So, do Arlo and Janis still work? Yes, they do. They’ve been luckier than many over the years; they’ve had stable employment, maybe not with the same companies the entire time but in similar fields and environments. There is no doubt they’re in that winding-down phase of employment, when the management would love to get rid of them and replace them with someone younger and cheaper or, more likely today, outsource their work entirely, but they just know too damn much about how things work. Perhaps one of them will be offered the “consultant” track soon, where they’re paid half the money to clean up after a workforce making even less. Speaking of money, they like the money, of course, but they would leave for a new challenge and less remuneration in a heart beat, say helping run a fun little local-food enterprise, but the benefits are the trap, especially the insurance. See? You don’t really want to hear all this. They have modern jobs, sure, but they still are modern cartoon jobs. It’s nice work if you can get it.
240 responses to “Harpe Diem”
Yes, Ghost is nursing me and the knee. Details to follow here.
Between those who know, and those who suspect, this is likely the worst kept secret outside of Washington DC…Jackie and I have been “seeing each other” for some time. Almost three months, actually. The relationship is proceeding apace; in fact, it is proceeding remarkably well for one that originated in a comic strip blog. (The most difficult part of it so far is how to answer the inevitable question, “Where did you two meet?”)
Oh, and Jimmy, if a nice fruit basket should arrive at your front door one day…
Jackie and Ghost, it is terrific that you two have met and are enjoying each other’s company!
Smigz, you peeked at the next chapter! I wanted to see the pages in between.
But it is really nice to hear and have confirmed that things have gone on so well. Happy for you both. I don’t know if the phrase is still in fashion, but I do think this is certainly a ‘cute-meet’ story. Extra points if you tell it interrupting each other with one steady narrative.
Thanks for sharing with us, and enjoy.
I was corrected, the phrase was/is ‘meet-cute’.
And I think it is.
Jackie and Ghost so glad the “secret” is Fargone out…..Symply awesome to hear this, even better that it started here……
GR 😉 as I’ve said before…you’re such a slut puppy 🙂
and as I’ve said in our conversations…I’m so happy for you both that you’ve found one another…and it’s about time you guys come out of the closet….
Jackie doing OK? How is therapy going?
Debbe 😉 Physical therapy? Probably better not to ask her about it when she just returned to her room from it, which she just did. Actually, she did rather well, especially in the sit-on-and-get-off-the-potty class. (Yeah, she’s gonna kill me when she reads this.)
Thanks to all for the good wishes.
for Jackie and GR 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_LrfwKYPuk
Prediction: (based very loosely on developments, Jimmy’s habit of window peaking, and current story arc that may or may not turn ‘canon’, waking from a dream is always possible, similarity to anyone living or passed is purely coincidental)
After relocating, and the busy season has passed, come holiday time and the gathering of friends; Robin and Gus find that they have many interests in common, and enjoy sharing company very, very much.
Obviously, I have no rights over a fun storyline idea that could have occurred to any creative mind, without any influence by me.
I was relieved when I saw the ‘napping’ and size 13 shoe comment… Having nurses in the family I knew that it would be a serious HIPPA violation for an RN to post publicly about a patient– a career-ending type. Even more of a relief to see Ghost “outed” as being Dixie!
David, what I had keyed to, and then found out I was probably wrong, was the alphabet soup. I thought the RN license superseded the BSN, and so Ms. McCall would not likely list both. That with the strange itch over the name I could not place, had me thinking the B-S may have a different meaning. Kind of the same thing as giving too much information in an attempt to deceive.
I enjoy puzzles, but sometimes ‘see’ more than is there.
Despite HIPPA training [SHB volunteers have a compulsory hour every yr] and size 13 shoes], I was completely taken in. I knew / Nurse Ratched but had never heard of Dixie McCall, being movie-illiterate. What a delightful surprise to wake up to from a 3-hr afternoon nap.
Time to thaw a freezer soup, and accompany w/ a good domestic PA.
Skoal, peace, and best wishes. emb
See? I made y’all think, didn’t I? 🙂
And David is entirely correct about the likely repercussions of a real nurse posting such information on line.
Morphy, “RN BSN” seems to be the most preferred order on name tags, but I do not know if there is an actual convention involved. Also, I am looking at the business card of the Nursing Manager of Jackie’s floor, with whom I interacted, and her professional suffix reads “MS, RN, NE-BC”.
For your amusement, or not: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/oscar-winning-movies-box-office-hits-birthday-years (Also interesting to look at other years that were personally significant, such as graduation, marriage, etc.)
‘and augers well’. Try ‘augurs’. Augers are for digging ice-fishing holes, on L. ‘Bjermidgi’. Peace,
GR6, as a wild-a__-guess: sounds like, locally at least, employment has been at cut-throat level for some time. Having all credentials immediately available to all eyes is what suggests that to me. It is not a world I interact with enough to have noticed. Any time I’ve needed a nurse, I’m usually thinking about something else. Maybe it has become the norm.
“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
–John Wooden
I do note the precedence: the masters of science is listed ahead of the registered nurse license, while the bachelors degree has less cachet. Would have to look up NE-BC, assume it is a specialised certification.
Oh yeah, that’s appropriate, too.
Just recognized, I’m commenting to a man who, in a former profession, walked around with his entire resume on his left breast. Codified to a strict order of precedence.
tips hat, again
Took awhile to identify the 23-hour old typo of a homophone that even HAL would pass as an actual word. Good puzzle.
I guess there was no need to welcome “Dixie” to the Village, eh?
Well, cxp, it was a very polite greeting, if you had no suspicion.
And, if you had an inkling, it worked as well. The illusory Ghost has been a rare sight of late.
Either way, it is hard to go wrong being welcoming.
I had a long message explaining the use of degrees and specialties with nursing credentials. Seems something was not liked by the blog software. The short answer is that the letters and the order all mean something if you know the club password and secret handshake.