We are dealing with the eclipse overload here. It is interesting but also means everyday life
is interrupted. We will have 99.4 totality. Unfortunately, the window washers were to be here during the
eclipse with the light changing. I did change the appt. until later this week.
A friend spent 5 hours trying to find glasses which we found for her using our Nextdoor. We had great fun
as we ended up connecting with our D’s first babysitter.
The wedding is looming and the house is a disaster. We did take the time today to take a nice but too short
hike. This has been a mess of a summer but finally the garage floor is down and we will no longer have
our belongings in our driveway. Window washer, deep housecleaner, finishing landscaping and carpets
cleaned all this week.
The happenings this week are very heartbreaking. It is such a worry for our loved ones future.
It is one thing to worry about our eventual earthquake and quite another to worry about what
an administration might decided and what seems to have been unleashed in the world.
^ I am worried too, but seeing the folks in Boston step up gives me hope .
A spot of good news: S finished his internship on Friday with a job offer, He will be in Management Consulting for a “Big 4” . So happy for him.
Congrats on your S’s employment.
Agreed on the Boston rally, but Massachusetts is a seriously Blue State (albeit with a serious racist segment in Boston). Let’s see what happens in a rally in Mississippi or West Virginia.
ShawSon’s newest startup is progressing pretty quickly. VCs will see it at a Demo Day in a couple of weeks and it has been accepted into another prestigious incubator. He’s working 12-14 hour days, which means that the surgery he had in March is working – he could only do about 4 hours a day before the surgery. Life is good.
FG and Shaw - congrats for your S’s. Great achievements.
Shower was yesterday. Everything went fairly well. We had a issue Thurs/Fri that made me a bit late getting things done but it all came together in the end.
Thurs. night our dog came in from outside. Took the deck steps (4) in a single leap - nothing new. She would do that a lot. and well it didn’t go well. She came in limping. That too has happened before so we just let her be and figured it would be better Fri morning. Luckily my H took that day off as well to get some stuff done. Well long story short Friday morning she still couldn’t walk on it so off to the vet. She had torn her ACL and at 90 lbs surgery was an outside option - meaning they didn’t think if would work. Unfortunately the “good” leg was the worse with regards to her hips so she really couldn’t walk. We made the decision to let her go. She was always running and wouldn’t have liked only being able to walk with us using a towel to support her back end. House seems empty. She was definitely MY dog and it is going to take some time to get over this. Yes we will eventually get another dog but it may be a while.
And on another sour note mandatory overtime started this week. As I write this I’m in my office. We are required to work at a minimum 48 yours a week now. My life isn’t set up for that much OT. Not sure how it is all going to work. I know that I’m not going to be a happy camper about it. At least the engineers get extra pay for it. Me because I’m a manager nope - even though I have engineers that earn more than me. My counterpart in hardware is all for it (I’m software) – but then of course he is - they are LATE. Currently for my 92 software people I have a total of 70 pieces of equipment for them to use and some need at a minimum of 2 to do their jobs. So I’ll be trying to figure out what people CAN do! Sigh…
So sorry to hear about your dog, RM. It is so hard to let a pet go even when you know that it is for the better. After 4 months I still look for mine and then remember she isn’t there.
Also that stinks about the OT. How long is it supposed to last? Glad the shower went well.
@shawbridge - congrats to your S on the start up. I think we will see big things from him.
OT is a minimum of up to early Nov. Could be extended at that time. I’m figuring it will probably go until Feb. Sigh.
Goodness!!! That is a dreadfully long time to be looking at unpaid and unrewarded overtime.
Do you have vacation or other time to sneak in here and there? Think about planning a huge
vacation in March…oh, but you don’t have time to plan anything…
Glad to hear your shower went well! And hugs about your dog. Still miss my main pup who
died in 1996 or so. The best ones are just the best ones.
Congrats to Shaw son!
The traffic hype for the eclipse is proving to be non existent so far.
People returning all at once may be the only problem.
Fingers crossed that there are no fires–perhaps the states biggest concern.
