Hello again. Have I mentioned that the AC in my car no longer works? It is, and this is just a rough guesstimate, approximately 743 degrees in my car this afternoon (+/- ten degrees F of course). Naturally, the 90 degree weather we are suffering having isn't helping things at. all. I just took a quick trip to the pet store and the grocery store and I am covered in a fine sheen of sweat and bad attitude. I despise heat. What ever happened to winter? Why didn't we have one this year? Where is my icy beverage and palm frond fan fanners? And I don't want to hear it Hunter, BFF, or Teacher's Wife... I know you all live in places that are much hotter than Columbus but you've each made a lifestyle decision that includes RedNeck Heat, Cracker Country, and The Fucking Desert, respectively. I, on the other hand, should be skipping through fields of flowers enjoying a spring time breeze.
Did I tell you that I have a new friend at work? Yep, Golden Rod*, and we are uncannily alike. She's been at the company for about a month but I didn't start talking to her until she'd completed almost two full weeks. In fact, when Jilly Bean brought GR around to introduce her, I said something like "you'll never really work with me so it doesn't matter who I am. Also, I sit in the hinterlands so there's no need to come all the way over for an introduction." Later I emailed JB and said "I should have told you before; never introduce me to people" because for some strange reason, I am incapable of handling it appropriately and generally make new hires feel uncomfortable or insulted.
In this case, I made myself a liar because GR did have to work with me because I needed to train her on taking minutes at the external meeting downtown and so we met for 30 minutes during which time I told her about the players and the dynamics and what was important to take down etc. She accompanied me to the meeting earlier this month and, afterwards, we went out for breakfast where we got to chatting. It was after I commented on my ridiculous love for gossip - "I just collect it, I don't do anything with it, I just want the knowledge" - that GR said "me too" and I immediately asked "when's your birthday?" "December 21," she replied, "I'm a Sagittarius." It was love from that moment on over our mushroom omelets and coffee. I firmly believe that Sagittarians delight in one another more than any other sign and Golden Rod and I were both very pleased to find we had that in common. We have a lot in common, actually, so much so that she commented on how nice it is to not be the only one. My retort was "yeah, but it is a bit disturbing to have another me in the world." She agreed. Naturally.
But she's lovely and funny and smart and I like everything about her and I'm so happy to have a new friend in the office. OK, so she may have assessed me rather quickly and decided that I suffer from PTSD but that just makes her more fun. She isn't the first to suggest it (I told you about the dead mouse on Service Day, didn't I?) but she is the first to make me actually consider it. Evidently one of the symptoms is denial of having experienced trauma. As I said to Golden Rod "really? I thought that was just something I did that pisses my mother off". It's true, mom frequently gets upset with me for downplaying anything bad, going so far as to make me tear up and/or cry in public when she recounts some horribly maudlin story about me and my youth or telling neurologists that no, no she is not OK, she's terribly affected by her marital separation and the news of this disease.
I told Hunter about that. His wife actually suffers from PTSD and has what I consider a real reason to suffer from it (she was attacked). I told him that whether or not I have it is sort of a moot issue. Either I don't and I continue on or I do and I have done for a long time without treatment. Treatment for me, by the way - again, based on a conversation with Golden Rod who in no way claims to be a clinician - is to basically feel the fear and do it anyway. Not. Bloody. Likely. Still, it's nice to think that I jump three inches to the left of my skin seven times a day and that I have weird public anxiety because maybe there is something wrong with me and not, you know, Cat is just a big old ball of freak.
So you can see why I like the woman. I'm biased, of course I am, because she is a Sagittarius and because she is a phenomenal minutes taker and because she knows what the fuck synesthesia is. I've even invited her to the next Broad Summit (after nominating her to the others and getting approval, of course) and I think she'll be a fine part of the pack. Whilst discussing not always wanting to be the bigger person, she said "oh, I know. I just drink and talk about people behind their backs." What is not to love? Tell me that.
That's all I really have, I'm afraid. It is hotter than fuck and I don't like it and I'm eating terrible food in preparation to begin dieting on June 1. Why June 1st? I don't know, it's the start of the month and because it is getting so hot that I can't keep eating my beloved fried foods and pizza. Plus, I may take a short trip in July and it's always nice to feel light and healthy and vaguely attractive when traveling, especially in the summer, the god awful why must it be this fucking bright summer. That and it really is about time I grew up when it comes to food and health and all things grown up, isn't it? However, I have a few days left so please excuse me whilst I recline on my couch and watch Miss Marple over a few beers.
