I had a boss who was fired for supposedly colluding with the big boss to destroy data. Both were fired. I’m not sure if what was alleged actually happened but whatever.
The weird thing is that about a week before he was fired, my boss said (completely unprompted, total non sequitur) that he’d built the entire network from scratch and he could break into it if he needed to. Did not understand why he said it.
But right after he got fired, someone remotely hacked into our network, disabled the administrator accounts using our back door credentials, then rebooted the server to clear the logs. And then someone did it again and downloaded some files from the HR system. We were able to get the IP address of the person who connected to the remote access server and I did a geolocate and guess what, it was an address in my boss’s neighborhood.
It was a big thing, FBI got involved, huge drama and my life was “interesting” for a while as I was the main witness to what happened (I discovered the breach and responded to it). A lot of late nights, working with the FBI, a ton of paranoia, more people fired, my PC was confiscated for evidence at one point and I even had to spend a week at the office unable to do my job because my account was suspended (until they came to their senses). Maybe the most stressful time I ever spent at a job.
But nobody was ever charged. And I kept a good relationship with my ex-boss despite everything. It was really weird, lots of conflicting feelings throughout.
Whoa, that is crazy! Fortunately this is nothing that serious.
We did meet for drinks, she has hit the ground running networking and looking for a new job (she knows EVERYONE), we talked mostly about our children and what it’s like to have ADHD. I mean that’s basically what this relationship is going to be. We’re going to meet for childrens’ playdates and tell silly stories about them. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that. So I feel hopeful we can just move on from this.
All that said, I’m in a fucking mood today. I’ve been burning out for a good six months. I don’t know why things have been so much harder. Definitely perimenopause is factoring in here, maybe long COVID, unfortunately I found a way to endure the afternoon fatigue/brain fog that has been plaguing me for two years now, and it is Coke, which is not a great habit. I might have sleep apnea so that’s on the docket to investigate. We’re doing yet another child activity tomorrow (the farm field trip) and then I’m home working with my kid in the house and sometimes life is just too much.
I can’t wait until my kid is old enough for Summer Camp.
I have resumed meditating for three days now, after missing two weeks. Man I tanked during those two weeks. So things are moving toward a more… I don’t know, equanimous direction.
But I still feel like I don’t have my shit together. I wonder if I ever will.
I put one of those transparent “second skin” bandages over my skinned knee to go to work on site at a client’s location. It’s a light surface abrasion but it still decided to be quite oozy. Everything was good until I felt wetness on my knee…I don’t think the bandage popped, but somehow all the gunk oozed out.
Fortunately I had a second bandage and went to replace it, and there’s no blood, but still, not cool.
The simultaneously grossed out and concerned look I got from the project manager was funny, at least.
ETA: I was wearing pants. No one saw the ooze, just a wet spot!
Ugh. If I were you I’d put some hydrogen peroxide on that. It will sting like a mother as it sizzles but is great for killing/preventing infection. Once it dries put some antibiotic ointment then a real bandage (like a nonstick pad and medical tape).
I’ve had skinned/scraped knees that got infected and you don’t want that. It’s amazing how fast it will scab and heal once you get it properly cleaned, disinfected, and protected.
(I learned how to take care of these kinds of injuries from an old girlfriend who was a nurse.)
Yes, I should do that. I ran into the “I’m old and all my work pants are skinny” problem, so the thicker bandages didn’t work for me! There isn’t much of a scab, it isn’t deep, I’m keeping the wound clean. I just thought this bandage type would work for ~4 hours and it really didn’t!
When I fell, I was wearing leggings, so there’s no dirt or gravel that got into the wound. It would have been much worse with shorts! It’s actually looking pretty good, 24 hours later.
IIRC, peroxide is deprecated as a surface antiseptic. It kills more damaged skin than bacteria, setting back the process of healing and inviting local sepsis.
