End and Beginning

LAST RODEO: It's all such a blur, I honestly can't remember how much I've posted here about my job of the last 6 weeks or so, working for the Washington's Employment Security Department (ESD).

It has been an eye opener. The tsunami of COVID--19 has crashed on the unemployment department so hard. They are dealing with over 1.1 million people with claims. The demand is unprecedented and, as you might have expected, led to some serious problems. Even just managing the volume would be hard enough, and then factor in a Nigerian crime ring hitting the department. It's a mess. :(

I tried to leave it better than I found it, and in my closing hours exchanged emails with a high, high up policy person about (fixable!) deficiencies in the management, training, and more. There are a whole lot of people there at ESD who are  so well intentioned and are working really hard -  but maybe not as deftly as they could and should be, IMHO.  I do feel like I was listened to. I do hope things will get better.

Monday I start my new gig - back with King County Elections. I *really* enjoyed working for them during the presidential primary. 

NIGHT GARDEN: I usually only shoot our 'campus' during the day. Over last weekend I took a few nighttime shots. 

Here's the upper east deck, complete with a hops plant climbing the wind-fueled art.

And right now our front yard is exploding with daisies! I took a photo of some under our porch light. It was so bright, they were in full bloom at about 10 at night.e

ALL IN: Last night, we watched a Washington-centric special, All in Washington. It was a program to raise spirits and money, featuring a number of our favorite local artist. We donated, and so did many, many others.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch the special, too: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08BQ6XG9L
We re-watched it again tonight.

The event raised over $45 million for Washington's most vulnerable.