random thoughts – Day 1,609 – (Tuesday) – mostly quiet with deliveries

It was the best of days it was the worst of days. Sorry for the pilfering, Charles Dickens. And for the drama, as it was neither the best nor the worst of days. It was just another mostly usual Tuesday remote work day. There was coffee and the usual morning rituals – 10,000 passwords and PINs and forever and a day to log in, emails, blah, blah. Office workers, you know what I mean. Retirees, I wear my envy of you like cheap cologne, but you might remember the old drill if you haven't successfully scrubbed your brain of it.

There was a 12:00 Teams Meeting with a vendor doing a product sort-of demo, which is always a sh*t show. Come on, a noon meeting/demo? Seriously? Are we not familiar with the concept of lunchtime? But it was the quirky Teams technology part that was the actual poop parade.

What I heard of the product talk was interesting, but it was on Teams so there were issues. Within the first two minutes of the call, Teams bounced me out of it. When I logged back in, my camera froze, then all the images of the other participants disappeared from the gallery view. The presenter screen froze on my screen. My favorite part might be the survey from Microsoft that popped up when I was bounced out of the meeting. “Would I recommend Teams to a friend or colleague?” Ha ha ha ha hell, no. Not even my fiercest adversary (if I had one).

Special delivery!

The rest of the day before and after the meeting was far less annoying. Nondescript, even. Once, when I came out of the bathroom, Kiki launched herself out of the dining room into the living room. That’s when I saw someone through the glass center panel I hate, standing on the other side of the front door I hate. I never heard the knock (toilet flushing) which must be what startled Keeks, and a flower delivery person was waiting for me to open the door because oh yes, it’s my birthday today.

Later, a much quieter delivery from Amazon arrived without giving Kiki a heart attack. Nothing exciting – a canister of Maxwell House coffee, some foam art brushes, and batteries, all ordered yesterday when I realized the coffee was low and the brushes and batteries were on sale. So practical.

The third delivery of the day again sent Kiki scampering for safety behind the couch. It was my birthday supper for one from the preferred pizza place. It wasn’t pizza, though.

Healthy quinoa and less healthy ice cream.

I always thought I could live on pizza forever, but that train seems to have hit the end of the line, partly thanks to a string of work and family pizza lunches over the past few months. There was a quinoa bowl with edamame, veggies, and grilled chicken chosen from the "Healthy Selections" section of the menu. And a container of Ben & Jerry’s “Lights Caramel Action” ice cream, my free birthday dessert choice, clearly not from the "healthy" choices. Miraculously, I didn’t eat all of the quinoa or the ice cream.

The mostly ordinary day had some extra special touches. These arrived throughout the day and time was spent appreciating them later. In addition to the flowers, there were many text messages and more than a hundred greetings waiting for me when I checked Facebook after work. Wow. My circle sure knows how to make an old gal feel like a queen for a day.