Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Back in the office full time, that is. Lots of friendly grousing about spending 8.5 hours in the building. And of course we were all stressing over the fucking ‘5 things you did last week’ nonsense. There was a lot of inconsistent information around that one, with every agency directing different actions (ignore it; send it; send it only to your supervisor; send it if you choose to but we won’t make you, etc.). Chaos and cruelty, by design.

Unrelated, pooping in the office is officially the worst, since we’ve gotten used to the washlet attachments on all our home toilets. The. Worst.

But hey, no regular telework equals not hauling the work laptop back and forth, so I was able to to consolidate things down to a smaller commuting bag after I got home this evening. That’ll be easier to lug on Metro.

And I managed to get part of the way through one of the books I was supposed to be reading in class this week, Leadership on the Line. Interesting case for dealign with the ways that people may (deliberately or inadvertently) sabotage your efforts to lead change, and how to recognize and prepare for those efforts. Good read thus far, glad they gave it to me before we left in December.

Pulled back on a couple of subscriptions today, just trying to take stock of spending and rein some in.

Last virtual meeting today with my small group from the training class. Hopefully we’ll see most of each other at the end of February. A couple might not make it because of 47’s order or other budget woes, but most should be there. What a mess. Also apparently now I need to do a lot of reading before we get there so we have more time to talk and need less reading time. Whee! Good thing I just finished the last big fantasy novel I was working on (the latest Brandon Sanderson tome).

Well, snow telework day. It finally started mid afternoon and we’re up to a couple of inches outside now. Lots of leftovers for lunch (ordered pizza last night), and various and sundry work messes to clean up as we attempt to normalize what 47 is doing.

It’s unclear if I’ll be attending the second half of the training course at the end of this month because he issued an order dissolving the training institute that’s putting on the training. Rumor is that as part of an orderly shutdown they’ll finish out the class that’s there now, and then have my class come down for our last two weeks (because we already paid them for the training last fall), at which point we’ll be the last ever class there. The whole point of the institute is to train federal employees in leadership skills, and as we know this team hates the idea of a profession, non-partisan civil service (because he just wants yes-men), so it makes some sick sense that they’d close one of the ways that we maintain that professional civil service. Depressing, really.

The training went really well, aside from a cold (or maybe covid?) that someone brought with them, post-Thanksgiving. No closed-circuit TV to the rooms at the facility like there is at my first agency’s training center, so it was show up or miss out. Lots of masking, but the second week drug on with the cold.

But, the whole experience was really, really good. First week was like ‘federal manager boot camp’, with lots of exercises designed to break down emotional/vulnerability barriers with a small team, then the second went into shorter, more applied courses. I took the negotiating class and the difficult conversations workshop. The latter was repetitive of much of the rest of the material, so I could’ve done something else, but it was still good reinforcement of the other materials.

Two more weeks in late February/early March. Difficult part will be keeping up with the reading in the interim, and keeping some momentum to change things at work, both personally and for the office.

I was semi-hopeful that they had a deal to extend funds, but that apparently blew up when some of the majority party balked at doing their basic constitutional duty to fund the government. A shame, because the original date was beyond my training dates, so I could’ve booked the travel and not had to worry about rescheduling if there’s a lapse at that point. Meh.

The dishwasher works well. The boy is still around. I’m running again. I’m almost done with my coaching exam. Work is boring at the moment, but that’s not a bad thing.

That’s the short version.

My newbies finished their first race this past weekend. Got out there, took a bunch of pictures, wore down the battery (discovered the power saving settings a bit late), and generally had a good time seeing them finish their first race. Sad that I’ll be missing the party this weekend for them, but family duty calls – instead I’ll be down at the parental units’ place for a family reunion. Whee. I’m sure I’ll be happy to see them all once I’m down there, but in the meantime I’m just annoyed at the timing. First world problems. But the race was a good bit of enthusiasm to finish up the coaching exam, too. Almost there, just a couple more questions. Then comes to fun part of working on a new plan for next year’s newbies.

