My ex-guy no longer works at the same company as I do

I have a LinkedIn account. I don't use it often. I check in every couple of months.

My ex-guy and I are connected on this platform. I checked in yesterday. I found out that he had left our employer last month.

Part of me is relieved that I will never bump into him at the office. I don't know how I'd react if I did see him again. 

We started working for this company the same year. He started six months before I did. We didn't know each other until the following year. We started dating then.

The other part of me is curious as to why he left. Naturally, I haven't spoken to him in years and won't ask him. 

Update on my cold and cough

The good news is that my cold has disappeared. 

My congestion seems to be mild. I did have to get a new decongestant spray yesterday. I liked my Zicam that I got stateside a few months ago. I have used it up and went with Drixoral. I find the former relieves my congestion a lot faster than the latter. However, the current spray is effective.

I still have a cough, although it's not as annoying as it was over a week ago. It's progress.

I have a few posts to write. I have been focused on getting better that I haven't got around to them. Soon!

Happy new year - almost!

It's just under an hour away from New Year's Day!

I'd like to wish you all a great 2023 ahead. Here's to a year full of joy, love, good health, and yummy food and drinks.

Feeling better, but my congestion is difficult to predict

I am on the mend. My congestion seems to be up and down, though. Yesterday, I was breathing well for most of the day. It seems to get worse at night, a few hours before I'm ready to call it a day and sleep.

Today, my congestion was different. I felt great until late afternoon. I do have a decongestant in spray form, which has worked wonders. I am breathing well right now.

I still have a cough, but it's mild. Today, I went to get a backup bottle of Pei Pa Koa, a Chinese cough and throat syrup. Oddly, it's sold out at my usual stores. However, I can get it online through Amazon.

We live in such a weird world. Cough and cold medication is scarce in my area thanks to kids getting sick and the supply can't catch up with the demand.

Here's hoping that things get better.

Energy levels and congestion

I spent Tuesday at home. I find that I'm energetic in the morning. Once I have breakfast, I want to nap and it's all downhill from there.

Congestion is annoying. I have been hydrating a lot that I feel much better later in the day. It's interesting having a cold.

I haven't had a cold in years. It's weird, but I'm coping as best as I can.

Sick - ups and downs

I woke up today feeling good. I had breakfast and my energy dipped.

I napped. Napping helped. More rest was needed. I then headed out for the first time in days.

Fresh air does wonders. I ended up at the drugstore. There is a huge shortage of cold and cough medication.

I have nighttime cold and cough medication. It's the daily medication that I needed. Luckily, I found some, but it was slim pickings.

It was great to feel much better when I left home until I had soup upon my return. I'm now congested, so I'm off to breath better with my nose spray.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Due to a snowstorm that blew in on Christmas Eve, I decided to make Christmas dinner (it was more luch) early. My parents and I feasted on Christmas Eve. Today, I've have been eating leftovers, which I love.

I was stateside last year for Christmas and New Year's Day. It's nice to be home for the holidays this year.

I hope that you and yours have a fabulous holiday season. I am currently dealing with a sore throat and a mild cold. I'll write more about my recent travels once I have a chance. I am on a break from work.

I basically slept for two hours this afternoon. I felt tired from being sick. I'm more energetic now, which is encouraging.

Playful smack

On Wednesday, I was talking to my friends, who are also business owners. They are husband and wife.

They are a wonderful couple and I'm so happy that we have forged a beautiful friendship. It was my first time seeing the husband smack the backside of his wife in a playful manner.

Man, the sound of that smack echoed throughout the room. It made me happy to see such affection. It was also arousing.

I haven't talked about spanking for a long time, mainly because I haven't been all that interested since I broke up with the ex. It's a weird side effect of a breakup. The interest is there. It's simply dormant.

Taking my friend out for dinner to lift her spirits up

I have a friend who got laid off last month. We used to work together before she went to this company that laid her off.

I suggested that she could take a contract with us and get rehired. My guess is that she didn't want a three-month contract with a chance to renew it.

When she called me to break her layoff news, it was just before I headed to the Twin Cities in October. I said that I'd take her out for dinner. It will happen a couple of Mondays from now. I hope that it will lift her spirits up a bit.

I have been laid off twice in my life. A good friend took me to a CFL (Canadian Football League) game and it was great. I'm sort of paying it forward.

