Tagged by google

 I received an email from Google about a post from 2008.  It was tagged as inappropriate as the header was dirty girls.  It was about the gaters used by many ultra runners.  I changed the header, and they released it.  It can be viewed here:  http://runlondell.blogspot.com/2008/09/dirty-girls.html 

That was the highlight of the week.  I have been spending a great deal of time reviewing my retirement options.  As I had reported before, the work environment is at a high level of toxicity.  One supervisor seems to go out of their way to make employees, including me, feel terrible.  Is it an effort to get us to leave?  The only positive thing about going to work and doing my best is I know it irritates those who created the toxic environment.  It is like the world is now; you can say whatever you want as long as I agree.  Say anything else and risk ridicule, threats, or persecution.  It's all too bad, but it is a reality.

I have slowly bounced back from low Iron.  I no longer have a strong desire to chew ice, but I still have shortness of breath and fatigue.  It is a six-month path with oral supplements as the insurance will not cover the injectafir treatments, which were successful in 2017 and again in 2019 when I was low.  The follow-up is July 19.

I have been riding a little more.  Since January, the rides have seemed so HARD.  A few days ago, I found the relative intensity setting on my software (Rouvy) was set at 150%!  That explains why I questioned my conditioning going down the drain so fast.  I did a ride yesterday at the 100% setting, and it was gratifying; I did not feel like I died.

I did get my first SUPEr photo of a bird recently.  A Cooper Hawk was just hanging around in the neighborhood, and I got pictures without scaring it away.  A sample is below:

I will close with a good joke I heard.  A comb was the best gift for a bald man because he could never part with it!

Carry on, my friends, carry on!

I hope I live to retire

I have been struggling for a few years now. While this may not be the place to vent, writing my thoughts to stay sane is best! Most of my issues have been my employment stress. I have less than a year to get to the point where I can retire. I need to hold out a little longer!

My work environment has become so toxic that it impacts the entire team. Well, not the whole team, but a majority of them. It has gotten to the point that we cannot mention the name of a previous staff member the Director does not like or who faces petty treatment. It has gotten to the point that staff has made acronyms to prevent the superior from understanding what we are discussing.

We can't do our jobs as if we upset someone with "connections."  Otherwise, the superiors will take the connections' site and immediately blame the staff.  We are ordered not to take action even when we know an issue exists.  I had one case before the "Feeding the Children" fraud was discovered; staff was ordered to fast-track an application to allow the favored individual to continue the alleged outstanding service to the children in the community.  Most team members knew it was a fraud from the start, but the head of the Department ordered a supportive approach.  Two weeks before the State detected the scam, it was approved.  Once the arrests started, we never heard from the applicant again.

I take pride in my job, and that is now rare for the team. People are in it for the money; they rarely care about what they do. Many have told me to check out and make easy money for the year I must retire. I can't do it, but I am concerned it will kill me if I do not.

Where to go and what to do!!!

Carry on my friends, carry on!