Trip Report - Orange County, California   Dumbledore and I spent four days in the Los Angeles area last weekend. We were visiting an elderly friend, the same one we helped move last December. She is mostly settled in her new apartment in a senior living complex. We stayed in her guest room.   Dumbledore tasked me with making a list of places we could go while we were there. Some things were off the list as too strenuous for an 83-year-old who walks with a cane. This was a success. We did something interesting each day.   Friday - went to Crystal Cove beach, which is a state park near Newport Beach. It has a great scenic overlook and a nice paved path down to the beach. We all enjoyed the view, then our friend sat in the car with the AC going while Dumbledore and I walked down to the water. We took off our shoes and got our feet wet in the Pacific. As someone who grew up as far from an ocean as it is possible to be in the US, it was great.   Saturday - went to the YMCA and did exercise in the morning. Went to the Fullerton arboretum in the afternoon. It was interesting seeing an arboretum set in another biome. The plants in the desert section looked really happy. So did plants from other tropical parts of the world.   Sunday - met our nephew and his wife for lunch at a Persian restaurant. I learned that both her parents came to the US from Iran after the fall of the Shah. They are Baha'i and their people are heavily persecuted under the current regime. After that we went for a short walk by the foothills of the mountains. Dumbledore was scared by the sign warning about mountain lions. The path took us to an elementary school with a big park. Their team name is the Bobcats, so I told Dumbledore he had nothing to worry about.     Mostly we hung out at the apartment and kept our friend company. She no longer has to take care of her 90+ year-old sister (who lives in a neighboring building), but she is lonely. She is in pretty good health for now. I don't know what will happen when that changes. Her complex is independent living only. A person must have a car to get anywhere from there. The complex organizes some social things but does not provide any services.   Take-home thoughts: Orange County is endless suburbia and walled housing complexes. It feels artificial and creepy. Nice weather does not make up for hours of driving. We mostly took city streets instead of the freeway so we could get a better feel for the area. The interesting bits are all an hour away from each other. I think I would have liked it a lot more back when it was orange groves and ranches. We want to live in a community with a wide range of ages when we get older. I do not find my own cohort especially fun to be around. Plus I see how my mom is making friends only to have them die. We want to be involved in a real community for support, companionship and engagement. Scheduling extra time off after trips is A GOOD IDEA. Not only is there a lot to do, I need the time to myself after being around other people for days on end. Dumbledore and I got along splendidly, but we had no personal down time. Four days of real vacation with no work was lovely. It turns out not to be what I need right now. What I need is to make steady progress on the things that are chittering in the shadows of my mind. 

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Ok so the cat appears to be fine and has eaten more... I think holiday sulking plus the new 'holiday' feeders, so I've reverted to the normal dishes and will only use the holiday ones for... holidays.    I'm still feeling pretty frantic about finishing this job and staying the new one, but the cat not needing the vet is a definite weight off - I'm supposed to be at fwbs all day Sunday and that would have been a very annoying cock block on her part 😬😅   I did some physio when I got back from the cinema yesterday - Beetlejuice is delightfully silly, very enjoy! And didn't scroll. Food isn't going amazingly tbh, but that's not this challenge so that's ok-ish. Think I'll need a refocus when I've settled into the new job.   Thursday: 2pts Total: 20pts

Wow, you have a lot going on. I am impressed with how you are putting your interim time to good use.   I am not sure I am the best source on cleaning. I can give recommendations on how to clean specific things, but I don't have a system as such.   One piece of advice: If you touch an item to do something with it, put it where it needs to go. Don't just set it back down for later. If you have a big house, you might have a box by the stairs to collect things that need to go up or down so that you can consolidate trips. I am a strong advocate of deal with it now so it does not go on my list for later.   A resource you may find helpful is https://www.unfuckyourhabitat.com/. Some of the advice there is geared towards people  who are really struggling, which is not you. Just ignore that part and see if their cleaning routines work for you.  

Llama Life sounds awesome. I can see that being super handy as a freelancer. I looked up that one and water cat and they look so good!    I have to wash my bedding too. Thank you for the reminder. Also, a, considering cutting back on caffeine. Sigh. I’m going to live vicariously through you for this one and save it for a future plate of changes.     

If currywurst mit pommes is anything to go by, you're not missing much. 

Now that I know they exist, I feel nothing but contempt for leggings without pockets. I'm currently trying to research to see if the more expensive established athletic brands are actually better quality or just marketing.      Being vapour for a few days sounds AMAZING this is the best idea.     What does Laura do for strength/muscle?     Yes, I love being useful. And it was nice to hear him say in the therapy how involved and supportive I am with his work. And today he emphasised repeatedly how valuable my help is to him. And of course money for leggings. Years ago I said I would edit for him for free, but he insisted, for my self respect, that I must charge a standard rate. Also he has more leggings money than me, so a little redistribution is all to the good.      Hmmm. I just want high waisted plain leggings with side pockets. Some in black, some in colours. I will wear with oversized sweaters. And maybe white button down shirts, if I buy some? I dunno I'm pretty bad at fashion. And the reason for the leggings is partly that I want to try them for the POTS and partly they are comfy and easier to fit well than stupid standard pants with their stupid waist hip ratio.  Oh. While I was searching for sweater leggings outfits combos I found this. Impractical, but intriguing.      Oooh. Three workouts a day is something I never considered but WHY NOT? Left leg in the morning, Right leg at noon! 

Its actually an island. (Excuse photo i pilfered from the interwebs). i need to try and do more with the water. Water is hard to draw and i hadnt got to attempting that bit yet 😣   Cant imagine what that would be like, but it sounds interesting. Curry sauce with chips is a classic chip shop combo in the uk, but ive never had it   It did a look a bit like that when the light hit them.    Not going to lie, that last shot was one of those magic photos that happen occasionally and completely serendipitously. Didn't even realise it looked so nice until i got home and too it off the phone.    kind of want to frame it too tbh. Sadly as its phone photo it isnt a very big image file so im not sure how it would print. 

When I looked before I couldn't find any that fit our fireplace, it's a pretty small opening. But with it's placement in the house overall and the room it's in, it wouldn't heat more than the living room even with a blower. I'm pretty sure the house originally had a coal furnace so less reliance on fireplaces for heat than you might think for an old house.  We had a super efficient geothermal heat pump installed after our first winter here so the heating cost isn't really an issue. I would probably care more if we were still on propane because that shit gets expensive.  But I do want to get a chair/loveseat to put in front of the fireplace for coziness. Right now our gaming table in there, but I think I can rearrange things to have comfy seating instead.

Radost steps towards a bundle, as though to examine it, but it ripples suddenly and she recoils. “I’ll just…I’ll…you can…”  Her face compresses with distaste  as she edges past the now quiescent bundle and looks deeper into the forest. “Wait, is there something over there?” She begins to clamber between the thick web strands, attempting to ease past the big spider. One of the smaller spiders skitters a little to close and she feints at it. The spider shies away and back up into the trees and Radost ducks carefully under another sticky cord.    Did a couple rounds of 20 mountain climbers yesterday evening and plan to do the same today. I also tried out the katana exercises but I’m putting my official action into exploration this week.