“Remoted” – Day 423 (Thursday)

Today offered some very welcome breaks from the usual routine. It still involved sitting at the desk all day, but the brain requirements were altered and in some cases, refreshing. First, there was the meeting with my manager for goal setting. Who doesn’t love a to-do list with high stakes?

A half hour later, it was an online team event involving team names and trivia and rapid-fire questions, and other games. It was really fun, and my font of random knowledge bits helped my team score points. Of course, knowing the answer to Brad Pitt’s first speaking role in a movie (Thelma and Louise) has colleagues thinking I'm a Brad Pitt fan and know a lot about movies. Neither of these perceptions is true. I got the Swedish word for winter correct (vinter) when I remembered Mummu telling me when I was a kid that there is no "w" in Swedish or Finnish and her mother used to say, "vill you put my sveater on?" It was luck from the fountain of random.

There was accidental learning involved in the event – and I now know another area in which I am way below average. The question was “how many hot dogs does the average American eat each year?” and the answer was 87. Seriously – 87? How in the heck does this happen? I can’t even remember the last time I ate a hot dog. Even in my prime hot dog consumption years, I doubt I came close to that number. And now it’s all I can think about. In the end, my team and I, the aptly named “Better Than the Rest”, beat the other two teams. Colleagues had to bow to us. We rock.

Kira!

Then, as if the day wasn’t exciting enough, after work, it was the YWCA of Northeastern Massachusetts' Tribute to Women 2021. It was a virtual event with an online auction and my friend and colleague Kira was an honoree. The online event was pretty neat and several of us from our team had a pre-recorded shoutout that was done to congratulate Kira. She rocks.