“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 911 (Wednesday) – mixed bag

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of being back in the office and the switch to hybrid work. It was also the one-year anniversary of one of our team members. Because most of us are in the office on Wednesdays, today, there was cake. It was delicious. There was almost a jelly roll, too, but it met an untimely demise when it tumbled onto the asphalt parking lot. So sad, but an entertaining tale when we heard about it.

Hybrid work life has been a mix of mental and physical adjustments It’s been good. It’s been challenging (read "sometimes sucks"). 

Remote days are great for uninterrupted productivity and proximity to a stocked refrigerator and pantry. Online meetings are better from home thanks to having a built-in camera in the computer. The network connection can get wonky and accessing files takes longer, but nobody is around to hear the swearing. It gets lonely. The commute is nonexistent, but the days tend to start earlier with a login instead of a commute.

Cool sculpture downtown,
September 14, 2022.

Office days are great for human company and downtown walking breaks with interesting sights. They stink for the time suck of traffic and garage parking, interruptions, and office noise (especially sitting near the kitchenette and printer). Online meetings are difficult due to having to use the cell phone and speaker phone.

The world of office work has a new reality and is still evolving. Hopefully, the rough edges will smooth out instead of getting pointier. Within the office we have certain levels of control, but outside, the journey to the office seems to have gotten thornier.  It was a nice year of light traffic while it lasted. The past couple weeks have seen a sudden return to pre-pandemic volumes, stupid drivers blocking intersections and snarling traffic, and the accompanying road rage levels. Adrenaline is good, right? But probably not the ulcers.

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 910 (Tuesday) – trash night

It was a crazy long day, which started obscenely early. At 12:45 a.m., I got up to use the bathroom. Then Winston wanted to go outside. Then the fun began.

A red, regular-sized, not-SUV vehicle came down the street and executed a turn in the middle of the street in front of the house. It swung close to the fence and the front end knocked over the yard waste barrel, which had not been emptied in the trash day festivities. It seemed deliberate, or maybe the act of an impaired driver. The lid came off and the barrel fell to its side in the driveway.

The car then traveled the space of the shared driveway to the neighbor’s house, cut close to their stone wall, and tapped their wheeled trash bin, pushing it forward. The driver moved up alongside the bin and an arm extended from the open window and grabbed the top of the barrel. There was a bit of fumbling, and the car was driven away. With the bin wheeling alongside the car, held by the hand out the window. 

I went out and put the lid on the yard waste barrel, set it upright, and returned inside, went upstairs and got the phone. The car returned and made another three-point turn in front of the house, then headed back up the street. I reconsidered the wisdom of leaving the yard waste barrel on the street and pulled it to the end of the driveway close to the house and the empty trash and recycling bins.

Just taking someone's
trash bin for a drive.

The car returned. The headlights shone onto the storm door where I stood and I wondered if they thought it was a ghost and wished I was wearing a floaty, ghostly nightgown instead of drawstring pants and a tee shirt. This time, as the turn was executed and the car drove off, I saw that an arm was extended from the passenger side, clutching and dragging someone’s round plastic yard waste barrel on that side of the car. It bumped along the road and against the side of the car. Multiple cell phones were illuminated in the vehicle as if there was filming taking place. 

I was the audience for four acts of the hijinks. In Act IV I got a mostly obscured photo. The police were phoned at Act III, but the call dropped. Multiple times, often without ringing. Thank goodness it wasn’t a big emergency. Someone from the station called me back after Act IV of the performance and there was a complete conversation and a promise to send a patrol car over to “attempt contact” with the vehicle.

It was over except for the wondering. Is this the latest Tik Tok challenge? Frat House prank? National "take a stranger's trash bin for a ride" night? Is there a yard full of trash bins and yard waste barrels being held for ransom and what is the ransom? And the biggest question -- why did they not remove any of the three neighbor bins which are still in front of my house? Cripes, I cannot catch a break. All three still stood in front of the house at daybreak. And sunset. And even still.

It was hard to get back to sleep after that. There was the wondering. There was the paranoid worrying about retribution after potentially being seen in the doorway. It took a couple hours to get back to sleep, and then, just a few hours later, it was time to get up for work. Ugh.

The ruler of the workday seemed to be Mercury Retrograde, which began on the 9^th. There were problematic documents that suddenly opened as “read only” and wouldn’t allow requested edits to be made. Problematic content reviews. Network connections that kept dropping. Sudden changes requested to already approved content. Keyboard keys stuck. And so on. 

