Inhale: Taking a vacation next week!
Vent: I am now sick
Inhale: It's not COVID! Tested negative twice to make sure.
Vent: I still feel like crap.
Inhale: At least I do not have to go to work.
Vent: But, I'll be sick on vacation.
Oh, how frustrating. I hope your illness resolves in time for you to enjoy your vacation.
Me now:
Vent: A student failed to submit some Very Important Paperwork four years ago, and now is facing the consequences.
Inhale: I was not the student's primary supervisor at the time, so it's (probably) not going to land on my head. Student's primary supervisor on the time is a very senior colleague and is taking the lead on figuring out how to fix it.
Vent: It was our responsibility to check that the VIP was filed, and we totally screwed it up. Also, I'm now the student's current primary supervisor, so I'm in the soup too.
Inhale: The student seems to have still
done all the actual things that the VIP was intended to ensure get done, so it may be possible to file the VIP retrospectively.
Vent: I finally managed to take a proper three-week vacation (I know!) and discovered the problem right at the beginning of the vacation, and it has been lurking and ruining my sleep the entire time.
Inhale: I still have a few days left of my leave, and Senior Colleague seems to be handling things without requiring my involvement (yet). Still not clear whether things are handleable, but it's nice to have a comrade in this taking the lead.
Vent. Arrrgh.