[Mad Hatter]

Yay!

 

The feta dish sounds delicious.

[sylph]

 

On 9/17/2024 at 11:41 AM, sylph said:

Wednesday--work. Sausage/tomato/feta/pasta dish will be made for dinner. Super easy, delicious, and makes excellent leftovers.

Thursday--work. 3rd cat to vet. B Day lifts

Friday--work. If the weather is nice, we may go down to Disney in the evening. TBD

Saturday--A Day lifts.

 

Dinner yesterday was delicious, as advertised. There's enough leftover for dinner tonight, which is always a bonus.

My work load isn't too heinous today. I might be able to get a quick set of lifts in before heading to the vet, but we'll see. If the garage is super hot/humid, it may be more polite to wait until after people-ing to go sweat a bunch.

Weather tomorrow looks good, so we'll probably head down to the park. Thinking about what is in my closet currently, that may mean I need to run a load of laundry today so I can be seen in public tomorrow.

Saturday I'd like to get some weeding done as well as A Day lifts. Yard work has been a bit desultory lately as it's been so rainy. The next week or so looks clear, though, so I should get out and tidy up while I can.

I'd also like to get my truck washed and waxed. We're seriously considering replacing it, since it's 8 years old. There's nothing wrong with it, but it is starting to show its age and has a few quirks. TBD.

 

I found a really interesting vintage (1963) Kenmore sewing machine on FB Marketplace yesterday and was trying to set up a time to go see the thing when the seller just ghosted. (After "I really want to sell it TODAY since I won't be available Thursday or Friday"--okay, I want to come see it. Is it plugged in so I can test it? Then, crickets.) Sigh. Such is the nature of the FBooks.

[Artemis Prime]

Sorry about the FB frustration. People talk about how frustrating it is to try and sell something online, but buying can be equally difficult.

 

1 hour ago, sylph said:

it may be more polite to wait until after people-ing to go sweat a bunch.

Probably a good call, but my first thought was "vets don't really get grossed out."

[sylph]

15 minutes ago, Artemis Prime said:

Sorry about the FB frustration. People talk about how frustrating it is to try and sell something online, but buying can be equally difficult.

 

Probably a good call, but my first thought was "vets don't really get grossed out."

Both sides are tough. Interactions between strangers via a text-only, asynchronous medium is bound to be troublesome. Most of the time, I'd like to just call people and hash it out in real time, but also, I don't want that many people knowing how to contact me directly. They already have my name, because FB. They don't need my phone # as well.

 

 

Vets don't really get grossed out by animal stuff. (though there are limits)

People, however, are disgusting.

[sylph]

Yesterday

Cat to vet -- some dental calculus but otherwise all good. He was a Very Good Boy.

B Day lifts complete. Didn't go too crazy on anything and all elbows seem to be functioning normally this morning. 7/22

 

[Mad Hatter]

On 9/20/2024 at 5:05 PM, sylph said:

B Day lifts complete. Didn't go too crazy on anything and all elbows seem to be functioning normally this morning. 7/22

Excellent!

 

On 9/19/2024 at 4:49 PM, sylph said:

People, however, are disgusting.

Worst part about being a vet, I'm sure! ?

[sylph]

Friday--down to Disney for a drink, then home again.

Saturday--I don't really remember what I did Saturday? Oh yeah--quite a bit of yard work. I mean, not a LOT, but a good, maintenance-type amount. Puttered around in the sewing room a bit. I was supposed to do A Day lifts, and just...forgot? 7/22

Sunday--Finished up a thing for an Etsy order, then finally dyed my hair. Roots were getting out of hand, for sure. Did some crockpot meatballs for dinner, which we'll have leftovers for dinner tonight.

Monday--A walk (including to the post office) and I've gotten my belated A Day lifts completed 8/22

 

Squats

DB OHP

Seated Cable Rows

 

I added a working set for squats and increased my reps from 6 to 8 on said working sets. Next time, I'll repeat this work and then if all still feels good, increase weight the workout after that.

DB OHP and Cable Rows were cautiously performed in preemptive deference to elbow nonsense.

It was ridiculously humid in the garage (though not as humid as outside) despite being before 10a. I will be happy whenever the weather decides to break. Or perhaps I need to start doing my workouts before 8a and see if that helps. I don't historically do well with having a first-thing-in-the-morning workout, so TBD. Perhaps I'll just suck it up for another couple of weeks.

 

Sleep has been less-than-great the past few nights--my brain is fixated on a thing and is refusing to settle. I'll have to see what I can do to address that. It probably means that I have something somewhere that is looming and feels undone and is manifesting in weird ways since that's what typically happens. If I can figure out the thing and either do it or dismiss it, I should be fine.

[sylph]

The rest of yesterday I did some sewing (super close to done on this project) and when I'd run out of steam, hubs and I fired up some video games. The newest DLC for Remnant II comes out today so we wanted to finish up some stuff in our current play through to ensure we were ready for it.

