thank goodness it's Friday

Is this American wisteria? Or imported wisteria gone wild? I have no idea. It is in the woods now. 

Last night my co-worker worked on the presentation until 11 my time. I woke at 4, not because I am such a responsible, diligent employee, but out of stress, and reviewed and rehearsed the presentation. This probably helped me be too tired to be anxious.

We have tight budgets, so everyone in my crew was expecting a specific person in another office to attack us. I put love, rainbows, unicorns, and sunshine all over my presentation, but yes, she attacked. For the first time in my life I got to play good cop and said harmonious things and had other people handle questions, including the hostile ones. I got a bunch of compliments on the presentation and I think my new staff appreciated my inspirational description of what they do and how they do it. I keep this up and I'll be levitating in the lotus position by the end of the year.

Maryland is going to send $7m in medical supplies and body armor to Odessa, a sister city to Baltimore. This is the second shipment announced by Maryland. 

A Russian soldier in custody, Vadim Shishimarin, will be the first to stand trial for a war crime. Ukraine is steadily creating a database of Russian soldiers’ DNA. The prosecutor general told Ukraine’s public broadcaster that her office has opened more than 5,000 cases linked to war crimes. 

People around the world are pledging millions of dollars to help Ukraine along with medical supplies, military equipment, and pet food. 

Ammo, an arms manufacturer in Arizona, is planning to send ammunition instead of cash. 

International agencies and individual governments have already rolled out aid plans. The World Health Organization has $3.5 million in emergency funding; the U.S. government is hoping to deploy $6.4 billion in emergency aid. 

The European Commission signed off on a $100 million aid package. 

More than $50 million in cryptocurrency flowed into Ukraine as of the end of April. 

In Japan, citizens gathered $17 million. Hiroshi Mikitani, the chief of Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten, said he would donate about $8.7 million. 

In Taiwan, senior government officials have pledged a month’s salary.

The Canadian government will charter three flights for Ukrainians who want to travel from Poland to Canada.

In Poland, an optician is offering free eyeglasses. 

A Milan watch dealer is giving proceeds from an auction of a vintage Russian timepiece. 

People in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Egypt are offering rooms to refugees