Is there a PlanB option for you?

It seems like you're in their hands, so perhaps you need a safety net?

Had a week of driving off to see clients and do career reviews of my team.

Weirdly, a day out of the office usually means 2 days to catchup, but not last week... or... I'm not aware of that disaster in my Inbox.

Also... having fun building Ikea Pax wardrobes. Saw a vid on yoochoob which implied that a nice plinth would improve the look and strength, so went down to the builder's yard to find they don't do the lengths of wood I need. Why's it always so difficult...

Work after a week off is always busier catching up with things. By Tuesday afternoon I felt in need of another break. By the end of the week things were back to normal and the brief break long forgotten. On with the grind it is.

How was your week?

Been feeling uncertain about my life choices, in particular starting my own business with an old friend who has been completely absent while he deals with personal issues. He's supposed to be the sales person and I'm delivery. I've been trying to being in clients myself but it's not been easy for me. Felt Mitch better with a bit of sun earlier in the week but couldn't make the most of it when working.

I did that recently, and then did the stupid thing of telling others of how stupid I am.

Pro-Tip: Everyone fucks up, the best thing to do in this post-truth world is to literally go play golf and pretend the fuckup wasn't wholly yours ^["where was the initial feedback? the oversight? who validated your changes?"], and if they try to give you grief over it pretend they're giving you a light hazing and move on to actionable points to rectify it, whilst slightly passive-aggressively telegraphing that anyone getting emotional over it has never spilled milk before.

It's shitty and dishonest and you'll feel like a mixture of Donald Trump and Larry David, but it genuinely does work in getting people off your back

How horrid... But it is the times we live in. At least I tell myself that, since I want to believe people are mostly situational and could be good under better circumstances.

Uni was okay for her, but it's this pre-reg requirement before she's a full optometrist. Basically you swear fealty to a corporation for two years before you have a license to practise, and until you pass the assessment scheme you're at their mercy. Specsavers basically wrote her off from the start, dumped her just in time to get a tidy break on taxes.

I hope you do find a new income stream soon, though I'm sure you will. With any luck, it'll be nothing Bram Stoker would write home about!

Unis are businesses these days. My last prof took on a postdoc who secured her own independent funding, but needed his name on the application for formality reasons. He took her funding, badmouthed her to the entire uni, and cast her out of the lab. Vampire tactics seem to be pretty common now in this economy.

The nepotism within Unis are also shockingly bad. The child of a professor is practically guaranteed a tenureship track in academia, as the professor's can stack bad candidates vying for the same position when the application comes. Anyone from outside their circle needs to either swear fealty to some professor or fight tooth and nail.

There's a recent blog post about this from a German researcher that resonated with me on this. I hope your wife's doing okay.

I've also just lost a good revenue stream and am wondering how I'm gonna cope, but I'm sure I will one way or another.

Landlord came out to have a look on Sunday and sent someone to fix it yesterday, so it's at least sorted now.

Had yet another frantic week, but, spent a good weeknd 1:1 with my Mum going through some old photos of us when we were kids, her when she was younger and just re-relating how her life was compared to my daughter's life now...

Previous generation getting married in their 20's and thinking about having kids... latest generation only starting their career in their 20’s and (hopefully) no thought of kids... such a difference.

Unless you're the manager who has to unfuck the problem that someone else did... which was initially caused by someone else who fucked somethingelse up, and the more senior managers just say: sort it out.

But, then, find another manager who you can have a laugh with and unwind...

Jeez... not sure if I should down-vote your post to recognise how grim that is 😉

Save the packaging info in case they announce a recall.

We got through the last week before my wife gets back into her work! First day was today, so far so good.

Swear to god, her old bosses handicapped her from the start and ran her out at the first chance. After three years of uni, they almost blew up her career in the hangar, and to all appearances it was deliberate. It set us back ten months, at minimum. It is only a faint exaggeration to say her entire career was hunted for sport.

Anyway. It's been a fucking nightmare and I'm just shaking with hope that we're finally back to a dual income household. She supported me when I was at uni and I was more than happy to repay the favour. That said, there wasn't a kid in the picture back then. It was a massive relief to get her into a job a year and a half ago, and at this point I'm too wary to feel relieved.

Next week I'll have nice updates, no more trauma dumping from me. You okay?

Nah, not this stuff, this is Oscar Meyer shaved turkey breast, and I dunno exactly how they marinade and cook it at the factory, but the result is rather juicy and tastes similar to smoked honey ham.

We've had the stuff numerous times over the past couple years, never had a problem with it. But this time, honestly I can't remember when my roommate opened the package, but it says on the package to consume within 7 days of opening..

It tasted and smelled perfectly fine, but it might be just starting to turn. Probably better safe than sorry though and go ahead and toss it...

That's the trouble with turkey, if it doesn't taste like sweaty cardboard then there's usually something wrong with it...

Oh thank you. Yes, thankfully I'm feeling much better today 👍

I'm thinking it's the sliced turkey sandwich I ate on Friday, apparently that turkey didn't agree with me, we might have to toss out what's left of the turkey. That's a shame too, as the turkey is rather juicy and tasty.

I hope you're feeling better!

My week was OK. I'm looking forward to the F1 starting again soon :)

We watched E.T on Saturday night for the first time since watching it as a kid and we had some observations:

• The mum was happy to let her kids and friends smoke, but was annoyed that they were ordering pizza
• The mum was going to go to the school to pick up Elliot, but leave her 4 or 5 year old daugher at home, alone?! She could have brought her with her
• The mum tells the kids to be back by sundown, but none of them come back. There's a scene where she looks down because she looks like she's home alone, but not stressing out like fuck that her kids aren't home.
• I always assumed the grown ups in the suits who go to their house are the "baddies", but really they're only trying to help.

We've all done it. Best you can do is learn from it.

Whenever it happens at our work, everyone piles in with their own funny fuck ups.

Oh damn. I hope there's not too much damage! Has someone been out to sort it?

I had the comic book as a kid, didn't see the film until last year. It's such a weird, moody, memorable story.

There's nothing better than when a band that has been around most of your life drops either a banger, or a song that is dear to you.

I remember watching the Manic Street Preachers play The Everlasting live, and even though I'm not the biggest fan of the song, I felt like a youngster all over again for the first time in as long as I can remember.

Little things. Glad you enjoyed it.

Dropping a bollock is half the fun of work.

I suppose what makes it tolerable enough is whether you've got a line manager to turn to and say "here boss, I've made a fuckup here, I'm away to unfuck it now" without it turning into a mega drama.

I was off work, which was great. Even better, we saw Alter Bridge on Wednesday.

The setlist was awesome and they played great, as usual. When the first notes of Silent Divide hit in the beginning, every single hair in my arms was standing straight. On the downside, now I’ve had an ear worm since the concert.

🎶 There's no doubt we'll phase out the one who lies 🎶

Oof. That’s worse than suboptimal!