Extra, Extra (day of) Rants all about it (Feb mini-rants)

The BBQ Pit
81

Aaaand back to administrative hell. I just found out we haven’t been drawing down on a federal grant in over a year because our fiscal partner never invoiced us, so imagine my surprise when our finance person said they couldn’t get into the system because they hadn’t been assigned to the grant yet. Nobody here can access the system because the person in charge of the system is long gone. I already went through this shit with one of the other systems for this same grant. And to sign up for an account they need your driver’s license, a selfie, your social and a fucking video call to verify your Identity.

Fuck long COVID, too, I’ve been trying so hard to take care of myself, exercise, meditation, nutrition, and I still feel like I’ve been hit by a truck by the end of the day.

82

I am so sick of being sick.
Two weeks ago, I felt the first hints of a typical cold. Stuffed up head and nose, sinus headache. I guess I should have known better than to go to maskless to the mall the previous weekend, followed by a maskless dinner at a very popular and crowded mall parking lot restaurant.

But it really seemed fairly mild at first, in a few days it moved to my chest and my only symptom was a cough, it sounded horrible but it was loose and productive. Monday it seemed to be improving. I decided I could keep my Wednesday doctor’s appointment- it was a new patient appointment with a carefully selected primary physician and I had to wait five months, so I really didn’t want to cancel.
I continued to improve, but Doctor Appointment Wednesday came and I was feeling worse, not better.

I took some daytime cold medicine and Sudafed (the real stuff, not the stuff that doesn’t work) went to the doctor - masked- and told her I was recovering from a cold. She did full bloodwork and took a lung x-ray checking for pneumonia and everything was fine. So I got a clean bill of health a week ago.

Then when I got home from the doctor, my brother (we share a house) told me he had a fever, and I was feeling worse. The next day I had a fever - nothing crazy, about 100F and a nasty cough. And it persisted the next day. And the next. And the next. And every goddamn day since.

Just a low grade fever and a deep cough, not particularly painful- which is really set off by attempting to engage in any sort of activity. So I’ve remained really sedentary. My brother is experiencing the exact same thing. It’s not getting worse but if it’s getting better, it’s happening at a glacial pace.

But the worst part is the brain fog. I’ve never had it like this, it’s weird. I’ve lost my circadian rhythms - my sleep schedule is weird and random, I’m spaced out and my healthy life of two freaking weeks ago seems like a distant memory.

It’s not not Covid, I’ve tested several times. I seem to have spent most of each of the past two winters sick, and it’s never Covid. To my knowledge, I’ve never had Covid.

I just had to rant, I hope I get better soon.

83

ID.ME, right?

84

Dear cat. I love you. I like it when you knead my chest when I am stroking you. I know it is a sign that you love me.

Just, please, keep your claws in. Please.

My chest is covered with little puncture wounds.

85

I was walking with the dogs when I had a scare. Along an edge of a meadow, out of nowhere there appeared our neighbor’s 80 year old wife, in pajama pants, slippers, and a t-shirt. She has some form of dementia and was 300 yards or so from her house.

She knelt down and began talking to my dog Loki, calling her Betsy (her dog that died 10 years ago) so I left her and Loki and went to her house.

When I told her husband that she was back behind the meadow, he disagreed, sure that she was watching tv. So he confirmed she was t in the house and we went to retrieve her.

He texted me later, thanking me. He said either he forgot to lock a door, or else she learned to pick locks with a bobbie pin.

86

Aww, good job you and Loki!

87

You got it!

88

Maybe when she was watching TV it was an episode of Murder She Wrote and showed her how to pick a lock.

They’re both very lucky you were in the right place at the right time.

89

He had locks on all exterior doors re-keyed so that one key works for all, and he wears that key on a string around his neck. This weekend my gf is going to hang out at their house while he goes grocery shopping.

90

I had a LOT of dealings with ID dot ME a couple summers back. Well, not directly with them, but with clients who were very frustrated at the whole process. This was when I was temporarily doing phone support for a COVID unemployment insurance program, and everyone had to prove their identity because there had been so much fraud.

Their tech support was essentially nonexistent. And the population using (or trying to use) the service was often very, very technically unsavvy. I remember talking several people through how to allow the browser to use their camera. The service was nominally much faster than the state’s own in-house ID-verification, and it may well have been so, on average, as naturally I only spoke with people who were having problems.

There are a LOT of privacy concerns over the company’s use of information. I don’t think any hacks have been reported… yet.

I personally had to deal with them recently - my SSA dot GOV account required me to set that up, despite having had my account for years (previously, new accounts had to use the service while old ones could use existing credentials). It went reasonably smoothly. No video call, though I did have to take a selfie. I think I was able to use my license and passport card as identification, maybe my SS card as well.

One cautionary tale I took from that whole experience is to make sure you always have your SS card and a birth certificate on hand and someplace safe. Many of the people I spoke with had neither - and both were typically required for that process. So they were stuck, until such time as they could get new copies of each… and this was during COVID, when everything would take weeks or months to replace.

91

I think facebook had a stroke.
Background info. Types of groups I have joined.
3D printing, arcade and pinball repair, woodworking and wood workshops, machining.
Basically all engineering/technical type subjects.
What groups has FB suggested to me today?
Furrydom, Fursuits, and Furrysomething or other…
While I do have my kinks, furry isn’t one of them. I also don’t care if it’s one of yours. Not my business.

92

Maybe you left yourself logged in and somebody pulled a Hal Briston on you?

93

…or the A.I. couldn’t comprehend his beard?
( trim that Musk Rat, will ya…?)

94

Today started ok. I got to work on time despite an accident causing a detour. I was productive at work and felt good about things. Then my boss’s boss called me into his office and the HR manager was there and they told me to close the door. You can see where this is going. I got fired today. I don’t agree with the reason but I understand. Essentially, I was the project manager for a project that didn’t go well due to things outside my control and, well, I was responsible so I got fired for it. Our finances are not good so I’m really in panic mode right now.

95

I am so sorry. That’s not a mini rant at all.

96

Oh, man. That well and truly sucks.
Sending good thoughts your way.

97

Do you want to know the worst part? The worst part was that my boss wasn’t even in today. She wasn’t in to tell me herself. I don’t know if she purposely didn’t come in today or what. Maybe she was trying to change things. I don’t know. I’ll never know. Because I got fired effective today.

Well, my resume is all up to date now. Time to start applying to jobs. Anyone need a capital project manager?

98

Weaksauce.

Good luck with the job hunt!

99

Jeez, I’m really sorry. It seems they would recognize that what happened was out of your control. You would hope. I know you’ve posted about work stress in the past. I hope you find something better.

100

Thanks, everyone. You would think but I think they needed someone to take the fall after losing as much money as they did. It was a risk. Working on that line was a risk. Funnily enough, the last guy that did a project as big as mine on that line also got fired. I should have seen it coming, and I guess I sort have did, but I thought I had more time.

I applied to 4 jobs last night. Today, I am going to apply for unemployment even though it’ll probably be denied. I also emailed the HR manager because I forgot to turn in my keys and forgot my pictures on my desk and forgot the packet of information he gave me. So I will have been productive today.

ETA - how do you gracefully explain you were fired to a potential employer?