Know What Sucks?

I made it through the episode of House of the Dragon (HotD) without falling asleep. Probably because it was riveting. That’s all the review you get out of me. This is a spoiler free zone. You’re welcome.

Now that the episode is over I can shift my focus onto something that seriously sucks. What to know what that is? Want to know what sucks?

Tomorrow is Monday. The weekend is over. That sucks.

It’s 10:41pm. My alarm is set for 5:00am. That sucks.

The good news is that the project for work that I needed to get done by last Friday was done on time. That’s nice. There is nothing hanging over my head when the work day starts tomorrow. That doesn’t suck.

My two days in the office this coming week will be Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday will start in Foxborough. That sucks.

Want to know something that’s crazy and unbelievable? Well, crazy and unbelievable for me at least? I am less than three weeks away from the 20th anniversary of me starting to work at the company I work for. It’s going to be my 20th hire-aversary. That doesn’t suck, but it is crazy.

Okay. I am going to spend a few minutes watching film photography YouTube channels and then I am going to sleep, if I can.

Have a good night, everyone. Talk to you in the mornin’.

Monday Blues

It is Monday again. Blah.

We had both kids here last night for the first time in ages. It was wonderful. Talk about a full heart, right? It’s over now though. My step son, Harry left for Vermont this morning. He’s on his way home. I was on a conference call when he left, but I got to say goodbye. I’m happy about that at least. My step daughter, Bellana will be here for a couple more days. She’s going out to do some stuff during the day today but she’ll be back this evening. I’m happy she’s here. I was happy that Harry too. I just really love them both and I love having them around the house.

Work has been busy so far today. It will continue for a few days at least. I am planning on working from home tomorrow but I have to go into the office on Wednesday. I’m not sure what my second office day will be this week. I hate the idea of going in on a Friday, but I think this week it will probably happen. I just don’t want to commute two days in a row this week. Especially after doing it four days in a row last week.

I haven’t taken a picture yet today. The photo a day challenge is still open. Where are the cats?

The Weekend is Here

It’s 5:30pm on Friday. Quittin’ time.

The weekend is finally here.

After working in the office four days this week, it has felt like the work week was 50 days long instead of five. It’s just been brutal.

But now it’s over. Time to sign out and go hang out with Jen and Harry.

Finally!

Happy weekend, everyone! (where applicable)

Day Four

I wrote a post about this yesterday. I am supposed to work from the office two days each week and last week, thanks to a head cold left over from our Florida vacation, I didn’t come into the office at all. That means for the rest of the month of June I would owe two days in the office.

Well… assuming I can survive for the next 3.5 hours or so, I won’t owe any more. Today is the fourth day of the work week, and I’ve been in the office all four days.

I am exhausted.

Prior to the pandemic, four days in the office and one day at home was the norm. Thursday was my one telecommute day each week. The rest of the week I was in the office. It’s not the same office I’m in now, but that’s not important at all. Four days in, one day home. I am pretty sure this week marks the first time since Covid came to call that I will match that schedule. Well… not exactly. Friday will be my work from home day this week. That is not important either.

What is important is that I have made up the two days I missed last week. I am back on track. Next week will only have two days in the office and all will be right with the working world again.

I just can’t get over how tired I am. The commute, the noise, the stress… it’s just wearing me out, man. How did I manage this for 16 years or so before Covid? I can’t wrap my tiny little miniature brain around it.

Tomorrow I will work from home. I have to move back to the basement office because Harry is home and I won’t be able to use the desk in his room. That’s oaky with me. Who knows, maybe if the weather cooperates I might work outside for a while. Maybe I’ll give it a try at least, just to say that I’ve done it.

In other news, my House of the Dragon season one rewatch to prep for Sunday’s premier of season two continues. I’m through six out of ten episodes which is nuts given that I only thought of doing this four nights ago. I’m caught up on Star Wars: The Acolyte and loving it so far. Three episodes in and I am coming up with some crazy theories. I’m ready for part one of the two part season finale of Doctor Who which airs tomorrow night. We still don’t know who the bad guy is. I haven’t a clue. The new season of The Boys is supposed to launch today at some point. I’m not sure exactly when. There will be three episodes released at launch. I am probably going to hold off on them until I get through the last four episodes of HotD. I’m not sure though. We’ll see.

No band practice this week. No band practice next week. After that I am hopeful that we’ll be able to string together a bunch of them and start getting some of the songs back up to speed. Not to mention growing calluses on my finger tips so that playing doesn’t hurt as much. I’m really looking forward to that.

Oh good! One of the guys in my group at work submitted a bug yesterday and someone in the Dev group just picked it up off of the queue. Here’s hoping we get a quick turn around! That would be excellent. I love it when things go according to plan.

Until next time… I am so freakin’ tired!

In the Office

The rules for our hybrid working environment are simple. We have to be in the office for 40% of the work days each month. That works out to approximately two days each week. Usually. Some months require an extra day to hit 40%. This month is not one of those months. This month just needs two days each week.

