My mother-in-law is still recovering in the hospital. We are taking care of her dog until she returns home. 

News about my husband-- he is a speaker in a documentary and it is not a small production. A film crew of about eight people spent the first part of the week with him in Alaska, checking out and filming at various locations up there.

This morning, the film crew were at our house,  scoping out the light, sound and views from different rooms. They'll return Saturday morning at 6 am to set up and film the interview. I'm playing the part of "Supportive husband who sits by interviewee." They've asked me to wear warm colors. 

 

My mother-in-law had her surgery yesterday. While there were some problems along the way, and it took much longer than anticipated, the surgeon was successful. The stent was inserted. 

She spent the night recovering in the hospital. This morning she ate without pain.

We hosted a dozen people for Thanksgiving. It turned out well. The notable absence was my mother-in-law who has been in constant pian

She’d been contemplating a medical procedure for some time: a stent to address constant, severe pain. Her heart and breathing aren't strong enough to make her an ideal candidate. For her the pain outweighed the risk.

The procedure happened on Friday and didn't go as planned. They couldn’t place the stent and she required emergency surgery to restore proper blood flow. It was a terrifying few hours. 

She is stable now. We're picking her up to take her home while the surgeon and doctor consult. They plan to try a slightly different approach in a few days.

What of my job?

Over the past few months, a new company president and executive churn has made something clear-- my business org, while valuable, is no longer a strategic area of investment. My job then changes. I can either align with the new plan, or fight for every dollar while my org is nickel and dimed to death.  I'm not interested in these discussions. At heart, I'm an engineer who is good at getting others to work together. My career grew from that core. I have never had a passion to debate budgets and corporate strategies. 

I've decided I'm leaving after the midterm elections next year. Maybe it's a retirement. Maybe it's some time off before I transition to something else.

With that decision made, my interest in my job has dropped. I'm still doing the day-to-day tasks. But I've stopped seeking out and participating in the larger discussions. What's left of the work swings between boredom and stress. 

I'm wondering if the executives will even notice? The executive churn has caused the executives to disengage. As long as the revenue keeps coming in and unless there is an emergency, they may not even be aware. There are fires elsewhere in the company and it's sucking up their time. 

I've been up to a mish mash of things.

Babysitting-- I babysat Baby O for a few hours. I'm a 55yo man, and this is the first time I've babysat an infant in my life. Huff showed me the basics and promised me that as long as I didn't injure Baby O, then nothing would go wrong. She warned me that baby's are fussy and change what they want every ten minutes. You just have to roll with it. 

It went well. Baby O was fussy at times. Other times she slept. Other times she smiled, or cried, or giggled. 

Lasagna-- An acquainted once shared with me that she had hosted a lasagna party. She provided all the ingredients. Her friends all made lasagna's together to take home. For unknown reasons I thought it would be fun to try. We invited some of my husband's AA friends, including those on SNAP benefits. More people accepted than originally planned.

I made the noodles and sauces from scratch. That ended up being a full day's work that finished just before the guests arrived.

The Lasagnas turned out very well.

And Work-- I am bored at work. My challenge is to keep all the parts moving-- to keep all the balls in the air. Every now and then I have to arbitrate a priority issue, or navigate personality conflicts. This is all more stress than challenge. 

Last week was uneventful. My husband traveled to Alaska for aa few days of work. I held down the fort, so to speak.

Seattle has turned to its traditional fall weather. Gloomy, a bit of rain and dark by 5pm. I had C2 over for dinner on Saturday and vented about how the early dark made him feel like it was midnight, even though it was only 7pm.

Sunday morning we had coffee with the neighbors. I enjoy this. They are also corporate professionals in a similar life situation-- planning to retire in the next few years, with aging family that needs care. 

Sunday afternoon we put up the Christmas tree. It's our way of fighting back against the gloom. My husband loves this activity. I have to restrain my commentary when he decorates. For days before we put up the tree, little boxes of Christmas decor will arrive daily from Amazon. My first reaction is that we don't need more Christ junk decor. Then I remind myself that we aren't in debt and we are saving well. So why not spend a little on this. 

Sunday evening we had a nice dinner at a local restaurant. This restaurant has poor cell phone reception, so it forces us to put our devices down and actually talk to each other.

