Wednesday is a day.

missJeanLouise

What's up WW? I have a minute so thought I would kick thing off.

missJeanLouise

Yesterday I did all the grocery shopping for DS's birthday party so I could get a head start preparing things today and tomorrow. 

Today DS woke up from his nap crying and with a fever, again. 🤦 So I postponed his party, waiting to hear from everyone when the next good weekend will be. But what do I with all this produce, lol. Luckily there isn't too much but little of it will last until when the party actually happens. Now I am just trying to get DS a doctor's appointment and we'll take him for a covid test just to rule it out.

And today is his actual birthday, poor guy.

climbingsingle

For the second day in a row, I woke up at 5:30am and did a Peleton ride. Super proud of myself, since I've been extremely lazy since March 2020. 

SSDD. Just ready for Friday already. 

MyNameIsNot

SSDD here. H has a departmental meeting where they are supposed to learn their plans for return to the office. Officially his company is going back Monday, but no one knows what that means except that you're fired if you don't upload your vaccine by Friday. If he's going back, we'll probably start the car buying process, blerg.

Also ready for Friday.

MissKittyDanger

So over weekend I got diagnosed with sinus infection (phone appt) - not contagious and I have spray to help - but idk. My throat feels off.
Clinic below my work has rapid tests, so I've opted to do rapid test to try and see dr in person {ish} Downside, they're virtual but at least there's a nurse to do a strep test or something.

I honestly think I have strep. We'll see. Maybe it is just my throat irritated because of sinus infection/nasal drip?

Otherwise nada.

CharmedPam

Oh no, poor boy missJeanLouise
i’m proud for you @climbingsingle.  Keep at it!
@MyNameIsNot, wow, how much time did people have notice for vaccine?

I was extremely busy yeaterday but today seems normal.  I did read the posts though, just to tired to comment.  Monday night an organizer for a meet up group I’m in asked if I wanted to go with her and her bf (I’m assuming he was… could have been just a friend but he seemed really friendly) so we did.  We got a discounted price at $20 each (being a Monday) vs $30. It really was so short. i felt it wasn’t worth $30 when other $30 houses take 45 minutes or so.  But then again, everything has gone up in price so maybe those $30 houses in 2019 are $40 now.  I’ll find out on the 23rd when I go. 

VarunaTT

Apparently the attorney I spoke with yesterday was planning to start an all out war over this with me, pulling in everyone in the office.  Another colleague talked him down, saying "Varuna will not back down from this if she's already specifically come personally to you about it, and if you go to war with her over this, you will not like how it finishes."  Colleague is absolutely right.  I'm already on the fence about this place, if someone starts trying to come after me b/c of being called out about disrespectful and unprofessional behavior, I'll leave, if I'm not fired.  And this place can't afford either of those 2 options, since we are short staffed already and losing long time staff rapidly (we've had 2 senior paralegals leave in the last month, one with 20 years of experience, one with 7 years).  We'll see how it continues to shake out.

I have bought a smart watch.  I'm trying really hard to work out every day, with a break day on the weekend at my choosing.  But the apps don't necessarily track anything with yoga and the HIIT I'm doing, just the rowing.  Plus, I'm calorie counting again, just to hold myself accountable with food choices more than anything.  And I want to track my sleep to find some patterns I'm suspecting.  Also better reminders for taking meds and appointments.  I'm hoping the smart watch helps with all of this.  IDK though, I have a push/pull use of technology and this feels pretty invasive.  I have 21 days to decide if I want to keep it or not.

So, I finally have my "bifocal" contact set today and it's a trip.  Left eye is stronger for short distances, right eye is stronger for far distances.  Right now, the computer is really hard to read very well as my eyeballs fight for dominance and my brain is like, WTF?!?!  Should only take a few days, but this is kinda rough.

Otherwise, SSDD at work and home.  I had set up going to a friend's place most Wednesdays for dinner and visiting, but we had kinda fallen out of the pattern when I got the 2nd job.  So, I texted him tonight to see if I could come over.  He's a long time dear friend and I hope he says yes, he always makes me feel better.

STARMOON44

VarunaTT said:

Apparently the attorney I spoke with yesterday was planning to start an all out war over this with me, pulling in everyone in the office.  Another colleague talked him down, saying "Varuna will not back down from this if she's already specifically come personally to you about it, and if you go to war with her over this, you will not like how it finishes."  Colleague is absolutely right.  I'm already on the fence about this place, if someone starts trying to come after me b/c of being called out about disrespectful and unprofessional behavior, I'll leave, if I'm not fired.  And this place can't afford either of those 2 options, since we are short staffed already and losing long time staff rapidly (we've had 2 senior paralegals leave in the last month, one with 20 years of experience, one with 7 years).  We'll see how it continues to shake out.

