How do you feel today? v. 3.0

Post by **Sorus** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 1:03 am

Something like that is going to happen here, it's just a matter of time. The train system is a mess. They say they have no money, but they have more riders than ever (trains are a misery during rush hour). I'm not sure what the solution is, but they could start with the dozens (hundreds, thousands) of people who hop the faregates without paying.

Post by **Avatar** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 4:53 am

MetroRail here has lost 30 carriages to arson since October.

The rail network's regional manager today briefed the Cape Chamber of Commerce on the state of trains following last month's spate of arson attacks.

During the briefing, two train carriages in Muldersvlei were set alight.

Emphasis mine.

Link.

I can't shake this sinus thing. I can't shake my head either because of it. Damnit.

--A

Post by **aliantha** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 2:52 pm

Ugh -- feel better, Av. Sinus headaches suck. You're taking a decongestant, right?

Our Metro is older than BART (Sorus's system). A big part of the problem here is that Metro operates in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and it's managed by a committee made of up members from all three jurisdictions. There's never been a stable funding source for the system -- not even the federal government, even though a ton of federal workers rely on Metro to get to work. Anyway, it means Metro runs on a lean budget and big maintenance projects keep getting put off.

Thank goodness nobody's thought to set fire to any of our rail cars. Then again, there's hardly a need when Metro does such a good job of banging them up, all by themselves...

Anyway, I woke up to depressing news about Bernie's campaign this morning, so I'm feeling sad today.

I'll get over it. But it's going to take some time before I'm ready to jump on the Hillary bus. Or maybe I'll just move. I hear Canada's nice...

Post by **Sorus** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:47 pm

Av wins.

Post by **Avatar** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 4:32 am

aliantha wrote:Ugh -- feel better, Av. Sinus headaches suck. You're taking a decongestant, right?

Not yet, but I think I'm gonna have to.

It actually feels a bit better this morning. And throughout, I only have pain if I shake my head or move it too fast. Otherwise I'm fine.

Sorus wrote:Av wins.

Ah, I love Africa.

--A

Post by **Sorus** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 11:40 pm

Hope you're feeling better.

Post by **aliantha** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 1:16 am

So do I.

We had a going-away party at work today for another secretary who's retiring in a week. Some decent munchies -- and booze.

We've had a number of secretaries either quit or retire over the past few weeks. I heard through the grapevine that our department managers are at their wit's end trying to arrange coverage. Which reminds me -- you know that secretary who made the snippy comment about my award, and then quit a few days later? She's now gone, and the three attorneys she supported have been parceled out among the remaining staff. One of the three is a heavy hitter -- lots of big clients, offices in DC and New York, etc., etc. The second is not as busy, but he has one client for whom preparing bills is a nightmare because they're so big and the client is so picky about how things are phrased. And the third attorney needs someone to hold her hand a lot of the time. I got the needy one.

So today at the party, I saw our former secretarial manager (who is among those who recently left the firm!). She said to me, "So you ended up with (Needy)?"

"Yeah," I said.

"I'm sorry," she said. And then she laughed and said, "Now that I don't work here anymore, I can say that."

The good news is that it's only 'til they can hire someone to fill the empty position. The bad news is it might take all summer.

Post by **Avatar** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 4:50 am

Ah, extra responsibility. How I hate it.

Started taking a decongestant last night. Hopefully that does the trick.

Otherwise, not bad. The Gog sale is on, so I picked up Tropico 4 and all its DLC, that'll keep me busy over the weekend.

--A

Post by **deer of the dawn** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:22 pm

Stag and I had a great time at a student conference, judging student performances (music for me, athletics and cultural dancing for Stag, who was also their keynote speaker). Nigerians sure know how to run kids ragged! We came home this morning and I started missing my kids soooo bad. Buck of the dawn chatted with me and said, why don't you call me? (he was driving through the night to see his gf) so I did and we talked for 80 minutes!! It was great, but later I realized I was having an anxiety attack and I sat down and was able to make it go away. How? surprisingly, by getting angry! The Lord moves in mysterious ways. Anger was the truth I needed to move through it. Go figure.

On a side note, my computer died. Working on getting a new laptop. Thankfully I was able to load all my stuff onto an external drive.

