Why, God? WHY????

WTF?

Our department head told me that this means "What's That For??" (a phrase heard occasionally in my home when growing up. The proper parent answer, especially if the swat was a mistake, victim-wise: In Case!)? But I digress.

Okay, God. You finally give me a break, a vacation in the midst of chaos at the paper. The likelihood is very high indeed that I will be laid off when I return. It's happened before to me... But I digress again.

Anyway, finally get a vacation. It's taken four days to wind down enough not to be sick over the troubles at the paper. Bought a twelve pack on Saturday. I allow myself no more than two beers a day. Will last all vacation, because I won't drink when I'm traveling, or more spedifically, driving. And chores, or building projects must be at least 2/3 done before indulging.*

VeggiGirl stopped by to do laundry and catch up with us. We split two beers between us. Two freaking beers. Long necks to be sure, but we are still talking a total of 12oz (35ml) of Miller High Life, my favorite, going down the pipes.

Result? Full blown allergies this morning, with asthma, sneezing, phlegm down the back of my throat, and of course, the irritable allergic innards cramps.

And might I add, the hangover. A HANGOVER from one beer. Dry mouth, sick stomach and tiny headache, sweats, the works.

Guess I'll never go to Oktoberfest in Germany or Busch Gardens. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

pb
Little Pond

*Drinking while on a building project:

1st beer: This job's a piece of cake. Could do it blindfolded.
2nd beer: Taking longer than I thought. Maybe I should let it go until later.
3rd beer: Project? What project?

Adjust dosage for body type and tolerance.

Weird Work Week

Finally Friday. Thought it would never arrive. Looking forward to a very hard, very long day.

At this point the new hours are settling in, just in time to change them back to normal. Getting about 7 hours sleep a day, although last night I was exhausted enough to sleep 9.

Tiredness is on my face. I know because everyone says so. Also, my emotions are all screwed up. My younger daughter is having money troubles at the bank, with overdraughts, etc. Made me cry yesterday over it. On top of that, paranoia is the word of the day. Is my tiredness making me grumpy enough to get me into trouble with the bosses? Are they all talking about me behind closed doors? Are coworkers complaining about me? Do I look like I'm sleeping at the computer?

Or even worse: Am I really doing a bang-up job and they'll want me to work these hours permanently? Good Grief!!!

Today I decided not to do any housework before going to work. I thought it would feel sort of like a morning off, but it's not. Am barely holding my head erect, and whilst looking down, I can see all the dirt that needs cleaning.

And I miss the HuggaMutt and the Chemung River and grocery shopping with my firstborn, and...

Whoops. Crying again.

wuss
Little Pond

Over the Hump Day

In one of the worst weeks of my tenure at the paper.

Working both day and night allows me to enjoy the headaches from both shifts. I hate it.

Advertising and Production had always had a sort of adversarial relationship, and to be caught in the middle is miserable. My allegiance must be to the job at hand, but then I still must face the night boss when he comes in. I hate it.

Our computers are tied into the local production network, and it is awful to watch things clog up and slow down, just when I really need to find enough closure to go home. Half hour of overtime last night, one hour tonight. I dread tomorrow night, when I will probably not get home by midnight. I hate it.

Two nights left, but likely the worst of the week. I hate it.

But next week is my week off.

Love it.

pb
Little Pond

Now for something completely different

The real exodus has begun. Our ad designers are rebelling against having to supply/instruct the India outsource people, and are leaving. Ad Graphics now has a total of three people working, with one still out on family leave. One remainder is actively looking for work elsewhere and the other is a good worker who is battling cancer.

Evening crew is down to two. Our weekend person just gave notice, which should turn my world upside down again. I really need a vacation, but I am scheduled to work days next week to replace the layout person who goes on vacation. Also passively looking for work elsewhere.

Funny how I wanted to go on days forever, and the only way I can do it is to work someone else's shift, and return to nights afterward. Feels like an exacerbation coming...

Oh, and new person on sidebar: Welcome Stephen of One Life (2 Buddhas). I really miss Cathy of arthritis rants and raves, then cathy's rants and raves, but I don't seem able to reconnect. She was a good friend when I needed one, and I honestly can't seem to find her anymore. Am I just being dumb? Is this some sort of cyber-mental block?

pb
Little Pond

pb the Highbrow?

Been tagged by Mark of White Lightning. As you know, I'm not very good with memes, and sort of do my own thing with them.

Visit White Lightning for the proper meme. Since I am especially interested in names (got a real thing about them):

My Dad told me it meant a really fine lady, but it actually points to an aristocrat. A patrician.

I'm tagging the two lovebirds out in Arizona: Karen of Scottsdale and Norm of Radio.

Sorry, Mark, I am twice shy about copying code into my site...

pb of Little Pond

Finally!!!

We are done with all the weddings and I can relax and take stock.

We are definitely poorer. Essentially a year of either prepping or attending weddings is over. I would set the costs at over ten grand, some of which came from a 401K loan and the rest from credit cards.

I don't want to think about it so much, because it will kill me. Debt makes me nervous.

On the upside, the drop in weight, mostly intentional, makes me feel better. Less stuff to haul up the stairs. Now some healthier habits. Less alcohol, more exercise (at least until the sidewalks ice over again) and -- gasp!! -- less time in front of the TV playing videos.

Also my new neuro seems to be very much on top of the drug situation. In fact, I have to rein him in, get him used to the idea that this MSer works for a living. Otherwise I could spend the rest of my working days in a Baclofen haze.

Believe it or not, that sounds lovely. Counting down to Hell Week when I am temporarily put on days to do one of my least favorite jobs at the paper: dummying layouts and dealing with our advertising representatives. Many of whom could be stuffed into a room together and wouldn't come up with a 60 IQ amongst them.

More on that to come, no doubt.

pb
Little Pond