European program said no and while I'm certainly disappointed, I'm still ecstatic to have gotten into two excellent schools already, which is more than a lot of people can say. Glad to finally at least get an answer on that program though. It's been a stressful wait and the anxiety was just getting worse every day, so I'm glad that's done now. Now I just have to let my family know I'm moving in with them in a few weeks... I had a big plan if I got into the French program including a bottle of nice Champagne and making some big deal of it being from France where I'm heading and just being over-the-top like that. Don't have a plan now, so if any of you have ideas on how to break the news in a fun way to the fam, do let me know. I'll probably let them know tonight. I was also going to be cruel to you all and post a fake goodbye post and then only reveal in at the end of that it's a goodbye to America and not a goodbye to you all, but I don't get to play that game either. At this point, just waiting on Georgetown, though I am thinking Emory is the most likely option right now. It's the only of the three that is an MPH, JHU isn't a global program, and I think Emory will have better connections at the CDC and stellar global operational opportunities, especially because that one is global epidemiology, not regular epidemiology like JHU. Georgetown is likely more policy-based being it's in DC and I would certainly prefer the operational side of things. Other than that, nothing too exciting. Same shit different day.
That's me! photo from the official community announcement about my new job. I got this week to wrap up my stuff and starting my real work week on Monday :) One thing that I hope i'll manage ok is my schedule. I'm supposed to be working 30h/week. Maybe for you productive peeps it seems like no big deal, but I haven't had a real job in YEARS. And since i've been time-tracking my stuff, I know I only get 4-5 good hours a day. My other time is spent doing home maintenance things, seeing friends and generally mucking around on the internet. I hope I'm just wasting too much time doing nothing and this job will just make me more organized and mindful with my time - not make me stressed and sacrifice things I enjoy doing. Time will tell! Exited to try this new chapter :)
Congratulations on your new job! It's very common for many people in full time "knowledge work" positions to only spend 4-5 hours on "real work" and to feel self-conscious about that. Especially with everything going on in the world, that's a completely reasonable amount of effort to expect from anyone.
Good to know! Since i'm expected to manage my own schedule, and I can do a lot of the work at home - the issue becomes the amount of hours I "count" as work-related. Because If it were a regular 9-5 job, the 20 minutes spent making coffee or talking to a coworker counts as working hours. I have friends who spend their "work-time" planning their next vacation (admittedly they work for the government). But if I only count the hours I'm TRULY working, 30h/week can become a lot quickly. Hopefully I'll have some long mindless stuff to fill the time a little.
WOOHOO! Congratulations, Elizabeth!! I'm excited for you. My suggestion is to make a note of everything you do. I personally use workflowy.com which is a browser-based outliner tool. I simply enter the date and day of the week, and then leave that browser window open all day. Every time I do something, I make a note of it. At the end of the day, I transfer the To Do items to tomorrow's list, and collapse today. At the end of the week, I open up all 5 of the days and read through everything I did that week. It takes no time to enter things. It takes 5 minutes to review at the end of the week. But the FEELING OF ACCOMPLISHMENT I get from it is incredibly invigorating. I've complained on Hubski a lot about how "easy" my job is, and how "little" I do, and how I feel like I might be a free-loader and not worth my salary... so I always feel like I am on the edge of being fired. When I started doing this SUPER simple logging process, I suddenly realized how much I do, how important it is to the company and my co-workers, and have learned to properly value myself, my skills, and the role I play at my company. So that's my suggestion. Keep a daily log of everything you do. Just for yourself. It helped me a lot.
Scone update: I made cherry chocolate scones this week. They’re great but maybe a little too sweet. I bought ingredients to try making chai scones which while googling spices I learned really means masala chai. I also learned there is no exact ingredient list, so I picked one to try. I ended up buying nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, and cloves. I already have cinnamon. I’m going to try adding icing to them, too, sort of to mimic a chai latte rather than just straight chai. I need to start writing my recipes down. So far I have a bookmark from the one I started with, but I’ve strayed far from that original one. I went on a date Saturday for the first time in a year. I think it went well, and we’ve texted a few times since then.
steve is in Denver he'll know stuff. I know it's super liberal, fairly expensive at least for housing as I understand it, and absolutely beautiful. They also got the devil's lettuce legalized over there, and I believe psilocybin/magic mushrooms have been decriminalized as well. I have almost family out there in the 'burbs and they love it.