Post by **Avatar** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 4:21 am

That sucks.

It's bloody raining here. Rain in the middle of winter on the highveld. It's practically unheard of. If I wanted rain in winter I would live in the Cape damnit.

And to make it worse, the forecast high is 11C.

Ah well, at least it's a short week kinda. Thursday is a public holiday.

--A

Post by **aliantha** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 3:36 pm

Next week and the following one will be short for me. I'll be driving up to NY on Friday to see lorin for a few days. We're supposed to meet up with Loremaster and Montresor on Saturday. Then I'll drive home Monday.

YES, I WILL TELL THEM ALL TO COME BACK TO THE WATCH.

Then the following week is the 4th of July, so I'll have another short week. But after that, it'll be a long haul 'til Labor Day...unless I decide to go to my high school reunion in August. Still debating whether it would be worth driving 24 hours round-trip to have dinner with a bunch of people I haven't seen in decades. I think it will depend on whether my brother and I have resolved Mom's estate by then. If not, then I'll have a free place to stay.

If so, I'll still probably still have a free place to stay, but I'll have to ask him if it's okay first (and hope he hasn't changed the locks...).

Post by **Sorus** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 2:24 am

Say hi to everybody for me.

Apologies for any typos, there is a cat sitting directly in front of my monitor.

Post by **Orlion** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 2:53 am

Sorus wrote:Say hi to everybody for me.

Apologies for any typos, there is a cat sitting directly in front of my monitor.

You should cuddle him until he leaves!

Post by **Avatar** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:25 am

aliantha wrote:
YES, I WILL TELL THEM ALL TO COME BACK TO THE WATCH.

And kick them. Both. In the shins.

--A

Post by **aliantha** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 3:47 pm

Sorus, I will be sure to pass it along. The greeting, I mean -- not the cat. I'm not sure how Helldog is with cats, and I'm not going to volunteer to find out...

Avatar wrote:
aliantha wrote:
YES, I WILL TELL THEM ALL TO COME BACK TO THE WATCH.
And kick them. Both. In the shins.

--A

I will, and I'll tell them both it's from you.

Post by **Linna Heartbooger** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 6:11 pm

Orlion wrote:
Sorus wrote:Say hi to everybody for me.

Apologies for any typos, there is a cat sitting directly in front of my monitor.
You should cuddle him until he leaves!

Yay, this!

ali wrote:I will, and I'll tell them both it's from you.

Send lorin a hug from me?
(I suggest after you kick people in the shins, so it's not like a breach of trust: "you hug me and then you kick me in the shins? WHAT?!?")

I have been having a tough time teaching a new class this summer.
I have been consistently stressed and cranky, which realllllly shouldn't be something I'm doomed to, but...
It should be getting better, but I still haven't figured out how to decompress and chill out and be like, "yay, I like life!" again.

(I reallly thought this class was gonna be the thrill of my life, so...)

Post by **aliantha** » Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:15 am

Linna Heartlistener wrote:
ali wrote:I will, and I'll tell them both it's from you.
Send lorin a hug from me?
(I suggest after you kick people in the shins, so it's not like a breach of trust: "you hug me and then you kick me in the shins? WHAT?!?")

Order is vitally important.

Tell ya what: I'll give lorin the hug and save the kicks for Lore and Montresor. Life's been beating up enough on her this year, anyway -- I don't need to add to it.

Sorry your class is a challenge, though, Linna. Maybe it'll all be worth it in the end.

Post by **Linna Heartbooger** » Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:43 am

thaaaanks, ali... and thanks for the encouraging words, too!

Post by **Avatar** » Wed Jun 15, 2016 5:26 am

Good, thanks Ali.

Ah well, at least tomorrow is a holiday.

--A

Post by **JIkj fjds j** » Wed Jun 15, 2016 6:43 am

Well I certainly feel better than yesterday. I had such a headache I thought I would never drop off to sleep. It was as if my skull had split all the way from the base of the neck, right through my eye socket, and round to the back of the jawbone. Normally I don't get headaches - at least not since I quit smoking, 3 maybe 4 years ago - so I don't keep asprin about the place. As my mother would say, it looks like a bomb has gone off in this flat. So today it's tidying up, up, up ...

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

How do you feel today? v. 3.0