Last week I messed up my routine. I was feeling under the weather. Not bad enough to miss work, but bad enough to not want to go into the office and risk getting anyone else sick. I worked from home all five days last week. No office visits for me.

Because of that minor illness and my desire in the post Covid world to go out of my way to not get anyone else sick, I have two days to make up in order to get back onto the two days in the office pace.

I had two ideas for that. Idea number one was to work three days in the office this week, and three days next week. Not bad. Not good. Doable. Idea number two was to just bite the bullet and work four days in the office this week. Suck Suckity Suck Suck Suck for one week, then back to normal for the rest of the month.

I went into the office on Monday (traffic was mild). I went into the office on Tuesday (traffic was horrible). I am in the office today, Wednesday (traffic was bad but not as bad as Tuesday). Tomorrow I will have to make a tough decision. If I work from home tomorrow, I will need to come in three days next week (because I am sure as hell not coming into the office on Friday). If I work from the office tomorrow I will be back on track and not have to worry about any of this for the rest of June… but it will suck suck suckity suck to be in the office four days in a row (again, no way in hell I am coming in on Friday this week).

So what am I going to do?

I feel a little sick even thinking this… but I think I am going to work in the office. Four days in and one day at home… that was how our schedule worked pre-pandemic. The thought of that just blows chunks. It blows great big chunky chunks.

I think I am going to do it though. Oh help me please, I think I am going to do it.

Let it End, Please

The first week back at work after a vacation. It has been a rough one. It’s always rough, but this week has been extra rough.

I was hoping it would end quietly and mercifully but I just got asked to join a 3:00pm meeting and it’s going to stress me out and piss me off and I am not looking forward to it.

10 minutes left before I have to join the conference call.

Crud.

Another Crazy Stressful Day

Tuesday afternoon, all day Wednesday, and now all day Thursday. They’ve all been a crazy and stressful as days get for me. I’m ready for things to calm down.

I still have the head cold, but it might finally be getting better. There have been a couple of moments where I was nearly able to inhale oxygen through my nose. That’s a huge improvement!

Why does my foot hurt now? What’s up with that?

Okay, back to the crazy and the stress. Happy Thursday, folks!

Busy

Bit of a mentally challenging day today. Nothing major, just lots of administrative stuff at work. Meetings and meetings and meetings. There is hardly anyone here in the office today but weirdly all of the conference rooms are booked. What’s going on with that?

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning so I am only working a half day. Next week I have another half day on Friday. That one is so Jen and I can jump in the car and get an early start on our drive to Florida. Yeah, we’re driving again. Road trip, babie! Seven business days left before vacation, and two of those are half days. It’s too far away to start suffering from vacation-itis, but we’re getting there.

I tried to take a photo a day picture this morning while I was jogging (pronounced yogging, with a soft j) in place and they came out blurry. Duh. Of course they did, you putz. I took another one after I finished. It’s meant to guilt me into playing the damn guitar this weekend. Come on, Robert. You’re about to go on a trip. You need to play the guitar a ton before you go. Get on with it, Red Head!

258/365
258/365

Doing the Right Thing Can Suck

I am scheduled for Jury Duty a week from Monday. May 6th, to be exact. I booked time off from work for the day like a good citizen of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Good boy.

Today I came as close to hitting the lottery as I’ll ever come. I got a letter from the state. You always get a letter from the state about a week before Jury Duty. It usually says that you need to call the courthouse you were assigned to the business day before you are schedule to appear and they will tell you if you have to show up or not. That’s not what I got this time. This time the letter just said that they don’t need me and I don’t have to go. Sweet! It’s like a get out of jail free card… or just a get out of jury duty free card. Let’s not mix the metaphorical side of the courtroom bar I would have been sitting on… or whatever. You know what I mean, right? Right.

So I have the day off of work on Monday and I don’t have to do anything to earn it! WOOHOO!

That’s when the guilt started hitting me. Stupid guilt. Two days after my scheduled civic duty is my birthday (53 years old, you geriatric fart) and I took a vacation day that day just because. It’s my special day, or some crap like that. So I… I let the guilt take over. I logged into work and canceled my Jury Duty time off request. Ugh. Why did I do that? Because it was the right thing to do? Ugh… you putz. Just take the free day off. No… I’ll work that day. I might even drive into the office.

Idiot.

How is Today Not Friday?

My teeny tiny little pipsqueak of a brain is 100% convinced that today is Friday and it will not hear any arguments to the contrary.

How is today not Friday?

It feels like Friday. It’s been the longest week ever. I have had so much to do at work and after work and before work and around work and in between work and all of that. I feel like I’ve done three weeks worth of work this week, so how is today not Friday?

But it’s not Friday. It is Thursday. That’s going to make today difficult. I keep getting excited about the weekend’s imminent arrival and then I realize we have to get through a whole additional business day after we get through today. No. It can’t be Thursday today. It has to be Friday. It must be Friday!

How is today not Friday?