Saturday … Cold is the word of the day. The cats weren’t terribly happy that inside had a bit of a chill in the air. It only got to 70 in here and it’s so quiet you can hear a pin drop. I felt the chill myself but got a warm shower and put on clothes, it wasn’t bad then. As the day went on it warmed up a little bit but not a whole lot. I got my haircut this morning and came back home and passed out. I was up early in the morning and needed to catch up on sleep, as if that is possible. Still, it felt refreshing to pass out for an hour or two. Lounged around the house and watched TV for part of the day. Then decided to get moving and started doing laundry. I needed to restart my desktop computer to install the most recent windows updates. Glad that I waited because it took its sweet time shutting down and coming back up. Microsoft is still wanting me to upgrade to Windows 11 and honestly, I am considering doing it next month just to get it over. I like Windows 10 and want to keep it but if it’s going to make things move faster then I am happy to bite the bullet, especially since the taskbar issues have been worked out and you can resize it now and move it around.
I got Rudy on the scale and wow I’ve done a pretty good job at feeding him. In 2024 he was 7 pounds and today he is 12 pounds. I honestly don’t notice or feel any increase in his weight. He still looks like he is 7 pounds. He is behaving normally but I still have my eye on him as well as his sister. She has managed to maintain her weight she was 19 pounds in 2024 and today weighs the same. I feel it every time she steps on my nuts or decides to jump on me.
Got out this afternoon for some Mexican food, had a nice drive. On the way home I started having horrible gas pains. I stopped for the mail and made the decision to come home rather than hitting up the pet food store. I thought it was a smart decision but once I got here, I felt fine. I plan to pick up more food for the fur monsters tomorrow; it’s not like they will ever go hungry with me as their owner. I’d sell anything or everything if it came down to it, just to make sure they had food, water and shelter. I think they know that deep down.
Changed the furnace filter and fired up the furnace for the first time. It’s going to get down to freezing tonight so this was for sure necessary. That took care of the chill in the air and Rudy seems to be a bit happier. I’m just happy that everything is working like it is supposed to and hope that it stays that way. Wore my first long sleeve shirt today. That is going to become the standard, and I hate it, but it won’t last forever.
Planning for the week ahead I’m thinking of doing something that I wouldn’t normally do when I am on call and that is go to the office. Apparently, the company has money to burn because they are flying in a manager to my office for the sole purpose of seeing if he can break into the building and get to our floor. It’s a physical security audit. I learned about it this past week on an emergency phone call we had. I told the cocky SOB that he won’t get very far but he says “that he has a way with security guards”. Good luck I hope he pushes his luck and gets arrested, but I doubt that it will go that far. To get in he will have to show government issued ID and then we have to say to send him up or send him away. This cocky SOB hasn’t been to my office ever that I know of and he is clueless on how things work. The building I work in is by far the most secure out of all the buildings we have offices in and he picked the wrong office to try this little trick on. Besides that, no one has ever done this before. We have had some crazy people show up and no one has ever gotten past security. Bottom line is there are only two ways in and that’s through the guards or by having a building badge there is no bypassing that and it’s not up for debate. He said that he would be happy to hit me up when he arrived and brag about how easy it was to gain access. The day he is coming is normally a day that most people work from home. My fear is that he will ask for me and then be told that I am a remote worker (which I am not legally) and that will spill the beans and expose my secret. He is a prick and would delight in telling my boss. Which would cause me problems (not sure if they would be minor or major). So, it’s easier to just go in, even if for half a day that way if he asks for me and I’m not there he would get the response sorry you missed him he was here earlier. I’m kind of on the fence about going in but really feel that I don’t have much choice, it’s either stay home and take a huge risk OR go in and be on the safe side.