Been a long time since I commented here, though I've been lurking in chat. HEADINGS Yes COVID Also yes, right before Christmas. 4 people in our "pod" caught it, not throwing anyone under the bus for mistakes today though. I had a very mild sore throat for 2 days then fever chills for 3 days while never having a temperature higher than 99.5. coinciding with the chills my pulse rate would spike whenever I moved. Sitting up in bed raised it to 100, standing up sent it to 120. Of the other 3 people, two had very mild sure throats for 2 or 3 days, and one had a high fever for 11 consecutive days. CHEESE I got four and a half pounds of cheese from my in-laws as a Christmas present. It's clear that they love me. COLD Lost power in an unpredictable 60 to 90 minutes on / 8 to 12 hours off for almost two and a half days. Got a bit cold in the house but it was the most peaceful two days in the last year. Not sure what to think about that, that sitting on the couch with no heat or electricity was better than the way I handled the pandemic the rest of the time. GARDEN Gonna plant cherry tomatoes, poblano peppers, green beans, white scallop squash.
Was this in Texas? Lost power in an unpredictable 60 to 90 minutes on / 8 to 12 hours off for almost two and a half days.
Yep, DFW area. Politics and power aside, it was actually really nice to get weather so unusually cold for a change.
When my lovely old dog passed away in June, my wife and I were shattered. But we have continued plugging along and everything was going well. Until about two weeks ago, or so. Now it is almost daily that we have some sort of sad-moments-of-recollection/missing her together. It's especially bad for my wife, since she has literally nothing to do right now. It May Be Time To Get A New Dog. There is a LOT of fear about getting a new dog. Our old girl was one of those special ones that was good with everyone - kids, cats, squirrels, dogs, whatever - completely voice-trained, vibrantly healthy, and self-sufficient. A new dog will need training. And walks. And could have hidden health issues. And and and... we are both in our 50's, and slowing down, and thinking a puppy is too much work... but many people give up "adult/older" dogs because there are behavior problems with them... so are we getting a problem animal? We both have a lot of training and education in dogs, but ... are some dogs unredeemable? I dunno. My wife sent me an email last night at 3:AM with photos of a little lab puppy that is available nearby ... she's a real cutie...
It would be better to bite the bullet and get a dog now while your wife has time to train it, rather than fighting the urge for two years before caving and getting one. :) We always planned on getting another rescue after our first dog past last summer. Then just before Christmas my wife had a weak moment and decided on a puppy. We're a few years younger and I realized that by the time this dog passes, we may be at retirement age (but not retired).
Yeah, I work from home and she's looking for SOMETHING to do... and I'd love to guide her on how to train the dog up to be like my dog was when she and I met originally... And yeah... get a dog now, and it lives for as long as my last dog (15 years), then I'll be retiring (yeah right!) about the time this dog passes, as well.... hmmm....
The last few weeks have been a bit rocky from time to time, but things are going fairly well now. Just came back from a wonderful walk in the woods and on the heather with a good friend, which was followed by a pretty fantastic one-on-one coaching session. A few weeks ago I decided that I needed career advice from someone skilled, so that I can be happier in my work, as I've been struggling to find the next step to take in my career. HR was open to that idea, so I'm not even paying for it. The session was two hours of candid conversation, almost a therapy session in how deep it went. I can't remember the last time I've been so vulnerable with someone I've previously talked to less than an hour, but I had no reservations in giving my whole self. The conversation made me realize just how wide and deep my interests and skills are, which is something that feels natural to me but really isn't. I'm not a "T-shaped professional", I'm more of a rake. Or like a really thick Swiss army knife. It reminded me how much I like to be building bridges between things - between people and ideas, between technology and people, between problem and solution. It feels good to re-evaluate my work-related values and work on myself with someone who asks the right questions. The past year has felt...unrewarding on that front. Something I had a lot of fun with the past week was help mr. watch-amacallit (aka kleinbl00) by building a landing page for his watch biz. I very much played the part of "nah, we're not paying you to build a website, I have a nephew who can smash something together". The result's turned out pretty great I think.
Well, things move quickly. I leave Friday night to make the 2,800 mile journey to deliver my daughter and grandson to their new home. We planned on traveling through the northern part of Texas, but I am considering alternate routes now that the Governor has decided masks aren't necessary. Don't want yokels giving me crap if I stop for gas wearing a mask. Even better, I plan to hit a couple breweries while out there and will bring some stuff back for friends. My plane ticket home includes two free checked bags up to 70lbs each. That's like 120 16oz beers. My youngest wants to go for the ride with her 3yo nephew and 7-month pregnant sister in an economy car. When asked why, she says she doesn't want to be stuck home having to entertain her mother for a week. My wife has never been left alone more than a few hours her entire life. Between growing up in a large family, surrounding herself with friends in her twenties, then me and kids, she has always been in company. And she prefers it that way. It has been an adjustment for me. I only had one sibling, everyone in our house stayed away and did their own thing. I went out and did things alone a lot in my twenties. When I got married it was a shock to find that I could never really get time alone. Luckily I have had the kids as a buffer when I needed time to myself, but in a year that won't be an option any more. With Spring hurtling towards us the projects around the house are looking a bit more appealing. If we don't get any surprise snow storms this month I plan to start building a new fence around the whole property. It's not large, just under an acre, but expect it will take a couple months to complete. Years ago I put a fence around a small section of the yard one weekend, but used shortcuts. The fence lasted five years before it started to rot and lean. This time I want to do it right so that it lasts. Part of it where it runs along the neighbors driveway and entertainment space will be a privacy fence. The rest will be rails with hog-wire backing to keep the dogs contained. I've been dreaming of this fence ever since we first got dogs, so it will be nice to finally be able to let them loose in the yard. As a bonus it will help keep the deer from our bushes and gardens. And our large dog loves to hunt rabbits so that will help the gardens as well. Work is still talking of a June return, so my days at home are numbered. I am going to miss the extra time around the house in the summer, but it will also be good to see my coworkers again. And have time to listen to my audio books. And soon, mountain biking and kayaking. Glorious! What can I say? Life is good.
