A bed of roses

MSTeams has been equal parts irritating and liberating, this week.  I set up a meeting but it made everyone wait in the lobby, promising that 'someone will let you in'.  It was MY meeting - who else was going to let ME in?!  However, the joy of the chat function meant that I could ask my team for some advice, and one piece didn't solve the immediate problem but did, I THINK, mean that I've solved it for the future.

The male members of my team are all bonding over chat but they always seem to do it when I'm busy with something else.  It's not deliberate, of course, but it's a bit frustrating not to be in on the banter.  These are the things that we will refer to when we're back in the office.  Jokes about it's Cowboy (sorry, R, Cowperson!) Friday - where are your chaps?  On the other hand, it might not matter.

I got an email from the job I had the interview for inviting me to a video interview.  I'm increasingly excited about this.  The organisation (or lack thereof) of the organisation was distinctly unimpressive, but the job itself is basically my current role for more money.  And with a person to manage.  And I really love my current job, I just can't bear the organisation any longer. 

And there are all sorts of question marks over how the University - in fact, the whole sector - is going to recruit for next year.  Home students aren't doing A Levels, so how do we assess them against our entry criteria?  International students won't be able to travel and/or don't want to travel in uncertain times.  So, if the University has less cash, it's going to want to make savings.  And project work is the cherry on the icing on the cake.  For the first time, I'm looking over my shoulder, wondering how long my job will last.

Of course, we've just been through a round of recruitment and the CIO needs to justify that investment.  So, the person who wants to be our boss is being very boss-y and producing spreadsheets like they're going out of fashion.  If it isn't a) their idea and/or b) captured on a spreadsheet, it's a bad idea.  On Monday, I asked that they send me the latest spreadsheet, showing the stuff that is actually being worked on and they said they would after a meeting on Tuesday, along with a request that I keep it updated (you know, do my job...).  On Wednesday, I asked again and was told I would get it on Thursday.  On FRIDAY, I asked again and it finally came through, along with a comment that it really needed more content but Boss-y needed to think about what they wanted on it.  I reminded Boss-y that I already keep records of EVERYTHING (you know, because that's my job...) and pointed them to the SharePoint list (that I've shared umpteen times before but has been ignored), suggesting they take a look at that and see what they would like to add to the spreadsheet.  When they've decided, I'll create a view in SharePoint that reflects their spreadsheet, then convert it into a spreadsheet for the meeting.  Because even I know SharePoint is pretty horrible to look at.

The only thing on their spreadsheet that I don't capture was 'project size' because agreeing the criteria just got Too Hard.  But, apparently, the concept of S, M, L (with at least one M/L just for good measure) has resurrected.  S, M, L according to who?

Anyway, I used MSTeams to send the reminders because it gets a quicker response than email.  I'm planning to use it A LOT.

In frivolous news, I bought a hip scarf from Leilah Isaac for my belly dance practice.  Not cheap, but very pretty.  And I'm guessing she'll need all the income she can get at the moment because she won't be able to do classes.

Oh, and doing morning prayer over fb is a much more powerful thing than I ever imagined it could be.  All the videos end up on YouTube, if anyone is interested.  Mostly they're done by our Rector, but I did the one last Tuesday.

Well, I have some (more) washing to do, today.  Dry days mean washing and being at home means more washing than usual because I don't have to get it done in a rush.

Stay well, DW!

Learning About Me seems to have become a bit of a Thing...

On Thursday, I had my 'interview' with the Diocese to progress my application to become a Local Missional Leader for 'A Taste of God', my Tuesday lunchtime prayer and discussion group.  One of the questions, inevitably, was about my 'faith journey'.  I trolled out the story of randomly asking my mother if we could go to church on Sunday as we passed St Bride's (whatever in the universe prompted 7-year-old me to ask that?!) and how, other than a break in my teens, I've gone just about every Sunday since.  And how my journey has been about learning how much of what I was taught as a child I can discard and still be 'Christian'.

Then it occurred to me, and I said, that I am actually picking a lot of this stuff back up again, re-examining and re-exploring things (at the moment, it's particularly the Resurrection) that I thought were long behind me.

THEN on reflecting on it afterwards, I realised I have also moved a long way from the intellectual approach I took when I was younger.  One of the reasons I rejected a physical resurrection was because it made no sense intellectually.  I had intellectual arguments against it.  Now, I take a more contemplative, non-dualistic approach.  So much is mystery, and that's OK.  I don't have to explain stuff, understand it in my head - I just need to understand it in my heart.  Or, at least, wrestle with it there!

I think this is what Marcus Borg meant by 'pre-critical naivete, critical thinking, post-critical naivete'.

I finished watching 'The Society' and I have Feelings about it.  If you have Netflix, I heartily recommend watching it.  So many twists that I never saw coming, all so believable.  So many humorous moments in the midst of dark and questionable actions.  So many moral dilemmas.  What would YOU do?!

I started 'What We Do In The Shadows' and...  This is funny?  It was the kind of thing where I clearly saw the jokes but was not amused.  Some of my colleagues find it amusing, and I had a serious case of FOMO.  Lesson learned!

Oh, and Jessica Jones starts again on Friday!!!

Well, that's all for now.  Today is going to be a day of washing - and I can't even use the washing line because it's pouring down outside.  Sigh...