Afternoon all

Seems like the job woes are with us again. Michelle I hope things go okay for your DH. What a wonderful boss - not! Was the server going down a fault of your DH's?? I think not. I am familiar with the theory of the stellar personal review and the fall from grace as soon as the proverbial hits the fan. That's why I work for myself.

Happy - one foot in front of the other and keep plodding along. The real estate market is a strange one. All go and all stop but there are times when the right person comes along for the right house. Are you thinking of trying temp work or get a permanent job? How long before you finish there? You may also find you have to work up there for a period of time as well. Best not to get too far into the retirement mode just yet.

Annie - 19 days to go. Hope it goes fast for you. The garden is coming along well by the sound of it.

Laura - holiday sounds great. There is a great Chinese Garden in Vancouver. Dr Chen Li or something similar. It was so pretty and so peaceful. There is some wonderful scenery around that part of the world. Hope you have a great time. I wouldn't mind putting that on the must see, must do list next time I travel that way.

Mel - glad the hysterical laughter went a ways to making you feel better. Pity we are not closer, we could do it in person. Two old girls rofl. Would make a good sight for the seniors I am sure.

Ceejay - good for you and the bike travels.

Seems you have all had some horrible temperatures and humidity problems over there. We had Oklahoma on the news the other night. How horrible. And some folk have the gall to say that we are not suffering from climate change. Phooey.

Anyway, I suppose I had better think about dinner. I don't really think I want any anyway but DS2 might. I should just continue getting ready for R to come this weekend.

LONG DAY YESTERDAY. THE HOT WATER INSTALLATION WENT TOTALLY WRONG. ALL THE MISTAKES WERE ON OUR PART.
VERY SAD. THE POOR PLUMBER ALMOST GOT THE BLAME. TENANTS WENT NUTS AND THREATENED TO CALL THE POLICE
LIKE WHAT WERE THE COPS SUPPOSED TO DO??? ARREST THE MAINTENANCE MEN??
JOHN WENT HOME SICK DUE TO THE HEAT BUT IS COMING IN TODAY I HOPE. I JUST LEFT NOTES FOR HIM FROM YERSTERDAY'S FIASCO.
THIS WEATHER IS KILLING THEM. THE ROOM THEY'RE WORKING IN HAS TO OVER A HUNDRED DEGREES. NO OXYGEN.
I GAVE THEM A FAN. THEN WE COMMUNICATED BY RADIO. WAY TOO HOT FOR ME AND MY TIRED LUNGS.
I MAY BE AN OLD FOOL BUT I AM NOT STUPID YET!

NOTHING ELSE IS NEW. SAME OLD CRAP HERE. GOOD DAYS & BAD.
HAPPY WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY




HAPPY........MY HEART IS JUST BROKEN FOR YOU AND THE JOB HUNT. SENDING ALL MY PRAYERS OUT YOU
FOR THAT AND THE SALE OF THE HOUSE. IT DOES SEEM LIKE THE WORLD IS A SAD PLACE TO LIVE IN RIGHT NOW
ALL AROUND. NO LOYALTIES. YOU CAN ALWAYS COME AND LIVE WITH ME



LAURA...HOPE YOU GOT TO THE MOVIE AND IT WAS A GOOD ONE. WE COULD USE A DISTRACTION!!


CEEJAY.....WOW YOU GO ON THE BIKING GOOD FOR YOU. I JUST BEGAN MY PEDALING
OVER THE WEEKEND. WE CAN MEET IN THE MIDDLE!!



ANNIE......STAY COOL AND TAKE THE JOB OF LOADINGUP ALL THE FRIDGES!!!
YOU CAN STAND IN FRONT OF THEM WITH THE DOORS WIDE OPEN
HOW'S THE DD & THE ????


MICHELLE......GLAD TO HEAR SOME OF THE FILES WERE RECOVERED AND HOPE EVERYTHING WITH DH & HIS JOB ARE OK TODAY.
THIS MONTH IS TOPSY TURVY MONTH. HAPPY EXERCISING AND BE CAREFUL!!!
**HOPEFULLY JOHN WILL COME IN TODAY AND GET TO THE POST OFFICE. IT'S BEEN BAD TIMING OVER HERE. SORRY.
AND THE OFFICE IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A PRE-AUDIT.



