Empty Vehicle

While Robin's been pretty felled this last couple days by the illness that snagged me earlier in the week, I felt well enough today to venture down then up our two flights of stairs twice carrying things we've accumulated in the car's trunk, glove box, and center console over much of the last 22 years. I was a bit winded after each trip, but recovered in fairly short order. I really think this stupid head cold thingie is behind me now, and hope that Robin follows suit tomorrow as he wasn't up to food shopping today (hence my decision re the car). We stayed in, tried to ignore screechy children and Hot Tub Hector (different houses, because of how our house is situated we have about a dozen backyards facing us on all four sides) by watching the FA Cup, golf, the Preakness, and the Yankees v Mets. Hey, New York won! Actually, I kept switching between the Subway Series and the Banana Ball game, but enjoyed both; I'm one of that rare breed who roots for both my home baseball teams. Even managed to do some cooking, as we'd run out of fridge dinners so I boiled some buccatini for dinner because I'm fancy that way.

Coming Out the Other Side

Not a bathroom reference, fortunately. My head was still a bit foggy this morning, but I didn't use any Nyquil last night and was able to breathe okay for the most part today. I'm never so happy health-wise as when I can quit the nasal spray and nose drops, having been somewhat addicted to them earlier in my life (and I maintain to this day that addiction led to my atrial fibrillation episode but I can't prove it medically). With any luck I can actually get some errands done this weekend, although now it appears Robin's picked up the illness so I think that's put paid to car shopping since we're trying Paramus NJ as our next stop. At least I made good headway at work and got everyone's expense reports and timesheets in by the mid-month deadline. Can't wait until my head clears totally!

Lentil Lady Down and Out

First off, no regrets. I'm glad I went into the office today to help out with the US Hunger Project, filling bags of food for hungry New Yorkers, especially when I was informed that only about 25% of those who'd signed up actually showed. I was assigned in an assembly line to fill the bags with lentils. Still, after 45 minutes with a hairnet and gloves and a mask (so that nobody else catches this lurgy) and repetitive scoop-and-fill motion, I had to excuse myself. I was going to head home right away but it was easier to sit still at my workstation, get some work done, then leave at lunchtime to spend the rest of the day working from home. I timed things well, there was a smoke condition in the East River tunnel and things were just beginning to escalate at Penn Station, so I made it to the subway platform before the major craziness (thank goodness subways weren't affected at any rate). My head has been gradually clearing just enough for me to think straight and get my work done, but I still feel sluggish. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Still Ugh-y

I realized I have to go back into Manhattan tomorrow as (1) I promised to help with another Community Impact Day (Week) activity and (2) I left my backpack in my temporary locker which expires tomorrow. Ah well, I'm grateful that this illness is literally all in my head, and other parts don't seem to be affected (could be so much worse, like a persistent cough or body aches), so I can maneuver around okay, I just can't really concentrate because, you know, that takes a clear head. Fortunately I have a lot of goodwill built up among the folks I support, so they're very understanding, and I'm taking an hour or two here and there as PTO to rest up. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Impacted

Well, I did schlep into Manhattan this morning and did a few Community Impact Day activities with my work colleagues, which is usually fun except I kept needing to sneeze and couldn't breathe very well, so I gave up around 3:15 and came home after pretty much working a full day anyway. Definitely staying put tomorrow, hoping to finally lick this illness. Ugh.

Felled

I don't know whether it was the car dealership on Saturday (likely) or the food shopping afterwards where I went maskless, but I picked up some kind of bug and have come down with a nasty spring cold that's knocked me for a loop. Thank goodness I'm working from home, albeit much less efficiently than usual. I have to go in tomorrow to participate in our annual Community Impact Day, hope I can make it through without backsliding. I'm such an awful patient, I feel sorrier for Robin than for myself.

A Cold Coming On

I think we picked up something yesterday, either at the dealership or the supermarket, and I was really not doing well today, so I just puttered around the house organizing things. All tote and shopping bags are now out of the car, and throughout the week we plan on emptying most of the rest of it in preparation for trading it in. Meanwhile I ordered arm rests for our recliners, which have become a bit threadbare and I think are contributing to my IT band issues the way I sit in the chair. Oh, and new Apple Watch bands, did I mention that? Got me at least a dozen that aren't metal so no more catching them on things. The construction noise downstairs wasn't as bad as we'd feared, but the dozen houses facing us all seemed to be celebrating Mother's Day very loudly. My first Mother's Day without Mom just feels kind of numb.

Adventures in Car Buying

Our car is 22 years old, bought by my dad a few years before he passed. Now that he and Mom are both gone, it was up to me and Robin to visit our local dealer to see about either buying or renting a new one. The sales folks were nice but definitely leant towards the hard-sell side, particularly once they started steering us toward what they wanted to sell rather than what we wanted to buy. All talk of price came right at the end, after the test drive -- on a model I don't want to buy, as they didn't have a base model available and it never came in the entire time we were held hostage by them having my license (why did they need that if I wasn't buying yet?) and keys. Eventually the red flags built up to the point where we excused ourselves, said we had a lot to think about, and hightailed it out of there to do our food shopping and get home before the heavens opened. Now that we know what we're up against in terms of car dealers operate, we need to do a lot more research before heading out to New Jersey to try another dealer that perhaps actually has the model we want and, you know, an actual visitors' lot rather than a place you can't even drive into.

A Seamless Friday

I sat in on a conversation this morning about how to use the firm's Seamless/GrubHub's business account for engagement teams if I ever need to, the one area in which I was somewhat deficient in this new assignment because I've never had to do it before. Nice to be able to add to my knowledge base! My long-time colleague Traci, whom I've known since our Rothstein Kass days (over a dozen years back), officially retired today, so that put a tinge of sadness on everything. But I'm still grateful to have a job, I'm still two years away from my planned retirement, and I'm still learning new things every day!

Panicking with the Best of Them

While I often tell people I've achieved Peak Competence in my life (which of course might imply that it's all downhill from here), there are times when I still have the lizard-brain panic reation when something at work hits me the wrong way. Today was one of those times. I do the usual things to calm my vagus nerve, like taking deep breaths and such, but the thing that usually brings me out of it is reminding myself that I've been through ever so much worse in my career and have come out of it just fine. And so it was today, the obstacle was overcome in fairly short order and I reconnected with some old work friends in the process, so really a win-win. And I packed up at the end of the day after helping record a session in which I had zero interest (it was shepherded by a partner I support so I kind of had to record) and was pleasantly surprised to be able to leave at my usual time. Commute was pretty sweet too, I think I made it home in under 90 minutes which is usually unheard of because I have to walk two avenues and take two different kinds of mass transit. No notes, no complaints!