Copa
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I wouldn’t overthink about which co-workers to invite. Invite the ones you want and don’t worry about the rest. I’ve been invited to coworkers’ weddings before where we weren’t close and it felt like kind of an obligation. On the flip side I’ve been in situations where I’m aware I’m not invited to a coworker’s wedding while some coworkers are and it hasn’t bothered me.
How is the new place coming along?
I’ve heard a few people say that returning to work feels like some kind of time capsule. I saw some photos online, too, of things like office plants that grew wild and I think one was a rotted apple. I used to forget to wash my coffee mug before leaving for the day often enough that I’ve wondered if I have a very moldy coffee mug waiting for me. We went remote overnight, pretty much. I’d been taking my work stuff home every night just in case it happened, and got a text about it one night and felt like, great! I have everything I need. I have no clue what state I left my office in and haven’t stepped foot inside in 19 months. I could tell on an all staff Zoom meeting months back that a coworker, our office manager who goes in once a week or so to take care of some tasks that need to be done in the office, seems to be using my office as her own while we’re remote and it kinda bugged me a bit… an overreaction to care at all, probably, but she has the entire place to herself and we have at least two totally empty offices that don’t belong to anyone.
Ha. I own quite a few coats since I try to have something appropriate for any weather this city could throw at me as someone who relies mostly on transit, but I also do not have a good rain coat. I have a very lightweight hand-me-down one from my mom that does the job in warmer months and a longer, thicker rain resistant jacket with a hood that I wear on colder rainy days even though it’s not really meant to be a rain coat — surprised this one has held up for so many years since it was a cheaper buy and I ask a lot of it.
I did think about the mid-calf or even ankle Hunters, but they weren’t that comfortable (this might just be a rubber boot problem moreso than a brand-specific problem), I’d get very hot in them if it was a temperate rainy day, and at this point in my life, don’t care about being on trend enough to pay their prices again. When I got the last pair probably a decade ago, they were all the rage and I could afford them easily, so that’s what I got. They held up well, though! Anyway, thanks for the recs!
I voted, too! My dog will tolerate costumes, but NOT anything on his head for longer than it takes to snap a photo of him looking miserable.
Not dating related, but if anyone has a rec for rain boots they actually like, I’m all ears. I sold my old pair on Poshmark (Hunters) on Poshmark last year cause I didn’t like ’em (too tall for my height), but the nonstop rain we’re having here makes me think it’s time to pull the trigger on a new pair.
That’s great, @allornone. My mental/emotional health has gone through ups and downs during COVID. If being back in an office setting (and feeling safe in doing so) is better for yours, I’m glad to hear you’re back.
My company was talking about returning to the office. In July, September was the target for a hybrid return. That plan flew out the window and upper management said they’d resume the discussion in September. As far as I know, this has not happened and I’m frustrated. I’d ideally like to be back on a flexible schedule. I finally got a desk and office chair a few months ago, which has helped a bit, but my “office” is in our bedroom and it’s still not a great experience. The desk is small, but this was really the only good space we had available, and I feel cramped. I can tell my mental/emotional health is slipping a bit again and doing what I can to keep it at bay. Our winter permacloud situation seems to have settled in early and it’s offensively warm/humid still for October, none of which has been helping.
@ktfran I’m like you. I used to have to Raid bomb every bug when I lived alone. And then it’d feel like a big deal to dispose of them after. I didn’t want to touch them even with TP, even dead.
We have urban coyotes here, too. I’ve heard from runners they’re a common early morning sight but have never seen one myself. A couple years ago, one was attacking people in and around my neighborhood. They caught it within a week or so and realized it had been injured by someone with a BB gun so I believe it was not euthanized.
Years ago, when I lived in the suburbs, I had a car and drove everywhere. One fall, every time I’d get in after dark and hit the road, one or sometimes two yellow-ish spider would crawl across the windshield. But every evening, at least one! I’d always freak out while driving trying to figure out if it was inside or outside. Anyway, one night in my gym’s parking lot, I realized maybe a dozen were crawling all over my car and I was trying to brush them off. A man saw me struggling to reach the top of my car and came over to help. He cleared them for me as I told him about the spiders I kept seeing. And he said, “Oh, you probably have hatchlings.” I don’t know if I did or didn’t but it was super weird and eventually went away. I googled out of curiosity and found that a car of the same make as mine, but a different model, had been recalled over spider issues.
One time in college, I saw one a house centipede as I was getting ready in the bathroom. I sprayed it with hairspray and made enough of a commotion that a roommate heard and came to check on me. She offered to dispose of it for me and I was like, great! By this point it had fallen from the wall to the floor, it was still alive but immobilized from the hairspray and she picked it up, popped its head with her fingers, and flushed it. She then told me she used to play with them as a kid. Gross. I mean, I wish I had that level of fearlessness around bugs, but I still remember the first time I became aware of those things and they’ve always scared me.
Are you talking about house centipedes? If so, we get them in the Midwest as well, I think typically in fall and spring, and they can seem HUGE with how long their legs can get. They’re fast, too. Even if they’re not darting across a wall, their appearance still makes me jump every single time if they’re bigger.
Some of the spiders I’ve seen around here lately are quite large and bulbous but thankfully I only see those outside. I used to live about half a block from a bar/restaurant that had an awning at its entrance that I’d avoid in the fall on account of their spider situation.
Oh, also meant to mention on this thread. A friend of mine sent me the link to a local news article she’d commented on about vaccines for kids under 12. She essentially wrote that she was excited to get her girls, 4 and 8, vaccinated. The comments she received were either totally nutso, hateful, or both. Yikes.
My mom’s house gets the occasional mouse. The cat will become OBSESSED with a room and that’s usually the giveaway, but I guess at least it’s good that someone in the house has fun while the situation is handled.
One building I lived in, I’d find the rare roach. Always just one, dead or dying, always in the same spot in my bathroom. Always on the larger side. The first time it happened, I grabbed a broom to sweep it up figuring it was dead because it was on its back. Nope! As soon as the broom touched it, it started skittering up the handle and I freaked out, dropped the broom, and ran in the other direction to find my Raid. My sister, who at one point lived in a building in DC where she’d frequently find roaches and learned to just deal/handle it, came over to help. Bless her. I don’t do well with bugs. I still stayed in the building for a few years even though I know that one roach is never really one roach. Though I do think I’d prefer to find a roach over a rat inside my home. Some of the rats I’ve seen in U.S. cities are basically the size of house cats. Either way, glad to currently live in a place where I have yet to experience any kind of pest situation.
