Roller Coaster to Feasting

The day started like any day in a global pandemic. Overslept slightly, scrambled to get cleaned up and fed before rushing off to work. Which in this case is just running upstairs to the spare bedroom where my office lives. The breakfast was the normal stuff. I fired off another email looking for information and an update from my silent colleague to start the day. My comprehension for the cone of silence around this person is limitless in its curiousity. I don’t understand how they can operate like that. My day started in earnest with a meeting. Mid morning I wrote an impassioned email to the boss of the silent one, and added their boss also, as well as my own. Then another meeting, then three more. Then lunch. Lunch on this day was not fancy. A Stouffer’s Bistro Crustini Ham & Turkey Club panini and a can of Campbell’s Chunky Jerk Chicken Soup was enough to fill my guts. I had two Great Value brand Maple Creme cookies to sweeten my mouth and my mood heading into the afternoon. I was told they were looking for a truck to move the load, encouraging news. News that would have been better received on Wednesday afteroon but at least there was some progress and I was made aware of it. I did feel like I shouldn’t have to be as vile and annoying to get that simple bit of action though. It seems ridiculous that things are this dramatic simply for someone to do their job. My afternoon meeting went long and was informative and a great use of my time. I had several customers reach out looking for updates again, most the second such that day. I also had another call looking for information I’d provided. Everyone is in a panic now, as they should be based on the timing, and I’m viewed as the gatekeeper to their deliveries. So when I was informed by the semi-silent one that no delivery was going to happen today, nay until Monday, I knew that my day was going to get unpleasant. I phoned each expectant party to let them know the news, because being honest, open, and direct is important in my role and to me as a person. Each one I called was disappointed, frustrated, and angry and I got to bear the brunt of the harsh words. Meanwhile, the one who actually failed to deliver is shielded. That frustrates me further. I took a few notes on the comments I received during a couple angry tirades to share with the broader team later. That was nearly the end of my day. There was a couple more emails that came across. One was from the silent one’s boss. They were making a change in their team to adjust for workload and we’d have a new contact for future interactions. Nobody was fired but at least they made an adjustment. It is about a month too late but hopefully it is helpful. I could provide more detail but I’m likely already oversharing as a form of venting about the situation. So shortly after five I powered down and I was in a state of confusion, frustration, disappointment, and shame. I wanted to keep myself busy so I started to prepare for the family feast. This time it was to be chicken tortilla soup, a selection from my STL sister. I gathered all my ingredients and arrayed them on the counter so I wouldn’t have to go searching once the fun began. I couldn’t help myself and peeled the garlic cloves in advance. The key to these events is not to work ahead, that annoys the others and throws off the timing of the group eating together.

I ate nearly two bowls. It was a tasty treat. Mine lacked some of the essential elements. I didn’t have any chili peppers in adobo sauce. I supplemented that with some paprika, liquid smoke and cayenne pepper. I also couldn’t find corn tortillas, using flour instead. I skipped the onions on top too. I also negated measuring for most of the spices, some because I was approximating and others because I felt I knew what a teaspoon amount was. In the end the soup was pretty tasty and pretty easy to make. Despite some vigourous debate on the definition of “roughly chopped”, some timing incongruency, and my Sudbury sister having some issues getting a seal on her Instant Pot (later resolved), we had a nice evening. It did start shakey as my BIL allegedly forgot to buy an ingredient, I was having a bad day, Big T had a rough day, and the rough chop argument. But in the end I think we all enjoyed the evening. I know I was feeling much, much better after spending a couple of hours with family. My youngest sister’s phone died first and she dropped off and when mine got under 20% life and I was wanting to listen to my audiobook and get horizontal I also dropped off. I puttered around for an hour doing some light tidying while listening before cleaning my mouth and finding my bed. I played some HomeScapes for a bit before slipping seamlessly into a deep sleep.