LJ Idol Presents:

I keep forgetting to post this - just wanted to give a special shout out to my friend Luigi who has been working hard filling in for me over the past several weeks.   He’s been working nonstop from my home office and hasn’t really had time to leave the house.  

I really appreciate you Luigi!   

 I owe you an update, and a Green Room. So let's combine them. :) 

Business first - there were eliminations: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1168566.html  and a new prompt https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1168718.html

There are now 14 contestants left standing, within arm's reach of the Top 10.  So start looking around the room because 4 of you aren't going to fall short of that goal! So you had better be knocking our socks off every week!!! Not sure what no longer having socks has to do with you surviving longer. But apparently it must be related. 

Nor am I sure where these socks end up going.  When you knock them off do they just fly randomly through the air? Are they just knocked to the side? What if you are wearing shoes? If someone is barefoot is it because someone has already knocked their socks off???

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Anyway - Milton update. I'm sure everyone has seen the news of the hurricane's devastation throughout Florida. 

It ended up making landfall south of us, which put us on the northern eye wall. Normally that's a good place to be, but of course Milton had to be different and that was where the worst winds were. 

We lost power for 3 days but the only damage to our property was the fence was destroyed. (The neighbor managed to prop it up so his dog could still go in his backyard,. But the first time they dog jumps on the fence or a strong wind and it's coming down again...) We found our mailbox in another neighbor's yard... only located one screw. So those are two things that need to be replaced. 

The large trees in the front and the back of the house got a severe trimming of branches, including several that were lodged near the boarded windows. If we hadn't put the plywood up, we would have had house guests. 

Our street had some flooding, on the other side... including coming into some of their homes. Fortunately, for us, our side of the street is on a tiny incline. But enough to keep us dry. (for now it's not going to be too much longer before we will be in the flood zone as well) 

There are more houses on our block with a tree on them (or a shed or fence) than there are not.  One of our neighbors actually has a tree poking into her house. 

Everyone currently has power - except the guy down at the end of the street, the original owner opted to be on a well system instead of the city water and he is on a different grid. So no power and no water for him.  (He's been filling 5 gallon jugs from our outside spigot) 

Neighbors came together to help with clean up and there are work crews from all over the country who have shown help to assist with the recovery (the crew who came by to pick up the debris on Sunday was from New Orleans) .

It could have been much, MUCH worse. But I won't lie, there were definitely moments when it was absolutely terrifying. 

We made it through though and are trying to get back to normal. And of course my job is a central part of the region's recovery. So at least I'm *involved* on some level. The federal and state government are finally working together - which they weren't after Helene (our Governor wouldn't speak to Biden) So that's a plus! It's nice when public servants actually do their jobs.  :) 

 There is no way that I'd open up a new Green Room when the old one only has 8 comments - right? 

Well, let's just say that you're not the only ones who need to get back into practice at doing this.  :) 

***
Last night was sad at our house since we were rooting for the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals. I know there's a ton of hockey fans in this group so you will know exactly what I'm talking about. ;)  (On the other hand, Idol does traditionally have quite a few Canadians, and that is pumped into their bloodstream at birth. Some go ahead and do a full transfusion to get it out but most are too polite to risk offending someone by bothering them for a transfusion to get rid of a gift. ;)   ) 

For those people who DO know what I'm talking about - for all of the "Hockey doesn't belong in Florida... I think it's time to start asking 'Does hockey belong in Canada?" The last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup was 1993!!!   :O 

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The sign up sheet is here: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1138078.html

Please keep sharing it wherever you go online. As others have pointed out, even people who are FB friends with me have missed my posts about it. So the more posts, the better chance we have of people showing up! 

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Do you have anything exciting happening this week?  I've been told to expect an email asking me to fill out a background check for one job I interviewed on. I also have a decent feeling about another one (who already had me fill out that background check paperwork pre-interview) plus of course all the other applications I've put out there over the past couple months. (I assume if I haven't heard *anything* in a couple weeks that it's a 'no", but honestly there were times when I was the hiring manager when we were SO swamped trying to keep up that I didn't have time to set up interviews. So maybe there is some hope on those as well. 

 The new prompt is up: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1105950.html

***
One of the things we were told yesterday is to come in each day as if this were a job application for our next job.  Which I'm pretty sure is just a weird way of saying "Don't slack off."  :D 

The next 6 months are definitely going to be interesting!

