how I do things. I cannot do so much lifting anymore — I am in my upper 50's now and I do admit that the food trays I was lifting were pretty heavy. So my bad.

Other work things — my lectures — a bunch of them — five of them — went very well this Fall. I am starting to get pretty good about how to market them and I think it is paying off. I love doing the lectures and working with the faculty. Love this part of the job. It is actually fun and interesting. I am so glad I get to do this. Happy even. It is rare when you get to love what you do but I do. We had Ezra Klein this fall and that was a thrill — in a really big hall — major event. Very fun.

I am going to be moving offices to a space with a window. I am very excited about it. I get all new furniture too. I am doing the renovation because I do facilities but I am really happy about it. I have worked in a windowless office for a long time and prefer working at home because I have windows here. I am even going to bring some plants in.
I am going to the East Coast for Christmas to spend time with my family there — my brother, his wife, my niece and my mom. My mom has early stage dementia and they think Alzheimers. She does pretty well right now but we are preparing for what to do when it gets worse. I am going to keep her company as we just lost my Dad. I like spending time with my Mom so it will be fine. She gets repetitive but it is fine. I have done some online research and that is what happens — repeat, repeat, repeat. That is what you do. My brother is doing most of the work so I help out when I can.

I hope you are doing well there and a very happy holiday season to you. Happy New Year!

 I just made this icon I am using because I am rewatching Stranger Things on Netflix again. I just love that show. The ensemble cast and the storyline - it is just so good. I really hope they don't ruin it. It is such an amazing show. Anyways. Here is Hopper finding the bug in his house. LOL. All the characters in this show are amazing. Winona Ryder is especially good as Joyce Byers too. Just love her. And the kids. Just good on so many levels. 

So I am finishing up work for the holidays next week. We are done at noon on Wednesday. I have been having knee issues - having pain there and went to an orthopedic surgeon (referred by my doctor) and he wants to do an MRI next week. I am getting that done on Wednesday afternoon. Trying to get this done before the holidays. The ortho (a very handsome man) said I likely don't need surgery so that was good. He will know more with the MRI. I cannot do much with this knee - it hurts to walk any distance at all. So it is impeding my life. Kind of sucks. 

I am doing another pandemic Christmas this year. Not going anywhere - no East Coast trip or anything like that. Staying put and doing not too much. I feel like things are getting bad again with covid and it is better not to risk a plane trip right now. So better not to do that. My dad is in the rehab place recovering from a fall (broken bone) and it just seems better to stay here. So going to do that. I hope to go visit next summer 2022. 

Work is hard to predict. I do all these lectures - not sure if those will actually happen or not - given the pandemic. I saw that Robert Reich just posted that he expects to be teaching remotely this spring - and he teaches at Berkeley - so that is an indicator of how things might go. I have to see what January looks like. So will see. If I have to pull the plug on these lectures - I will do that. Have to be safe. If things keep going this way - I don't think people will want to be in a room with 100's of other people. So there is that. 

So that is all I have. Hope you are doing well there with your holiday preparations. I am looking forward to the turn of the year. Bring on 2022. Let's do that and let this all go. On to better things, I hope. Be well and comments are welcome. 

PS - not sure I have time to do the fiction swap this time. I have to see. I hate sitting out but I have a lot going on with work. 

Yikes - it has been a while since I posted here. Did not realize that. I have been here and working and all that so not much to report this month. I will do the run down.

On my car - I have gotten the funds together to fix the transmission and will be getting it fixed next week on the 22nd of April. So that is good. I am trying not to drive the car that much and just doing essential things. To the store and home really.

Last week, I took Friday off for a personal day and went to San Francisco with my friend, J***. We got lobster rolls at Luke's Lobster and went to Stella Bakery in North Beach. I got a cannoli there and it was so delicious. I really love cannoli's. Their are the chocolate chip kind and really fresh and so very good. We used to take Uber's around the city but this time we walked the whole way and that was really fun. We got lots of steps in and got to see what was happening there. I have to say I noticed that there were not many people in the city and that there are lots of closed businesses there. The pandemic has not been kind to SF. We ended up at the Ferry Building there on our way back to the ferry home and it was really quiet there and lots of the businesses in the Ferry Building were closed. It is very sad. I had a good time but it is sobering to see the effects of the pandemic on SF. I hope things come back or revitalize soon.

