Case of the Mondays

So I’m listening to a song in Spanish (“Suerte” by Shakira) right now and it’s really hard to think in English. I wish I were eloquent in Spanish. Gotta keep practicing, I guess.

Work

It turns out if I do only what I’m strictly “supposed” to do my job is really boring and lonely. I have been prolifically productive in the past week but I’ve had about 4 conversations. I am grateful that my officemates and I eat lunch together every day, without that it’d be even worse.

Since the fateful conversation two weeks ago, I have been trying (in as much as I can) to keep my head down. Mentor 1 is back from her travel so hopefully I can pivot that relationship into one where she advocates and champions me. I dream of a relationship with her that involves reciprocal communication and clearly stated expectations I can meet or exceed. And then I meet them. I hope my dream can come true before this job is over.

So yeah, it turns out that I spend days doing really boring stuff and that’s what I’m supposed to do. For now.

Vacation

PartnerPenguin came in last Saturday so it was interesting to spend some of a workweek together. He was able to telecommute and he was also awesome and took my car to the shop for her three-month check-up. My hours worked out a little wonky so I only worked 2 hours on Wednesday. But after that, I was able to come home and eat lunch with PartnerPenguin. A friend came over and all three of us went to a nearby park. It was really awesome. My favorite part of the hike was this cave-thing we climbed up to. You can hear the stream running below and but otherwise it’s perfectly still. Then we made some delicious tacos.

Thursday was Turkeyday! This year, we did what seems to be called “Friendsgiving”. I really like this concept. There is a lot less pressure on one family/entity for the burden of all the dishes. I guess I also like the concept of people sharing responsibility for the success of an event. We went to two Friendsgivings. The first was held by a woman who may be a future version of myself: she is a geologist, she is good at theatre makeup and she did PeaceCorps. OK, I didn’t do hardcore PeaceCorps but I did the domestic version, which was weirder. We get along well and I was glad she also got along with PartnerPenguin. Her crowd was older and we played Hearts. I’m really bad at Hearts, but it was really fun. I also whooped PartnerPenguin’s ass in Othello. Othello is to Go as Checkers is to Chess.

Second Friendsgiving was with more peer-aged people. Finally starting to find a crew of people who I can talk about the important things in life with. It’s a slow build, but it’s finally happening. We talked about diversity: how even the talk around diversity stuff tends to happen mostly around women without discussing race or intersectionality at all. We talked about cultural differences and culture shock. Social isolation. Good stuff.

I met a guy who is also experiencing long distance and he said he’s talking to walls. Sounds about right. Usually when I come home after work I open the door and say “Hello, Nobody.” I hope we can be supports for each other.

The next day (Black Friday) PartnerPenguin and I stayed home. It was such a good decision. I’ve been very conflicted about Black Friday for a long time. Mostly because I don’t ever have excess money. Also because I don’t really get gifts for people. If you ever receive a gift from me, it will be so perfect you cry. And then you won’t get anything again for years. I think if I had kids I would get them stuff but I’d probably adopt my parents model about Hanukkah. My brother and I would get a gift every night of the holiday but they were usually small things we needed like school supplies and occasionally clothing. We would each get one “big” gift on the last night. But we knew this, expected it and I didn’t feel the need to ask for more because I did get other presents. And of course: dreidels with which to bet all your chocolate money away.

Well. That was a good tangent.

Anyway, on Friday, we stayed in and talked. It was pretty intense talking. The biggest difference between internet talking and in person talking is the ability to actually maintain eye contact. Second difference is the ability to touch. Usually if we’re having intense conversations (good or bad), PartnerPenguin and I try to maintain at least three points of contact. I find that grounds me. I can’t really do that with anyone else the way my life is set up right now, so the wholeness of communication this past week was very fulfilling.

I didn’t mention but we also cat-sat a giant fluff ball of a cat. The only reason this is relevant is that we got to do laundry for free this week.

Friday afternoon we went ice-skating. PartnerPenguin was surprised that I am actually a very good ice skater. He is a very beginner skater so much of his time was spent with one of those little red walker things. It was very preposterous. And fun. Afterwards I was really jones’n for wonton soup. We went to the local “fancy” Chinese restaurant and lo and behold, it was actually tolerable! In fact, the wonton soup was some of the best wonton soup I’ve had in years. They even made the dumplings properly and everything.