SHAD.......HOPE THE WEEKEND VISIT GOES WELL AND EVERYONE IS HAPPY. WE CAN SEND SOME HEAT AND SUN
SHOULD YOU RUN OUT AND NEED IT.
I COULD JUST SEE THE TENANTS WITH THER TWO OF US TOGETHER.
MIGHT BE MORE THAN THEIR LITTLE ADDLED BRAINS CAN TAKE...BUT WAIT....MINE IS ADDLED TOO!

Early morning doctor's appointment (endochronologist) and then lunch with a friend. There is no way I can quit work or take a package before we sell this house here. I am trying to keep optomistic. The boss is talking to her peers and I am also trying to do some networking. There is ugliness amongst the team that I don't understand at all. Apparently they have gone to to many managers meetings where they have slapped each other on the back and told themselves that they are wonderful. Boss told them to have a little compassion and told them what is going on. Yesterday was a po'd day, today feels like a weepy one and I HATE that more than anything else. I guess a good long wait at the doctor's office and him yelling about my weight is just what I need to get fired up

Have to jump in the shower now - will try and post personals tonight. Thank you for all all your kindnesses and things that make me

OMGoodness...I got on my digital scale this morning and it said 770 lbs. Then I realized the batteries needed replaced. Talk about a wake up call...lol

Went boating with a friend after work yesterday. The water was really a little on the warm side, but we had fun anyways. Got off the water about 8pm came back to my house and made a HUGE salad and grilled teriyaki chicken breast to put on top of the salad. It was so good and filling. Was in bed by 10 pm. ahhhhhhh, relaxing evening. Back to the grind today tho, both jobs.

MELLIE....life is never dull with the seniors. Hope all the plumbing problems are behind you now. What a mess. Sissy is doing much better these days. She has a doc appt tomorrow and may find out the sex of the baby.

CHELLE....I am so proud of you for staying OP while going through all this h*ll. I am sure the scales will reward you and congrats on the 12 lb loss...marvelous.

Happy...hugs to you, I will pray for a perfect job just for you, quickly. Things truly happen for a reason, but danged if I can ever figure them out.

Shaddie...I agree with you on the climate change...I think there are many changes going on besides climate. It is all so strange.

Ceejay...good for you on biking...keep going and make it a habit.

Hello's to Laura and Ellen.....

Love and Hugs,

Morning all.

Happy - I cannot imagine working long hours at a job that is going away - but you have to do what you have to do. When is your last day? Praying you find another job until your house sells. Enjoy lunch today w/ your friend. Bf and I will be taking a day trip to Victoria from Port Angeles (via ferry), which will probably not allow for visiting a garden there, but I have to guess there is at least one other beautiful garden in the Seattle or Vancouver area to be visited....

Shad - And you just happened to have a recommendation for another garden - thanks for that. I'll check into it. You are so right about the right person, right house - and let me add - right PRICE. As for putting off retirement - last night I caught up on two of the Suze Orman shows I'd dvr'd and she's been advising people to put off retirement until 67 or even 70. I'm sure the government will be going that route too re Social Security.

Mel - Sorry the hot water heater install was a fiasco. And the poor plumber working in the hot hot room and then almost being strung up by a nasty mob of seniors! Glad you stayed away and communicated remotely!! Sorry, I did not get to the movies last night, so no distractions...more later. You take care today and don't overdo the pedaling. When's your next doc appointment - how do confirm that all that ickiness is out of your gut??

Annie - The boating and dinner sounded like a great evening. LOL re the 770 scale reading.

Michelle - I'll have to solicit some must-see spots from you for Seattle/Vancouver. I hope DH is having a better day - totally unfair to blame him for a computer crash. And I hope your new project hasn't been too hellish!

Hellos to Ceejay and Ellen!

Late last week the boss told us a replacement for the sr. mgr was hired (starts next month) and I was thinking of his predecessor and intended to phone her. She ended up e-mailing me yesterday and we're going to have lunch in a couple weeks. That'll be nice.

Well, I had a small Frosty from Wendy's at lunchtime yesterday and it didn't agree with me at all and I suffered a "digestive" issue in the afternoon/evening. Why did I eat that??? Between that and bf having the car for some work stuff, I didn't make it to the movies. And they ended up seeing "Horrible Bosses" which I had wanted to see. Bummer. Oh well, I suppose I'll catch it on Netflix. I didn't exercise either. So yes, I was a total slug last night.

