Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
This Blog started in 2001 as a Trip Log to record a summer in Alaska. Since then, it has morphed into my online diary.
Too busy working today to be grumpy. That’s a good thing.
I didn’t get outside but a little bit today. But, it was better than yesterday. The sun actually came out.
Grateful that my commute home from work will only be 15 feet. Some advantages to WFH.
Mālama Pono
That’s today’s view out the windows. I did not venture out. Did barre and yoga classes this morning before starting to work at 1PM. I am savoring this last week of constant work. It is saving what little is left of my sanity.
Yesterday’s propaganda memo concluded with:
We have all learned so much about new ways to live, thrive and stay safe this past year. Our commitment to you is that Goodwin House will build on these new levels of safety for your health and wellness going forward, and we will retain the new ways of engagement as we restore the old ways to enable the highest levels of participation and connection with family and friends.
Well, I don’t want that anymore. I want to be responsible for myself. I don’t want to “stay safe” anymore. Well actually, I do want to be safe. But, I want to decide for myself what is “safe” for me. I never liked anyone telling me what to do. Just ask my husbands. Or my mother. Or my bosses. Or my teachers.
Today I realized that if I do what I think is “safe” I might die. On the other hand, if I do what management decides is safe for me I might die. The destination is the same. The journey is different. And no one gets out of the Asylum alive anyhow.
I am having an increasingly difficult time reconciling living in the Asylum and living a real life. Real-life. You know. riding the bus. going to trader joes. getting your teeth cleaned w/o punitive quarantine. maybe going to the actual office.
But, my friends live here. Do friends surpass self-determination? Of course, they do. Get a grip, old girl. Get a grip.
Time to round up my “universal covid gratitude list”. (I haven’t needed my universal trip list in a very long time.)
The weather is great.
Biden is in the White House.
My health is good.
I have had 2 Covid vaccines.
My weight is under control.
I have a nice cozy apartment.
I have lots of Kindle books to read.
And audiobooks to listen to.
There are lots of online resources that I have yet to tap into.
I have friends. Good friends.
So I will try to follow the rules. At least some of them. Some of the time Just for today.
Mālama Pono
Did most of my walk in the passageways today. One of the floors collects all of their green boxes on an altar. Complete with candles. On my floor, we put them outside our door.
There is no light today. Several of my resident friends are seriously ill with Covid. It is gray, cold, damp, etc. And, I am busy wrangling data. We just got a two-page propaganda email from management. Telling the inmates that nothing is going to change anytime soon. Once again thinking about decamping.
Grateful to have lived the best part of my life before this COVID crap.
Mālama Pono
The thing is, it is easier to find the light if you go outside. Nevermind that it is gray and below freezing.
Have 6 days of work ahead of me. So, I got everything as tidy as possible and my spreadsheet and I will be ready to spring into action packaging up data to send to the state. Actually the commonwealth. What’s the difference between a state and a commonwealth anyhow? I doubt that it matters. According to Google, so it must be true, there is no difference.
At the end of the week my hospital will be out of the mass Covid vaccination business. Maybe completely out of the covid vaccination business. We were doing a good job. But, the commonwealth decided to stop giving vaccine to hospitals. It will all go the counties now. Glad I got my two shots. Lots of people had appointments to get vaccinated by the hospital and we had to tell them their appointments were cancelled. It doesn’t make much sense. We have pharmacists, nurses, med techs, a reservation system that works, a -100 degree freezer. Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Oranges! I love oranges.
This is not an acceptable temperature.
Mālama Pono
Didn’t sleep great last night. Hip hurts. It’s cold. Didn’t make it above freezing today. On the plus side, I didn’t have to do much today. Had a nice long winter’s nap. And the sun was out.
Grateful to have made it through another week without totally losing it. It’s not easy.
Mālama Pono
This might have been the heart of the Asylum. The frozen yogurt machine was available from noon until 8 PM or when it ran out. And if it were filled to dispense Cable Car Chocolate – it would run out. The cappuccino and coffee machines ran 24/7. The frozen yogurt was fattening, the cappuccino only so-so, and the coffee – well, it supplied caffeine, not flavor. But, I still miss them.
This is my office. My command center. Where I wrangle data to send to the state. I have been scurrying around working with our vendor to get a system modification that will replace me. I was so looking forward to being replaced by a computer.
Well, this afternoon what should appear in my inbox from the Chief Information Officer :
…we need to put this work on hold for the time being. We do not want to do anything to upset or modify the current vaccine reporting processes with the state, they are having enough trouble reconciling what we currently give them. Introducing new variables will just create more errors and confusion with reconciliation.
We can circle back with them when the Covid vaccine situation is less fluid and we are established for a while.
In other words, when we aren’t doing this anymore, then we can consider doing it automatically. Until then. The old woman who lives in an Asylum can knit our data together.
Back when I was young, I would have been outraged. Now, I am sort of amused that they think that I can just keep on doing it. With a database query and a spreadsheet or two.
I am telling you this to illustrate how totally screwed up the Covid vaccination system is in the country if it depends on a little old lady with a spreadsheet.
Grateful for a superfine walk this morning while my room was being cleaned. Grateful for Elizabeth who cleans my room every Friday.
