Can We Turn Umbrellas in to Parasols? Please? in Everyday Ramblings

It is raining.
It has been raining.
It is supposed to rain until at least next Wednesday.

While last year this time it was snowing, here now underneath it all early spring is unfolding. Crocus, camellias and snowdrops, forsythia and some early fruit trees are all budding and blooming. There isn’t enough light to take pictures. I know. I’ve tried. One just gets a non-artistic blur.

I took this shot up in Seattle last weekend. It is the mobile that is hanging off the light fixture in the living area in Miss T’s and Miss E’s place. Their place is full of wonderful little details like this even though they are rarely home these days.

I have been so tired and on Wednesday in a morning meeting I managed to trigger my new manager, Mr. NPD (I think I will call him Nimrod, a giant in the next to the ultimate circle in Dante’s hell) into an extremely emotional angry outburst.

I could tell he was mad and when the meeting was over he called me into his office and boy did I hear an earful. He was telling me I couldn’t do something for political reasons and he both misunderstood (jumped right smack to erroneous conclusions based on fears and recent experiences) the technical aspects of the request and later as it turned out the political ones but that didn’t tone down the outburst.

It took a half hour of abject contriteness on my part to get him calmed down. No, no, you are wonderful, I am out of line, I misunderstood I was inappropriate… to get him to settle down.

In the end, much to his chagrin, the very people he was worried about going off about the request happily granted it and no harm was done other than I am still exhausted from the effort and the stress probably didn’t do his body any good at all either.

Upper management is beginning to get a picture of what they might have gotten themselves into by putting him in this position and he is no longer the golden boy and of course he is going to deflect that back on staff. Or me at least.

It is clear we are going to need to practice fighting about stuff until we get the process right, hammering stuff out. He is so emotional and sensitive and desperately wants to be perceived of as a hero and a great leader. Bleh.

Anyway, that sucked out what few emotional resources I had left from the work of both addressing practical things with my sister’s death and the grieving process.

Luckily, with the vacation time I am taking starting next Wednesday and my telecommute schedule; I won’t have to go into the office for almost two weeks! Yippee. Saint Joe continues to behave in a saintly manner and I am so very appreciative.

My dentist appointment wasn’t bad at all, nothing new, that is such good news! They even have these new kid sized x-ray things they put in your mouth that are actually manageable. This means I can splurge and spend just a little money on myself. Sweet! There has been much deferred gratification this last year saving up for the new computer and helping out with the medical bills and one can only do that for so long without just a little something personal now and then.

And this afternoon I get to log out 45 minutes early and go get my hair cut. I missed my appointment last week.

Did I mention that it is raining?

Last updated February 06, 2015