The boy. What to say there? I’m smitten. Really, really enjoying dating him. Makes me a bit frustrated that I own my apartment in a building that doesn’t allow dogs, as there’s no way to get out of here easily, and no way to move him in (were his job able to allow him to). Yeah, that smitten that we’ve talked moving in already. And I’d do it in a heartbeat, were I able to. I had a five year plan that I was developing before I met him to fix things here (kitchen!) and give myself some more options. That’s still here, but there’s more of a sense that it’s truly a five year plan with a more definite outcome than just ‘options’. Funny how that works.

In the meantime I’m spending a lot of time up at his university home (walking the dog). We’re running together in the mornings (he asked me to help him get started on running). Cooking more up there (I missed cooking for someone else – it tends to focus me more on doing something more than just convenience foods or last minute stuff). I’ve seen more movies in a theater in the last 2 months than I have in the last 3 years (when I can look at listings and think, ‘damn, seen all those already’ you know it’s bad). I actually miss sleeping next to him when I stay down here at home (he’s spoiling me there). So, yeah, smitten.

Left work, left DC, headed out to the midwest this weekend to get the training I need for my coaching certification from USA Triathlon. So far, it’s been really good. Lots of stuff to process and internalize, both for my newbies and for myself. The presenters have been good, though it was obvious the first was an educator as well as a coach, where the second was just a coach without so much of the educator vibe.

My back is complaining from the awful chairs they have us in, but some stretching tonight should help.

Getting to see my friend Troy this evening, part of the reason I chose this locale over Baltimore last month. He’s been out to see me a couple times in DC, so I’m returning the favor.

Debating a nap before we head out.

Work, with the shutdown drama, was absolutely nuts. The craziest I’ve ever seen it for my office. And it’s likely we’ll get to go through this in September/October again, unless Congress can get their collective act together and pass the bills on time, for the first time in well over a decade. Highly unlikely, so I imagine stress levels will rise again in 5 months. Plus we have to update all the old guidance we were forced to rely upon in the meantime, to reflect the new legal realities of the structure of the Big Gubm’nt Agency. Thank heavens we hired the 2nd appropriations attorney. I don’t think we could have done it all with just myself and my two supervisors.

Finished the 2nd book by Taubes, Why We Get Fat. More accessible than the first book, much less dense, but no less annoying in regard to bad dietary advice from much of the establishment. Not quite sure how to work in any of the changes, if at all, but I suspect I shall be modifying my diet a bit in the coming months. Again. In addition to modifying my training. Need to dial down my expectations, do some strength and flexibility work, and slowly build myself back up. Looking back now, I just wiped myself out with the IM, then backed off way too much without a recovery plan, didn’t modify my eating sufficiently, added all the work stress, and just killed my body. And then expected to pop back to “normal” runs and what not without any sort of base. Dumb, dumb, dumb. So, time to slow down, come back slowly, and build myself back properly.

The cult co-op’s annual meeting wasn’t so bad. The usual suspects got up and spouted their insanties, and we got through it without a lot of other nonsense. Of course, they started half an hour late, and we barely had quorum, but hey. I did finish a baby sock, got back to the apartment all excited about it, only to realize that when I did the first one I must’ve skipped a step (a few plain knitted rows) because the original is much shorter in the leg than the one I just finished. Crap. I so fail at reading directions sometimes. So much for giving the co-worker with the new baby a pair of baby socks next week.

Did manage to sleep fairly well last night, bourbon notwithstanding. I think it helped that it was a nice, calm, peaceful night out chatting calmly with a charming gentleman in a not-too-obnoxious bar. After we left the one that was doing drag bingo, that is.

I get to skip work entirely tomorrow in favor of my one (one) professional development activity for the year – the annual approps law update over in the legislative branch. Huzzah. Then it’s work HH, followed by club HH. I’ll have to pace myself. And drink lots of water. And take taxis. But since I am working on Friday, I’ll definitely behave as hangovers at work are teh suxors. It’s not like I’ve been bad lately anyway, as evidenced by my surprisingly higher than ever before in my ten years as a fed sick leave balance. I keep this up I might get to a higher sick leave balance than my annual leave balance, which would be a definite plus since it means I could start using sick leave for doctor’s appointments instead of annual leave, and save the “good stuff” for real vacations like this June’s.