My mother-in-law is a Halloween baby, so we treated her to dinner at a fondue restaurant for her birthday. It was fun, though I'm not sure I'd rush to do it again.

Saturday marked the 70th birthday of a family friend, and we attended her party in the afternoon.

In the early evening, we had dinner with Allen and Evan. We hadn't seen them in a few weeks, and it was good to catch up.

Work-wise, I'm feeling a bit frustrated. Our organization isn't part of the company's strategic growth plan, so I find myself fighting tooth and nail just to keep our current team intact. My job can be tough even under the best circumstances, so I'm definitely not eager to stretch our headcount and budget even further.

Saturday night, my brother-in-law invited us over for dinner. He has just moved into a new place and wanted us to be his first guests. It’s a beautiful building—he’s on the 41st floor with incredible views.

He wanted to quickly walk his dog before we arrived. He entered the elevator with another resident also walking her dog.

The elevator started moving, suddenly stopped and then dropped six inches. Both of them grabbed the railings. Thankfully, aside from the brief jolt, they were unharmed. Unfortunately, the elevator was stuck.

They picked up the emergency phone, which connected them to a call center in India. The audio quality was terrible. After a frustrating conversation, they hung up and sat down to wait.

Neither of their cell phones had reception inside the elevator.

How long can you sit in an elevator with a dog who needs to pee before things go south?

Forty-five minutes later, they were freed. Instead of risking another elevator ride, they decided to take the stairs. What they didn’t realize was that the staircases in this building have one-way locking doors. Once inside the stairwell, the only way out is down—forty stories.

But, they had cell reception again. She called her husband, who came to meet them on their floor. Her dog, thrilled to see her husband, ran up and bumped into both him and the door—slamming it shut.

Now the three of them, plus two dogs, were trapped in the stairwell.

At this point, my brother-in-law’s dog couldn’t hold it any longer and peed in the stairwell.

They called several numbers before finally reaching someone who could come to the floor and carefully let them out.

Dinner was overcooked. We had a great time together.

And we are back in Seattle. 

Big AWS/Internet outage last night. I've been up since 2am quarterbacking our efforts. Our customers are not blaming us which is nice. 

Our friend and his husband have rejoined us in Pigeon Forge.

Our cabin is remote and up a mountain. Having said that, it's only 15 minute drive to Pigeon Forge. We get the best of both worlds, city entertainment with evenings the evenings in splendid nature. 

The trees are just starting to change to their fall colors. Maybe we arrived here a week to early... first world problems.

 

We are now in Pigeon Forge. It is gorgeous here. We are touring around on Sunday.

Nashville is a wonderful city. We’ve seen many, many, bridesmaids parties. One has to wonder the where abouts of the bachelor parties.

Hmmm. The editor seems to be inserting many AI selected links. I’m scrubbing them. Apologies if I can’t get rid of them completely.

The food in Nashville is fantastic. Not healthy, but delicious in that southern style. 

A little bit of travel drama. One of our party originally intended to travel with us for the full week even though his husband wouldn’t be able to join till Wednesday. He flew in Friday, but flew back Saturday morning, stating he was feeling great anxiety— his meds had recently been adjusted, perhaps that was it. He intends to join us again on Wednesday when his husband will also be here. I hope all goes well. 

Once a year, for the past few years, we've got together with some of my Husband's oldest friends. Last year it was at our home in Seattle. The year before that was Dallas. This year it's Tennessee. 

So we are in Nashville for a few days, then heading over to Pigeon Forge Tennessee..

A few of us can work remote and will do a little of that while we are hear, The rest of the time we intend to enjoy the mountains, Dollywood, the food and a little exploring.

Fall has set in. Temperatures are cooler, though nothing uncomfortable. I have switched from shorts and short-sleeved shirts, to jeans and long sleeved. We are debating when to turn on the heat in the house. Afternoon and evening temperatures are pleasant. It can be too cool in the morning. 

Allan has been falling off the wagon-- quietly, when no one is around. Most days, he is sober. His husband, Evan,  travels for work a few times a month. When Evan does so, Allan spends much of his time inebriated. Not much I can do here, other than take care of myself and encourage Evan and my Husband to do the same. 

The weather was wonderful over the weekend. Had dinner with the neighbors on Friday, old colleagues of my husband on Saturday and friends on Sunday. I'm ready for a bit of downtime.