Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

The vacation was what we needed. Downtime, lots of reading (finished two books, though not the Grant biography I’ve been “reading” for three years now; I’m up to his run for President). The weather looked like it was going to be rainy the whole time, so a lot of people bailed on the town, but then we had a glorious, sunny Memorial day, so the husband and I got a beautiful day with not as many other tourists in the way.

One of the books was Born to Run 2, the sequel to 2009’s Born to Run, about barefoot running and other crazy people. The sequel bills itself as a training guide. There were a lot of stories mixed in with the training bits, which makes it a little difficult to use, but what is in there is helpful (100 ups!). So when we got back I pulled out my running shoes and got started again, albeit very slowly and very short distances (I did a mile this morning of 2 on/2 off).

Work wasn’t too bad. I’m still catching up on emails, which will probably take me another week or so as I respond to more urgent things that keep popping up. Still learning the new GC’s style, but am actively working with the Deputy GC to manage upwards there (and, frankly, to help the Deputy look good for the new GC).

One of my nieces asked about the new Diablo IV that’s out officially in 3 more days, but which is offering early play for preorders. She and I used to play Diablo III online, so I’m sure she’s looking forward to the new one as well. I know I’m going to dive in eventually, but I’m also in the midst of loving Tears of the Kingdom on the Switch. I’ll probably switch the Xbox One in my office for the PS5 in the living room, since the niece is on a PS5, and that way I can let the husband use the new, enormous TV he bought just before we left town (so far it’s mostly been used for my gaming, and while Link looks great on 85″, it’s kind of a waste of the TV).

The big surprise for the husband for the anniversary was that I got us a fancy washlet for the owners’ suite bathroom. I think I may have created a monster, but frankly, it’s been worth it. So much better than just wiping. I fear we’re going to get spoiled, which is okay, but will make leaving the house that much less attractive.

The out-of-office message is set, and the work laptop is powered down. Out for a little over a week as of this evening, for our annual anniversary trip to the Virginia part of the Eastern Shore.

Other than some family medical messes, and a tinge of slightly-higher-than-we’d-like-to-see blood pressure for me, things have been going fairly well. Playing the heck out of Tears of the Kingdom now, to the point where I took a break from it early this evening to rest my poor hands. I’m going into the office once a week now that Metro’s yellow line bridge is back open. Or at least I am until late July when they’re closing the stations near me for 45 days. I’ve vacillated back and forth on how much to go in, and for now I’m doing the minimum required (2 days in each two week pay period).

Still working on the biscuit recipe from January, though I’ve not posted any new notes yet. It’s getting closer, but still needs tweaks.

I’m determined to finally finish the Grant biography this trip. I started it two years ago on the anniversary trip, plowed through the first half in short order, then just couldn’t get back into a rhythm (it didn’t help that I hit Reconstruction, which I find difficult to read about, given how awful this country treated her newly freed citizens). But I’m going to get it done this year.

I’m supposed to be working, but mostly I’m cleaning out my home office. I have taken care of a few things, so your (US) tax dollars aren’t a complete waste today, but I really felt the need to change up my home office space, get rid of trash and generally declutter it. And hey, I’ve already found an old gift card that still has a balance on it, so go me.

Xmas was a low-key affair, just the two of us. He made a delightful ‘bold and spicy gingerbread cake’, a bundt cake that used three different forms of ginger (dried ground ginger, fresh ground ginger, and ginger ale in the glaze). It turned out really well, and it’s been a nice breakfast most mornings since. I made melting potatoes (potato rounds cooked at high temperatures, and flipped twice to get them browned on both sides), and some other odds and ends. We both made out like bandits from each other, and had some interesting choices from our families (bags of rubber duckies, anyone?).

Most of the gifts have now been moved away from the tree and to their current homes in the house, which is also part of what’s instigating the home office cleaning. Books needed to be rearranged to make room for more.

