[Harriet]

Oooh, a raise! I hope he gets it.

[MaeradCase]

17 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I was an obsessive bird this morning and stepped on the scale. I will forever think of myself as a bird when I weigh in now thanks to SarahKingdom’s example from a while ago. It really helps me not take the numbers so seriously and to stay cognizant of the compulsive aspect of the behaviour.

That's a lovely perspective :3

 

17 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I ordered myself a kit to make a deerskin hand drum yesterday. I am hoping it will get here before Equinox as it would make me really happy to be able to make or play my own drum for Waking the Bear. I could have bought a synthetic one for cheaper, but it didn’t feel like the right option, so I looked around online and found a  First Nation’s webstore that specializes in drums, drum kits, pow wow regalia, furs, smudge kits, and other things. I feel like finding them is very good for me as I haven’t known where to source what I have wanted in a way that makes sure the materials gathered are harvested respectfully or sustainably. I would much rather my money be going to First Nation’s individuals for these things if it can. Hopefully making the drum is as straightforward as it looks in their YouTube videos; they certainly pride themselves on it being something a beginner can do in their materials. 

Ooh! I love crafting stuff! Hope it's as easy as they make it sound! Also good job finding a reliable source!

 

17 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I am also buying two sets of dice via private sale. They are both out of print and therefore hard to find. The seller is raising money to pay a copay (? This is an American Healthcare thing and I don’t quite know what it means). I feel bad that she is needing to sell off some of her dice to make things work for her financially and I am glad that I can help a little and get some lovely sets at the same time.

It's a good feeling both for helping and for getting dice. I've noticed Critters selling older merch, for similar reasons.

 

17 hours ago, Sovalis said:

And then my Tarot this morning told me to stop spending money and it made me laugh.

🤣🤣🤣 I love and hate when the cards call me out. "How did you know?!"

 

17 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I don’t feel quite myself yet, but I am ~85% and steadily better as time goes on. I’m grateful that things seem to be coming around and that I didn’t need to adjust my meds. 

 

Thanks for being here. I am grateful for you. ❤️ 

Glad you're getting back to where you want to be. Have a beautiful day! ❤

[Sovalis]

5 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

That's a lovely perspective :3

 

Ooh! I love crafting stuff! Hope it's as easy as they make it sound! Also good job finding a reliable source!

 

It's a good feeling both for helping and for getting dice. I've noticed Critters selling older merch, for similar reasons.

 

🤣🤣🤣 I love and hate when the cards call me out. "How did you know?!"

 

Glad you're getting back to where you want to be. Have a beautiful day! ❤

Thanks, Maerad. ❤️ 

 

Hi Friends!

 

I had a “perfect” day yesterday, meaning I was able to check off all of my to-do’s for the day in my tracker. I haven’t had a solid day like that in a week, so that feels really good. I am going to try for another one today although I am skeptical about my walk because it is game day and I am usually very busy with prep right up to when we start. I am really not sure what we are doing tonight yet so once I am done here I will be trying to figure it out. I am down two players for tonight, so that will make things interesting. They are supposed to be starting to sail tonight, so I need to work out or find some mechanics for distance travelled per day and such. And then come up with some random encounter tables. I’ve been Worldbuilding Orc culture this week, so while I have been busy doing game related stuff, I am not any closer to actually being able to run my game tonight.  

 

I was up earlier this morning but didn’t get out of bed right away. Once I did, Dave called and I got to hang out with him for a little while. It was good. The rest of the Canadians arrive tomorrow and then the ex picks up into full swing from there. It looks like he might be able to come home two days earlier than expected which is good news. I hope that doesn’t get walked back. I had my coffee and ate breakfast then decided to do my Tarot instead of have my walk. I am not completely certain that was the best choice for the structure of my day, but card laid, card played now. I don’t want to be getting up earlier and not walking, so need to be a bit more firm with myself about time structure in the mornings. It was just weird timing after I got off the call with Dave. But weird doesn’t mean I couldn’t have done anything. I don’t really want to be making excuses. I feel like there has been a lot of letting myself off the hook lately. And that is okay, but not what I want to be normal.

 

Had to pay for some boxes to get shipped to the Kelowna store to the tune of $485 today, so really hoping that Ken keeps his word about paying me back for that. I feel really awkward about it. I think in the future I might decline something like that. It feels like a big ask for the sake of some convenience. We could have sent it with our regular courier, it just would have taken more work on Ken’s part and more time to get it organized. But I wouldn’t be out almost $500 if something doesn‘t go right… The boxes were full of a promotional display stand, so nothing that couldn’t have waited. I don’t know, Friends. It just feels weird now that I am not laser focused on solving the problem. 

