He's looking for a reliable vehicle which is good on gas and can be made to look interesting with minor modifications. He wanted a smaller vehicle, but those are not really available. $5000-6000 is apparently about the sweet spot for beater cars that are still in reasonable shape and will last a while. He likes the Forester because it is incredibly sturdy and, being non-flashy, is generally driven by sensible people and thus is cheap to insure. It's also great in the snow, carries a ton of stuff, and can be used for camping. Very versatile.   He has zero plans to finance the car. He has the cash for it, plus he's got a Kei van that he's been fixing up and is planning to sell. The difference between the purchase and sale price should cover the cost of the new car.   Alas, I did not go swimming. I went to the celebrations with my son and his girlfriend, and she does not know how to swim at all. I didn't really want to swim all by myself on a day when things are super crowded.   It was not amazing. After the crash, the officer that was dealing with my son asked him to fill out an incident report type thing regarding the aggression he had experienced. Today the police dropped by to let my son know that charges (they did not specify) are being laid against the driver of the other car. We suspect that the other driver was under the influence of something, driving without a license, or driving without insurance. Any of these would explain why he was apparently sobbing in his car afterward - a car that he said he'd only purchased a few days earlier.   We have our share of assholes too, but this was definitely out of the ordinary. Most of the local crime and violence is drug-related or domestic.   Luckily for him he's got a friend who's good with cars who can come along to check them out. The new car thing can swing both ways though - it's brand new mechanically, but its long-term reliability is unknown. Could be great, could be a lemon. He researches not just the model, but the specific year to see if it had maintenance problems (so he eliminated one Forester he was interested in, because after about ten years a lot of them need a $1000ish repair, and it was about ten years old. Another two years newer did not have that issue.).   He's got very few features he really wants. For instance, he learned that one of the features he was interested in, having your phone pair with your car via Bluetooth, is available via a third-party device that costs about $250. The difference between a car that has that and doesn't is more like $1000-2000. So he started looking for cars without it instead. The only real no-gos seems to be a manual transmission and a sketchy seller.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Although I didn't go swimming, Canada Day was a good day. It was lovely and warm, and there were lots of people out. We got to juggle (poorly) and play with the giant Connect Four. I ran into the Friends of the local library, who remembered me, so we had a chat. I also ran into the lady who used to run the agricultural college library in town before it closed, so I talked with her a bit and showed her my now grown-up son. And I learned that a local place that used to only do gymnastics, cheer, and parkour for kids is now doing gymnastics classes for adults, and they have been successful enough that they are planning to expand to parkour for adults as well! Must investigate further.   Yesterday was popcorn and a graphic novel. Finished the second volume of Glitch, an odd little series about a town where the residents sometimes see glitches, like a hand or static, reminiscent of an 8- or 16-bit video game. Rather unusual (non-human) people have been arriving in town, caught up in the glitches in their own worlds, and residents are starting to go missing. A group of schoolchildren have formed a club to study the glitches, the history of the town, and the mysterious hill in the middle of town that seems tied to both. This series is an incredibly fast read because there is not a whole lot of text compared to the usual graphic, and I think perhaps fewer panels than usual too. Each of the first two volumes took only an hour to read.   It's pouring rain tonight, so I'm very tempted to settle down with a book again after I get some work done.   (Oh, and I only just realized that I missed not one challenge, but TWO. I feel like I lost a month of time somewhere.)

I forgot to mention a win I had on Tuesday. Well it starts with disappointment; I had a lousy lunch that was not at all nice to eat, so I was really hungry by the time I got home. But instead of snacking, I just had a little extra for dinner to fill the space.   Wednesday was terrible. I mean I did OK goals wise, but it was just a horrible day at work. Didn't manage to carve out any time for exercise (I didn't even get a chance to make a cup of tea!), but I did make an effort to only use the stairs instead of the lifts. For sugar I had a muffin I bought days ago and forgot about, so that's 26g, which is more than Mon or Tues but not outrageous. It was my turn to wash the dishes, Husband offered to do them for me since I was so tired, but I didn't take him up on it and just did 'em, so I'm calling that a choring win.   Weekend can't come quickly enough!