My bike handlebars haven't arrived yet, nor my water pill rx. I have a followup appt w/ the doc in a few weeks and if I don't get the stupid pills soon there won't be any time to see if it's doing me any good. Whatever. I might have to reschedule it.

Today is a stress management seminar at lunchtime today. I'll pass along any tips I get - these are stressful times for us Worldlies.

Tonight I should be able to get to an exercise class - but let's hope nothing else comes up to put a wrench into that.

Okay, back to it.

Laura...stress management seminar sounds like something you need from reading your prior paragraphs. I think life is just more and more stressful anyway so I will look forward to your tips. Have a wonderful afternoon, my dear.

Hi ladies -

DH got a call from work late last night. The same server crashed again...another hard drive failed and had to be replaced. He had to go into work to replace that hard drive. Hopefully no more fail...at least not for a few days when the additional hard drives he ordered finally arrive. Also, the improved data backup plan that he submitted last year has finally been approved for funding so he can implement it over the next couple weeks. Poor guy. But at least...for now anyway...his job seems a little more secure.

This is an insanely busy day for me...trying to work on the HUGE PROJECT FROM H*LL and also trying to prep for a meeting this afternoon. I was going to do lunch with a friend...but I just don't have time today.

We're having dangerously high heat indexes today (between the heat/humidity, it'll feel like 110). We got HUGE, LOUD thunderstorms that shook the house last night and made us wake up from a sound sleep. At least we got quite a bit of badly needed rain.

I did ball Zumba last night along with three 30 second planks. I really needed those endorphins.

*************************************

Ceejay - Good for you for riding the bike!

Laura - I loved the corn/popcorn "is it hot out?" photo!! Did the storms make it down to IL last night? Hmmmm, I wonder why Suze is advising people to put off retirement? I know that DH and I will HAVE to...no choice in the matter. I'll try and come up with some must-see spots for you. It's been 20+ years since I was there. Not sure if I can remember that far back. How nice that you're staying in touch with the former sr. mgr. In this awful heat, I don't blame you for being a slug. I will probably be a bit of a slug today. Hope you enjoy the stress management seminar...I definitely think we all could use some pointers.

Happy - Bummer that you don't live closer or I'd take that diet soda off your hands. I so hope your house sells quickly so that you move soon. Sending : and prayers your way. I think I must've missed something. You said earlier your position is being eliminated. So is there a set last day? Then you said there's no way you can quit or take a package. Are they offering one? If it's too upsetting...you don't need to explain. It does really suck that here you and DH planned so well for your retirement and you're so close...only to find you may have to get a new job. UGH! And all the dang office politics going on at your place. I agree with Laura...I can't imagine working extra hours (without overtime pay, right?) at a job that is going away. I hope the doc appointment went well. I'm sure all the stress can't be helping your blood sugar and your hormones.

Shad - I agree with ya'...with all this crazy heat...how are people say we don't have climate change?! We normally don't get hot/muggy weather like this in July, and certainly not for two weeks straight! Hope you have a great day!! What fun things are you doing to do with R this weekend?

Mel - Bummer that the hot water installation went completely wrong. How crazy that the tenants were going to call the cops! What could they do? I hope John feels better soon. This heat/humidity is awful. I feel so bad for those who have to work outside or in places where there's no A/C. With all the heat/humidity, you stay cool. Stay in the A/C, stay hydrated, and don't overdo the pedaling.

Annie - 770 lbs, huh? did you overeat a little last weekend? definitely time to get new batteries. Glad you had a nice time on the boat. And I'm so glad to hear that your DD is doing better.

Gonna go grab a bite to eat, then it's back to the project, then off to a meeting.

Lots of love and hugs,

Having internet problems at work so this will be short and hope it will post.

Annie
Dinner and boat ride sounded good.

Laura
Sorry the Frosty gave you "digestive" problems.

Mel
Oops for the plumbing problems. Good for you in staying in touch through the radio and staying out of the heat.

Michelle
Maybe the dh's boss has seen the era of her ways' even though she will probably not admit it.

Happy
-Hope things can be straightened out at work

Shad
I'm beginning to think that there is something to this climate change.

Not much is going on at work nor at home. It's still hot outside.

