Passed my 8k step goal today just from running around the office. Ended up staying later than I'd intended, but the husband and I still did comics and dinner out, albeit a late one. Almost forgot to grab my work shackle, er, iPhone, because it was sitting on the charger. Alas, I remembered it before I got out of the suite. I do appreciate being able to leave the computer at work now.

If I'm reading the budget resolution correctly (which is kind of a crap shoot, honestly) my agency might just be looking at a 4% reduction below the previous administration's planned budget for this year. It's hard to tell because those are written at a very high level (think "here's the total amount for all national defense spending, by year, for the next decade"; or here's the total amount for all energy spending, or all medical spending, etc. - no breakdown by agency). I'll try and quiz the budget office tomorrow to see what they've heard.

Went shopping for foodstuffs for the office, and I have to say that the canned soup selection at the local Wegman's was sorely lacking (I have a lunch crock pot I like to use in the office). Five gazillion types of wine, but a distinctly soviet feel to the tiny little soup section. I was hoping not to have to cart cans down from home. I'll try a couple and see if they're viable, but I may still need to haul the occasional can down as well.

Back in the office full time, that is. Lots of friendly grousing about spending 8.5 hours in the building. And of course we were all stressing over the fucking '5 things you did last week' nonsense. There was a lot of inconsistent information around that one, with every agency directing different actions (ignore it; send it; send it only to your supervisor; send it if you choose to but we won't make you, etc.). Chaos and cruelty, by design.

Unrelated, pooping in the office is officially the worst, since we've gotten used to the washlet attachments on all our home toilets. The. Worst.

But hey, no regular telework equals not hauling the work laptop back and forth, so I was able to to consolidate things down to a smaller commuting bag after I got home this evening. That'll be easier to lug on Metro.

And I managed to get part of the way through one of the books I was supposed to be reading in class this week, Leadership on the Line. Interesting case for dealign with the ways that people may (deliberately or inadvertently) sabotage your efforts to lead change, and how to recognize and prepare for those efforts. Good read thus far, glad they gave it to me before we left in December.

Monday is my agency's return-to-office full time day, for those of us not in the union (which none of the attorneys are here, because we're too small a shop to differentiate practice areas). That made today was the last full telework day for a while, so of course I stayed home. I do have some random leave scheduled for the end of the week after next, so I'll get a partial break from eight and a half hours/five days a week, but this is the first time we've all been back in since March of 2020. And even then this agency had a fairly robust telework policy so it was normal for people to work from home a couple days a week.

The folks with kids or elder care stuff are the most stressed. I'm just concerned about how crowded Metro is going to get; I haven't had to Metro this distance to work regularly in decades (I lived in walking distance of my last job). Fully plan to keep masking on Metro, too, because I don't trust people not to head to work while sick. And the work computer stays in the office unless I arrange for the very limited situational telework that's available, so I'll get to go to a smaller commuting bag after Monday.

Otherwise there were no new directives from on high, so we actually got to catch up on odds and ends today.

As maybe sort of expected the (truncated) training I was to go to next week has now been canceled completely, with partial refunds going back to the agency. Wasn't entirely surprised about it, but it's still sad and annoying as fuck.

Spent yesterday and today working on that 'justify your job' exercise, which was extra fun because instead of having us individually work on portions and submit them for adding to one document, they had us all putting the things into one big shared document. Hilarity ensued. Not. If you've never had the pleasure, 20-odd people trying to edit one document in real time is a nightmare of font changes, jumping pages, and formatting whiplash. So when we got it this morning 2/3 of the things I put in yesterday were missing. Added them back in, only for them to give us a new version with all of the missing items mysteriously back in. Ah, bureaucracy.

Feeling drained this evening, a combination of diet, knee, and work. On the diet front I'm trying some new enzymes that are supposed to help with digestion of FODMAPs, and so far it's early so it's a little hit and miss, but I'm giving it a try anyway. If it works long term that means more options for eating without digestive discomfort, but for now it's not quite there (so my gut is feeling off). On the knee front, just feeling annoyed at it in general.

On the work front, the latest exercise is a "find all the legal/regulatory requirements that directly tie to your job as an attorney for the agency" as we attempt to fend off cuts in the legal office (after at least two attorneys took the early out offer). The other two attorneys on my little mini-team are stressed as fuck right now, and that's bleeding over. I think we have ways to justify all of us, but in the meantime we're all a bit on edge, understandably.

The husband and I went to see the last of the preview productions of Waitress up at Olney theater. Very solid production, excellent show. They have some lighting and sound cues to work on, but that's the joy of going to a preview show - you get to see more of the sausage being made.

Quiet day otherwise. Lots of rain washing away the last batch of snow, though apparently we're looking at another possible snow storm mid-week again. If the amounts currently forecasted come to pass it'll mean another snow day or two. Such a shame (he said, sarcastically).

Pulled back on a couple of subscriptions today, just trying to take stock of spending and rein some in.

Last virtual meeting today with my small group from the training class. Hopefully we'll see most of each other at the end of February. A couple might not make it because of 47's order or other budget woes, but most should be there. What a mess. Also apparently now I need to do a lot of reading before we get there so we have more time to talk and need less reading time. Whee! Good thing I just finished the last big fantasy novel I was working on (the latest Brandon Sanderson tome).

We're expecting another big (for DC) snow storm tomorrow through Thursday. Four to eight inches (10-20cm), which is a lot for here. Work laptop came home with me, and I will take advantage of any and all "unscheduled telework" days that pop across, like the "Early Departure ?" DC area Federal offices status message that's posted for tomorrow (the question mark, present in the original message, was my favorite part; like they weren't sure they completely meant it).

Commuted in, met the husband in metro on the way home. Ordered pizza for dinner and watched the last half of season one of Big Boys, a British show on Hulu that we're quite enjoying. Probably an early night tonight as Tuesdays are traditionally busy days for me as people manage to catch up on their weekend/Monday emails and start tossing bombs at the lawyers.

Figuratively and literally. Finally managed to pin down management to provide a final agency position on some things which we need for next week, balancing between court orders and administration priorities. After work I finished a hat I was making for the husband and wove in all the ends (Xmas themed, but he'll be able to use it next year). Learned to use a new pom-pom maker (so much easier than by hand). Then after dinner I picked up the shawl I started last year and made some progress on that. Overall a nicely productive day, without quite as much insanity as the rest of the week.

The rest of this week is going to be a mess of people in the federal government checking news and just generally being stressed out. The Fork offer closes tomorrow night, then it's likely they'll take action against probationary employees shortly thereafter. As for the rest of us? Supposedly reductions-in-force (layoffs) are coming to take agencies down by some arbitrary percentage. And who knows if they'll actually follow the regulations that lay out the procedures there, since this team doesn't seem to care about the law on anything else.

This looks and feels like a coup. I desperately hope I'm wrong here, that somehow we muddle through, but given the capture of all of the branches of government I'm increasingly worried that no one is going to stand up to him, at least not without massive upheaval. I would describe myself as a true believer in the American experiment. I've dedicated half my life to serving this country. And I've never felt so much angst about where the government is going.