“Remoted” Workday 177 / Day 266 (Monday)

If rated by food, it was MMMM MMMM Monday with a sesame bagel with cream cheese and fig jam for breakfast, leftover pizza with extra cheese for lunch, homemade soup with nice bread for supper, and half of the half package of cookies left from last night. It was a series of deliciousness strategically scheduled throughout the day. 

Something went wrong.

In terms of work stuff, it was a lot of cases of something went wrong. There was a delay on a project that required some scrambling to crank out a new message and get it approved. There was detective work required to attempt piecing together an order history and pattern for some marketing items. Unfortunately, there are only scant notes to be found for their ordering frequency. The newly converted inventory system no longer contains an order history report for items, which would be supremely helpful in calculating how many cards were used in the past year and how many to have printed for the next six to twelve months. At least on Mondays we receive an active inventory report from our literature warehousing service so I can see what is currently on hand. Well, except of course for today, when we didn’t receive the report for the first time in months. So yeah, there was all that. It's fun trying to prepare a request for print quotes with no idea of the quantity. 

A delightful show!

Technology and I are still not getting along. My phone has gotten really slow, and my laptop can be randomly annoying. Trying to chill after work involved lots of scrolling through Netflix and Prime videos and shows to find something I haven't already seen or that isn't dark, murderous, or depressing. Three different shows I tried to watch on Prime delivered the same error message, “Something went wrong Please try again later. For more help, go to amazon.com/videohelp.” This was a bummer because one of the shows was the original "Bewitched" TV series. In no mood to visit the website, it was back over to Netflix and finally landing in the show “Dash & Lily,” which is based on a young adult novel I haven’t read, and is lighthearted and enjoyable. Delightful, even. Now I need to add klezmer punk band basement show under a kosher deli like Dash & Lily’s Challah Back Boys show to my must-see list. Oh, and write messages and dares in a red diary and leave it in a bookstore to find my perfect guy. Or something. 

“Remoted” Day 265 (Sunday)

Black tinsel tree.

Stuff got done. The black tinsel tree was set up. At first, I thought of putting it in the dining room, but then decided on the living room, where it has been the past couple years. Lights were on it from before, some feathers from the crafts drawer were added, and some ornaments that were in the drawer of the TV stand because they were forgotten last year when taking down decorations. 

There was a trip needed out of the house which required cleaning the snow off the car and some of the ice from the driveway. This is the most physical activity done in months, so it is counting as a workout. The wreath festival and silent auction was this past week and I needed to pick up the wreath I won. The wreath pickup was piggybacked with getting the photo print order placed yesterday and a stop at Family Dollar for dog biscuits and a wreath hanger for the door. It was a nice circular route and completed in an hour, even with light browsing of handcrafted ornaments at the Gallery during the wreath pickup. The only wrinkle to the plan was the inability to find a wreath hanger at Family Dollar. Now, instead of hanging on the back door, the wreath is on the dining room table where it was born, because the wreath I won is one of the two I made for the event.

While at Family Dollar, I saw a four-foot silver tinsel tree pre-strung with lights, and of course, I had to have it. I had one in Tennessee, but gave it to a friend while minimizing stuff before moving. I promised myself I would get another one someday, and today was the day. I also grabbed a package of Christmas cookies. The cookies come in a box that reminds me on an old-time ornament box, cost $2, and are really tasty. I ate half the box and only stopped when I got a stomach ache, which finally tore me away from the cookies and got me into the basement to fetch some ornaments for the new silver tree.

New silver tree.

The black tree was moved to the dining room, where it almost went earlier. The silver tree went onto the round table in the corner of the living room where the black tree was. The dogs were confused by all the activity. Every time I went down to the basement to rummage through the too-many plastic storage tubs to fetch things, Moose would stand at the top of the stairs wearing his worried face and waiting for me.

One ornament was broken while reaching over Winston to avoid disturbing him. The noise of the glass smashing on the floor startled him awake, invalidating the do not disturb the pup plan. The time spent decorating meant I wasn’t cooking for the week, but the idea of pizza from Saturday was lingering and a delivery happened. Now there are six more pizza meals wrapped in foil. I love having food I don’t have to think about.

“Remoted” Day 264 (Saturday)

The morning began, not with the peaceful, muffled quiet of snowfall, but with the sound of pelting rain. Instead of waking to a Winter Wonderland, it was a few steps closer to Waterworld. The usual large puddle had formed at the road edge of the shared driveway at one side of the house and carried halfway up the drive to the house. The usual larger puddle was formed across the street. At the edge of the shared driveway on the other side of my house, water was pooling and swirling around the storm drain. Outside the house was noisy with rain. Inside the house was dark as a cave. It was depressing.