 

Progress on the sewing project and some logical thinking seems to have dislodged my brain's current fixation. I slept well and fully throughout the night, rather than waking at 4a with a very specific dread and frantically spinning thoughts.

 

Got to the post office this morning then out to the gas station to fill the cans since (1) they were both nearly empty and (2) the tropical storm that is supposed to ramp up into a hurricane later this week is not forecasted to hit us, but we could receive some winds and heavy rains which could result in a power outage. Gas for the generator in that case is likely a good thing.

Also, I should probably  get out to the grocery store, since we're essentially due for a trip and, again, see tropical storm note above.

[Artemis Prime]

Hooray for good sleep! 

 

I also love the resilience we develop to things we are routinely exposed to. Might get grazed by a hurricane in a few days? *shrug* better fill up the gas cans.

[Ranger Hal]

2 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

I also love the resilience we develop to things we are routinely exposed to. Might get grazed by a hurricane in a few days? *shrug* better fill up the gas cans.

I remember walking into a grocery store once, right before a snowstorm, and being stunned at shelves that were empty of things like bread and milk. I was just picking up a few fresh fruits and veggies to supplement the staples that I keep fairly well stocked at home. For some reason, no one was panic-buying onions.

[sylph]

2 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

Hooray for good sleep! 

 

I also love the resilience we develop to things we are routinely exposed to. Might get grazed by a hurricane in a few days? *shrug* better fill up the gas cans.

I'm definitely much more chill about them than I was a few years ago. We're so central that the likelihood of ACTUALLY getting hit very hard here is very low.

If we lived in Cedar Key/the Big Bend area, however, it would be a different story. 

 

 

20 minutes ago, Ranger Hal said:

I remember walking into a grocery store once, right before a snowstorm, and being stunned at shelves that were empty of things like bread and milk. I was just picking up a few fresh fruits and veggies to supplement the staples that I keep fairly well stocked at home. For some reason, no one was panic-buying onions.

Yeah, back in MI, there was definitely the panic buy of milk and bread. I don't see much pre-storm panic buying where I am, but usually it's water that's low if anything.

[Mad Hatter]

On 9/23/2024 at 4:37 PM, sylph said:

Sunday--Finished up a thing for an Etsy order

What are you selling on Etsy?

 

14 hours ago, sylph said:

Yeah, back in MI, there was definitely the panic buy of milk and bread.

Panic buying perishables doesn't seem like a very smart thing to do... ?

[sylph]

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

What are you selling on Etsy?

 

Panic buying perishables doesn't seem like a very smart thing to do... ?

Hubs has a store for Star Wars-y stuff. I sew some little belt bags for cosplay folks.

 

 

I never said Michiganders were logical

Of course, in a snowstorm, you can always just put stuff outdoors to keep it cold/frozen. That doesn't work so well in a hurricane.

 

[Mad Hatter]

17 hours ago, sylph said:

Hubs has a store for Star Wars-y stuff. I sew some little belt bags for cosplay folks.

Fun!

 

17 hours ago, sylph said:

I never said Michiganders were logical

Of course, in a snowstorm, you can always just put stuff outdoors to keep it cold/frozen. That doesn't work so well in a hurricane.

? Fair point though. Are snowstorms the only thing you got in Michigan?

[sylph]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

? Fair point though. Are snowstorms the only thing you got in Michigan?

Snow storms, ice storms, ridiculous cold in the winter

Summer -- tornadoes

[sylph]

Yesterday was mostly taken up with actual hurricane prep and also compulsively rechecking the NHC to see if the track was shifting in any direction.

No workout. 7/22

 

 

This is a fast moving storm, but supposedly also a fairly large one.

Good in that it won't sit and dump rain forever and ever causing massive flooding, bad in that it's supposed to make landfall as a Cat 4.

It's still forecast to go well west of us, which is good.

For us, it'll be rain (only 1-2 inches currently predicted in this area), and winds in the 40 mph range with gusts into 55-60 mph. Wind is supposed to build all afternoon, peaking around midnight.

It's already looking pretty grey and the leaves are starting to rustle.

The cats are also ON FIRE this morning, though that could just be normal feline behavior.

[Artemis Prime]

44 minutes ago, sylph said:

The cats are also ON FIRE this morning, though that could just be normal feline behavior.

Hard to tell with cats.

Sending up prayers that it stays west of you. Be safe!

[Mad Hatter]

5 hours ago, sylph said:

ice storms

Ooh did you get those really cool ice formations? I've seen crazy photos but maybe it's not a thing that happens very often.

 

Stay safe!

[sylph]

On 9/26/2024 at 9:14 AM, Artemis Prime said:

Hard to tell with cats.

Sending up prayers that it stays west of you. Be safe!

They are calmer-ish this morning, so perhaps that was the issue.