I have bought a smart watch.  I'm trying really hard to work out every day, with a break day on the weekend at my choosing.  But the apps don't necessarily track anything with yoga and the HIIT I'm doing, just the rowing.  Plus, I'm calorie counting again, just to hold myself accountable with food choices more than anything.  And I want to track my sleep to find some patterns I'm suspecting.  Also better reminders for taking meds and appointments.  I'm hoping the smart watch helps with all of this.  IDK though, I have a push/pull use of technology and this feels pretty invasive.  I have 21 days to decide if I want to keep it or not.

So, I finally have my "bifocal" contact set today and it's a trip.  Left eye is stronger for short distances, right eye is stronger for far distances.  Right now, the computer is really hard to read very well as my eyeballs fight for dominance and my brain is like, WTF?!?!  Should only take a few days, but this is kinda rough.

Otherwise, SSDD at work and home.  I had set up going to a friend's place most Wednesdays for dinner and visiting, but we had kinda fallen out of the pattern when I got the 2nd job.  So, I texted him tonight to see if I could come over.  He's a long time dear friend and I hope he says yes, he always makes me feel better.

What’s the downside of a gentle job search? You clearly hate your current job, May as well see if there is anything better out there?

ei34

Aw, hope birthday boy DS feels better soon @missJeanLouise
feel better soon @MissKittyDanger
Hope the dinner plans work out @VarunaTT
My kids' pediatrician office offers flu shot clinics this time of year but they're only announced via text. Then you call the office to get a spot, but it's first come first served.  I keep missing the texts bc my phone is in my bag, and by the time I have a break and call they're full.  There's one today that closed but the receptionist said to try and see if there are any cancellations day of.  So as soon as I can make a call I'm going to try and get the kids in.  Their ped only does flu shot clinics, you can't make an appt on your own time unfortunately, and I really want them done by the ped office this year.  If this was a different year I'd just take them to CVS (pharmacy) but with the Covid vaccine coming soon I'd like for their pediatrician to have the dates of everything in one place.  So fingers crossed..

ILoveBeachMusic

Hope DS feels better soon @missJeanLouise! I agree @VarunaTT looking for a new job might be what you need right now.

Not much going on here. I'm buckling down to get GS3's Christmas stocking finished (cross stitching). It isn't like I haven't had over a year to do it LOL! I'm back to my personal training this week after being off last week on vacation. Why oh why does it only take a few days for muscles to forget how to train? H and I are going back to our ballroom dance lessons tonight for the first time since pre-pandemic. I'm sure we both have two left feet!

banana468

ei34 said:

Aw, hope birthday boy DS feels better soon @missJeanLouise
feel better soon @MissKittyDanger
Hope the dinner plans work out @VarunaTT
My kids' pediatrician office offers flu shot clinics this time of year but they're only announced via text. Then you call the office to get a spot, but it's first come first served.  I keep missing the texts bc my phone is in my bag, and by the time I have a break and call they're full.  There's one today that closed but the receptionist said to try and see if there are any cancellations day of.  So as soon as I can make a call I'm going to try and get the kids in.  Their ped only does flu shot clinics, you can't make an appt on your own time unfortunately, and I really want them done by the ped office this year.  If this was a different year I'd just take them to CVS (pharmacy) but with the Covid vaccine coming soon I'd like for their pediatrician to have the dates of everything in one place.  So fingers crossed..

That's annoying how they do it! 

Our kids will have their flu shots on the 22nd at night.  They will only do shots in their clinics OR if you have a standing well-child visit during flu shot season you could get lucky if they still have the doses.  

My elbow  hurts.  Sleeping last night involved waking up to reposition repeatedly but my Fitbit tells me I got a decent amount of rest.  I'm not working out until Friday at the earliest so I scored an extra 30 minutes of rest.  

short+sassy

@MissKittyDanger, I hope you start feeling better and @missJeanLouise, I hope your son starts feeling better.  Happy birthday to him!

@climbingsingle, I think I've been extremely lazy since March 1998, lol.  Congrats on the motivation, hard work, and early mornings!

@VarunaTT, hopefully that attorney listens to your colleague.  He needs to speed up to current times.  I feel like 2021 has become the Year of the Worker.  Treat employees poorly...and it's not always pay...and they leave.

