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Been finding it hard to be kind since I've been lost out there losing my mind.
Apr. 14th, 2026 04:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beansideI'm pretty sure I've posted this before, but just in case:
This is one of those songs I cam always listen to. I'm not a huge fan of most of his stuff, but this particular song hits me in the sweet spot.
Happy Tuesday! We survived Monday! Good lord, yesterday seemed to drag unmercifully. It felt like the afternoon alone was at least 8 hours. I was jumping back and forth from phone to working on other shit and the back to the phone. It made for a long day. Then, of course, I also got word at about 1:45 that Boodle's ashes were ready for pick up.
I cried again. God, I miss that baby so much. After the very long day ended, Jess and I went up to get her. And then I cried some more at her tiny footprint, and the very small box. She was a little cat, but the box is so tiny, barely bigger than my fist. How can all that personality fit in such a small box?
I wish I had realized that she was sick sooner. The outcome would probably have been the same, but if I had known that it was the last year, I would have given her nonstop churus, and held her more. (Though to be fair, she wasn't a huge fan, and would have made me bleed my own blood.
I think I've cried more for her than I did for both my parents, which is kind of fucked up. Then again, aside from her tendency to wake me up at 3 am for food by clawing the blankets around my face, frequently hitting my face and leaving scratches, she never did anything to hurt me. My mother's legacy is one of neglect and outright emotional abuse, and the last two years with my father were brutal. But still, I feel a little bad that I couldn't grieve as hard as I am for this little cat.
We had sushi for dinner, because I was a bit of a wreck. We tried a new place and it was excellent. The fish was delicious and fresh and they gave us an extra roll on the house. It was called a Salad Roll, and it had everything that I like in it. It was avocado, kani, tempura shrimp with a seaweed salad topping. I'm normally not a huge fan of seaweed salad, but this was really good. I think that and the other roll we'd never tried, a Caterpillar roll were my favorites. Not that the usual suspects were bad, those just were really good.
We watched another couple of videos on Pike Place market, and I've think I've narrowed down the places I must got to. So far I've got 6 of them. First up is Mee Sum for their pork and their Beef Curry Hom Bow, which are liked baked fluffy buns with the meat inside. Next is Beecher's famous mac and cheese. Piroshky Piroshky looks like it has some interesting and tasty buns, including a salmon pate that I know my sister will be all over. Pike Place Chowder sells seared scallop chowder and I must have. I fucking love scallops. We'll probably also get a cup of "the best clam chowder in the world," at Pike. Place Chowder. After all that, we'll need a ginger beer from Rachel's Ginger Beer. And then last, just for Jess, we're going to hit the crumpet shop for a cup of tea and some crumpets. We're going to probably get there right around lunch rush, so we'll see how many of then we can get before we have to leave. I figure if we use 2 hours of our 4 hour tour there, I'm good with it. There was a park the limo recommended, but if we don't make it there, it's okay. I think it was mostly a photo op to get pictures with the skyline anyway.
I need to watch a couple of more videos on Granville Market in Vancouver, so I'll be ready. Right now the front runner for lunch is Celine's Fish. I'm a sucker for a good fish and chips, but that could change. And there's a few other places I want to get snacks from. Like the famous maple salmon. I'll give that a try. And maybe a donut from Lee's and a pot pie from the pie man. Go big or go home, right. I need to do that early enough that by 5pm we're ready for Korean BBQ at Dae Bok Bon Ga. Then we shall go to see Mortal Kombat.
Now that we're under a month, I believe that I can order tickets for the hop on hop off bus in Vancouver to make things easier. Otherwise, we're going to spend a ton on Ubers with the four of us. Okay, trolley tickets have been purchased. They weren't super cheap, but that's okay. It'll last us for the day.
I'm a little worried about how well I'll sleep this vacation. Normally at night, I take my Ambien plus 10mg of THC via the relaxing peppermint tablets. Obviously I can't take weed on the airplane or on the cruise ship, so this could be fun. I'll be taking my anti anxiety meds, so hopefully between the two I'll manage. I'm definitely going to be more active than usual, so hopefully that translates to better sleep.
I got a few more of my things for vacation, so I'll be doing some more packing one day this week. I'll probably wait til Friday as I think that's when the last bunch of stuff comes in, and we might aftually be caught up on laundry by the. I had an enormous pile of clothes on the floof by my side of the bed and I sorted through them on Saturday. It appears that the areas we're going are going in Alaska are going to be a high around 50 degrees F, so we're going to need some cold weather gear. I got another jacket, which is a North Face fleece that I think will be very helpful, and also a fleece lined rain coat. Hopefully, they'll be sufficient. I might need both on the whale watching trip, but I'm okay with that. I also got gloves and a hat just in case. At least the whale watching boat does have a heated cabin if we get too cold.
I think that's all I'm taking. I might stuff a lightweight fleece in my carry on for Seattle and Vancouver, just in case we need something light, but they're hovering around 60 degrees, so I think we'll be okay.
I need to pack a few more pairs of leggings, underwear, my shoes, binoculars and emergency antibiotic stash and some short sleeve t-shirts for on the boat. I may also take one of my tank tops with a shelf bra and some shorts for knocking around in the suite.
We're down to 23 days. I need to find someone to pick up our mail and packages, so I'm looking online and not finding a lot. I just posted to Reddit, so hopefully someone will bite. It's literally bringing in the mail and watering my two sad little plants, and maybe making sure that the apartment is still standing.
Aside from that, it's just getting Yoda acclimated to boarding and then we'll be golden. I can't believe it's really happening. In another 9 days, we'll be able to print our boarding passes for the boat, and it'll be time to choose our breakfast for the flight. Maybe it'll sink in then. Or maybe it'll be as we cross the Rocky Mountai dns, or touch down in Seattle. Maybe it'll be real when we go up in the Space Needle?
Or maybe it'll be like Disney where the whole trip felt like a fever dream. We shall see.
We get back late on Sunday and will go fetch our puppy on Monday morning and have the day to love all over him and tell him how awesome he is.
Today should be a quieter day. The calls won't be stacked as badly and hopefully I'll get some work done. I know I have a 1 on 1 this morning, just a check in, I think. Then after work, I go to get my hair cut. On Wednesday, I shall dye my hair. I'm trying to decide between cooking the lobster tails on my break or right after I get off work. I'll have about 40 min between when I finish and when I need to leave, so that is entirely doable. Though I hate to cook everyone else's early. They're really best when they first come out. Maybe I'll just wait to cook them til I get home, and have dinner be a touch late. That sounds like a better option. It rarely takes more than 20 minutes to do my hair, so I'd be home at 6, and could just cook them then. I'll have Jess turn on the oven at 5:50pm.
Okay, time to do some studying. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday!
This is one of those songs I cam always listen to. I'm not a huge fan of most of his stuff, but this particular song hits me in the sweet spot.
Happy Tuesday! We survived Monday! Good lord, yesterday seemed to drag unmercifully. It felt like the afternoon alone was at least 8 hours. I was jumping back and forth from phone to working on other shit and the back to the phone. It made for a long day. Then, of course, I also got word at about 1:45 that Boodle's ashes were ready for pick up.
I cried again. God, I miss that baby so much. After the very long day ended, Jess and I went up to get her. And then I cried some more at her tiny footprint, and the very small box. She was a little cat, but the box is so tiny, barely bigger than my fist. How can all that personality fit in such a small box?
I wish I had realized that she was sick sooner. The outcome would probably have been the same, but if I had known that it was the last year, I would have given her nonstop churus, and held her more. (Though to be fair, she wasn't a huge fan, and would have made me bleed my own blood.
I think I've cried more for her than I did for both my parents, which is kind of fucked up. Then again, aside from her tendency to wake me up at 3 am for food by clawing the blankets around my face, frequently hitting my face and leaving scratches, she never did anything to hurt me. My mother's legacy is one of neglect and outright emotional abuse, and the last two years with my father were brutal. But still, I feel a little bad that I couldn't grieve as hard as I am for this little cat.
We had sushi for dinner, because I was a bit of a wreck. We tried a new place and it was excellent. The fish was delicious and fresh and they gave us an extra roll on the house. It was called a Salad Roll, and it had everything that I like in it. It was avocado, kani, tempura shrimp with a seaweed salad topping. I'm normally not a huge fan of seaweed salad, but this was really good. I think that and the other roll we'd never tried, a Caterpillar roll were my favorites. Not that the usual suspects were bad, those just were really good.
We watched another couple of videos on Pike Place market, and I've think I've narrowed down the places I must got to. So far I've got 6 of them. First up is Mee Sum for their pork and their Beef Curry Hom Bow, which are liked baked fluffy buns with the meat inside. Next is Beecher's famous mac and cheese. Piroshky Piroshky looks like it has some interesting and tasty buns, including a salmon pate that I know my sister will be all over. Pike Place Chowder sells seared scallop chowder and I must have. I fucking love scallops. We'll probably also get a cup of "the best clam chowder in the world," at Pike. Place Chowder. After all that, we'll need a ginger beer from Rachel's Ginger Beer. And then last, just for Jess, we're going to hit the crumpet shop for a cup of tea and some crumpets. We're going to probably get there right around lunch rush, so we'll see how many of then we can get before we have to leave. I figure if we use 2 hours of our 4 hour tour there, I'm good with it. There was a park the limo recommended, but if we don't make it there, it's okay. I think it was mostly a photo op to get pictures with the skyline anyway.
I need to watch a couple of more videos on Granville Market in Vancouver, so I'll be ready. Right now the front runner for lunch is Celine's Fish. I'm a sucker for a good fish and chips, but that could change. And there's a few other places I want to get snacks from. Like the famous maple salmon. I'll give that a try. And maybe a donut from Lee's and a pot pie from the pie man. Go big or go home, right. I need to do that early enough that by 5pm we're ready for Korean BBQ at Dae Bok Bon Ga. Then we shall go to see Mortal Kombat.
Now that we're under a month, I believe that I can order tickets for the hop on hop off bus in Vancouver to make things easier. Otherwise, we're going to spend a ton on Ubers with the four of us. Okay, trolley tickets have been purchased. They weren't super cheap, but that's okay. It'll last us for the day.
I'm a little worried about how well I'll sleep this vacation. Normally at night, I take my Ambien plus 10mg of THC via the relaxing peppermint tablets. Obviously I can't take weed on the airplane or on the cruise ship, so this could be fun. I'll be taking my anti anxiety meds, so hopefully between the two I'll manage. I'm definitely going to be more active than usual, so hopefully that translates to better sleep.
I got a few more of my things for vacation, so I'll be doing some more packing one day this week. I'll probably wait til Friday as I think that's when the last bunch of stuff comes in, and we might aftually be caught up on laundry by the. I had an enormous pile of clothes on the floof by my side of the bed and I sorted through them on Saturday. It appears that the areas we're going are going in Alaska are going to be a high around 50 degrees F, so we're going to need some cold weather gear. I got another jacket, which is a North Face fleece that I think will be very helpful, and also a fleece lined rain coat. Hopefully, they'll be sufficient. I might need both on the whale watching trip, but I'm okay with that. I also got gloves and a hat just in case. At least the whale watching boat does have a heated cabin if we get too cold.
I think that's all I'm taking. I might stuff a lightweight fleece in my carry on for Seattle and Vancouver, just in case we need something light, but they're hovering around 60 degrees, so I think we'll be okay.
I need to pack a few more pairs of leggings, underwear, my shoes, binoculars and emergency antibiotic stash and some short sleeve t-shirts for on the boat. I may also take one of my tank tops with a shelf bra and some shorts for knocking around in the suite.
We're down to 23 days. I need to find someone to pick up our mail and packages, so I'm looking online and not finding a lot. I just posted to Reddit, so hopefully someone will bite. It's literally bringing in the mail and watering my two sad little plants, and maybe making sure that the apartment is still standing.
Aside from that, it's just getting Yoda acclimated to boarding and then we'll be golden. I can't believe it's really happening. In another 9 days, we'll be able to print our boarding passes for the boat, and it'll be time to choose our breakfast for the flight. Maybe it'll sink in then. Or maybe it'll be as we cross the Rocky Mountai dns, or touch down in Seattle. Maybe it'll be real when we go up in the Space Needle?
Or maybe it'll be like Disney where the whole trip felt like a fever dream. We shall see.
We get back late on Sunday and will go fetch our puppy on Monday morning and have the day to love all over him and tell him how awesome he is.
Today should be a quieter day. The calls won't be stacked as badly and hopefully I'll get some work done. I know I have a 1 on 1 this morning, just a check in, I think. Then after work, I go to get my hair cut. On Wednesday, I shall dye my hair. I'm trying to decide between cooking the lobster tails on my break or right after I get off work. I'll have about 40 min between when I finish and when I need to leave, so that is entirely doable. Though I hate to cook everyone else's early. They're really best when they first come out. Maybe I'll just wait to cook them til I get home, and have dinner be a touch late. That sounds like a better option. It rarely takes more than 20 minutes to do my hair, so I'd be home at 6, and could just cook them then. I'll have Jess turn on the oven at 5:50pm.
Okay, time to do some studying. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday!
FIC: Emorian council chamber (Tempestuous Tours)
Apr. 13th, 2026 03:27 pmduskpetersonIf you are not visiting the palace in order to attend the Chara's court, then chances are that you are here to visit the council. As you enter the east doors of the palace, turn right, then left, then immediately right. The long corridor before you leads north to the council chamber and council quarters.
Upon reaching the end of the corridor, you will once again find yourself facing high doors, this time plated with copper. Unless you are actually attending a council meeting, the door you want is to either the left or the right of the council chamber. Enquire with the guards as to how to reach your destination. Mainland visitors are likely to be escorted, under guard, to the room they are seeking.
Attendance at meetings of the Great Council are by invitation only. If you are invited, arrive early. If you have been asked to speak with the council, you will be shown to a chair at the bottom of the council table. Do not be insulted. This is where the Chara himself sits, when he is invited to speak with the council.