***
How has YOUR week been going? 

 Your first prompt is up! https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1103032.html

There is already an entry posted, so make sure to check out the entry from adoptedwriter !   (Which isn't something I could normally say - but hey, it's Idol Minor+, that rule is out the window! :D)   How are you doing today?   My day is apparently starting out with DW adding some weird coding issue to my posts. :O

The new topic is due tomorrow: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1054366.html

***

It was one month ago that I got on a plane to go to California.

It's only been one Idol week. :D

On the way out of Denver, we were awestruck by the Rockies. I had been told that we "wouldn't be able to see them". But it was a clear day - there was no way to miss them! Our flight path took us directly over them.

I never even imagined that I would be seeing them in person.

A little bit later, my Mom started wondering if we would see the Grand Canyon. I had previously been told "no", that we wouldn't be able to see any of it.

She kept pointing to things asking "is THAT it?" (it wasn't)

So I told her to ask the flight attendant. He said he wasn't sure, but probably not.

Then the woman behind us excitedly spoke up - and handed us her well-traveled map, letting us know exactly what we were seeing and continuously updated us on the various things on the flight path (and just beyond). Thanks to her - we knew we would be seeing the Grand Canyon, and from the air - there is absolutely no way of mistaking it for anything else.

She kept telling us what a lucky day we were having to have such great visibility. She took the route "all the time" and it was one of the best views she'd ever had.

We also got a great view of the Mojave desert. Which wasn't something that was even on my radar as something that I could possibly see. (mostly because I had no idea where it actually was. :D)

***

What pleasant surprises have you experienced and what helpful strangers have assisted you over the years? Or when have YOU been that helpful stranger?

There is a Sudden Death Write Off going on right now! https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1045468.html

It's yet another poll where I have no idea how you are going to make a decision, but you have to do it, so good luck in that!

It will be decided by the people who show up. So hopefully you will, and tell others to do the same!

There are also a few new topics : https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1044767.html

Maybe you've heard about that. ;)

***

The week is almost over. What do you have planned for this weekend?

The State of the Idol Union is strong and full of hope.

Hope for me that is. Maybe not so much for the rest of you.

Those remaining in the competition have a deadline: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1040564.html

Those not in the competition get to laugh at those in the competition and be thankful that they do not have a deadline.

***

How is the state of YOUR Union today?

Full of blessed freedom or do you need to build a wall to keep the rest of the day out?

"To whom it may concern"

That's how the email was addressed.

What email? The one where the last of the coworkers I dislike (the one with the cousin) quit. For those following this drama along from the safety of your home, almost a month ago she had gone on vacation - when she was going to come back she filed for FMLA, to "take care of her Mother".

This morning, when she was due to return to work (for some reason this "caring for her Mother" was for only two weeks) was the first time anyone had heard from her - and it was to send an email addressed "To Whom It May Concern" and saying she was terminating her employment "effective immediately".


The story gets weirder. Because the person who handles security for the company (authorizing badges and computer access) is on our team and she noticed something (probably *should not* have mentioned to us. But we were in earshot when she said it to our boss) Apparently she (the one who quit) had come into the office a few Sundays ago. (while she was on vacation). She came in, and used the computer for about an hour or so. There's no evidence (that I heard at least) that she accessed anything confidential, or did anything other than surf the internet and some shopping.

Which must have been when she grabbed her stuff, because at some point we had noticed things were missing. But no one could recall if she had taken them home before her vacation or not.

So thanks to everyone who has been sending out the juju - two people had problems with me, two people are gone! I need the Idol collective to now send "give Gary large amounts of money" vibes out into the universe! :)

***

In the meantime, I will be sending a "get your entries in" vibes: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1035740.html

I was going to call this "Day 1", but it can't be that - because the "main competition" of Idol isn't due back to work until tomorrow!

Which means this is Day 0!

Because Second Chance is being called to order - or at least being called to write an entry!

If someone is still on the fence about signing up, the deadline has been set. So you have until Jan 1st to make it your New Year resolution to write!

https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1023709.html to sign up.

https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1024362.html is the first topic of Second Chance!

***

What did Santa bring you this year? Or if not Santa, what did someone else get you because obviously you are too bad for Santa to ever bring you anything?