Me too!!!! ❤️    Work is smoothening out, which is nice. I might not have a job in January, of course (there are two cut points in the year: July 1 and January 1), but that's so six months from now.  In the interim, I am pleased and proud of the relationships I'm building at work, and pleased and proud of the work I do. Really, that sounds so small but it's huge for me.   I put the application in last week forthe Library internship and it is now in the hands of the universe.  There's a similar internship at a different university (also remote) that is more hours and a bit more tied to a traditional schedule, so I'll put my hat in the ring for that as well, and then if I get considered for the second one, I'll have a talk with them about alternating weekends to accommodate Vivian's visitation schedule.     I had my first appointement with the new reunification counselor today, and I think it went very well.  I'm looking forward to moving forward and to repairing my relationship with Vivian. Stay tuned, friends.   Tonight is supposed to be dance class, but I just don't have it in me, especially after the appointment this morning, which got unexpectedly emotional. Apparently I trust this counselor, and that's a nice surprise.  Nic wants his Settlers of Catan game back, so I'm going to go drop it off at the pinball museum (becuase apparently that's how mature people operate 🤦‍♀️). After that, I'm probably heading back home to pack up whatever for the dogsitting gig through Sunday. I need less and less each time I do this, which is probably my minimalism and Wise Mind coming out, but I also notice that the few things I do need, I really need, like tea and a kettle and my blood pressure medication.   The meeting with Philosopher James went very well this afternoon, and I'm glad. We are making good headway on the reading list, and this all makes me feel much more solid for the compressed schedule, or, as I'm beginning to think of it, The Schedule.  He had some time constraints today, so we didn't have time to talk about The Schedule today, but I feel pretty certain that we will be talking about it next week. Committee Chair Neal and I meet on the 15th (ish, I'd have to look up the specific date), and I know James wants to naikl down some calendar considerations before that meeting happens.    Overall, I'm feeling very centered and optimistic, which is refreshing. I'm still physically tired, but I'm feeling up to the things on my plate (but also feeling good about saying no to dancing tonight, because being in balance with myself means honoring my rest needs, too).  All will be well. ❤️ 

Woohoo for more sleep! Being rested is always step zero in my mind, but also, it seems like you'e been more physically active lately with the projects and the aikido. I tend to find a greater reservoir of energy after I up my activity baseline, and I'm wondering if this is part of it as well. I mean, I'm all for spending an evening lunging on the couch or in a comfy chair and knitting and woolgathering, so don't take this as judgemental.  

I'm sitting right here.   Garuumph! Feels petty and punitive.   I am a tad bit older than you, and I still don't feel like I have my Adult Card yet, and yes, it's always so satisfying when things align to reflect back some strength and positivity, as if the Universe is saying "it's okay, girl; you've got this." Glad you had a bit of that; you definitely deserve it.   Can't forget to call out All the wonderful fruits and veggies you've been dishing up along the way. What a glorious thing, and how different from Times Past when you would have "treated" yourself differently. #DruidApproved   Much love ❤️ 

Yes, this project is done.   I am thinking that we should also move the gluten-free pasta from the mud room to the pantry to make those more accessible for Cleo. I have jars of beans and lentils in the pantry that would be fine in the mud room. That would be a fairly simple swap which would let Cleo do simple cooking for herself if Elf is out of the house. I am the only one who cooks with dry beans, so I feel confident making an executive decision on this topic. [this is a new project, not an extension of the find homes for the baking tins project]     Not bad at all. So far as I can tell, no one has noticed at work. In the bigger picture, my knees are bothering me a lot more than my black eye.   I have not been doing my knee exercises for the last few days, which can't be helping. I think the underlying problem is still inflammation. More exercise and less sugar would be smart choices. I am trying to figure out a path to get to making those happen.   Over the past few days I have noticed that I have more energy. That could be getting more sleep or recovering from long covid. Whatever it is, I hope it lasts. I have plenty of things I would like to do.

That hedge maze is super cool! What a fun idea. Ugh, sorry that your employer is being an obnoxious Scrooge. 

Not everyone wants to tip on a card payment screen. Im very happy to tip people, but even when i pay by card i prefer to put change in a jar. Mostly as the minimum on card screens is often more than i am able to afford to tip people on a regular basis for small transactions. A jar full of 20p’s is still a decent chunk of money you wouldnt have had otherwise. 

Wait, whaaaaaaaat?!? This is not the kind of boss I had thought she was (nor did you, obviously!!). I'm definitely reading more and catching up before I make any further comments, but even thinking this is clearly a boundary violation of "good boss things."  

I'm glad you had a good conversation with Sonjia, even though she is still being inconsiderate of her employees.    I hear you on the joy of fresh veggies. My fridge is nearly bare. Tomorrow will be grocery shopping and veggie prep.