 

That is about it for now! I am going to eat some lunch and think about hi-jinx. I hope you are all having enjoyable Fridays! ❤️ Thanks for being here!

 

 

[Sovalis]

Sal, Sax is doing okay. Not pooping in the house the last few days, so hopefully we are done with that? But otherwise being his lovable, doofus self. 

 

Sax for tax!

 

He wanted belly rubs that morning. 

 

He's been cuddling my feet a lot lately. 

 

Lifeguard on duty!

 

[MaeradCase]

29 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

I had a “perfect” day yesterday, meaning I was able to check off all of my to-do’s for the day in my tracker.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Good job!

 

29 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

I’ve been Worldbuilding Orc culture this week, so while I have been busy doing game related stuff, I am not any closer to actually being able to run my game tonight.  

😅 relatable to both DMs and authors

 

29 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

I am not completely certain that was the best choice for the structure of my day, but card laid, card played now. I don’t want to be getting up earlier and not walking, so need to be a bit more firm with myself about time structure in the mornings.

I think you'll find a way to structure it in a way pleasing to you. Glad you were able to get everything else in this morning, even if the walk wasn't there. (Would walking while on calls with Dave be distracting? Or would that be stackable?)

 

29 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

Had to pay for some boxes to get shipped to the Kelowna store to the tune of $485 today, so really hoping that Ken keeps his word about paying me back for that. I feel really awkward about it. I think in the future I might decline something like that. It feels like a big ask for the sake of some convenience. We could have sent it with our regular courier, it just would have taken more work on Ken’s part and more time to get it organized. But I wouldn’t be out almost $500 if something doesn‘t go right… The boxes were full of a promotional display stand, so nothing that couldn’t have waited. I don’t know, Friends. It just feels weird now that I am not laser focused on solving the problem. 

😰😰😰😰😰 I do not like that. Not at all. Please let us know when he pays that back to you.

 

29 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

That is about it for now! I am going to eat some lunch and think about hi-jinx. I hope you are all having enjoyable Fridays! ❤️ Thanks for being here!

Hope the game goes great! ❤

[Everstorm]

Your boss even asking you to pay that from your own money is just not okay.  ☹️☹️☹️. I really hope he pays you back and that you are able to make that a firm boundary in the future.

[Kishi]

3 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Had to pay for some boxes to get shipped to the Kelowna store to the tune of $485 today, so really hoping that Ken keeps his word about paying me back for that. I feel really awkward about it. I think in the future I might decline something like that. It feels like a big ask for the sake of some convenience. We could have sent it with our regular courier, it just would have taken more work on Ken’s part and more time to get it organized. But I wouldn’t be out almost $500 if something doesn‘t go right… The boxes were full of a promotional display stand, so nothing that couldn’t have waited. I don’t know, Friends. It just feels weird now that I am not laser focused on solving the problem. 

 

 

Yeah, that's Not Okay. Almost reads like he's treating you less as an employee whose labor he needs and more as a repository for capital that he can draw on. You hold him to it, and in the meantime I'd advise looking into what kinds of consequences you can force on him in case he tries to weasel out.

[Sovalis]

Hi Friends!

 

It’s Saturday, so I got an extra hour at home this morning before starting my shift. And I took it *so* easy. It was nice. Two cups of coffee, Tarot, scrolling, a half hour walk (2.9) while watching Critical Role, breakfast… it was great. Then I played with Sax and came to work early anticipating needing to shovel the three inches of snow we got last night. Except when I got here, the front was already cleared! I have no idea who did it, but I am just thrilled. What a wonderful surprise to start my workday with. So I got coffee from Jack’s and came and got organized in the shop with a little time to spare. I expect things will be quiet downtown with the snow, but it is quite warm out (-7C) so we might get people out for walks. We will see. 

 

Ken is ignoring my texts about the money. He is responding to other questions, but not those ones. So I am feeling even more concerned now. Just when I start thinking maybe I am over reacting to his behaviour he does something like this that makes me remember that he’s really not good at managing a business. I am still looking for other work but not having any luck with it. I had a dream last night that I found employment with a family of Minotaurs who were running a printing press, but somehow I think that is unlikely to manifest. 

 

Game last night was adequate but not the best and it reinforces my desire to really dig into my game prep. Seb is exploring Roxanne the Barbarian’s interest in the godling Zerellion, so that is very, very interesting. I was down two players last night so things were a little weird, but it wasn’t too bad. I will be down one player next week but hopefully not more than that. 