I know that by going in it will raise eyebrows for people in my office, but I can’t exactly say why I am there. I know that I have taken a huge gamble by electing to turn my job fully remote. However, my work gets done and I am still always available, no one is complaining but then again, most people think that I got permission and that’s why it’s never come up. While it’s not the same, I was thinking yesterday and equating it to coming out, in that you’re the same person and it doesn’t change things people just know your sexuality. By working remote it doesn’t change my performance or who I am as a person. Yeah, I am not playing by the rules, but it makes absolutely no sense for me to commute to a physical office, I’m wasting time and my money as well as wear and tear on my vehicle. I do the same work that I would do if I was in the office when I am at home. See what I mean? Nothing has changed except my physical location. That said, I’ve been thinking about just starting to play by the rules, maybe not going in 3 full days but at least back to my old schedule of 1 day, possibly 2. Had we not had this emergency phone call I would have been out of the loop on this and finding out about it after the fact probably wouldn’t have been a good thing. I am still frustrated with my job, and I want to quit but I honestly need the money if it wasn’t for that I’d walk away. If I ever reach a breaking point I might snap and give them a fuck you and walk but I’ve talked myself out of it many, many times before. Doesn’t help that my boss has turned into a delegation machine, he’s grating on my last nerve. I like to be left alone and that is how I am the most productive. I was talking with a colleague this week and said how I’d like to be a fly on the wall and just see what would happen if I was gone. The instant response I got was we would be fucked. Things would still get done but it would be chaos and madness. I explained that regardless of how important people think you are or even you think you are, everyone is replaceable. While you can replace a person in a position, you can’t replace experience or knowledge. Given that I still think that it’s a high probability that if I was exposed that I would be in some hot water and it would probably lead to my demise. Companies often chop off their noses despite their face, they would be punishing me, but they too would suffer. I do possess some unique knowledge and skills but let’s suppose I just dropped dead, the company would go on and they would get by. It would be inconvenient and difficult for them, but the work would continue. What was only known by me would be figured out by someone else and they would adapt, so in the end I’m not that valuable after all and at the end of the day neither is anyone else. We’re just slaves to a company; they give us money and in turn we give far more than our time.
Sunday … Brr it was cold this morning. I made my rounds to breakfast, grocery store and gas station. Dropped very close to $50 to fill my almost empty tank. Got home and got the groceries put away. Neither of the cats greeted me at the door or came to check on me while I was putting things away. I walked into my bedroom to find them both resting comfortably on my bed. They both looked at me like were comfy and didn’t want to move. Honestly, I don’t blame them. I didn’t want to get out of bed and get moving.
I watched some TV, eventually returned to bed and snuggled with Rudy. Mora left but she was taking up the bulk of the bed all stretched out. I had a nice nap. Got up and passed out lunch for the cats. Had a Banana and a piece of candy while sipping on a soda. Got my medicine all set for the week ahead. Now I am just lounging on the couch. I hear the neighbors’ kids playing football. I need to tend to clean this place but lack motivation.
Last night I found that old dryer vent was exposed to the outside again. Something chewed through my spray foam again. Nothing was caught in the sticky trap. I kind of think it was Racoons; they got me last time. Since it was late in the evening, I just broke out more foam and sealed it shut again. Put out some additional sticky traps and keep a watch on this. Looked on the web for ways to close off an old dryer vent and got some ideas. Problem is this is in the most inconvenient spot right above a water line; there isn’t a whole lot of room to work. The outside is covered by the deck. I would like access from outside because it would be much easier to close that off. This is the problem that just won’t go away and clearly what I am doing is a temporary solution so it’s time to change things up and get this vent closed once and for all so that I can stop dealing with it. I cuss at the city and my late spouse every time I deal with this. If we could have just kept things like they were without modifications, then I wouldn’t be dealing with this. But we just had to have this deck that I despise and that is why the dryer vent had to be moved so it was up to city code. Might have had a mouse nest in the dryer but I wouldn’t be dealing with this. I did do one thing differently and installed a mouse blaster that I had sitting around. It’s a box that plays high pitched sounds that only critters can hear (doesn’t affect cats and dogs). I had a Racoon visit last night and he took a couple steps on my deck and then quickly scampered away. I think this box might act as Racoon repellent, and I honestly don’t want that. Back when I hired an exterminator, I was told that this mouse blaster thing was a gimmick and it didn’t work it was just a way to get money out of me. When I got them, I bought 2 of them, they were not cheap. I’ve had one hooked up full time in my garage for a couple years. I’ve never had anything in my garage ever but hooked the box up just because I spent the money on it.
Today for sure is a lazy day for me. I’m having problems deciding on where and what I want to go to eat for supper. I’m sneezing and my neck hurts. Not a good sign. It’s either allergies or I am getting sick. My nose started up last night and I thought for sure I’d wake up sick this morning, but I felt fine. I really don’t want to be sick, especially this week with needing to go into the office.
Hoping that this will be an easy and quick moving week since I am on call. I must get through this week and then one more week before I get my vacation that I am longing for. I look forward to the time away especially since I am burnt out and just over my job in general. November, I think, will be a good month since I am getting two weeks off and working two weeks. However, the mistake maker will take his leave shortly after I come back from my vacation and that will put some pressure on all of us but it’s only until mid-January and I think since most of that time hopefully things will be slow that he picked a good time. I suppose I will find out soon enough.
Thank you for stopping by. All my best for the week ahead. Hope we all can have enjoyable and nice things happen while keeping the negative and bad things at bay. Keep fighting the good fight, I will be trying my best.
