Covid, Covid, Covid... AARGH!

 

I hate having to wear masks.  But I do so, in order to both stop the spread of the disease AND to help prevent contracting it myself.  But now, several people I know have potentially exposed to the virus AND one person has caught it.

Hopefully, the friend who was infected with Covid will have a speedy recovery AND not develop any troublesome symptoms.  Regarding the friends who might have been exposed, I'm hoping that this is a false alarm.  I'd hate to see them and their children be reinfected with the virus.

As for me, I'm taking extra precautions to avoid catching this bug before I go on my cruise.  I'm hoping that I can stay virus free until I return, and that the vaccinations + booster shot I've received will protect me from the worst of symptoms.

So I have one bit of advice....

Get Vaccinated ...NOW!

 

PS: The couple who host our bi-monthly game night had to postpone this week's session, as their daughter was also potentially exposed to the virus.  Hopefully, this will also be a false alarm....

I exchanged contact information with a new friend from work.

The above wristlet has nothing to do with what I plan to talk about today.  But it was a pleasant memory, and I felt like it would be appropriate to share this photo again....

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A lady at work and I have developed an office friendship.  Since she has a business on the side that I might want to use, we decided to exchange contact information.  And I sent out a test message before starting to catch up on my other chores.

You might be wondering, why is this important?  If all goes well, I will find a way out of this company, and start a new job with the state. That means I will need to have contact information sooner or later, and it made sense to exchange it now, considering that I expect that both of us will be leaving the office - but for very different reasons.

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The new crew is gradually making its presence known at the office.  The former HR person is still employed, but seems to be a minister without portfolio.  Other people have had their responsibilities reduced. And new management is not comfortable with the pay scales they need to have to attract New York region employees.  So I think a lot more changes will be coming, and few of them for the better.

Being among the grunts gives me a unique perspective on things.  And I am lucky that I don't depend on this job to get by from day to day.  As I see it, the work will keep coming in, and they will phase out the "management" that once ran the old firm.  By the time they are gone, I will likely be gone too.  It'll be an interesting thing to say that I started in an Bronze level "Elite" level of corporate life, and ended up in the mail room....

 

This is why I manage my schedule the way I do.

 

Although I had mentioned to my boss that I planned to take an unpaid week off to take a cruise, he asked whether I noted it online - which I didn't.  In addition to setting up an account on the new payroll system, I also put in a request for a week of unpaid time off.  What I didn't know was that I would need to schedule something else for when I should be working, and whether I should attend an interview as Mario or Marian.

When I got home today, I received the following email:

Good afternoon Ms. Johnson –

We (Name 1 and Name 2) left you a message last week to inform you that we are interviewing for the Clerical Assistant position in the Westchester office of Mental Hygiene Legal Service.

We will be conducting virtual interviews on December xx, 2021.  If you are interested, please contact me.

Thank you.

Name 1

Principal Attorney.

Although I found a record of this call, I did not see any evidence of a message being left on voicemail. (I'll have to talk to them about this when I meetup with them.)  But what I noticed most about this email was that it was addressed to Ms. Johnson and not Mr. Johnson, as in my application.  Considering that all the paperwork that NYS has uses my legal name, I wondered how this mistake could be made.  Even more, how could I make this work to my advantage.  So I called Vicki for some advice.

Vicki advised me to mention that it was all right co call me "Ms." as I am transgender.  However, to clarify things, I have not yet changed my legal name, although I have worked two jobs (including the one I am in) as a female.  And then, shift the conversation to whether I am right for the job at hand.  If this person remembers me from a prior interview, I will mention that it was easier to then interview as a male at that first interview out of a desire to be overly cautious.

So now, once I hear back from this office, I will need to schedule some time off for this interview AND schedule some time off for my yearly physical.  AARGH!  At least, I have been able to keep the times I need to present male and female fully separate from each other....

 

PS:  This was too good to be true.  The next day, I received the following email.  

Good afternoon Mr. Johnson  -

This email will serve as confirmation of your interview for the position of Clerical Assistant with the office of Mental Hygiene Legal Service.  The interview will be held  ....  via Microsoft Teams.  I will send you a Microsoft Teams link prior to your interview.  Should you be unable to make the interview, please contact me at the phone number provided below.

The interview panel will consist of the following individuals: 

xxxxxxx - Deputy Director of Administration
xxxxxxx - Deputy Chief Attorney
xxxxxxx - Principal Attorney of the Westchester Offices
xxxxxxx - Secretary - Southern Westchester Office

As discussed,  this position is Contingent Permanent.  I have attached a “Status of Position” statement which further explains the “Contingent Permanent” status.  Please sign and return the form to me prior to your interview.

*In accordance with OCA guidelines, all new hires must be FULLY vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus by the date of hire, unless granted a reasonable accommodation due to disability or religion.

We look forward to meeting with you....

 
You'll note the dreaded "Mr."  at the beginning of the above email.  So I guess I'm going to attend this online meeting as Mario after all....