 

20 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ooh did you get those really cool ice formations? I've seen crazy photos but maybe it's not a thing that happens very often.

 

Stay safe!

We would occasionally get the crystal-encrusted-tree look, but that was pretty rare. And usually accompanied by power outages and breakings of branches due to the weight of the ice on stuff.

 

 

All in the clear here. It definitely went far enough west to have minimal impact for us. Just a bunch of yard debris which I will handle after a bit more work at my actual job.

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

On 9/27/2024 at 4:19 PM, sylph said:

We would occasionally get the crystal-encrusted-tree look, but that was pretty rare. And usually accompanied by power outages and breakings of branches due to the weight of the ice on stuff.

Beautiful destruction.

 

How’s everything now?

[sylph]

On 9/30/2024 at 8:50 AM, Mad Hatter said:

How’s everything now?

All fine--

 

Cleaning up the yard debris took me two days, spaced appropriately to avoid injury, over-use, and blisters (mostly) (Friday and Sunday). This pre-empted any iron workouts. Still 7/22.
I got both bitten by some ants and stung by a wasp in the process, so that was fun.

 

Sleep has been crappy. I've woken up at 5a or before for the last few days, and rather than stewing awake in bed, opt to get up instead.

This has not resulted in any extra productivity. Instead I sit around, drink my coffee, listen to a podcast or audiobook and generally attempt to become functional by the time I would have needed to be if I had woken up at my normal time.

I think I generally know why sleep is crappy. Some things I have no control over (the oppressive weather that just refuses to break...soon I hope) and some that I have varying levels of control over and frustration around.

 

Various whiny/personal things here. Don't feel obligated to read them, but it did help to write them all out.

Spoiler

My little sister just had her baby a week or so ago, which is great! But that apparently convinced my brain that I must be pregnant and that sparked off a whole conflagration of mad thoughts and panic, which spiraled into some existential crisis thoughts about the state of women's healthcare in this country.

Ahem.

 

My older sister is in Asheville, which was hit MUCH harder by Helene than we were. She and her wife and their cat are safe and dry. Their house is undamaged but they have no power and she doesn't expect they will for at least a week. She is very philosophical about the whole thing (or at least seems so via text) but this is adding into my background level of Things to Worry About.

 

Aaaand, the sewing project I'm working on for hubs is just Not Working Out. Despite the fact that it is something I have made several times before. I made some slight adjustments that were supposed to be improvements and this has apparently caused the entire thing (near the very end) to Not Work. It is frustrating and exasperating and guilt-inducing, which is super fun. I think I can fix it, but it will take time and braining and patience, of which I am currently in short supply.

 

I have 55 minutes until my next meeting. I think I'm going to go get a walk in.

 

 

[Artemis Prime]

11 minutes ago, sylph said:

This has not resulted in any extra productivity. Instead I sit around, drink my coffee, listen to a podcast or audiobook and generally attempt to become functional by the time I would have needed to be if I had woken up at my normal time.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. Good sleep is obviously preferable, but if sleep isn't happening, then some lowkey, restful activities are probably the next best alternative rather than trying to squeeze in extra productivity.

 

Glad your sister and her household are well!

[sylph]

From Captain Awkward

 

Quote

Back to brains, do you know what also doesn’t make any task easier, including stuff you’re actually good at? Being observed by a chronically exasperated person who is waiting for you to fail.

 

I have known or sensed this for a large portion of my life, but have not seen it better elucidated than this.

 

Not sure why it resonated so hard with me upon reading it today, but apparently I needed to hear/read/see this.

 

I'm putting it here, just in case you needed it too.

 

 

[sylph]

I stopped mid-read to post that line above. Then I got to this line at the closing of the column.

 

Quote

And what might be possible if you stopped treating yourself like the weakest link in your relationships?

 

I don't need this line, today thankfully. Teenage sylph did, though. To the point that reading it damn near made me tear up, 25 years later.

 

[sylph]

21 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. Good sleep is obviously preferable, but if sleep isn't happening, then some lowkey, restful activities are probably the next best alternative rather than trying to squeeze in extra productivity.

This is likely true.

 

 

 

I did get a walk yesterday, but just realized when I sprung awake at 3.30a that I was also supposed to lift yesterday. Oh well. 7/22

 

Sewing project has turned from 'Wow, this isn't quite working how I thought" to "How much of this can I salvage or do I have to scrap the whole thing and start over?" Racing thoughts about this as well as regret/guilt that I'm letting hubs down by not getting this done in time for a thing we're doing this weekend is a large part of why I was awake so early.

I have some theories on what went wrong and strategies to have it turn out better if I do start over, but it has been a LOT of effort to this point. I don't want to try to chase a problem that isn't fixable and wind up with something second-rate, but given the stage of the project and the amount of seam finishing I'd done and curves I'd clipped to get to this point, trying to salvage many parts or pieces might be a very difficult task.

Sigh.