I mean “creative” the way I say it about some of our users: you would never imagine what they could possibly mess up!

On Tuesday, Boris and I planned to go for a bike ride after I got back from work (it was the first time I had tried biking in the late afternoon in Helsinki). Because of that, I tried to leave promptly at 5 PM, and as I’ve mentioned many times, depending on how long I have to wait for a bus, the door-to-door time is 12-19 minutes. I should also mention that the buses in Helsinki move much faster than in Chicago, and the distance between stops is significantly longer.

I called Boris to say I would be home soon, got out of the office and walked to the bus stop, and in a couple of minutes, I saw bus #400 approaching. This route stops in a slightly different place from all others at my destination, but I knew where to get off (or at least I thought so!)

There are multiple road construction projects and road closures throughout Helsinki, and a couple of streets around our building are completely closed to traffic. In addition, this bus didn’t have a new and improved screen showing all upcoming stops, and (a really rare case!) neither displayed nor announced them. I didn’t realize that it was already time to get off the bus and missed my stop. Getting off at the next one, I thought that I did not want to add more than ten minutes to my commute, and I would be better off walking across the street and getting on any bus going in the opposite direction. It would be a great idea if I didn’t forget to press the stop button upon entering the bus. I stood by the door, presuming the driver would realize I was going to get off, but I was wrong! The bus didn’t stop, and I was two stops back! I walked to the opposite side of the street again and, once more, saw bus #400 approaching, but I couldn’t bring myself to board it 😂. I decided to wait for a couple more minutes and get on another bus. When I finally walked into our apartment, I told Boris that he wouldn’t believe what had happened anyway, so we should just get on our bikes and go!

On Wednesdays, I come to work very early to dial for my online personal training session. My personal trainer lives in LA, and that way, I allow him an extra hour of sleep :). I usually clip my access card to my waist when I get off the L-train, so I do not have to look for it when I am by our building. This Wednesday, everything was as usual, except that when I was by our building and reached for the card, I saw that the part connecting the card to the clip was broken, and the card was missing. I walked back, trying to figure out where that could happen, but didn’t see the card. Then I thought that it was rather dumb to look for it – it could fall off at any moment, even after I just left the train.

I texted my trainer that there was a high chance we would have to cancel, and entered the building through the Starbucks door. Our security issued a day pass for me, but it was pretty useless, because I couldn’t even get into elevator with it – they had to bus me up. And then I couldn’t get to the floor, because it was too early and there was nobody to open a door and let me it.

At that very moment, I suddenly remembered (and do not ask me why I didn’t think about it eaelier!) that my access card had an AirTag, and I attached it specifically for situations like that! I think part of the reason why I forgot about it was my continuous sleep deprivation, and another part was that I didn’t realize right away that my access card fall off with the AirTag. I looked at my phone and saw that the last time the card was seen was very close to the office. I ran out to the street, but the tag already moved. I tried to follow it, but the location was impresize, and I found myself going in circles. Finally, I was on the back side of Planned Parenthood building, and then the AirTag stopped issueing signals.

Disappointed, I headed back to the office, cursing myself for not checking the FindMy right away. I thought that this was finally may payoff fo the luck of winning two raffles. I got back into the building; now there were more people inside (I chased the AirTag signal for almost an hour!), so someone opened a door on our floor for me. I went to get breakfast, and saw our receptionist just walking it. I told her that I will need a new access card (which is a big deal, and I would need to pay a fine), and that I will stop by when she is back from her breakfast. I headed back to my desk, and before diving into work, I decided to open my personal email. I saw an email from the WordPress “Contact” page, to which I paid no attention at first (most times, these are people trying to sell something to me), but then decided to open. The email read: Hi, I have your access card!

…yea, it’s good to have a long and unsual name! There was nothing except for the name on the card! So a person who found it, got into trouble of Googling me, not just throwing the card away! She left her number, so I texted her immediately, and she said she would be able to come out of work for a minute, and told me where to find her. When I saw a person in the purple scrubs on the well-known corner, I knew it right away! I asked her: do you work at Planned Parenthood? And she said; yes! And I told her that I am escorting a couple times a week!

When I returned back to the office, nobody could believe me that someone found my card and returned it. One of my co-workers said: you are so lucky! You should try playing the lottery! I laughted: I just did!

I made a couple of the right decisions over the past several days that dramatically improved my quality of life. First, I decided not to go to the Nature Volunteering workday on Sunday. It was not obvious that this was the right decision, because the nature volunteering season had just started, and I already knew I wouldn’t be able to make most of the workdays due to scheduling conflicts. Still, I had several major tasks related to the conference that were already past due, and I knew that I was pushing them back, and I even knew why. It was important for me to have a mental space to finally start working on them, because otherwise, I could give myself an excuse that these tasks required more uninterrupted time than I had. I also knew that if I kept pushing them back, their weight would make me even more anxious.

