Dating a worrywart

My new love interest is a worrywart. He was trying to secure his first contract with a customer. He got so stressed out that when we were chatting on Tuesday night, he said that he couldn't have dinner and needed time to think.

Wow. That's all I can say.

Meanwhile, I had a lapse in my cold on Tuesday. My congestion went through the roof. I told him on three separate times that I was taking an early evening. Thank goodness for my humidifier.

Did he take any of what I said into consideration? Nope. Stress does weird things to him.

He texted me at 1 am my time to say that he can't sleep. Really? I said that I'm not feeling well once again. He apologized. I proceeded to switch my phone to do not disturb. I'm so glad that I did. He texted me at 6:30 am and beyond. I was sleeping in till 8 am.

The good news is that he got the contract. His very first one. I was so proud of him.

I am also thrilled that I don't have to deal with his crazy, worried text messages. I, too, can sleep well tonight.

Being contacted by my manager while on vacation... really?

My manager is in worry mode, as my guy had predicted.

I received a long e-mail message from my boss, asking me to prepare a list of who, out of my three students, will be handling a number of tasks while I am away.

I dislike when my manager gets in this mode. He only asks this task from me. It does not happen to anyone else on the team.

The kicker is this last request:

In case of emergency, how to contact you with a minimum (not maximum) 24-hour response time.

What? I am on vacation. There is a reason why I am on vacation. I am not doing work.

I don't think that the mandatory course that we all took about work-life balance has properly register in his head. As someone who has worked from home for years, I am pretty good at distinguishing between doing work and then stopping to focus on my life.

How would you handle such a request? I am inclined to say that I am on vacation. I need to de-stress and recharge. Being contacted by my manager on vacation is not ideal. I should not be checking work e-mail or picking up work calls.

Last September, I took a Friday off as a vacation day. A contractor had quit after three days. My manager sent me two e-mails about this contractor's departure and then left me a voice message on my home phone. To me, this situation is not an emergency that warrants contacting me at home. I foresee a repeat, but amplified in a negative way.

My vacation is fast approaching and folks are worried about my being away

I go on vacation at the end of the month. I can see some concern among my colleagues, particularly my co-op students and my manager.

A few weeks ago, when I said that I was going to get my tourist visa from the consulate office, my manager paid attention. Since then, he constantly has the fact drilled in his head that I am on vacation for 2.5 weeks.

He is a worry wart. I gave notice of my vacation time five months ago. Yes, I am that prepared.

My guy says that my manager has every right to be worried. Without me, things will sink. My guy is sweet, but he does have a point. I am the longest serving writer on the team. I am knowledgeable. I am reliable and am good at what I do.

On Monday, one of my co-op students asked me when I go on vacation. I am easing her into some of my meetings. She is a bit concerned, but I tend to ease her mind. Same goes with the new co-op students. I guide them with whatever tasks that I give them. I do feel bad that I will be leaving them after a month since they first joined us, but they do understand that I am busy and deserve time off.

I am not sure whether I will be able to blog while in Shanghai. I do have a VPN, so that would be one method to try. I don't feel like writing a ton of posts before I leave. I like more spontaneous posts.

New hires, training, and my eye

It has been a busy workweek, which isn't surprising considering how crazy my workload can get. However, there are quite a number of exciting changes.

First, my longest-serving student is training two new students and a new technical writer this week. It is odd that I am not fully doing the training. My student doesn't know all her stuff, so I need to fill in the knowledge gaps. As a result, I still need to be a part of the training sessions.

I always find meeting new hires to be exciting. I get to know them and understand how they learn. We haven't scared them, which is great. They are also good at asking questions. So far, so good.

My manager has odd expectations that my student will train and I will provide support, meaning that I don't have to do much. However, we both know that his assumption is false. He is pretty worried that I will be away for more than two weeks. It is new territory for both of us.

My guy and I talked the other day about my being away. He says that my manager should be worried. He is dependent on me. I have hinted that he is far too dependent, particularly being his go-to person for team expenses. My being on vacation for a longer period shows my point to be the case.

