1) I am worried about what a wave of retirements is doing to customer service across a variety of industries. It doesn't help, of course, that businesses are always ready to cut staffing to the bone and that it can be difficult to get new people in positions, resulting in a lot of overwork for the people who have those roles. But it's also just a matter of knowledge and follow through.

In our apartment we have been waiting for two things to be taken care of. The first is a crack in our living room window which began probably in April. t took a while before someone came to look at it and I finally grabbed a maintenance guy who was in the apartment regarding a repair to another window (something which in itself took about 2 months to resolve because they kept forgetting about it). He looked at it, told me he thought it had to do with settling (it wasn't an easy window to access and we're positive we had nothing to do with the crack, hence the mystery about its damage). He said the window contractor would have to come look at it and he'd report it to the office.

Fast forward some 3 months as the crack continues to grow and another call or two to the leasing office until the window guy comes to take a look. He says that because the window was part of the original build of the apartment, he can't replace that one section because those windows are no longer being manufactured. So he's going to have to replace all 3 windows. I'm really glad we rent.

This was in early July. We hear nothing more for several more months until a few weeks ago I call the leasing office to find out what the status of the replacement is since the crack has now spread diagonally across the entire window. The office person tells me that the windows are on order. Ok, I get it, supply chain issues are continuing everywhere. I also ask about the status of our bathroom being painted which we were told could be done back in July as well. They know nothing about it but will look at maintenance's schedule.

Then last week I get a call from the complex manager. She has been here at least 25 years, maybe longer. She tells me she's been away for several months as her mother was in hospice and has died, and then she herself caught Covid and is only now back at work.

She reports that they are contracting with a new painter and could get him to come that week re: the bathroom. It was actually a terrible week schedule wise but we wanted to get it done. I also ask about the window which, at least from our end, requires no scheduling.

She looks through her notes and says that he has responded to her about several issues but not our apartment. She is surprised to note that he checked our window back in July and says she'll look into it.

The next day she calls to say that the window guy is about to come over to look at the window. He does and then starts measuring the window.

First I'm rather surprised he needs to since surely all the windows in our apartment model are a standard size. But secondly, why measure a window if the replacements are already on order...?

In other words, nothing at all got done for us while the manager was away. If they order the windows now surely it's not going to get replaced until November. The painting was clearly not even on the schedule until she returned. She mentioned to me a few years pre-pandemic that she was planning for her retirement. I'm kind of hoping that's not coming soon.

2) Thought this discussions of Shogun and the way historical realism and genre traditions were blended was a good read.

3) Nearly all my card and board game play is done online via Board Game Arena, but I am subscribed to a board game community on Pillowfort. Have to say this discussion of Hissy Fit sounds adorable!