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Is This Thing On?: Five Things Make an Extremely Belated Post
Well, hello. There's no way I'm going to catch up on over six months of life in one DW post, so I'm not even going to try. But the highlights:
The last time I wrote about work, I had just started going into a new-to-me office in downtown Oakland. Long story short, my employer closed that office in November (not a surprise since hardly anyone was ever there), so I am now officially permanently full-time remote. I spent about a week quietly freaking out about this, until the Facilities team reached out to me and offered to rent me an office. So now I have a private office at a co-working space (similar to WeWork, but it's a different company called Regus) in downtown San Francisco, which suits me very well. Although I would rather work in an office where I would see my actual co-workers (there are a few other folks with the same set-up, but they're all at different locations), realistically that wasn't happening in Oakland anyway, and my new commute is even shorter -- I could even walk, if I wanted. So it's worked out about as well as I could have expected. I did attend my first in-person work meeting since the pandemic, at the main office in DC, and it was really fantastic to actually be in the same room with people, meeting co-workers face-to-face who I'd only ever seen on a computer screen. I hope we get more opportunities like that.
2022 was a bit of a year for me on the health front. It actually started in Fall 2021, when I had an abscess that didn't heal properly, and I needed surgery to correct it in February 2022, which I have been referring to as "my butt surgery" (so that probably tells you more than you wanted to know; but if anyone has questions I'm happy to answer them). The surgery and recovery went well, but the whole process also served to trigger some long-simmering anxiety issues that hit me hard, to the point where I got dizzy every time I walked anywhere and it became difficult for me to cross the street. So in April I got myself referred to therapy. I spent about six months doing talk therapy, which was helpful but my therapist thought I would benefit from a trauma specialist. So I've been six months with the new guy (confusingly, they are both named David) and it's definitely helping, as is a low dose of Prozac. It's not a miracle drug or anything, but it took the edge off and I can cross streets now (although down escalators are still not my favorite). The last thing was a diagnosis of arthritis in my left knee; given my family history and the fact that I injured it in childhood and it was never really the same, this isn't exactly a surprise, but I hoped I'd have more time. I'm doing exercises and stretches which help some, but I'm sure more invasive therapy is in my future sooner or later. Ah, the joys of being 50.
So yeah, I turned 50 in March. Time comes for us all. I didn't get my act together for as much of a celebration as I might have liked, but my friends R & S hosted a birthday brunch for me along with
enf, whose birthday is the day after mine. Then T and I hopped up to Napa for the day where we had a fancy lunch and bought many tasty treats, and it was a gorgeous day, a welcome respite from the five million storms we had this winter (maybe you've heard about those; fortunately we live in a neighborhood that isn't at risk of floods or mudslides, but there were a lot of messes around us and I sure got tired of rain).
We continue to live in pandemic mode, even though much of the world has moved on. I do still wear a mask in most indoor settings and avoid indoor restaurant dining as much as possible (T won't do it at all). Maybe it's not necessary, but the fact is that, between cautious behavior and good fortune, I still haven't gotten COVID (as far as I know), and I would prefer to keep it that way. And it's not a big deal for me to wear a mask on transit, or in the grocery store, or at the theater, etc., even if most other people aren't. T's unwillingness to dine indoors, even in the worst weather, is starting to become a concern, but now that spring is upon us it will hopefully be less of an issue for awhile. The bigger deal is that I've finally coaxed him back onto an airplane, and we're going to take our first two real vacations since September 2019: Hawaii at the end of the month, and Maine for a friend's wedding in July. I am super excited for both of these trips and can't believe that Hawaii is only about two weeks away! Unfortunately, though, the trip conflicts with WisCon, so I won't be attending in person. It was a tough decision but ultimately it made the most sense for me. I do plan to attend at least some events virtually.
CW for pet loss and cancer. So probably the most significant thing that's happened since I last posted here is that we said goodbye to Tori. As long-time readers of this journal may remember, my cat Tori lived with many chronic health conditions over the years, some more difficult than others, but for the most part she was a happy kitty living a good life. Maybe a year or so ago, she started losing weight even though she was eating well, and she was diagnosed with likely lymphoma -- given her age and generally fragile health, we decided not to put her through the wringer of invasive testing, so we never knew for sure, but it fit with her history and symptoms. So we moved to a kitty hospice mindset, doing what we could to keep her comfortable and happy, and she remained mostly stable until January of this year, when it became clear she was declining rapidly. So after over 17 years, we let her go. It was sad and hard, but so obviously the right decision that I'm also at peace with it. But I still miss her.
Because she needed a lot of care in the last few months of her life, T asked for a bit of a cat break, and I agreed that we should take a little time. So even before she passed, we agreed not to open the conversation on adoption until after our trip to Maine this summer. I will almost certainly be ready for a new cat by then, but we'll see how he feels about it.
no subject
Yay for birthday and vacations and meeting coworkers! And sympathies on health stuff and pandemic stuff.
(It sounds like T may be somewhere in the same ballpark as me on COVID caution—I’ve been on planes (wearing the MicroClimate AIR 2 mask/helmet or other stronger-than-usual protections), but I’m not eating at restaurants even when they’re outdoors. So especially sympathies on the difficulties of not-quite-matching caution levels and of seeing most of the people around you returning to normal.)
no subject
Thank you!
(I think T's level of caution is indeed similar to yours, except he's more willing to be unmasked outside (outdoor restaurant dining is fine with him, for example, as long as he feels like there's enough airflow). I am starting to be more okay with the occasional indoor meal, though, especially in situations where I'd otherwise miss out like the trip to DC this month. So we're having to negotiate more often.)