I am reading a really good book right now. I heard a short story by Shirley Jackson on NPR's Selected Shorts recently and that got me interested in her writing so I found her book The Haunting Of Hill House at the used book store and am reading that now. It is beautifully written and really absorbing. So happy to be reading it. I am also still reading David Sedaris - The Best of Me and those stories are very funny - I read those in doses and also still reading Down Girl - The Logic of Misogyny for book group - we do a chapter of that each week for book group. I always have multiple things on my book shelf. Lots of things going on for the literature.

Work is busy - I had an event recently - my awards ceremony for mentoring and it went really well on Zoom - we had 80 people there and that was great. The awardees felt well cared for so that makes me feel good. I have another event coming up for fellowships students and need to do stuff for that and student competitions today. So lots going on.

That is about all for me. Just wanted to put a post up here. I am really upset about the incidents that have happened with the Police recently in the USA. I cannot believe they happen when the trial for Derek Chauvin is happening. Like seriously? When is this going to stop?

Hope you are doing well where you are there. Peace.

So my parents have sent me the One Ring - I am not kidding. They found this on the discard table at Barnes and Noble - discontinued items and they got it for free. My Dad, who has seen all the movies, recognized its worth and so he grabbed it. The precious. Anyways. It is a pretty cool little item. I don't really do collectibles but I don't mind having this. It's cute. I like that it has the Mordor language inscribed on it and it comes in a cute box with a nice interior. The price on the outside of the box was $95.00 so it retailed for a bit of cashola. I would not buy this myself but as a gift that did not cost anything - sure. Kind of like how Frodo got the ring, right? You never know how the ring will come to you! It is a pretty hefty weight and looks like it is gold plated. Not too shabby.

Here are some pictures of it -






Other than that nothing much is happening here. I am working and trying to plan events for next year with no information from campus on what we can do. So that is interesting to try. No one knows anything. I am glad I only have two lectures in the Fall so that is easy to manage. Not too many to wrestle with.

I am glad Biden got the aid package done and signed. People need the help right now. The country is still recovering from the economic impacts of this pandemic. Other countries did a whole lot more than the $2000 direct stimulus that we are doing. I am glad they are keeping the unemployment going too. People need that for sure. Not sure what the Republicans are thinking. Evidently they think people don't need help - they all voted against it - literally all of them. They are all working on voter suppression in the states - I think that is their thing right now - keeping people from voting and making it a lot harder for people to vote. That's their game - don't help people and keep them from voting. I am not making this up. This is what is happening. The voter suppression is coming from the Republicans in the states not the Congressional Republicans but they are all part and part. Same machine.
/end rant

I got myself all worked up there. I go on Saturday for my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Very excited about that. Hoping I don't have any side effects from it - the reports are mixed. Some people do and some people don't. Hope I don't. I will let you know how I do.

Anyhoo - that's about it here. Hope you are well - over and out.

It's only Monday and technically it is still winter here but today it was really sunny out and 70 degrees. Definitely not seasonal weather. Tomorrow it is going to be 74 degrees out. I think I will break out the shorts and t-shirts and flip flops. Why not?

Mishaps at work today. A faculty member missed my committee meeting and messed my project up. I run this award and he was part of the decision committee for the award and they could not get the work done (ie award the winners) without him. We waited for 45 minutes to see if he would show and then rescheduled the meeting - hoping that he would be able to make the new meeting. The no show emailed me later - he emailed the whole committee and apologized. He had forgotten the meeting and was very embarrassed. He is not teaching this semester so he is very loose with his calendar. Bummer for me - now we will have to rush everything. This is not how I like things to be but it is not my fault. I send all sorts of reminders about it. So it goes. Now I have a late afternoon meeting tomorrow. I try not to do late afternoon meetings. Oh well.

I am listening to a city covid meeting right now and they told us earlier that the UK variant has been detected here. This is very scary to me. I don't like those variants. They are more contagious and it is just not good. Not happy about it. So what that means is that I still have to be careful. Now is not the time to relax. Overall the numbers are coming down but these variants are out there. We have California variants too. Just got the vaccine - better stay safe - keep it together. I can do this. Not freaking out but just feel like it is good to be informed on this stuff.

So that is all. Trying to stay healthy and safe while my immunity builds here. Hope all is well with you.

So I was not feeling the Snowflake Challenge from yesterday so I opted not to do that one. That is ok - we don't have to do all of them. Best not to force these things.