The day bumped along like a trash bin being dragged alongside a moving vehicle. It could be a long and interesting stretch until October 2. And will there be more trash bin thievery?

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 909 (Monday) – Finnish line

Today saw the start of a new adventures. Or more precisely, an enhancement to an ongoing adventure. After work, it was the first night of a ten-week, in-person, beginner level Finnish language class.  I packed a brand-new spiral bound notebook with a blue cover that is sort of like the blue in the Finnish flag and my favorite blue stick pen with blue ink.

I’ve known about the classes for several years, but the time was usually too early in the afternoon to work with work. This time, it lined up better with a start time after work. The hardest part might well be the hustle to get there in the midst of 5:00 traffic. 

Several of us have been learning with Duolingo, which is a good tool, but the self-study thing is kind of hard and lonely. The familiarity of Duolingo was helpful for making the sound of the language familiar, but an in-person teacher is significantly better for explaining the rules. Unlike the Duolingo lessons, we didn’t discuss cats who are Vikings, but we did learn a little about the KPT rule where there is no aspiration on those letters.

There are 13 of us in the class, and a nice mix of people with varying reasons to want to learn Finnish. A couple have Finnish spouses, most of us want to travel to Finland, and a couple have already been and want to return with knowledge of the language.

It's fun to have a thing to do that has a finish line of sorts (ha, ha) – better Finnish language skills and an endpoint at ten-weeks out. It’s fun to be doing it with a group of people who are pretty much at the same knowledge level. If it works out, there is another level to which to look forward. Jee!

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 908 (Sunday) – air traffic

Sunday morning noise maker.

The usual Sunday morning quiet was disturbed shortly before 9:00. A sound began in the sky and got louder and closer. I was outside in my pajamas and a chambray shirt, letting Winston out to the back yard. I saw it was a helicopter as it came closer to the house. In a rare doggy pottying event, the phone was not in my hand.

Once upon a time in Tennessee, I could recognize the sound of a Blackhawk or a Chinook flying over the house, but that’s because for six of those years I lived close to Fort Campbell, home of the 101^st Airborne, and they flew over constantly. I was also married to a retired soldier who would start talking about whatever helicopter was overhead the second he heard the first note, which was usually a bit after I did, because his hearing had some issues from his many years in the Army.

It’s been quite a few years since the heavy overhead helicopter traffic and home quizzes and I’m no longer well-versed on the specific sound profiles. The sound this morning was loud enough and raggedy enough that I thought for a minute I might be seeing a helicopter in distress spinning crazily on the way down to a rough landing. 

For about 30 to 45 minutes, the helicopter circled the area. The sound would disappear, and a few minutes later it would return. After the first very loud loop, it flew higher which was quieter. For several minutes, it hung high in the air between my house and the UMass North Campus. The best chance for a decent photo was the first loop when the cell was ion the house. Every time I heard it, I stepped out to the deck or the yard to check it out. Once, I even looked at the flowers on the deck that need watering.

The “Helicopters over Lowell” Facebook group was abuzz. Yes, that is actually a group, which I learned when checking to see if there was any news about the helicopter. There were eight posts and dozens of comments from people in the group who were asking about the helicopter and posting photos of the helicopter.

Deck flowers.

Multiple commenters said an abandoned car was found in the Merrimack at one of the bridges. Two different bridges were named, located on either side of my humble little ‘hood. The helicopter was with the Mass State Police. The car had been reported at 2:00 a.m. and when daylight broke, the only available helicopter was fogged in on the south shore.

And then, as quickly as the noise began, it was quiet. So was the Facebook group, and no additional info was learned.

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 907 (Saturday) – more of the same

It was another day of more of the same. Coffee drinking fueled grand ideas that dissolved when the caffeine wore off. The wardrobe changeover was initiated. A stack of “least favorite” items were set into a trash bag for the next round of pickups by either Big Brothers Big Sisters or Epilepsy Foundation. Usually, I’m not ready when the email arrives announcing the trucks will be in the area.

Winston, the best boy.

Agonizing began over an outfit for the wedding in two weeks. There is nothing appropriate in the closet that seems correct for the season or the event which also fits. I used to love fashion. I sewed clothes and assembling outfits was a hobby. Now it’s a source of stress three office days a week every week for the past year, plus any other time I need to leave the house. 

It’s a huge temptation to take most of the current clothing to the back yard and burn it, but that would probably result in a visit from the fire department and result in having nothing to wear, which would be worse than having a lot of stuff I no longer love. That’s the sad part. There used to be fondness for everything in the massive closet and now it’s all just too familiar, too boring, too much work.

