Up and Down

Catching up and winding down, that is. I did all I could on the job to try and nail down some elusive meeting scheduling, and at least I have help now on one front. And we're actually counting the hours until the lovely but surprisingly high-maintenance Mango returns to my godson, who's attending a wedding in Boston this weekend before temporarily moving into my uncle's place a few miles away from us (my uncle, his grandfather, being in assisted living now) whilst looking for a more permanent spot. We're both so tired that I honestly believe this lingering backache isn't just from exercises to try and mitigate my IT band issues but from stress as well. Stress on a 69-year-old body isn't the same as stress on a 45-year-old, I'm sure. So far the heating pad and ibuprofen are helping ease the back pain but rest and a decent night's sleep or three would help a lot more.

Surviving the Commute

As I suspected, my lunch plans got scuttled, but more importantly I feel like I'm getting back into the rhythm of my commute. Not that the back or left leg has been that much better, but I'm off the naproxen and onto occasional ibuprofen now, which is good as I hate to overmedicate. Still, glad I'm home now and back off my feet for a few days (give or take grocery shopping). Got a bit of mail I have to deal with, both estate stuff and medical stuff, which will all be tomorrow if I have the energy.

Yer Out!

Well, that's it for the Yankees' 2026 season. Thank goodness. Someday I'm sure the truth will out about, for instance, how their training staff seems to break players more than they fix them (in my opinion the fix is certainly in), but in the meantime maybe this will disabuse them of the notion that they're automatically owed a World Series berth every year. They never could catch Tampa Bay in the stretch run, Judge and Stanton only played a handful of games, Cole was back for, like, one game?, and as good as Ben Rice is he couldn't hold up the entire slumping team himself. Chances are Aaron Boone will retain his position, but someone needs new blood somewhere. In other news, despite being sleep-deprived I believe my back is improving incrementally, and I plan on going into the office tomorrow. With luck I'll lunch with one of the many New York Comic Con-goers, but I have my doubts there too. Ah well, as long as I get my work done I can lunch alone...

Laid Up

Well, not only are the Yankees losing again (it's fine, I'm rooting for Milwaukee to take it all this year anyway), but I must have done a bit too much on the IT band exercises, because my sciatic nerve has now flared up and I'm in a good deal of back pain. I started feeling it about halfway through my work day, and it appears I may have to work from home tomorrow as well. It's fine, I have enough goodwill built up that nobody will miss me tomorrow. And I really want to get better in time to make that podiatrist appointment! The thing I hate most about this is that when I'm in pain I think much less clearly, so once again nothing much to write about. 

More Rest and Baseball

No Yankee game today so I could enjoy baseball and naps and even get in some IT band exercises. Trying not to overdo things but my leg does feel better. With any luck I can kick my medical stuff into high gear, see my podiatrist and get ready for my annual physical with my new-for-the-next-few-years doctor... Nothing much else to report. Not really in a writing mood. Kitty remains kitty. That sort of thing.

Lazy Baseball Weekend

Shopping all done this morning in somewhat record time, I settled in for a lovely afternoon of post-season baseball and napping, which of course go together because, you know, alpha waves. Good thing I did too, as one of the Yonkers houses around here seems to be in celebration mode, and the "boots and pants" beat has started already and put paid to any further sleep plans for awhile. Can't wait to move to the quiet English countryside! This city mouse has just about had enough.

Maintaining

I was able to juggle my work stuff and make very good headway on the quarterly meetings for one partner and stay above water regarding meetings for my new one, so that's something I suppose. I just didn't have the mental energy to start on the thing I want to do for her, mapping all her prospective clients and their EAs to be ready for her meetings. Maybe on Monday! Meanwhile, Mango continues to be an exhausting joy, and his "daddy" Jonny has finally left Texas on his week-long drive east. I could really use the rest at this point, especially my IT band; at least I've dug out my exercise pages so I can start on those as soon as I have the wherewithal.