I got good news at work - they are postponing the furlough program. It was supposed to start Feb 1 2021 and now they are going to start it next fiscal year which is July 1, 2021. It is a reprieve of sorts. That means that things are not so dire and looking better. So I will take that. I had already taken a furlough day this week but I converted that to a vacation day and that was that. I think a bunch of people had already started taking chunks of furlough time so I don't know what will happen with that. They will have to figure something out. But I am glad - my pay will not be reduced just yet. That is the good news.

I am really missing Teddy but I am trying to make sure my other kitty, Bear is ok. He seems to be. He is eating ok and I am playing with him a lot to make up for Teddy not being here. He needs stimulation and interaction. So I have to be his buddy now that his feline buddy is not here. So I am working on that and ensuring he gets good running around time here. Don't want a depressed cat here. So being there for Bear is very important.

That is about all I have - it has been raining here so I have not been able to go walking that much. We lost power one night this week so that happened. It was only for about 4 hours. Not too bad. It is pretty cold for the Bay Area so definitely trying to keep warm here.

That is about it for me. I don't know what to do with myself now that I have finished my MSV story. I posted that this week and it is done. No more stressing about it. I am happy with how it came out so I hope my person likes it. I can stress about that and worry about how it will be received. So I will do that.

Happy Thursday, all. Almost the weekend. Looks like we are getting good weather for a few days so that is looking up. Stay healthy there and stay safe.

So in the post-Hanukkah thing - which is really Christmas and New Year's - my family is adjusting to the pandemic scene. We are trying to coordinate a Zoom get together for all of us for Christmas Day so that we can all see each other and hang out for a little bit. This presents a challenge getting my elderly parents with the program but I put my brother in charge of that. He has to set them up with Zoom and a webcam. We will see how this goes. Getting my Mom to even agree to it was the first part - she is very anti-technology so that was something. She is actually excited about the Zoom thing so hopefully we can make this happen.

I finished up work for the year yesterday and am so glad. I know I work from home but I really need a break from things and it is nice not to have to track emails and be on the computer all day. Less stress. Today, on my first day of vacay, I woke up at 5:30 am and could not get back to sleep. Not sure what that was. So I got up and made coffee and put the Yule Log on my TV and just hung out. I have things to do today so I just started the day. I hope I will be able to sleep in some during my break. I guess I am an early riser anyway but it would be nice to sleep in til 7:00 or 8:00.

So I signed up for Slashy Valentine and got my assignment. I don't anticipate any problems but I am waiting for inspiration to hit me on it. Ye newe idea. I would like a nice short story burst to get this done. I even opened MS Word and put a working title in the doc but nothing came to me. So technically I have started. LOL. Wish me luck. I will keep you updated in the usually Slashy manner. Hopefully not too much pain and suffering this time.

I want to wish everyone on my friends list Happy Holidays - I hope you are celebrating safely during this time and keeping healthy. Much love to you!

Hello to all who are still reading LJ. I am trying to figure out of the LOTR challenge is happening for the end of the summer — the Sultry in September thing. It is getting on in the summer so it is too late for Ardor in August. Does anyone know what is happening with that? I am really in the mood to write something and would love a good prompt to do. So let me know if you know anything. I have been looking forward to this.

In other news — I had a nice time in Vegas. I go there to relax and do the resort thing and eat good food. So that is pretty much what I did there. I don't gamble or anything crazy like that. I don't really even drink much. I had my one margarita at the Mirage Hotel Bar and really enjoyed that. I literally have one drink a year. LOL. We had BBQ and Thai Food and then cooked some food in the room. Due to problems with our suite, I was able to negotiate a serious discount with the hotel and we saved some money there. So that was all good. I love saving money. Minor inconveniences at hotels can turn into major savings on your bill. Keep track of that stuff and ask for money off at check out. It will pay off.

Anyhoo. Work is going well and that is just a thing. I am a little bored with it but we have a new VP and I really like her a lot. She does good things for the world and has a nice way about her. I am looking forward to seeing the changes that she will make for our division. She has good mojo.

I am watching this debate and find myself getting really annoyed at the state of American politics. I can't help but feel that the Democrats could really blow it in the next election. Not sure where this feeling is coming from but it is just a feeling. I don't like Biden...I am tired of the Bernie bro's texting me and I have no idea how they got my number...I do like Warren and feel like she has solid plans and is smart enough to do the job. I don't know about the rest of them.