Saturday we had a get together at our place where we played board games. It was great fun. I got super drunk, which is not typical for me. I took a shot of Fernet. I do not recommend doing this. It is awful stuff. We played my favorite game, Splendor. If you haven’t played this, I suggest you change that immediately.

Sunday I returned PartnerPenguin to his world. I met up with some friends and bought a fake Dremmel. I’m very exciting about this as I really liked using that tool as part of my last job. I have no idea how to use it or even what kind of material I want to use it on, but it is mine and I am happy. We all hung out with one of the people’s parents and that was fun. They are nice people, all of them.

Then I bought food for two weeks and came back to TLoTH. I put away the perishables and pretty much did nothing else for the night. I had sweet cheese perogies for dinner.

You can probably tell by reading this far in the post that I’m more tired than usual. I will leave you now with this fascinating video. If possible, watch it. This artist is very articulate in his motions.

The “Perks” of Being an Iconoclast

Update

I got a lot of really good feedback last week and I wanted to clarify a couple things regarding my friend’s work situation. First: the friend and I are non-exempt employees. This means that our employer is legally obligated to pay overtime as is spelled in the law. As the friend did not bring up/ask for this overtime the matter is more or less a wash in a legal sense. The bigger concern to me is that it sounded like the friend was using a pressurized system (or at least heavy machinery) that may or may not have been supervised. Lack of supervision with dangerous equipment combined with fatigue can spell disaster pretty quickly. I did not act upon this story any more than I described last week but I felt that I should clarify where I was coming from with my anger.

Even though BAU didn’t have a super strict safety culture, I still had times where I called in tired. It was better to not work than loose a finger on the saws.

Work, Last Week

I felt like last week was pretty unremarkable until Wednesday. Post-conference in Monument City I have been focusing on getting my work at TLoTH done. My immediate Mentor #1 is out on travel right now so I’ve been a little more laissez faire with strictly doing only my work. I picked up an extra little project my supervisor asked me to do so I went and worked on it. I got to bash rocks so I was pretty content since I rarely get to bash rocks anymore.

As I’m processing samples, MiddleManager1 comes into the room. I greet her as she seems like she’s passing through. She kinda stops and asks if we can have a meeting. I’m like “I’m free now, if you have time.” She’s free, cool.

Except not.

MM1 spends the next half hour giving me what amounts to be a surprise performance review. I didn’t know students could get performance reviews. I most certainly misinterpreted what she said, but this is what it felt like she said.

1.  No one who works with you likes you. All of your mentors feel that you are incapable of finishing anything and they do not trust you to get any work done.
2.  You do not produce an adequate amount of things that are worthwhile.
3. Your behavior in Monument City was abhorrent and several people were horrified by your decision to call out “CAN’T HEAR YOU” to an important person. Why didn't you follow the protocol that no one ever told you about regarding how to tell a talking head they can't be heard by half the audience?
4.  You try to communicate a lot but you don’t do it effectively so your mentors just get so frustrated with you they don’t try to talk to you.
5.  You are not a team player and you do not offer your time or skills to the team in a meaningful way.
6. We do not pay you to do any of this “diversity” stuff. Do it off the clock. It is a hobby. (Or not at all.) This is not what we pay students to do.
7.  The lab likes the management system it has in place. Stop contacting people so much higher in station than yourself. No one likes when you do that. Sort out your problems on a local level.

I said, “Thank you,” and tried to clarify a couple line items. She closed by saying that she expects me to improve within the month. It kinda seemed like an “or else” lingering there but she did not say it.

She left. 

I cried. I sobbed. I completely lost it. I cried the entire rest of the day, except any time I had to interact with people. Which is surprisingly little. You don’t notice that you don’t see anyone in a day except when you want to be surrounded by people and you can’t. I felt completely worthless.

Fortunately I had pickup play rehearsal that night. Things didn’t get too weird onstage and I could hug people offstage without it being unusual. PartnerPenguin and I had conversation when I got home. There was more crying. I told another friend that this happened and he said that is actually his biggest fear: everyone secretly hates him, he has no idea and then he gets dropped without warning.

The next day at work, my peer-aged co-worked noticed I was a bit stressed. I explained my interpretation of the conversation the day before and started crying again. She just walked across the lab area and hugged me. I appreciate her more than I can say. She pointed out that I ask “why” a lot more than most other people, which might be part of the problem. But she didn’t blame me, for which I cannot express how grateful I am.