I finished 99% of the endless scarf I’ve been knitting for the husband. Just need to weave in the ends and block the sucker. I’m not normally one to do a lot of blocking, but this one needs it – it has a tendency to roll inward toward the wrong side, and I’d like it to be able to sit flat when he wears it. So given the length I’ll be laying it out on the kitchen island once our house cleaner is done tomorrow. Next up is trying some brioche, specifically this pattern, once I get in some practice with the method, using the yarn I just finished playing with for the endless scarf.

Hunkered down here in suburban MD as we await freezing temperatures to fly through over the course of the morning and afternoon. Managed to sneak off yesterday afternoon to fill up the car, pick up the last little thing I’d gotten the husband for Xmas, and hit the grocery store to get most of what we needed for the weekend and Xmas day, before today when it’s supposed to get icy (and just maybe a hint of snow in the afternoon), and this weekend when it’s supposed to stay in the 20s and below. Still will need to walk over to the local organic market for some bits and bobs, but don’t need to drive any more, which was what I was going for.

Things have been going okay here. The husband had two work trips, to New Orleans and then to New Zealand. He had fun jumping off things in Auckland (bungie jumping off a bridge, leaping off a building), and generally enjoyed everything other than long the plane ride. He’s still not completely back on east coast time, but he’s getting there. It was odd having him gone for almost two weeks; I think that might be one of the longest times we’ve spent apart since we got married.

Two more sleeps until Xmas. No family around this year because of leave situations (on their end), so it’s just the two of us. Trying to figure out what the husband should bake, and I’m leaning toward a gingerbread bundt cake. We’ll see how he feels about it when he gets up. Melting potatoes are definitely in the plan, and probably some zucchini in the air fryer, plus whatever veggies look tasty over at the organic market.

The cats have gotten incredibly spoiled by new heated cats beds we got them. And much like Susan’s experience, they love the smaller ones (even though Benjamin spills out of it), and won’t use the larger one. And they won’t use each other’s – I tried to move them around when we got the big one, and Ezri took one whiff of the one B had been sleeping in, hissed, and ran away. Ah well. But they definitely appreciate the heat, and it makes it easier for me to find them when I’m looking. I also don’t feel as guilty keeping the thermostat set lower.

Slowly closing out of triathlon related things. My membership in USAT won’t end for another two years, but I’m going to let the local DC Tri Club membership lapse next month. I joined that back in 2004, and it was a great experience, especially coaching the new triathletes, but I haven’t raced in over a decade, I have no plans to race in the near future, and I don’t do anything with the club, so it’s time to say farewell. Adjusted a bunch of social media sites to unfollow the club and triathlon related things, which then lead down a rabbit hole of unfollowing other stuff to trim down the time sucks and give the various companies headaches in trying to figure out what ads to serve me.

Hoping Congress hurries up and finishes up work on the latest mega-bill to fund the government so I can dig into that for work. I have some projects I want to do there that will involve spending some time now to make my life, and the lives of many fellow money law practitioners, easier going forward. Plus I’d also like to take the half day our head of agency gave us off today, but that won’t happen until I know we don’t have to shut down at midnight. At this point in my career I just sort of sigh, shake my head, and move along with my job, as Congress is stuck in this pattern now and there’s nothing I can do to stop it, so I just roll with it.

Tuesday morning the husband and I went and got our second monkeypox vaccine shots. Mine has expanded out nicely in a flat pink splotch that’s bigger around than a golf ball, but not as big around as a baseball; his has barely raised past the immediate dime shaped bit where the needle went in. Lucky dog. At least it isn’t itching too badly, but I learned with the last one to moisturize it when/if it got itchy and that would calm it down. I took Tuesday off work, though I was monitoring email off and on. Other than the light itchy, no real side effects. Then sometime around 4am Wednesday morning I woke up, nauseous and headachey. No fun! And even less fun because I had to drive into the office on Wednesday.

