Wednesday Randomness

YOU GUYS!!!

I am HAPPY to report to you that my company has changed their mind and the In Office 2x a Week Mandate has been cancelled. YAY! For those of you who are new here due to NaBloPoMo, I have worked from home since 2006, both at my prior job and my current one. There is an office about 30 miles from here, which can take anywhere from 25 to 90 minutes by car each way, and there is no public transportation that would take less than 100 minutes and involve several transfers. My company decided that it was time to get people ‘back in the office’ 2 days a week, which would apply to all employees within a 50 mile radius, whether they have ever worked in the office or not. This started in early September for a lot of folks, and was going to start in early January for those of us that requested an exemption. Apparently the folks who have had to go in have not been quiet about their frustration at having to commute to work in a cubicle when no one else on your team is within 200 miles, and apparently they do sometimes listen to employee engagement surveys, so I will NOT have to go into the office! YAY! And I hadn’t even started buying any office clothing! (Not true, I bought 2 sweaters, and I didn’t thrift them, which I had intended, so yeah…but I totally wear sweaters all winter, so it’s not like they’re fancy blouses or suits.)

Look at the Kitty with a Pearl Earring magnet Maya brought me home from work. Isn’t it cute? My fridge is overrun with pictures and magnets, and I love it. I like to collect them from museums, though as the fridge is so full, I suspect my next memento will have to be a bookmark. The other magnets shown are: Rue de Rivoli, which I got in Paris in 2022. Ted and I honeymooned near the Rue de Rivoli way back in 1993, so I was happy to find this one. The Girl with a Pearl Earring is from when the famous painting was on tour in 2013, and Ted and I saw her in San Francisco. The Lady and the Unicorn is of one of the famous tapestries at the Cluny museum in Paris. I bought a magnet when I was there in 2022, but apparently I left it right there in the gift shop, because when we got back to our hotel and I looked at my bag, it was not there. My step-mom went to Paris in 2023, and she also went to this beautiful museum, and bought one me a replacement for the one I left behind. So this one is extra special, it reminds me of my trip and of her.

This is our red wine for Thanksgiving next week. I bought it in an online auction to benefit our local Meals on Wheels. It’s 2012, so hopefully it is still good. I doubt we will drink both bottles, but then again, who knows?

I downloaded this app, WoofTrax, to my phone. It’s a fundraising app that donates a pittance to your animal charity of choice when you take your dog for a walk, and tell it you are doing so. A lot of pittances add up to something at least, and I walk every day anyway, so I am doing it, even without my walking buddy, Mulder. I’m walking in his memory I guess. Bay Area Rescue Keeshonden is the rescue where we got both Mulder and our prior dog, Genevieve.

Years ago, Roma was a blog friend, and we’re still friends on Facebook. I don’t remember what her blog was at the time, actually, but she is an artist in New Mexico, and is a wise woman and I love when this memory pops up in my feed. Resist the pressure. Do all of the things that you want to do and bring you joy, and nothing more.

Imagine my joy when I received the most excellent postcard from Engie! I love snail mail, and we can all use a little extra subversive fun right now.

PSA – Thelma is now available for streaming, on Hulu and on Amazon. Such a lovely film, well worth your time.

Lastly, I don’t really drive to the countryside to look for beautiful fall foliage, but there are glimpses everywhere you look anyway. The local parks are awash with color, as are the grocery store parking lots, neighborhoods, and the medians between the lanes on the streets I walk. Not as beautiful as a lakeside forest, but beautiful nonetheless.