Category: long story short
-
Working for no one but me
The other day the Reverend Bill jinxed me by complimenting me on my recent blogging streak, during which I managed to get something posted here at least once a day since sometime in January when all hell started to break loose. And just like that I took a day of rest yesterday, without really planning…
-
Weekending
Heading over to the east bay soon for a birthday lunch (cassoulet is the rumor!). just had a good chat with the fellow who is going to print my CDs and maybe make my vinyl as well. The record release is still probably OK for June, but LPs may have to come a few months…
-
A funny thing happened on the way to the charger
Last night I saw a hot damn show up in Sebastopol at a brewpub called the Hopmonk. The main act, Pokey LaFarge (and band), and the opener, Cicada Rhythm, were both a hoot. It felt like a walk through the 20th century, from hot jazz to jump blues to texas swing to jumping jive to…
-
Making merry
Ending another long week in the company of friends. This afternoon I took advantage of my administrative leave to drive up to Sebastopol through several rain squalls and traffic jams to have dinner at the Goldfinch (mostly seafood — I had champagne with my oyster) and then see a show at the Hopmonk brewpub. Still…
-
Connecting dots
I’m surely not the only person who’s had the clever idea of describing themselves on some form somewhere as a “dot connector.” In this period of diaspora as the team I was on goes into its second week of ghostly “administrative leave” paid to not work on our jobs, I am finding myself busier than…
-
Low ebbing
After the high spirits of last week I’ve settled into a more even paced routine. TodayI had two great meetings, one related to a potential community support venture and another for a plan to stand up an incubator to help launch and accelerate civic projects and entities. There may even be crossover potential. But I…
-
Fuck cancer
Today I read the horrible news that an old friend had just lost his beloved. Another old friend lost their life partner last year. Another old friend just got a treatable but unpleasant and scary diagnosis. Another person I’m close to just got a scan that is going to call for monitoring. We lost Mary…
-
What’s the story?
Well, that’s weird. Did I pocket-edit my blog template? For some reason the old Mediajunkie logo with the west-facing avatar disappeared from the header of this site. I found it and put it back but what the what? We had a power outage last night (unrelated, pretty sure) and I’m reminded that my CPAP has…
-
The view from here
I’ve been working remotely since 2015. First I was on sabbatical. Then I worked for a fully remote startup. Then the founder fired me and I worked for myself for a while. Then I worked for a volunteer project during Covid. Then I was a contractor for the state of California. Then the governor appointed…
-
On the 8th day we rested
Spring weather is definitely breaking through. We took a long walk. I got some errands done. The carpenter bee tried to warn me off his territory again (the eave of the house by the front door). I had to make two lists to keep track of things. One is jobs leads that have crossed my…
-
Graduation day
Less than a week ago our whole team at 18F found out we were fired. The past week has been amazing. It was immediately clear that they could not break us, they could not divide us, and that we will win. I said at some point that the power we have discovered is stronger than…
-
With a net
When I heard that the Public Buildings Service was getting hit hard yesterday, with entire regions almost entirely shut down, closure of the historical buildings teams and leaked lists of historical buildings on the chopping block, it made me realize that not everyone can get the attention of a laid-off team of techie do-gooders, and…
-
Hope springs eternal
I try not to amplify rumors even while lately most rumors I’ve been hearing have either come true or turned out worse than rumored. Especially now I don’t want to spread stories that may not be true or might actually be in flux right now. So I’m glad I didn’t report that people at TTS…
-
We have to stick together
It’s Monday and I’m still drawing a paycheck but I’m on “administrative leave.” Still the muscle memory is strong and a bunch us held a standup to coordinate some immediate mutual aid and response activities. Later in the day the incumbent leadership team from 18F also connected to regroup, check in on each other, and…
-
1800 force ghosts
So they fired us all at once and we’re still here. They have no idea what they’ve unleashed.
-
The waiting
Rumors fly. Those who know are not allowed to tell. Encouraging court cases proceed toward an uncertain terminus. Some days are quiet now. A little too quiet. Hypervigilance and anxiety reign. Scenes and schemes and artifacts from work invade our dreams. We hold hands, waiting for the meteor to hit.
-
What to expect when you’re expecting
Some interesting facts about federal reductions in force (RIFs):
-
Daily check-in
I was reflecting on the calumnies being heaped on civil servants by professional grifters on the right. Electoral-vote.com this morning shared several comments from television, online, and elected hatemongers suggesting that people who work for the government are stealing taxpayer dollars and producing nothing. (No comment about Georgia congresspeople taking taxpayer dollars to spread lies…
-
Double secret probation
After we spent most of Monday taking stock of the damage so far, wasting time responding to a nonsensical status report, and assessing the immediate impact of all this chaos and wasteful destruction on our ongoing project work with partner agencies, true to form we got an email blast after close of business on the…
-
Dunning-Kruger guide to micro management
As most of the online world knows, over the weekend a presidential adviser used his right-wing microblogging network to continue repeating all the plays he used to spoil the company behind it. This weekend it was another one of those ludicrous emails couched in weasel words with all the “macho” threats taking place at the…
-
The calm
I can feel Spring on its way. The sky is trying to turn blue. The frosts are gone. Nobody blew leaves around with power tools this morning. School’s out and work is a million miles away. We make food. Tend the garden. Wash our clothes. Soak beans. Hope for epazote. Take long walks. Soothe sore…