One day closer

A bit of an odd day today. Odd few weeks. Am doing all sorts of insanities at work, coupled with planning a rather large party, coupled with my great-aunt in the hospital due to die pretty much any minute now.

So the great-aunt thing. We went to visit her in the hospital this afternoon. She's out of it. Rather comatose, looks nothing like herself, etc. In hospice, for all practical purposes. I forget exactly what they called it at the hospital - palliative care, I guess. Extremely caring, professional nursing staff. Nice room. Which takes nothing away from the fact that she's quite obviously down for the count and the ref is right around 9.

It's not like we were terribly close. I mean, I've known her all my life, of course. My grandmother on that side had 11 brothers and sisters and she's one of the ones I saw the most of. But a great-aunt is different than an aunt. Or a grandmother, for that matter.

Thing is, it's occurred to me that she's the last one of that generation left. Both sides of the fam. She dies, we all move up the conveyor belt one notch.

That's a little unsettling. OK, a lot unsettling.

See, the older I get, the more I understand one of the wisest things a teacher ever said to me. She told me she felt perennially 16, because she taught 16 year olds. That's who she saw all day, every day. Lesson learned, of course, is the old saw about how you're as young as you feel, blah blah blah. Still, wise, really, especially the way she put it.

I feel the same as I've always felt - perennially 16, one could say. That's an exaggeration, but I don't feel like I used to think from a 16 year old perspective that people my age should feel. Aren't I the same person I've always been? I haven't settled down, I haven't - God forbid - settled. I refuse to settle.

But yet, somehow, I've gone up one more notch. Without me quite realizing it, that time, it keeps slipping. How on earth did this happen when I haven't gotten any older? Why do I feel like I have so much left to do and so little time and so little accomplished so far?

As some smart dude once said, "Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour."

Duty

Am attempting to blog more often as one of the things on The List. Every Sunday, minimum. We'll see how that goes. ;)

Just spent entirely too long doing something the long way as the departmental budget won't allow for the most efficient method.*sigh* So I spend quality time at home, slaving away. But, I have a job. I have a job. No mean feat in this current economy.

Oh, but wait. I'm sorry. I'm whining again. I'll just stop that right now and I'm sure the economy will clear right up.

It's drizzling a little. I love that sound. So peaceful.

This is a test, this is only a test

Just trying to see what happens if I type now and try to post later...

Went to the game tonight (Tues). Awesome! Won 9-3, much fun had by all. Crowd was a tad obnoxious towards the opposing team due to the rivalry, so that was fun. Idiot kid jumped on the field. Bet THAT'S going to be a fun phone call home to his parents...

ETA: Yes, it does work! Imagine that... ;)

Kyrie Eleison

Again, I must say, WTH is with people?

So a colleague today basically decided the world revolves around her, and asked me to change my schedule to suit her needs. Now, she does have some extremely legitimate concerns, don't get me wrong. However, as amazing as I might be, I do not have the power to single-handedly change a schedule that affects a good 1600+ other people.

She then, of course, in the time-honored tradition of the many who feel they are an incarnation of Ra (see: Bush, George W.), decided that her best course of action was to threaten to take her ball and go home.

In other words, this was not a productive conversation.

I promised her I'd look at my schedule and see if I could tweak things. I did. Spent a good hour and a half this evening - for which, I might add, I did not get paid as I am not an hourly employee - on the project. No insight struck.

So I have little other choice but to take this to a supervisor, dump the problem in her lap, and hope.

A little flexibility in this life works wonders. One would wish everyone was willing to be flexible. And realize that Copernicus had it all figured out a long time ago.

But I don't have a squirrel in my house like other people I can name. Could be worse. ;)

Rant of the Day

I just got back from Cub. It's 10:30 p.m. There were more small children there than I could conveniently count.

WTH is with people?

101

How sad is that that the Blogger Dashboard changed and I just found out about it?

Current odd bee in the bonnet:
http://triplux.com/dayzero/

I'm not entirely certain how it will go. I've got a draft list set but need to do some revamping. Some things are a little too vague, others not likely attainable in the allotted time. But it gets me off my butt, and that is always a good thing. Have already knocked off one thing, and another is going down Friday for sure. Progress is being made on a couple more all the time. It'll be an interesting journey.

One of the things that struck me is by the time I've finished, I will have completed 15 years in my current career. A milestone, that.

I don't do nearly enough thinking and evaluating. Perhaps this will help change that.