The Heat is On, Again

Not the apartment heat, the outside version. Although it does seep into the apartment because we're not all that well insulated. Fortunately there was nowhere to go today and I was able to take lots of work breaks to do things like shopping for an upcoming wedding reception (the bride is Indian so we have been asked to dress appropriately; who's sari now?) and relaxing. So why don't I feel refreshed yet? Oh yeah, heat seeping in...

Silly Site o' the Day

I'd rather not talk about my homeward commute on a crowded subway today, which exacerbated my various Old Person aches and pains to an uncomfortable extent, so I'm thinking about Merrie Olde since it's just about a month before our holiday there. I'm hoping to see some of the castles and such listed on this map (via BoingBoing), but we'll see how well I can walk.

I've Had It for the Week

Two Manhattan days in a row, two pretty miserable subway commutes home, and that's it for me. My left foot is in a lot of pain, very likely referred pain from calf muscles refusing to relax, so I'm limiting motion for at least the next couple of days as I work from home.

A Tempting Offer

Today was yet another call offering voluntary termination to a portion of my company's workforce. Since I qualify for the maximum I was sore tempted, but we're only given three weeks to decide and my personal finances are not nearly as organized as I want them to be. Besides, I'm still kind of addicted to 26 pay stubs per year, which would be cut down by almost half (only lasting for 8 months) if I were to retire at the end of this September. So I'm on the fence but leaning towards getting off exactly where I stand right now. Having nobody to consult besides Robin, I have to go with my (and his) gut, and my stomach started churning a bit too much at the thought of extremely imminent retirement. For now I'm going to wait and see if they board the merry-go-round again this time next year, at which point my head -- and stomach -- will undoubtedly be in a different place.

Much-Needed Quiet

As I type this the only music in the vicinity is coming from next door, which is only audible from the home office and should abate soon. I understand that some cultures are loud, I grew up in a noisy Jewish household, but loud and selfish, completely indifferent to and inconsiderate of those who live around you... well, that must be a 21st century artifact. Regardless, today was a good recovery day, provided I leave this room in the next five minutes or so before the unwanted music gets to me.

Wedding Out the Window

White Rabbits! And I thought this was going to be an especially lucky day, what with my usual weekend chores all done before 8 AM and the grocery shopping (and gas station) before noon and the lovely emotional nostalgia kick I got from the 1986 NY Mets reunion ceremony... but that all came to a crashing halt around six hours ago when extremely loud music started emanating from the Hot Tub House outside our Yonkers-facing windows (home office and bedroom). Apparently it wasn't a run-of-the-mill party, but a complete wedding party, all in white and enjoying music that must have been too loud for them, and was certainly too loud for a suburban-city enclave surrounded by neighbors. I'm usually not that passive aggressive any more but I called the cops as the speakers blasted it out well above the 60db allowed before 10 PM (and the 50db allowed after 10 PM). No idea if the gendarmes ever arrived, but I've spent much of the last six hours in a very shaky state, wearing earplugs as well as the new noise-cancelling headphones Robin purchased for our flights to and from England. Unfortunately we couldn't get the earphones to work with the bedroom TV, but they worked well enough with my iPhone that I was able to listen to (and thoroughly enjoy despite the circumstances) the new Paul McCartney album. But the wedding noise put paid to my plans to, you know, get a nap in which I couldn't do earlier in the afternoon because screechy children, or even take a much-needed shower which will now have to wait another day. The music is finally winding down now, although loud voices still prevail, so the earphones are off (tried in vain to doze with them on) and the earplugs are in until the madness abates entirely. I reckon I'll be a wreck tomorrow, when I do hope to get in at least one nap and definitely a shower, and am very grateful it's a Sunday as I'll need the extra day to recover.

Wrapping Up the Month

Weird day, I had dreams of my mother back when she was mobile (pre-COVID) but I knew she was gone so I kept wondering if I should ask her how she could be there when she was dead. Not the first time this has happened, but it was impetus enough to keep me up in the wee smalls as well as ta post-logoff visit to my uncle in his current assisted-living facility a short bus ride away. And my cousin showed up while we were there, so that was a nice bonus! While we were out I mailed some checks at the post office and we had some copies made of our mailbox key (alas, we'll have to return as, while they fit the lock, we couldn't turn them to open the mailbox). The heat took a lot out of me, and I've been hydrating like mad since we got home. I'm just happy July is over with.

Silly Site o' the Day

My feet are still hurting, nobody really needed me in the office, so since I've done my two mandated days today and tomorrow I get to keep working from home, which usually means I'm more productive than usual anyway. Of course, I do miss watching the water towers:

Via Laughing Squid.
 

Homeward Bound

After three straight days on my feet, especially with yesterday's commute (MTA's BusTime lied to me about my commuter bus not being in operation in the morning so I wound up doing the local bus/subway/ walking thing both ways and that really did a number on the tootsies), I decided to take it easy and work from home the rest of this week, having met my 2-day-in-office mandatory quota. And I really needed it, I'm still very tired from all the flitting about. Fortunately I had a chance to relax a bit, although not really all that much since my workload continues to be surprisingly heavy for this time of year. It does look like things will calm down next month, but I don't want to speak too soon.

Silly Site o' the Day

If you're gonna do a LEGO ad, here's the right way to do it:

Unfortunately the LEGO don't actually move or do anything, so the ad is a tad deceptive.

Can't Trust That Day

Still somewhat exhausted from yesterday's sojourn, I nonetheless schlepped into the city with my backpack to help greet a bunch of peer reviewers and make sure all was in readiness for this very busy week of both peer reviewing and PCAOB inspections. I'll be so thrilled when the week is over! July has been a heck of a month, and I need a vacation more than ever, but at this point I'll settle for a quiet August. I tried to keep my movements to a minimum, and it was really nice doing the homeward commute unburdened as all my stuff was left at the office in a temporary locker. Still, methinks I'm getting too old for this, Riggs.