When I went to The Ireland Dispatch website to write this post today, I was dismayed to be greeted with a white screen and an ominous message that a “fatal error” had occurred. I tried to remain calm and not panic. Thankfully I found plenty of information on how to fix the problem, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Apparently one of the “plugins” stopped working after an automatic update early this morning. I don’t think I’ve lost any major functionality, although I’ve emailed the company from whom I bought the Typology WordPress theme to see if they could offer any insights.
Yesterday my friend Adam’s memorial service took place in New Jersey. I wish I could have been there, although after reading about the devastation that Hurricane Ida has caused it’s probably for the best I didn’t attempt the trip. I traded texts with his sister in the evening as the service was just about to start. The family had set up a digital photo frame with a slideshow of pictures, including some that I had shared from my adventures with Adam over the years. At least that way I was there in spirit.
The situation at work has turned into a bit of a crisis. My boss is officially on medical leave for a number of weeks which is yet to be determined. Today I was invited to a Zoom meeting with the director of finance for the university and some of the other team leads in my office for a briefing. It was reassuring to be included and supported. One of the other team leads is being “deputized” to fill in during my boss’s absence. In my first few days on the job, I had been introduced to her over Zoom as she served on the interview panel for a temporary employee position on my team. Although she is native to Ireland, it turns out she had lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 17 years (!) and just moved back here within the last 5 or so years. I had reached out to her for a chat yesterday since I didn’t yet know what was going on with my boss, and we chatted for a bit about life in SF. Making that connection makes me feel less like an outsider. And while the volume of work is daunting, I am feeling more confident that I am the right person to meet the challenges of this moment. That said, I am not going to work myself to death. When the workday is over, I’ve been good about getting out for walks, which have been especially helpful in clearing my head given the increased intensity.
Today as I was walking back to Sprangers Yard along Dame Street, I noticed a building across the way that is marked as “The Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers’ Society,” dated 1790. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or written about it before. What Wikipedia says about it: “The Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers Society in Dublin, Ireland, is the city’s oldest surviving charity. The society was one of many that were established in Georgian Dublin to relieve the poverty that pervaded the city at that time. There was no system of public welfare, nor, until much later, any general policy on the part of the government to alleviate the problem of poverty.” Although the charity no longer occupies the building, it still operates to this day. As stated on their website, their core principle/mission is “to target assistance towards helping people who are experiencing temporary difficulties and need once-off assistance to restructure their lives and achieve self sufficiency.”
Until next time….