Today, I have my second eye injection for my eye stroke. I find that I am seeing a bit better. However, I can't tell if the drug injection is working, time is helping to clear up some of the blood in my central vision, or my eyes are simply adjusting to my eye's current state. I can only hope that my vision improves as much as possible.

The good news is that I no longer get dizzy when I look at objects. When it first happened, looking around made me so dizzy that I would have to either close my eyes or look down. The latter works because I don't see the blood and my vision is clearer that way.

I am working from home afterward my appointment. It simply means that I am on a conference call, listening in on my student training and following her presentation, and my taking over when there are gaps.

There are plenty of gaps. It's not unexpected. I am more a part-time trainer this week.

My student is doing a pretty good job for her first attempt. It simply means that there is room for improvement as she acquires more experience.

March questions: Music, trains, and personality types

I received these wonderful questions from SheandHim:

What is your favourite genre of music? 

Such a tough question! I love music. I used to go to many concerts in a year. Perhaps I averaged a concert a month. These days, I am more selective. 

I like 80's synthesizer or electronic music the most. I have a weakness for Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, and many more. I am tuned in to the 80's channel on Sirius XM radio. 

I do listen to all types of music. I have an extensive collection of songs. My iPod classic has over 22,000 songs! 

Have you ever ridden a train? 

I have. We have commuter trains in the greater Toronto area called GO trains that take you from various cities and towns. I loved being on it after work. The first stop took nearly twenty minutes to get there, so I had a decent nap. 

I have also taken the train from Metuchen, NJ to Penn Station in New York City when I was in Piscataway on a business trip. It was quite the experience that I wouldn't trade for the world! 

Are you easygoing or are you a worrier? 

I have been told that I am both easygoing and a bit of a worrier. I have a relaxed personality, which helps when things are stressful. I do worry about things, but it isn't to the point where I can't sleep or relax. I think it's a healthy version of being concerned.

Thanks for your answers! If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please leave them in the Comments section. I'd be happy to answer them.

Good morning call and aftermath chat about my rear end

On Friday, my guy did the sweetest thing. To most, it wouldn't be a huge deal. It was to me.

I tend to get to the office by 08:30 when I am there in the mornings. I got a call at 09:05 from my guy, who was in the training room. He has never done that before.

The fact that my car was obviously in the parking lot tends to put him at ease and makes him happy. I noticed that he was in the office earlier than usual. He told me that he stayed at his friend's place overnight, which is closer to work than if he drove from his place. It also helped that many folks took Friday off, kicking off the long holiday weekend here, and made the morning drive to work a lot easier.

"Did you get enough beauty sleep? Well, you don't really need any. You're fine," I said to him.
"I woke up at my regular time of 07:00," he replied. I could tell that he was smiling, judging by the cheerful tone of his voice.

We talked some more. I am not sure exactly what we were talking about.

"Maybe I should flash them, to make the seminar is interesting," he said.
"Well, if you did that to me, I'd be very happy. However, to your attendees, you may not have a job after that," I explained.
"Are you by yourself upstairs?" he asked me.
"Nope," I said.
"Shouldn't you be careful about what you're saying?" he said, in his usual paranoid way when it comes to our private conversations in the workplace.
"Don't worry. All is fine."
"I do worry," he admitted.
"I know you do. It's okay."

My guy wished me a good day and said that he wanted to say good morning to me. I am glad that he did. I said that we'd talk later.

At lunch, he called me. He was waiting in his car in front of our office building. Minutes later, I waved to him while walking to his car and then got in.

I reassured him that all was okay with our conversation this morning. My colleague actually thought that I was talking to our other writer. My guy was fine after that statement, as I am comfortable talking to anyone.

"How's your rear end?" my guy asked, referring to our flogging session the other day.
"It's good now," I said. "The pain was immediate, lasted for a few hours, left some marks, but went away faster than I had thought it would. When you spank me hard, that pain lingers for a day or so. It's good. We should do it again."
"Sounds good," he said, smiling at me. "I was worried about you."

It's great that he's my best friend, my lover, and my disciplinarian. It all works nicely.