 

I am not quite sure what to do with myself today. Probably game prep? I left my Switch at home. I might play it tonight to chill out and start my weekend. Or I might watch more Critical Role; I saw a spoiler this morning that makes me want to get caught up and see what happened. I should also figure out some groceries for next week and grab those after work. 

 

I hope you are having enjoyable weekends and that someone does you a random act of kindness today! Thanks for being here! ❤️ 

[Gemma]

1 hour ago, Sovalis said:

I had a dream last night that I found employment with a family of Minotaurs who were running a printing press, but somehow I think that is unlikely to manifest. 

 

I bet they would be great businesscreatures, though - firm but fair, no nonsense types. They certainly would need to hire someone who has more going on in the fine motor skill line for some things. #heyitcouldhappen 

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Ken is ignoring my texts about the money. He is responding to other questions, but not those ones. So I am feeling even more concerned now. Just when I start thinking maybe I am over reacting to his behaviour he does something like this that makes me remember that he’s really not good at managing a business. I am still looking for other work but not having any luck with it.

 

At the very least, don't spend your own money on anything for the shop again.

[Harriet]

I agree with everyone else on Ken and the boxes.

 

I hope you enjoyed the game prep though.

[Salinger]

Hey Sov, Ken is a dick. Sorry. Bit he really is taking massive advantage of the fact you are a kind person. 

 

Id like to have a word with him 😠

 

Hope you are ok and enjoying your Sunday xx

[TimovieMan]

[Sovalis]

Hi Friends!

 

Thanks for validating my feelings about this box situation. I appreciate it. Still no word on that. 

 

I spent Saturday night Worldbuilding a new place, a village called Seabrook, that has an artifact called The Pillar of Mouths which is the result of a duel between a Druid and a Necromancer that happened fourteen years ago. I was using the Story Engine Worldbuilding Deck as a prompt and was really happy with where it took me. Then on Saturday I ran a ~7 hour solo game for my friend Martin where he explored Seabrook and uncovered the mystery about the duel and then thwarted the Necromancer’s attempt to steal the town’s children. We had a lot of fun together and I felt very replenished by getting to be creative with that length of time and tailoring a story to someone’s specifics. I really love DMing solos and duets because you can make things so specific, especially if you have players that are creative and/or really emotionally invested. Martin has said that he is interested in playing again, so we will see where that goes in the future. Then I ordered a small pizza and jalapeño poppers and watched Critical Role. The poppers were terrible and I won’t order them again. The pizza was good and I enjoyed it. I had three pieces and put the rest away for lunch today. I ended up staying up until 1 am which is *super* late for me. But then I slept quite well and really didn’t feel like getting up in the morning.

 

I woke up around 8, which is my normal time, but with the time change it was 9 and I started off on a weird foot. I had coffee and decided to watch more Critical Role - and did nothing else until it was time to clean up to go to work. No walk, no breakfast, no Tarot, no brushing of teeth. Just coffee and then pizza for lunch. Not my best day. *But* my intense slothfulness achieved a profound feeling of having had time off, which I really haven’t felt like I’ve had a lot of lately. My job is not hard by any means, but sometimes the six days thing gets a little old. 

 

I am at work now and we have a full house. I have been checking in on people in the forums and feel caught up. I have done my Tarot for the day and updated my Bujo. I will probably do more Worldbuilding tonight because I was having a good time with it. The Engine is a lot of fun to play with. My card today was The Sun reversed, which indicates inner child work and play and that feels good and right for today. I was basically watching cartoons all day.  

 

Also! My rocks that I ordered from the online sale came in today and they are very beautiful. I’ll try to get some good sunlight photos to share. 

 

I hope that your Mondays were gentle and that you aren’t too messed up by the time change if it’s in effect for your area. 

Thanks for being here. ❤️ 

 

 

 

[Silmarilliane]

On 3/11/2023 at 7:48 PM, Sovalis said:

He is responding to other questions, but not those ones.

 

I HATE when people do this - like I'd much prefer an 'I don't know, I'll let you know next week/whenever' rather than outright ignoring/avoiding.  Here's hoping it gets resolved and you get your money back soon. And also find a good new job to move to...

 

Looking forward to new rock pics  

[Sovalis]

3 hours ago, Silmarilliane said:

 

I HATE when people do this - like I'd much prefer an 'I don't know, I'll let you know next week/whenever' rather than outright ignoring/avoiding.  Here's hoping it gets resolved and you get your money back soon. And also find a good new job to move to...

 

Looking forward to new rock pics  

Yeah, the straight out ignoring really bothers me. Have some transparency about things. 