The rest of the week was just coping enough to see the weekend. Crying reduced and I got shitloads of work done. 

Weekend Happiness!!

This weekend PartnerPenguin came in! The airline people were silly and forgot to check him into his connecting flight so I waited at the airport for about two hours with no result. Womp. I didn’t actually wait at the airport; I waited at a hipster café in the area nearby that I like. Then I took a co-worker’s advice and went to a Polish restaurant. I bought hella perogies and they were divine. At the restaurant I ate a Polish sausage that was just about the best thing since sliced bread.

We finished up our show on Saturday night and it was a blast. I was in three little plays and I feel like I came out with some good friends. Can’t ask for more than that. And on top of everything, there was a pot-luck!

Post-pot-luck I retrieved the PartnerPenguin from the shuttle drop off. I was very proud of myself. I drove by myself at night and did not have a panic attack. And then at the end of the journey I had a PartnerPenguin! Poor dude was exhausted from travel so we konked out as soon as we got home.

Sunday we did strike for the show and I enjoyed the meditative art of mopping. Mopping and cart-wrangling are pretty much the only things I miss from retail. The costumers could suck it but there was something so satisfying about finishing a job, like mopping or having a cart-free parking lot.

At home PartnerPenguin and I had important discussions like when we’re going to Europe and who looks sillier in my Panda Snuggie. It felt good to have a day to relax.

Work, This Week (so far)

First thing Monday morning I met with MiddleManager2 to discuss realistic follow up from the critique of MM1. I do not wish harm upon anyone, but I did feel some satisfaction that MM2 had also gotten slapped on the wrist for supporting me "too much". I guess I felt validated that I wasn’t the only one getting in “trouble” over my over-achievement-yet-simultaneous-ineptitude. I clarified that my job is not on the line. MM2 actually provided that feedback that he does not buy the story that this is entirely my fault. The people who were cited as “not liking” me have not made their expectations of me explicitly clear. They bear some responsibility.

I do not believe that this is going to change the perception. I do not actually believe that his saying this is going to do diddly-squat. But damn did it feel good to hear that I am not solely responsible.

I guess the talking-to did its job, as I’ve been stupidly productive this week. I finished the little project (and taught my supervisor how to use the polishing wheel better). I suggested relevant literature to someone. I get to work with a different colleague on an experiment that involves bubbles. Yes, I get to stare at bubbles!!

This afternoon, I had a really good (direct and kind) discussion with Mentor2. He clarified that he was frustrated with me. And that’s OK because we are both human beings. We get frustrated with each other often: we have similar personalities. But instead of blaming me, he concentrated on the following:

“Look, Sara, I want you to succeed. You are still young. I want you to publish the work you are doing and in order to do that, you need to complete it. You need to put together a story no one else has told and that is worth telling. I believe you can do that. But you really need to focus and complete the task you set out to do. Do not..what is that saying that involves biting and chewing?” “Bite off more than you can chew?” “Yes, don’t do that. You are always busy. I see that. But I need you to be busy finishing your work first.”

THAT. That, people, is how you do mentoring right. You identify the problem. You identify a probable solution. You offer a shit sandwich. I appreciate this man for both his support and his critique. I have immense respect for him and I acknowledge that we don’t always get along but we both have each other’s best interests at heart.

I think this past week taught me that perhaps I can trust the good relationships I have with co-workers and family more. I can reach out. I can ask for help. Despite the glaringly large body of social norms I am faced with, I can cry safely at work sometimes. There are people who support me.

And I need to listen. Listen a lot more.

Music

The following video is brought to you by adults who watch Yo Gabba Gabba with the assistance of LSD.

The Close Siblings: Fear and Anger

This week I have been angry. I have been angry at the world, at situations, at companies, at people.

Anger is not a common emotion for me. True anger, I mean. I get pissed easily but the few people who have ever seen me seethingly angry know that these things are different.

Anger at World

This week there have been attacks. There were several in Paris. Within the past couple weeks; there have been attacks in Bagdad, Beirut and Nairobi. I am angry and devastated that gunmen opened fire at a rock concert, on a college campus, at a sportsingball stadium. A friend wrote a beautiful editorial piece that linked part of the reason Paris hurts so much is that it is the heart of Western Culture. Growing up in Western culture, I, like many around me, have associations of art, philosophy, and culture with Paris. It feels like someone broke our heart. And that makes me sad and angry.