There was an early spark of joy upon reading an email with the glad tidings that the Hannaford near me now carries beer and wine. The beer and wine section was my favorite reason for grocery shopping at Hannaford while staying in Fitchburg, and it was a disappointment the first time I visited the Dracut store and learned this was not a standard store feature. The sad realization was only mildly tempered by the availability of Tri-Sum Chips. But now there are two reasons to go the extra distance to Hannaford.

Around 1:00, after hours of rain, the precipitation changed to snow. There were small flakes mixed with big flakes that looked like torn paper. By then, I had been fighting with the Walgreen’s website for photo prints for what felt like forever. There were issues with half the prints I wanted because of the way I cropped the photos before I uploaded them and they had to all be redone. Then there were issues at checkout, because the order was set up as a “ship to me” but after seeing how long it would take (weeks?!?), I wanted to change it to "pick up in store." There was no easy option for that. There was no option at all for that. The solution was to cancel the order through a tedious process of removing each item one by one until they were all gone, then starting over. If I didn’t really want the stupid prints I would have said screw it after the first half hour of the cropping issues.  

Finally, at 4:00, the stupid order was completed. There were a few breaks in there to eat, let the dogs out, swear, close out of the program, shop for frames on Amazon for the same project, but yes, it took a massive chunk of the day to order a few different prints in various sizes. If the finished project doesn't come out as imagined, I will be, as Dad would say, "ripshit."

By the time the photo ordeal was finished, it was dark outside so there was no frolicking in the snow for me. There was also no snuggling on the couch with a movie on TV for the afternoon, it was all muttering and swearing on the couch with a laptop. All afternoon long and into this evening, the weather note on my phone has said it would snow "for 120 minutes." 

There was a bit of shoveling done to clear the couple inches of slop from the front stairs for the pups to potty and for the pizza delivery I planned to order online. The snow on the ground was the wet, heavy heart attack snow and the stuff still falling from the sky was loud and crispy when it hit my coat. 

Upon returning to the laptop a little after 6:00 to place the online pizza order, it was discovered that the pizza shop was already closed. The website didn’t say why, but I’ve decided it’s probably due to the same weather that will keep me from going out to pick up the photo prints that are supposed to be ready around 8:30. The freezer is packed with stuff, so it was pot stickers with soy sauce, sesame oil, and fresh ginger for the win. It is a far cry from extra cheese pizza, but according to the pizza shop website, there is always tomorrow for that. 

“Remoted” Workday 176 / Day 263 (Friday)

Fri-yay! Another day of things done and a fresh list of projects and tasks drafted for next week. Hopefully, the tasks that were crossed off the list this week stay off the list, but it’s probably not the case the way things have been going. It’s all good, stuff almost always works out. 

It was veggie selection day for the produce box which was exasperating and ended with me pushing the box off by a week again. I just can't see the benefit to having a box filled with not much beyond tomatoes and potatoes which were most of the options not already sold out. Things improved greatly when a bottle of pinot noir was uncorked and the Finnish Fazer Nordi hazelnut and campsite coffee dark chocolate bar unwrapped. Tonight, these are paired with the Netflix show Soundtrack, a series that wavers between lighthearted and heavy and features musical outbursts from every possible genre. There may have been a little bit of a sing along when it was suddenly "It's a Fine Life" from the musical Oliver!. "If you don't mind having to like or lump it, it's a fine life ..."

Now the knots to unravel are what to do about Christmas gifts when there are zero ideas and potential logistical challenges like shopping and shipping, the space time continuum, and doubts over whether we’ll even be able to get together in person. Mummu always said “the best gift is something you want but probably wouldn’t buy for yourself.” That advice has worked well in the past, but the things I want right now are not easily unattainable. It would be amazing to give everyone on my list a million dollars, paid off credit cards and mortgages, and the cure for COVID, but the odds are not good. Looks like it might be fruitcake all around. Based on Mummu’s advice, I love it, I wouldn't buy it for myself, therefore, it would be the perfect gift. Right?

“Remoted” Workday 175 / Day 262 (Thursday)

This could be fun!

According to my favorite local weather site, there is a winter storm watch in effect for Saturday morning through Sunday morning. This feels a little bit exciting and also like it might be time to pull the snow shoes from the backyard shed and place them in the front porch for easier access. Ditto for the skis and boots. The ski poles are all set, as they have been in the cargo area of the car since last winter, along with the yoga mat and a big umbrella. The shovels were placed into position at the front and back doors when it snowed already, whenever that was. 

Snow would be a nice changeup right now. Time has really become a blur and makes me think of the taffy machine that runs in the window of The Goldenrod in York Beach, Maine. The taffy stretches on the machine arms and loops and folds over and into itself in a rhythm, over and over and over again, and that is what a lot of the days over the past eight months feel like. Sometimes a new flavor gets tossed in and the color changes, but the basic framework and the process and the repetition are hypnotically the same.