Since C4/LM hadn’t been updated since 2017, I haven’t mentioned that I switched agencies in January of 2020, just before we all got sent home for COVID in March of 2020. Went from the Big Gubm’nt Agency (BGA) to a much Smaller Gubm’nt Agency (SGA), for more pay and without any supervisory duties. Woot! But, their headquarters is waaaaay down toward the end of one of the Metro lines out in the suburbs. Not exactly the 1.25 mile walking commute I had at the BGA. Then the husband and I moved to a townhouse in the MD suburbs in the late summer of 2020, to get more space after working from home on top of one another in my old one bedroom apartment in DC, which is on the same Metro line as my new office and close-ish to his office downtown. However, the Metro is currently horked thanks to construction, and will be until summer of 2023, so I’m unable to Metro to work until then, making driving there the only real option, which can take anywhere from 30-60+ minutes, depending on the time of day.

So, fast forward to yesterday. There was a high-level meeting with the head of the SGA which I unfortunately had to attend. I did take full advantage of our maxi-flex schedule and drove in around 10ish, which meant it only took 30ish minutes to get there. The meeting itself went very, very well; we had prepared for the worst, but really got the best result, so it was worth the face time with the agency head. Unfortunately there was another meeting scheduled after that, at a time that didn’t give me enough time to get home first, so but the time I got out of that the various map apps had my commute home at about an hour. It took a little less than that, but only because it routed my all the way around the DC Beltway, as opposed to running up through the highway that cuts through the east side of DC proper. Less stop and go, which was appreciated since I still drive a manual transmission car.

I get to repeat that for some mandatory fun with my office mid-day on the 1st, but I’m scheduling my day such that I can get out of there soon after and avoid the rush hour nonsense. I wouldn’t mind Metro’ing down, but driving is for the birds. And even after I’m able to go back my plan is to spend the minimum amount of time I have to in the office (two days every two weeks, which I’m scheduling on Mondays) to meet the HR requirements. Fewer people commute in on Mondays, and since I’ve avoided Covid by avoiding people, I’d like to minimize my risk there. Cynically, there are also more Monday holidays, so I’ll get more random days off from commuting that way. But I expect that eventually there will be more call-backs for in-person meetings like the one I had yesterday, though even before the pandemic my new SGA was very big on and good about telecommuting and hybrid meetings.

Literally. The husband took off for the day to hang out with friends, and had made some noises about how “crowded” he felt the main level was getting, so I dug into a few things down there to straighten them up before he had a chance to put things “away” in places I’d never find them later.

Then I culled T-shirts and other clothes in our dressers. Removed each drawer and tightened the screws on the rails. Moved on to my office, tossing papers that we no longer need, like old bills that we needed to prove residency when we first moved in, and filing away tax stuff. Found the cats’ file just in time for their next vet appointment in two weeks. Between the stuff I couldn’t donate from the bedroom, and the papers from the office I filled a small garbage bag.

Did other things in between, like eat, and do my daily run at Animal Crossing, but mostly I’ve been organizing and cleaning all day. The dust hasn’t been fun, but making sure the drawers in the bedroom can open without jamming, either from being overstuffed with clothes or loose rails, was worth it.

Other than that life has been busy at work for both of us. After two days of gross we’ve both recovered well from the vaccinations, though I still have a fairly prominent red spot from the monkeypox shot. The husband got a new tattoo from an old tattooer. We discovered the guy who did most of his left arm has a studio within walking distance of our townhouse. I’ve given him an idea for another one for myself as well, and we’ll see what he comes back with, design-wise.

The husband and I finally got appointments for this morning for the monkeypox vaccine here in PG County, a process that should have been done and over with months ago, but a lack of vaccines and a screwed up scheduling system meant long delays. But, fast forward to this morning and I drove us over to a local county health center for it. While we were there they offered to give us both the seasonal flu vaccine and the latest, updated Covid booster, so we figured why the heck not. Finished up, drove the husband to the Metro so he could go to work, then headed home.