Remember those high doors? They were designed to keep out the Chara and his guards, back in the days when animosity still simmered between the Chara and the Great Council. These days, the animosity takes less blatant forms, but the Chara is still not permitted to enter the council chamber except with permission of the Great Council's High Lord.
If you are not here to speak with the council but wish to attend a council meeting, you will be shown to a chair at the back of the room. (If you are not accustomed to sitting in chairs, it is best to practice beforehand.) As in the court, your job will be to stay as quiet and motionless as possible. At only two points in the meeting should you move: rise from your chair when the High Lord of the Great Council enters the chamber, and rise again when he leaves. A herald will announce when this is necessary.
After the council meeting, you may wish to visit the council library, just off the head of the chamber. This lovely, light-filled room was added during the reign of the Chara Purvis, at the beginning of this century. It is considered the finest law library in the world, containing hundreds of books of commentary on matters related to the law. Do not to touch the books unless you are here to do research. To Emorians, law books – even books of commentary – are sacred objects.
Northern mainlanders should be aware that stealing a law book can be punished by death. If you must steal something in the palace, confine yourself to objects unrelated to the law.
[Translator's note: In order to visit the Great Council in session, as well as its law library, read Law of Vengeance.]
All those things I didn't say, wrecking balls inside my brain, I will scream them loud tonight
Apr. 13th, 2026 04:21 ambeansideAnd somehow, just like that, the weekend is over. I didn't get much done at all. I still have all my schoolwork to do, because I just couldn't bring myself to crack a book. I will have to get cracking today.
I did end up going to the Farmer's Market and got some good food. I was planning to get empanadas, but about halfway through, my knee started hurting. Add to that, the bag was getting very heavy. What I did get Was some mini donuts and some pastries. Oh, and Kettle Corn! Of real food, I grabbed some yogurt and orange juice from the dairy stall. A little bit further down was the fish guy, who had Halibut and lobster tails, so I got some of both. I put the halibut in the freezer, and the lobster tails in the fridge to make tonight. They're a super easy dinner. Then, on the way out in leiu of empanadas, I got some dumplings as they were on the route out, and got a very good small dog, who didn't flunk out of daycare a couple of treats. Which he has carried around, but not eaten yet. I got home before anyone else was awake, which was kind of funny, since I left a little sign saying where I was, and no one got to see it!
Not long after I got home, it was game, so I fried up some dumplings and grabbed a couple of mini donuts for game snacks. Game was super fun. I spent it trying to keep Jess' character from dying, successfully, and holding concentration on control water, to push the waterline out to see a bit. The plan was to keep a water elemental where we could beat on it, and allow players to walk right up to it and hit it. I feel like that was a worthwhile use of a higher level spell. It kept non combatants from getting run over and pissed off the elemental. I think it may also have kept him from using some nasty bonus actions, so I was pleased.
We finally finished the game, which is sad, I so enjoyed it. But there will be a sequel oncecoyotegestalt finishes writing it, which is awesome. I love the character I play, and besides, Jess and my character just finally stopped flirting and had some kissing action, so that was good. This is the game where I proved that when DM's play they are the worst agents of chaos on the planet.
The dumplings were excellent by the way. I actually fried up the rest on bio break and ate them all. They were a really tasty breakfast. I got the pork and chive, and the crystal shrimp, both of which were really good.
Then, I took my sister to Greek Easter at the in-laws, making sure to tell my brother in law that he had to come in when he brought her home, because we had a surprise for him.
On the way back, I stopped at a taco truck and ordered some food. The 20 minutes they said it would be ended up being more like 40 minutes, and by the time I got done, I had to go so bad.
Food was really good though. I enjoyed my Pollo al Tajadas. It was fried plaintain slices with a fried chicken leg over it and some slaw on top of that. Very tasty, good fried chicken.
Then, I settled in and we watched two episodes of the Amazing Digital Circus on YouTube. I wasn't sure about episode one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I'm pleased to say that the second and third episodes were much better, and I am now solidly in the "Like, maybe love" this show category. I'm looking forward to watching more of it, and going to see the final episode in the theaters.
After that, we watched a couple of videos on Seattle's Pike Place Market (which is one of the stops in Seattle on our vacation.) I'm lookins forward to trying some of the tasty things out. I may end up getting some things and putting them in my suitcase, since it appears that I'm going to have some room.
Then the sister got home, I gave the BIL his presents. One was some of the kettle corn, one was his own jar of the Hawaiian seasoning that he kept coming back to ask for more of, the Kailua Seasonings Aloha Smoke Spice, which is amazing on beef or pork.
We watched more videos about both Pike Place Market and Granville Island Market in Vancouver until it was almost time for bed. I found a few places that I'd like to try for breakfast/lunch. I'm hoping to get to Granville in time for a late breakfast or early lunch, since we only have the one day to explore.
This weekend, we have the Lost Boys Musical, which should be super fun. Yoda is going to try the overnight day care. He has a petite suite, so he won't be around any dogs. It's just for two nights, to ease him in. I know they'll take good care of him.
I cannot believe that it's only 24 days until vacation. That just boggles my mind. I still have a few packages to come, but it won't be long at all. I'm nervous about the 6 hour flight, but hopefully it'll go well. Mind you, I'm worried about the long flight for Jess, because I know they're worried about TSA and the lack of boobs, and my BIL, who hasn't flown since he was in the army and is a little anxious. I've at least flown twice in the last two years, so I think I'll be okay, even though I'm a nervous flyer. The lure of seeing the pacific ocean is just too much to stop me. It is a comparatively long flight though. The furthest west I've been is Texas, so this is a big jump from that. I did do an overseas flight, but I was 20.
I just hope everything goes smoothly, and our car service is right there waiting for us when we collect our luggage. And then we can do our stops at the Space Needle and Pike Place and head to our hotel to relax until our dinner reservation at Hy's Steakhouse.
Friday is going to be for sightseeing, and then Saturday we're on the boat. Only 26 days away! And then, Alaska. Now that we've got the dog sorted out, I'm ready to progress to vacation immediately.
The dog will have two visits to the daycare. One this weekend for two nights, and then from April 26-May 3 for a five or six night stay. (That's going to suck, a whole week without a pet to bother.). Then on May 6th, he goes for 11 nights while we're in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
I've got a Google Album set up for pictures, which is right here. I'll be posting all the pictures that we take right there if you want to follow along. I'll probably upload new stuff either at night before bed or in the morning when I do my posting.
Okay, time to do some studying, since I didn't do it on the weekend. Everyone have a phenomenal Monday!
I did end up going to the Farmer's Market and got some good food. I was planning to get empanadas, but about halfway through, my knee started hurting. Add to that, the bag was getting very heavy. What I did get Was some mini donuts and some pastries. Oh, and Kettle Corn! Of real food, I grabbed some yogurt and orange juice from the dairy stall. A little bit further down was the fish guy, who had Halibut and lobster tails, so I got some of both. I put the halibut in the freezer, and the lobster tails in the fridge to make tonight. They're a super easy dinner. Then, on the way out in leiu of empanadas, I got some dumplings as they were on the route out, and got a very good small dog, who didn't flunk out of daycare a couple of treats. Which he has carried around, but not eaten yet. I got home before anyone else was awake, which was kind of funny, since I left a little sign saying where I was, and no one got to see it!
Not long after I got home, it was game, so I fried up some dumplings and grabbed a couple of mini donuts for game snacks. Game was super fun. I spent it trying to keep Jess' character from dying, successfully, and holding concentration on control water, to push the waterline out to see a bit. The plan was to keep a water elemental where we could beat on it, and allow players to walk right up to it and hit it. I feel like that was a worthwhile use of a higher level spell. It kept non combatants from getting run over and pissed off the elemental. I think it may also have kept him from using some nasty bonus actions, so I was pleased.
We finally finished the game, which is sad, I so enjoyed it. But there will be a sequel once
coyotegestalt finishes writing it, which is awesome. I love the character I play, and besides, Jess and my character just finally stopped flirting and had some kissing action, so that was good. This is the game where I proved that when DM's play they are the worst agents of chaos on the planet. The dumplings were excellent by the way. I actually fried up the rest on bio break and ate them all. They were a really tasty breakfast. I got the pork and chive, and the crystal shrimp, both of which were really good.
Then, I took my sister to Greek Easter at the in-laws, making sure to tell my brother in law that he had to come in when he brought her home, because we had a surprise for him.
On the way back, I stopped at a taco truck and ordered some food. The 20 minutes they said it would be ended up being more like 40 minutes, and by the time I got done, I had to go so bad.
Food was really good though. I enjoyed my Pollo al Tajadas. It was fried plaintain slices with a fried chicken leg over it and some slaw on top of that. Very tasty, good fried chicken.
Then, I settled in and we watched two episodes of the Amazing Digital Circus on YouTube. I wasn't sure about episode one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I'm pleased to say that the second and third episodes were much better, and I am now solidly in the "Like, maybe love" this show category. I'm looking forward to watching more of it, and going to see the final episode in the theaters.
After that, we watched a couple of videos on Seattle's Pike Place Market (which is one of the stops in Seattle on our vacation.) I'm lookins forward to trying some of the tasty things out. I may end up getting some things and putting them in my suitcase, since it appears that I'm going to have some room.
Then the sister got home, I gave the BIL his presents. One was some of the kettle corn, one was his own jar of the Hawaiian seasoning that he kept coming back to ask for more of, the Kailua Seasonings Aloha Smoke Spice, which is amazing on beef or pork.
We watched more videos about both Pike Place Market and Granville Island Market in Vancouver until it was almost time for bed. I found a few places that I'd like to try for breakfast/lunch. I'm hoping to get to Granville in time for a late breakfast or early lunch, since we only have the one day to explore.
This weekend, we have the Lost Boys Musical, which should be super fun. Yoda is going to try the overnight day care. He has a petite suite, so he won't be around any dogs. It's just for two nights, to ease him in. I know they'll take good care of him.
I cannot believe that it's only 24 days until vacation. That just boggles my mind. I still have a few packages to come, but it won't be long at all. I'm nervous about the 6 hour flight, but hopefully it'll go well. Mind you, I'm worried about the long flight for Jess, because I know they're worried about TSA and the lack of boobs, and my BIL, who hasn't flown since he was in the army and is a little anxious. I've at least flown twice in the last two years, so I think I'll be okay, even though I'm a nervous flyer. The lure of seeing the pacific ocean is just too much to stop me. It is a comparatively long flight though. The furthest west I've been is Texas, so this is a big jump from that. I did do an overseas flight, but I was 20.
I just hope everything goes smoothly, and our car service is right there waiting for us when we collect our luggage. And then we can do our stops at the Space Needle and Pike Place and head to our hotel to relax until our dinner reservation at Hy's Steakhouse.
Friday is going to be for sightseeing, and then Saturday we're on the boat. Only 26 days away! And then, Alaska. Now that we've got the dog sorted out, I'm ready to progress to vacation immediately.
The dog will have two visits to the daycare. One this weekend for two nights, and then from April 26-May 3 for a five or six night stay. (That's going to suck, a whole week without a pet to bother.). Then on May 6th, he goes for 11 nights while we're in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
I've got a Google Album set up for pictures, which is right here. I'll be posting all the pictures that we take right there if you want to follow along. I'll probably upload new stuff either at night before bed or in the morning when I do my posting.
Okay, time to do some studying, since I didn't do it on the weekend. Everyone have a phenomenal Monday!
Pantry staples.
Apr. 12th, 2026 09:31 pmhannahThere's some satisfaction in realizing that between the canned tomatoes, canned beans, rice, frozen vegetables, garlic, herbs, and spices around my apartment, dinner's something I can throw together for the next couple of nights while working around a couple of obligations keeping me from investing the usual amount of time into cooking the evening meals.
I don't mind the obligations - I'm genuinely looking forward to some of them - but the timing would have me choose between cooking into the evening or working on writing, and I'm pleased I won't have to make that call.
I don't mind the obligations - I'm genuinely looking forward to some of them - but the timing would have me choose between cooking into the evening or working on writing, and I'm pleased I won't have to make that call.
Got a demon in my soul and a voice in my head aayin' go, go, go, I can sleep when I'm dead
Apr. 12th, 2026 04:58 ambeansideSomehow, it's already Sunday. Yesterday seemed to be gone in a flash, but we did a lot, so that was good. Today will be a slower day, thankfully. Though I will try to get some things done. I do need to decide whether I'm going to go to the farmer's market this morning before game. I'm very tempted, but also a wee bit tired from all the running around we did yesterday. I will see how I feel after coffee. Then, we shall hve game, then I will take my sister to her in-laws for Greek Easter in the hopes that when BIL brings her back there will be treats. After that, there should be time for some relaxation, some studying and maybe to do a little bit of chores.
I think part of the reason yesterday went so fast is that I was low key stressed out the entire day. I have been dreading Yoda's first visit to doggy day care. The last one went so disastrously that I have been having anxiety for the last week. (For those who don't remember, he flunked out of traditional dog day care for being "aggressive," and barking at other dogs. Then, the person we were going to have dogsit declined because he was "too wild." So, with the trip coming uo quickly, we decided too try Best Friends Furever.
He had to be there early between 7-8am, and he needed to stay until 6, so a long day for the buddy.
We took him in at 7:30, and he went off with the worker, and we walked out to stress until 6pm. At about 11am, we got some pictures and a mini report card that said he was being good, but was shy.
Jess and I went out to lunch and came back to no dog, which was weird. Then we did some cleaning, and that was good. I pulled out my suitcase and started packing. I had gotten together some cold-weather stuff, so I started packing that and some of my fancy dress stuff. I may bave gotten too big of a suitcase. I'm halfway done packing, but the suitcase isn't even half full. Oh well, plenty of room for souvenirs. One thing I did not do was to take the phones to Tmobile for trade in. I'm going to lie and say I put them int he UPS box so that they'll take them back, because I have no shame.