The snow forecast makes me wish that last night in Ocean State Job Lot, when I heard the in-store announcement about driveway markers which I intended to get months ago, I had looked for them. When the announcement was made, I was deep into comparing the fiber content of the10 million pairs of socks. Then the next announcements were that the store was closing in 50-minutes, 30-minutes, 15-minutes, and to plan shopping accordingly. There was no time to browse the entire store, and driveway markers were forgotten until I arrived home.  

The snow might the nudge needed to shift from thinking about decorating for Christmas to actually doing the decorating. Maybe there could even be some snowy day baking. There was a panicked restocking of flour and sugar early in the work from home and rarely leave the house adventure and the bags are sitting untouched in the cabinet. The Saturday snow fantasy includes sitting on the couch snuggled in a big sweater and fuzzy socks with a cup of hot cocoa and a blanket. If it snows, it could be a very busy day.

“Remoted” Workday 174 / Day 261 (Wednesday)

Treats for the feet
and the new year.

After work, there was an evening excursion down Routes 495 and 2 to pick up insulin for Winston from the vet office. There was an accident on Route 2 that caused the moderate traffic to suddenly be backed up at a standstill. Luckily, thanks to many rides with Mom over the years, I was able to bail out at an exit before Waze had a chance to give reroute guidance. Mom knows every backroad in the region thanks to her keen sense of direction and dislike of highways. My once sharper sense of direction has deteriorated since the advent of online navigation and the extinction of paper maps which I used to enjoy poring over just to see where things are and which roads go where.

Walking out of the vet office in the darkness, I imagined being tackled in the parking lot and robbed of the insulin syringes. Clearly, I watch too many gritty crime stories, and may need to find something a little more lighthearted to watch. After leaving the vet, it was a stop at Ocean State Job Lot for the 2021 version of the daily journal book they carry that I’ve been buying for several years. It has a nice cover and a magnetic clasp, and is a great replacement for the wire bound version once sold by Wal Mart that was my favorite journal until they stopped carrying it. The six-dollar journal landed in the cart with a two-pack of socks claiming to be “super soft,” because these are the extravagances with which I shower myself. Ocean State is a crazy kingdom of socks, with multiple displays of so many socks.

Canal, mill building
and fuzzy light tree.

There was also an assortment of stuff from the grocery section including canned tuna, kalamata olives, capers, tomato chili pesto, cookies, more cookies, and chips. Shopping while hungry is never a good idea, and instead of healthy quick to fix supper upon arriving home, it was an even quicker dive into the honey barbecue chips and cranberry cookies. 

The ride home included the deliberately chosen route past City Hall plaza which is all lit and looks great. There were no open convenient parking spots so I didn’t park for a photo. Around the corner is the mill building with the giant Christmas tree of lights, which had a mile of open parking. The lighted tree turned out to be really hard to photograph with the phone camera. The canal water looks nice, but the tree is blurry, and that was when the shutter would actually even work and the photo would take. Maybe next time.

“Remoted” Workday 173 / Day 260 (Tuesday)

The photo of great-grandma
Minnie is found!

For the last month, the mornings started with a self-imposed urgency to pump out words before work began, and this morning, without that push, the start to the day felt a little weird. It was more relaxed and less energetic with the extra free time. There was light rewriting and reorganizing in the Herculean task of editing the messy document full of words. The magical missing moving box with some of the few old family photos in my custody was finally unearthed this morning. A brief celebration comprised of a fist pump to the air was enjoyed. There might have also been a little spin. There are still several other photos that are missing in action, but the one I had been laser-focused and looking for was great-grandma Minnie’s photo from when she became an American citizen in 1943 at the age of 72. Now she can take the place reserved for her on the wall. 

Work was mostly non-descript, pain-free, and largely okay until it began skidding sideways. Tasks that were believed to be wrapped up nicely with a bow and had been crossed off the list were resurrected like some suddenly undead movie monster. For the past four, maybe five months, it has not been safe to think a completed task is “done.” More times than not, there have been late-game changes, with “late” being after multiple reviews and final approval, and sometimes even after materials have been printed or messages delivered. It is so frustrating, there are times I just want to punch the wall, but my typing already stinks and broken hands will just make everything a hundred times harder. 

Ready for the mail!

After work, it was time to kick back and relax. There was minimal family research done, just for fun, because that is how I roll. The Christmas Cards ordered Saturday arrived today and were stuffed into the envelopes that were addressed on Sunday. If all goes according to plan, tomorrow morning a ride will be taken with the pups and the cards will be deposited into the drive-up mailbox at the Post Office, making it the earliest completion of holiday cards in my entire adult life. Usually it’s the 9^th or 10^th of December before I start panicking and scrambling to come up with some sort of an idea for a photo and then rush to make it happen.