RM, so sorry to hear about your dog. BTDT – K was my girl, and I still look in the family room whenever I come downstairs. I get weepy pretty regularly, and it’s been four months.Such a stressful time for you. Be gentle with yourself.
Thinking of you RM! So sorry to hear about your dog. Hugs to you! Glad the shower was successful!
Oregon - oh we can’t even ASK for vacation that wasn’t already in the system - yeah. I may not last. H and I haven’t been on vacation since a year and a half ago. I’ve taken time off - a bit but home so cleaning/cooking/etc. Not a vacation in my books. Luckily I had put in the system some time off around the wedding so that is good.
Sending hugs, congrats and condolences as applicable.
Missy, I feel like we should be having a cyber cocktail party to celebrate MissySon’s (and your) perseverance 
Trip to Cdn north/wedding was generally entertaining. But mch and I decided to forego the overnight in Toronto on return and go spend some extra time with my mom instead. It worked out nicely.
Had a busy week on return, plus a number of social commitments. Finally got a bit of down time this weekend, not without cooking my new pool pump somehow. So my 90 degree water is now down to 78 and I’m getting cranky without my physio. First world problems that should be remedied later today as replacement is on its way
RM, in your field, I fear mandatory OT is going to become the new normal with the tight tech talent market, at least from what I’m hearing from recruiter client. Something has to change.
KMC - yes it is very difficult to hire these days and time to market is everything. My problem is that we ASKED for discretionary OT about a year ago and was told no. Now we are in crisis management and we have everyone on OT. - not cost effective and certainty not smart. My issue is that I’m old and have other things that I would rather be doing than sitting here for long days. This may speed up the retirement discussions with my H. 
That’s the unfortunate byproduct of this phenom…the risk of losing deeply experienced, talented people because they won’t put up with the conditions. People of your rank and tenure should be working flextime to keep you, not drive you out. I don’t know why this phenom eludes HR types, but it seems common!
RM, I think I’d pay them myself if my company would ask some people to work some overtime. I’m putting in 60-65 hours a week. When I need administrative help, I am told that no, no one is willing to work OT (after not asking a soul.) You’d think that in a company doing one of the largest transactions of its kind ever, those in charge might at least be willing to request some OT on occasion.
RM, where is the happy medium between your mandatory through Nov., and me having to input data myself because our HR won’t ask anyone ever?
RM, so sad about your dog. I keep having dreams of pets. I’m sure it’s because I miss D’s cat that we fostered for the summer.
FallGirl, so happy for your son and his job offer.
I have to share how it turned out for the amazingly incompetent employee whose mental faculties I questioned here. She was walked out the door last week with 10 week’s severance and got another job 5 days later, with a very large raise.
It wouldn’t be so bad if it were an ask and oh by the way we will pay you. My issue is with it being mandatory. No everyone can do it due to other factors. First week and I’m exhausted already. 45 hours I can do - much more than that is not in the cards for me. I know myself and what I’m capable of. I’m already starting to sniffle and be crabby during week one.
Yeah losing the dog was very tough. Mostly because it was so unexpected. Sure she was old but other than some hip problems that we were successfully treating with something that is like tylenol there was no big problems.
Sounds like for your coworker it all worked out. Maybe there were issues at work that was causing the confusion and this will be better for her.
Well I’ve had my 2 minutes of chill time. back to the grind.
Sending well wishes, congrats, condolences, etc. We are on the road again! Owners of the apartment we’ve been staying in had to unexpectedly come back earlier than planned for a mandatory meeting tomorrow. Washing sheets and towels while we pack up, clean, etc so we can hit the road. Headed back to Florida for now.
Good luck CQ! Any idea when you H will find out where his next position will be?
RM - there’s no system in our denomination for appointments. He’s just applying and interviewing when contacted. Has a Skype interview tonight (we’ll be in a hotel). So we have no idea.
Hugs and good luck to your H, cq. This must be difficult right now. Glad you have
a good position and can live anywhere.
Oh good luck CQ. I’m sure that this is difficult. Hopefully it won’t take too long for him to find a position.
Week one of the 11 weeks almost done. I sure hope that they don’t extend this into Feb. - yes that is a possibility. Sigh…