An annoying thing happened at work today. A faculty member had $99.93 left on a grant, and it didn't expire until next June. They submitted an expense report to get reimbursed... and then I couldn't find the grant. After a lot of research, I found out it was closed, even though it was supposed to be good for over a year. Apparently the granting agency goes through randomly and closes grants that have less than $100 left, so this one missed the cutoff by seven cents. I had no idea they did that! And of course they did it right between when I told the faculty member they had almost $100 and when they tried to get reimbursed. At least the granting agency did promise to reopen the grant when I asked why it was closed. So strange! Why say it is good until the end of June 2023 if you are just going to go ahead and close it when you think there isn't a big enough balance left, and then not warn anyone??
This morning as I got ready to go on my morning walk, I heard the train whistle from the west, one intersection before the close one, so I had maybe a minute and a half to get out there. I threw my sandals on and raced out the door, and by then I could hear the whistle at the close intersection, so I ran around the corner of our building and got there just in time to see the train pass by. Then as my neighbor and I were walking at lunchtime, we suddenly heard a rumbling from the east, so we looked at each other in surprise. We happened to be in exactly the right spot to see the train, and it appeared within moments. How lucky! We could have been deep into the neighborhood like we were earlier, where you can't see the train at all.
Today I got a mysterious text, and the name seemed familiar, but the person they were addressing was someone else. I responded before realizing that it was a group text from a weight loss group I had been in. Nobody had texted the group in so long that my new phone had no record of our conversations. I must have looked like a really old person, responding with how this wasn't the person they were looking for. It's like when I say I have no cash, and people tell me I can Venmo money to them. No, I can't - I'm over fifty and don't understand that stuff. I'm just waiting for the day when a homeless person on State Street begging for money tells me I can Venmo them, since never having cash on me is one way to get out of giving panhandlers money. Of course, since I can't Venmo anyone money, never mind panhandlers, I guess I'm still safe.
Famous Hat
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