A New Something or Other

White Rabbits, and welcome to October! Probably one of my favorite months weather-wise, but in terms of my job I still feel a bit lost. I've made headway on my quarterly meeting project, but not on my things for my newest partner. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it sooner or later, but the older I get the less neuroplasticity I seem to have when it comes to work stuff. Retirement is looking better and better. Also, the commute is getting to me a bit, but at least it means I can drop off the rent check at The US' Biggest Post Office. And I still love living in NYC, so there's that.

One Window Closes, Another Opens

The window for so many of my work colleagues is closing today, and summer appears to be making a brief comeback so we were able to open the windows again for the first time since before the nor'easter, which Mango loved. I'm starting to make headway in catching up on work stuff I'd postponed due to my English vacation, and hope to nail all that down by Friday. I'm also trying to offload the partners I'm supposed to be transitioning, but they're having a difficult time delegating my successors so  they're still on my plate for now. Mostly I'm just glad to be working from home today in the relatively fresh air and quiet neighborhood, watching post-season Yankees baseball, and looking forward to autumn!

You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello

Not the best day. My morning express bus was canceled and the local bus so crowded that the doors hurt me when they opened. I was only 20 minutes or so late, luckily. Then I attended a lovely breakfast to bid an in-person goodbye to all my fellow executive assistants leaving the firm tomorrow, and almost all of them either thought I was retiring as well or at least wondered why I wasn't. I'm starting to wonder that myself. I tried to settle into my new workstation on our brand-new floor, but the tech betrayed me. The IT guy made sure all the updates that had never been pushed to me got installed, and we still had issues. Two hours in we finally identified the cuprit, the wired mouse that wasn't compatible with the workstation. So I lost pretty much my whole morning but gained a wireless mouse in the process. A win? Homeward subway commute crowded as well, and I'm afraid about an hour ago I developed severe pain in my left calf as though it were about to cramp but never did. The pain lasted at least five minutes, and I've now put Voltaren on it to calm it down. Conclusion: my day really mucked with my IT band. I need to sleep...

Time Time Time, See What's Become of Me

With a fairly organized home office I was able to get through my main objective today, nailing down everyone's fiscal year end timesheets and preparing for tomorrow's expense submissions. Sometimes the transactional stuff can feel quite soothing, but I guess I'm just too tired by my new responsibilities to enjoy it. I still feel like I'm a bit underwater, and tomorrow so many fellow exec assistants are retiring (plus I've relocated to our brand-new floor) that I can't seem to summon up the energy. Thank goodness Mango keeps me entertained, and autumn is well upon us if it ever stops raining...

Finally Caught Up

Well, at least with personal finances. Still working on the job stuff, but now that my home office is once more inhabitable I'm hoping that won't take too long. We went nowhere today in the nor'easter that still barely touched us, fortunately, but a few miles south of us the Yankees game was canceled, and the Mets went down in a flicker of flames. As this is an international break weekend there was no actual football so we watched a bit of the American brand, played in Rio. The only thing confusing me more than that is the annual Video Music Awards where, as usual, I know way too few artists and I feel more and more like an Old. But I'm not that upset considering the alternative...

Mostly Nor' and East

The big nor'easter is upon us, and I must say we totally lucked out here in Bronkers. I wasn't about to cancel our appointment for our COVID-19 and flu vaccines, and I didn't have to. We even did our shopping at the strip mall with our favorite conveyor belt sushi place, and all we seemed to get throughout was a bit of rain and very little wind. So we basically danced between the nor'easter and were home for the worst of it. We even missed our temporary power outage, but had to reset our analog clocks and reboot our computers upon our return. Not too shabby! The baseball season in New York continues to dwindle to a whimper, certainly where the Mets are concerned, and the Yankees didn't play today and might not tomorrow. Good time to go analog! Lots of comics to read, and a lovely orange kitty to cuddle. I'm more than ready for autumn!