I don't know what part of the country you're traveling from or too... but if your "more northern route" takes you through Denver, I have a spare room in the basement that could host you and your family - and we could even keep things COVID safe (It has a separate entrance, etc). Let me know if you need a pit stop off I-70
Thanks for the offer. Our northern route would take us through Denver, but I picked the southern route to potentially avoid winter weather. We're traveling from New England to SoCal coast. I haven't been west in many years. When I was about 10 we moved from Seattle to New England. My mother, grandmother, my sister and I with our cat. My mother took us on a tour of the country, hitting as far south as Arizona and as far north as South Dakota, taking a lazy zig zag route across. Somewhere in Utah my grandmother was driving while my mother slept and started keeping time with the music tapping her foot on the accelerator. My mother woke up and flipped a gasket. Then in, I think, Iowa my grandmother demanded my mother pull over at a "rest area" so she could use the facilities. But it wasn't a rest area, it was a weigh station. My mother dutifully exited the highway and pulled up the the booth, smiled, then drove along after the staff waved at her in confusion. We still laugh about that. My daughter has only been west of the I-95 corridor once when we went to my grandmother's funeral in Ohio; she was about the age I was when we moved from Seattle. I am excited for her to see how vast the landscape is in the south west.
if you change your mind - the room's not going anywhere. And hey - we're almost out of the woods weather-wise. We'll get a few more storms for sure, but most won't last terribly long... and that I-70 drive between Denver and Vegas is unlike anything in the world.
My wife and I were discussing my planned route last night. She has a cousin in the Denver area that has been inviting us to visit for years. We're both torn on whether risking a snow storm is worth it. Being in such a small car we are limited on how much we can pack. I would rather not risk getting stuck in the middle of no where without proper winter weather gear. And selfishly, I would rather save suitcase space for beer on the return trip :) . Of course the conversation veered into a discussion about finally taking our honeymoon when our youngest graduates next year. Although she not a fan of sitting idle in car (and detests driving) for extended periods of time, we talked about taking a cross-country drive. We could stop to visit family in Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, and of course our daughter in California. I want to go to Glacier Nat'l Park, Yellow Stone, and Moab. She wants to stay in cabin with a view like the one in the Longmire tv show. We even talked about flying to Chicago and then getting a bedroom on the Empire Builder train to Seattle, but $3K+ is a bit rich. Renting an RV would be a bit more expensive but give us the freedom and flexibility to stop and do things along the way. I really should talk to a travel agent... But then that starts the conversation about using the money to go some place like Iceland or New Zealand. Rabbit holes everywhere!
You could maybe do 70 or 80 to Denver and then if the weather looks sketchy go south on 25 to Albuquerque or Las Cruces depending on whether 40 or 10 better meet your needs. I've driven I-80 to Denver, and it's stunning because eastern Colorado is flat, and then as you approach Denver the Rockies increasingly loom over everything. I've also driven I-70 to Denver, and driving the length of Kansas is just what you'd expect. I prefer Nebraska, though these drives were 10-12 years ago so who knows what's changed. Probably a lot more wind turbines in Iowa and Nebraska than the last time I passed through.
So, today I got a call informing of my 14-day quarantine that ends tomorrow, caused by someone who tested positive putting my name in the "met them in the last X days" column. You cannot own a fucking cellphone number without showing a valid ID with a biometric picture, so I can't fathom why this hasn't been automated. And on top of it, my employer knew about it all along, so I guess it's just a matter of priorities, not means or wants. Especially since they were given my number along with the name. So, between acquaintances, my work, and whichever entity is organizing/supervising this stuff, everyone involved dropped the ball. What if I was one of those near-unsymptomatic cases? Between this negligent lag and the unlikely event of getting my first shot before October, it's not getting any less dispiriting. Frankly, at this point, I think of withdrawing and isolating myself even further.