Then, we decided that since we had no dog, we should all three go out to dinner, which was actually very nice. We had delicious food at the Gourmet at Kennilworth which was amazing. We'd been for lunch before, but their dinner menu is top notch. They specialize in seafood, so we all ended up getting fish. I got a grilled halibut with lemon and butter. It was really good. My first time trying halibut and I am sad that it is not more easily available around here. None of my fish places have it, sadly. We also had some very excellent French onion soup and I had a raspberry ammaretto cake.
Then, we rolled ourselves out to the car and went to get Yoda. He was super excited to see us and barked and gave us the business for leaving him all day. But, the important thing! The staff said he did great. He really blossomed in the afternoon, and let them all pet on him and tell him how good he was. He got his official collar, and has his next few stays booked! I swear, when she said "he did great," my shoulders finally dropped from around my ears with a wave of relief so strong it nearly made me sit down. My dog did not flunk daycare, and his stay for the vacation is booked and a deposit paid. I'm so happy. All the way home and honestly most of the evening, he was made over and told what a good boy he was. So he'll go back on Friday for two nights, since Jess and I are going to NYC on Saturday. We'll pick him up early on Sunday and doubtless get the business again.
I feel so much better about vacation knowing that he's in good hands. I mean, we still have the overnight hurdle to handle, but I'm feeling much more confident about that. He will have people who will care for him and a good environment where he can grow and get more social. It's a win-win.
I'm debating on dropping him in for a weekday this week, so he doesn't lose momentum. We'll see what we decide.
After that, everyone, including Yoda, was exhausted, and we came home and relaxed until it was time for bed.
Today will be less busy, though I still want to get some shit done. But I'd also like to spend some quality time with Jess. I've got seven episodes of the Amazing Digital Circus to watch before we go to see the final two episodes in the theater in June, so maybe we can get one in today. I've got laundry to do, owing to cleaning up the space beside my bed. I have SO many clothes to donate. Just an enormous bag of them. I may take them to the donation box today. There's some nice shit in there.
Tomorrow will be back to work, and a busy day. I have a lunchtime virtual doctors appt at which I'll ask for an increased dose on the Mounjaro. Tuesday, I get my pre-trip haircut. and at some point next weekend, I need to dye my hair. I suppose I could do that today, though. I do need a shower so that might be good. I've decided to do purple on top and leave the sides grey. Last haircut, they ended up cutting out most of the color on the sides, and I've gotta admit, I kind of like the grey at the temples contrasted with the purple on top. It looks super cool. Also makes my head look a little bit thinner, I think.
The rest of the week is quiet until we get to Saturday and going to see the Lost Boys Musical in NYC, which should be super fun. I feel bad that we're leaving my sister completely alone, with no dog to keep her company, but he needs overnight time in the daycare and I need not to be worrying about her trying to walk him.
Okay, time to do a bit of studying for my morning. I need to make up my mind on the farmer's market in the next 20 minutes, so I will ponder that. I really do want to go see what they have, but I'm not sure I can stir myself to get ready and go. We shall see how I feel in 10 minutes. I have a feeling that the lure of game snacks might win out, but we shall see. Everyone have a fantastic Sunday!
I think part of the reason yesterday went so fast is that I was low key stressed out the entire day. I have been dreading Yoda's first visit to doggy day care. The last one went so disastrously that I have been having anxiety for the last week. (For those who don't remember, he flunked out of traditional dog day care for being "aggressive," and barking at other dogs. Then, the person we were going to have dogsit declined because he was "too wild." So, with the trip coming uo quickly, we decided too try Best Friends Furever.
He had to be there early between 7-8am, and he needed to stay until 6, so a long day for the buddy.
We took him in at 7:30, and he went off with the worker, and we walked out to stress until 6pm. At about 11am, we got some pictures and a mini report card that said he was being good, but was shy.
Jess and I went out to lunch and came back to no dog, which was weird. Then we did some cleaning, and that was good. I pulled out my suitcase and started packing. I had gotten together some cold-weather stuff, so I started packing that and some of my fancy dress stuff. I may bave gotten too big of a suitcase. I'm halfway done packing, but the suitcase isn't even half full. Oh well, plenty of room for souvenirs. One thing I did not do was to take the phones to Tmobile for trade in. I'm going to lie and say I put them int he UPS box so that they'll take them back, because I have no shame.
Then, we decided that since we had no dog, we should all three go out to dinner, which was actually very nice. We had delicious food at the Gourmet at Kennilworth which was amazing. We'd been for lunch before, but their dinner menu is top notch. They specialize in seafood, so we all ended up getting fish. I got a grilled halibut with lemon and butter. It was really good. My first time trying halibut and I am sad that it is not more easily available around here. None of my fish places have it, sadly. We also had some very excellent French onion soup and I had a raspberry ammaretto cake.
Then, we rolled ourselves out to the car and went to get Yoda. He was super excited to see us and barked and gave us the business for leaving him all day. But, the important thing! The staff said he did great. He really blossomed in the afternoon, and let them all pet on him and tell him how good he was. He got his official collar, and has his next few stays booked! I swear, when she said "he did great," my shoulders finally dropped from around my ears with a wave of relief so strong it nearly made me sit down. My dog did not flunk daycare, and his stay for the vacation is booked and a deposit paid. I'm so happy. All the way home and honestly most of the evening, he was made over and told what a good boy he was. So he'll go back on Friday for two nights, since Jess and I are going to NYC on Saturday. We'll pick him up early on Sunday and doubtless get the business again.
I feel so much better about vacation knowing that he's in good hands. I mean, we still have the overnight hurdle to handle, but I'm feeling much more confident about that. He will have people who will care for him and a good environment where he can grow and get more social. It's a win-win.
I'm debating on dropping him in for a weekday this week, so he doesn't lose momentum. We'll see what we decide.
After that, everyone, including Yoda, was exhausted, and we came home and relaxed until it was time for bed.
Today will be less busy, though I still want to get some shit done. But I'd also like to spend some quality time with Jess. I've got seven episodes of the Amazing Digital Circus to watch before we go to see the final two episodes in the theater in June, so maybe we can get one in today. I've got laundry to do, owing to cleaning up the space beside my bed. I have SO many clothes to donate. Just an enormous bag of them. I may take them to the donation box today. There's some nice shit in there.
Tomorrow will be back to work, and a busy day. I have a lunchtime virtual doctors appt at which I'll ask for an increased dose on the Mounjaro. Tuesday, I get my pre-trip haircut. and at some point next weekend, I need to dye my hair. I suppose I could do that today, though. I do need a shower so that might be good. I've decided to do purple on top and leave the sides grey. Last haircut, they ended up cutting out most of the color on the sides, and I've gotta admit, I kind of like the grey at the temples contrasted with the purple on top. It looks super cool. Also makes my head look a little bit thinner, I think.
The rest of the week is quiet until we get to Saturday and going to see the Lost Boys Musical in NYC, which should be super fun. I feel bad that we're leaving my sister completely alone, with no dog to keep her company, but he needs overnight time in the daycare and I need not to be worrying about her trying to walk him.
Okay, time to do a bit of studying for my morning. I need to make up my mind on the farmer's market in the next 20 minutes, so I will ponder that. I really do want to go see what they have, but I'm not sure I can stir myself to get ready and go. We shall see how I feel in 10 minutes. I have a feeling that the lure of game snacks might win out, but we shall see. Everyone have a fantastic Sunday!
Dancing in the beauty.
Apr. 11th, 2026 07:56 pmhannahYou know it's a good concert when you need two days to recover. I didn't do a lot of dancing because it got pretty packed at the end, but I did my share. At first, there was some worry about it filling up, but then I found out there were two opening acts and it made more sense. I didn't give up my spot right up front at the stage, though. There wasn't any taking me away from that.
I was the twelfth person in line about 15 minutes before doors opened. I chatted some with the people in front of me and the person behind me about things like subway lines, the last round of Voxtrot concerts about three years ago, the round about 16 years before that, how the average age of Bruce Springsteen fans stays consistent because he keeps getting new fans, stuff like that. I had to pass through a metal detector and said, "No pockets, no problem." Waiting for the floor to open, several people ahead of me got their phones scanned, but somehow I got skipped over. I waited for it and then was told we could walk right in. So I went up front row center, if there were rows. Center stage, certainly. Right in the middle.
I took pictures of people on request and kept chatting. One of the women to my left kept checking social media and I had to ask her, "Does it spark joy?" One of the men to my right was glad I reminded him of the Artemis splashdown, which was why during the first songs of the first opening act, on a cell phone propped up against a speaker, we watched the last four minutes of the mission, every parachute accounted for. It had me feeling a lot of things, and I still need to sit with it.
The first opening act was a four-person jam band, kind of like Explosions in the Sky meets Bon Iver. The second opening act was one man with a guitar, and because I was right up front, when he mentioned how nobody knew where Halifax was, he heard me when I exclaimed, "The Maritimes!"
There was some waiting. There was judging on when to go to the bathroom, the etiquette of saving spots, the general vibe of everyone being there for the same reason. There was some chatting about travel plans and museums and software engineering and public transportation infrastructure. I saw someone put out the setlists and didn't look on purpose so I'd be surprised. I chatted some more to keep myself distracted, and then I saw Voxtrot come out. I'd seen the first two opening acts come in and go out through a side door to the stage so I knew where to look. I kept checking, and I saw some light coming through.
And I saw the silhouette of a man whose work I've loved for years.
He introduced himself and his band. He talked about playing the same location about 20 years ago. I looked behind myself to take in the audience in the soft blue-white light, just a glimpse of all the happy faces behind me, around me, surrounding me on the dance floor and the flanking wings and the mezzanine. Then I looked at the stage and didn't look away. There wasn't anywhere else to look.
We all sang along. We all knew the words and more than a few times, I realized I was hearing the crowd just as much as the lead singer. I sang and shouted, I swayed, I moved a bit, and then I started dancing as much as I could on a packed floor. Jumping up and down, rocking my arms, pumping my fists in the air, not a lot of stuff moving back and forth or forward and back, but in the unit of space I had, I made the most of it. A few times I wondered if I was given more space because of my braid swinging around. Then I stopped wondering and kept on dancing. Having the stage to brace myself against meant I could seriously jump. Being so close meant I could see everything as it was happening, and it was a thrill to be so close I could feel the music just as much as I heard it.
They played some new songs and a bunch of old ones. They went pretty far back, going all the way to the first song on their first EP to the last song on the latest album, so they really ran through everything. They played the hits and they played the songs they'd come around to knowing were hits all along - all killer no filler, as the saying goes. The energy was carefully cultivated, building everyone up to make sure that when they ended on a party note, a big-sound song for dancing, we would go home with spirits running high. They talked about where songs had been written, how the tunes developed, and one of the best things about live bands is seeing how it's all done. Hearing a specific set of notes and seeing the guitarist or the bassist or the drummer make those notes as I watch, looking at their hands on their instruments and putting it all together that yes, it's human hands all along.
The band danced up on stage, jumping around or simply grooving to it. There were a couple songs where the singer conducted the audience's clapping along, and it was clear all five of them meant everything they were doing. They were having a grand time up there and played in both senses, the musical and the fun.
I didn't get a chance to print the ticket, so after the encore, I grabbed a setlist. I made it back just before midnight, grabbing pizza to eat with ice cream to get my body to slow down some and some high proof bourbon I've had saved for a very special occasion because I couldn't think of an occasion more special than seeing Voxtrot.
I was the twelfth person in line about 15 minutes before doors opened. I chatted some with the people in front of me and the person behind me about things like subway lines, the last round of Voxtrot concerts about three years ago, the round about 16 years before that, how the average age of Bruce Springsteen fans stays consistent because he keeps getting new fans, stuff like that. I had to pass through a metal detector and said, "No pockets, no problem." Waiting for the floor to open, several people ahead of me got their phones scanned, but somehow I got skipped over. I waited for it and then was told we could walk right in. So I went up front row center, if there were rows. Center stage, certainly. Right in the middle.
I took pictures of people on request and kept chatting. One of the women to my left kept checking social media and I had to ask her, "Does it spark joy?" One of the men to my right was glad I reminded him of the Artemis splashdown, which was why during the first songs of the first opening act, on a cell phone propped up against a speaker, we watched the last four minutes of the mission, every parachute accounted for. It had me feeling a lot of things, and I still need to sit with it.
The first opening act was a four-person jam band, kind of like Explosions in the Sky meets Bon Iver. The second opening act was one man with a guitar, and because I was right up front, when he mentioned how nobody knew where Halifax was, he heard me when I exclaimed, "The Maritimes!"
There was some waiting. There was judging on when to go to the bathroom, the etiquette of saving spots, the general vibe of everyone being there for the same reason. There was some chatting about travel plans and museums and software engineering and public transportation infrastructure. I saw someone put out the setlists and didn't look on purpose so I'd be surprised. I chatted some more to keep myself distracted, and then I saw Voxtrot come out. I'd seen the first two opening acts come in and go out through a side door to the stage so I knew where to look. I kept checking, and I saw some light coming through.
And I saw the silhouette of a man whose work I've loved for years.
He introduced himself and his band. He talked about playing the same location about 20 years ago. I looked behind myself to take in the audience in the soft blue-white light, just a glimpse of all the happy faces behind me, around me, surrounding me on the dance floor and the flanking wings and the mezzanine. Then I looked at the stage and didn't look away. There wasn't anywhere else to look.
We all sang along. We all knew the words and more than a few times, I realized I was hearing the crowd just as much as the lead singer. I sang and shouted, I swayed, I moved a bit, and then I started dancing as much as I could on a packed floor. Jumping up and down, rocking my arms, pumping my fists in the air, not a lot of stuff moving back and forth or forward and back, but in the unit of space I had, I made the most of it. A few times I wondered if I was given more space because of my braid swinging around. Then I stopped wondering and kept on dancing. Having the stage to brace myself against meant I could seriously jump. Being so close meant I could see everything as it was happening, and it was a thrill to be so close I could feel the music just as much as I heard it.