Dolly Day

Again, probably only in the US, as "9-2-5" only works as a pun in countries that put the month before the day, and I think we're one of the only countries that does that. Nonetheless, Happy Dolly Parton Day, the first of many I'm sure. I tried to be kind today but work made it kind of difficult. Still, all's well that ends well, at least for this week. I have to keep reminding myself that, at my age, I'm there because I mostly want to be, even as my work friends drop off one by one. At least I have a cat around the house again to bring me joy for the next couple weeks. Now to batten down the hatches...

The Coming Storms

Lots of cautionary tales are starting to make the rounds about a big nor'easter hitting our area this weekend. Naturally Saturday is the day we made our appointment for our COVID and flu shots, and we  have to go food shopping, so that's still the plan. Meanwhile, I said farewell to the 16th floor of our firm's NY headquarters, as the business unit on that floor (including the partner I support) is moving to our brand-new 10th floor starting next Tuesday, the next day I'll be in the office. And I'll be busy saying farewell to a lot of coworkers in the next week; I'm starting to think I'm something of a sucker for not taking the early retirement package myself, being past retirement age, but I still want that steady paycheck a little while longer. And as the weather cools I'm starting to feel it in my bones and am very grateful for the temporary presence of a warm kitty body.

Settling In

Both me and the cat, that is. I still feel like I'm treading water, but at this point it's just a matter of getting used to the new work normal until the next work normal comes around. Nothing I haven't handled before. Mango seems to be calming down just a bit; it's so wonderful to have an actual lap cat, even if it's just temporary! All the laundry that had accumulated since England (and Philly) has now been taken care of and mostly put away, the last week of the regular baseball season is well underway, and there's a definite nip in the air now, which excites me as autumn is my favorite season. Bring it on!

Too Much Movement

So lots of my work colleagues are leaving at the end of this month (fiscal year end), having taken an early retirement package which was tempting to me but, you know, a steady paycheck for the next couple years still beats 8 months' worth of severance. In any case, this has meant trying to get up to speed on my new assignment, staying on top of the folks I'll be passing on to others, and today I just found out our entire floor will be moving to a new floor opening in our office space next Tuesday. The partner I support on that floor should be all set with his designated space, but I can't secure mine until at least Thursday when reservations open (no doubt while I'm still on the bus like today, delayed around the Met for 10-15 minutes due to the UN stuff which you wouldn't think would affect anything on the west side). At this point I'm just kind of waiting for things to slow down before I feel like I have a handle on stuff again.

Shifts and Changes

Lots of stuff going on at work, having to do with a seismic shift in colleagues leaving at the end of this month. I'm losing three partners, one of whom I've supported for almost a decade, and gaining a new one, with whom I met online today to discuss her needs. Amid all this transition I still have to get my usual stuff done for the folks I currently support, and I'm still majorly catching up after being out for a week and waiting on others who are currently out themselves. I do so love the end of the fiscal year. But I'm slightly better able to breathe today than yesterday (even though Rob's cough is worse) so I think I'm finally ready for tomorrow morning's commute. That is, if I can get some sleep without a lovely marmalade kitty settling in atop my legs. 

And Another Thing...

This stupid head cold. I'm sure the travel exacerbated whatever I picked up in Merrie Olde, but now it's been passed on to Robin, and of course it's almost autumn with its attendant allergens, and I hope we're not also allergic to Mango but who knows? So lots of sniffling and exhaustion today, and whenever one of us gets some rest it turns out Mango enjoys plopping himself down on our legs. Not good when, like me, you can't count on your legs not suddenly cramping. Have I mentioned how much I missed having a cat, and how precious and adorable he is? He'd better be considering how we're both feeling. 

I'll Rest Tomorrow

So much Mango, so in our faces. I missed having a kitty, but... so, so much Mango. So much food shopping after having not shopped for two weeks. So much exhaustion from dealing with "Hot Tub Hector" playing his music way too loudly (Mango loves open windows). Just... just too much, I guess. Tomorrow we go nowhere and do nothing.