The stress management session was a bit of a snooze. There was one interesting part that discussed a study that showed the relationship between the amount of changes in people's lives and their risk of illness. So there was a list of all kinds of life events, then a point value. If you checked off events that applied to you and your score was 300 or more, you supposedly have an 80% chance of having a significant health problem in the near future, 50% for 150-300, and 30% below 150. People who experienced life events who didn't get sick tended to have the following in their lives: 1) control 2) commitments outside of their normal activities and 3) challenges. The techniques weren't anything new - contracting and releasing muscles, deep breathing, and visualization.

Annie - I agree - life is definitely more stressful now!

Michelle - Sure, now they approve funding for data backup - after two crashes. We didn't get rain out by the house, but there were big puddles downtown this morning.

Ceejay - Maybe the internet cables melted in the heat, haha.

I haven't been out since this morning, but the boss went out for a walk, but came back and said she'd only made it as far as the corner because it's so hot. I left my sandals on, but my feet got cold so I put on some shoes and socks.

TOMORROW IS WALMARTS FOLLOWED BY AN EMERGENCY MEETING FOR THE GROUND BREAKING OF THE NEW BUILDING IN SEPTEMBER.
NOT SURE IF I WILL GO TO WALMARTS BUT WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW. THE A/C IN THE BUS IS WORKING BUT MINIMALLY WILLY HAS SAID.
SO I WILL SEE IF TOMORROW IS WORSE THAN TODAY.
THERE JUST IS NO AIR ANYWHERE HERE.
JEN CALLED AND SAID IT WAS TOO HOT FOR HER TO WALK TG THE POOL.
THE 2 KIDS HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN THEIR FRIEND'S TRAILER.
JEN IS HAPPY! ROFLMAO SHE SOUNDS GOOD BUT IS SAD & MISSING HER MUM. ME TOO..... MISSING HER TERRIBLY.
HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT DAY TOMORROW



HAPPY......LORD WHAT CAN I SAY. STAY STRON MY SOUTHERN FRIEND AND WE'LL BE SENDING OUR BEST VIBES FOR A SOLUTION TO THIS MADNESS



CEEJAY...... HOPE YOU BEAT THE HEAT AND THE INTERNET AT WORK HOLDS UP. JEN JUST CALLED AND HER PHONE IS ACTING UP. WAS WONDERING IF YOU FOUND A BATTERY YET???



LAURA....WOW!! A LOT GOING ON IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS. SORRY YOU MISSED THE MOVIE AND BHOPE THE TUMMY FEELS BETTER. I HAD SOME VANILLA ICE CREAM TWO NIGHTS BEFORE AND SPENT THE NEXT MORNING IN THE LOO!! YES.....WHY DO WE DO THES THINGS??
hope you get the bike sorted out and get outside with it....just as good not now with this heat!!! OOPS....LOST MY CAPS. THE HOPSITAL DR RELEASED ME AND SAID IF I HAVE ANYMORE PROBLEMS TO CALL. EVERY DAY IS GETTING BETTER BUT VERY SLOWLY....LIKE SNAIL SLOW.....I STARTED TAKING ALEVE AND THE PROBLEM AREAS FEELS A LITTLE BETTER WITH IT. THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH INFLAMMATION GOING ON. WE'LL SEE HOW THE MONTH PANS OUT. ;dancer:

ANNIE....I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT THE SEX OF THE BABY IS. wE CAN CELEBRATE OVER THE INTERNET TOGETHER I AM GLAD SHE'S DOING OK....MAKE SURE SHE WATCHES THE HEAT. SOMETIMES YOU DON'T KNOW IT'S BOTHERING YOU FOR A FEW DAYS :nonono:



MICHELLE....SURPRISE....JOHN CAME IN AND MAILED THE PACKAGE!!! SHOULD BE THERE SOON. BETWEEN DH AND HIS JOB AND ALL THE CRASHING...YOU TWO MUST BE PULLING YOUR HAIR OUT. HOPE THE JOB IS SAFE AND SECURE FOR NOW AND GLAD THEY APPROVED THE FUNDING!!

Ceejay - Bummer about the internet problems. Glad you were able to post though. I hope you're able to stay cool despite the heat.

Laura - Yep, sounds like the same ol' stuff regarding stress management. I've seen those checklists and in the past have had scores well over 300 (moving, death in the family, new job, etc.). For me, it usually helps to vent, but by far the best stress management is movement. If I can just literally walk away for awhile, then I can *usually* calm down. And after a stressful day, there's nothing like a good sweaty workout! It's horribly hot here. The meeting I had to go to was off-site at another office location. And just walking from the buildings to my car felt like walking in a sauna! UGH!