They played some new songs and a bunch of old ones. They went pretty far back, going all the way to the first song on their first EP to the last song on the latest album, so they really ran through everything. They played the hits and they played the songs they'd come around to knowing were hits all along - all killer no filler, as the saying goes. The energy was carefully cultivated, building everyone up to make sure that when they ended on a party note, a big-sound song for dancing, we would go home with spirits running high. They talked about where songs had been written, how the tunes developed, and one of the best things about live bands is seeing how it's all done. Hearing a specific set of notes and seeing the guitarist or the bassist or the drummer make those notes as I watch, looking at their hands on their instruments and putting it all together that yes, it's human hands all along.
The band danced up on stage, jumping around or simply grooving to it. There were a couple songs where the singer conducted the audience's clapping along, and it was clear all five of them meant everything they were doing. They were having a grand time up there and played in both senses, the musical and the fun.
I didn't get a chance to print the ticket, so after the encore, I grabbed a setlist. I made it back just before midnight, grabbing pizza to eat with ice cream to get my body to slow down some and some high proof bourbon I've had saved for a very special occasion because I couldn't think of an occasion more special than seeing Voxtrot.
You didn't know that when I tried this all before, my dreams were too hard to defend
Apr. 11th, 2026 05:15 ambeansideHappy Saturday! It's early, but we're still awake! Why? No fucking clue. And that's somewhat annoying. Today shall be a dog-less day, as Yoda is going to be going to the doggie boarding place. He's doing a "play your way" day, which means he won't have other dogs in his enclosure, but will have someone who will offer to take him out. and walk him, and play with him. I am anxious as balls about this. Hopefully he's a reasonably good puppy.
I have a potential game, though one player's cats is not well, so that'll depend on how the kitty's night goes as to wether we can play. I am 100% sympathetic, and am perfectly willing to wait and see if she's up to playing. If so, it'll be around 11am. After that, maybe we'll go out to lunch. No clue where. Jess' anxiety and my ADHD rub against each other on the decision of food, because I do the thing where we'll have it figured out, and then I start offering other choices on the day of, and drive them insane. So this time I just didn't mention food and we'll just decide and go. I don't know where I want to go, but I want somewhere tasty.
Oh, I also have to run to the Punjab market for more meats for Yoda. I'd like to make a couple of batches of different meals for him this weekend. I also need to take our old phones back to t-mobile so that we get to keep our discount.
We got a thing the other day from the apartments that they're coming in to replace our balcony railing somewhere between now and May 19th, so we put the Christmas tree in storage finally. The room looks weird without it. I'm going to try to spend a little time this weekend cleaning up some. The apartment has gotten very messy. It's not like filthy, just stuff on the floor and clutter. We've been getting a lot of delivery boxes and Jess hasn't been able to keep up with getting them to the dumpster.
Here's a much better view of my tattoo without the saniderm. I took that off yesterday to wash and lotion it.
I love it so much. You can really see the patterns of her fur in this shot. It's rewrapped uner another saniderm patch, which will stay for a few days. After that, it'll be just lotion and gentle washing.
I think I timed it so that it should be healed by vacation, but I'll have plenty of lotion just in case.
Yesterday was a good day. Morning was fairly slow, nothing to report there, but then I had the lunchtime meeting where we had some excitement. We were doing our normal bitchfest, and then the head of outpatient Rad pinged J & A with a "Are you available for a quick chat?"
They ditched and went into the other meeting with P. When they came back, they were fuming. I've noticed that we're getting a lot of requests for tests to be read in our one site. Apparently the radiologists are overwhelmed, so they've contracted a team of radiologists to read our films. (Not sure how much I like that.) But things are still not being read quickly. So, instead of hiring someone else, or hiring more radiologists, they have made the executive decision that we will no longer do most STAT appointments at that site, because we can't guarantee that things will be read in time. It's our busiest site, and they can't do STAT appointments. This is going to go over so well. Also it's near DC, and the closest other radiology site we have is half an hour+ away from this one. The site has a lot of older clientele, and most of them will not go anywhere else.
After that, I grabbed a short lunch, and then was on the help chat for 2 hours, providing my wisdom and guidance. I had one that stumped me, but I feel better because it also stumped J and the techs. They're sending the question to the radiologist.
I don't mind doing the chat. It was fairly slow yesterday, so I only had about 7 questions to answer, which is not bad.
After that, I took my break, and came back with less than 20 minutes til it was time to leave.
Then, we took Yoda to the vet for his second flu shot and his Cytopoint allergy shot. That'll hold him until we get back from Alaska, since they're usually good for about 6 weeks.
Then we had Blades in the Dark, which went well. We were down onepoisontaster owing to an eye dilation induced headache, but her character was an integral part of the game anyway. I was able to spotlight some players that don't always get a ton to do, and fun was had by all, I think.
It did mean that now they have two heists running concurrently. The one has kind of fallen by the wayside, as a dastardly underworld group has released a plaugue on the land of Doskvol. The team is racing for the antidote/cure, but it's complicated that the shady underworld mafia is comprised of one of the character's family, who he works with part time. I told them that if they finished either heist, they'd get to use the downtime mechanic, where they can clear some stress and regain health.
It went really well and I enjoyed myself (and my game snack Peking duck and dumplings) very much. I can't do it for early afternoon or morning games, because the dumpling place doesn't open til 11:30, meaning the food doesn't arrive unitl 12:30-12:45 when we're already playing. But they're amazing for night games though.
Tomorrow, we have an early game at 9am. I'm looking forward to it. It's chaos personified, but I think we're going to win this battle today. It was an enormous fight between us, who are a party of 9 players, plus about 100 enemies. The turn order was ridiculously large, and it took most of a game to get through one round, but it's been so fun. Stressful for me as the cleric, but I've kept everyone alive and upright so far.
It'll be Greek Easter, so my sister will be heading off for that, hopefully to bring me some dolmades home. I fucking love my BIL's dolmades. I may see if Jess is okay staying with Yoda while I run over to the flear market in Eastpoint. They're opening this week and are open til 2, unlike the one downtown which is open to 12, and I will not be able to get to, unless I get myself together and go super early, which is also always a possibility, since they open at 7 and game is at 9.
It would give me a good hour to shop, which I really don't need. I doubt there'll be a ton of produce, mostly just other stuff. I might be able to find some good game snacks, especially if the Empanada truck is there.
And of course, at some point, I need to get some studying done. Whoohoo.
I might make us one of the pork tenderloins, since Yoda is getting the same, just cooked differently, and without one of the good Hawaiian spice mixes we've gotten. We're supposed to get more today, so it might be a challenge to decide which one to use. I also ordered some more of what they call potions, but are really syrups for your drink. We had the vanilla one which was amazing. This time I ordered vanilla, coconut, salted caramel and honey ginger. I'm looking forward to trying them when they come. They were excellent in coffee.
Okay, I suppose it's time for me to hop off and maybe study. Maybe. Might save it for this afternoon. We shall see. Or, I could start Yoda's pork stew with sweet potatoes and oats. We'll see. First I need to get off the couch. Everyone have a superb Saturday!
I have a potential game, though one player's cats is not well, so that'll depend on how the kitty's night goes as to wether we can play. I am 100% sympathetic, and am perfectly willing to wait and see if she's up to playing. If so, it'll be around 11am. After that, maybe we'll go out to lunch. No clue where. Jess' anxiety and my ADHD rub against each other on the decision of food, because I do the thing where we'll have it figured out, and then I start offering other choices on the day of, and drive them insane. So this time I just didn't mention food and we'll just decide and go. I don't know where I want to go, but I want somewhere tasty.
Oh, I also have to run to the Punjab market for more meats for Yoda. I'd like to make a couple of batches of different meals for him this weekend. I also need to take our old phones back to t-mobile so that we get to keep our discount.
We got a thing the other day from the apartments that they're coming in to replace our balcony railing somewhere between now and May 19th, so we put the Christmas tree in storage finally. The room looks weird without it. I'm going to try to spend a little time this weekend cleaning up some. The apartment has gotten very messy. It's not like filthy, just stuff on the floor and clutter. We've been getting a lot of delivery boxes and Jess hasn't been able to keep up with getting them to the dumpster.
Here's a much better view of my tattoo without the saniderm. I took that off yesterday to wash and lotion it.
I love it so much. You can really see the patterns of her fur in this shot. It's rewrapped uner another saniderm patch, which will stay for a few days. After that, it'll be just lotion and gentle washing.
I think I timed it so that it should be healed by vacation, but I'll have plenty of lotion just in case.
Yesterday was a good day. Morning was fairly slow, nothing to report there, but then I had the lunchtime meeting where we had some excitement. We were doing our normal bitchfest, and then the head of outpatient Rad pinged J & A with a "Are you available for a quick chat?"
They ditched and went into the other meeting with P. When they came back, they were fuming. I've noticed that we're getting a lot of requests for tests to be read in our one site. Apparently the radiologists are overwhelmed, so they've contracted a team of radiologists to read our films. (Not sure how much I like that.) But things are still not being read quickly. So, instead of hiring someone else, or hiring more radiologists, they have made the executive decision that we will no longer do most STAT appointments at that site, because we can't guarantee that things will be read in time. It's our busiest site, and they can't do STAT appointments. This is going to go over so well. Also it's near DC, and the closest other radiology site we have is half an hour+ away from this one. The site has a lot of older clientele, and most of them will not go anywhere else.
After that, I grabbed a short lunch, and then was on the help chat for 2 hours, providing my wisdom and guidance. I had one that stumped me, but I feel better because it also stumped J and the techs. They're sending the question to the radiologist.
I don't mind doing the chat. It was fairly slow yesterday, so I only had about 7 questions to answer, which is not bad.
After that, I took my break, and came back with less than 20 minutes til it was time to leave.
Then, we took Yoda to the vet for his second flu shot and his Cytopoint allergy shot. That'll hold him until we get back from Alaska, since they're usually good for about 6 weeks.
Then we had Blades in the Dark, which went well. We were down one
poisontaster owing to an eye dilation induced headache, but her character was an integral part of the game anyway. I was able to spotlight some players that don't always get a ton to do, and fun was had by all, I think.It did mean that now they have two heists running concurrently. The one has kind of fallen by the wayside, as a dastardly underworld group has released a plaugue on the land of Doskvol. The team is racing for the antidote/cure, but it's complicated that the shady underworld mafia is comprised of one of the character's family, who he works with part time. I told them that if they finished either heist, they'd get to use the downtime mechanic, where they can clear some stress and regain health.
It went really well and I enjoyed myself (and my game snack Peking duck and dumplings) very much. I can't do it for early afternoon or morning games, because the dumpling place doesn't open til 11:30, meaning the food doesn't arrive unitl 12:30-12:45 when we're already playing. But they're amazing for night games though.
Tomorrow, we have an early game at 9am. I'm looking forward to it. It's chaos personified, but I think we're going to win this battle today. It was an enormous fight between us, who are a party of 9 players, plus about 100 enemies. The turn order was ridiculously large, and it took most of a game to get through one round, but it's been so fun. Stressful for me as the cleric, but I've kept everyone alive and upright so far.
It'll be Greek Easter, so my sister will be heading off for that, hopefully to bring me some dolmades home. I fucking love my BIL's dolmades. I may see if Jess is okay staying with Yoda while I run over to the flear market in Eastpoint. They're opening this week and are open til 2, unlike the one downtown which is open to 12, and I will not be able to get to, unless I get myself together and go super early, which is also always a possibility, since they open at 7 and game is at 9.
It would give me a good hour to shop, which I really don't need. I doubt there'll be a ton of produce, mostly just other stuff. I might be able to find some good game snacks, especially if the Empanada truck is there.
And of course, at some point, I need to get some studying done. Whoohoo.
I might make us one of the pork tenderloins, since Yoda is getting the same, just cooked differently, and without one of the good Hawaiian spice mixes we've gotten. We're supposed to get more today, so it might be a challenge to decide which one to use. I also ordered some more of what they call potions, but are really syrups for your drink. We had the vanilla one which was amazing. This time I ordered vanilla, coconut, salted caramel and honey ginger. I'm looking forward to trying them when they come. They were excellent in coffee.
Okay, I suppose it's time for me to hop off and maybe study. Maybe. Might save it for this afternoon. We shall see. Or, I could start Yoda's pork stew with sweet potatoes and oats. We'll see. First I need to get off the couch. Everyone have a superb Saturday!
Rivers they can change but water stays the same.
Apr. 10th, 2026 05:35 pmhannahIn less than an hour, I leave to see Voxtrot. It's hard for me to understand, even as nervous as I am about it, even though I'm already dressed up for dancing at a concert. When I first started listening, they were already over, and a band getting back together after so many years apart isn't something that happens. It just isn't. This is almost too much to take in. I'm getting tingles. I've been listening to both their albums over and over this week. I don't think they're going to play previously unknown material, as I've heard a few other bands do before - City Swans by Neko Case, for example - but I don't know how far back they're going to go. It could go all the way back to their EPs. It could be a playthrough of the second album. I'll find out when they start playing.
Does Dreamwidth load slowly for anyone else? If I'm opening it in a new tab, it takes a measurably longer amount of time to load up than, say, anything else on the internet. It could be something on my end - I mostly want to gather data right now.
The mourning doves stopped by my place today, cooing loud enough to make it seem worthwhile for me to call back to them and greet them in return. Spring keeps arriving.
Does Dreamwidth load slowly for anyone else? If I'm opening it in a new tab, it takes a measurably longer amount of time to load up than, say, anything else on the internet. It could be something on my end - I mostly want to gather data right now.
The mourning doves stopped by my place today, cooing loud enough to make it seem worthwhile for me to call back to them and greet them in return. Spring keeps arriving.
beansideSometimes I hate the length of the subject line in Dreamwidth. There's another short line to that lyric, and it annoys me that it won't fit. Oh well.