IANAD, and even if I was, I don’t know your specific condition. However, there are prescription ointments that are similar to Polysporin but can be much more effective, if this is still bothering you. For example, the prescription topical antibiotic fusilic acid cream 2% (brand name: Taro-Fusilic Acid). My PCP prescribed it for me recently for some bad abrasions but they healed before I ever got to use it, so just a thought – no actual experience with it. Now I just have it in my medicine cabinet as a “just in case” sort of thing.
He got it in one. Hydrogen peroxide is the wrong thing to use in wounds or on any broken skin, it indeed impedes healing and at the cost of stinging and sharp discomfort. Lose-lose.
Current first aid advice is to clean wounds well with garden variety hand soap and running water, then bandage. Pressure with a clean cloth or gauze if needed to stop bleeding. Deep wounds or punctures consult a doc and confirm your tetanus vax is current.
The various antibiotic creams and ointments are kind of a wash with the most recent thinking. They really don’t do much but they also don’t harm healing tissues. I use the ones with superficial pain relief additives for kids just to make it less ouchy.
So, no hydrogen peroxide, just soap and water and a clean bandage. Confirm your tetanus status. Neosporin et al is fine but not essential either way.
Save the hydrogen peroxide to getting the blood stains out of the knees of your pants-that’s what it’s good for.
Yes, I have some of that ointment and used it with a gauze and tape (I don’t have a sticky bandage big enough, the scrape is a bit bigger than a twoonie and really not deep at all). Those are the only ones I had, labelled for “clean dry” wounds.
The injury is only a day old. There was a little bit of surface blood the first few hours, and I’ve used gauze for that. It seemed dry after my shower and there’s no blood at all, just a reddish patch. So I thought I’d be ok, but I guess it wasn’t as dry as I thought!
I’m back to a bit of ointment and gauze+tape, and it’s fine, just bulkier than what I could wear with my work clothes. I don’t have to go to a client site tomorrow, so I’m good til Tuesday on that front!
The bruising is really starting to show its colours now, too!
My dermo / plastic surgeon recommends OTC triple antibiotic ointment and a band-aid to keep the wound wet & covered until it heals enough to not weep. So 2-3 days. Then simple Vaseline wo any bandage on top to keep it mostly wet until the scabs go away.
He does a lot of facial surgery on rich vain chix so I’m inclined to believe his advice.
3M Tegaderm is magic. Or the drugstore knock-off. 3×4 or 4×6 sheets of thin clear adhesive sheet. Put a gooped up gauze under there over the wound & you’re good to go.
Hôtels have apparently all decided that everyone desperately wants teeny tiny espresso in itty bitty cups in their rooms, and not coffee or tea. I have a travel mug to make tea in (and bring my own leaves, since there’s never any tea bags in the room), and I need to run the machine a dozen times to get enough hot water to fill my ~2 cup mug. It’s incredibly fucking tedious.
And the water from these shitty pod machines is lukewarm at best, so the tea never fully develops flavour.
Agree the espresso coffee makers in hotel rooms sucketh greatly.
My mini rant:
Late last night I was getting up off the chaise lounge on the concrete patio. And fell over sideways, landing on my hip, shoulder, and head. Hip & head are fine, but I must have really wrenched that shoulder. Didn’t feel too bad right away, but an hour later it was hurting a LOT and now the next morning I’m sore but otherwise tolerable as long as my elbow is kept near my ribs & I’m not carrying anything heavier than a coffee cup. Move that elbow very far in any direction though and the shoulder is shouting “Don’t DO That”!
This is the same shoulder I hurt in the gym about 10 years ago. Via a hyperextension that stretched or tore some muscles or ligaments or something.
Just what I needed: a reinjury and probably a couple months of weakness and discomfort.
Other than this, I’ve been very fortunate about avoiding any musculoskeletal problems to date. Don’t want to start down that path. One bad joint can really wreck your quality of life while most of you remains hale & hearty. Uggh.