While today was about quiet contemplation and recovery, tomorrow has to be about cleaning. Ick! Place is a mess, and I need to do beau coup laundry. My massage table hasn’t moved from the front hallway yet because I need to vacuum its normal resting spot before it goes back. Oy.

I think I’m headed to an LYS tomorrow, too. Friend of mine has expressed an interest in starting knitting, and far be it for me to refuse help there. Probably pick up some 7s and some simple yarn and start him on a scarf.

I finished all but the thumb on the first of the pair of gloves I’m doing for our secretary at work. They look really good – I purposefully loosened my style versus the ones I did for myself and I’m quite pleased at the results.

Speaking of mine, I’m wearing them tonight as I head up to the Eagle for Flogging 101, and it’s nice to have some warmth but still be able to tap this out on the phone. I did discover an end I’m going to have to work back in tomorrow, but that shouldn’t present too much of a difficulty.

* * *

Okay, flogging 101 was a lot of fun. Ran into one of my buddies from CBE this past weekend. Turns out he’s on the board of SIGMA, which (along with seeing the new schedule of play dates) was enough to convince me to renew my membership. Will have to send them a check this week.

The flogging itself was interesting. Learning how to hold yourself, how to hold the flogger, where to strike, how to vary your striking, etc. Started hitting newspaper, moved up to someone’s back. Definitely can see the attraction of it, from both sides. Might have to add a flogger to my repertoire come MAL this January. One guy recommended one particular vendor who should be there. Will have to check them out. I could see getting to like doing this.

And, slight change of plans for the evening and into tomorrow. Kento is heading through DC and crashing at my place this evening when he gets here. It will be good to see him, even if it was unexpected.

WTF? Hot lawyers, and they’re all straight, and married, and that’s the story of my life.

Cookout at my friend L’s place in SE DC with her and her husband and their friends from the DOD. She’s one of 2 people, perhaps three that I’ve stayed in touch with from undergrad. It was good to see them both and their friends, and I enjoyed seeing them all.

I swear, I can’t get my father’s words out of my head, “We wish your attention span were longer.” That was so cutting a comment, and felt so true. Seeing people my age with kids 7 and up didn’t help. It would likely be easier if I didn’t get along with kids so well, either. I do sort of miss that, even if I don’t particularly want to raise children of my own. I wish I were closer to my nieces. i do miss seeing more of them as they grow up.

IM training started this week. It’s been okay so far, but then again, at two days in I should hope it would be okay. Did light weights tonight for the first time in forever and a day. I’m sure I’ll feel it tomorrow, though I didn’t do terribly much, in keeping with the long hiatus. It’s the whole trying to fit in 3 workouts per sport plus weights, plus have time to cook food, work, sleep, and perhaps even have a small social life. When push came to shove, weights went out the window. Going to try and not succumb to that in this cycle.

This past weekend meant two days headed over to the local festival in BC’s home community, which meant two days of festival food. Mmm, grease. The art and what not was fun, though, as was wandering through with his parents, and assorted friends we ran into.

On the gaming front I picked up Halo 3 when I was at home, because I found it on sale for 1/3 off. So far it’s kicking my ass on “normal” mode. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it eventually, but for the nonce I’m dying a lot. Still haven’t beaten Overlord, though I’m getting toward the end. I started getting a bit better at SSBB while home, and still stink at Mario Kart. That’s about the extent of it, I think – everything else is in abeyance.

I think I’m going to take the red cross CPR/First Aid classes this winter, after the IM. I need the refresher for the first aid portion, and if I ever did learn CPR it’s long forgotten now. Useful skills to have, and requirements for some other things I’m contemplating, but don’t want to discuss quite yet.