Today I have a little planned. At work, I'll be doing my thing and then we'll have the manager bitchfest meeting and then the rest of the day. Afterwards, we need to take Yoda to the vet to get his flu and Cytopoint shots. Hopefully, he's feeling up to going to doggie day care tomorrow. If not, I'll move it to Tuesday. Then, tonight, we have Blades in the Dark, which should be a lot of fun. Still deciding if I want to get game snacks, since we won't have any other games that qualify.
Yesterday was also busy. I took a few calls, moved a few patients and then it was my time to watch the help queue and provide answers to questions. They were pretty easy, so it wasn't a bad time. Then after lunch I had the training for our new VOIP phone system. That is two hours that I won't get back. It was dull, self explanatory and could have been an email or a training. It was just brutal. My managers were also in the class, and they were back in the Rad Leaders chat just roasting the class. "Cringe" was the big accusation leveled against it. All in all, I'm glad it's over.
After work, I headed up to see my tattoo artist. She had a very cool drawing of what the tattoo would look like. I arrived at 4:45, did paperwork and Ronie got set up. I figure we started at about 5:15pm. I was done and in the car at 6:05. It was super fast. Then again, I tend to sit like a rock, so I'm an easy person to tatoo. She had set up her tablet with a picture of Boodle, that she superimposed her drawing on, so I have Boodles actual fur pattern on her chest. I absolutely love it. It's very her.
It still has the bandage on it, but I'll be taking that off tonight when I can submerge my arm in water. It usually hurts more than the tattoo did to peel off the second skin. Tomorrow, I'l have a clearer picture of it. Then it was home to eat and sniff the BPAL smellies that came in. I liked a lot of them, which was nice. Some I'm not sure about, but I'll give them second chances. I may try wearing some for Blades, though I have absolutely no idea what. I'd been wearing Scheherazade, because storyteller, but I feel like Blades needs something with an iron note. I'll save Scheherazade for the first Marchen game next Sunday.
Tomorrow, I have a pretty quiet day. I've got a game at 11am, Too Many Draculas. After that, I may drag Jess out for a late lunch for something tasty. 11am is too early for dumplings, so I will forgo our game snacks meal. I don't think next week, we have any games that we could do game snacks for, but we'll see. I might do them for Marchen and just take a little break early in the game when they arrive.
Sunday brings an early moring (9am) game. We might finish the Life's a Beach oneshot! (So far it's been almost 10 sessions. To be fair, it was supposed to be a quick combat, but we (okay, I) messed that up by blinding a dragon and bringing the big bad who we were supposed to end up chasing, down to the ground. DM's make the most chaotic energy as players. If there is away to completely upend your plan, it's going to be the player who DMs.
To be fair, for early games, I'm also fully on my ADHD meds, so all of my chaos is on purpose. I didn't zone and have to come up with something to do on the fly. That can lead to uncontrolled chaos.
Usually, I inflict that as DM on my nighttime games.
We're down to 27 days til cruise. I'm going to pull out my suitcase this weekend and start packing some things. Nothing that I'm still using, but I do want to see how much space everything will take up. But things like my slippers and nice shoes can go in the suitcase, as well as the fleecy leggings. I may pack a few pairs of regular leggings, but we'll see. Right now I'm focusing on the long sleeve shirts, fleece leggings and shoes as well as cosmetic stuff that will go into the carry on.
Oh, speaking of vacation! Last night, one of the packages that came in was my sister's Bento Bag. She really liked mine, so we ordred her one. Since I was placing the order because I had a 20% off coupon code, I saw that they had a bundle that included their fanny pack and got one of those, too.
I'm always worried when I order fanny packs, because I never know if the strap will be long enough to fit my fat ass. I opened with more than a bit of trepidation. I shouldn't have worried. The strap was fully extended, and it nearly fell to the ground when I put it on. I had to adjust the strap by about 16" for it to stay put. I loved it. I didn't feel fat for a few minutes. lol. It's also really pretty, a dark blue that will clash with the bento bag I got (which is pink).
I think we have all the stuff we need at this point. I've got my Doctor's appt on Monday, where she can order my Mounjaro, which will last for the trip. I've got one more vial of the lower dose, but I definitely want to try the higher. This just isn't doing enough.
Maybe tomorrow, I'll also cook another batch of food for Yoda. I think the next one is pork, so that'll be good. I can cut up the tenderloins I got yesterday, and maybe some oats and sweet potatoes. I found a dog-friendly pork broth that I can stew it all in. Maybe Sunday, I'll make him some goat and rice and veggies. I still have a few trays of ground goat that I can cook up to make him happy. I need to get another order of groceries from them, so that I can continue to make food for him. He won't need it at the kennel tomorrow, but next weekend when he has his long weekend stay, I'll need to provide him food.
I also have to find time to clean up in our room a bit. I have a large pile of clothes that I need to go through, so I will work on that some. The apartments want to come replace our balcony railing, sometime between today and May 19th. I'm hoping for somewhere around May 7-17th. That would be helpful. OF course, this is going to require cleaning up the living room, so that will be fun.
But for now, I need to do some studying. These articles aren't going to read themselves. Everyone have an excellent Friday!
Today I have a little planned. At work, I'll be doing my thing and then we'll have the manager bitchfest meeting and then the rest of the day. Afterwards, we need to take Yoda to the vet to get his flu and Cytopoint shots. Hopefully, he's feeling up to going to doggie day care tomorrow. If not, I'll move it to Tuesday. Then, tonight, we have Blades in the Dark, which should be a lot of fun. Still deciding if I want to get game snacks, since we won't have any other games that qualify.
Yesterday was also busy. I took a few calls, moved a few patients and then it was my time to watch the help queue and provide answers to questions. They were pretty easy, so it wasn't a bad time. Then after lunch I had the training for our new VOIP phone system. That is two hours that I won't get back. It was dull, self explanatory and could have been an email or a training. It was just brutal. My managers were also in the class, and they were back in the Rad Leaders chat just roasting the class. "Cringe" was the big accusation leveled against it. All in all, I'm glad it's over.
After work, I headed up to see my tattoo artist. She had a very cool drawing of what the tattoo would look like. I arrived at 4:45, did paperwork and Ronie got set up. I figure we started at about 5:15pm. I was done and in the car at 6:05. It was super fast. Then again, I tend to sit like a rock, so I'm an easy person to tatoo. She had set up her tablet with a picture of Boodle, that she superimposed her drawing on, so I have Boodles actual fur pattern on her chest. I absolutely love it. It's very her.
It still has the bandage on it, but I'll be taking that off tonight when I can submerge my arm in water. It usually hurts more than the tattoo did to peel off the second skin. Tomorrow, I'l have a clearer picture of it. Then it was home to eat and sniff the BPAL smellies that came in. I liked a lot of them, which was nice. Some I'm not sure about, but I'll give them second chances. I may try wearing some for Blades, though I have absolutely no idea what. I'd been wearing Scheherazade, because storyteller, but I feel like Blades needs something with an iron note. I'll save Scheherazade for the first Marchen game next Sunday.
Tomorrow, I have a pretty quiet day. I've got a game at 11am, Too Many Draculas. After that, I may drag Jess out for a late lunch for something tasty. 11am is too early for dumplings, so I will forgo our game snacks meal. I don't think next week, we have any games that we could do game snacks for, but we'll see. I might do them for Marchen and just take a little break early in the game when they arrive.
Sunday brings an early moring (9am) game. We might finish the Life's a Beach oneshot! (So far it's been almost 10 sessions. To be fair, it was supposed to be a quick combat, but we (okay, I) messed that up by blinding a dragon and bringing the big bad who we were supposed to end up chasing, down to the ground. DM's make the most chaotic energy as players. If there is away to completely upend your plan, it's going to be the player who DMs.
To be fair, for early games, I'm also fully on my ADHD meds, so all of my chaos is on purpose. I didn't zone and have to come up with something to do on the fly. That can lead to uncontrolled chaos.
Usually, I inflict that as DM on my nighttime games.
We're down to 27 days til cruise. I'm going to pull out my suitcase this weekend and start packing some things. Nothing that I'm still using, but I do want to see how much space everything will take up. But things like my slippers and nice shoes can go in the suitcase, as well as the fleecy leggings. I may pack a few pairs of regular leggings, but we'll see. Right now I'm focusing on the long sleeve shirts, fleece leggings and shoes as well as cosmetic stuff that will go into the carry on.
Oh, speaking of vacation! Last night, one of the packages that came in was my sister's Bento Bag. She really liked mine, so we ordred her one. Since I was placing the order because I had a 20% off coupon code, I saw that they had a bundle that included their fanny pack and got one of those, too.
I'm always worried when I order fanny packs, because I never know if the strap will be long enough to fit my fat ass. I opened with more than a bit of trepidation. I shouldn't have worried. The strap was fully extended, and it nearly fell to the ground when I put it on. I had to adjust the strap by about 16" for it to stay put. I loved it. I didn't feel fat for a few minutes. lol. It's also really pretty, a dark blue that will clash with the bento bag I got (which is pink).
I think we have all the stuff we need at this point. I've got my Doctor's appt on Monday, where she can order my Mounjaro, which will last for the trip. I've got one more vial of the lower dose, but I definitely want to try the higher. This just isn't doing enough.
Maybe tomorrow, I'll also cook another batch of food for Yoda. I think the next one is pork, so that'll be good. I can cut up the tenderloins I got yesterday, and maybe some oats and sweet potatoes. I found a dog-friendly pork broth that I can stew it all in. Maybe Sunday, I'll make him some goat and rice and veggies. I still have a few trays of ground goat that I can cook up to make him happy. I need to get another order of groceries from them, so that I can continue to make food for him. He won't need it at the kennel tomorrow, but next weekend when he has his long weekend stay, I'll need to provide him food.
I also have to find time to clean up in our room a bit. I have a large pile of clothes that I need to go through, so I will work on that some. The apartments want to come replace our balcony railing, sometime between today and May 19th. I'm hoping for somewhere around May 7-17th. That would be helpful. OF course, this is going to require cleaning up the living room, so that will be fun.
But for now, I need to do some studying. These articles aren't going to read themselves. Everyone have an excellent Friday!
Data pointing.
Apr. 9th, 2026 10:10 pmhannahI'd very much like to rant about an article I saw in The New York Times Magazine about people trying to get away from smartphones, except it'd boil down to my firm hypothesis they'd achieve the same result by taking the internet off the smart phone. If the apps don't work, you can't get a quick hit of anything. I still don't understand how that manages to be the default for pretty much everyone else and how other people's phones can't also be set to only get internet access when they're logged into a network. It's baffling.
I suppose to ask what goes into making this possible is to get the answer that it's built into the settings with few people bothering to change them, or even consider that as something which could be done - and that cellular data roaming functions aren't something people think to play around with, either.
Who benefits from this is very much the people pushing for the constant immediate gratification and ongoing distractions.
What's the desired outcome is the reliance on the smartphone as distraction device, giving attention and money, rather than a useful tool that can be modified as desired by the owners and end-users.
I suppose to ask what goes into making this possible is to get the answer that it's built into the settings with few people bothering to change them, or even consider that as something which could be done - and that cellular data roaming functions aren't something people think to play around with, either.
Who benefits from this is very much the people pushing for the constant immediate gratification and ongoing distractions.
What's the desired outcome is the reliance on the smartphone as distraction device, giving attention and money, rather than a useful tool that can be modified as desired by the owners and end-users.
The spirits, they intoxicate me. I watch them infiltrate my soul.
Apr. 9th, 2026 04:24 ambeansideIt's Thursday, one more day til the weekend after today.
Thanks to an amazing game, and then being all hyped up after game, I did not get enough sleep. I fell asleep watching youtube videos about the cruise, but that had to be around eleven thirty, maybe midnight. As a result, I got about 4.5 hours of sleep. I will manage, but I'm going to sleep hard tonight. Of course today would be the day I have a two meetings. One is my usual meeting with the Quality team, and one is my Talkdesk training.
Then, after that, I get to get my ass together and go out to see my tattoo artist. As far as I know, we're doing the tattoo tonight. I will post pictures tomorrow or Saturday when I take off the barrier film that protects it for the first day. Then, I will come home and fall over. It'll be great. I'll be hopped up on adrenaline and endorphins and will sack out. immediately.
Of course, between now and the tattoo artist, I need to figure out placement. Inner arm, other calf? Over my heart? I will think on it. I want it to be somewhere I can see it. I'll see what it looks like when I see the stencil and how big it needs to be. Honestly, as long as she can source or create the gold color of Boodle's fur, I'm happy.
School starts today. I've got the class syllabus open in another taba nd will go forth and check it out when I'm done here.
One thing I've been doing in the lead up to the trip is buying way too many books on my kindle. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books does a daily list of book deals, ad I've "this book is $1.99" my way through many purchases. I've downloaded a bunch to my Kindle, so I will have reading material for the flight and airport and cruise. Yesterday, there was one called Dreadful, by Kaitlyn Rozakis. It's honestly the first book other than the Scazi book I downloaded for the flight, that I've neen super excited about. It's going to be difficult to not read it before then. Or maybe I will read it as stress releif as we count down for the trip.
I'm excited as hell about the trip, don't get me wrong. But as it creeps closer, I'm also getting anxious. With a little luck, I'll relax after Saturday when Yoda goes to his first Kennel day. (please be good, you little shithead.) That's my only real worry about the trip. I need to know that he's taken care of.
As Jess said, I'm kind of grateful that Boodle won't have to experience of us suddenly leaving for 10 days and a stranger being here. We can practice with Yoda, but for her it would have been a total surprise. So, we're just stressing one animal out. Honestly, I feel guilty enough about that. He's going to spend 11 days with no one to sleep with. We have to drop him off the day before we leave, and then pick him up the day after we get home. He's going to be so happy to see everyone.