One of my coworkers was a victim of Southwest's mass flight cancellations.  She was on vacation in Nashville last week and was supposed to fly home on Saturday.  Her flight was cancelled.  Her and her H made it to the Houston airport (Southwest's hub) at 1AM on Monday.  Checked into a hotel.  Got a little sleep.  Rented a car yesterday and they DROVE 6 hours back to their house!   Ugh!  I would have been so PO'ed also.  Plus, they were supposed to be back to their respective jobs on Monday, so now they both had to take two extra days of vacation.

My H and I were just talking about that last night.  We flew Southwest for our NYC trip that was less than a month ago.  They changed our flights twice.  The second time was only 10 days out from our trip.  But at least we didn't have the huge nightmare of there not being other SW flights to pick.  That was a close one!  

Today has been a good day.  I found out my H and I were approved for $568 in disaster SNAP benefits, aka food stamps.  Such a blessing and I'm so grateful for the help!  It's not often I can laud government agencies, especially ones related to social services, but SNAP is fantastic.  On the regular, they provide people...especially families with kids...food.  I know there are people out there who are anti all social services.  But food?  Come on.  They also step in when disasters happen and give one-time help to people affected in the area.  I've heard there are still income requirements even for D-SNAP, but I have no idea what they are because they oddly aren't listed anywhere.  Hence, I wasn't totally sure if I qualified and was glad to get the news.  As an aside, regular recipients of SNAP weren't eligible for the D-SNAP, but they were allotted 50% more than what they usually receive for one month.

I've also been productive today and checked a few other important things off my to-do list.

VarunaTT

I am planning on updating my resume this weekend and shooting it out.  Our big time rival is looking for a paralegal and he LOVES ganking people from this place.  I'm pretty sure I could get a bump in salary too and since I have no loyalty left anymore, moving in June would still then be a possibility.  



ETA:  I found out he did go to my 2 colleagues who I told him to apologize to.  He did not apologize; he asked them to confirm what I said.  Which they both did, telling him they were embarrassed and one of them said, "You made me feel like shit."  That one is my partner in this project and she's already looking.  My other good work friend already has an offer, but is waiting for a background check before accepting.  So, the "pros" of this place are rapidly declining.

MyNameIsNot

CharmedPam said:

Oh no, poor boy missJeanLouise
i’m proud for you @climbingsingle.  Keep at it!
MyNameIsNot, wow, how much time did people have notice for vaccine?

A lot. They announced it way back in like July, when everyone thought we'd be returning to offices in September. They've also been really proactive about sending reminders and info. 

Interesting story about that one. My mom works at the same company and has a few coworkers who are anti-vaxxers. Of course they kicked and screamed, but one finally decided a few weeks ago that she was going to relent and get it for both herself and her high risk husband. Except before they got around to it, they both got covid. Now her husband is in the ICU. You just can't save people from themselves. 

charlotte989875

It’s been a day. I’m tired and stressed. We’re working out a transition date and my new salary hasn’t been updated yet in our system even though I was assured it would be. I know I shouldn’t have expected people to be happy about this but it all feels tense and uncomfortable with my manager now. Ugh I wish it were Friday. 

kvruns

@CharmedPam I'm looking at a local community magazine and saw an article about a local broadcast show called ParanormalCrossroad.com  Not sure if it is viewable online or only local broadcast.  Interestingly one of the stars/hosts is a local radio personality and I bought my first house from her back in my 20s. I remember listening to their station wondering if I'd hear anything about her selling or the process but never did

kvruns

@charlotte989875 how soon will the transition hopefully happen? 

charlotte989875

kvruns said:

@charlotte989875 how soon will the transition hopefully happen? 

Hoping for the end of the month. I told them last Friday that I’d accepted the offer to go to the other group so that will be roughly 3 weeks 

CharmedPam

Hope the search works out for you @VarunaTT.  Would be ironic if all 3 of you quit at the same time!
@kvruns, the house you bought had the host as a previous owner? Did you suspect your house was?
@MyNameIsNot oh, ok. They had plenty ‘o time. I heard the city of Chicago employees who aren’t vaxxed will have to pay for their bi-weekly testing themselves! So that should make them want to get vaccinated.  That’ll hit their bank accounts hard. 

VarunaTT

I think what bothers me most is that I don't hate my job itself.  I love doing what I do most days (everyone has off days) and I'm good at it.  It's the atmosphere around here that has become more and more toxic since the new HR person came on.

kerbohl

I never have time to post until later in the day ... short week with Thanksgiving, already looking forward to the weekend.  I might take Friday off and make it a very, VERY short week.  I still have all this overtime saved up, and I should use it.  

