Stuff & Such: RBOC

• Still no word from the Dean. I sent his an email, saying I am 'beyond curious' as to response and what we're going to do. Zie answered late Thursday with a brusque note that zie was meeting with the Provost to discuss options. I went into campus on Friday to see if I could meet with Dean; zie was out sick. Apparently got that nasty flu/stomach bug that's going around. Hir assistant agreed with all my thoughts and said I should indeed contact the Dean via email, nothing wrong with it or even mildly pushy, zie might not respond but at least zie'd read it. So I did. As of now (10:22PM Saturday night) nothing back.
• Finding it odd that so many of my friends are angry with Star leaving (NB: announcing your professional business on FB is not a particularly good way to keep friends at work.) I am not angry, rather hoping that Diva will get competitive again with Star and find another spot too. I am angry with Dean and Provost for the way they are (not) handling this mess. Keep telling friends that Star doesn't deserve their anger; they try to persuade me to be angry too. Hmm.
• Have had several friends come by office and email, wanting to hear about Egypt, see my pictures. Somehow, I'm not in a hurry to get the pics together for showing to anybody - although I do look at them nearly every day for self enjoyment.
• Have had an invite from TATS (a particularly unfortunate choice of acronym, no?) to keynote a conference in Africa! Very excited to do that. 2014 is going to be a good year: I have proposed a panel for the Big Berks, now Africa, and intend to take a sabbatical fall 2014. Sabbatical = Paris!! London. Very cool.
• IBDA has reappeared. His lawyer (Cruella) finally returned calls from mine, threatening to sue me for fraud. My lawyer called C's attitude, got her to back off, and we may be one step closer to getting this whole friggin' mess ended. IBDA apparently has no intention of ever releasing me from the threat of action over my years as Mom's trustee, per Cruella. Why, she's not saying, but I'm sure it is her advice to him. While I very consciously do not wish ill on any being, I do wish IBDA and Cruella would both rot slowly on desert islands in very unpleasant circumstances. One day of unpleasant suffering for each day that they have caused anyone suffering and anxiety. Consecutively.
• Spent yesterday aft and this morning at a portfolio retreat as mentor. Interesting and painful; one of my proteges is feeling really negative and persecuted (thus defensive)... and that's her usual attitude, so add another layer and she was really really so not in the right place mentally to do reflective work. But the others in the group were great, and they were enough to balance out her negativity. Weather was wonderful, accommodations and leader were excellent. And best of all, when I got home, my friends had sprung the dogs from the vet's kennel and so I didn't have to pay for an extra night of kenneling AND I got lots of puppy love when I got home. G is feeling very velcro-ish, as is Elder Cat. It'd be annoying if it weren't so nice.