A good chunk of my packages are coming today. I believe I am done with what I need to buy. Everything that I've bought shall arrive over the next two weeks so that'll be good. I do think I want to hire a housesitter. Just someone to come in every other day and get mail and to make sure things are okay. I don't expect there to be a problem, but then I don't have to put the mail on hold or worry that random shit that my sister bought from TEMU will just show up and sit.
Yesterday was pretty busy too, though. In the morning, I sat with the trainees for two hours and took calls, modelling good behavior. Then, in the afternoon, I covered the teams questions. I'm going to need them to announce my position soon, because I'm getting pushback in chat, and I can't even yell "Respect my authority!" because I currently have none, unless you look at my signature or at my teams info. And since no one ever fucking does that, no one but my one friend knows.
I got the good word that my other friend, M, got the job with us. She'll be starting on 5/11 with our team. Which means that right before Black Friday, I'll be getting another $1000. M says that she doesn't want any of it, since without me, she wouldn't have gotten the job. I'll see if I can convince her to take some of it between now and then. They sent her the offer letter yesterday, and it's all signed and done. It'll be nice to have her. I have missed chatting with her while we work. I wish K had been willing to apply, but she thinks she's too old to start over. She's sending a few people my way, so there's the possibility of future bonuses too.
Tomorrow, I have nothing planned at work but the Leadership Bitchfest meeting. It's been that kind of week, so I'm sure the bitching will be strong. Plus, we cancelled last week on account of lack of attendance, Since out of our seven person team, there were four.
I figure all of our stuff should be here by next week. If there's something that crops up that we need, I'll get it local or via same or next day on Amazon.
I need to make Yoda more food today. I'll go ahead and get the pot cleaned out and start some chicken gizzards and livers on the stove, ad see what we can make up. I need to add a little more rice to this mix as his poops are back to being soft since I cut back. I may try it with rolled oats for this particular recipe. I feel like the oatmeal will pick up the flavor well.
He won't be happy that it's not goat, but he'll deal. Saturday, I'll makd some goat for him, too. And then we can switch off. Then, I'll make some more chicken, and then I'll get more meats from the Punjab Market. Maybe see if Aldi has some pork tenderloins. I know he'd like that.
He likes pork better than just about anythign, even goat. Maybe also ground pork. That would be good for him. Oooh, and I could aslo get a bone-in turkey breast. That would cook up well, and provide plenty of meat. I neeed to get more butternut squash, too. He really fucking loves the butternut squash. Add in that with a little bit of spinach or greenbeans and some rice or oats, and he's a happy boy.
I may be trying to cook every day or two over the next few weeks. That's the only way I'm going to have enough food for our vacation. I just need 22 of them, so he can have breakfast and dinner. I should be able to to work that, but it could be a lot of work.
Tomorrow night, we have Blades in the Dark, moving to a Thursday for the first time ever. I'm excited to play-it's been a while. Tomorrow, I have 1 game, and then one on Sunday as well. In between all that, I need to make food for dog, and do school work. This should be fun.
I have a follow up with my PCP on Monday to see how the Mounjaro is working. I think I need a higher dose, because it's not really bringing my sugar down. Not enough, anyway.
We'll see how that does. If not, there's Jardiance we can also try.
It's only 28 days til we leave. At this time in four weeks, I'll be sitting in the airport lounge relaxing while we wait for our flight. Jesus, that's so few days. Oh! I have a link for you. I'll repost it closer to go time, but the link to my photo album will be right here. I'm going to uplaod the pictures to that file pretty regularly, so you can see some of the gorgeous views.
Okay, time for me to get a studying. Everyone have a stellar Thursday!
Thanks to an amazing game, and then being all hyped up after game, I did not get enough sleep. I fell asleep watching youtube videos about the cruise, but that had to be around eleven thirty, maybe midnight. As a result, I got about 4.5 hours of sleep. I will manage, but I'm going to sleep hard tonight. Of course today would be the day I have a two meetings. One is my usual meeting with the Quality team, and one is my Talkdesk training.
Then, after that, I get to get my ass together and go out to see my tattoo artist. As far as I know, we're doing the tattoo tonight. I will post pictures tomorrow or Saturday when I take off the barrier film that protects it for the first day. Then, I will come home and fall over. It'll be great. I'll be hopped up on adrenaline and endorphins and will sack out. immediately.
Of course, between now and the tattoo artist, I need to figure out placement. Inner arm, other calf? Over my heart? I will think on it. I want it to be somewhere I can see it. I'll see what it looks like when I see the stencil and how big it needs to be. Honestly, as long as she can source or create the gold color of Boodle's fur, I'm happy.
School starts today. I've got the class syllabus open in another taba nd will go forth and check it out when I'm done here.
One thing I've been doing in the lead up to the trip is buying way too many books on my kindle. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books does a daily list of book deals, ad I've "this book is $1.99" my way through many purchases. I've downloaded a bunch to my Kindle, so I will have reading material for the flight and airport and cruise. Yesterday, there was one called Dreadful, by Kaitlyn Rozakis. It's honestly the first book other than the Scazi book I downloaded for the flight, that I've neen super excited about. It's going to be difficult to not read it before then. Or maybe I will read it as stress releif as we count down for the trip.
I'm excited as hell about the trip, don't get me wrong. But as it creeps closer, I'm also getting anxious. With a little luck, I'll relax after Saturday when Yoda goes to his first Kennel day. (please be good, you little shithead.) That's my only real worry about the trip. I need to know that he's taken care of.
As Jess said, I'm kind of grateful that Boodle won't have to experience of us suddenly leaving for 10 days and a stranger being here. We can practice with Yoda, but for her it would have been a total surprise. So, we're just stressing one animal out. Honestly, I feel guilty enough about that. He's going to spend 11 days with no one to sleep with. We have to drop him off the day before we leave, and then pick him up the day after we get home. He's going to be so happy to see everyone.
A good chunk of my packages are coming today. I believe I am done with what I need to buy. Everything that I've bought shall arrive over the next two weeks so that'll be good. I do think I want to hire a housesitter. Just someone to come in every other day and get mail and to make sure things are okay. I don't expect there to be a problem, but then I don't have to put the mail on hold or worry that random shit that my sister bought from TEMU will just show up and sit.
Yesterday was pretty busy too, though. In the morning, I sat with the trainees for two hours and took calls, modelling good behavior. Then, in the afternoon, I covered the teams questions. I'm going to need them to announce my position soon, because I'm getting pushback in chat, and I can't even yell "Respect my authority!" because I currently have none, unless you look at my signature or at my teams info. And since no one ever fucking does that, no one but my one friend knows.
I got the good word that my other friend, M, got the job with us. She'll be starting on 5/11 with our team. Which means that right before Black Friday, I'll be getting another $1000. M says that she doesn't want any of it, since without me, she wouldn't have gotten the job. I'll see if I can convince her to take some of it between now and then. They sent her the offer letter yesterday, and it's all signed and done. It'll be nice to have her. I have missed chatting with her while we work. I wish K had been willing to apply, but she thinks she's too old to start over. She's sending a few people my way, so there's the possibility of future bonuses too.
Tomorrow, I have nothing planned at work but the Leadership Bitchfest meeting. It's been that kind of week, so I'm sure the bitching will be strong. Plus, we cancelled last week on account of lack of attendance, Since out of our seven person team, there were four.
I figure all of our stuff should be here by next week. If there's something that crops up that we need, I'll get it local or via same or next day on Amazon.
I need to make Yoda more food today. I'll go ahead and get the pot cleaned out and start some chicken gizzards and livers on the stove, ad see what we can make up. I need to add a little more rice to this mix as his poops are back to being soft since I cut back. I may try it with rolled oats for this particular recipe. I feel like the oatmeal will pick up the flavor well.
He won't be happy that it's not goat, but he'll deal. Saturday, I'll makd some goat for him, too. And then we can switch off. Then, I'll make some more chicken, and then I'll get more meats from the Punjab Market. Maybe see if Aldi has some pork tenderloins. I know he'd like that.
He likes pork better than just about anythign, even goat. Maybe also ground pork. That would be good for him. Oooh, and I could aslo get a bone-in turkey breast. That would cook up well, and provide plenty of meat. I neeed to get more butternut squash, too. He really fucking loves the butternut squash. Add in that with a little bit of spinach or greenbeans and some rice or oats, and he's a happy boy.
I may be trying to cook every day or two over the next few weeks. That's the only way I'm going to have enough food for our vacation. I just need 22 of them, so he can have breakfast and dinner. I should be able to to work that, but it could be a lot of work.
Tomorrow night, we have Blades in the Dark, moving to a Thursday for the first time ever. I'm excited to play-it's been a while. Tomorrow, I have 1 game, and then one on Sunday as well. In between all that, I need to make food for dog, and do school work. This should be fun.
I have a follow up with my PCP on Monday to see how the Mounjaro is working. I think I need a higher dose, because it's not really bringing my sugar down. Not enough, anyway.
We'll see how that does. If not, there's Jardiance we can also try.
It's only 28 days til we leave. At this time in four weeks, I'll be sitting in the airport lounge relaxing while we wait for our flight. Jesus, that's so few days. Oh! I have a link for you. I'll repost it closer to go time, but the link to my photo album will be right here. I'm going to uplaod the pictures to that file pretty regularly, so you can see some of the gorgeous views.
Okay, time for me to get a studying. Everyone have a stellar Thursday!
Kiss the rules of empires past.
Apr. 8th, 2026 09:09 pmhannahI know you're supposed to meet works where they are, and there's some where I can't manage that. I had an appointment this morning and wanted something easy and light that wasn't all that many pages so it'd easily fit in the backpack. I'd picked up Red White and Royal Blue off a stoop some weeks ago, so I didn't even need to wait for a library hold - just grab it off a stack and stick it in there. It started out as little better than "just okay" but I still wanted to know firsthand what the fuss was about. The voices were flat, the drama felt cheap, and I kept going. Then it got to a moment where the main character thinks of his mother by her first name. Firmly in his point of view, suddenly shifting from "his mother" to her first name. We're given no indication his is the kind of family to do that. Any decent editor looking to maintain tone and voice should've picked it up and requested a change.
Threw me right out of the book twenty pages in. I didn't literally throw it because I was in a waiting room, but I certainly stuffed it into my backpack with enough force to count.
It didn't have be bad, either. While it suffers when put next to the other novel I'm reading, Clockers by Richard Price, pretty much everything suffers when put next to that one. But this could be better, and end up as good a possible version of this story as possible. Do more. Try harder. Deepen and broaden your goals. Be better.
I may keep reading out of spite. If this got onto a shelf, then clearly it's not because my own writing isn't good enough to do the same, it's a problem with me not pitching to more agents and the industry being less and less willing to gamble. I know I'm better than this. It's not a problem on my end, and if nothing else, this book is solid confirmation of that.
Threw me right out of the book twenty pages in. I didn't literally throw it because I was in a waiting room, but I certainly stuffed it into my backpack with enough force to count.
It didn't have be bad, either. While it suffers when put next to the other novel I'm reading, Clockers by Richard Price, pretty much everything suffers when put next to that one. But this could be better, and end up as good a possible version of this story as possible. Do more. Try harder. Deepen and broaden your goals. Be better.
I may keep reading out of spite. If this got onto a shelf, then clearly it's not because my own writing isn't good enough to do the same, it's a problem with me not pitching to more agents and the industry being less and less willing to gamble. I know I'm better than this. It's not a problem on my end, and if nothing else, this book is solid confirmation of that.
He is Nostro Dis Pater, Nostr' Alma Mater, and we are falling over the precipice
Apr. 8th, 2026 04:30 ambeansideIt's Wednesday and I am tired. I woke up at about 3am, so I'm a wee bit sleepy. But on the other hand, I had delicious Greek Koulaourakia cookies for with my coffee, so it's not all bad. With Greek Easter coming up on Sunday, the BIL's Mom made her annual cookie batch, and we always get a small baggie. It's much easier now to get a taste of them. Dad tended to eat them very quickly. We would usually remember to pull a couple out of the bag for us, but he would wolf down the rest.
Today will be a busy day. I will have work, then off to the pharmacy for my pils. I may do that at lunchtime, we shall see. I need to make Yoda more food if I can get the energy up. He's only got one more packet of it, so it's time to cook some more. I really don't mind cooking for him. He's a sweet bud, and I want him to be happy and healthy.
Then, tonight we have Brindlewood Bay. I'm looking forward to getting out of my own brain for a few hours. Though possibly, playing a character who has a Jenga pile of cat ashes is not as comforting as it should be?
Yesterday was quiet. I spent a lot of times taking calls, and a bit trying to fill in some open spots. Got a few people in, filled some cardiac spots, and generally just worked and tried not to think too much. Still welled up a few times, but thankfully did not cry on patients. I spent the day lowkey anxious about the potential for WWIII. Thankfully, it did not happen. After work, I fried up some scallops and baked some King Crab Legs. The Crab legs were okay. I don't think I'd buy them again. They don't hold a candle to the Dungeness crabs we get from Alaska.
The scallops however, were delicious, even receiving a "these are really good" from the BIL who was over visiting. Next time I know he'll be over, I'll go to Sam's Club and get some of their really good lobster tails. I'll show him what lobster is supposed to taste like. Although, he and my sister have gone to Maine, so mayhe not. I need to look in the freezer to see what meats we have that I could cook tonight. Maybe another pork tenderloin. If I go to the pharmacy, I'll cut it up and make Gochujang honey chicken. If not, Jess can bake it. Either way, it'll be tasty.
After we took the dog out, we retired to our room to relax, but we left the door open so the puppers could come in. Previously, due to Yoda's tendency to be an asshole and get poky with her, we had the door latched so Boodle could get out, but Yoda couldn't get in. He came in very tentatively, but within 10 minutes, he was snuggled up begween Jess and me, living his best life. It was very sweet, and I enjoyed having his warm little body pressed against my back. He's a good boy.