Mālama Pono
And I am supposed to be in 5 days of punitive quarantine because I had to audacity to go to the dentist. Well, the operative word here is “supposed”. I didn’t make it a secret that I was going to the dentist. I just didn’t turn myself in to the authorities. I have had 2 Covid vaccines and everyone at my dentist’s office has had one. The waiting room was empty. Not doing quarantine. I will maintain a low profile and avoid the public areas and the elevator. But, I am not locking myself up.
Got some work done today. Had a nice walk this morning. Actually, I was walking to the dentist. But, one of my friends called and ordered me back to the Asylum. Where she collected me and drove me to the dentist. Waited for me to be finished too. And drove me back home. Friends. A very important part of a good old age.
Grateful that Bear 399 made it to her den. She was late to turn in. But she and her cubs were reported to be very chubby. An extra month of eating will do that!
Mālama Pono
Hanging out my window with my 600 mm lens. Watching the Orange Lord leave. On the computer and in-person with my camera.
I did rather a lot of work. With lots more that needs doing, all the while watching the Inauguration. Lots of work needs doing to rebuild the Republic too. Today is the first step. Too bad that domestic terrorists and COVID robbed us of a public celebration. Nevertheless, it was a very good day.
PRESIDENT Biden. Also grateful for coconut cake.
Mālama Pono
It was 5:10PM and a lovely pink sunset. DC isn’t on fire. The Orange Lord has not nuked anyone, YET. And that is about all I dare hope for.
A really disjointed day today. Work time schedule wasn’t what I had expected. There are new Covid vaccine reporting requirements. More data to wrangle. They don’t give us more vaccines to administer. They give us more forms to fill out.
I wasn’t able to complete today’s Zoom Yoga class due to texts and phone calls. Every trip to the potty seemed to be interrupted by something “more urgent”. But, all is well. No more worries until tomorrow morning.
Unfortunately, I can not see the 51 lights that are setup on the Mall. And, I do so wish that I was able to see the 200,000 flags. I am used to seeing these things in person not via the TV.
Grateful that the republic survived the tenure of the Orange Lord. The republic is damaged. But, it will survive if we, the people, care enough to put it back together again.
Mālama Pono
What’s not to love Margaret Dumont and Groucho? Just want to remember this excellent meme.
And on a serious note. Unless we forget what happened on January 6th, some programmers managed to download nearly all of the videos on Parler before it was taken down. ProPublica has achieved it.
What Parler Saw During the Attack
Apparently, I am the only one who thinks that I made a great mistake with the 2,271 records. I still believe that it might cause trouble. But, I turned myself in. That was all I could do.
If you don’t fill out what you want to eat the day before, you get a call asking what do you want to eat. Well, I filled out my form. I wanted a slice of bread. Someone called and said I didn’t fill out my form. I said I wanted a slice of bread. Well, I got two slices of bread. And, it was pretty good bread.
Peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. With the aforementioned bread.
Mālama Pono
An uneasy week awaits us. My personal week was made much much worse when I realized today that I sent some 2,300 records to Virginia with a code set incorrectly. In my 50+ years of computer hacking, I have made worse mistakes. But, it is still embarrassing. And, I suspect that there is no easy way to fix it other than by hand one record at a time. In which case I for sure have my work cut out for me. I give myself points for discovering the error and reporting it.
I was always careful what systems I worked on. I never wanted to have anything to do with the FAA for example. Didn’t want to be responsible for a plane crash. Way back in 1969 or 70, I did mess up the Aloha Airlines pilot’s payroll run for February. No checks got cut. Not good. But, nobody died. Nobody’s life (except mine) is in any danger now either.
But, enough about me. This week we have to get the Orange Lord down to Florida where he will set up a government in exile. Mr. Biden has to get moved into position. Why would anybody want to be President now? Fortunately, he has seen more than his share of grief and he is up to the task – provided his brain and body hold up. From my vantage point, that could be an issue. And Kamala rocks. The county will have a “Second Gentleman”. About time.
Also, The Asylum hopes to get Covid vaccine #1 for more of the staff and the rest of the residents. But, nobody will actually believe that it is going to happen until they get jabbed in the arm. Meanwhile, Covid rates are racing upward in our area.
Grateful that I found my mistake. It might have been ugly if someone tried to tell me that I screwed up the data. I would have further embarrassed myself by denying that I could never have made such a stupid error. Yes, I could.
Also this week, a trip to the dentist and 5 days of punitive quarantine. That will give me more time to correct data. Always look on the bright side of life.
Mālama Pono
You know, I have had an absolutely wonderful life. I was wandering around my old photos and found this happy picture of old friends. Carlton and I were so fortunate to have been welcomed into real Hawaiian life. Stupid white dresses and all. Barbara on the right is an awesome rancher and horsewoman. She can ride a horse sidesaddle. Barefoot. In a stupid white dress.
Just an ordinary Covid-Time day today. But, I did get a nice long walk this afternoon. Visited some. Read some. Wandered around old photographs. And started getting my taxes together. I am assembling steak salad for dinner tonight. Then more reading and off to bed.
Grateful for all the good memories and even the few not so good ones.
Mālama Pono