Mel - Ya' snuck in! If the bus A/C isn't working good enough, please DON'T GO TO WALMART! This heat is nothing to mess around with. A lot of people here in WI are getting very, very sick from the heat. Too hot for Jen to walk to the pool? I totally believe it! I can imagine how much you two are missing each other. I hear ya' about getting better slowly...just remember that at least you are getting better and please don't overdo it and have a setback. I have to tell myself that all the time, especially when I get frustrated at the snail slow progress. So nice of John to mail the package. Thank you and thank him.

Morning all.

Michelle - good to see things are looking up a bit for the DH at work. I have a bit of a problem with a company that doesn't have a decent disaster management plan in place and has to find funding for it. I would have thought that it was a given. Servers and server farms fail frequently. Maybe this example should be outed as a 'what not to do'

Darn, clicked the wrong button. Must run in the family this week. DS1 had the same problem on Facebook.
Michelle - I see that they did have some sort of plan in place. Must be a darn good one (not) if the darn farm keeps failing.

Annie - don't work too hard, the idea of standing in front of the freezer with the doors open sounds like a plan to me. Good on you for going boating. Dinner sounds yummy.

Ceejay - stay cool out of the heat. Maybe it is the heat that is causing all the computer problems over there.

Happy - can't pretend to understand exactly what is going on with that job. Sounds like a perfectly horrible situation to me. Have you put that house on the market yet? If they are making the job redundant, then how come you are still there? If the job is redundant, why the big hours? I know I am picking at sores, but to understand how things are unfolding I need to ask questions. I know this is a bad time to have to sell a house over there. Not all that good over here either. Time to calm down, think about the next step and the one after and work on from there. Chasing your tail isn't going to help the situation. Do not try to fire from all fronts. It does no good and takes its toll on your health.

Mel - Have some strange visions of a posse of seniors stringing up the plumber. The man must be shaking in his boots. Take care in the heat over there and ensure you stay hydrated. Drying out won't solve any problems. Tell Jen I said to drink more as well. Summer will be gone in a few weeks - you may begin to call yours the summer of natural disasters as we have christened our last summer.

Laura - sometimes I wonder about those seminars. As far as I can work out from talking to people who have done it (retirement I mean), including my Dad some years back - you have to plan out your time. You have to have things to look forward to. You need to think about how you will use this time when you no longer have to work for a living. I've known people who have embraced their retirement and those who have drifted into it and by far the happiest are those who have planned, thought and embraced their special time for as long as it lasts. Men in particular seem to have problems adapting unless they have planned the journey.
The stress factors work whether you are still working or not. It's how you decide to deal with them that makes life go on.
Over here the powers that be have declared that you have to work to 67 now and not 65 before you can claim the Old Age Pension (OAP). So unless you are self funded, you will work to 67. I will be working past that probably. And that is not too many years ahead. How much longer I will have my health and faculties is a debatable point, but I do intend to have some time as an OAP and enjoy being a burden on society. Let's face it, I paid enough tax this last financial year to fund a retired married couple for the year. I deserve at least something similar.

Weather is just fine here at the moment. Cool at night - okay the natives call it freezing - and warm during the day if you can get out of that wind. The weather is cooler than normal this winter - we are at least 4 or 5 degrees C cooler at night time and everyone of the weather weinies is predicting SNOW and ICE. Well they might get that inland, but it will never happen here. Its about 7 degrees out there now - 44F and the girl next door is wearing scarves, boots, long skirt, at least 2 jumpers that I can see and a puffy jacket. Should I tell her to go back and get her hat? Now she will get into her car and turn the heat up full blast. I shake my head in wonder. I'm in cut off jeans and a long sleeve tee with bare feet apart from my slippers.

Better go and sort out something to eat for breakfast and then get on with the day.

Oh yes - forgot.
Michelle my DN - who got married earlier this year, sent some photos of their honeymoon. If you will remember I sent them off to see the Hohoi (yellow eyed) penguins at the sanctuary near Dunedin. Anyway there are some great shots of the penguins and as soon as I can sort them out and download them (with permission of course) I will send you on a pictorial trip to the South Island of NZ where the penguins and seal live in the wild and very happily by the look of it.