I also let the petsitter know that Boodle had passed, and that we woudn't need their services for the week we're away. I may still get someone to come in and check on the apartment and pick up packages and mail once a day. I think that might be a good thing. Maybe start the car one day so the battery will be happy. I could stop the mail, but I don't know if we'll have packages coming while we're away, so I want someone to take care of that.
Tomorrow, my classes start. Here goes nothing. At some point, I still need to upload my diploma. I don't have to do it this unit, since they're foundation courses and don't count towards the degree, but once I start the degree program, I need to have it in. I also have an appointment on Thursday evening so that I can get a tattoo of a cat's paw print. I'm having it filled with tortiseshell colors, Black gold and a little white. I think it's going on my forearm. That way Boodle will always be with me. She can come to Alaska and Hawaii with us. I like that idea.
I will doubtless cry when I see it, but that's okay. Honestly as often as I tear up, it's amazing that I'm not dehydrated. Loosing Boodle is harder than losing Dad, if I'm being honest. I think I've cried once for him, and so many times for her. A lot of that probably has to do with what an asshole Dad was during the last few years and how hard it was on us. When he went, we were somewhat relieved. With Boodle, I'm relieved that we caught the cancer before she was in pain, but we very much wanted to have her with us for another 15 years.
Tomorrow is also Package Day. I have so many things coming tomorrow, it's kind of absurd. I got some new makeup, my sister's bag, Jess' top from Torrid, Jess' sleep mask, some underwear two sets of bed sheets and an emergency antibiotic kit that will be going on vacation with me, just in case we need them. I think that's about everything. IT's coming via three separate delivery companies, so it'll at least be a staggered arrival.
I ordered Jess a pair of Woxer boxer briefs. We'll see how they like them. I have a pair coming as well, but not til next week. They never have the extra at people clothes in easy stock. I'll be chasing after them going "try them on!" as soon as they come, of course.
We have a lot of games scheduled this weekend. We'll see if any need to be rescheduled on account of classwork. I don't think they will as it's only 1 game per day, which is only 3 hours a day, but if I do, we'll figure it out.
My Marchen game starts in less than two weeks. It's not all written, but I've got enough to start with. We did the little role play introducing two of the characters to each other, since they're both in the same prison, and that was a delight. I'm really looking forward to the first session. It'll be a lot of talking, but I'll manage it. With Crooked Moon, I did individual introductions of each character as the Ghostlight Express train came to pick them up. I'm doing a similar thing wiht this game, zooming in on each character and seeing what they're doing when we meet them, letting them role play out their character introduction. I felt like it was more organic, and less like "Who are you playing today?" or "You start in a bustling tavern." Though to be fair, one of the intros does start in a tavern.
My very sweet players told me if I needed to move it back, I could. They know we're grieving Boodle, but I'd rather play, honestly. And being that it's homebrew, I get to create new worlds for them to inhabit, and that's my favorite.
Okay, I suppose I should hop off and take a nice hot shower. I don't want to be stinky for the tattoo tomorrow. Or maybe I'll take it tomorrow. I'll see how I feel. Either way, everyone have such a good Wednesday.
Today will be a busy day. I will have work, then off to the pharmacy for my pils. I may do that at lunchtime, we shall see. I need to make Yoda more food if I can get the energy up. He's only got one more packet of it, so it's time to cook some more. I really don't mind cooking for him. He's a sweet bud, and I want him to be happy and healthy.
Then, tonight we have Brindlewood Bay. I'm looking forward to getting out of my own brain for a few hours. Though possibly, playing a character who has a Jenga pile of cat ashes is not as comforting as it should be?
Yesterday was quiet. I spent a lot of times taking calls, and a bit trying to fill in some open spots. Got a few people in, filled some cardiac spots, and generally just worked and tried not to think too much. Still welled up a few times, but thankfully did not cry on patients. I spent the day lowkey anxious about the potential for WWIII. Thankfully, it did not happen. After work, I fried up some scallops and baked some King Crab Legs. The Crab legs were okay. I don't think I'd buy them again. They don't hold a candle to the Dungeness crabs we get from Alaska.
The scallops however, were delicious, even receiving a "these are really good" from the BIL who was over visiting. Next time I know he'll be over, I'll go to Sam's Club and get some of their really good lobster tails. I'll show him what lobster is supposed to taste like. Although, he and my sister have gone to Maine, so mayhe not. I need to look in the freezer to see what meats we have that I could cook tonight. Maybe another pork tenderloin. If I go to the pharmacy, I'll cut it up and make Gochujang honey chicken. If not, Jess can bake it. Either way, it'll be tasty.
After we took the dog out, we retired to our room to relax, but we left the door open so the puppers could come in. Previously, due to Yoda's tendency to be an asshole and get poky with her, we had the door latched so Boodle could get out, but Yoda couldn't get in. He came in very tentatively, but within 10 minutes, he was snuggled up begween Jess and me, living his best life. It was very sweet, and I enjoyed having his warm little body pressed against my back. He's a good boy.
I also let the petsitter know that Boodle had passed, and that we woudn't need their services for the week we're away. I may still get someone to come in and check on the apartment and pick up packages and mail once a day. I think that might be a good thing. Maybe start the car one day so the battery will be happy. I could stop the mail, but I don't know if we'll have packages coming while we're away, so I want someone to take care of that.
Tomorrow, my classes start. Here goes nothing. At some point, I still need to upload my diploma. I don't have to do it this unit, since they're foundation courses and don't count towards the degree, but once I start the degree program, I need to have it in. I also have an appointment on Thursday evening so that I can get a tattoo of a cat's paw print. I'm having it filled with tortiseshell colors, Black gold and a little white. I think it's going on my forearm. That way Boodle will always be with me. She can come to Alaska and Hawaii with us. I like that idea.
I will doubtless cry when I see it, but that's okay. Honestly as often as I tear up, it's amazing that I'm not dehydrated. Loosing Boodle is harder than losing Dad, if I'm being honest. I think I've cried once for him, and so many times for her. A lot of that probably has to do with what an asshole Dad was during the last few years and how hard it was on us. When he went, we were somewhat relieved. With Boodle, I'm relieved that we caught the cancer before she was in pain, but we very much wanted to have her with us for another 15 years.
Tomorrow is also Package Day. I have so many things coming tomorrow, it's kind of absurd. I got some new makeup, my sister's bag, Jess' top from Torrid, Jess' sleep mask, some underwear two sets of bed sheets and an emergency antibiotic kit that will be going on vacation with me, just in case we need them. I think that's about everything. IT's coming via three separate delivery companies, so it'll at least be a staggered arrival.
I ordered Jess a pair of Woxer boxer briefs. We'll see how they like them. I have a pair coming as well, but not til next week. They never have the extra at people clothes in easy stock. I'll be chasing after them going "try them on!" as soon as they come, of course.
We have a lot of games scheduled this weekend. We'll see if any need to be rescheduled on account of classwork. I don't think they will as it's only 1 game per day, which is only 3 hours a day, but if I do, we'll figure it out.
My Marchen game starts in less than two weeks. It's not all written, but I've got enough to start with. We did the little role play introducing two of the characters to each other, since they're both in the same prison, and that was a delight. I'm really looking forward to the first session. It'll be a lot of talking, but I'll manage it. With Crooked Moon, I did individual introductions of each character as the Ghostlight Express train came to pick them up. I'm doing a similar thing wiht this game, zooming in on each character and seeing what they're doing when we meet them, letting them role play out their character introduction. I felt like it was more organic, and less like "Who are you playing today?" or "You start in a bustling tavern." Though to be fair, one of the intros does start in a tavern.
My very sweet players told me if I needed to move it back, I could. They know we're grieving Boodle, but I'd rather play, honestly. And being that it's homebrew, I get to create new worlds for them to inhabit, and that's my favorite.
Okay, I suppose I should hop off and take a nice hot shower. I don't want to be stinky for the tattoo tomorrow. Or maybe I'll take it tomorrow. I'll see how I feel. Either way, everyone have such a good Wednesday.
An observation.
Apr. 7th, 2026 08:54 pmhannahAs I said I would, I'm now starting Rome. I figure it's two seasons, I can breeze through it easily enough before moving onto other TV shows or another few movies.
Two minutes in, and I'm starting to suspect I'm going to need a few breaks to come up for air on account of the sensation of getting present-day news through prescient art.
Two minutes in, and I'm starting to suspect I'm going to need a few breaks to come up for air on account of the sensation of getting present-day news through prescient art.
Would you let me touch your soul forever? Can you feel me longing for you forever, forever.
Apr. 7th, 2026 04:13 ambeansideWell, that wasn't at all how I was expecting my night to go. I think I had mentioned that Jess was taking Boodle to the vet yesterday, because she had lost a bit of weight and now seemed to have an upper respiratory infection. The appt was a 4, and I couldn't take off early from work, so they took an Uber, and I would come to them right after I got off at 4:30 and give them a ride home.
Reality, I wasn't particularly useful that last hour of work. Especially when I started getting texts about the doctor being concerned. The second I could, I lit our of here, getting to the vet just in time to hear the bad news. The short version, she was very sick and we made the decision to euthanize. It sucks. She was a special cat, and I'll miss her so much. Longer, more in depth version below the cut.
( Read more... )
At least this time, I don't feel like I waited to long like I did with Sam.
After that, we all kind of sat around staring at each other and crying.
Today, work will probably be busy. I'm going to have a hard time giving a shit about any of these people, but I will manage.
I cancelled all of the cat food subscriptions and will send some emails to see which shelter or food bank can use it. Also if they'll take the 30lb bag of litter we just got.
We'll probably get to pick her up on Monday of next week, so there will be more tears then. Jess and I are waiting for her clay pawprint so we can take a picture and send it to our tattoo artist. Jess sid last night that they lost the cat of their heart, and I have to agree.
With Yoda's asshole tendencies, we won't be able to get another cat for a while, so we're going to have to sit with our sadness until we add more sadness to it before we can get another baby.
In other news, our vacation is now 30 days away. I put in a few more orders for things I need before the cruise. Here's hoping some of them get here in time. One of them is a lightweight fleece lined rain jacket. I think it might be warm enough for Alaska. We'll see when it gets here. I have absolutely no regrets about anything that I bought for this trip.
Today I'll find out what the difference will be in my paycheck with the new job when the paystubs drop at about 4pm. The actual money will come tomorrow for CapOne and on Thursday for Chase. Despite that I'm still thinking about shifting the balance of my account to Chase. It's nice to have a brick and mortar to deposit checks. I need to add Jess onto the Chase accout. Should have done that on Saturday when we went to deposit the disbursement check from Dad's estate. Oh well, another Saturday. I'll see if it'll let me make an appointment.
I split up the disbursement into three accounts. CapOne got $5000 and Wells Fargo and Chase each got $10k. I figure that's a good mix, and gives me three cards for various charges. I know there will be a hold for the hotel, there will be a hold from the ship. I still have to pay for the car that's going to take us to the hotel, so I don't want anything to be tied up too much.
Okay, time to go forth and get myself dressed and together for work. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday.
Reality, I wasn't particularly useful that last hour of work. Especially when I started getting texts about the doctor being concerned. The second I could, I lit our of here, getting to the vet just in time to hear the bad news. The short version, she was very sick and we made the decision to euthanize. It sucks. She was a special cat, and I'll miss her so much. Longer, more in depth version below the cut.
( Read more... )
At least this time, I don't feel like I waited to long like I did with Sam.
After that, we all kind of sat around staring at each other and crying.
Today, work will probably be busy. I'm going to have a hard time giving a shit about any of these people, but I will manage.
I cancelled all of the cat food subscriptions and will send some emails to see which shelter or food bank can use it. Also if they'll take the 30lb bag of litter we just got.
We'll probably get to pick her up on Monday of next week, so there will be more tears then. Jess and I are waiting for her clay pawprint so we can take a picture and send it to our tattoo artist. Jess sid last night that they lost the cat of their heart, and I have to agree.
With Yoda's asshole tendencies, we won't be able to get another cat for a while, so we're going to have to sit with our sadness until we add more sadness to it before we can get another baby.
In other news, our vacation is now 30 days away. I put in a few more orders for things I need before the cruise. Here's hoping some of them get here in time. One of them is a lightweight fleece lined rain jacket. I think it might be warm enough for Alaska. We'll see when it gets here. I have absolutely no regrets about anything that I bought for this trip.
Today I'll find out what the difference will be in my paycheck with the new job when the paystubs drop at about 4pm. The actual money will come tomorrow for CapOne and on Thursday for Chase. Despite that I'm still thinking about shifting the balance of my account to Chase. It's nice to have a brick and mortar to deposit checks. I need to add Jess onto the Chase accout. Should have done that on Saturday when we went to deposit the disbursement check from Dad's estate. Oh well, another Saturday. I'll see if it'll let me make an appointment.
I split up the disbursement into three accounts. CapOne got $5000 and Wells Fargo and Chase each got $10k. I figure that's a good mix, and gives me three cards for various charges. I know there will be a hold for the hotel, there will be a hold from the ship. I still have to pay for the car that's going to take us to the hotel, so I don't want anything to be tied up too much.
Okay, time to go forth and get myself dressed and together for work. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday.
Monday night.
Apr. 6th, 2026 08:28 pmhannahStarting tomorrow, I'll have a full week and change where every day has some obligation or appointment, one Tuesday to another. Movie tickets, dentist visits, concerts, a whole bunch of stuff. Making a cake, too, though that's more within the bounds of my apartment and doesn't require me to show up anywhere besides the grocery store, and even then it's just to buy some fresh ingredients.
Is it strange I'm looking forward to it? There's parts that are going to be slightly inconvenient, and I'm looking forward to some things more than others, and overall I'm liking the idea of having places to go, things to do. Things to get done, really.
I started the at-home cataloging gig today. I didn't do much, just a few entries, because I wanted to touch base with the client as soon as was possible within the timeline of the project. I'm waiting on a response to let me know if it's what he wants, or what he wants changed. Certainly having other things to occupy my time is going to make waiting for an email or a phone call that much easier. There's only going to be so much Lunar live footage before they have to come back to Earth.