A couple hours later and I’m slightly nauseous in the way that the flu shot often does, and perhaps a little body sore, but the poor husband is definitely feeling it worse, so he grabbed a cheap uber home. I made him some lunch and he’s crashing on the couch in front of some fluffy TV. No itching on the MPX shot site for me. I did go ahead and take the rest of the day off – I had originally taken just the morning, but with the three-fer-one deal we got I decided lawyering while vaccinated was a bad idea.

Our power went out for a little while yesterday afternoon, and it apparently got a good distance around us, because my dental office was also hit. Had an ‘every-six-months’ appointment this morning, and they were still having problems getting into the computers. Thankfully all I needed or wanted was a cleaning, and that didn’t require a computer. All good on that front, and I’ll call them next week to schedule the next appointment and deal with billing.

I was a little worried I was going to have to go into the office today, because the power cord on my work laptop didn’t seem to be charging it after the power outage. I was all set to try a couple different things and then make the drive in, but after sitting powered down all night it was drawing power just fine this morning, post-dentist. Thank heavens. The Metro is current closed down at the office, so it would’ve meant a drive one way or another.

In the meantime, it’s Apple systems update day, so I’ve been updating all of my devices, and getting the husband’s computers for good measure while he’s at work. Much easier to do during the day at home than waiting until everyone is trying to do it when they get home from work.

Switching between the medications for reflux ain’t all that fun. My body seems to want about a two week adjustment period before it evens out. Given that I’m in the third adjustment period (prescription samples, over-the-counter, now back to the prescription), it seems to be a regular thing. The first week has some unintended side effects (consistent across the three), and then it all kicks in at two weeks. Given that I’m in the middle of week one, life in ye olde gut is interesting.

At work, before we went on vacation I cleaned a large part of my office. My desk is clear for the first time in years (no piles of files/paper/books), and a good chunk of the bookshelf got cleared out and organized. The credenza behind me has the books I use most, and no more excess paper. It’s been illuminating, both in terms of my own work processes, and in terms of the reactions from my office. Everyone has commented on it. I’m loving having space to spread a project out to work on it, then put it all away when it’s done or I have to switch gears. Only drawback to date is there’s no place to hide something easily if someone comes in and they don’t need to see what I was working on (no files to flip over the paper, etc.). But I’ll take the calmer work environment.

That combined with the lack of caffeine (and hence the lack of energy spikes and lows) has, I think, meant a more even-keeled Moose at work. Gut issues aside. I had forgotten about how early I need to get to bed when not depending on a steady caffeine source during the day. Probably better on the whole, but it’s another adjustment.

Training is interesting. I’m trying more things like hill work, tempo runs, etc. this time around. Still too early to tell the effect, but I am looking forward to workouts more when they have more of a purpose, and more of a structure. Still need to lay out strength training in a more organized fashion, but I know where I’m going with that.

We’re headed off to see the boy’s family in another week, and in anticipation of the drive up, and to take care of the check engine light that popped on just before vacation, I dropped the Mini off at the shop to get it all adjusted. A couple thousand later it drove more smoothly on the way home after I picked it up this afternoon. Not exactly what I wanted to drop that amount of money on, but it’s worth keeping the car going. After driving the newer model loner car, I have to say I’m happy with my 12 year old car, so I’m glad I can keep it running well.

Doing laundry is so much easier when the load is cut in half. Without the boy here there was a decided lack of stuff to clean, nonetheless, it’s done.

Today at work was a full day of “I can and should pass this work along to someone else and they can do it because I’m a manager now and that’s what I’m supposed to be doing.” And then there was the flip side of that, actually reviewing their work, giving feedback, and passing things back up and down the chain. And a lot of cleaning out old emails, mostly in the “this has been taken care of but I forgot to file it away” category. I am still somewhat annoyed that there isn’t more training for managers, or at the least some good recommendations for things to read. And not just the latest trendy bestseller but things that might actually be useful. I got the basic stuff, and there are classes about particular processes, but less than would be satisfying. So I stumble through, hopefully doing more good than not. Yay management.

Missing the boy muchly. We talk nightly, but it’s not the same as having him here.