Configuring a new work laptop

On Tuesday, I went into the office to pick up my new laptop. My current one is four years old and its lease is about to expire. The company leases all laptops.

I spent a couple of hours configuring my laptop and getting software updates installed. I then finished things up at home. So, perhaps I had spent three to four hours getting my new laptop configured.

I used my new laptop all day on Wednesday. I love it. It's much faster to open up applications.

I was exhausted on Tuesday. It was a long ten-hour day.

There's only two more workdays left before the weekend is here. I can't wait!

New writers and thoughts about them

For nearly three weeks, I have been training two new writers who have joined our team. Both are contractors. One is a young man. The other is an older woman.

It's like night and day with these two. The young man is curious and learns quickly. I see him fitting in well and doing a great job in his role.

The older woman has issues. The first is comprehension. I will mention specific details in an e-mail and she will miss reading them. Something as simple as our manager saying to not come into the office did not register at all in her mind.

I had this brief text chat yesterday, for instance:

I noticed going through her work that involved reading a report that she doesn't pay attention to details. She asked me whether we had an answer when we barely read through it. It makes more sense to me that she does not read carefully -- that she jumps from section to section -- almost as if she's in a rush or is impatient.

She didn't read this exercise carefully. I've noticed this issue with the previous three.

Her third exercise was interesting. She missed step 5. She managed to change step 9 when it wasn't called for. She didn't bother doing steps 10 and 11. Yet, she said that she was done and that her output was the same as her male peer in our training session.

Um, no.

I remember asking her, rather politely, why certain steps were omitted or missed. Typically, when you are following a procedure, you do each step sequentially. I asked if there were too many concepts presented to her. She said maybe. Hmm.

I have concerns about her. I don't think that she'll do well because she can't grasp simple concepts expressed in exercises or messages. She jumps all over the place when reading text and almost seems like she can't focus.

It's weird.

I have both new writers on my team. I get to continue to work with them, which is a breath of fresh air with the young man. However, it requires more effort on my part to work with the older woman and her omitting key details in whatever she is working on.

It's be interesting.

The ex dreamt of me

My ex-guy wrote to me recently. He had dreamt about me. He said that he missed me.

It was the most expressive that he has been since he broke up with me. By expressive, I mean showing that he isn't emotionless.

The problem is that he thinks that I'd do a staycation in his neighbourhood. Um, no. I used to do them because we could spend more time together. I have no need to be in your area, let alone tell you that I'm there.

You would love to see me. I don't want to see you. It won't happen because I am happy without you.

Nose bleeds

My first nose bleed occurred when I was in grade two. I was standing in line for something with my class. There were two guys in front of me. They were fighting. A fist landed on my nose and blood came out of my right nostril.

My teacher and I headed to the washroom. She got my nose bleed under control. I pinched the top part of my nose and we cleaned myself up.

My next nose bleed occurred last December. I was in the Twin Cities. I managed to get it controlled after 45 minutes. It was trying to get something cold on my head and pinch the top part of my nose. It was tricky, but I got it done.

On my most recent trip, I had a nose bleed three times. I realized that it was way too dry in my room and where I was. I got a portable humidifier that I had on my nightstand and in my car. It helped me out a lot.

The third nose bleed out of the series was scary. I don't recall how long it took me to control it, but I didn't have anything close that did the job to cool my forehead. It felt like an eternity.

I now always travel with a humidifier. I have my home humidifier every night before I go to bed. I need it when I return to Minnesota for sure.

I'm back... again!

It has been well over a month since I last wrote here. It has been both busy and good on my end.

I spent the last 1.5 weeks heading back to the Twin Cities. I took in two Minnesota Wild games. I also made the trip down to Des Moines, IA for the first time to see the farm team, the Iowa Wild.

The drive from Minneapolis to Des Moines is roughly four hours. I don't get why there are so many drivers who simply plop themselves in the left lane and drive the normal speed limit in it. The left lane is for passing, people.

There seemed to be a higher number of folks on this particular route, both northbound and southbound, who occupied the left lane and should have moved over to the right lane. Ugh!

I hope to write more. It has been tough, especially when I'm on the road with my work laptop and don't want to blog from it.

Work anniversary and spaghetti

Yesterday was my work anniversary. I have been with my employer for twelve years.