Is it strange I'm looking forward to it? There's parts that are going to be slightly inconvenient, and I'm looking forward to some things more than others, and overall I'm liking the idea of having places to go, things to do. Things to get done, really.
I started the at-home cataloging gig today. I didn't do much, just a few entries, because I wanted to touch base with the client as soon as was possible within the timeline of the project. I'm waiting on a response to let me know if it's what he wants, or what he wants changed. Certainly having other things to occupy my time is going to make waiting for an email or a phone call that much easier. There's only going to be so much Lunar live footage before they have to come back to Earth.
Truth is that it was always going to end, this symphony buzzing in my head
Apr. 6th, 2026 05:35 ambeansideIt feels like a good day for some Panic! at the Disco. How is everyone doing? I woke up from a sound sleep and I'm still not fully awake, but so far I feel okay. I've been so tired the last couple of weeks, and I'm wondering if it could be the statin med that the doctor put me on. I looked it up and apparently, it's a fairly common issue for women on this med. I see my doc for a virtual appointment next week, so I'm going to stay off them as they're not vital. And if there's a difference off them then I'll talk to her about a different pill, maybe.
This is week three of Mounjaro, It's helped the sugar some, but I think I need the higher dose.
Yesterday was a quiet day. We did nothing. I ordred pastries for breakfast from Roggenart Bakery and some pastries. The quiche was very good, but I skipped the pastry. I may have a bit of the strawberry custard croissant today, but we shall see.
After that, we sat and watched a few videos. My stomach was a bit iffy yesterday, so I just stayed close to the bathroom. In the afternoon, Jess went to lay down with a headache, so chilled and surfed the internet and ate the leftover Peking Duck. It was excellent. I pulled some of the fleece legging and long sleeved shirts out of the closet and folded and rolled them for placement in the suitcase in the near future. Then I napped next to Jess for a couple of hours.
Then, I got up and watched a few more videos until dinner arrived. We got the HUNTR/X meal from McDonalds. The sweet thai chili sauce that came with the nuggets was pretty good, and not horribly spicy. The Rameyon fries were okay, but need a light had with the seasoning.
Afterwards, I got super nauseous. I tried to lay down, but it wasn't any better like that. We watched another couple of videos until it was time to sleep. I'm glad that today I have my customary two hours of peace and quiet. Getting up at the same time as my sister threw me off for the whole day. I just couldn't quite get into sink. I really rely on these two hours to center myself and for my ADHD med to kick in and make me presentable.
I'm debating switching some of my money over to Chase bank. They were super nice and pleasant when I dropped off the check, and I rather liked them. I may move my paycheck over there and put a small amount a pay into Cap One. Just enough to pay my CapOne credit cards.
Oh, I did, at Credit Karma's suggestion, get two new credit cards. They're both small amouts, but It's something. So now I have two credit cards from CapOne, and one from Full Beauty. I was ordering a couple cute tops, and there was a pop up for 30% off my order if I applied, and shock, I got it.
Today, I will probably mostly be on the phones. The kids are out of school this week, so the calls will be lighter on adults, but heavier on people who are hoping we can get their kids in while they're out of school. Next Monday will be bugfuck.
I have a less than quiet week, as on Thursday, I'll be taking on the trainees, and having them sit wiht me, while I take calls and talk about them in between. It should be interesting. Then on Friday, I have training for the new VOIP phone system we're getting. Plus of course the weekly bitchfest managers meeting. We cancelled on Friday because half the team was out.
I do know at the next one, I'm going to bring up the idea of getting CT orders before we schedule. We've had a rash of problems with orders being wrong, sometimes very very wrong. We'd talked about it before, but I think we might need to implement it. It'll slow things down, but it would be less errors. Technically the people who scan the docs in are supposed to verify them, but they're not doing a great job of it. And then patients get scheduled at the wrong time and it's just a mess.
Tomorrow, it will be 30 days to the trip. It's amazing and terrifying and I can't wait. There's still 31 days, but the weather in Alaska has been very cold and somewhat snowy the last few weeks. There was a great photo from the Juneau chamber of commerce showing the snow on the ground, saying "only 26 days til cruise season starts!" I'm waiting til a little bit closer to figure out what coat I'm taking. We'll see if they get into fleece weather, or if they're still in heavy clothes weather. I have a coat coming that has a removable fleece lining. I'm thinking that might be good. I had. a rain coat, but it had no lining, and my arms got sweaty, even if I was freezing. It was weird. Hopefully, it gets here in time. Full Beauty can be a bit slow.
I need to make Yoda more food today. Chicken this time. He'll be less than enthused, but he needs variety. My pocket book needs cheaper meat now and then. It's $3.99/lb vs $7.99 for the goat and more for hte lamb. His calcium powder has arrived, so now I will be adding that, and the salmon oil to the mix. Then, he should have all the nutrients he needs to be happy and heathy. I'll try to make some goat tomorrow. I want to use up the butternut squash before it goes bad, since he really likes that. I may add some peas and carrots or just some green beans to it as well. Then, I'll sit there with my vacuum sealer and food scale portioning out his food for freezing. I'm trying to get a bit ahead so I have a week or so without making his food. I should have done it during the weekend, but see again, overly tired an unmotivated.
I have to decide wether I want to try to make two chicken meals today. I could easily make the broth for the main meal, then use it to boil some livers and gizzards to make a third type of meal. We'll see how it goes and what kind of energy I can work up. If I do that, he's getting mostly chicken this week, and we'll stockpile the goat to tempt him while we're on vacation.
The cat goes to the vet today, and I am anxious. I can't get off to take her, so Jess will be taking her via uber. I'll pick up afterwards, since I get off at 4:30. I love the little terrorist so much, and I just want her to be okay.
Yoda goes to the vet on Thursday for his flu and Cytopoint injections, so he may feel a little punky on Friday. Hopefully, he perks up by Saturday when he has his daycare try out. We went for the "play your way" package, where he'll have 1 on 1 playtime. I hope it works. God, I want it to work. We have two more options if this fails, but this is definitely the first choice. Well, second. The first would have been someone staying here, which the little asshole torpedoed.
He's not a bad dog, just wildly unsocialized, and spoiled. He likes to get his own way. And this will not be his own way. If that doesn't work, then he'll be going to the kennel attached to a vet. If that isn't a good fit then the rescue. And if not, then the vet. We'll see which one works for him. I feel bad to leave the animals. But we deserve this vacation, amd others as well. So he's going to have to expand his horizons.
I can't believe that in 31 days at this time, we'll be at the airport, probably sitting in the lounge drinking a coffee, and relaxing before our flight. Soon. I can't wait to see Seattle and Vancouver, and Alaska.
Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have the very best Monday!
This is week three of Mounjaro, It's helped the sugar some, but I think I need the higher dose.
Yesterday was a quiet day. We did nothing. I ordred pastries for breakfast from Roggenart Bakery and some pastries. The quiche was very good, but I skipped the pastry. I may have a bit of the strawberry custard croissant today, but we shall see.
After that, we sat and watched a few videos. My stomach was a bit iffy yesterday, so I just stayed close to the bathroom. In the afternoon, Jess went to lay down with a headache, so chilled and surfed the internet and ate the leftover Peking Duck. It was excellent. I pulled some of the fleece legging and long sleeved shirts out of the closet and folded and rolled them for placement in the suitcase in the near future. Then I napped next to Jess for a couple of hours.
Then, I got up and watched a few more videos until dinner arrived. We got the HUNTR/X meal from McDonalds. The sweet thai chili sauce that came with the nuggets was pretty good, and not horribly spicy. The Rameyon fries were okay, but need a light had with the seasoning.
Afterwards, I got super nauseous. I tried to lay down, but it wasn't any better like that. We watched another couple of videos until it was time to sleep. I'm glad that today I have my customary two hours of peace and quiet. Getting up at the same time as my sister threw me off for the whole day. I just couldn't quite get into sink. I really rely on these two hours to center myself and for my ADHD med to kick in and make me presentable.
I'm debating switching some of my money over to Chase bank. They were super nice and pleasant when I dropped off the check, and I rather liked them. I may move my paycheck over there and put a small amount a pay into Cap One. Just enough to pay my CapOne credit cards.
Oh, I did, at Credit Karma's suggestion, get two new credit cards. They're both small amouts, but It's something. So now I have two credit cards from CapOne, and one from Full Beauty. I was ordering a couple cute tops, and there was a pop up for 30% off my order if I applied, and shock, I got it.
Today, I will probably mostly be on the phones. The kids are out of school this week, so the calls will be lighter on adults, but heavier on people who are hoping we can get their kids in while they're out of school. Next Monday will be bugfuck.
I have a less than quiet week, as on Thursday, I'll be taking on the trainees, and having them sit wiht me, while I take calls and talk about them in between. It should be interesting. Then on Friday, I have training for the new VOIP phone system we're getting. Plus of course the weekly bitchfest managers meeting. We cancelled on Friday because half the team was out.
I do know at the next one, I'm going to bring up the idea of getting CT orders before we schedule. We've had a rash of problems with orders being wrong, sometimes very very wrong. We'd talked about it before, but I think we might need to implement it. It'll slow things down, but it would be less errors. Technically the people who scan the docs in are supposed to verify them, but they're not doing a great job of it. And then patients get scheduled at the wrong time and it's just a mess.
Tomorrow, it will be 30 days to the trip. It's amazing and terrifying and I can't wait. There's still 31 days, but the weather in Alaska has been very cold and somewhat snowy the last few weeks. There was a great photo from the Juneau chamber of commerce showing the snow on the ground, saying "only 26 days til cruise season starts!" I'm waiting til a little bit closer to figure out what coat I'm taking. We'll see if they get into fleece weather, or if they're still in heavy clothes weather. I have a coat coming that has a removable fleece lining. I'm thinking that might be good. I had. a rain coat, but it had no lining, and my arms got sweaty, even if I was freezing. It was weird. Hopefully, it gets here in time. Full Beauty can be a bit slow.
I need to make Yoda more food today. Chicken this time. He'll be less than enthused, but he needs variety. My pocket book needs cheaper meat now and then. It's $3.99/lb vs $7.99 for the goat and more for hte lamb. His calcium powder has arrived, so now I will be adding that, and the salmon oil to the mix. Then, he should have all the nutrients he needs to be happy and heathy. I'll try to make some goat tomorrow. I want to use up the butternut squash before it goes bad, since he really likes that. I may add some peas and carrots or just some green beans to it as well. Then, I'll sit there with my vacuum sealer and food scale portioning out his food for freezing. I'm trying to get a bit ahead so I have a week or so without making his food. I should have done it during the weekend, but see again, overly tired an unmotivated.
I have to decide wether I want to try to make two chicken meals today. I could easily make the broth for the main meal, then use it to boil some livers and gizzards to make a third type of meal. We'll see how it goes and what kind of energy I can work up. If I do that, he's getting mostly chicken this week, and we'll stockpile the goat to tempt him while we're on vacation.
The cat goes to the vet today, and I am anxious. I can't get off to take her, so Jess will be taking her via uber. I'll pick up afterwards, since I get off at 4:30. I love the little terrorist so much, and I just want her to be okay.
Yoda goes to the vet on Thursday for his flu and Cytopoint injections, so he may feel a little punky on Friday. Hopefully, he perks up by Saturday when he has his daycare try out. We went for the "play your way" package, where he'll have 1 on 1 playtime. I hope it works. God, I want it to work. We have two more options if this fails, but this is definitely the first choice. Well, second. The first would have been someone staying here, which the little asshole torpedoed.
He's not a bad dog, just wildly unsocialized, and spoiled. He likes to get his own way. And this will not be his own way. If that doesn't work, then he'll be going to the kennel attached to a vet. If that isn't a good fit then the rescue. And if not, then the vet. We'll see which one works for him. I feel bad to leave the animals. But we deserve this vacation, amd others as well. So he's going to have to expand his horizons.
I can't believe that in 31 days at this time, we'll be at the airport, probably sitting in the lounge drinking a coffee, and relaxing before our flight. Soon. I can't wait to see Seattle and Vancouver, and Alaska.
Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have the very best Monday!
Laundry antics.
Apr. 5th, 2026 10:24 pmhannahEvery three months, I swap my sheet set. Living alone and showering daily means I don't need to change my sheets more than once every two weeks, and they get swapped out for the next set every three months. Four in total. It's not quite one-to-one with the seasons, but the sentiment's close enough.
In doing the laundry, I found out two of the machines were broken. Someone else was trying to use them, and without either of us knowing what was happening - the spin cycle's not working for the moment - I suggested she try seeing if it'd work to press the main "on" button again. It ran through another cycle without paying, stopping at the point it'd otherwise spin. I'd suspected as much, so I came prepared. I went to the laundry room with an extra roll of quarters because I know how much of a pain in the ass sopping laundry is, and any feelings of having even accidentally contributed to that to someone were ones I wanted to banish through direct action. Which was why I had the extra roll: I gave them to the person who'd been unfortunate enough to use the machine a second time, on my suggestion. She was agog, astonished, and after loading up a working machine, offered to give me back the $3.25 she hadn't used.
"Buy yourself a cup of coffee," I said.
In doing the laundry, I found out two of the machines were broken. Someone else was trying to use them, and without either of us knowing what was happening - the spin cycle's not working for the moment - I suggested she try seeing if it'd work to press the main "on" button again. It ran through another cycle without paying, stopping at the point it'd otherwise spin. I'd suspected as much, so I came prepared. I went to the laundry room with an extra roll of quarters because I know how much of a pain in the ass sopping laundry is, and any feelings of having even accidentally contributed to that to someone were ones I wanted to banish through direct action. Which was why I had the extra roll: I gave them to the person who'd been unfortunate enough to use the machine a second time, on my suggestion. She was agog, astonished, and after loading up a working machine, offered to give me back the $3.25 she hadn't used.
"Buy yourself a cup of coffee," I said.