 

 

 

 

Changed Plans - a short post

 

Today, I was supposed to go into NYC with a friend, first going to MoMA, then going to dinner.  These plans had to change, as my friend wasn't feeling that well.  This gave me the opportunity to continue cleaning my apartment, do some laundry, and relax a bit.

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One of the problems I have with cleaning my apartment is that it is such a monumental task.  If you remember the puzzle above, the object is to move the tiles to that the numbers appear in proper sequence.  Sorting through the clutter in my apartment is a similar task.  In order to free up room for a move, I have to eliminate stuff so that I can move other stuff in its place.

Unfortunately, this takes up a lot of emotional energy, and I could only do so much.  Luckily, I got enough done to see some headway being made, though an untrained eye wouldn't notice anything. Sooner, or later, I will get this place looking presentable.  I just wonder when that day will come.

It's a fine day to do some house cleaning!

 

You should have seen this corner of the room before I started work on it!  There was a pile of assorted stuff where the fan is that had to be sorted through and dealt with - Keep, Donate, or Trash.  To do so, I had to make space in a second closet for the stuff I needed to keep.  So far, I'm at least $40 richer, as I found a cell phone holder that contained: (1) a $20 bill, (2) an MTA Metrocard for use on the subways, and (3) a blank check to be used for my co-pay when I visit my doctor.

At the time I wrote this, I still had the time to either go into NYC to catch a Broadway play at half price, or to visit my brother on Long Island.  So I'll talk about this (if warranted) some other day.  For now, I plan to keep up with my cleaning, then call CWS about getting together tomorrow.  At least, she understands the headaches of deferred house cleaning.

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A while back, I noted that I let things go to hell in my place shortly after the pandemic struck.  With the loss of two of the people I used to lean on for support, I had to build a new network from scratch - something very hard to do during the pandemic.  The mess that built up in this place was a direct result of the depression I was going through at the time.  Little did I know how bad this mess would grow.

Right now, my living room/dining area is a mess, and is filled with 5 large bags used for items I mean to donate to charity.  There will be more bags to go to charity in the near future, as I don't want to have storage containers (or shoes) in the other 3 corners of the bedroom.  Assuming that I were to get a new job (I'm waiting for the results of the interview.  I'm not counting on an offer, as I expect that age discrimination has already taken me out of the running), I will spend a couple of free days in a row to clean up this place.

Once I have this place tolerably clean, and have a place inside my closets for all of my feminine stuff, I will again have my cleaning lady come.  I'll bet that she will need an extra couple of hours (or more) to get rid of the dust, etc. that has accumulated over the two years since her last visit.

I woke up and found I said nothing

 

Lately, I've been trying to find something to say for each day.  However, Blogger has a nasty habit of leaving the wrong day in the date field even after a publish date has been set for an entry.  As a result of this glitch (they may call it a feature), I woke up to find that nothing posted today - something I had to rectify with this short post,

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As I write this, I have a documentary about Jerry Lewis on in the background. The French love him as a performer - I don't.  No accounting for their taste.  But then, I feel that one sentence best covers their only two positive attributes: "They know how and what to eat."  Yet, I can say that Lewis put in one good performance in his career - the movie "Boeing Boeing".  And even more importantly, he did raise a lot of money for charity.  

Over this weekend, I've been struck with a marvelous lack of energy - and a revelation: I need external reasons to get up and be active.  This might be the reason I've tried to stick at this boring job I do during the week.  I miss having someone to be with.  But it's better than being with the wrong person.

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Today, I plan to take care of some errands to keep myself busy.  I'm not sure if I will do it in Marian or Mario mode.  Either way, I'm going to get some sunshine while I can do so.  And on that note, I'll see you tomorrow....

Enjoying a needed lazy day doing very little.

After a large feast, one's body needs time to recover.  And today was my time to rest.  I could have gone out and run some errands.  Instead, I relaxed in bed all day until evening came.  And then, as the sun went down, I started to fill up another donation bag (or two) with clothing from Mario's side of the closet.  I feel that if I lose weight, I would be better served by buying a new wardrobe in my new size, instead of wearing clothes I haven't been able to wear in several years.

If you wonder why I might refresh Mario's side of the closet some time in the future, it's simply because I'm not sure if I want to close the door as going out as Mario now and then. Until then, I have more than enough clothing on that side of the closet to get by.

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Right now, I know of some people who are also doing this sort of house/apartment cleaning.  One person I know has a deadline to get a residence cleaned out.  Another person simply has to pack up his goods and move out of a condo he's been living in for 3 years.  And still another person I know is simply doing a declutter operation, so that her place stays clean.  This person has suggested that I hire some help (as TCL has done) to facilitate this process.  I am not yet ready for this yet.  Instead, I'm treating my cleaning task as a form of "Swedish Death Cleaning."

My current goal is to prune both Mario's and Marian's closets to something resembling a normal couple's closets. And this involves a little ruthless pruning of things that are no longer worn in either mode.  I have already pruned garments given to me by my former cruise partner.  But I have kept a few of the things which are compatible with my current wardrobe style.

Hopefully, I will get the bulk of this cleanup done before I have the opportunity to bring someone back to the apartment.  But first, this cleanup, then getting my cleaning lady in to do her magic....