 

Hi Friends!

 

Last night was good and this morning was restful. I was awake at 8, which would have been 7 except for the time change. I feel thwarted. I should probably be setting an alarm again, but I find I don’t sleep as well with an alarm going, I keep thinking I am going to miss it and it wakes me up frequently in the night to check. I’ll figure something out. I spent a quiet morning at home reading the forums and having coffee, then got ready for work, played with Sax, and headed in. I finally packaged up the cards to ship down to Kelowna (that took much longer than it should have) and washed the floors in the shop, which have needed it for over a week. I feel good getting those things done and am pondering why they took so long to do when they didn’t take much effort in the end. Isn’t that just the way of it sometimes?

 

I had fruit, yogurt, and seeds for breakfast and have my soup, snap peas, cheese, and almonds for lunch. Not sure what I am going to do for supper tonight. I have some things in the freezer, but other than fish, nothing specifically low carb. I think I might need to make spaghetti sauce or a stew or something batch cook-y so I don’t have to think hard about suppers for the next while. I have an extra portion of last week’s soup if I really don’t want to make supper, but that will mean needing to figure out lunch for tomorrow. I have everything I need to make soup for lunches for the rest of the week and I really should get that done tonight so I am not putting myself in a bind tomorrow with needing to make soup *and* hosting Paint Night. 

 

I did not walk yesterday and couldn’t bring myself to get on the treadmill this morning. So that will be a tonight thing, too. 

 

Some pics of rocks as promised. I apologize for the light, there’s no sun, so shop light is what I have got:

 

 

 

 

I am going to work on Worldbuilding at work today. It is warm enough out, but snowy, so I don’t think we are going to be too busy today. 

 

I hope that you get a day of ease and have an answer for the “what’s for supper” question. Thanks for being here. ❤️ 

[Mistr]

I am glad to hear you are getting past a tough spell. I hope things continue to get better.

 

Your rocks are lovely. 🤩

 

I agree with everyone else, your boss should not be asking you to put any work expenses on your personal account. That is highly unprofessional. 

 

The track record he is building of not paying you on time and not reimbursing you promptly indicate that he is having solvency problems or is irresponsible. Either way, you should make a backup plan for not getting paid. And a primary plan to find another position. I know that positions in your town are few and far between, so look for fully remote jobs. There are a lot more of them now.

 

You might even be able to pick up a part-time job that you could work on while things are slow at your current position. It would cut into your gaming prep time, but would give you more income as a buffer.

[Sovalis]

1 minute ago, Mistr said:

I am glad to hear you are getting past a tough spell. I hope things continue to get better.

 

Your rocks are lovely. 🤩

 

I agree with everyone else, your boss should not be asking you to put any work expenses on your personal account. That is highly unprofessional. 

 

The track record he is building of not paying you on time and not reimbursing you promptly indicate that he is having solvency problems or is irresponsible. Either way, you should make a backup plan for not getting paid. And a primary plan to find another position. I know that positions in your town are few and far between, so look for fully remote jobs. There are a lot more of them now.

 

You might even be able to pick up a part-time job that you could work on while things are slow at your current position. It would cut into your gaming prep time, but would give you more income as a buffer.

Thanks, Mistr. I’ve decided that I am not going to do my bank deposits for a while and let the cash build up in the till. If he hasn’t paid me for the parcels by the time the till is $485 over float, I am going to draw that cash out as a TOS expense and leave the receipt for the parcels in the TOS section of the till. This is something I already do with smaller shop costs (de-icer salt, pop, postage) but I have never drawn for something so large. I will inform him that that is my plan before I do it so that he isn’t surprised. I think it will cause a commotion, but I am not sure what else I can do that will actually get the money back to me if he isn’t going to handle that himself. It just might take a while to build up that kind of cash as we don’t get a lot of paper business (Canada uses debit and credit extensively and that’s been even more pronounced since Covid). The other option I thought of was telling him that I would take additional days off in lieu of repayment, but that feels very wrong to me, like I am paying him for time off. I messaged him this morning to follow up on the money and my request for a four day weekend when Dave gets home in April, and so far he hasn’t responded. I said in the text that I am uncomfortable with the way that he is avoiding the issue, so I am being clear about this. 

 

I have been looking for in person work, but you are right, I haven’t really invested time in looking for remote work. That is something I can be doing. Thank you. ❤️ 

[Ranger Hal]

1 hour ago, Sovalis said:

Some pics of rocks as promised. I apologize for the light, there’s no sun, so shop light is what I have got:

Those are so cool! Are the long ones naturally that shape or do you have to cut them?

