Counting? Me? in Everyday Ramblings

Happy Lunar New Year! May your year be auspicious in all the ways.

If you look very carefully at this shot I took up on the Portland State campus this afternoon you will see that those bare branches are coated in snow. We had our first snow overnight after the wind came up and the temperature dropped during the day. It wasn’t sticking in the afternoon so I was able to teach and had five brave hearted students who faced the cold to come to class.

Walking home wasn’t too bad, I could have been dressed a bit warmer, but I listened to Alan Alda talk to four of his cast mates from MASH on his podcast Clear and Vivid through my hearing aids and that made me laugh and the walk was fine. So I felt like a total wimp because earlier in the day I canceled an Audiology appointment up on the hill.

I was afraid getting up there would be treacherous. We don’t have snow equipment, not really, and ice is a perennial issue here. I took one look outside when I got up and was glad I did.

Everybody telecommuted in at work.

My boss and Saint Joe had a meeting this afternoon. I covered for him. Afterwards, Saint Joe sent me an email criticizing something I didn’t catch in a record sent through the system I designed and implemented.

The tone of it had a bit of swagger and it annoyed me royally. Then I started getting emails from both of them about how there has been a change in focus in how tasks are being allocated, so now Saint Joe is going to be taking over some of my tasks after all.

I think I am doing okay with it and then…

Early this morning one of my students called me to tell me that they had been diagnosed with a pretty serious case of a chronic disease. It was profoundly disturbing. I know enough to know that in time that many of the symptoms will become manageable but this is so sad.

So I have spent any free time today focused on that and reading up on how I might be able to help a bit.

And eating everything in sight. It is a good thing we don’t get snow days very often around here.

I am just going to focus on the present moment. Right now I am warm and comfortable and Carlo is hanging out with me. Oh and here is Diego walking all over me in a proprietary way, who must have heard me typing about his brother.

Last night I was talking to one of my students about the birds he was getting at his feeders and we were talking about the Lesser Goldfinches that we are both seeing. He said they are very careful about not calling them Lessers so they don’t get a complex and think that anybody considers that these gorgeous little birds are less in any way just because they are diminutive.

It made me smile. The birds are eating everything in sight too. I am out of millet, plain millet, though I have a mix the juncos like too but the shipment I was expecting last week keeps getting delayed.

Something to do with the polar vortex I am sure.

Only 68 ½ weeks until I retire. Not that I am counting.