Housework was contemplated, but didn’t quite pan out. There was a minor accomplishment in taking some stuff to the recycle bin. There was also a trip to St Vincent de Paul then Marshalls to look for something to wear to the wedding. Nope. Nada. But Marshalls had tons of fun Halloween decorations I didn’t buy.

Winston has been better about eating his food the past couple days, which is a relief. It might have a lot to do with the addition of the roasted chicken, but whatever works. He really springs to life after eating and when coming in from inside. He trots over by his cookie bowl to wait for his good boy bit of a cookie. Then he lounged about in his bed, on the floor, and on the couch, interrupted by numerous trips outside. Some of the outside visits seemed more for something to do than because he needed to potty.

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 906 (Friday) – large and in charge

It was a half-vacation day but once again and true to brand, it wasn’t all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. Ok, the weather played its part perfectly and there was ample sunshine and warm temperatures. Nice job, Mother Nature and thank you for delivering another lovely day.

Work was greatly productive and the morning flew by. Not accustomed to midday university traffic, I stupidly took the regular route home through the North Campus and was tied up in crawling, snarled lines of vehicles and heavy student skateboard, razer scooter, bicycle, and foot traffic everywhere.

The quick stop at the house was to liberate Winnie from his soggy diaper pants, let him outside, tell him what a good boy he is, and re-wrap him in a fresh diaper and belly band. The super important insulated lunch bag and ice packs were gathered and then it was back into the car for a ride to Fitchburg to pick up Win’s veterinary insulin from the vet. The vet hours and my work hours do not align very well. Like, not at all, thus the need to use vacation time. But he is 100% worth it because he is the best boy, best dog, best buddy anywhere.

Once the precious vials were procured and secured in the chilled bag, it was off to my sister’s house for a brief visit with her, Mom, and my middle niece. The youngest niece was already en route to Mansfield for a concert adventure to see bands I am far too old to know about. It made me sad thinking of all the wasted years of my youth spent working, dancing ballet, and not attending concerts. It just wasn’t part of my reality.

After the visit there was a stop at Big Lots for important and fun fall/Halloween items for a basket swap. The item gathering has been ongoing for a couple weeks and the random assortment is almost ready. It will be sent to a friend of a friend in Tacoma, Washington (whom I have never met) and I hope she likes it. Hot tip – Big Lots and Family Dollar have lots of fun and cool fall and Halloween decorative things. Everything I bought for the basket I would like to have myself, but I got sensible (<cough> frugal) and did not buy duplicates for myself. There will likely be regrets.

Once home, it was time for yet another random and unhealthy “supper.” There has been exactly zero interest in cooking lately and on Wednesday and Thursday nights supper was potato chips. That’s it,  just delicious, salty, slightly greasy, Market Basket store brand potato chips. Tonight, it was olive oil and sea salt ciabatta bread with seasoned olive oil, feta cheese cubes, and Kalamata olives. This was followed by the remainder of the chips and chased down with the beloved Finnish Original Long Drink while watching The Imperfects on Netflix. Single living is large and in charge at The BungaLowell.

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 905 (Thursday) – overcrowded conditions

Overcrowded conditions.

I’ve not done much work in Ancestry-dot-com lately. It’s so easy to forget. There has, however, been a good amount of book reading happening. Book club has gotten me back into the reading habit, and also the book buying habit. The tally is now around “probably more books than I will ever read.” The bookcases have taken on an extra overcrowded, shabby, appearance. Clearly, it’s time to expand the bookcase holdings. 

It’s really time for quite a lot of things, but just thinking about it is exhausting because they are boring grownup things that rank low on the fun meter. Fall housecleaning should happen before it gets too cold. The fall clothes need to be pulled out and summer clothes put away. The closet and drawers are also overcrowded and a clothing and footwear purge needs to happen.

More urgently, an outfit needs to happen for a wedding in two weeks. In my former, more creative life, I would have been buying fabric as soon as the save-the-date card arrived. Now, in the too small house with no space for the sewing machine to live, the idea of carving out a space to sew is overwhelming. It’s easier to shop.

Maybe the first thing to do is establish a system of rewards and prizes for completion of the boring tasks. This will take some creative thinking, which really just sounds like more work. In my younger days, it was easy, and the reward for accomplishing (or avoiding) any and all chores was shopping. Now, shopping is less fun, which is good, with the overcrowding conditions and all.