*dusts off journal*
~*~
I’m so behind on updating, it’s overwhelming to know where to begin. So to get back into the swing of posting, I think I’ll start choosing one topic at a time to write about until I’ve got everyone caught up on what’s been happening. I’ll start with what’s been happening at work.
Business has slowly picked back up for the engineering company where I work. After being there 21 years, this was the first time I had been affected with reduced hours. I was cut back to a 32-hour work week for April, May, June and July. I found out shortly after my return from the Infinitus trip in July that I could return to a 40-hour week. That was very welcome news. That four month period had coincided with the worst of my health issues with my back, so I most likely wouldn’t have been able to work 40 hours a week anyway. I knew I wasn’t physically capable of taking a second job on weekends which I’d considered and would have ordinarily done during such a time. Although experiencing health and job issues concurrently were not pleasant, at least those days off each week meant I wasn’t missing work because I needed those days for doctor’s appts, tests, physical therapy, etc.
Of course, the medical bills during a time of reduced pay were not so good. Still not so good. I have the MRIs finally paid off but still making payments on the physical therapy sessions. I knew that deck I had hoped to build this past spring on the back of the house would be pushed further down the list once I started seeing the neurologist and she began ordering all those tests. I’ll just have to sit outside, lean back and pretend I’m sitting five feet higher than the ground for another year. :P Glad to do so as long as I’m feeling able, at this point.
The owner/boss is gone on a two week trip to France. The itinerary of Paris, Montpellier, Lyons and Normandy sounds wonderful but even more interesting with the purpose of the trip. He will be meeting fellow forensic science colleagues and they’ll be touring places like the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Paris, University of Montpellier, home to the oldest school of medicine, and the Interpol’s Crime Laboratory Headquarters in Lyons. So cool. *so envious*
After worrying about a possible lay-off this year, I’m very thankful to be back working full-time at the job I’ve enjoyed for so many years. I had updated my resume during the slowdown and found out just how few job opportunities are available in my area.
I went outside this afternoon to watch some coworkers fire a cannon as a practice run for a parade tomorrow. They participate in civil war reenactments and have been asked to fire the cannon in front of the courthouse down the center of Main Street. It looked safe enough, … I guess. Not your typical work break but surely not that unusual in the South. The firing of a cannon does break up the tedium of one's day. ;)
~*~
This week/weekend is the town’s local festival so I was out last night at the craft and food booths buying homemade baskets and funnel cakes. Live music on stage, the carnival is in town, all the usual small town festivities. This morning though I woke up with a sore throat and bad cough. That will teach me to lay/stay out late … well, until 9 pm. (I had to get home for season premieres)
I felt fine yesterday but the cold/cough symptoms slowly got worse as today progressed. I was drinking hot tea all day and hit the Echinacea, zinc and Vitamin C. Tonight I took cold medicine and guaifenesin. The cough feels like the lung-ripping kind and I’m aching all over now. Definitely the crud. Hoping that guaifenesin does its magic for an exorcism expectorant. Bed now, I think.
I’m so behind on updating, it’s overwhelming to know where to begin. So to get back into the swing of posting, I think I’ll start choosing one topic at a time to write about until I’ve got everyone caught up on what’s been happening. I’ll start with what’s been happening at work.
Business has slowly picked back up for the engineering company where I work. After being there 21 years, this was the first time I had been affected with reduced hours. I was cut back to a 32-hour work week for April, May, June and July. I found out shortly after my return from the Infinitus trip in July that I could return to a 40-hour week. That was very welcome news. That four month period had coincided with the worst of my health issues with my back, so I most likely wouldn’t have been able to work 40 hours a week anyway. I knew I wasn’t physically capable of taking a second job on weekends which I’d considered and would have ordinarily done during such a time. Although experiencing health and job issues concurrently were not pleasant, at least those days off each week meant I wasn’t missing work because I needed those days for doctor’s appts, tests, physical therapy, etc.
Of course, the medical bills during a time of reduced pay were not so good. Still not so good. I have the MRIs finally paid off but still making payments on the physical therapy sessions. I knew that deck I had hoped to build this past spring on the back of the house would be pushed further down the list once I started seeing the neurologist and she began ordering all those tests. I’ll just have to sit outside, lean back and pretend I’m sitting five feet higher than the ground for another year. :P Glad to do so as long as I’m feeling able, at this point.
The owner/boss is gone on a two week trip to France. The itinerary of Paris, Montpellier, Lyons and Normandy sounds wonderful but even more interesting with the purpose of the trip. He will be meeting fellow forensic science colleagues and they’ll be touring places like the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Paris, University of Montpellier, home to the oldest school of medicine, and the Interpol’s Crime Laboratory Headquarters in Lyons. So cool. *so envious*
After worrying about a possible lay-off this year, I’m very thankful to be back working full-time at the job I’ve enjoyed for so many years. I had updated my resume during the slowdown and found out just how few job opportunities are available in my area.
I went outside this afternoon to watch some coworkers fire a cannon as a practice run for a parade tomorrow. They participate in civil war reenactments and have been asked to fire the cannon in front of the courthouse down the center of Main Street. It looked safe enough, … I guess. Not your typical work break but surely not that unusual in the South. The firing of a cannon does break up the tedium of one's day. ;)
~*~
This week/weekend is the town’s local festival so I was out last night at the craft and food booths buying homemade baskets and funnel cakes. Live music on stage, the carnival is in town, all the usual small town festivities. This morning though I woke up with a sore throat and bad cough. That will teach me to lay/stay out late … well, until 9 pm. (I had to get home for season premieres)
I felt fine yesterday but the cold/cough symptoms slowly got worse as today progressed. I was drinking hot tea all day and hit the Echinacea, zinc and Vitamin C. Tonight I took cold medicine and guaifenesin. The cough feels like the lung-ripping kind and I’m aching all over now. Definitely the crud. Hoping that guaifenesin does its magic for an exorcism expectorant. Bed now, I think.