Sore neck, GPS, and social meetings

I have a sore neck. It's only on the left side. I'm not sure what I did. I'm trying to stretch it out.

I pulled out my old GPS. I charged it and updated the maps on it. It's interesting how outdated it looks, but it's reliable. I am happy that it works.

As far as work goes, I finished adding a bunch of content into two documents. I haven't looked at the output because the system that builds our documentation libraries was down.

Things will start to pick up socially. I made plans with three friends to meet up for dinner. Fun!

Got my first vaccine shot!

I am thankful for getting my first COVID-19 vaccine shot on Friday. Everything went well.

The clinic was at a hockey arena. I haven't stepped foot into one for over a year. It was nice.

Everyone at this arena was helpful, kind, and wonderful. The medical doctor who administered my vaccine shot was so great, explaining what will happen and what symptoms I could feel afterwards. I

 have no soreness in my arm right now. I did have a dull, mild headache. It has since disappeared.

It was a well-organized clinic. My second shot is in August. I took half a day off to get the shot on Friday and will take the other half day then. It's not like I have places to go with my vacation days, so I'm okay taking time off to relax, even if it's getting a vaccination and driving for an hour to get to the clinic.

A productive Sunday

I had a productive Sunday. I tend to cook in the morning. I made a batch of French toast to enjoy throughout the week. The bread has no sugar, which is great.

I also made mini turkey quiches. I'm still using up my leftover turkey, and added spinach and cheese to the egg mixture. They turned out better than I had expected.

My dad needed me to help book a doctor's appointment for him. Everything is done online and he isn't there. He's booked for a phone appointment later on today.

I also finished filing tax returns for my parents. He gave me all tax receipts on Easter Monday and wondered why I hadn't done them on Thursday. I have to work. I do my best tax work on the weekend when I'm not pressured. It was odd. Our tax deadline is always at the end of April, so I didn't understand why he felt like rushing things.

Sadly, the weekend is over. Here's to a new workweek!

Pigs in a blanket

I made pigs in a blanket with a silicone mould with little pigs. The bakeware is cute. However, you really need mini hot dogs to make it work.

I had regular hot dogs and cut them up into smaller pieces. I still felt that they were large.

The pigs in a blanket did turn out well. I will try reducing the time in the oven from 20 to 15 minutes. I found that the pancake batter was crispier than I would have liked. I used a sugar-free batter. I'm not sure if that had an effect.

I enjoy baking. It's fun.

A break from the boss

I am pleased that my manager is taking a vacation day today. We all could use a break from him.

Our team has a daily chat at 4:45 pm. I start my day at 8:15 am, so I technically am done for the workday by then and say whatever is on my mind before I sign off.

Yesterday, I joined in three minutes later than the start time. I'm always punctual. I wanted to break that cycle.

All I heard was our manager talk about work. When I decided to chime in, he changed his tune.

"I don't want to talk about work. I want cheerful stuff," he said.

"You've been doing that this entire chat," I pointed out.

Such a hypocrite.

Luckily, he had to go to a meeting, which was a nice way to end my day at 5 pm. 

Taxes, finances, and date lunches

It has been a half-productive, half-relaxing weekend. Sadly, the work week is about to being several hours from now.

Any time away from work is relaxing to me. From getting groceries to blogging, I will take it all!

I spent Sunday working on income tax returns. I had filed mine in early March. My parents tend to give me their receipts and such in early April. I got them on Saturday and completed them early Sunday evening.

I have also been on a mission to look at my finances and be minimalistic. Last year, I paid and got rid of two credit cards. I was so pleased with that accomplishment. I still have some work to do.

Within the past couple of months, I have reduced my spending. I don't need to shop as often as I used to. I am doing well in that department. I am inspired to continue.

On Monday, my guy is at the office for the entire week and all of next week. It'll be wonderful having lunch with him for most days, except for those days when I am working from home. I am looking forward to having lunch dates with my favourite date.

Course is done and all is well

I completed the second part of my refresher course on Tuesday. It was shorter than I had anticipated. Then again, doing a nearly four-hour course over two days is a decent length.

I have received positive, favourable feedback. I am thankful and pleased.

It's a good thing that I am working from home on Wednesday. I plan on going into productive mode. I am banning myself from our instant messaging tool. It is such a distraction.

My vacation has started... bon voyage!

I am finally done packing. I leave in roughly twelve hours. I am officially on vacation and it feels great.

I have the sweetest co-op students. Two of them came by my desk before they called it a day on Friday to wish me a nice vacation. The third one, who sits a couple of desks down, also did the same.

My guy travels home today. He chatted with me fairly late his time on Friday. It was nice to hear from him as I was buying Chinese yuan currency for my trip.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Contractor nightmare is over and my spanking is coming

The nightmare at work (that is, the male contractor who yawns and is nonproductive) ended on Tuesday. My manager gave him two weeks to complete an assignment remotely and declared him terminated from the company after he hands in his work.

Part of me felt relieved. I was having my lunch when my manager escorted the contractor from the building. It has been highly stressful to work with someone who is clearly there to earn money and to not learn. The other part of me does not like to see him lose his job less than a month before the holidays.

He spent nearly a week editing a single Word document that was well under 100 pages. He had a deadline originally set for two days to get it done.

He doesn't retain much that I have taught him. Oddly, my manager told me that this contractor remembered that I had said that he was doing a good job. Um, that was during his second week. It wasn't as of late. My boss said that he is clueless. I have to concur.

My manager stated that everything that he does ends up having mistakes. He is right. Every time I had to review his work, including early Tuesday morning, I found mistakes.

He could not get processes in order. They were not difficult to follow!

Frankly, I wasn't too thrilled after interviewing him with my manager nearly two months ago. I didn't like the idea that he wanted to learn what everyone else was doing around him. My boss regrets hiring him. I also didn't get how this contractor scribbled notes on the side of his writing test that he had completed just before his interview with us. Why?

My manager left the contractor's training manuals and his notebook. I leafed through the latter. He included his monthly expenses. He had thirty bagels going for a dollar each. As someone who loves bagels, he was paying too much for one. I ended up ripping his notes out of the notebook and shredding them. His notes were not detailed.

My guy wrote the training manuals. He is always helpful when I ask him for them for my co-op students and new hires.

My guy is busy preparing for his trip. He flies out on Friday. It's the same day where I receive 34 x 4 smacks across my backside. And, yes, it makes me happy just thinking about it.