Even in the Midst in Everyday Ramblings

It is a bit hard to tell in the gray glare here that these trees are budding. We are having weather that sort of mirrors the financial markets, lots of volatility in temperature with almost 30° swings over a period of a few days. This morning right where I am right now it is at freezing.

When I was on the elliptical at the gym on Tuesday night about 15 minutes in I started feeling a sense of discomfort in my mid back where I know I have the structural issue and have been wondering how I know if I am doing too much. I finished my workout and came home.

But I didn’t go back to do weights on Thursday and I am thinking about giving myself one more day of rest today. And maybe trying something else, like swimming. And of course my own yoga practice.

It was an overtime week for me at work and quite stressful. We had a retirement in our group a few months back and she was not replaced and so the area she was in has really slowed down in processing work.

And this affects our relationships with our customers rather profoundly.

The relationships, I personally have spent 8 years nurturing, and Saint Joe has carried the torch. Nimrod told us last week that if we get complaints to share them with him. Nimrod seems to be taking a hard line, a sense of being embattled these days, and is very very protective of the other members of our group.

Thursday morning I received a written complaint, it was good-natured but a direct complaint, about the situation from our partners over at the Veterans Administration Research team. I forwarded it on to Nimrod.

So Nimrod went down and started questioning one of our beloved cashiers about how she was spending her time and why couldn’t she and how was she and as he has anger management issues (just like Sammy my cat used to) he was pretty intense with her about something she absolutely had no control over.

And she gave notice. Right there. She didn’t walk, she gave two weeks but she said okay, that’s it, I don’t need to deal with this. Nimrod came up shortly thereafter to tell us with barely controlled fury and resignation (the psychic temperature in the office had dropped well below zero) and while no one is blaming us, by passing on the complaint we were the agent of change and it is not fun.

Just in case you are wondering about how dysfunctional the place I work is…someone in an allied department, actually down where our cashiers are housed, took her own life a few months back. It was her manager that found her. That is so sad. Of course there were other factors besides work involved but still…

Our cashier in question lost her husband to lung cancer last year. Her daughter moved back in with her and is doing quite well financially so she actually doesn’t absolutely have to work right now. (Did you know that there were 430,000 smoking related deaths last year? I had no idea it was still so high.)

So we completely understand why she is going. But it is all pretty awful.

Nimrod found a way not to come to my class yesterday. That is okay. It is all awkward and strained but his best friend at work came and we focused on yoga. Saint Joe had a day scheduled off and is in the Bay Area for a family gathering. I am so glad he had that scheduled and can hang with his huge robust Irish family at times like this.

Mrs. Sherlock left me a message that she couldn’t walk today, too much going on so I am on my own this morning and am taking advantage of the opportunity to rest and regroup and focus on my spiritual life as well as my life in yoga.

It is my sister Kes’s 70th birthday today!!! Such a marvelous milestone. She didn’t want to go anywhere. She is having a long massage on Monday and we got her an Instant Pot and Melissa Clark’s cookbook for it and one on cooking Indian Food too. Most Honorable will fuss over her and take her out to eat and I am sure her neighbors will also drop by.

I am going down next Saturday to help her celebrate and to play with their robust young cat Henry, who is a bit much for them at times. I wish I could take Diego. I have a feeling they would be a match but with cats you never know.

Actually with anything one never knows.

Enjoying this moment just as it is with the sun coming up on another day of cold hard glare with Diego draped across my legs is fine by me.

There is much to be grateful for even in the midst of difficulty.

Last updated February 10, 2018