[Everstorm]

4 hours ago, Sovalis said:

and have an answer for the “what’s for supper” question

Haha bless you for that one.  It's one of the worst parts of adulting imo

[Salinger]

Hey Sov, those rocks are beautiful!!!!

 

Any word from your boss? 

 

Love you xx

[Snarkyfishguts]

Those rocks are pretty!

 

The till situation could work unless he fired you before you got all your money. He just needs to pay you back. I would also email him about conversations you have in person so there is some documentation like "Just emailing these talking points we had today for our records."  and if you use a work email, send copies to your personal email in case he gets ambitious enough to fire you or make false claims about you.  this dude sounds super sketchy.

[Sovalis]

20 hours ago, Ranger Hal said:

Those are so cool! Are the long ones naturally that shape or do you have to cut them?

Thank you!  The long ones are cut and polished. Some crystals form in points like that, but mostly I’ve seen shaped ones. 

 

18 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Haha bless you for that one.  It's one of the worst parts of adulting imo

Oh my goodness, RIGHT‽ My least favourite question in a day. 

 

1 hour ago, Salinger said:

Hey Sov, those rocks are beautiful!!!!

 

Any word from your boss? 

 

Love you xx

Thanks, Sal! I think they are lovely. Yes, kinda. I’ll update below. Love!! ❤️ 

 

3 minutes ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Those rocks are pretty!

 

The till situation could work unless he fired you before you got all your money. He just needs to pay you back. I would also email him about conversations you have in person so there is some documentation like "Just emailing these talking points we had today for our records."  and if you use a work email, send copies to your personal email in case he gets ambitious enough to fire you or make false claims about you.  this dude sounds super sketchy.

Thanks, Snarky. You’re not wrong. Update below. 

 

Hi Friends!

 

As I was making soup last night Ken *finally* messaged me. Usual “sorry, I’ve been super busy but I am working on everything you have asked me” followed by “Do we have cash at the store? I know sales have been low but you are still seeing $300-$500 a week.” Those are his exact words. 

 

Friends. I don’t think he’s solvent enough to pay me back. What a scary thing. 😳

 

I told him that I had less than $300 in the till (my float is generally $200) and asked him if he wanted me to let the cash build up and draw it off as a TOS expense. He hasn’t responded. 

So I guess my plan is going forward until he tells me otherwise. I would like firm confirmation that my plan is okay (Snarky, you are not wrong about needing everything documented; I guess luckily he never answers his phone and only communicates via text so I have records of everything). I don’t get the feeling he is looking to fire me, for whatever a blessing that is. But I am seriously concerned that he is going to fold at some point. Job search intensifies and I am crossing my fingers that I get some cash sales over the next while.

 

I finished making supper and soup for lunches and did my walk while watching Critical Role. Yesterday was my first perfect day in a while. I am happy I managed it. Before bed I re-read a piece of writing from a few years ago. It’s clunky and needs a lot of work, but the charm is still there, I think. This morning I woke up at 7 but stayed in bed until 7:30, then got up and had coffee, did my Tarot, and got on the treadmill (3.1) for a half hour. I put on the new episode of Ted Lasso and was not disappointed. It made my walk go so fast. Then packed up, played with Sax, and came to work a half hour early. I decided to sit in Jack’s for ~15 minutes just so I wasn’t in the shop for that extra time. It was nice to be out in public for a little bit. I so rarely take the opportunity, especially when Dave is away. 

 

My card today was the Knight of Cups, which is a card of romance, creativity, and imagination. It has got me in mind to work on my writing again, which I am thinking more about lately. Wondering about setting up for Camp NaNo. 

 

I’ll let you all know if Ken says anything else. I hope you are all having clear communication with those around you! Thanks for being here! ❤️ 

 

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

On 3/9/2023 at 5:27 PM, Sovalis said:

 

I was an obsessive bird this morning and stepped on the scale. I will forever think of myself as a bird when I weigh in now thanks to SarahKingdom’s example from a while ago.

I just saw this, and seriously me too! 
 

I’m glad Ken is a texter! 

[Ranger Hal]

2 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Thank you!  The long ones are cut and polished. Some crystals form in points like that, but mostly I’ve seen shaped ones.

Well, they are beautiful! I have an unpolished clear/white crystal that's maybe half the length of the red one. It was a gift from a very grateful, slightly drunk, lost crystal hunter I helped find. The slightly drunk part may have partially contributed to the lost part. It may have also contributed to insisting that we each choose a crystal from the stash they had found. Anyway, my crystal isn't as pretty as yours, but it comes with a fun story!