My manager acknowledged it, and thanked me for supporting and leading our team. It was nice. I essentially got a $100 e-certificate, which I spent at Amazon.

I fell asleep an hour ago. I dreamt of spaghetti. I wonder what it means.

Connecting my satellite radio to my car that doesn't have an aux port

I have been working on an interesting challenge with my new car. It doesn't have an auxiliary (aux) port.

I have owned a SiriusXM satellite radio since my past car didn't have the app built in to the system. It requires an aux port to get the music going.

On Saturday, I managed to get it to work. My car has two USB ports. The one at the front makes Android Auto work. The other one is in the storage compartment next to me.

I managed to get an adapter that has one port for USB C charging and an aux port. This setup only works if I use the USB port on the dashboard and not the adapter.

Instead, I got a transmitter where you insert the audio plug into the aux port of my radio. It then becomes a Bluetooth device. I connect my car to it and I can play music. It works nicely.

The problem is that if I want to use Android Auto, I can't stream from my satellite radio. Android Auto does have the SiriusXM app, but I don't want to stream music as I drive.

So, the key is to use my GPS on my phone and connect my satellite radio as a bluetooth device from my car's console to play music. It's a nice workaround. It's simply a bummer that I can't have my GPS map displayed on my console and listen to music on my satellite radio simultaneously.

It's a minor inconvenience. I'm simply glad that I got my old satellite radio to work.

My new car and my awesome product advisor

I got my new car on Wednesday. I love it. It's like my previous car, but quieter and with more features.

I asked my product advisor (he's really my sales guy, but his new title makes more sense) if I could get protector film on my new car, similar to what I got on my old one. It protects the car from stone chips and such. I remembered this feature a week before getting the new car, so I knew that it may not be applied in time.

Sadly, it wasn't. I went back on Friday to drop off my car to get it installed.

The problem was that the dealership doesn't offer shuttle services since the pandemic. I'd have to wait for the work to be done.

"I'll drive you home," he said.

"Really? Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome," he replied.

He took me home and dropped me off at the dealership once the work was done.

He has been my product advisor for three different leased cars. I truly landed a good one.

Concert was fabulous!

The concert last night was wonderful. I saw Boy George and Culture Club for the first time in my life. I'm so glad that I decided to try my hand at getting a ticket.

The drive to get to the venue is roughly 1.5 hours from where I live. I got a t-shirt. Yay

I'm taking it easy today. I will need to briefly head out in a few hours, but it's a quieter day this long Labour Day weekend.

Selling a concert ticket and getting protective film on my new car's hood

Roughly two years ago, I bought three concert tickets for two friends and me. I had a special code for early access. Unfortunately, I couldn't get three tickets together. Instead, I got a single ticket for me and two tickets together for my friend and her boyfriend.

She paid me back for her tickets. The pandemic happened and this concert has been rescheduled to two weeks from now.

Her boyfriend can't go. So, my friend and I will sit together. I need to sell the single ticket.

I have been able to sell my last two tickets for the Minnesota Wild and Lady Gaga. Here's hoping that I can for this concert.

As for car news, I asked my salesperson if I can get protective film installed on my new car's hood. I have it on my current car and it has been wonderful. I do not have any paint chips. I'm happy that it will be installed in time for pickup next Wednesday.

New car on Wednesday that is now insured

Yesterday, I got word towards the end of my workday that my new car will arrive next Wednesday. My hope that it would be ready next week came true!

The last time I had to deal with my insurance company, I was on hold for nearly two hours. This time, I decided to call at 7 pm. I got a representative immediately.

The downside? There was so much feedback on her end. I could hear a male colleague and a female colleague more clearly than my representative. It was frustrating and difficult, but I managed to get through this call that lasted nearly fifty minutes.

At least it's done. Some cool things happened:

• Because I use an app to monitor my driving habits, I got at 25% discount on my insurance rate for the year. I saved roughly $1,100.
• My insurance rate has dropped $13 a month with the new car.

I thanked the woman for helping me out. I let her know that it wasn't her fault that the background was super noisy, but her manager may be able to do something.

I hope to get a survey. She'll get a high rating, but hearing all that noise in the background and envisioning the call centre's sound setup needs help.

It's the Labour Day long weekend coming up. I'm glad that I can spend some time with my car before it gets traded in.