It is true; I am having a difficult time dealing with this. I am not alone. In fact, when my mom told me Paris was attacked I think we both started crying. She has a stronger tie to the city than I, as she grew up there, part-time, and I did not. Yet we both cried.

Anger at Company

In the light of these attacks, I decided to do something that was pretty risky for me. I logged off Facebook. It has been well established that Facebook manipulates people’s emotions. The algorithm sees what you “like” “comment” and “share” and then provides you with more like it. But this quickly leads you down some slippery slopes. If you click an article critiquing the narrow focus of the media giants on Paris and not Nairobi, then all of a sudden Medium articles critiquing racism in Western culture burst through the fissure you’ve created with your attention. Facebook is one of my social lifelines while living alone and most of the time the manipulation is just something I put up with. But in my heightened emotional state of not being able to deal with the attacks, I accidentally gave too many things my attention. Within minutes my newsfeed was so brimming with commentary, off-site articles and bleu-blanc-rouge veneered pictures I couldn’t deal.

I decided to log off. I could not actually critique Facebook: otherwise no one would see the post that said I was logging off. If someone would be kind enough, please post a link to this post on my “logging off” status so people who don’t get this blog may see my reasoning.

I have found less media input to be helpful in dealing. I cannot comprehend hundreds of people dying. I was encouraged as a kid to understand the magnitude of the Holocaust, but no one can do that. I can barely cope with three deaths in the past 2 years. I cannot comprehend senseless, gory and public deaths. But I can write the words out and be afraid and angry that the same fate might befall me, or someone I care about.

But I can do something different. I can focus on love. I can comprehend loving hundreds of people. Another dear friend sent me a comforting letter. It said

“Goodness is far more rampant than evil; that’s why evil feels like such a violation.” It is a lot easier to see this by taking time to call the people I love and allow myself to be loved, comforted and soothed by the fact that it didn’t happen to us. This time.

Media, in contrast (contains spoilers)

I have been consuming some really good media this week. I am flying through The Silo Effect, which I will talk about, in more depth once I finish. I rediscovered and fell in love with Jim Hawkins in Treasure Planet. Treasure Island, but steampunk! Lacks strong female characters, despite the Captain giving a good start. But to compliment, I just finished The Prince and Me. This is currently my favorite chick-flick/rom-com because she gets the fairy tale ending but is like “Wait, no. Fuck this. I said I was going to do Doctors Without Borders, that’s what I’m going to do.” Subtly at the end, she is receiving her PhD when her friends are receiving their BA’s and they are all the same age. I love most movies with Julia Stiles, esp when they involve Shakespeare.

Something Good 1

I gave up on being an adult and made a pillow fort. Adult things like bills and paperwork were not allowed in. Neither were boys. But no boys tried, because they know better than to mess with my fort. YES I KNOW IT DOES NOT HAVE A ROOF.

Anger at People

So TLoTH has a “see something, say something” policy. It’s probably a good policy since we’re the targets of constant hacking among other things. It has felt like one of those things that have been pretty consistent since I’ve been here. I’m not really one to stand by anyway so I just roll with it.

Then this situation happened this week. I’d really like your input on this because I’m still not sure if the outcome is ok. I will preface this with the information that I am a non-exempt employee and people in positions identical to mine at are also non-exempt. Simply put: we have to obey labor laws. We also tend to work 9-80 weeks that means 80 hours in 9 days, or 44 and 36 so every other Friday off. (8 hours on Friday because I know that’s my dad’s question.)

I went over a friend’s house on Veteran’s Day (we had off) to give them something. They mentioned they were tired from a hard week. I’m like “It’s only Wednesday, it can’t be that bad.” They then said that Monday had been a 16-hour workday and Tuesday had been 10 hours.

Wait, WHAT?

Accordingly, the story was that the prior week, this friend had done some work. Friend did this work poorly, as happens when you’re a new employee and training up in an environment. They were some kind of images and they had all come out fuzzy. There was insufficient communication that the fuzziness was unacceptable early on so all pictures were fuzzy. Ok. The boss then requires friend to re-do all pictures. (So far I’m like, ok. No big. TLoTH moves slower than molasses so “asap” is usually 2 weeks.)