Exactly at the moment I was about to leave the house for a workday, I started working on the conference lanyard design. It was a more difficult task than usual because we had a lanyard sponsor, so the design should have included their logo, and I couldn’t say that if I mess up, I will just order a new one. It took me an hour and a half, but in the end, I was happy with my design. Also, after several back-and-forths, I signed the contract for our speakers’ dinner, which was my second hanging task, and I suddenly realized that a big portion of my worries was gone!

Another thing that helped me a lot was the way I communicated with my mom. Firstly, I told her in advance that on Sunday, I would be in transition between activities, so instead of sitting with her in her apartment, I would take her for coffee at Common Cup. And then, I didn’t visit her on Monday and Tuesday, not because I had events to attend, but just because I don’t have to visit her every time I have a free evening. I hate to say it, but it was the best thing I’ve done for myself! I didn’t have to cope with stress during or after the conversation with her, and I was also surprised by how much extra time it provided. I felt like a human after several weeks of not feeling that way 🙂

A middle-aged white man with a ponytail was playing a guitar and singing on the platform. I always appreciate it when street performers do not use amplifiers or recorded accompaniment, so I reached into my backpack for a dollar bill.

Only then did I read a sign attached to his bag: No Tips Please.

I have a coworker with whom we used to be on the same team, and our desks were once close to each other. In summer, we used to go together to the Sweet Home Gelato place on the Riverwalk. We usually planned to go at least once a week, and used this walk to catch up on life.

When she moved to another floor, it became more difficult to coordinate, but I would still invite her to go, although not that often.

Today was one of our “gelato walk” days. We both got chocolate and blueberry gelato in the waffle cones. Usually, I throw away whatever is left from gelato and the cone right before I leave the Riverwalk, but this time, we were deep in conversation, and I forgot to throw it away, and then, there were no garbage cans on our way for a while. The next thing I noticed was the chocolate dripping over my white pants – the left side was covered with chocolate spots from top to bottom!

My coworker was more upset than I was. I told her that I would wash it off, and that I had a Tide pencil in my backpack, and that most importantly, nobody cares! Actually, this was the most important thing: I knew that nobody would even notice these chocolate spots if I acted as if they were not there. We kept walking back to the office. We met another coworker by the elevators, and chatted a little bit, and I chatted as if there was nothing wrong with my outfit. When I reached my floor, I went to the bathroom, took the pants off, washed the front of the over the sink, and pulled them on. Since my behind didn’t have any chocolate spots, I didn’t have to wash it, so I could still sit on my chair, and nobody would see the wet pants under my desk 🙂

… and that was today’s dinner time story for my granddaughters.

My flight is on schedule (hurray!), but I just finished packing (sort of, because two things are still in the dryer, and for those who know me, that’s something unthinkable – my luggage is usually ready on a weekend before my trip). I am working from home tomorrow, but I am actually working until the very end of the workday – I have the last meeting scheduled from 3:30 to 4 PM. I have the air conditioning inspection in the morning, and I need to see my mom before departure, and we have a conference kick-off meeting for PG DATA.

And yes, I still need to finish packing! I am so tired that I think I will sleep for ten hours straight when I get to Helsinki.

To finish on a brighter (literally) note: I found time for Pride Nails! I mean, I had to do my nails before the trip, but also, I actually remembered that I wanted to do pride nails for the past three years!

Under the impression of the recently finished book The Notebook, I decided to record some thoughts and encounters, even when they are “too small” for a blog post. Otherwise, they disappear, and I won’t remember them.

***

My coworker told me that her son thinks I am a very cool grandma, and told her that when he is a grandpa, he wants to be as cool a grandparent as Hettie:). I thought it was both funny and touching that he didn’t say “I wish I had a grandma like Hettie,” but “I want to be such a grandparent.”

***

I was in a L-train car when four police officers in full gear entered and stood close to the doors. I was sitting behind them and listening to their conversation. A couple of young women passed them with the clear intention to move to the next car through the door, and one of the officers stopped them: You can’t go there! – We can’t? – You can’t. You can exit at the next stop and move to another car. The reason they were trying to get away from that one was a nasty exchange at the front of that car. The guys standing there were still shouting something in their direction, and the women looked at the policemen expectantly.

One of the officers replied sympathetically: “It’s not illegal to be rude, sadly!” And then he stopped one of the women who started to shout back: “Do not respond. You already won! Just get into another car, the train is stopping, get out and move to another car!”

It’s not illegal to be rude, sadly! Something to remember.

***

How long does it take for a priority envelope to get from 540 W. Madison to 115 S. LaSalle? Yes, I know it’s a different zip code! But three days!!!

***

Last week, a co-worker asked me whether I would like to go for a drink with him. I stared at him, not finding the proper words… I do not have days when I am not doing something after work! I felt very bad, and tried to find time when I could go for a drink with himl and fortunately found about a week and a half later 🙂

***

Standing room only in the 7 AM train. Remind me, who is not in the office?