Anyhoo. That is about all I have right now and this got much longer than I thought it would.

I can't believe it y'all. I finished my Sultry in September story today. I forgot to flail here in my journal for your benefit. How could I skip the most important part of the whole process? The pain and suffering? The flagellation, the recriminations, the angst? I mean rly?!

I am really sorry. I did have a bit of trouble figuring it out but the story was not too bad this time once I got down to writing. It coasted in there at a little over 3k words and just finished itself up today. I hope it does not suck but I kind of like it! I am usually wondering over here if the story sucks and I like it. What is going on?!

Maybe it really does suck and I am fooling myself. I am totally delusional. I don't know. Something has to be wrong.

Anyhoo. You will just have to read it in September. That is all I am telling you about this one for now. Zipping it. Anyone else out there writing for the swap? Comment here if you are.

----------other news

I have orientation next week at work - that will be busy. I just had my review at work - that went as expected so I will get a raise this year. I am bored at work and coasting - that is not good - I need to dial it up to 11 and get it in gear. I literally am bored. I do have a few new projects but they are not that exciting. My co-workers are fun but some of them are retiring so that makes me sad. My really good friend is retiring next summer and I am going to miss her a lot. So that makes me feel like I should move on to another position. So better get it in gear. I have to motivate. That is about it there.

Anyhoo - I am maintaining my weight loss pretty well - working out - eating right - blah blah. I feel like I have made the permanent shift to the healthier lifestyle. I still do the Weight Watchers thing - it gives me the parameters to follow for healthy living. I also like the community there. So that is awesome.

Anyway. That is what is going on. Hope all is well with you there. Comments are love!

Made a new banner and icon for my Spring layout. I have been really into these mandala graphics I found on pinterest so I made this one. I love the colors and find them soothing and refreshing. Loads of fun. So click in and check it out if you want.

Things are good with me today. I am having a good day so far. I motivated and took a walk up to the hills in Berkeley - it is about a 40 - 60 minute walk and then I rewarded myself with pancakes and turkey bacon. Yum. Had some real maple syrup with my pancakes. Love that. Love me some real maple syrup. I am trying to further motivate to clean my apartment here but that is not going so well. This post is my procrastination 101 on that. Clean? No, think I will write a blog post. LOL.

Work went well this Spring. My events were successful but I am not all that excited about my job. I do the same events every year and sort of dial it in. I need to revamp my resume and cover letter and get on the job market and see if there is anything out there that would be more fun and interesting. I could coast but that is no fun and I would love more money. Anyhoo. I will work on that. I have a friend at work who can do some graphical redesign on my resume. So will have that done and see how I do. Plan 1.

I have some travel coming up - well vacation plans. <lj user=khylea> is coming in for a Bay Area vacation the end of May. We will do fun stuff around here. There is a lot to do here so that will be fun. Then the end of June - I am going to New Hampshire to visit my family - parents, niece and sis-in-law. Then in July I do the Vegas thing - with the gals. So that will all be fun. Gotta have some fun. I ran through all my pts on SW so my free travel is all done now. Oh well - it was good while it lasted.

I am now a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers. I no longer have to pay but I still go to meetings. I am still tracking my food on the app and still really doing the program for now. I am going to keep with it for now. I don't feel ready to relax just yet. I want to see how this maintenance is and make sure I don't slip. I really worked too hard to get this weight off to let it come back on because I did not watch it. I have the feeling I might always have to watch it. It is a slippery slope. From what I see on the FB WW communities - it is really easy to gain the weight back. Harder to lose and easy to gain it back so I am really not wanting to go there again. I like how I am now and want to stay this way for good. So that is that - vigilance.

Oh hey - I am listening to James Comey's book - A Higher Loyalty - it is about a whole lot more than Donald Trump. Comey has had a really interesting career and his perspective is very interesting. I recommend this just for that. I have not even gotten to the Trump stuff and found this totally worth it for info on the case work he did alone. Of course Trump has to call Comey a "slime ball". Well - James Comey is not a slime ball - he is really intelligent, diligent and interesting - just about the antithesis of DJT. I still don't agree with Comey's moves on Hillary Clinton but hope to understand more about why he did that.

Anyway - that is what I am up to. Today it is a beautiful Spring day in the Bay Area - sunny and warm and the flowers are out. I potted up some zinnia's last weekend and hope those bloom nicely through the summer. Hope all is well with you in your part of the world.
Cheers.