My bunny got the equivalent of a black eye on Monday.  I kept an extra close eye (lol) on him, but it is getting better now.  Seems he and his son still like to fight - they are separated but they snuck in to have a quick tussle when I wasn't paying attention.

kvruns

@CharmedPam the radio DJ did own my old house; now she is doing the tv program too (guessing still on the radio but I don't know). Just one of those small world connections

short+sassy

VarunaTT said:

I think what bothers me most is that I don't hate my job itself.  I love doing what I do most days (everyone has off days) and I'm good at it.  It's the atmosphere around here that has become more and more toxic since the new HR person came on.

SIB:

That's such a shame and can be so frustrating!  But I've been there.  Sometimes it's just 1 or 2 things, but those 1 or 2 things are major enough it makes an otherwise great job so hateful.

Now I'm feeling wistful.  I LOVED the job I had as a gas station/convenience store asst. manager.  My monthly bonus was 2.5% of the gross sales for in-store items (excluding lottery).  To an extent, the better I did my job, the more money I made.  I've never had a job where I could so measurably see my efforts pay off in the betterment of my employees, the happiness of my customers...and for the selfish part...the money in my paycheck.  I was so busy, my day would just fly by, but it was a good busy.  I was laughing and smiling with people all day and I was really good at what I did.  I was the opening team for that store and, by our second month, we were second in sales in Louisiana.  

But the ugly side was very ugly.  The work-life balance was awful.  10-12 hour days.  And I finally had to quit over one thing.  That initially didn't sound like it was such a big deal.  But OMG it turned into one.  One day a week I worked second shift.  The second day of my week.  All my other shifts I worked 1st shift.  So from my second day to my third day each week, I only had about 3-5 hours of sleep.  Every week it was like my whole personality would change into this irritable and angry monster, until I had my day off again.  Rinse and repeat.

I miss that job sometimes.  Especially now that I'm an unimportant cog in a giant machine in a boring role that has no challenges, which is just the opposite of what that job was like.  I also made more money at that other job, though not if you broke it down by hour, lol.  Not even close by that measure.  Definitely better off where I am now.  Just miss the hustle bustle and feeling like what I did mattered.

Sorry, @VarunaTT, I didn't mean to make that about me.  But I'm assuming that, if you do find another job, it would probably be pretty similar to what you are currently doing?  So, hopefully the job part itself.  The part you like.  Would be the largely the same?  Just hopefully without as many AHs, lol.    

VarunaTT

I had a very good conversation last night where someone asked me very much the same thing.

Long timers here will remember my battles with Diva, another attorney from my last law firm.  Law firm culture....it doesn't have to be toxic overall, but there are 2 things that seem to be a constant "bad" thing:  HR sucks, it's simply a measure of how bad it sucks from 1-10 and there's always at least one attorney (gender doesn't matter) that is a goddamn bully/narcissist.  After living through Diva and I think, sheer maturity, I refuse to be bullied about anything professionally.  I'll take accountability, education, and even discipline as long as I think it's fair, but you're not going to throw me under the bus or bully me about a damn thing.

I've been quite happy here, but it's because I kept myself under the radar and just did my job.  I've had great evaluations, happy attorneys, and happy clients for the last 4 years.  It started b/c we got this new HR person that I was very hopeful would actually be good for the firm and take care of some of the issues that were here that were annoying, but I dealt with them.  I stuck my neck out and offered to create training.  Then where the mess started, about a year ago  Our managing paralegal was fired.  I lost the training position; they elevated someone else to training and this someone else (D) and I were to split the responsibilities of managing paralegal.  Only "upper" management (HR and CFO) interfere with D and me all the time: doing the opposite of our professional evaluations and recommendations, refusing to involve us in decisions affecting paralegals, they don't know what a paralegal does or how they do it but want to boss us around on how to do our jobs, interfere in processes D and I create, just loads of other things.  This upper management is also making ALL of the paralegals unhappy with other BS they've pulled.  Add to it that the main boss attorney really only cares about money and marketing and the money is way down for a multitude of reasons, and it's creating a helluva mess.

THEN, this mess between this attorney (who I do not work directly for at this point in time) and I started.  He's trying to place nice and placate me now and it's all just so gross and disrespectful and misogynistic and manipulative.  I'm glad we don't have to mask, b/c RBF has been quite effective in making him leave me alone.