*Why Golden Rod? GR and I are both synesthesetes. We agree that the number one is black and that the medical specialty of Radiology is red. Her real name is, in my mind, yellow. But she is so much NOT a yellow person that I couldn't call her "Yellow". Golden Rod works though.
Did I tell you that I have a new friend at work? Yep, Golden Rod*, and we are uncannily alike. She's been at the company for about a month but I didn't start talking to her until she'd completed almost two full weeks. In fact, when Jilly Bean brought GR around to introduce her, I said something like "you'll never really work with me so it doesn't matter who I am. Also, I sit in the hinterlands so there's no need to come all the way over for an introduction." Later I emailed JB and said "I should have told you before; never introduce me to people" because for some strange reason, I am incapable of handling it appropriately and generally make new hires feel uncomfortable or insulted.
In this case, I made myself a liar because GR did have to work with me because I needed to train her on taking minutes at the external meeting downtown and so we met for 30 minutes during which time I told her about the players and the dynamics and what was important to take down etc. She accompanied me to the meeting earlier this month and, afterwards, we went out for breakfast where we got to chatting. It was after I commented on my ridiculous love for gossip - "I just collect it, I don't do anything with it, I just want the knowledge" - that GR said "me too" and I immediately asked "when's your birthday?" "December 21," she replied, "I'm a Sagittarius." It was love from that moment on over our mushroom omelets and coffee. I firmly believe that Sagittarians delight in one another more than any other sign and Golden Rod and I were both very pleased to find we had that in common. We have a lot in common, actually, so much so that she commented on how nice it is to not be the only one. My retort was "yeah, but it is a bit disturbing to have another me in the world." She agreed. Naturally.
But she's lovely and funny and smart and I like everything about her and I'm so happy to have a new friend in the office. OK, so she may have assessed me rather quickly and decided that I suffer from PTSD but that just makes her more fun. She isn't the first to suggest it (I told you about the dead mouse on Service Day, didn't I?) but she is the first to make me actually consider it. Evidently one of the symptoms is denial of having experienced trauma. As I said to Golden Rod "really? I thought that was just something I did that pisses my mother off". It's true, mom frequently gets upset with me for downplaying anything bad, going so far as to make me tear up and/or cry in public when she recounts some horribly maudlin story about me and my youth or telling neurologists that no, no she is not OK, she's terribly affected by her marital separation and the news of this disease.
I told Hunter about that. His wife actually suffers from PTSD and has what I consider a real reason to suffer from it (she was attacked). I told him that whether or not I have it is sort of a moot issue. Either I don't and I continue on or I do and I have done for a long time without treatment. Treatment for me, by the way - again, based on a conversation with Golden Rod who in no way claims to be a clinician - is to basically feel the fear and do it anyway. Not. Bloody. Likely. Still, it's nice to think that I jump three inches to the left of my skin seven times a day and that I have weird public anxiety because maybe there is something wrong with me and not, you know, Cat is just a big old ball of freak.
So you can see why I like the woman. I'm biased, of course I am, because she is a Sagittarius and because she is a phenomenal minutes taker and because she knows what the fuck synesthesia is. I've even invited her to the next Broad Summit (after nominating her to the others and getting approval, of course) and I think she'll be a fine part of the pack. Whilst discussing not always wanting to be the bigger person, she said "oh, I know. I just drink and talk about people behind their backs." What is not to love? Tell me that.
That's all I really have, I'm afraid. It is hotter than fuck and I don't like it and I'm eating terrible food in preparation to begin dieting on June 1. Why June 1st? I don't know, it's the start of the month and because it is getting so hot that I can't keep eating my beloved fried foods and pizza. Plus, I may take a short trip in July and it's always nice to feel light and healthy and vaguely attractive when traveling, especially in the summer, the god awful why must it be this fucking bright summer. That and it really is about time I grew up when it comes to food and health and all things grown up, isn't it? However, I have a few days left so please excuse me whilst I recline on my couch and watch Miss Marple over a few beers.
*Why Golden Rod? GR and I are both synesthesetes. We agree that the number one is black and that the medical specialty of Radiology is red. Her real name is, in my mind, yellow. But she is so much NOT a yellow person that I couldn't call her "Yellow". Golden Rod works though.
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