Apace of what, I wonder?

Hmmm, been a while. What’s been going on?

Work has been busy, and there’s definitely some imposter syndrome going on, but I hit my first year anniversary this week and then got some very validating news, so that makes me super happy. We’re going to be ‘back to the office’ starting mid-September, but that’s really only going to be one day a week, not sure which day yet, and i’ve kind of been doing that anyway.

Our current setup to work from home is to remote/vpn into our workstation at the office, and that works fine, except I haven’t figured out how to get the remote session to work over two monitors. However, they are replacing the desktop workstations with laptops, and have been handing out new equipment. So not only do I have a very handsome new laptop, they sent me a gigantic monitor without asking. So now I have two gigantic monitors, it’s a nice setup. (but I also had webcam problems all week and finally gave up and ordered a new one)

Also, most people spend time to carefully curate their web conference background (or use a fake one), but I don’t and it’s kind of a cheerful mess at my back. We use MS Teams and Zoom interchangeably and Teams let you blur the background, which is great, but Zoom does not, not sure why. I don’t need my teammates focusing on the kleenex box or the knitting basket or whatever over my shoulder.

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C continues to have problems with his leg, which is really getting in the way. He’s had a series of tests (and has more coming), but no diagnosis yet. It’s very frustrating, for both of us really.

I had my two-month followup for the broken collarbone – it’s not healed yet, but healing just fine and my mobility is good. I continue to ‘listen’ to it, in that I don’t worry about protecting it particularly, but if I go to pick up something heavy, or move in a certain way and there’s pain, I’ll just stop and go in a different direction. One more followup in a couple more months and that will be done, I hope.

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I’ve put in some time and TLC on my new horn, which I’ve been referring to as the ‘rescue baritone’. It’s now at a point where I need to bring it to the shop – the third valve has gunk on it, which makes it stick, and the main tuning slide is completely stuck. So I’ll bring it to the local repair guy to fix those things and get it evaluated and also to buy a case and a mouthpiece. This will run some bucks, but I actually have a saved stash for exactly this sort of thing. (I’d vaguely targeted it to get my bassoon overhauled, but that can wait.) Once it’s really playable, I’ll post a video – and make plans to hit at least one Tuba Christmas this fall.

I haven’t been keeping up with the media consumption tracking. We are really enjoying “The Good Doctor”, and have seen some of “Hacks”. Oh, we watched a movie (“the Vault”) with Freddie Highmore last week, where he also plays a super-bright young man, although not autistic and not American. Movie was boring, though. And I think we saw something before that… argh, guess it wasn’t memorable. We watched some Olympics, of course. I really want to get set up next time (next year, wow, for Winter Olympics) with some sort of streaming service or whatever that you can really watch an event with all the competitors, in order.

Looking forward to things coming up. Another trip to Beacon next Friday, and then the Labor Day week trip to scatter Mom’s ashes (and then go to the beach). I’m going to put together one of those printed photo books to pass around on the boat, I think, need to get that done soon. I also want to sing something, and need to get that ready too. (I guarantee you that no one in my family is anxious to have me perform at this thing, but I would like to. It will be short.) Then 40th high school reunion in early October and then visiting Dad and Sam for Thanksgiving, we think.

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In general, I’ve been really happy, and I think I’ve mostly come out of the years-long funk of the Trump administration, professional setbacks and so on. I’m sort of suspicious, actually, it feels almost like tending towards the manic side of a very slow manic-depressive cycle. and I know from vast experience that the happier and more confident I get, the cockier I get as well, and that can bring out an assholish side of me I’d rather keep squelched. So I need to keep an eye on that.

And I think I’m getting to a point where not only am I ready to deal with my weight problem, I kind of have to. So there’s that.

Feel like I’m missing stuff, but honestly, that would be just an impetus to blog more, and I should.