Come Monday, friend fixes all pictures. Arrives at 7:30am and stays until “mentor” takes friend home at 10:30pm. “Did you at least have a dinner break?” “No.” Friend emphatically says that they volunteered to stay; they did a bad job initially and it had to be remediated. Immediately. It was a really bad job. It really had to be fixed immediately. “It’s not a big deal.” Say they. I ask if they plan to bill for the overtime and friend acts as though I am crazy, it was volunteered time because they did a bad job.

I fume around a bit, give up and leave.

Thursday, I seek out the Head of the safety team I’m part of at work. I think being trained as a mandated reporter when I was 18 stayed with me. I ask her what to do. To my perception there is clearly coercion and law-breaking occurring. Making someone feel like they “have” to stay 7 extra hours in a day out of guilt and without pay is not ok by me.

Very long story short, I brought this to my managers who informed me there is absolutely nothing I can do. The only person who can bring this to anyone is the employee. So sit tight and do nothing, Sara.

I don’t know how to deal with this. I felt like a complete Scorpio and completely helpless. I feel weak and delicate; there is so much bullshit that others deal with like microaggressions and coercion and I cannot even conceive of putting up with any of it. But many people just soldier on because they are the only woman, Latino, Black, gay, trans, etc. person there. They often have to work twice what I do. It’s bullshit and I feel like I can do absolutely nothing about it.

Good (?) Thing #2

Wednesday’s pickup rehearsal got…personal. There was significantly more hair petting than there should have been. On the bright side, I had physical contact with people!

The play has been going really well. Everyone’s favorite seems to be my second play. That’s because it’s hilarious. I really enjoy my cast-mates even though they are the kind of "evil" people who talk me into singing karaoke by myself at a bar. Fun fact, I sang alone at a karaoke for the very first time this week. It is much more fun if you have a buddy or copious amounts of alcohol. Take my word.

Fear at Situation

Today it started snowing. By the time everyone else went home, it was just lightly dusting. In the half hour between when everyone left and when I left, it was full in earnest SNOWING. I have not experienced snow in nearly a decade. I have never driven in the snow. I was already terrified. I told my co-worker I’d drive him home because waiting for the bus sucks.

I figure out how to remove ice and snow from my car and sit with the seat warmer for a while. Co-worker finally rendezvous and we go. Roads have not yet seen a plough. It is bright white and I drive about 15 mph, max. I’m departing the lab proper and I see the light change far ahead. I start breaking 30-40 ft behind the next car. The break doesn’t work. It felt like it was arguing with me. I pressed slowly and constantly, and the break would catch in spurts. I kept pressing but the car didn’t fully stop until 4 inches from the truck ahead of us. Fortunately at this point, my co-worker asks for me to let him off at the next bus stop and just focus on getting home safe. I did not exceed 18 mph the whole ride home and there I parked.

I do not plan on driving again for a very long time. Speaking of…I should sleep so I can catch the bus tomorrow. Please send me music you’d like to see closing out my posts. I’m running a little dry lately.

For now I’ll leave with you something to Oud the soul.

How to Conference

First off, thank you. You are beautiful. I keep forgetting this. I do not thank you enough. Tis nearly the season for thanking to become cliché, but I mean it sincerely. I appreciate all of you.

The weeks leading up to the conference were pretty intense, as previously chronicled.  I got into Monument City on Saturday evening after the “sanctioned” events were over so I was like “fuck it! I deserve a me night.” I went and got some AMAZING food at a restaurant with cloth tablecloths. It was Afgan food, which is like a middle-ground of middle eastern and Indian. With lamb. It was awesome. Then I went to a couple clubs and hung out with a dude dressed as Quailman. (It was Halloween.) I also saw a very well done SexyBulbazor. ::applause::

Then I really got to the meat of the conference. There were a lot of events that happened but I’m just going to be short here because in reality, I’m sick and I don’t have a lot of bandwidth. So here are my takeaway points:

•        Have business cards. Hand them out to everyone. One person may actually email you. That’s enough.
•        Say “Hello” and “Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening” to as many people as you can tolerate.
•       Know your socializing limits beforehand. Personally, I was pretty starved for social interaction so I overstretched myself by about 150%. But I loved it. So I didn’t care.
•       Support your friends. Support people you have met once. Support women. Go to their events. Listen to their talks. Ask them questions, when appropriate.
•       Again, if you are a woman, support other women. There is enough competition in the world. We need each other to create an inclusive environment where we see each other. Be seen. See each other.
•        Be careful of how you frame every sentence you say. I got called out for diminishing my own work.
•       Remember anecdotes people tell you. Remember their faces. It is helpful to associate someone’s name with their eye color because that typically doesn’t change whereas clothes do.
•        Make connections with people later in their careers. They are your bosses, your advisors, and your miscellaneous mentors. They have struggled through issues you haven’t encountered yet. They can be excellent advocates. They can protect you. They also have enough power to destroy you so play with fire carefully.
•       Make stronger and deeper connections with your peers. In the long run, they matter more.
•       Explain whatever you have to present in a manner that someone off the street would understand. Even if the people you’re explaining your science to are “experts” in the field, chances are they know nothing about your exact topic. I met a dude who is a phenomenal mineralogist. I do mineralogy. He knew the words I said about minerals, but not much else. Context MATTERS.
•       Be flexible. Sometimes you have something planned and then your mentor asks if you are doing anything and you say “I’m flexible” or “no.” If someone has given enough fucks to pay attention to you and your career, honor that. If they have enough trust and respect to bring you to something, honor that.
•        Don’t get too bogged down in whom you talk to. People are people.

I listened to my own advice on the last point but it has since gotten me in trouble, so maybe I shouldn’t recommend it. A lot of people are very caught up in believing in hierarchy and sometimes I am not.

I feel like I am residing on the blade of a razor and walking thin lines. Many of the ways I act demonstrate leadership qualities. But it feels raw and un-reigned. I do not have a good handle on the limits and when to turn off the rash-ness. I was told when I was 17 that my filter was broken. Whenever I commit a faux pas, I am thrust back to that time of my life and feel like I am broken. But, increasingly, I am placed in situations where I have power. And my inability to draw those lines, hard and fast, could cost me my career. They could also instigate it. And I can’t BLOODY TELL which will do which.

There is also a small voice in my head that says “fuck ‘em”. People are people.  And the division of people into Big Important Folks and the little ones you step on are part of the problem. Not, typically, the solution to it. Also there were several points where I wanted to yell, “I am not afraid of Black people!!” because so many people gave me dire warnings about walking around Monument City.

Off topic, I took an implicit bias test. This is the result. Consider that most people at conventions such as this typically have a strong bias towards associating men with science and women with liberal arts.

For the most part, the conference went AMAZINGLY WELL. I learned so much science, so much policy, so much about people I wanted to know more about. People gave me excellent critique on my posters and I feel more comfortable moving forward. It is actually a fairly straightforward process. It has thusfar been obscured by a whole lot of misguided advice and feels, but really the work is pretty straightforward. Somewhat comfortingly, the observation about the work being well and good and the environment being the problem is not a novel observation.

After the conference, I hopped in a swank-ass Hyundai with my Dad and Catlady, his girlfriend. We met up with a man who I think might be the original Furry. I wasn’t interested in finding out so I just kinda ate pizza and wondered when it would be over.

We got into The Big Scrapple around 7 pm and my friends had a healthy glass of whiskey waiting for me. I love these friends dearly and their acceptance of me at whomever I am makes me love them more.

In the morning, I visited my adopted dad after his surgery. It felt good to be able to be there for him. Still wishing you a speedy recovery if you’re reading this! And more non-perils!

Spent the rest of my birthday with my Mum and various other friends and family. Some of whom I hadn’t seen in a while, some I saw in May. We went to the Scrapple Museum of Art. It turns out it’s a super fancy, high class joint. Matisse and Monet everywhere. And there was a Klimpt for you, Good Panda! You should visit some day; you’d understand and appreciate it more than me. I liked the photography exhibit though. Dave Heath is the man with a melancholy plan.

The evening was spent hangin’ out with some truly fantastic people. Niece #1 and her folks were there. My brother got the telepathic memo I sent him: that I am assembling an army of blankets and he bought me a blue panda snuggie. Snuggies are officially the best things for planes. Ever. Three friends from high school came and it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with them. Especially since birthday presents included a large bottle of wine and a full body massage! The Marathon Runner was also there, and I’m so happy to have gotten to see her!

I got back to the Lab on the Hill (TLoTH) with just barely enough time to shower and make call for my show. But damnit, I did make it. And it was awesome.

Ever since I’ve been trying to recover and also follow up with everyone from the conference. I have also been watching this video on repeat so to close out, I’ll leave you with another classic from Mr.’s Macklemore and Lewis.